Getting the new dog, Violet, feels like I won a trip to Europe and I have to leave… tomorrow! I’m not ready! Nothing’s packed. I have things on the calendar and a long to-do list but I have to leave. If I want to go, I have to leave NOW. That’s how this all feels. A great opportunity, but I just wasn’t mentally prepared and I have a full schedule. As for management, the two dogs, Mickey and Violet, get short bursts of time together, but if they rough house too much, I either distract them with a toy, put one in the crate or one on the leash. They get pretty wild so I don’t want any injuries or for the interaction to turn into a fight. Plus to be honest, it’s a little bit annoying. I won’t start any training with Violet just yet. Or not any real meaningful training anyways. She is doing “say please”, which means she sits for everything she gets, but I’m trying not to make her feel pressured. I have a couple commitments today so I’ll be leaving the dogs for a couple hours. Later, I’m taking Mickey to a workshop but my husband will be home with Violet, so she’ll have free rein of the house. And that’s today’s update! .

@Kelly Soirefman This video should help you with the puppy biting issue. Those little shark teeth can hurt! Please let me know that you saw this and if you have any questions. Anyone else have a problem with biting? LINK to Stop The Biting: https://playtobehave.com/stop-puppy-biting-website/ I'll add something about jumping soon. For now, I'm headed to the state capital to watch our daughter get sworn in as a lawyer!

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.