This morning, Lucy slept in. I got up as usual and let all of the dogs out (except her – she goes out separately when I don’t have time to babysit), rushed to the kitchen to get breakfast ready for my daughter and to get the coffee started. It was at this moment that I realied that I hadn’t even lookedinto Lucy’s crate as I walked by. I immediately realized just how quiet she was being. Not a sound. She hadn’t given me reason to look into her crate. I looked in, and she was sleeping. I finished up what I was doing in the kitchen and took her outside, sprayed her ears and leg with ACV, and waited on her to do her thing. When she came back in, she went right back to her crate, and went right back to sleep with the door open.
When it was time to feed all the dogs, she was still sleeping. I made her breakfast and set it on top of the crate. She slept. I fed the other dogs. She slept. I finally put her breakfast in with her and closed the door. She ate the entire thing. I removed the bowl and left her door open. She went back to sleep.
This could be one or a combination of several things. 1) She is finally relaxing. 2) She is detoxing and is tired. 3) She didn’t sleep well. 4) She is getting into a routine. I really believe that it is 5) All of the above.
Wanna talk about the happiest dog on the planet? Although I’ve only worked on heel with Lucy in the backyard once, with all the mud, I really didn’t want to work back there today. Instead, I took her up the driveway and out to the mailbox and back. She did a great job for this being her first time with so many distractions. She was clearly nervous on our way to the mailbox, but loosened up quite a bit on our way back. There were lots of distractions – chickens, neighbor’s dogs, and Aaron and Israel were outside working on Israel’s car. I found that her e-collar level with distractions is pretty stinking high – in the 60’s. I’m hoping that 100 is actually high enough to correct her for serious infractions – like going after a small dog.
…And I got to test whether 100 is high enough. Tonight, just before heading to bed, I let all of the dogs out to go potty. When it was her turn, she did not want to leave the crate. I finally just reached in (I knew better). My intention was to grab the strap of her collar and give gentle guidance. She didn’t let me get that far. She snapped at me. I am thankful that the e-collar was still on her. I told her no, and turned it all the way up to 100. She did not react like most dogs do to that strength, but she did take it as a correction and came out of her crate. I’m thinking I may have to either get a more powerful collar, or just add a second one to her neck.
We got outside, and sprayed her ears with the peroxide, did some obedience work and let her potty. When we came in, I did some more obedience work with her, and we ran through some crate drills. Now that we have a new crate issue, crate drills will become a daily occurrence. Additionally, she is officially getting any extra affection and freedom taken from her. There will be no more time spent in the office with Aaron, and her day is going to be completely permission based.