Well an update on Jessie, we are 6 full months into being her parents and we couldn't be happier! She is a very talented and well behaved fur child EXCEPT for walking on a leash! We have enrolled her in obedience class that runs for 8 weeks. The first week only the parents were to attend so they could train us!
K9Kollege is the place we signed her up with. Our first class lasted about an hour and a half. We were told how to go about training and when to use the clicker. We got some homework sheets and we were off.
We didn't start working with Jess till the next day. The first exercise was to teach her to shake hands. Well that took about 5 minutes because when food is involved Jessie is ALL IN! She learned just that fast! She already knew how to sit as Deanna taught her that so she could control her when she feeds her. Sit and shake were the 2 major homework assignments, a couple of what they call doggy Zens, one was to show her a treat but don't let her have it till she quits licking or nibbling at your hands....Check! The other was to hold a piece of food about 15" to the side of your head. The object is to get the dog to look at you and not the treat. Check! So we have been working each night for 10 minutes or so and she is doing well. Next Tuesday is her first night so will be interesting to see what happens and how her attention span is with all the other dogs. Coming from the shelter she was pretty well socialized and doesn't mind other dogs unless they make an aggressive move or lunges at her then all bets are off!
Early on like just the first week was a challenge as Jess would not use the restroom on a leash. We would take her to the ball field where it is fenced in and she would run straight over and poop. Not on a leash though. We can only imagine she was beat for messing at the wrong time and wrong place. Took a while but I got her confident enough to not be afraid. Took some treats and lots of praise but she overcame it. We had contracted to have a fence put up but they were not going to be able to do it till mid January and this is first week of December. It was a challenge to get up and walk her every morning at 5am, at noon, when I got home from work and then again around 10 pm ESPECIALLY when the temps were below zero. We even tried getting her a dog pen so she could be off leash but that didn't work either, she was even afraid of the doghouse I bought her and to this day STILL will not go inside it.
We wondered what would happen once the fence was up and fortunately she did good with it. She would go out in the morning and do her thing and then I would walk her in the evening. Its the leash thing that drove us to enroll her in obedience class. While she is mild mannered she pulls like a Clydesdale when walking. Not very much fun.
She has her favorite toys and she loves to chew up tennis balls but spits it all out in pretty much a pile.
She is adjusting well and goes back often to visit her friends at Paws!
Here are the people who took care of Jess daily
This is Nita!
This is Matt!
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