Tara
We toured the new house, and I kept Tara on leash during the entire visit, except when she was locked in the guest bedroom.  In the picture is Brenna playing with the new toys I got her.  Photo contributed by Scott and Michelle.
As we were driving to Brenna's house, I could tell Tara was getting sleepy, but still refusing to go to sleep.  Scott and Michelle and Brenna met us at the gas station by the freeway, because they live in a new subdivision and street signs aren't very good.  Also it's a good way for the two dogs to meet.  I got out of the car first and met Brenna.  She's so excited and jumped up and kept licking my face.  Then we let Tara out, and Brenna tried to do the same thing with Tara (licking face), but Tara didn't like that and kept turning around to avoid Brenna.  Scott tried to calm Brenna down but she was just so happy and kept licking me and licking Tara.  After about five minutes, Tara finally had enough and gave a growl, and we kept the dogs apart.  Brenna kept pulling toward my car, so Michelle and Brenna and I rode in my car, while Scott took Tara with him.  Scott was worried that Brenna would start looking for him, but she just lied down in the backseat of my car.  When we got to their house, Scott said Tara whined in his car for a couple minutes but was okay after that.  I kept Tara on leash and we tried to keep Brenna away from Tara, but Brenna was just so excited.  Photo contributed by Scott and Michelle.
I locked Tara in the guest bedroom while I took a shower.  But when I came out, I saw Brenna sitting in front of the bedroom door.  Michelle said Tara was whining and Scott went in to calm her down.  When I opened the door, I saw Tara snuggling with Scott on the floor.  Scott said when he stops petting, Tara would whine.  I think she enjoyed the attention very much and that she knows exactly how to get people to continue petting her. 
Tara and Scott.
And then Scott and Brenna and Tara and I walked around outside, Michelle stayed in the house because her back was hurting from when they rode in a truck on a tree farm.  Their house is on a street that dead ends, and two of their neighbors each bought 24 acres (each lot is about 1.5 acres) for their horses, so they only have 10 or 11 houses in the new subdivision.  The two neighbors with horses have wire fence for their horses, Scott made a little fence with PVC material about 0.25 acres for Brenna.  But rest of the neighborhood has no fencing, so it's safe for Brenna to run around without leash.  And it's so quiet there and they could hear a car from a mile away.  We walked around outside and Brenna just runs all over.  Their next door neighbor has a Beagle puppy, not neutered and no training, they just lock him in a shed with screened in porch.  That family has a four year old little girl who comes over to play with Brenna all the time, and it's sad that Morgan (the little girl) spends more time with Brenna than with Rusty (the Beagle).  The mom told Scott and Michelle that her husband doesn't like dogs in the house.  Scott and Michelle said they sometimes let Rusty out to play with Brenna, and they play fairly well together, but Rusty would try to mount Brenna and Brenna would let him know when she's had enough by turning back and growling.  They said they don't let Rusty out to play with Brenna all the time because he's dirty and it's hard to get him back into the shed.  But overall Rusty is a sweet dog.  Scott asked me if I thought it would be okay for Rusty to come out, but I said Tara will not like his puppyish behavior so we did not let him out to play with Brenna and to meet Tara.  Then we went on a one-mile walk, passed by a goat farm, pretty interesting, Tara didn't pay any attention to the goats.  At the end of the walk, we also stopped by a neighbor's house with the Italian Greyhound (Brenna's best canine friend).  Coda (the Italian Greyhound) kept licking Tara's face too and Tara snapped at him.  After that Coda's owner put him back into the house, while he and Scott continued to talk.  When we got back to the house, I could tell Tara was very tired, so I fed her in the guest bedroom, and when we came out for dinner for us humans, Brenna still had not finished her own dinner.  Scott and Michelle said Brenna likes to look and walk around during meal times.  So I just kept Tara right next to me while we humans started dinner.  I tried a vegetarian pizza and imitation beer, both very good.  Anyways, Brenna kept trying to lick Tara's face, then Tara finally had enough and barked and lunged at Brenna.  Brenna barked back and Scott pulled Brenna away to settle her down (Tara didn't really go after Brenna, I think she was just trying to get Brenna way from her).  Tara was okay as long as Brenna wasn't touching her and we tried very hard to keep them apart.  Michelle said Tara reminds her of her previous Springer, Sparky, when he was old, and that she could tell Tara has arthritis and hard of hearing and cataracts, I think Sparky had all these also.  And I told them that's why I also teach her hand signal for the obedience commands, and Scott and Michelle said they do that too with Brenna, just in case she gets hard of hearing when she gets really old too.  I told them I give Tara glucosamine and they asked me when they should start giving Brenna glucosamine.  I told them probably at age 7 at small dose to start and then increase if she starts showing arthritis.  Tara finally fell asleep by the table, soon after so did Brenna under the table.  After dinner, we went outside to sit in the yard.  Brenna was playing fetch with tennis ball, and we locked Tara in the kitchen (glass door to the backyard).  Also the two horses next door came to the fence and we went over to see them.  Brenna was very excited to see her friends but they told her to settle down not to scare the horses.  Scott fed them some grass and was able to pet them.  Brenna barked once but the horses were not scared by her.  Then when we went inside, Scott showed me the picture of the Springer in shelter he told me about over dinner.  He told me that there's a new Springer at the shelter he volunteers and he was wondering if Debbie is still taking in new Springers.  I told him to forward the info to Debbie (I was thinking I can then call Heather and ask if I need to bring the dog down with me when I drive back to Auburn).  Anyways, Scott checked his email and said the dog got adopted over the weekend.  The dog's really cute though, liver and white with beautiful blaze and happy face.  Also he showed me some pictures of Brenna since they last sent me her photo CD.  Brenna and Tara get go at each other twice more that night though, both times Tara started growling/barking (after Brenna licked Tara's face), and Brenna barked back.  But Scott and I were able to separate them before they actually touched each other.  Photo contributed by Scott and Michelle.
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Friday night a little before 9 PM, I brought Tara over to pick up Samson for the week.  After we got inside, Tara got to sniff around a little bit, while Samson was downstairs with Dr. Ravis' two daughters and the granddaughter.  After they heard us, Samson ran upstairs, he was curious but not hyper (he's five years old now), sniffing Tara a little bit, and Tara just stood there letting him sniff.  But I didn't want him to sniff too much, so I lured him away with a doggie Oreo cookie, which he loves.  I tried to give some to Tara too, but she wouldn't eat any.  I kept giving him cookies, while the daughters petted Tara.  They said Tara's fur is so soft, and that she has the cutest white paws and a puppy face.  The granddaughter (21 months old) also came by and they showed her how to pet Tara gently, but Olivia started hitting Tara with her teddy bear (she has an "older sister" who's a chocolate Lab at home).  She did that twice before her mom and aunt stopped her, but Tara just looked at her and didn't mind it.  I gave the dog treats some to Tara and some to Samson.  I soon ran out of the doggie cookies, but Samson pretty much just ignored Tara.  I mean they sniffed each other for a couple seconds, but overall they just ignored each other.  On the drive back to my apartment, I let Tara sit in the front seat and Samson in the back. 
I walked them for about ten minutes outside before taking them back to my apartment.  The first thing Samson saw was my cat and he focused on her and ignored Tara. 
The girls and I.  The country air was so good and both Tara and I had great night of sleep.  Scott told me that he and Brenna gets up at 6 AM to go for the long walks, so Tara and I were up to join them.  We weren't going to take Tara with us for the three-mile walk before, but in the morning she looks so happy and excited that I decided to take her.  We strolled the three miles, saw the cows and rooster and Tara got really excited when she smelled the cow poop.  Brenna was kept leashed when we got out of the subdivision because there are poison ivy in some places and also it's a narrow road so we have to stand on the side when we hear the car coming.  Tara was able to finish the walk no problem, although Scott said they usually do a brisk walk and they slowed down just for Tara.  Tara looked really tired when we got back to the house, I gave her breakfast but she wouldn't eat any.  Brenna was a little tired but still happy and excited.  Then we humans had breakfast and Brenna was walking around, eating here and there as usual.  Tara fell asleep by my feet.  Then as I went to get the camera, Brenna followed me to the guest bedroom, Tara went over to eat Brenna's food (mixed with wet food and yogurt) in the kitchen and Scott asked me if that's okay, and when I went to pulled Tara back, Brenna happened to walk in front and Tara snapped at her again (Brenna barked back also). 
Scott and Tara and Brenna.
Before we were about to leave, Tara was asleep in livingroom, Brenna and her dad were playing fetch, then the toy happened to land in front of Tara and she woke up with toy in front of her and Brenna coming after it.  She and Brenna got into a real fight, Brenna went after Tara's mouth, luckily Scott and I were able to break them apart by pulling on their collars.  Tara had three small puncture wounds near her mouth, Scott got punched in the eye when Brenna's head bumped into him.  Tara's wounds stopped bleeding after Michelle gave me some cotton balls with hydrogen peroxide and I wiped the wounds with them.  They put Brenna in their bedroom to calm her down.  Tara and I drove back to Auburn after that.  Brenna was looking sad as we were getting ready to go, but Scott got her into his car to lead us back to the freeway entrance. 

Monday, September 18, 2006
It took only three and half hours for the drive home yesterday.  Tara slept the whole drive back to Auburn of course.  
I feel really bad about Tara's fight with Brenna.  She's generally okay with other dogs in public, but she gets a little jealous/possessive in a home environment (once she realizes she has to share everything).  Next time I'll definitely have somebody dog-sit her, if she doesn't get adopted before then.  Probably Brenna would enjoy having Anastasia around more.  I wonder if Anastasia would like to smell the refreshing country air too.
  
Tara seems to be doing alright, no diarrhea from eating Brenna�s Nutro Ultra.  I was feeding her half Iams (her old food from her previous owner) and half Wellness (what was left from when I was food testing Keely; Tara does not have diarrhea from it either), I was going to wait until after I come back from the October trip to try Tara out on Nutra Ultra, but yesterday I went to get two cans of Ultra and a box of Ultra treats to test them out on Tara.  If she does alright on them, I'll probably just switch her right after the trip.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006
I'm so glad Keely's mom gave me a clicker because I think Tara can hear the clicker better than my voice, especially outdoors or in a roomful of dogs (we think she's a little hard of hearing).  This is a regular (loud) clicker from Petsmart, not the new (lighter sound) clicker from Karen Pryor, so it's even better for Tara.
Tara might look goofy with her big head and paws, but she's like most old but smart (and slightly alpha) female dogs we know.  After the third click-and-treat, I saw in her eyes that she started to make the connection between the clicker and treat.  And only after five minutes of continuous click-n-treat, when I stopped for a while, she would look at my hand with the clicker (instead of at my hand with the treat).  Maybe I need to read a clicker training book, but from what I've learned from Jake's dad about clicker training and from doing a little bit of clicker training for a week when Jake was here (Jake's dad clicker trained him), that's what Jake did too, that he would look at the clicker first, not the bag with the treats.  And also there are various sounds in the livingroom, but when Tara was resting and I clicked, she immediately wakes up (she loves treats, not so much of her food, but she loves treats; and she sleeps a lot usually).  Anyways if anybody have tips regarding basic clicker training please let me know (however I'm not interested in joining a clicker forum or list, unless I delete one I'm already one I can't add anymore, my limit is four at a time...had to leave the adult with braces forum to get on the Pat Miller list).  Thanks.

I emailed Xalina asking her if it would be okay if we come for practice on September 30, and then come for the test on October 28, and she said that�s fine.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Angie forwarded an update from Bella�s family, �Bella is doing great. The kids actually wanted to change her name to Jenny (after Jenny Lake in Wyoming where we spent some time hiking this summer). She did not seem to mind, so we now call her Jenny or Jenny Bell as a hybrid of both names. She is so cute. She goes with me (Carol) each morning in the car as I drop the kids off at their respective schools. She cries when each of them gets out of the car and then settles back in. When I go pick up the kids in the afternoons, we usually walk so she gets in a couple long walks each day. She has also enjoyed visiting the doggie park near our house. Rick also took her on a four mile run this evening and she loved it (and it wore her out). We have also signed up for a positive reinforcement obedience class to start soon, as I think we need to be better trained in how to help her to stop nipping at our feet/socks and chewing on our shoes, etc.
We cantt thank you enough for all that you did to help her, and help us get acquainted with her. She is a great addition to our family. We do think that she will want a companion dog one day, so maybe we will be fortunate enough to adopt another Springer that you have fostered.�

I did start training Tara with click-treat only when she looks at my eyes on Monday night, since she got the idea of click means treat on Sunday night.  This free shaping thing definitely takes more patience than luring, but I am having fun learning.
Last night we went to the local dog park again.  Three large dogs (one Lab, one Standard Poodle, one GSD) came up without leash to sniff Tara and she had no problem (however she would not eat treats either), just sniffed back.  We also passed by a Corgi and a Rat Terrier (?) but they did not come up to sniff.  Tara was curious and pulled toward the two little dogs.  We did stop several times on the walking trail and did some clicker training (give her a treat when she looked at my eyes), it took her a while to want to eat the treats (I brought doggie Oreo cookies).  And I tested her and she did not appear to notice the click while we are walking, only if we are standing still (Jake's dad uses the clicker to train him to stay close and not pull while walking, that's why I decided to try walking and click at the same time with Tara).  I don't know if it's because she didn't hear or just too busy sniffing to hear.
I wonder how they do a clicker class when everybody in the class is clicking.  I mean how do the dogs know which click is for him/her?  I guess it�s nice in this regard that there is no obedience class around here that uses clicker and the dog school in Atlanta does not use clicker either, so Tara will know the click is just for her.  Also I�m wondering if they allow clicker during CGC test (they do not allow treats during the actual test) ...anyways right now I am not planning to use clicker during test.
Tonight after I �charged� the clicker (click-treat (C/T) several times in a roll), I only C/T when Tara stared straight into my eyes, instead of just glancing toward my eyes.  After about five minutes of licking my fist trying to get the treats inside, she gets what she�s supposed to do.  Smart doggie!
Also, Monday night, Anastasia was sleeping in Tara�s bowl bed, and Tara just walked right in and sat down and that forced Anastasia to jump out.  Tara hadn�t used the bed much before, but now it�s colder, it seems that she likes it more.  And again tonight, she tried to do the same thing, but this time, Anastasia refused to give in and hissed at Tara instead, when Tara�s front paws stepped inside the bowl bed.  After Anastasia hissed, Tara backed away. 

Thursday, September 21, 2006
Deirdre emailed and gave me an update regarding Peter, �Peter is doing great.  He does pull a lot on his walks but we're working on that.  We been teaching him to fetch and lay down.  He didn't seem to have ever played fetch before.  We love him lots and he is the sweetest dog!  I did get Heartgard and Frontline at the vet.�

Ringo went back to Patty for foster care.  A few weeks ago he was transferred to Judie because Patty and David were moving and it was hard to have both dogs with her when they were trying to sell their house in Birmingham and looking for a new home in Mobile at the same time.  But now Patty stays at home, so she�s taking Ringo back.  I think he will enjoy it very much.

Tonight when Tara and I were walking around the apartment complex for her potty break, a loose Shih-Tzu came running toward us barking.  Tara was a little curious and pulled a little bit to try to sniff the little dog, but after the Shih-Tzu started biting Tara�s legs trying to get her to play, Tara barked and the Shih-Tzu barked back but backed away.  Soon after the dog�s owner called her and she stopped following us.
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