Yesterday I was driving home from a private lesson, just trashed. Tired. Fighting a cold. I really, really wanted a nap. But when I pulled in, I saw Laev in her kennel, bored out of her mind because I’d been gone.
Guilt.
So I pushed back the nap and took Laev and a toy out to the agility field. We tugged, she ran, we played with a tunnel and a jump. I went back to the teeter she hasn’t seen in a few months and re-taught it, using only a tug toy as reinforcer (no click, just a verbal marker, and no food). We played some more.
I never got my nap before my next class, but she shared some of her energy with me and I did okay. 🙂
Tonight’s dinner was funny. I was prepping the dogs’ buckets and asked them to lie down. Two complied, but for some reason Laev didn’t want to lie down in the kitchen, but kept circling around the island. I asked nicely twice; no response. So I fed the older dogs right there in the kitchen. (Inky made a mess of the floor, but that’s a small price to pay for training.)
Laev panicked. “They’re eating without me! Where’s my food?” She rushed into the kitchen, looked at the other dogs, circled, and finally looked at me. I cued a down. She did, staring worriedly at the disappearing food, and then back at me. I rewarded by cuing, “Kennel!” and she ran to get in her crate for dinner.
Silly dog will down more quickly next time. 🙂
