Peach, Day 1: “Do Nothing”

Day 1 was quite eventful for Miss Peach. Not only did she have to work for her food, she also started to learn that no means no, and bullying means a loss of privileges. I had client lessons today, so my husband dog-sat for me. He told me Peach wouldn’t leave Glimmer alone despite Glimmer clearly showing her she didn’t want to play. The consequence my husband gave Peach was to remove her from the living room for a short time and deny her any kind of attention. He had to do this with her several times, and each time, she went straight to Glimmer and wouldn’t leave her alone.

When I arrived home after my last client lesson, Peach surprised me by working very hard to restrain her excitement, to give me space to get in the door, and then, to keep her feet on the floor while she greeted me. I was very proud of her for that; impulse control is extremely difficult for her.

Supper time went smoothly. The meal ritual was done via live feed on my Facebook page. Peach did an awesome job of working for her food; she sat nicely, she gave me focused eye contact, and she took her food very nicely from my hand. And, instead of trying to take the bowl like she did at breakfast, Peach was very good about leaving the bowl alone and giving me space when I held it. It was a big step for her; she only arrived last night, and already, she’s offering respect and making a real effort to control herself. I am very, very pleased with this.

I am happy to report that so far, Peach has had no in-house accidents. I’m still trying to figure out what her “tell” is so that her success with house breaking continues. For now, I’m just taking her out every few hours; she’s also taken out for a potty before she goes to bed for the night.

Last night, Peach discovered that when it’s bedtime, it’s kennel time, and no amount of vocalizing will get her out. I’m hoping that lesson stuck and she’ll bed down in the kennel more easily tonight. For now, Peach is doing a phenomenal job of practicing the “do nothing” exercise: She’s actually passed out on the office floor, snoring like a freight train. LOL 😀

Tomorrow, she gets her first lesson in behaving herself when I take her to Pisces to have her fitted for a new martingale collar. I have a feeling it’s going to be a very interesting event…