We worked a lot on distractions today. Sophia loves playing with Sinbad and loves playing ball (even balls that are bigger than she is). She's still taking a lot of encouragement to come off of distractions but with a little more practice, she'll be as quick anything.
She even had more of a distraction today when a new friend, Omi, who came to visit. This is a perfect opportunity for me to teach her to come when there are new distractions. She's in a small enough area where I know, if she doesn't come when I call her, I can get to her quickly and help her follow through by putting a treat to her nose, wiggling the treat, and moving backwards.
But she's so good, she comes even when there is a big distraction like Omi right next to her. Good girl!
We've been working on some grooming and handling as well. A lot of dogs do not like to have their feet handled and don't care for some grooming. It's good to get them used to it early on to make future grooming sessions and vet visits go more smoothly. I am slowly getting her use to having her teeth brushed. She's not so found of having her ears brushed but she's getting better. I trimmed up her nails a little bit and she did excellent! This is usually one of the harder things for a dog to accept but Sophia was a gem! I gave her lots of praise and an occasional treat for being such a good girl during her nail trim.
Today she touched the bells on the door with her nose. Good girl! She still hasn't quite associated that with going outside but I put her leash on and took her out anyway. I'm going to be sure to only take her out to toilet when she rings the bells so she doesn't learn to ring them when she wants to go out to play. She is doing great toileting on the parking strips. If she gets distracted, I lightly tug on her leash and remind her of the task at hand by saying "go potty." I again caught her starting to go to the bathroom in the house and was able to stop her and take her outside where she was praised when she toileted appropriately. She's getting nice clear messages about what is appropriate and what is not.
More tomorrow....
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