Let sleeping dogs lie

Or "Sit" or "Bow".

Training sessions have started for Bonney. She fairly food-motivated, which is really helpful when teaching a dog. I clicker train and the sound was a new experience for her, but now she lives to hear the clicker and get the treat.

The first thing I teach new dogs is "sit". Bonney just would not put her bottom down. One time when she was getting tired of not being able to get the treat that was in my hand, she backed up and did a semi-bow. CLICK! & treat. I wanted to give her a treat for a sit, but figured any desirable behavior warranted a reward.

After being rewarded for her bow, I could see the wheels in her brain turning as she figured out what was going on. In a minute or two, she again bowed as she looked towards the treat in my hand. Click&treat! Now she understood and turned into a "bow machine", doing better and better bows, until she had a perfect bow with elbows on the floor and butt in the air.

A few days of passed with her only offering up a bow. But my default required behavior is a sit. Every dog must sit before treats, meals, and other things they want. So a sit was my goal for her. I tried many different things to coax her to lower her bottom. Nothing worked. Someone suggested that I watch for her to sit at other times during the day and C&T when she does sit. So I watched and finally was able to catch the moment and treat. I think she knew immediately what she had done to earn the treat. Now, she will either sit or bow when she sees me with treats.

Today after a little thought she laid down to see if that would earn a treat. Smart gal!! I love it when a dog thinks on their own and offers up behaviors on their own.

Beautiful Bonney

What can a person do when they know a dog is in an outdoor pen on a day of storms and tornadoes, and the night's forecast is more storms and wind? This is the predicament we had last Friday. We had been notified of a rattie who was pulled from the Humane Society by rescue volunteers, who pulled her to keep her from being put-to-sleep. Because there was no other place for her, she was put in an outdoor tarp-covered pen. She had been there almost a week and I was scheduled to go see her on Saturday morning. But plans changed when hubby and I wondered if she were wet from the day's storms and we couldn't stand the thought of her spending a cold, wet night in that pen. So Friday night we took the hour drive to go get her. She and a friend were dry and sleeping when we pulled up.

She was puzzled on the ride back home. But once "home", she made herself right at home, greeting us and the dogs with friendly tail wags, and immediately jumping up onto the sofa. After a warm bath and towel dry, she settled down for a rest.

Bonney's name is taken from "Bonita" which means 'beautiful'. Even if she's not the most beautiful dog physically, she is beautiful in heart and personality. She's loving, sweet, friendly, and a really great gal. She has a wonderfully happy disposition and is a joy to have around. Little Bonney likes taking on the job of "Lap Dog", filling the vacancy that was opened up when Comet left.