One of my kids can’t keep her dog and this only became apparent yesterday. She could return to the breeder but the dog knows me and I think my child’s heart may break and she might be able to take her dog back. I’m actually not sure what I think. It all happened so fast. Anyway, today, the dog came to us and I’m going to share how I manage her and Mickey so they may get along. I’m starting by reminding myself to take this one step at a time. Even though our dogs have been together before, I can’t take it for granted that they still get along. So first thing, we took them out for a walk and kept them separated. Once we got home, I let them off leash, making sure the collars were off and they played. I don’t really want them rough housing, but I allowed it since wanted them to engage on their own terms to begin. I had three balls which I used to play with them to distract as needed. When it seems they need a break, the new dog, Violet went to rest in her cage, which I’m keeping in the same room where we spend most of our time. Again, I’m just going to take this one day at a time. If it works, she’ll stay here. If not, have to make arrangements to return her to the breeder. And by the way, the breeder is phenomenal and would probably keep her for themselves. The dog has been to the breeder a couple times and she does fine there. So here we go. I’m not sure how I’m going to have time to train both dogs well. I have a lot of other things going on at the moment! 🤷🏻‍♀️

Do you want to be called a "Fur Mom" or "Fur Dad"? An owner? Guardian? Who are you to your dog(s)? Is your dog your "Furbaby"?

Use this checklist to keep track of the signs. I am sure you can already check off a few! I'll also put this in the Classroom inside the Rally course.

One of the members asked about countersurfing so I made this video.I tried to keep it short so I'll add a couple things. First, getting the food is like playing slots in Vegas so if there are occasions when your dog has already scored something tasty from the counter, it's very hard to change what you have "trained". You've unintentionally intermittently reinforced behavior you don't want. So please see the video. You can train "leave it" and it works. I am happy to share how to do that if someone asks. I have a course on basic training and I'll make that available in this group soon. I've been very successful with teaching "Leave it" to keep dogs off the counter, but when the dog has already been rewarded, that is difficult to change. See the video below.