Ringcraft on Tuesday evening was pretty good :-) Ria was very unsure about all the other dogs, but I took things slowly with her, and the actual showing bit wasn't bad at all - she was ok with being gone over, albeit moving was...interesting :-D Very much a puppy! We didn't have all four feet on the floor very much, she jumped and bounced down the mats and if I didn't have her attention so much on me she pulled like a train. But I was pleased with her confidence in that respect, and she seemed to enjoy herself!

After she'd been 3 times I decided she'd done enough and went and sat with her on my lap amongst all the big dogs. She wasn't happy to start with (the tail down trying to climb over my shoulder to get away reaction - without sound!), but by the time I left she was relaxed and even hit one of my friends Golden Retrievers on the head with her paw! I didn't try her on the ground in the vicinity, because she was doing so well I wanted to make sure we ended on a good note and didn't want to push it. She was very jumpy every time another dog barked/whined/howled (there was a Malamute who was employing all 3 which really didn't help...)

So all in all, quite positive for her first experience.

On Wednesday we had our first venture back into town since the motorbike incident. As we walked down near the road (her in my arms) she started panicking - not in a major screaming kind of way, but tail pinned down, struggling to get away. There had been a motorbike in the distance, so that may well have done it (timing!). I sat there for a bit trying to get control and calm her down, but she wasn't going to be so I started walking back up away from the road. Once she'd calmed down I gave her to mum (who was with me) to hold and started feeding her as we walked back down...she was so focused on the food she was fine, and as time went on I gradually extended the time between pieces. Thankfully we didn't encounter any motorbikes!

Once we got to the park I put her down and she saw gulls, pigeons and a duck or two....she wasn't very sure, ironically especially of the ducks! But it was quite an angry duck :-P But the most extreme reaction was tail clamped down (but not right between her legs), backing away barking - which is a definite improvement on tail between legs running away screaming! - and I just waited it out.

A much more positive experience than last time :-) Slowly but surely....

On Thursday I left her crated during the day for the first time....was a bit aprehensive as it was the first time she'd been left with no-one around at all (she's been left alone, but where someone could hear her if something happened) but she seemed ok - everything was in one piece when I came home, anyway!

In the evening she came to agility again. She's definitely much warier/jumpier about sudden/loud noises now, but the previous week she'd met a young Beardie and wasn't too sure....so I was very happy to see upon encountering the same dog this week she was much more confident right from the start :-)

On Friday she had her first bath! I've been meaning to do it for a couple of weeks, but she's a poo eater and I've been giving her pineapple to see if it works on her....now she ADORES pineapple. And I had a glass of pineapple on Friday morning....and she thought it was for her :-P The end result was pineapple juice everywhere and a sticky puppy! She was actually very good in the bath, much better than I was expecting....and ok under the dryer as well, albeit I used a low power hair dryer. She certainly wasn't scared - the biggest problem was stopping her getting too wound up!

Took her for another outing to town earlier, though still jumpy she was better than the previous occasion! A motorbike passed us this time...poor girl jumped 6 feet.

I'm so done for lol...can't keep up with her! She's getting her first "show" experience tomorrow - a companion show with obedience.

Arggggh.

I took Ria into town on Saturday afternoon. It was all going really well - except slight "moment" with a man playing a guitar! I carried her some of the way (including past the man - she still wasn't at all happy so I stood there until she'd relaxed - and then put her down once we got to a slightly less busy part. She was watching everybody going about their business, and we did a bit of focusing on me and walking nicely on a lead (this is great, but only for very short periods - and absolutely diabolical the rest of the time!). She was happy and relaxed, focusing well (for a 12 week old puppy!) and happy to say hello to people (she hasn't had that much experience of meeting people in unfamiliar environments from the ground).

Then as we were going back I wanted to take her to see the man again, as she'd reacted the previous time. I stopped some metres away - with her in my arms - and she was fine. So I put her down on the floor...erm, no thank you! Tail went between her legs, and she started pulling in the opposite direction making small cries. I have no idea what it was about it that upset her so much, but she really was not a happy girl.

And then it got worse. As I started walking back to go home, what should come along the road but a parade of motorbikes....literally hundreds, complete with police escort. All this was ok, except just as we reached the road some absolute PRAT decided to show off and start revving his engine over and over again - very loudly - complete with air horns. Well Ria just totally FREAKED. I have never seen a dog so scared, she totally lost it. Thankfully I had her in my arms at this point, but even then I could hardly hold her. She was trying to get away, screaming and crying. As soon as I had enough control of her I had to walk away, she was just in a blind panic. Even as I was walking away she was still screaming, and once she'd calmed down slightly I discovered she'd pooed on me....so she really was genuinely frightened. Though she does do drama queen well - once after she'd pooped she was swivelling round and crying - she had a bit stuck to her :-P Ok, fair enough....but the same reaction was provoked a few days later when she stood in the water bowl and got her bum wet!! *rolls eyes*

I could happily have throttled whoever thought it "cool" to show off like that. So I've been doing traffic exposure in my arms, and I've now got a sound CD (fireworks, gun shots & thunder/lightning) to see what she thinks of that. If she's ok I'm going to try and get hold of a CD with motorbike engines on. My biggest fear is that she'll tranpose the fear and be scared of things like doors banging, crates being collapsed..etc

The good news is she was ok with traffic before, so hopefully she'll recover. She's a little jumpy with other (non-motorbike) traffic now, but that seems to be getting better already so fingers crossed....


Then yesterday we had to be all dramatic again *sigh*

I'd asked a friend if she would bring her Golden Retriever (Freyja) to meet Ria, cos I know she's very good with puppies and smaller dogs, and I knew Ria needed as much as exposure as possible. Well, she arrived in rather excited style....and Ria ran across the room with her tail between her legs screaming :-P (not at the level of the motorbikes though!). She put herself in the corner and there she stayed!

The good news is by the time they went (after about two hours) she'd come out, she was happily moving around the room and she even had some nose to nose contact with Freyja :-) So with some work I hope she'll be ok....she hasn't had that much outside dog contact - only been allowed down on the floor to meet other dogs properly for just over a week - and we haven't encountered too many "suitable" dogs. She's met a couple of puppies (a 12 month old Bearded Collie and a 6 month old Poodle) on lead and she hasn't been extreme - nervy, but no crying or screaming and although she'd back off she'd then go forward, back off, go forward..etc.

I'm still really irritated that I missed ringcraft last week, because that would have done us both the world of good. However, she's going for the first time tonight! So that'll be interesting....first time being gone over by a stranger, and there'll be plenty of dogs for her to interact with.

She had a trip in the car to see Solei's chiropractor today (just for a visit - Solei's appointment!). As I suspected he's put his pelvis out badly again, but his chiro said it went back more easily and the muscles feel more supple, so at least we do seem to be making some progress. I just hope maybe we can go longer than two weeks without him damaging himself this time :-P Maybe even two months?!

Solei was good at agility last week, though we've had a trainer change and merged the two groups which is  irritating. We had two groups to start with because there were so many people, and they split them into more able (obedient!) and less able. Solei was in the more able group, which makes it more frustrating because we're the ones that have had to compromise. Last week was more basic than we have been doing, which felt a bit like we were going backwards. Did have one hair raising moment, entirely my fault. I sent Solei through a tunnel, he then decided to take the jump that was in front of the tunnel exit and then the seesaw was in front of that......
Luckily because he's a light dog it doesn't tip easily, so he jumped off the end before it had really moved and seemed to land ok....so hopefully no harm done! He's already put himself off the seesaw once a couple years ago when I think he thought it was the dog walk and took it too confidently.

I also took him to obedience on Monday. I haven't been for months - I'd basically given up on it. Almost ever since I've been going Solei has been working at a class below his level, and nobody seemed in any hurry to do anything about it and it wasn't any fun. So at the Christmas party (3 weeks ago!) I asked if he could go up to the next class. Which is where he should've been for months IMO. Anyway, she asked if he had a retrieve (yes) and then said if I'm competing with him definitely move him up. So (having accidentally attended at the wrong time last week!) on Monday he had his first go in the top class. Totally the right decision! I had more fun there than I have done for so long. Despite missing the beginning of the class cos I broke down (oops). We did a retrieve, which was a messy pick up, but other than that ok. I know the object he's retrieving is causing most of the problems (it's rubber, so it bounces uncontrollably and gets "slimy" and it's small so not the best to pick up, But it's all he will retrieve atm. I keep meaning to see about putting some fleece round the middle to see if that'll help). Then they did scent, which I haven't taught Solei yet so we watched...I've now been told how to start him off, so that's something new to work on! And send away - which Solei did very nicely :-) We have two weeks off now, and then Solei's group go out to the polo field whilst the other groups stay at the hall (but move outside).

I've been struggling as to what to do with Ria and Elton....I really want to do something with them, Elton in particular because I want to give him so more focused "Elton time" beyond the show ring, especially now our sessions at home are almost non-existent. Solei has obedience on a Monday and agility on a Thursday, as of next week Ria has ringcraft on a Tuesday and Elton only has shows at the weekend...I haven't been doing obedience with Elton because he really didn't seem to like the hall, and there is no new puppy class (for Ria) until June.

Lying in bed this morning I suddenly had a thought....as the hall classes are moving outside as long as it's dry it would definitely be worth trying Elton there again (only on weeks they will be outside!) and I reckon if I speak nicely to them it would be worth trying Ria in the next class up (they have 4 classes, puppy, bottom, middle, top). Elton is currently in this class, but I think he's probably capable of the third class, and a friend is currently taking that class anyway....so I think maybe it's time for musical dogs! I remember when I had Solei in the first non-puppy class it's quite basic - loose lead walking, sit/down/stand stays for 1 minute only a few paces away, waiting to eat, play retrieve, recall. And that's what you're working towards by the end of the class, not what you're expected to do to be able to do to join it!

It's impossible to do the polo field and the hall because the classes run concurrently in the summer. So I'm going to speak to them about Elton & Ria (and get Elton to one of the bottom classes as a quick refresher course!) and if they're happy I'll alternate...some weeks take Solei up to the polo field, some weeks take Elton & Ria to the hall. Hopefully everyone'll be happy, dogs included :-)

I took all three to be microchipped yesterday. I've been meaning to get Solei and Elton done for ages (Solei's chip has gone walkabout, Elton I was waiting until he was an adult and hadn't got around to it) but I found a good deal and with Ria arriving as well I figured I'd get on and get it done. They all cried, but poor Elton has a big bloody spot on his neck and he's the one that made the least fuss! The other two you can't even see where they had it done.

Oh yet more fun with puppies!

Having decided I really ought to do something with Ria on Saturday but not having the energy, I ended up taking her up to the top of the drive in the dark :-P I wanted her to see some cars with their lights on, and also thought it would be good for her to do some of the stuff we've been doing (sit, nose to hand touch) in a different environment, plus some more work at walking on the lead! It wasn't too bad, until she totally freaked at a jogger and was then rather jumpy. So I stayed out just long enough for her to settle as much as she was going to and get her working with me again, then called it a night. She needs sooo much work at walking on a lead, she's a nightmare. Once again it's the chair making things much more awkward.

I've had her sleeping in a puppy pen since I brought her home (she was used to being loose in her breeder's kitchen), I crated her at night for the first time the night (9th/10th) before she was so poorly - so that was the first and last time, as I didn't want to have her crated whilst she had diarrhoea.

On Saturday night I decided she was definitely ok, and crated her again. She went right from 10pm to 5am! Given I had to be up at 5am to go to the show, that was all night :-D

Sunday night she only went from 12am to 5:30am, then 7:30am, and that's now more typical - going 3-5 hours and then waking. But I'm more relaxed at night, so sleeping better - when she's loose I'm awake at every sound because if I hear her get out of the crate I want to get her outside, but crated I know (hope!) she'll cry or make a more obvious noise if she does need to go out. She's really good whilst she's in it....when I crated her on the night of the 9th she cried initially, this time she hasn't made a sound, even the first night. Early days yet, but hopefully we'll both be sleeping through the night before too long!

On Monday she came to obedience. Thanks to the fact we were running late I hardly got to have her out at all, but she met a couple more people and one or two dogs. The dogs are very difficult - she isn't good (nervous), so it's so important that I get her socialised with other dogs....but equally that means I've got to be especially careful about the dogs she mixes with. The last thing I need is a dog to snarl or snap at her.

I'd intended to take her to ringcraft for the first time on Tuesday, but I was feeling so terrible that I wasn't able to get there. So frustrating, thanks to one thing or another she still hasn't been except for that match night when she wasn't allowed off my lap. We were meant to be attending a puppy party next Tuesday, but I think I may give it a miss to get her to ringcraft instead - I can't go the week after, so if I don't go that would mean she won't get there til the 10th, which I'm not very happy about.

Yesterday Ria had her first trip to the "toy shop"; aka the large pet superstore. She thought it was great! Bits of food to try and pick up off the floor :-P (if I was quicker than her I made her wait before she was allowed to get it) and lots of people to say hello to. She was really good, even with children. When she encountered her first screaming baby she looked a bit perplexed, but didn't seem bothered. She spotted the rabbits which she thought were very interesting - never seen a rabbit before! We did a little bit of training; her focus was really good for a 12 week old baby. Then we walked back along the toy isle....oh now that was fun! Most of the plushies were in basket things at the bottom of the shelves....just about reachable for a Ria :-P She went along helping herself! Just remove one from her mouth, and she'd help herself to the next one! It was very funny, but she came home without any as they were all just so expensive.

Today is yet another gorgeous day :-) So Ria went for her second walk this morning. I carried her to where it was safe to let her off lead, and had a lovely short walk in the sunshine with her :-D Sooo nice to have a dog that's good off lead (touch wood! For now..)

A friend and her two children (13 & 11) came to meet Ria this afternoon. I was interested to see what her reaction would be, because I've done a lot of socialising and she's great with people outside, but I've only ever had visitors to the house once since I've had her (which was only a few days after I brought her home) and she was rather nervy. I needn't have been concerned, cos she was absolutely fine :-) Very much enjoyed herself!

We've started discrimination between the front and back of my hand to try and get her into a better position for walking. She's getting the idea :-) Other than that much the same! I've now moved from the nail clippers on to the grinder for the front paws, because she prefers it and it's safe enough now (back paws are dodgier cos she tries to put her nose on it!)

Oh and we had weigh day....Elton 2.7kg (just under 6lb), Solei 3.4kg (7.5lb), Ria 3.5kg (7.7lb) :-P Oh well, that didn't take long! (For Ria to outgrow the boys)