Two days left

 

The Prisoner voices his opinion of the paver patio space.

Just two days left for Ember to wear the suit.  Thursday, we did not make it to walkies without a biting incident, but it was of lesser intensity, and I could clearly see that she was trying to strip both the Band-Aids and my watch off of my hands and arms.  I have become a toy in her doggy little mind that needs to have its tags removed.  

Over the course of the day, she succeeded in the bandage removal mission 3 times.  She's only EVER managed to strip my watch off once, and that's been some time back.  She also goes after Carl's collar... for that matter, any other dog's collar.  Seems to be a bit of an obsession, probably dating back to littermate puppy tumbling.

I put Ember outside briefly so that I could replace the bandages and put on my sleeves before we went out on our morning walk.

One morning win was that she ate her breakfast, some from my hand, some from the dish I put into the bigger crate.  I always feel better when she's got food in her belly before the morning walk.  

Slowly, slowly.  Progress, not perfection.  Dog training is really not that different from any other endeavor that involves educating another being.  Including ourselves.

She went into her crate without complaint about quarter to eight, and was in until about 10:30 a.m. when I got back from my workout.  We played "ItsYerChoice" with the banana as usual, which is a good exercise for right out of the crate.  I've been trying to introduce some other games, now that she's recovering well, and has only two days left in the suit.

I did a little toss the toy (not quite fetch), and a little bit of tug before "lunch".  And she ate some of her leftover breakfast kibble after she had her "salad".  She earned her pig's ear.  We did some outside play, too, including her rolling her garbage can.  I introduced it as an agility training / teething toy some time back.

She wound down while I boiled the eggs and peeled them, then played one last round of "ItsYerChoice" with half of one of the eggs before putting her away for puppy nap #2.

After that nap it was warm out, 85℉, but we still went outside to take care of business, and for a late afternoon walk.  She spent about five minutes digging at her ant hole, and I let her do so.  She ate supper from my hand, and went in for the duration about 4:30 p.m.  When I went down to put the eyedrops in at 7:23 p.m., she was snoozing, curled up in her smaller crate.

Life is good.  Spark on!