Stella

Stella - Training Photos, Videos and Updates

Pawsitive Notes - Tracking Stella's Milestones

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6/1 - The girls are settling in! Stella seems to be fully comfortably now and even opened up to engage in play with me this morning. We had a blast with me trying to touch her paws and her running around me, play bowing and gently nosing my hands. I'm completely in love with her! Coco is taking a bit longer to show all the signs of settling in. She's still nervous to go potty at times and is picking at her food throughout the day. The one area that she hasn't skipped a beat has been in getting love and affection from Mark and myself. She's such a sweet girl! It hasn't been overbearing either. Very sweet and appropriate in her attention seeking thus far. But, that could change as she gets more comfortable. Usually, training concerns will start showing more and more as the pups get more comfortable with the new environment. All in all, they are doing well and are completely adored!
6/3 - Stella and Coco got out in the run with Drogo over the past couple of days and have done well in their interactions with him. Stella is even attempting to engage in some play with the big grey dog.
6/4 - Stella and Coco got out with a new pack buddy, Coup. Stella was over the moon excited to have a new friend to play with!
6/5 - Stella and Coup continue to build confidence in their play! Stella was a bit of a Tazmanian initially with her walks. She kept trying to pull ahead or off to the side and even attempted to cut me off and pull to the opposite side she was walking on, resulting in a couple of near tripping accidents. She was walked on a prong collar and quickly learned, as she corrected herself with each dart and dash, that there was a comfort zone within which to walk. Each self correction came with a verbal correction from me to "Heel" or sometimes with a verbal "Tsch" or "Ugh-ugh" to proceed the "Heel". These are to help her associate the word or sound with the correction, so that you can forewarn her, without correction, that she is getting close to being outside of that zone. She started to catch on to the concept as a whole fairly quickly. We still have work to do to finesse those walking skills, but she's been incredibly responsive thus far. With this next week, we'll be able to practice and reinforce these skills! We had clients arrive to pick up their dog today, right when I arrived back from walking Stella, so I wasn't able to get an after shot to show you how proud she was of herself. She's so stinkin' cute! I just love her to pieces!
6/8 - Another good walk in the books. Stella is coming along and showing improvement in her walks. She is pulling less, but still has some work to do. Today she had a major challenge, something that is hard for most, if not all dogs, while walking. A couple of dogs charged their fence line, barking and lunging at us. Stella lost composure and barked and lunged back at them. She received a couple of corrections from Mark and then was able to regain composure, leave the other dogs alone and continue walking in the midst of their barking at her. This definitely needs practice and reinforcement, however.
6/9 - Stella's walking continues to improve every day! She is still doing a bit of pulling now and again, but is getting more comfortable in learning where the "heel" zone is. We passed numerous people and dogs, and pack walked with a new friend, Phyllis, today without any reactivity to anyone!
6/10 - Stella got a walk in with Coco today. She continues to improve at her heel, the prong collar helping immensely, but isn't perfect. She still needs reminders. She did lunge at another dog barking from it's yard today and received a correction as she wasn't listening to commands. Passing barking dogs is the hardest challenge for almost any dog, but she could certainly improve with her listening skills in these instances.
7/18/21 - Stella has been slowly warming up, and learning she can trust us. We have been allowing her to acclimate, and since she has not yet been open to social interactions with the other dogs, she has been enjoying quiet time with us in the training area.
7/21/21 - Stella got out for a successful walk! She did very well, although she did display some fear reactivity. She was very receptive to instruction, and showed an increase in confidence. She is also obsessed with the kiddie pool and the hose, and is enjoying water play!