Happy Halloween

Although Denmark doesn't really celebrate the holiday, we wanted to share a bit of cheer with the parts of the world that do.

Forgive the underripe pumpkin--too little sun.

 

Shawnee Reports "Please Vote fur Jin"

A puter frend wunts ta be a servis dog like Molly. But hiz peeple arn't as happee doin it demselves as Mommee iz.

So pleeze vote fur dis hansum fella in da hopez dat hiz peeple kan win enuff monee ta pay fur his skool.



Not all dogz kan be as luckee az me n Molly n be homeskooled by sumwon like Mommee!

The Routine of Boot and Sock Duty

Now that I am feeding horses every day, Molly has the regular job of removing my boots and socks when I come back in. She actually seems to thrive with the job, loving that she has something that she has to do. It is probably the border collie need to work in her.

The advantage of this is that her skills have improved significantly and she's gotten quieter in the process. Removing a tightly-fitting pair of jodhpur boots is not exactly easy task. Having no hands with which to do the job does make it more difficult.

Molly firmly grasps the heel of my boot with her teeth. The heels are soft enough rubber to allow her teeth to sink in and get a good grip. She then backs away pulling it off, often struggling to hold her footing on the slippery floor. I give her a treat or two after she hands me the boot.

Before going onto the next boot, she removes the sock from the first foot. She's very careful when getting a grip with her teeth to avoid nipping my toes. She then backs away pulling it off. Again, Molly is treated when she hands over the sock.

The entire process is repeated on the other foot.

Shawnee has learned that if she sits quietly and stays out of Molly's way, she also gets a treat. I'm very relieved I no longer need to tell her what to do. When she was younger, there were often problems with her getting in Molly's way or trying to help when she didn't know what to do.

We have actually decided it is time to start teaching Shawnee retrieve. We started the other night at my in-laws without clicker. The dogs were little bit bored so we set Molly to work retrieving my keys and handing them around. To activate Shawnee as well, we took turns holding the flashlight on my key ring and encouraging her to take in her mouth. She did so several times despite it being metal.

Yesterday, I dropped the strip of leather that I use when punching holes with a thonging chisel or awl. Molly was occupied somewhere else, but Shawnee was immediately at my side. I pointed at the piece of leather and told her take. It took her a few tries and little encouragement, but she finally picked it up gently in her mouth and raise it high enough for me to be able to take it from her. Of course, she was showered with praise from both me and DH. This is a big step for her, because she is not good at returning a toy to our hands. Part of the reason I actually want to begin retrieve training her is the hope that it will pay off in a play fetch.

That Time of Year… Heat

It has been a long time since I last updated this blog. Molly has had an entire heat cycle. She did very well with her panties the entire time.Under the coffee table is one of her favorite places to lie down whether she's in heat or not.

Despite her season, Molly was able to work well and train well. DH and I are both very proud of how well she dealt with the entire thing. She is much better at cleaning up after herself than she was originally.

We had expected the girls to cycle together, but they didn't. Initially expecting Shawnee also to be in heat, I put panties on her as well. She had great deal of trouble adjusting to them at first, but soon figured it out. Here she is lounging in panties in one of her favorite spots,DH's chair.

Once we were certain she was not in heat we stopped using the panties.At this point, we have no idea when she will cycle and are surprised she has not done so yet, as she is now approaching one year old.

Molly's heat continued more than the usual three weeks. Just as we became seriously worried about his continuation, it stopped. Everyone is very relieved it is finished, because now the girls get to sleep in bed again.

In training news, I haven't done much of anything. The girls have had many play sessions in the pony pasture with DH and have continued improving with their stays and downs and name recognition.

Both have shown an ability to recall at more than 50 m in the fence. We hope soon to test this at the beach so we can give them on the road test results for the levels. Because of Molly’s season, it has been a long time since we have taken a trip to the beach.

Name Recognition

One of our primary goals with training for the past few weeks has been to get the girls to learn to respond only to commands directed at them. I have worked a lot of puppy push-ups with both girls at once, rewarding only the one I ask to do the behavior. We also played the come game using the girls names, rewarding only the one we called. DH has spent many evenings in the pasture, incorporating play into the training.