Bailey's Progress Report

I don't even know where to start with this week. Bailey has had great days, and not so great days.

Training

Bailey is doing very well with her training. She's showing lots of progress with her "roll over" although, she still gets mixed up sometimes. When we try to get her to play dead, she'll sometimes roll all the way over after falling over. She does this after she's done the trick several times correctly. I'm not sure if she does it because she's bored or because she's confused. We're starting to let her on the patio without her leash sometimes now. She has done very well for the most part. She's not allowed to step off the pavers. They are mostly lined now. Our raised beds block her on one side (although there is an opening for a walkway) and bricks and plants line one side (eventually, bricks will line both sides). She is pretty good about not stepping off them. She did leave the patio one time on Saturday just to pee, then she came right back. Once I realized what she was doing, I let her go. I was so proud of her. Then...

Sunday, we decided to take her back out with us while we went to water and weed the garden. There were kids a row behind us playing in one of those small inflatable pools. She looked at them but she was fine, she was more interested in the water hose. Then...the dad picked up the pool to dump the water out. As soon as he started shaking it out she took off toward them. She thought it was play time. Josh chased after her and she REALLY thought it was play time then. I realized what was happening and yelled at him to stop. We called her to come and she came back to us, after running a few circles around us. We put her back in while we finished up outside. We still take her out with us, but we leave her leash attached so we have something to grab if she tries to run off. She hasn't shown any interest in trying to leave the patio since then, but the only distractions she's seen have been birds. We'll do this more gradually after Sunday! 

Bailey took her Star Puppy test yesterday! She passed with flying colors! We just have to send off for her certificate now. 


Here are the requirements:

20 STEPS To Success: The AKC S.T.A.R. Puppy^sm Test

S ocialization

T raining

A ctivity

R esponsibility

OWNER BEHAVIORS:

1. Maintains puppy’s health (vaccines, exams, appears healthy)

2. Owner receives Responsible Dog Owner’s Pledge

3. Owner describes adequate daily play and exercise plan

4. Owner and puppy attend at least 6 classes by an AKC Approved CGC Evaluator

5. Owner brings bags to classes for cleaning up after puppy

6. Owner has obtained some form of ID for puppy-collar tag, etc.

PUPPY BEHAVIORS:

7. Free of aggression toward people during at least 6 weeks of class

8. Free of aggression toward other puppies in class

9. Tolerates collar or body harness of owner’s choice

10. Owner can hug or hold puppy (depending on size)

11. Puppy allows owner to take away a treat or toy

PRE-CANINE GOOD CITIZEN^® TEST BEHAVIORS:

12. Allows (in any position) petting by a person other than the owner

13. Grooming-Allows owner handling and brief exam (ears, feet)

14. Walks on a Leash-Follows owner on lead in a straight line (15 steps)

15. Walks by other people-Walks on leash past other people 5-ft away

16. Sits on command-Owner may use a food lure

17. Down on command-Owner may use a food lure

18. Comes to owner from 5-ft when name is called

19. Reaction to Distractions-distractions are presented 15-ft away

20. Stay on leash with another person (owner walks 10 steps and returns)

The requirements for the Canine Good Citizen test are much more strict. We eventually plan on doing this too. If you do it as a puppy, you're supposed to re-test when your dog is an adult. Also, our trainer doesn't do the test until they're a year old anyway. And, most importantly...Bailey gets WAY too excited to sit still when a stranger pets her right now, we still have a long way to go for that! Until then, I'm so proud of our STAR Puppy!

The Upstairs Problem...Solved?

Bailey has continued to break into the upstairs. Our first solution was to move her larger crate to the foyer to block the stairs. I didn't think she would be able to move it. I was wrong! She's a strong, smart puppy. I'm still not exactly sure how she's been moving the crates, but we assume she's been pushing them with her front paws. We finally got a baby gate from Lowe's We put it at the top of the stairs, going to the 2nd floor. We were originally going to put it at the bottom of the first set of stairs, but we didn't want to drill into the stair banisters, drywall is MUCH easier to repair. She has open access to the stairs now, but the gate is doing well to keep her out so far! I'm SO glad we did this. She was chewing on the rug every day, so it is just horrible now. I'm still not going to get another one until she's more mature and I'm confident that she won't try to eat it. Rugs are expensive! 

Potty Training

Overall, we've had a lapse in this are this week. She went almost 2 entire weeks with no accidents! So disappointing. Bailey decided it would be a good idea to pee on the floor a little when she got scolded for jumping on me. In the past, she's peed when she's been mad at us. Spiteful little puppy! She did pee upstairs one day when she broke into the living room. Other than that she's been pretty good. She is pretty consistent about sitting at the top of the stairs to let us know when she needs to go out. She still doesn't bark or whine...we just know that look she gives us now. Haha. She used to sprinkle a little when we got home from work, even without us talking to her or petting her. She would just get so excited! She has gotten a LOT better about this in the past week or so. I will rub her head a little when we get home now. She has only sprinkled once in the past week...HUGE improvement!

Teething and Toys

Bailey is still teething and we're actually finding some of her teeth now. At first, we would notice new teeth in her mouth or blood on some of her toys, but she was eating the teeth. We've found 2 so far. I was playing with her on the floor one day when Josh noticed one of her bottom canines on my shirt. Earlier this week I noticed her bone was looking awful pink and that she had broken a piece of it off. When I went to take it away from her, I realized the piece was actually one of her molars that she was about to eat!  We gave her a new toy that I think is helping. It's rubbery so I'm sure it feels great on her gums. It's a squeaker that has lasted her for more than a few days so I'm excited about that. She kills the squeaker in most of her toys pretty quickly, then she just bites and bites on the toy trying to get it to squeak. I feel bad when that happens. Haha. It also bounces a LOT, so she loves chasing it. We're still giving her ice. It soothes her gums and she likes to play with it as well, the hard part is keeping her off the carpet.