t-15 days!

"It's gonna get me, Mom!" Prada shied carefully away from the floor fan in Burlington Coat Factory, a household wares and clothing department store in one of the malls near where we live. My friend and I had gone to the mall for a cool place to work Prada during the heat of a late July afternoon. The whirring fan with its strange, unnatural wind unnerved Prada a bit but not to an extent that she ran me into things. She just didn't want to walk next to it too closely. (We had had a similar experience with a bag of woodchips set into a gutter in a neighborhood where Mom and I had walked the morning before so i wasn't surprised. I told her it was ok and to hup-up and she done). Next fan we came across she got a little braver and sniffed it. I was about to give her a correction for sniffing on the job when she jumped backwards, whuffling furiously at the fan and tugging me gently away from it. "It got me!" No blood, no lost fur, she just got scared by the vibration of the grating that protected us from the blades.
She actually put her nose on the fan casing, and the vibrations bothered her enough that ever since then we give floor fans a VERY wide berth.

Prada and I went to an outdoor baptismal service yesterday. As the church operating the event was Baptist there was, of course, the requisite potluck involved. Fortunately for the attendees the area where the potluck and most of the service (all but the dunking) took place in a grassy, lightly-treed area with lots of shade and a wonderful breeze. It was warm but not unbearable up there and I don't think anyone got sick from the boatloads of potato salad present. How does one take a dog guide through a potluck line? By heeling the dog behind you. Now, having previously owned another dog and being familiar with dogs' nose-habits I must confess to not entirely trusting Prada to keep her long sniffer off the tables. I really needn't have worried, though. Every time I glanced back at her, alarmed by a twitch on the leash, I discovered her only intention at the time was to get rid of the gentle leader I had put on her earlier to prevent her from visiting while working! This has done quite a bit to boost my confidence in my dog's training. She hasn't begged once since I got her and only investigates tables and counters where things are moving.
I have since decided that potlucks with dog guides are just too much work.  Without the dog, you need one hand to hold the plate and one hand to serve.  That does not leave a hand for the dog.  I tried putting her leash over my wrist, but if she jerks for any reason (a tail getting stepped on, for example), then whoops!  There goes the plate!  So, at buffets and potlucks, I usually commission a friend or family member to go through the line for me, or leash Prada to a chair and then go sighted-guide through the line.  Really, I just need a prosthetic hand!

On day on a walk Mom bent down to show me a caterpillar crawling across the path at our favorite walking spot, the Oregon Gardens. I put my hand down to let the little guy crawl onto my hand to better observe him, and Prada's ears flicked forward. Food? Given that she had pulled her shepherdly trick of not eating this weekend while we stayed over at a friend's house for a night I am not at all surprised she looked at the little critter as crunchable. When I held the caterpillar I told her to sit. Sit she did, but salivated the entire time, eyes glued to the little crawly bug. Eventually I let the traumatized creature crawl along its merry way and took Prada away so it could crawl to safety off the path.
She ate all her dinner that night.  I am of the opinion that if she doesn’t eat, she must not be hungry (unless other symptoms of distress appear).  She is welcome to be as picky as she wants to, I’m not going to vary her eating schedule or the amount of work we do based on her picky habits.

On a more serious note...also while at the Gardens this morning I ended up giving Prada a two-handed correction for sniffing bushes on the job (she has a bush distraction?) and she yipped at me! I'd never made her yip before, though Bryan did once while in training. He explained to me after doing so that he hadn't hurt her at all, it was more of a 'oh shoot! I got caught!' yip. As soon as she returned to my side and did what I had originally asked her to do I knelt down and gave her quite profuse praise, including a bellyscratch-on-the-go (apparently it's possible to scratch while puppy is standing). She performed almost flawlessly for the rest of the day and seemed somewhat more cheerful about working with me. Have I made a tiny little breakthrough? Another step towards our bond? I hope so. Keep praying!

Dogs are like toddlers; they want to know you are watching.  Every so often Prada will goof off and act distracted and makes mistakes in our work just to make sure I’m paying attention.  When I correct her, she shapes up.  About every six months or so I have to give her a yip-worthy correction, and she feels more confident in her boundaries and responsibilities with this role-reinforcement.  And every time I give her a yip-worthy correction, I always make sure to reinforce the improved behavior with lots and lots and lots of praise and affection.  It’s good for both of us to re-establish this relationship J