April 17, 2014

We had our second session at boot camp (Northwest K9) today.  A.J. got a lot of really nasty pops. But let’s go back a bit to the way we started our day.

Get up in the morning, time to go for a walk. We head down the street on our usual morning route. When we first walked out the gate we saw someone walking two dogs. They were a full house up the street and going the other way, and A.J. ignored them nicely. We head down the street and around the corner. When we get to the next corner, the person with the two dogs is coming towards us. Normally I would turn around and avoid them, but I decide today that we’re marching forward. Bad idea. One of the dogs flipped out, so A.J. flipped out. A.J. didn’t respond to my corrections other than leaping into them to lessen them. I was so angry and discouraged that I just took him straight home. I walked into the house, told Greg I didn’t want to talk about it, fed A.J., then went to take a shower.

I spent the morning feeling sorry for myself. Then we went back to see Jerry.

We talked a lot. We did a lot of work. We had A.J. in sit stays, and he actually did remarkably well. I had to correct him several times. A couple of times he lunged at Jerry’s dog and I had to do some major corrections. I really hate this. Jerry suggested I get Greg’s help so we could get some more muscle into the corrections. I explained the whole idea of bringing my big strong man in to help me goes against my whole being. But I did acknowledge that Greg really should participate in the training; Greg and I had already talked about that.

So we had a good, productive session, and set up our next one for a time Greg can participate. Jerry and his wife are actually going to come to our house, which is incredibly nice of them. But it gives us a chance to work in the areas where A.J. has been having his problems, rather than just in Jerry’s backyard.

So, another walk tomorrow morning where we’ll try to have a better morning than today.