Ok, well technically yesterday (fri) was her one week "home-iversary " and already I can see a big difference in her. She is gaining more confidence and is also learning how I operate. That doesn't always mean she agrees with me but she doesn't have to like it, she has to adjust. For example, on walks she is continuing to pull more and I continue to correct. We may have to switch to a different collar when walking so she regains respect for my commands. She isn't dragging me anywhere but I don't want it to get to that point.
In the house she is getting it but I can tell I need to find more ways of burning her energy whether it is putting her on a treadmill or learning how to bike with her (since roller blades aren't so great for my knees).
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| Leia decided to press her fur through the bars. |
- She eats about 5lbs of food a week (~20lbs per month)
- She generally pees twice a day and poops once
- She will demand attention, you have to demand space.
- She is uncertain about new situations, be certain and she will adjust
(but it can take a while)
We continue to establish boundaries and commands. She is learning more commands such as
- "Sit" - the basic sit down
- "down" - lie down
- "back" - which essentially translates to "back off, I want my space."
- "wait" - which translates to "we're pausing, you should too"
(this is also a safety command, and as we approach a point where we are going to cross a street I pause and give the "wait" command) - "come" - "we're moving now"
- "stay" - which means "wait here, I'll tell you when you can go"
- "alright" - which means "you are released from your stay"
- "Leave it" - which means "don't mess with that"
- "Out" - which means "Get out, you aren't allowed in here"
Also some of these have hand signals with them (especially sit, stay, back, out, and down.).
This may seem like a lot of commands but there is one command which is the nail in the coffin and can make her stop just about anything "eh!" This is our "no" command. It is one sharp direct command which translates to just about what it is "stop", "I don't think so", "you stop that right now", "I disapprove of what you are doing", or most simply "no!" When she hears this she is learning that she is in trouble and better just be quiet, back off, and stop whatever it was she was doing at the time.
Leia is still learning her name, what play is, how to entertain herself, and that just because I make eye contact doesn't mean "I really want to pet you right now." Don't get me wrong, sometimes I want to pet her, but when I do I'll let her know. Until then I should be able to look at her without her bulldozing my hand to get pets.
2:00 PM - I furminated Leia again. She was much more comfortable with it this time (last time we really only did her back, this time we got legs, tummy and neck.) and we got a LOT more excess fur. It's really the feathering on her back legs which is almost crimped. We spent about 15 min on it and she was loving it.
Then we went and got the mail and played a little bit on the tennis court (working on recall, which so far she is decent at {it isn't immediate but she lumbers over} and it isn't a game of "haha can't get my leash"). We'll work on making it a better recall [especially since my only reward was affection, which is good because at least I'll always have that with me].
I think she will like biking, if I can find a cheap bike. She was much more open to running with me today on the tennis court and kept a pretty good spacing. I'm hopeful that we can do that because I think it would be good for her health and mine.
Read our next chapter together! - Sunday Snake!
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