IAADP Weekly Training Requirements Week of 7/21/14

Age: 5 months
Week of: July 21 - 27, 2014  Total Hours (5 hrs on Site) + (1.5 hrs Outings)

Last week I wasn't doing well at all.  I don't have any explanation for how I managed not to keep up with the training, but I don't have the log for 7/14-7/20

Health:
- Got ill from the Petsafe Indigo Chews that came in her barkbox. She was better a couple of days later. They're sending a toy to make up for the fact she got so sick. I love those people...
- Elsa had excessive eye boogers from Sunday til Wednesday... they are still there, but the vet says it is allergies so we are just treating with benadryl
- Wednesday we went to the vet for a checkup.  She's 5 months, 1 week, and 36 pounds!!

Problems:
- Recently Elsa isn't receptive to her poop command and it caused her to poop in Petco!! I had given her the command before we went in and she just refused to listen.
- Still some nipping, but this seems to be getting better

Outings:
- Petco - 45 minutes

Socialization: 
- Idgie our foster dog came.  The two of them seem happy enough with each other.  Elsa rarely is bothered by other dogs.
- We went to the Hoover dog park twice

Obedience: 
- Lots of time is being spent polishing recall.

Service Dog Tasks: 
- We worked putting her paws on my chest from several different angles.  I can have her to either side or front of me and I will put my hand on my chest in a fist and she puts her paws up!  This is going to be her fake potty signal since she has taken to it so easily.

Manners: 
- NIPPING!! AUGH!

BarkBox Review: July 2014 Box "Day at the Beach"

Another month has flown by and here we are opening up BarkBoxes again!! This month we got two of the same box, so this will be the only review. As I said before, I enjoyed getting two different boxes last month. However, it is kind of neat to be able to have the same things for both the girls.

For those of you who do not know, BarkBox is a monthly subscription service starting at $29 that has a few treats and 1-2 toys a month inside.  You can buy a 3,6, or 12 month subscription at a discounted rate.  I also encourage you to use my referral link and get 10% off!  You can also add on an extra toy for $9/month if your dog is really toy oriented.

BarkBox has the absolute best customer service of any group I've ever met.  Every question I have is quickly answered, every concern I have is thoroughly addressed, and I never feel like they're brushing me off.  They also make it really easy to unsubscribe if you just decide it isn't working out for you.

It was really rainy this week, so we opened it inside!

Our "unboxing":

9" Straight Pizzle - $4

Elsa really enjoyed the pizzle stick.

Bixbi Daily Chicken Breast Jerky Treats - $10

These were really, really, really, really yummy.

1.75oz Mr. Barksmith's Pina Colada Smoothie - $2

I saved these for a day that they had gone running at the dog park for awhile.  They love frozen treats and these were gone impressively quickly. 

11" Plush Shark - $12 

She hasn't figured out the shark has a squeaker in it yet, but she still prances around with it like it's the best thing EVER!!

Petsafe Indigo Triple Chew - $11

These chews didn't set well with our puppies' stomachs. They got pretty sick, and it made me very nervous. Elsa recovered pretty fast. Britta had a harder time. I emailed BarkBox and they are sent us both replacement toys and even a new toy for my foster pup who should be here Friday, Idgie!

In conclusion, we pay $19/month for the boxes (I strongly urge you to buy a subscription and save up to $11/mo), and the box's contents are valued around $37.

Puppy Photos Week of 7/13

Morning Dog Park Fun

Britta loves my tub faucet.

Meet Idgie!  She is going to be my first foster dog... hopefully she will be here Friday!

Buying Idgie and Elsa Silly Bums.  Britta already has one that came in her BarkBox and Elsa always loves to play with it, so I decded it was time for her to have one too.

Winding down after a long day.

IAADP Training Requirements: Weekly Training Overview

Age:
Week of:
July 7 - 13, 2014  Total Hours (5 hrs on Site) + (2 hrs Outings)

Health: 

- Her ears smelled really bad a few days ago.  I was afraid it was a yeast infection, but the smell has gone away.  I will continue to monitor for a repeat.

Problems: 

- Some anxiety is cropping back up.

Socialization: 
- We Talk Dog daycare all day Monday!  They work with her on not jumping and appropriate socialization.
- Wednesday evening Elsa went with daddy and Britta to his game night/puppy playdate.
- Saturday we went to Hoover Dog Park then after to Brusters for puppy sundaes!

Obedience: 
- Basic tasks covered while eating dinner each night

Service Dog Tasks: 
- Working on deep pressure this week.  Elsa doesn't like to sit too long, but she is doing better each time.

Manners: 
- Nipping is an issue again
- She got excited and tried to herd my face when we went walking the other day.  It was nervewracking, but supposedly a puppy thing.

Comments:
- There's some new anxiety that I think is cropping up because I'm not doing enough with Elsa away from Britta.  We've had them together way too much recently.  I will be working with Elsa more and not letting Britta stay with us as much.

Puppy photos! Week of 7/7

We just found out Brusters does puppy sundaes!!

Mommy, I think it's a little too tight...

Got a Kong wobbler this week to keep things varied and interesting at mealtime. 

New Kong! Donated the old one to the humane society. :)

I wanna pump gas too!!

Service Dog Tasks in Puppy Play

Recently, I've had comments about how I must be working Elsa too hard.  I must be teaching her too much and she will burn out before the training is over.  My precious little puppy is four and a half months old and I'm pushing too much onto her and making things serious too fast.
At first, the comments frustrated me.  Now, I just choose to appreciate the concern that people have for making sure my puppy's training stays humane.
Anyone who is around is aware that I spend more time playing with her than "training" in an official sense.  However, the playing is carefully constructed to teach her to be comfortable with things that she will encounter as part of her tasks.  Some days are more structured than others based on how much I've worked at my other job, weather, and other weird factors.

Below, I have listed several things that can be used to keep play going in a useful, yet fun, manner. I hope others will comment with their ideas to help me expand!!
- One meal a day is spent going over basic commands.  This way they work for the kibble, practice basic obedience consistently, and don't even notice it happening.
- We have puzzle toys that sometimes come out for different meals.  They help with staying entertained and I've noticed after we bought a couple that had Elsa using her paws, she's become more interested in utilizing them like little hands.
- Hide and Seek: this can be helpful if one has a fear of coming home to intruders.  It's possible to teach them to bark once they've found you.  You can upgrade to friends hiding when you're out for a walk and then you can come home and have them find the person and bark for a treat.  Eventually that becomes habit to check.
- Mini agility toys: certain things like a mini see saw plank or a hula hoop can be useful to teach agility basics without getting serious too fast.
- Fetch: this easily reinforces bring it and drop it.  Here there is also an opportunity for object recognition reinforcement.  Elsa has become really efficient with "bring it" without much formal training because of this game.
- Biking: Really, any activity can be a bonding exercise.  This one is really helpful to teach her to constantly be focused on me.
- Waking up: When the alarm clock goes off in the morning, immediately give your pup a treat.  They will begin to expect the treat at the sound of the alarm and this can be really helpful during a depressive phase if you're not wanting to get out of bed and your puppy is licking your face.  Eventually, we will refine this and it will become one of Elsa's tasks.

IAADP Training Requirements: Weekly Training Overview

Age: 4 Months
Week of: June 30 - July 6, 2014  Total Hours (3 hrs on Site) + (2 hrs Outings)

Health: 

- Brushed Thursday
- Trimmed nails Saturday 

- Elsa got a bath on Sunday afternoon

Problems: 

- There has been some improvement on the mouthing.  I think her teething is beginning to slow down!

Outings: 

- Tuesday evening daddy took Elsa and Britta to his game group and they got to play with those dogs

- The fireworks definitely didn't bother Elsa as much as I expected and now I have another idea for desensitization outings: taking the pups to the park next to the baseball field on nights they are going to have fireworks.  She wasn't bothered at all by the fireworks and I want to keep it that way!  As soon as I have earplugs (or whatever our vet recommends), we will start this tradition.

Socialization: 
- Hoover Dog Park Friday afternoon

Obedience: 
- As usual, we've spent once a day working on basic commands while eating
- We are slowly dragging out "stay"

Service Dog Tasks: 
- Beginner task games were practiced, as usual.  Not much will change until she is a bit older.

Service Dogs for Adults

Adults with psychiatric disabilities need assistance too!

Somehow in our quest to make sure every child with special needs grows up in the best environment possible, we have forgotten the harsh reality that hits when they hit 18-20 years old: now they are an adult.  Not only do they have to go through a lot of the same changes other young adults are facing, they have an entire list of extra struggles that they are dealing with.

A lot of the help and support they received growing up is gone.  Fewer people are understanding of their condition; fewer organizations are there to support them into this sudden transition; fewer options are available to assist them with their necessary accommodations.  It's a terribly scary world out there when everything is going your way... and when things aren't lining up for you, the adult world can be devastating.

We need to start a second wave of these special needs organizations for young post-secondary aged special needs students.  Service dog, education, job training, etc.  Special needs doesn't mean incapable and the world needs to begin seeing that.  The more we help those who need accommodations, the better everyone's lives will be!

IAADP Training Requirements: Weekly Training Overview

Age: 4 months

Week of: June 23-29, 2014 -  hrs Total Hours (? hrs on Site) + (? hrs Outings)

Health:
- Bath Sunday night was as uneventful as always.  So thrilled she behaves for this sort of thing!
- Vet visit on Monday went well. She loves our vet.  It's fantastic.  She got her last round of puppy shots and we discussed spaying.  He says we are six to eight weeks out from a spay based on her teeth development.
- Heart-worm preventative was given on Wednesday.

Problems:
- Talked with the vet about the peeing problem.  He stated this was very similar to how young dogs will sometimes just eat until they get sick.  Now I am rationing her water at home and the peeing has just about gone away.
- She is still mouthing a LOT!  Holding out hope that I am doing the right things and that she is just teething severely.

Outings:
- Oma and Opa took us to Joe Wheeler state park!  We stayed two nights.  Elsa is getting really good at traveling in the vehicle.  While we were there, we walked and played a lot.  She got used to being walked by Oma and Opa, which will be helpful for the CGC test.  She loves going with Opa because he walks a lot further than I care to and wants to run quite a bit.
- Friday India came!
- Saturday we packed up with India, Daddy, and Britta and headed to Huntsville.  There is a Dr. Who convention that we are attending!  They met Peppy and J.J. (daddy's family dogs).

- We got out at the Cullman dog park on the way to Huntsville and Elsa and Britta ran around for a bit.
- Nick's family has a pool.  Elsa and I worked on swimming.  She did well with the water, though it obviously bothered her to not be able to touch the bottom
- We also worked in South Huntsville's Petsmart for awhile.

Comments:
- I am in SO MUCH PAIN with this earache!  However, there isn't a lot I can do about it.  Didn't really keep up with anything.  Hopefully these eardrops will put me back right.

This Week in Pictures

(Courtesy of India Lott)

Service Dog Training: Not All About the Dogs

I feel it is important for me to write some posts about the work I want to eventually do with autistic students.

As I've been working with Elsa, I have begun to realize I really enjoy dog training.  Last December, I was fired from my job working with autistic students because I refused to comply with a rule that I believe is against Federal regulations. Due to the fallout from this (traumatic, to me) event, I am pretty well blackballed from teaching autistic students anymore.

For awhile, this realization kept me in the dumps.  I was already looking for a service dog before I left the school because of my anxiety but as it developed deeper into panic disorder after the major changes I had to deal with, I began looking a bit deeper.  I found Elsa's litter through a friend and spent quite awhile making sure everything was exactly as I needed it before choosing her.  Things have gone well and even through the frustrations, I have enjoyed working with her more than I could have expected.

I finally understand how I can merge my talent of working with autistic students and love of training dogs... service dogs!  I hope that eventually I can use the skills I am learning right now to train dogs to provide services for autistic students. I hope I can start a non-profit and work to make the dogs as close to cost-free as possible for the families.  I want to work with moderately to severely disabled people in their twenties.  I want to focus on those who are attempting to find jobs and could use the help of a service dog at work and at home.

I want this blog to help people understand service dogs better, help those who are looking to train their own dog get a sense of what goes into it, and help me stay on track as I work to become a service-dog trainer and start my own non-profit.

IAADP Training Requirements: Weekly Training Overview

Age: 4 Months

Week of: 06/16-06/22/2014

7 Total Hours (5 hrs on Site) + (2 hrs Outings)

Health:
There is a lot of random peeing going on.  We will be talking to the doctor next Monday about that.

Problems:
The biting is getting frustrating, but I also realize that as long as I continue correcting appropriately, that issue will go away in a few more months.

Outings:

- Tuesday we walked to Rushton Park and played with our new BarkBox items.  Daddy helped me get some shots of the items. =) 

- Tuesday evening while I worked, daddy took Elsa and Britta to a friend's house to play with their dogs.

- Thursday morning we walked to Rhodes Park to take photos of the OTHER BarkBox that came in.

Obedience: 
- Strengthening stay

- Focusing on me outside while dealing with distractions

Service Dog Tasks: 
- Worked on staying longer in my lap... she doesn't understand the lap up command yet, but hopefully that will come quickly.

- Worked on identifying the light-switch.  This is a laser game that every time she follows the laser to the lightswitch, she gets a treat.

Manners: 
- Working on nipping... especially when over excited

Comments:
- Going to buy a plank and PVC pipe.  Want to make a couple of teeters to work on the seesaw part of agility.  We aren't looking to train professionally, just keep things light and interesting.
- I'm not going to post these updates on reddit anymore.  I didn't get any real feedback, just being told to stop training my dog as hard as I am.  I think people are misreading what I'm doing as hardcore training.  Elsa is only four months old.  She has no business going through rigorous training.  However, once a day one of her meals is earned by her tricks.  She also plays games with me that will later turn into task-related skills.  Any agility we do is purely play and just getting used to the strange pieces of equipment.  Thanks to my 12-hour shift schedule, I can spend a lot of time play-training.  I think it comes off as a lot more rigorous in my blog posts than I ever mean.
- I haven't done much this week.  I've been feeling bad and have developed an earache nearer to the end of the week.

This week in pictures

We bought an antler and she loves it!

Niners all the way!! I want to get her a cheerleading outfit before the season starts as well...

The vet isn't so scary if there's out-the-window happiness ahead of time!

Digging holes at Joe Wheeler. The dam is in the background. 

Cheering daddy's team on at kickball!!

Alarm Clock Training

Well, I've finally goofed up.  I slept through my alarm and missed an appointment today.  Luckily, the office had mercy on me and waived the $50 missed appointment fee.

My medicine isn't supposed to make me sleep through things, but the doctor says it may just be thanks to the depression.  Usually I'm sleeping through an alarm or two, but I'm up by the third.  This time, I had been volunteering at the Humane Society and got home with barely enough time to get a full sleep cycle in before going to my appointment.

Overall, I'm moving really slow with Elsa on service dog tasks because she is only four months old.  She's not totally house trained (on occasion she still pees on the floor without warning), but she usually holds it if we are sleeping in the bedroom.  I'm going to start training her to wake me to the alarm clock so that I don't have this kind of thing happen again.  I can't afford to miss important appointments, and if it gets worse and I start missing work related things, I'll be in REAL trouble!

So here is the alarm clock training we are doing!

Supplies:
- peanut butter
- alarm clock

Plan:
Initially, I have just set the alarm to go off randomly.  Once it goes off, I smear some peanut butter on my hand and encourage her to lick it off.
Next, we will move to me smearing a bit of peanut butter on my face and laying down while the alarm is going off.
Finally, I will wean her off of expecting the peanut butter immediately and encourage the licking until I give her the peanut butter as a sign that I'm up.  I will immediately take her outside so I cannot fall back asleep and mess up the sequence.

Anyone who is reading this, feel free to comment with any problems that you see possibly arising.  Also, any tips on how to train this consistently so that she is reliable would be awesome!!!

IAADP Training Requirements: Weekly Training Overview June 9-15, 2014

Age: 16 weeks

Week of: June 9 - 15, 2014 - 7 hrs Total Hours(4 hrs on Site) + (1 hr Outings)

Health:
- I keep meaning to get fish oil tablets to put with her kibble so she has a really healthy coat.  I need to do this ASAP!
- She didn't poop for about a day when we were visiting mom and dad, but a nice long walk with dad fixed that!
- She no longer is showing any signs of being unhappy with the bath.

Problems:
- Still peeing inside some.  Vet's visit on the 23rd should give some answers.  It's not as bad as it was, so I believe it is going away.
- Nipping some when excited.  Corrective measures are in place.  No true concern unless she hits a year and it is still going.

Outings:
- Sunday PetDepot (in Cullman)

Socialization: 
- Monday Elsa went to daycare for 10 hours!  They are helping her learn not to jump on people.  She came back exhausted, but healthy.  We slept all night and she cuddled with me the entire time.  I wish we had the money for her to go more often.  This would have been helpful on Friday as well!
- Tuesday daddy took her and Britta walking.
- Wednesday we went to Greensprings Dog Park with Daddy and Britta
- Thursday we walked to Rushton park. Elsa wore her backpack there and I carried it back. It seemed like a good balance.
- Friday it was raining and I slept a good 15 hours straight.  We didn't do anything.
- Saturday morning we visited Hoover's dog park.  We played for a long time until one dog showed up.  We met her and left about twenty minutes later.
- Saturday afternoon we visited a friend and her three children.  Elsa jumped a bit much for my taste, but it was good to expose her.  I hope we are able to go more often!
- Saturday afternoon we went up to Cullman to visit my family (yay father's day!).  Mom and I took her to the park there in town.  We walked a bit and she played in the dog park.  They have a pool!!!  There was no other dog there.  She had a blast having the run of the place.  Mom enjoyed playing with her on the agility equipment.
- Sunday she went to PetDepot with me.  We bought her an antler and she was fascinated by the mice.  I think her prey drive is starting to get stronger!  Side note: I'm absolutely amazed how thrilled she is with this antler!

Obedience: 
- We worked on a figure eight command.
- Stay was the main focus this week... learning to stay while I toss a ball and while other things are happening.
- Biking commands are being practiced. Wednesday was her first time riding with me (in the parking lot) and it went really well!!
- Sit/stay while someone pets
- Leave it is another focus... She usually will leave something alone, but not always on my first command.

Service Dog Tasks: 
- She naturally looks to press on my chest when I begin to get too panicky. This week we have been adding the command to go with it.

Manners: 
- She is still really jumpy and nips too much for my taste..

Comments:This was a rough week for me.  I didn't work with her on commands as fully as I should have.  I forgot about the PetCo puppy socialization and stayed in Cullman too long.  It worked out okay though.  Basic obedience is getting stronger and missing a couple of things one week isn't going to destroy her training.
She turns four months this coming Monday!!  April 16. =)

This week in pictures

The BarkBox toys just look AWESOME this time!! The treats even seem yummy to me. I'll do a review of both the boxes we receive (one for Elsa and one for Britta) as soon as the boxes are here. :)

Dad got to walk Elsa and they both had a blast!!

Working on "Stay"

This link is a very good start for working on stay: http://www.reddit.com/r/puppy101/comments/xztl3/teaching_stay/

If you have time, read up on all of the puppy101 lessons on the sidebar. I absolutely love their information!

After we got the basic stay down, we had to work on more intricate stay situations. Elsa has several situations where she can stay and several situations we are still working on.

Stay situations that are practically perfect:
- Anything under 5 minutes
- Waiting on food for less than 2 minutes
- Waiting on me to pour food into her bowl and leaving the room to reseal the food
- Waiting while mommy is eating for about 3 minutes
- Leaving the room and coming back within 30 seconds
- Any amount of time when I'm dancing around... I think it keeps Elsa entertained and she puts up with the sitting because of that.

Stay situations we are working on:
- Any of the above situations with longer stay times
- Toy distraction
- Food distractions
- Other people attempting commands
- Children as distractions
- The entire meal time (in down/stay... most of these situations are sit/stay)

I am interested in other situations people might think we will come up against that I should teach her? Thanks to everyone who is reading this!

Biking with Elsa

Okay, so I got on a bike today with Elsa and it was a total success!!!! I haven't really been able to find much on how to get my dog used to a bike, so I just started slow.

- Initially, I just introduced Elsa to the bike. I had a few maintenance items to work on, so I was able to let her just sit near me and sniff at the bike while easily earning treats just for existing.
- I used my running belt leash. I hope to be able to buy a bike attachment with my next paycheck, but currently this is the most stable option I have.
- After a few minutes of maintenance, we walked to the parking lot area. Elsa stayed on my left (her usual working side) and I had the bike on my right. We walked around for several minutes with her heeling. I used a lot of kibble... she didn't even need dinner after we were done! We practiced "left" and "right" commands while walking around. Elsa ran into the wheel a couple of times because she would turn slightly and not go the whole way. I started clicking (her signal to pay attention when we're walking) and she noticed a LOT better.
- We ended the session with me biking the straights and walking the curves. I did some really slow biking on the curves, but I mostly just walked them. I don't want an accident too soon and have her lose her confidence.

Okay, so far, she's catching on to everything so fast I'm getting spoiled!!!

This Week in Pics

You can find most of these on the Facebook page as well, but I wanted them on here too!!

IAADP Training Requirements: Weekly Training Overview...

Owner's Name: Lara Knight

Dog’s Name: Elsa Sifdottir Nightslayer
Age: 15 weeks
Week of:

June 2-8, 2014  Total Hours(6 hrs on Site) + (0 hrs Outings)

Health: 

- Having problems with diarrhea a couple of days.  Much better by the end of the week.

- Sleeping more than usual, but things have been pretty hectic so I'm not too worried.

- Our next vet meeting is June 23 

- Trimmed nails and bathed Wednesday night (I wanted her to be perfect for the temperament test Thursday morning!!!  I am trying hard not to be nervous. I don't want my nervousness to transfer to her for the test.)  Bathing went easier than ever!!!  She even turned around when I asked her with a little treat encouragement!!

Problems:

- I need her to begin liking the brush so that eventually she will want to be brushed.  She is accepting it more and more, but not liking it.  This will allow her to bring me the brush when I start picking at my eczema.  I am not sure how to encourage it. 

- Walking nicely on a leash has backslid a bit recently.  I feel certain it is because we have been at dog parks more than out walking the last couple of weeks.  Tuesday morning and evening we walked a good distance, working on loose leash walking/heeling.  We also jogged a bit, but not for long... 15 weeks is too early to try a 5K!!  We are also doing backpack weight starting Thursday.

- She's gained a new anxiety issue.  If I take her out first and then take Britta in the mornings for pooping, she yelps the entire time I'm gone, even though she's starving and needs to eat.  She whines when I leave.  I hope the daycare helps a bit of this.  I want her to be attached, but confident.

Outings:

- We Talk Dog temperament test Thursday

Socialization: 
- Went to the dog park Tuesday morning.  We had a good time and she met a new dog.  The new dog didn't like her jumping and began to bark with its ears back.  It was only annoyed and it surprised Elsa, but I didn't wait for it to get any more aggressive before leaving.

- Daddy was going to walk Elsa and Britta Wednesday morning.  Unfortunately there were some behavior problems and Elsa got away and jumped in a strangers car!!!  So I came and got her to walk instead.  We heeled to the park near us, but then we played and I let her wander while we walked back.

- The temperament test Thursday at "We Talk Dog" was nervewracking.  This test is just to see if the pup is ready to be in a play group at daycare.  I've decided it would be a good idea to get her out of the house at least once a week while I sleep and get some socialization.  Anything to help curb the excitement of seeing other dogs will be awesome.  I was scared she would mess up somehow, but of course she passed the test almost instantly with no issues.  They called to let me know and said she could stay around for a few hours if I wanted.  I let her and when I came back to pick her up she was SO GOOD!

- Friday, daddy took both of the pups to Greensprings' dog park while I slept.  I wasn't feeling well at all.  It lasted through Saturday.

- Saturday, we all went to the Hoover dog park for the first time.  Both the girls had a blast playing with other dogs.  I worked with Elsa on recall and it is getting better and better in new situations like this!

Obedience: 
- This week we hyper-focused on recall.  Everywhere we went.  Dog park, on normal walks, at home, everywhere.

- We have also begun using "left" and "right" on walks 

Service Dog Tasks: 
- Still working on bottle/ball/bag.  No real progress on identification.  Currently, I am placing her paw on the item, saying the word, then treating.  Sometimes she paws it herself, but I guess we are too early on in the process to make this really work.  I feel like Anne Sullivan.

- Elsa is slowly learning that running after the laser is good.  Sometimes it shows her hidden treats, sometimes when she stretches up the wall to catch it I give her a treat, etc.  Britta is a lot more interested in it.

- Her "boop" is getting better.  She doesn't try to bite my hand anymore.  She just touches my finger with her nose.

- We are working on cuddling a little longer.  She is accepting of this and eventually it will turn into deep pressure therapy.

- We are starting to really work on fetch as a more serious command.  Her "drop it" is a lot better.

- I am going to start having her bother me at a certain time of day to get a special treat.  This way I will be likely to take my meds.  I'm not sure what time is going to be best, but I'm beginning to lean toward 5:30 pm.  That way, no matter what day it is, I should be able to train.

Manners: 
- Going to have to work on begging when I have food.  Working on curbing the food obsession will be a really good thing for us.  We have worked on sit/stay while I'm eating.  Tuesday morning, I had a donut and she was reaching for it.  I gave a sit and she listened.  When I released her, she found something else to get interested in!!

- Stay has become better.  This coming week we are going to work on me leaving the room and her continuing with a stay until I return.

Comments:
- This is my busy week at dispatch, so we spent a lot less time going places and a lot more time working together at home and exploring dog parks

- I went through a med change this week so I wasn't as consistent in training as I should have been.  My doc is leaning toward calling my issues panic disorder, though currently they fall under depression.

- Started work on the car harness.  It doesn't fit well, but hopefully she will grow into it pretty quick.  She didn't like me putting it on her the first time, she wanted to chew, but after she got used to it, there were no more problems.  Next week we shall try to actually lock her into the seat... everyone keep your fingers crossed!!!

- I want to start playing hide and seek so that eventually we will be able to search the home for intruders.

- I need to get an alarm clock for a cue.

- I slept pretty much all day Monday, so there wasn't any activity.  She didn't seem to mind the break.  From here on out, I'm going to try to anticipate the days that this will happen and give her

- I'm disappointed that we can't seem to get in touch with my friend who has a jack russel. I feel like Elsa needs to be around a terrier some.  It would help because they would match her energy level.

- Two weeks til the next Bark Box comes in!!!!  UGH!! I can hardly wait.  We are out of nice treats and I'm ready to have something high value besides hot dogs to feed her.

- I put a bit of bacon grease in her peanut butter Saturday.  THAT was a HUGE hit!!