AGILITY UPDATE
Bailey was fantastic in our last agility class!!! I'm so proud of her. I'm not really sure why she did so well this week, but I hope she stays this way. I fed her a little dinner before class, so she wouldn't be as hungry. When we first got to class, I played fetch with her. Of course this made her happy to be there. She can play fetch all day. Also, I would take breaks between practicing the equipment and play fetch with her.
She did the chute for the first time. It was only her second time seeing the chute and she ran right through it. I did not expect her to like the chute so quickly. She had a little trouble with the dog walk because she thought it was the teeter. Once I got her to realize it's not the teeter, she was fine. Her contacts were pretty good too. I wasn't expecting that at all. When I would say "target", she stopped and sat in the contact zone. We never practiced without the target plate, so I didn't think she would do that. I love having a smart dog. I ended class with a session of fetch. I hope Bailey continues to have fun and enjoy agility class.
On Friday, I rented our training hall to practice rally and agility. I set up a course with jumps, a tire and a tunnel. She had a blast. There was also a wobble board there. We practiced a little bit with the wobble board, but Bailey was still terrified of the movement. I need to build one to practice at home. I'm going to start renting the hall one day a week for an hour. It's a nice big space to play fetch and practice agility.
This week I want to practice weaves. We've been slacking on weaves lately and I think she is falling behind.
UPDATE ON THE HOME FRONT
I normally don't blog about Bailey's home behavior, but she is starting to frustrate me. Her barking is really getting troublesome. We got a letter from the city stating that someone complained about her barking. (Technically it didn't specify which dog, but she is the only one who goes outside.) This really pissed me off. I don't know which neighbor complained, but they didn't even have the decency to talk to me about it before making a formal complaint. How am I supposed to know what time of day they are annoyed by her barking? I don't even know if they are bothered by her barking indoors or outdoors. The people who complained are real morons. Also, her barking isn't really not that bad. She is not outside in the middle of the night and she is not outside barking all day. She only barks when she's going to the bathroom and someone comes near the fence or she hears another dog barking.
The NYC barking rules are insane. Dogs are not allowed to barking continuously (inside or outside) for more than 10 minutes between 7am and 10pm and 5 minutes between 10pm and 7am. So now I'm afraid to leave her in the yard alone. The second she starts barking, I have to get her in the house, which isn't always easy. She'll run if she knows I'm going to pick her up and bring her inside. So at night, I have to take her out on a leash. Poor girl can't even play in her own backyard and can't even have fun in the house because she might bark. IMO if you don't like neighborhood dogs barking, then you shouldn't leave in a place where houses are on top of each other. We've lived in this house for 15 years and never had a problem with our dogs and neighbors before. ughhhh I'm so mad!
Anyway... I have made no progress with Bailey barking aggressively at Cali after they get a treat and going nuts when the phone rings. I have made some progress with her barking when we play. I feel so awful. She loves to have fun and bark a little when playing.
I took her to our (hopefully) new home this weekend. She had a blast and really seemed to love the place. She was bouncing around from room to room. However, her barking issue is really stressing me out. We were playing ball with her and she was barking. Someone went out into the main hallway and you can hear her loudly outside. I'd hate to move in and then have to leave because of her barking. We're going to be homeless :( I'm going to bring her back in a few weeks to find out if the neighbors can hear her barking from inside their apartment. Hopefully, they can't!
I bought a citronella collar from amazon. I really hate to do it, but I'm hoping she'll only have to wear it for a few days and will get the hint. Then she won't need it anymore. Sometimes, I feel like maybe a sheltie wasn't the right breed for me. I guess I was expecting her to be like my first sheltie. I don't recall a barking issue with her. :(
Sorry this was a really long rant, but I needed to vent some where.
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