Keli's Korner ~ The Westie and The Wauzer

Previously: Week One , Week Two , Week Three I've neglected to report on the past few weeks' training sessions . . . except for each week's class topic, they have pretty much been more of the same -- Penny barks a lot, but will do anything for a treat from the instructor. In the fourth session, we learned about Loose Leash Walking combined with Take It and Leave It, Come when called, and Stay. Loose Leash Walking is still a work in progress, even for Keli, so Penny is making slow progress in that area. Fortunately for me, she weighs less than 15 lbs. so I can control her when she pulls. But she does comprehend the idea of "Leave It" -- when we find something icky on the street while we're walking, she'll sniff, but will continue walking when I tell her to leave it. We'll keep working on that one with both Westies, probably forever. Surprisingly, Stay was not that difficult for her -- as long as there is a treat involved. Come when called was par...

Yesterday was April Fool's day and although we didn't plan to play any jokes on anyone else, it felt as though we were being pranked! My plan for yesterday was to get out of the house in the early afternoon to take Keli and Penny for a walk around the neighborhood and maybe practice some of Penny's training homework along the way. Later, I planned to take Penny "shopping" for one of our socializing excursions to Petco or PetSmart, and Keli could take a nice nap while we were gone. I hoped to be home by mid-afternoon so I could do the many loads of laundry and other "housework" before 7:00 so I could relax and watch the Mets second game of the season. In preparation for our walk, I packed the usual supplies including cheese for reward treats. When Keli saw that I had her walking leash in my hands, she was very eager to get going, and circled the table twice in anticipation before I could hook her up. Penny always is enthusiastic about anything having ...

There is a video embedded in this post : Keli doesn't know how much fun she's missing! -- Penny

Previously: Week One , Week Two Penny was well enough to attend the third training class last night. We had quite a busy day before that -- in the morning we went to our vet for the second part of her Lyme vaccine. This time she was treated by Dr. Shea, who chooses to believe Penny is named for her and not the stadium, since she is a Yankee fan. (Penny's "official" name is Penelope Shea; we are fans of the Mets and wanted to honor the stadium's final season when we re-named her. During the visit I also learned that a certain manager of our favorite team brings his dogs to the same veterinary practice.) Before Dr. Shea was ready to give Penny the vaccine, her assistant noticed a tick had attached itself to Penny's neck. I don't know how I missed it -- I brushed her very thoroughly the night before. I was grateful they found it and removed it, because I know it would have been extremely difficult for me to do it, even if I had help. Then it was time for...

Previously: Week One A day before our second training session, Penny started have "accidents" in the house. We had been doing a pretty good job with house training up to that point; a #1 accident now and then but no #2's in a while. But this didn't look right either, so we called our vet and had some tests done. It turns out she had giardia . Penny tested positive for giardia when we first brought her home and she had been treated with one type of medicine for a week. We were a couple of days past the date for re-testing her when the accidents started up. This time she received another type of medication, and hopefully that will clear it up. We decided it would be a good idea if Penny stayed home for our second training class, since she wasn't really in control of herself and we didn't want to expose any other dogs. So I went by myself. And you know what? She isn't the only barker in class. I just didn't notice it the first week. For week t...

Last night Penny & I went to our 3rd training session. We really like our instructor and the other dogs and people in our class. I am sure that Penny has made an impression on them as well. She is the problem child -- the one who can't sit still, can't stop talking, and has to be the class clown. She barked so much last night she was sent to the "bad girl" room to learn to be quiet. It's lucky she's cute. I haven't gotten around to posting Penny's Introduction yet, but as background information, we adopted her when she was about 4.5 months old. Her original owners gave her up because she barked too much. And she spent a couple of weeks at a shelter before coming home with us. I don't remember her barking too much the first few days she was with us . . . but at our first visit to the vet, as soon as she entered the waiting room it was non-stop, ear splitting, excited barking directed at strangers and even worse, at other dogs. Penny needed...