Long time, same time

... meanwhile, Lily and Mommy have been upping the level of training so Lily will be less nutty on walks. Mostly she's very good, except when she sees another dog. She gets super excited, then goes ballistic.

Luckily, Mommy's hit upon the new Toast Trick: which is to pull out 1/3 piece of toast and sticking it in her mouth. Lily goes gaga for toast. She's ready to behave and quickly scurry home, no funny business, when she has toast.

We'll have to adjust her calories for that, tho.

In other big news, Mommy's rediscovered the Instagram app on her phone, and found it's easier to take pictures of Lily there.

So we'll be at:

https://www.instagram.com/lily.thepirate/

See you there!

(it was going to be princess lily, but all variations of that were taken. Besides, she's not really a princess. More like a THUG princess.)

Training 2.0

Lily goes batshit in the Doggyride, as if we're carting her off to the pound. So I'm taking her out in it in 1 minute increments.The setting up and dismantling takes up the most time. Once she's inside, she starts screaming her head off, ignoring the treats. 1 minute today. 2 minutes tomorrow.

Also setting it up behind my chair during the day with treats inside. Patience, patience, patience.

Week 1: Free run

One thing I said I wouldn't do for at least three months is a free run in the big field in the park. But this morning, during our hour-long morning jog, I figured, better find out how good her recall is in a manageable space.

It's away from immediate roads, and surrounded by woodsy park trails.

She ran, I ran, I ran in the other direction, called her, she stopped, came back. We did four to five sprints and recalls before I called a stop. A bit risky, but she was very good. It helps that every time she comes to me she gets love and praise. We're checking out a more secure free-run area for regular training.

Plus, this morning, she had half a boiled egg while we did breakfast training. This won't sort out her solid poo any time soon, but she's getting 20% of her meals in human grade food (chicken, eggs, ground beef, sardines), ultimately working up to 50% balanced real food diet (plus calcium etc).

The vet's closed over the weekend, so we're making an appointment on Monday.

[Tired dog is a happy dog: we brought the spare double mattress downstairs for her to plop down on]

Day3: some rhythm, some fail, mostly good

She escaped the higher barrier by squeezing through the cracks,  and jumping up to the chair.

I have to remember: Lily's a tough little survivor.

No accidents in the house,  though.

We started out this morning with a pee/poo, followed by a gentle  3.5k jog to siphon off her morning energy, then came home to a brushing session in the patio,  while she tried to figure out where the baby was. (4 stories up)

Then I shook out and beat all the cushions,  blankets, and throws, then vaccumed the house. She's okay with the vacuum cleaner,  but prefers to watch from the sofa.

We did a breakfast training session with Canagan kibble. She doesn't get Sit yet, unless I crouch down with food in my hand. (Confusing signals. She's probably associating different things, like motion with Sit.)

Now she's being super mellow while I have some coffee.  Such a perfect wonder dog.

[ETA] pre noon walk was 6km run (jog, sprint, chase, powerwalk) through the park and back. We're settling in for a quiet afternoon. She doesn't know it, but there's a frozen Kong with her name on it.