A.J. and I had an interesting encounter on our walk this evening. This encounter would have given a heart attack to the nervous dog walker we met up with several weeks ago. But to be fair, it would have given a heart attack to a lot of people. Continue reading “A.J. Stays Calm”
Tag: reactive
A.J. Ignores Me
June 26, 2015
We had another bad deer encounter last night. We were walking through the neighborhood. We were out late because it was a very hot day, so it was almost dark outside. Suddenly a deer went running across the street about 30 yards ahead of us. Continue reading “A.J. Ignores Me”
A.J. Relapses
June 23, 2015
A.J. had a major relapse on our walk today. The whole incident was pretty ugly, but not entirely because of A.J. Continue reading “A.J. Relapses”
A.J. and the Three Little Girls
June 25, 2014
Today didn’t start out as a great day, but it ended just about as good as it gets.
We had to walk early this morning because today was a volunteer day. That means I had to get up at 6:30 to take A.J. out. He was pulling a lot on the leash. I tried to correct him, but I wasn’t doing a great job, he just kept trying to pull a little. Then we saw a dog coming with a jogger, Continue reading “A.J. and the Three Little Girls”
Back and Forth and Back and Forth, and a Bad Dream
May 8, 2014
I’d been making some really good progress with A.J. Two days after Jerry was here there was another track meet at the school. There were tons of people, kids, and dogs. A.J. walked through all of it right by my side. We stopped and he let a woman pet him. When we got through the crowd Continue reading “Back and Forth and Back and Forth, and a Bad Dream”
A.J. is the Bestest Boy!
April 28, 2014
“I have the bestest dog in the whole world!”
That’s what I said to Greg when A.J. and I got back from our walk this morning. A.J. spent most of the walk distracted by birds, and he still isn’t heeling well at all. But…
We were walking down the street and a man was on the other side of the street coming towards us. He had two big dogs. As we got closer Continue reading “A.J. is the Bestest Boy!”
The Best Walk!
April 21, 2014
We had the best walk this morning! We reached the end of the street and turned the corner, and there was a man across the street walking his big yellow lab. We got closer and the man and I said “hello,” and…that was it. A.J. would take a quick look at the dog, then look away. Look, look away. We went by with absolutely no incidents at all.
After that we saw two ducks on the sidewalk. Continue reading “The Best Walk!”
Another Bad Day, More Boot Camp for A.J.
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, Continue reading “Another Bad Day, More Boot Camp for A.J.”
Seeing Some Slow Progress
April 15, 2014
It’s been a full week since we started A.J.’s new training. Some of it has gone really well, but we still have a long way to go. So far it hasn’t been the miracle turnaround Jerry had predicted. I’ve taken A.J. out to the trail on a busy road and he’s watched bicycles go by without lunging or throwing a tantrum. We’ve walked in the vicinity of some dogs and have been okay. But we also walked past a dog that he completely flipped out over. Today we saw a cat, Continue reading “Seeing Some Slow Progress”
A.J. Goes to Boot Camp
April 9, 2014
Yesterday we started with a new trainer. I told our current trainer, Mary, that while A.J. had made great improvements in focus and basic obedience, we’d made no progress on being able to walk down the street. It was time to try something different. So Mary referred us to Jerry at Northwest K9. Jerry trains police dogs. That sounded great to me, Continue reading “A.J. Goes to Boot Camp”
AJ the Springer 