Widening the gap the good times are winning!

Well the big news for this post is that I got a nose touch from Chopper today.  That's complete his nose to my nose "hey how you doing I missed you and I care about you" nose touch.  I get them all the time from my golden mix Kolohe, but let's be honest, Goldens are made for them :).  Chopper, well, being a barely socialized hunting dog probably only ever touched noses with dogs before.  It felt like a victory.

Other then that we've had some ups and downs this week.  I learned I need to be more vigilant in my timing of clicker training to give bathroom breaks first, or else he won't go to the bathroom until I've long gone to work.  Yep, inside.  He gets so focused on the treats that he forgets about the bodily needs, so I need to pay attention for him.

Kolohe has started to try to steal Choppers treats more and more, so now I've got to watch her on it. Once she starts going for the treat, there's no going back. No amount of "no, leave it, or drop it" will work.  I must admit I was unfairly angry with her for taking advantage of his gentle nature. She is just a dog, after all, and dogs are opportunists.  The funny thing is she won't try to steal any toy that he is playing with, just chews and treats. Still I gave her a time out, gated in another room until I could forgive her.  She laid on my feet in the way only dogs can to say "I'm sorry."

Chopper is becoming more and more resilient.  It isn't constant, but I feel like the spurts of good times are widening the gap over the bad times.  For example, there was maybe half a day where Chopper was on guard.  The toaster popped and he left his blanket and hid in the hallway.  Went outside and kept his tail tucked.  But most of the days he bounces back more. For example, as he was coming up the deck steps yesterday a loud bus went by, he stopped, ducked, and looked, but in half a second was back to going up the stairs happily.  Another victory!

Here's a video of Chopper playing with a "Busy Buddy" toy. It was recommended by the dog trainer who came to our house from Opportunity barks.  It's another "enrichment" activity.  I was really surprised at how well he took to it.  He figured it out right away and followed it around, even when it went under a chair and table!