Yippee.

We have power again. Who knew a hurricane could hit Ohio and knock out all our trees. Which knocked out all our power. We have just gone 5 days without an electricity and let me tell you, it was not pretty. My parents are still in the dark. It is very quiet and lonely. I feel for them and hope theirs comes on soon. Mike is also without power and I think he is probably about to go insane with the two kids at home.

I tried sleeping on the first floor in the guest room, but Piper totally wigged. She couldn't understand what we were doing. She likes to understand. In fact, I think she likes to be in control. But it is all over now. While the power was out, we had lots of time to walk around and meet the neighbors. It was great socializing for Piper.

Today we had a lesson with Wendy and we worked on tracking. I think Piper is really going to enjoy this. No one has to touch her.

The photo is from the Corey lake vacation. Piper again loved the water. It was like having a Newfie up there. I couldn't keep her out of the water. She loves swimming. I don't think all shelties do. Any thoughts on that from other sheltie people?

I am going to go enjoy the rest of my evening with lights and sounds. I would like to ask all to say a little prayer for Hex of Obay shelties. http://obayshelties.blogspot.com/

Piper in the Topiary Garden

On Monday, Piper and I had a lesson with Wendy. We got a brown bag lunch and had a picnic in the Topiary Garden downtown before starting. It was wonderful. Piper didn't beg or try to steal food either. It must have been because Wendy was there. She was on her best behavior.

Piper enjoyed herself and didn't seem nervous at all. She was hot though, as evidenced by her tongue and panting. But she was very solid on her sit-stays, giving the perfect opportunities for photos. I took a ton, but the one of Piper was the best one. The other one is of some of the topiaries in the garden. The photos don't do it justice. It is a very beautiful park.

Piper's attention is coming along and Wendy says once she masters that, the heeling will follow. She walks well on the leash, but she could be better. At least you could tell that I had worked on her social skills, she was not stressed at all. I think she is beginning to enjoy her adventures.

The social quest continues

Piper continues her quest for social skills. On 7/30 we visited Petsmart and Barnes and Noble. Piper has been to Petsmart often and she was great this time. Until a young boy tried to pound, um... I mean pet her on the head. She doesn't like that from anyone. She backed away and the boy thought she was mean. Of course, his mother didn't correct him and also didn't give him any guidance as to how to approach a dog. The situation was remedied by giving the boy a treat to give to Piper. Piper graciously and gently took the treat and I thanked the boy.

Off we went across the street to Barnes and Noble. That is where the drama returned. Piper was complaining and shaking when we parked the car. She had never been to this area before and obviously I have stumbled upon her Achilles heel. So we got out of the car, thankfully Piper is mild mannered and small enough to lift. We slowly walked around the car and she was allowed to sniff and get used to the area. She was improving until we passed a trash can with a liner that was blowing in the wind. Piper lost her mind. It was like the can was going to kill her. We continued walking and she relaxed once she was out of striking range from that monster trash can. We made it to the front of the store and were able to train. Piper was back to her old self and did a great job with attention and sit-stays. I was impressed. When we passed the trash can to leave, she didn't even notice it.

Now that I know her issue, we will be hitting the town looking for new places to challenge her.

I am open for suggestions!

The Diva dog has diminished

Piper returned to Obedience class tonight and she was much less of a Diva. More like a Queen. She was more social and paid more attention to me. I was finally able to get her attention for a minute during her sit stay. She also took treats by the end. As usual, she was friendly enough with Belinda and Bill.
I think she can learn to tolerate new things, but she will always be headed for the door. Which is what she did during her recall. And that was one of her strong exercises. I don't know where she thinks she is going, but she was bound and determined to get out of there.
I am off tomorrow, so we will work on her training in a new spot. Hopefully, she won't be too much of a Queen.
I don't have picture of her in class, so I put up a picture of Truman. He is standing there with his favorite toy, the ball. He loves to herd it all over the yard with his nose. I have two of those balls at my house ( one for Collin and one for Piper ) and he nearly strokes when he comes over. He doesn't know which one to herd. I wonder what he would do with a bunch of sheep?
My friend Wendy will be hearing about her potential new puppy on Thursday. Let's all say a little prayer that he grows a pair, if you know what I mean.

Piper's Weekend Homework

Hi all.
Piper continues her training. This weekend, Wendy gave us the assignment to train in a public place. She suggested a parking lot. So when Holly and did our weekly splurge at the Dairy Queen, we took the dogs too. Mom and Dad and Denise also joined us. Mom was not pleased about her furry grandchildren being out in a parking lot so close to the main road. But all was fine.
Piper and I worked on her attention and she was actually better than I thought. She was paying more attention to me than the people and the cars. There was a lot of activity, but she was very hungry. So the treats were the key. I had her attention for several seconds and almost had it during heeling. She was able to watch the treat in my hand and I think we are very close to moving the treat up so she learns to watch me. I enclosed a photo of her from the parking lot to prove to Wendy that we were there. I really didn't paint that yellow line on my drive way either.
Holly and Truman continue their training. They worked on socializing, which is pretty easy for Truman. He is a very social guy. Piper is fine to have people ignore her, but she was social with a few people. An accomplishment for her.
We are off on Tues and will be returning to class. I hope she is happy about being there this time.

Back in class

It has been a long time since I posted and I regret that. But I am back and there will be a lot to write about for a while.

Piper is back taking obedience classes with Belinda and Bill. She was not pleased with this idea. Her first night back and she acted like a spoiled little diva. She would not even face me and she did very little that I asked. Fortunately, it was not a total loss. She was social and friendly with the other people and dogs. This behavior was personal.

But I got my schedule change for work so we can attend Tuesdays class. Hopefully she will be better. We trained yesterday and she was pretty decent. At least the diva attitude was not as obvious. So Wendy gave us the assignment of going everywhere and working on attention. I will try to post about that as much as possible. Wendy is helping us get ready to compete in the specialty in Atlanta next spring. Hopefully, Piper will do better than Quincy did at his specialty in Dallas. Honestly, she couldn't do worse. Unless she eats a judge.

I'm off to work on attention.

Happy Mother's Day

Here is a photo of the chicken I knitted for my mom for Mother'sDay. Yes, it is knitted and it didn't take that long. Only about two weeks. There were lots of little parts, but all were easy. It was a hit!

Piper is about to finish her first round of obedience classes and I am very sad about it coming to an end. I hope Belinda will offer more classes this summer. I will take any class she offers. Anything to get Piper out there and socialized. And any class that will build her confidence and improve her shyness.