Board and Train: Storm, Day 4

Day 3 was a huge success for Storm. She started some confidence-building exercises, she met new people and stayed calm, and she was introduced to a flirt pole – which she absolutely loved.

Later in the day, we filled up the puppy pool, and Storm had a blast “digging” the water, “biting” at the water as it came out of the sprayer on the hose, and finally, dragging out and playing with a small log that was hidden behind one of the apple trees. She got some contact time with Glimmer and Violet, and she did an excellent job controlling her intensity. Glimmer actually shared space with her because of it, and that was just wonderful. Violet is still showing her who the boss is, and Storm is still too curious and too intense for her own good, but she’s trying, and that’s what matters.  She doesn’t want to hurt Violet; she wants to play with her. She play-bows and she barks at Violet, but she isn’t understanding that Violet doesn’t speak “dog”. Violet is allowing her to share space now, though, and that’s real progress.

The only downside to yesterday was that she had three in-house accidents. But those accidents were not her fault; they were mine. She did alert me that she had to go; I just failed to read her in time. Still, she does need to learn a better, much clearer alert so that her people will have no doubt about when she needs to go. They’re a busy family; they don’t have time to constantly watch for the signals Storm currently gives.

Today is Day 4 of Storm’s stay with me, and she’s been making excellent progress. We still have to work on walking nicely on a loose leash, as well as other basics, but overall, I’m very pleased with her progress. She did eat too much grass yesterday and was sick this morning, so she’ll be on light work today, and no food treats.

Have a great day, and remember: Stay calm and lead on…