This dog will test me in any way possible I think.
Training is going with her this week but not well. I cannot figure out what is going on here. She will do the obstacles, she will do the commands EXCEPT for sit and down. I feel like a crap trainer. In the event I can get her to actually sit, she'll stay and hold it like a pro as I walk around. Getting her to actually sit or down though is ridiculous. This is something we've been doing since I got her and it's now out the window.
It's not training though that is getting me down. I just feel she's regressed a lot as far as fear around strangers. I'm not even sure why this is happening. My trainer seems to be Mia's least favorite person on the planet, which doesn't help. We've had weeks of her just feeding Mia and trying to establish a positive connection. Mia follows her around, tail wagging now but if my trainer even just looks at her, mia shies.
I took Mia and Summer both out to the agility field last night by ourselves and the trainer and they did have fun. I think it helped some to just have some non class time where Mia could spend some time around the trainer without working. Summer of course thinks the trainer is the best. thing. ever. and tries to get in her lap and lick her all over.
Then last night Mia would just not settle down. She had a tennis ball and kept shoving it in this little open area under the portable stairs to the bed. She'd get it stuck in there and then pitch a fit when she couldn't get it back out. So I took it out and tried to go to sleep. It was 1 am about this time and she rolled the ball back up under there and started cryibng again. I tried waiting her out. I tried distracting her and getting her to go to sleep. Almost 1 hour late I gave up, got up and gave her the ball because she just wouldn't shut up. She carried it over to me and put it down next to me then curled up and fell asleep. So I slept with a tennis ball last night. *sigh*
I'm just really down because I caught myself thinking yesterday 'I shouldn't have gotten this dog, I should have just gotten something else'. It broke my heart that I caught myself thinking that because I just adore this dog.
Our homework this week is to take Mia around to stores and just have random strangers feed her.
Training is going with her this week but not well. I cannot figure out what is going on here. She will do the obstacles, she will do the commands EXCEPT for sit and down. I feel like a crap trainer. In the event I can get her to actually sit, she'll stay and hold it like a pro as I walk around. Getting her to actually sit or down though is ridiculous. This is something we've been doing since I got her and it's now out the window.
It's not training though that is getting me down. I just feel she's regressed a lot as far as fear around strangers. I'm not even sure why this is happening. My trainer seems to be Mia's least favorite person on the planet, which doesn't help. We've had weeks of her just feeding Mia and trying to establish a positive connection. Mia follows her around, tail wagging now but if my trainer even just looks at her, mia shies.
I took Mia and Summer both out to the agility field last night by ourselves and the trainer and they did have fun. I think it helped some to just have some non class time where Mia could spend some time around the trainer without working. Summer of course thinks the trainer is the best. thing. ever. and tries to get in her lap and lick her all over.
Then last night Mia would just not settle down. She had a tennis ball and kept shoving it in this little open area under the portable stairs to the bed. She'd get it stuck in there and then pitch a fit when she couldn't get it back out. So I took it out and tried to go to sleep. It was 1 am about this time and she rolled the ball back up under there and started cryibng again. I tried waiting her out. I tried distracting her and getting her to go to sleep. Almost 1 hour late I gave up, got up and gave her the ball because she just wouldn't shut up. She carried it over to me and put it down next to me then curled up and fell asleep. So I slept with a tennis ball last night. *sigh*
I'm just really down because I caught myself thinking yesterday 'I shouldn't have gotten this dog, I should have just gotten something else'. It broke my heart that I caught myself thinking that because I just adore this dog.
Our homework this week is to take Mia around to stores and just have random strangers feed her.