Goodbye, Fussy Eater, and Other Stories

Kaline has always been a fussy eater, more or less. He goes through phases of eating really nicely, and then phases of just NOT EATING. As you may have guessed from my all-caps, I find this extremely frustrating.

It seems (I am trying not to jinx it) as though the fussy eater days are over! My genius friend Amber, handler of Kaline's cousin and fellow SDIT Rowan, sent me Sue Ailsby's fussy eater protocol and for the most part, it worked like a charm!

DISCLAIMER: What I am about to say is a paraphrase of Sue Ailsby's method. I did NOT think of it myself.

I was pretty desperate, as Kaline hadn't eaten anything in about a day and a half. I finally had gotten him to put on weight so that his ribs could be easily felt but not seen, and was very afraid he was going to lose it all. Amber sent us the protocol, and off we went.

For Kaline's first meal on the plan, I cut him back to about a cup (normal meals are two cups). I filled his bowl, then did what I almost never do when feeding dogs: I tried to amp Kaline up. I squeaky-talked to him, got him racing out to his food bowls, put the bowl down with a great flourish and released him. He rushed up to it, stuck his nose in ... then walked away. I counted to five, then took away the bowl.

At the next meal, I only put in about half a cup. Same excitement ritual and what do you know? He ate it! Scarfed it all down! With one or two hiccups, I got him back to two cups per meal and now he is eating like a champ. You put down that bowl and he eats until the food is gone. I am a very happy dog mommy. Here is the link to the detailed method if you too have a fussy eater and want him to be replaced by a chow hound.

In other news, I have been in a funk that I would find interesting, I suppose, were I not actually in it. I am exceedingly anxious most of the time, churning tummy, racing thoughts, etc., plus just really depressed and negative about most things. Usually it's one or the other. Usually if I'm in a depressed funk I am too low and lethargic to have this much anxiety.

Anyway. I obviously don't do this all the time, and don't really recommend it as a regular mood-booster unless you've just won the lottery, but I treated myself with some Paco collar retail therapy in addition to having the dogs help me over the weekend. With help from Lindsay and Bruce the Painted Doberman, I ordered a new black/silver deluxe super-bling Stardust for Juno, with blue and light blue sea glass along with abalone rhinestones, and a new tan/brass deluxe super-bling Stardust for Kaline, with red, blue, and purple sea glass. We are not going to talk about how much these collars set me back. It is a very great secret. However, I feel much better knowing that I didn't do nearly as badly in my dog walking income for this past month as I thought I would. (Short month, ski week, etc. and I was still only off the previous month by a few hundred dollars. Wooooo.)

After ordering the Pacos, we headed to Lindsay's grooming shop where she very kindly bathed Kaline and Juno in scrumptious-smelling shampoo and conditioner. The dogs smell so good I want to EAT them. And they're extra shiny. Kaline whined and wailed like he was being beaten, because he is Mr. Drama Queen. Never believe it when people tell you Dobermans are tough and scary. They are THE biggest babies ever. It's why we love them!

On Sunday, Kaline got to work my mom's second birthday dinner. (Juno did Real Birthday Dinner.) This was planned by my mom and her sister, so my Auntie Barbara, Uncle Paul, and cousins Walker and Whitney joined us at an Italian place in Burlingame. Kaline was pretty excellent aside from some sniffing as we walked to the back of the restaurant. First we had a table by the kitchen, but Mom didn't like that location, so we went upstairs—where the AC was making an incessant, eardrum-collapsing rumble. You know that bad feeling you can get in your ears if your car windows are open just enough while you're going kinda fast? That feeling, only more. Instant major headache. So we moved again, and Kaline was very excellent matching my pace as we went down the stairs. Then he settled nicely at the table and mostly slept through dinner. He had his head on my feet a lot, which was awesome. And then after dinner I let the kids love on him, which made all of them quite happy.

At least on the job, I think my wee man is maturing. He can still be a bit of a hellion when he gets bouncy around the house, but when he's working, he's been doing really well.

Movies!

Kaline and I just finished up the six-week package of “classic” movies at the local Cinemark 20 theatre. It was a great help with his long-down consistency. The first couple movies, he'd pop up a bunch, starting mid-movie. By the final couple, pop-ups were down to two or fewer per movie!

He also got to do a lot of practice with hitting handicap buttons, not rushing into or out of elevators, and going at a measured pace down the stairs. He is great at pulling up the stairs, just needs to work on going in a straight line, haha.

I've been working with both dogs, but especially Kaline, on various Rally exercises as well. Kaline has several different things he needs to get down before he competes in Advanced on March 22. He's doing really well with the new finding-heel exercises, but having more trouble with finding front when I don't move my feet. Next week, we're going to work on learning the broad jump!

I'm totally preoccupied right now with new Paco collars for Juno and Kay, as well as new tags to go with them from Aggie's Anvil. I have to wait, however. Kaline's birthday is on April 23, and Juno's Gotcha Day is May 12, so that's the soonest I'm allowing myself to get this new expensive stuff, haha. The new collar for Kaline was supposed to be for his graduation, but yeah, I can't wait that long.

If you couldn't tell, we haven't done a whole lot of exciting stuff lately. Oh well!

Pet Expo

Yesterday, Dad and I took Juno (off duty) and Kaline (on duty) to a pet expo in Santa Clara. As an expo it was kind of disappointing, but as a training challenge for Kaline, it was awesome. We went for the distractions, and they were everywhere! There were a ton of dogs, since the event was pet-friendly, and though none of them (to my surprise and delight) were reactive or aggressive, many were very friendly to the point of being a bit rude. And owners were mostly letting them greet any dog around. Kaline did a really nice job of ignoring the many noses in his face and up his butt!

There were also several demonstration areas running. One had flyball, which was the most difficult for Kaline to ignore. If you don't know, in flyball dogs race over a series of hurdles, pop a ball out of a box, then run back over the hurdles as the next dog in their relay is coming. It's action packed, to say the least. Everything else, even if Kaline did get distracted, he was very easy to refocus. This included the obedience/protection demo with two awesome, high drive Malinois. The OB is pretty easy to ignore, but Kaline had his “meh” face on even when one of the Malis was sent on a bark-and-hold—go find the decoy and stand in front of him barking until the handler calls the dog off. He wasn't even that distracted when the Malis got sent on bites! (I was. I was totally entranced.) The miniature horses also posed something of a challenge. So cute though.

After the obedience demo we were allowed to take our dogs on the obstacle course. Juno just took everything in stride with Dad. Kaline was a little more ... eccentric. I'd lead him onto an obstacle, say the ramp to a catwalk, or onto a teeter-totter. He'd just go the first time. Then he'd hit a certain point where he'd get a look that said, “What am I doing?!” and that would just be the end of it. I'd take him back and try to get him to go on again, and he'd look at me like, “Ha, you're not tricking me with that again.” The best was the A-frame. He eagerly went to the top at my urging, then had no idea what to do once he got there. He sure as hell wasn't going down the other side ... but he didn't really want to back down the side he'd just come up either. Silly, silly dog. For going through and giving my email, we get a free class with this training group, so I'll try to take advantage of it (location could be an issue). I think it would be a great confidence builder for Kaline.

Toward the end we met up with new and old friends: a brand-new SDIT handler and her beautiful Doberman, Bruce, along with her wee pittie puppy, Ember, both wearing gorgeous Paco collars that had me drooling; and our friends Amie and Matt from Growing Up Guide Pup, with Eli, Ricki, and Ozzy. I was all over Ricki because I am her fangirl, basically; lucky for me, she loves everyone and I am included in that! Kaline and Ozzy hit it off great—Ozzy doesn't even mind being smacked in the face by enormous Doberman feet! I let Kaline be off duty to hang out with our buddies, and then we all just went home and crashed.

We had an uneventful Sunday of PA work today, phew. I also got a nice return email this week from Penzey's corporate, saying that their policy is indeed in line with federal law and does not allow for employees inspecting SDs for acceptable identification. Education will happen. That's a win in my book!

After our errands, Juno, Kaline, and I did a bunch of Rally and crate practice (whoever wasn't practicing Rally got to work on quietly chilling in our pop-up crate). Kaline did nicely on learning his left about turns (also known as the Schutzhund turn) and with Juno I practiced things like the moving stand and down, pivots, and finding front. They both did a lot of work with pivots and finding heel, as well as doing finishes in both directions. I used Kaline's newly learned finish right for our trick of the week—I joined a Facebook group where the challenge is to teach your dog a new behavior every week. I will probably end up doing some known behaviors, just cause I'm not sure if I can think of 52 new things to teach Kaline, much less Juno, but it'll be fun regardless. Keep us sharp and all.

Last week's “trick” was retrieving keys, which has been a seemingly unattainable goal for Kaline for a while, until Sonja's magic. Here are videos for the first two weeks.

Kaline meets his cousin; Juno goes to Pride

We had a very exciting weekend! The week was mostly a slog due to a disgusting heat wave, lots of walks in said heat, and the air conditioning not functioning properly. (WHY?!) But then Kaline's cousin Rowan, and his mom Amber, arrived in town after a very long drive from the magical land of Canada, and that made everything wonderful and exciting.

Saturday was a little bit crazy. I got up early to take Kaline to class (Dad and Juno skipped), and he did pretty well. There was a lot of stationary stuff because it was so hot. We came home and I did his nails at warp speed, because I had to get Juno to her massage appointment. (Don't judge me, it definitely helps her not have soreness.) After her massage, I switched dogs yet again and took Kaline up to Berkeley to meet Sonja, Chief, Amber, and Rowan at Paco Collars! Did I remember to get the keeper I've been needing for Kaline's collar for MONTHS? No, I did not!

We arrived and there was Rowan in all his glory. He and Kaline were immediately friends. Kaline licked Rowan's ears and face and Rowan seemed to find this delightful. He also did not mind Kaline swatting him with his paws, and swatted happily back. The cuteness was just overwhelming. Sonja and I were exceedingly distracting while Amber was trying to order Rowan's Paco, which will be totally gorgeous. Alas, she did not choose to have Canadian flag conchos put on it. I cannot imagine why!

Canadian Dobermans! Rowan's mother, Lucy, is a littermate of Kaline's mother, Dolce.

I was allowed 15 minutes of comparing Kaline to Rowan, so I will do a little of it here too. Rowan is five months older and looks (and acts) so much more mature. His chest is much broader and he's definitely taller. The boys' paws are the same size though! I actually hope Kaline doesn't grow much more vertically, because right now he is the perfect height. They have just the same play style and a lot of the same happy scratching spots. Rowan is so freaking snuggly and cute, and gives lots of kisses if you ask. I was kind of cheating on Kaline and Juno with him, it must be said.

After Paco, we took the dogs to Cesar Chavez Park to play off leash. Kaline did well except for a really annoying interlude where he would not hold a down-stay for love or money. This after a morning where he did perfect out of sight down stays. I definitely got overly frustrated with him, and must work on not doing that. Otherwise, everyone had a complete blast. Well, maybe not Chief, who had to be carried a lot or the Dobermans would have broken him with their insane crashing about. They absolutely loved playing together and racing around like maniacs! Whenever there was a lull Kaline would practically put his face into Rowan's mouth. So much cute. We exposed the dogs to a flapping kite at the end, right in their faces ... didn't care. Woot.

Kaline and Rowan at Cesar Chavez Park, photo by Sonja.

Sunday was the Pride Parade in San Francisco, which was extra festive and huge because of the recent Supreme Court rulings. Originally Sonja wanted to have our own contingent to march, consisting of owner-trainers of service dogs. But we couldn't get enough people or monitors, so when the Atheist Advocates of SF sent out an email asking for more marchers, I volunteered us. I went up with my high school friends Rachel and Lia, and we met Sonja, Hendrik, Amber, Chief, and Rowan in Brisbane, where we caught a bus.

Juno in her Pride gear!

Juno looked super, with rainbow ribbon wrapped around her guide handle and a big rainbow bow on the saddle of her BLD. She also wore her rainbow Glow collar from Paco and a rainbow bandanna from Rachel. At the parade, the only thing people could talk about was her boring, grey Ruffwear boots. Le sigh.

It was Rowan's first time on a bus, and he did wonderfully. Juno even let him touch her. The bus driver on the way there was amazing. He made all the people in the disabled seats move for us, and kept looking out for us the whole ride. Definitely planning to write a complimentary letter!

Rowan and Juno on the bus to Pride.

We got to the assembly area at the appointed time, found the atheists, who were absolutely LAST in line to march ... and waited. For over two hours. The dogs met a lovely cockatoo named Casper and got lots of oohs and ahhs. Did really well in the crowds also. Juno's pulling was, shall we say, spotty. But we all have our off days, right?

We waited in various places around the bus plaza, keeping the dogs and ourselves cool and hydrated. Unfortunately, Rachel and I both had to be back in Menlo Park in time for 6:00 dinner plans, so we reached a point where even if our group started marching that second, we wouldn't make it back in time. And thus we didn't get to march. Sad face. We still had a good time!

Rowan with rainbow ribbon and stickers.

OHMIGOD LOOK AT THOSE SHOES!!!!!!!

Adorable Chief.

Juno looking less than thrilled about holding this ...

Amber & Rowan; Sonja & Chief; me & Juno

Rowan, Chief, and Juno.

Rowan on the bus back--such a fantastic boy!

Since Juno had done Pride, Kaline came to Dad's birthday dinner. It was his first time at a really nice restaurant (I think). He was so good. He stayed under my legs quietly the whole time, ignoring dropped french fries and such. On the way to the bathroom (TMI, I know, but there's a point!), he was very deft at swiveling his butt out of the way of doors opening and closing. Maybe he's finally getting some body awareness! Wouldn't that be wonderful.

Other developing stuff with Kaline: His anxiety/panic alert is supposed to be a leg nudge. We're working on this. But he has other thoughts. For a while, it was jumping on me in a non-excited way. I would tell him “off” and then get the nudge, and then he got to do DPT, which is basically a reward for him. So he's not really doing that anymore. Now, he's freezing in place and staring hard at me. Absolutely will not move. I appreciate the alert, but even after DPT he's reluctant to move, and that's a little inconvenient. So we need to figure out how to get to that elusive leg nudge. Homework!

Kaline's ten months old!

Kaline turned 10 months old yesterday, and did great today in his usual round of Sunday morning public access. First was the Farmer's Market. Just as we were heading in, we saw a super adorable Large-Eared Black-and-White Dog tethered at the entrance: Max! I of course had to say hi to him and love him up, so Kaline got to practice a little self-control and try to hold a sit while I did so. He was great at heeling and blocking through the market and only did a little illicit sniffing.

We were in the part of downtown with several handicap buttons, so Kaline got to work on those, including the difficult one at Walgreen's which is mostly blocked by a trashcan. (He will usually hit the trashcan at least once before figuring out how to orient himself to aim at the button.) In there, Mom and I did things with the small rolling baskets to work on proofing. I had him do a block and then got Mom to gently nudge him from different angles with the little basket (came up to about his thigh). I also had fun flipping it around in front of him, sometimes clipping his toes gently. No problems.

In Village Stationers, we ended up having a big training opportunity. Kaline was lying at my feet while Mom talked to one of the cashiers when a lady with a Basset hound came in. Kaline had no clue the dog was even in the store until she started barking at him. At first he was startled and jumped up with a little growl. Then he was like, “Oooh, a dog! Playtime?” The Basset continued barking away (no, I have no idea why the owner didn't find a way to shut her up) so I decided to take advantage of it—I turned Kaline away, so he was facing me, and just had him do very basic commands that he knows well and likes, such as touch and the “up-down” game. Once he was mostly focused again, we headed out.

Trader Joe's was the best. As I've noted, Kaline is always really on in there. He was being really great and we were almost done. Mom sent us to the other side of the store, and for some reason my anxiety just started rising. Kaline stared up at me and then started nudging my leg (yay!!!), then my drooping sweatshirt pocket for more emphasis. Once I stopped he leaned into me with his whole body. I was so thrilled with him. And then soon after that, I started getting all foggy like I sometimes do, where it's like my brain is on a seven-second delay. We were standing in line and Kaline jumped up on me, trying to press into my chest. It wasn't like when he's being a goofball and leaping up at me; he came up pretty carefully, for him, and just tried to stay there. I acknowledged him, cause I definitely want him to be proactive, but then I got him down, had him do some leg nudges, and gave him treats. Excellent little boy!

In retrieving news, Kaline continues to steal shit all over the house and deliver it to me with great pride. On command, he is very glad to retrieve clothing, but not my sneakers. (Mom's nice shoes, or Dad's leather dress shoes, not a problem!) He will also gleefully retrieve things like plastic water bottles or vitamin bottles, which I find a little odd just because Juno didn't want to get stuff like that for the longest time. When I dropped my chapstick (capped, thankfully) in the kitchen, both dogs went to get it for me and Kaline was the one who came up with it.

Kay doing deep pressure and looking extremely cute while doing it.

This weekend we also headed up to Berkeley to pick up Juno's beautiful new Paco collar. It's a black rainbow Glow and she looks fantastic in it. She posed for pictures while we were there, which hopefully will end up in the Paco Gallery (fingers crossed!). Kaline was uninterested but Juno did a paws up on the lowest shelf with collars and then when asked looked fetchingly over her shoulder to show off both the collar and her insanely cute face. She got to come along to Johnny Rockets later that night, teehee.

Hard at work in her new bling.

I also did my first Hitchcock film with Kaline this past Friday, also with my friend Ben who I've known since high school. It was Kay's first movie since Sonja and I took him and Chief when they were wee-er. There was a bit of improvement but Kaline was still a fidgety little boy. I think (read: hope fervently) that a lot of it was because he was cold. I expected it to be warmer in there; next time I'll bring his jacket. Anyway, he settled after about five minutes or so, and then would pop up every twenty minutes and have to be put back in his down on his cushy mat. Good thing there are seven more weeks of Hitchcock at the Stannie. Lots of low-pressure practice.

Bizarrely, after the movie, when Ben and I headed to Pizza My Heart across the street, Kaline blocked fairly well (he wanted to sniff some people, and also to lie down sometimes), and then when we got to our table, he went under, curled up and didn't move till we were ready to go. Explain yourself, wee one! So he really ended the night on a good note.

Kaline's presents and a good outing

Kaline is making out like a bandit this Solstice. (Happy Solstice, everyone!) His presents just arrived, one right after the other—first a red Cloudchaser (because Juno's is grey), and then his Paco collar. I also got him a Halti, since we were having so many issues with the Infinity collar loosening constantly during the walks, but he doesn't consider it a present. It has a nice padded noseband though and it stays where it's supposed to when I put it on.

Kaline models his new collar. The people at Paco Collars did everything possible to make it nice for his neck.

Closeup of his conchos and "rhinestones."

He and Juno look so freaking cute together in their semi-matching coats with their blinking lights on top. Worked great in the rain today. I still hate rain, even though now I have all waterproof gear (shoes, pants, jacket) and so do Juno and Kaline.

Ready to get out and start the pack walks.

Everyone had long afternoon naps, so when Mom asked if Kaline and I wanted to work in the mall while she shopped and did errands, we were raring to go. It was cold and intermittently wet, so he wore all his stuff, his jacket, his vest, his Halti, his new Paco collar. He looked so cute.

Kaline wearing ALL the gear.

And he was such a good boy! We went to Macy's, Bloomingdale's, the Gap, Nordstrom, Safeway and Kepler's (he went to Kepler's off-duty). He pulled a bit, and tried to rub off the Halti sometimes, but largely he was excellent. We were working on simple stuff: basic obedience when asked, not pulling, not sniffing things, and most of all, settling. He got lots of compliments on how handsome he is and how nicely he was behaving. No intrusive questions, just fun ones. The best was when a lady asked what we were working on today, and I gladly told her. "Oh, puppies," she said.

Settling by the shoe racks.

Ignoring Christmas food and candy.

Down stay next to the escalator.

Kaline hit all the handicap buttons and then as a finale, settled beautifully when we went for dinner at the cafe in Nordstrom. He settled immediately and he didn't get up again until we were almost ready to go. I think he was cold, even in his coat and lying on his cushy mat. I couldn't stop grinning, and that is not a state I have been in at all lately.

At dinner, being a little pro about quietly holding his down.

The little man was quite good in Safeway, though he was a little bit unsettled by these middle-school age boys marching around singing Christmas songs loudly and off key, in a strangely belligerent way. I have no idea what they were doing there—it was like their parents dropped them off and said, "Go amuse yourselves in Safeway, kids." I was kinda unsettled by their singing too. He got over it after a little while (and several treats).

Kepler's he was terrible because he just wanted to go back to the front and get more cookies. But he was off-duty and he'd been working nicely for a long time—it was obvious he'd had it. I was super proud of him for being such a stand-up little guy tonight!

This is why I can't visit collar stores ...

I swear, I went with the purest of intentions. Go to Paco Collars in Berkeley, find an already-made Deluxe collar (two layers for less rubbing on the neck) that I liked well enough, buy it, leave.

Of course, that's not what actually happened. Let's blame Dad.

I was looking through all the collars for sale, and had found one that was pretty good. Tan leather (though I really wanted black), gorgeous conchos with subtle flowers on them with a tiny amber stone in the center, nickel hardware. It wasn't as wide as I wanted, but I was like, this is not a big deal, this will definitely work.

And then Dad steps in, going, "You know, if you're going to pay this much for a collar, you should get something you really like."

"But he needs to have this on his neck now."

"Just a few more weeks in the prong won't kill him. He'll live."

Salesguy looks at me with a little smile, hands me a Paco catalog. Kaline stares up at me with melty eyes. Probably due to wearing the headcollar, but my resistance was at a low ebb so everything felt like a guilt trip. Do you love your puppy enough?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

"Okay, okay, let's do custom."

We are not going to talk about how much this collar cost. Subject is off limits. So let's talk about how freaking gorgeous this collar is going to be.

I found a collar style called the Simon, and tweaked it a bit to make it just right. It has the pretty conchos from the collar I was thinking about buying, but it's black, two inches wide instead of one (and wider will also reduce rubbing), with a nicer pattern of nickel hardware. And instead of all nickel hardware between the conchos, they're going to put a blue rhinestone in the center of each little cluster. Hopefully it doesn't take terribly long. It's gonna be so neat. Plus it should really be nice on his neck—Paco has made collars for hairless dogs, so they know about sensitive doggies. They're even doing extra conditioning for it before they send it off to me. I promise pictures as soon as I get it.

In other news, Dad decided he didn't want to do obedience class today, so I left him with the wee monster and took my awesome girl to class. It was so much fun—I loved having one of the advanced dogs in class again! She did very well, of course, and had herself a great time. She was so waggy and enthusiastic the entire time. And Kaline had a nice morning taking a leisurely walk with Dad. He was super wiggly and adorable when Juno and I came home.

Kaline's been charming our company-for-the-weekend, my mom's best friend Wendy. She absolutely loves him. He is super cute, I must admit! Sometimes he can get a bit overenthusiastic with her, but mostly he's been a very good boy. She's sleeping in my room, so Kaline's her roommate and he's been his usual quiet self in his crate every night. Hurrah.

Juno and Kaline have also been doing a bit better at holding off on the wrestling. (Again, worries over Kaline's neck. Ya know.) If I just say NO sharply right when they start, usually they stop. Thank goodness.

Oh, and don't feel too bad for Juno not getting a Paco collar. She has, currently: a Tigers collar, a Michigan collar, a Giants collar, a 49ers collar, a homemade Menlo Park Legends collar, and my favorite, her 2-inch-wide, beautifully embroidered 2HoundsDesigns martingale collar. And I just got her a Ruffwear Cloudchaser cause my Pro Purchase Plan came through (50% off on everything).

Training Kaline cheers me up

So, I've been sick and grumpy. Nobody wants to read other people's vents about being sick and grumpy.

Chilly little Kaline in Juno's Hallowe'en t-shirt. Dad's getting him pajamas for Xmas, hehe.

But today I've been doing a bunch of short training sessions with Kaline, and it definitely put me in a better mood.

First, though, an update on his neck. After a few months of being naked as much as possible but using the prong collar when a collar was required looking like the solution to the problem, it turns out it's not. Kaline had a tiny spot of very short hair on the back of his neck for a while, with an irritated follicle in the middle of it. Since it wasn't growing, I didn't really worry. Well, now it's growing. It's where the chain rests on the back of his neck. The hair on the front is still fine, grown in nicely, but he's got a couple irritated follicles there too. Cue despair.

Just kidding. I worked Kaline in the Infinity collar and his flat Tigers collar on Monday, and he worked pretty well in it, though he was pretty spastic in Trader Joe's. Thank goodness we were only there for about 10 minutes. He was trying to smell stuff, swinging his butt around randomly, etc. Then in line he did a perfect block, even leaning gently into the backs of my knees. He's a dog, not a robot, he's a dog, not a robot ...

Mom found a hidden stash of Christmas collars, yay!

Anyway. Tuesday I made a call to Paco Collars, based in Berkeley. I told them Kaline's issues, and they seem confident that one of their collars will do the trick. (Kay will end up working in the Infinity plus Paco Collar, until he progresses to the point where he can just work in the flat, like Juno.) I believe the word used to describe the lining of the collar was "buttery." Sounds delicious. So we are going to head up there on Saturday and hope they have a ready-made black Deluxe collar that will fit the wee man. I think they will. Not cheap, but if it finally solves the neck issue, I'll be happy. I know a ton of Dobermans wear Paco Collars, so it should work. Fingers and paws crossed.

Back to the training. Since the weekend, Kaline has gotten way better at doing the treadmill. He has now had seven total fifteen-minute sessions on the treadmill. On the first and second ones, he threw a fit and needed a lot of help to stay on. Three and four, he threw a fit but was able to stay on by himself. Five, he only put up a token fuss and walked nicely after that. Six, he got on by himself. And the rest is history.

It's really nice to know that that is now an option when Kaline needs to burn off some energy, because at least for now, roughhousing with big sis is no longer an option. He's got two little hairless tooth-marks on his neck. And I think we all know how insane I am about his neck (see above). He loves to have Juno chew on his neck, and she loves to oblige, so ...

We also worked a bunch on the fridge, because he was backsliding a little. Today, our new maize-and-blue tug came from Alex, a friend who is raising money for her future SD from Laughing Eyes Kennels. Both dogs love it, and Kaline is already starting to pull on the long middle part of the tug (on the rope toy, he refused to use anything but the little fringey strings at the bottom, which obviously led to the thing slipping abruptly out of his mouth a lot).

His take it is getting pretty good—he'll go for the blue bone on the floor—and he did very nice hold and out today. He walked around the kitchen with the bone in his mouth (I held my hand really close to his mouth in case he decided to drop it) and even did a sit-down-sit sequence with it in his mouth.

While Juno gets her turns on the treadmill, Kaline gets to practice his down-stay and settle, which is going nicely. I really want to just take a day and go to several different places with him and a book, and just work on settling under chairs/tables for extended periods of time. Super exciting, I know.

Juno did such a cute hold yesterday at training. Anne had left her bait bag way far away and was packing up her car. When I went to go grab Juno's leash (she'd been working off-leash), I saw the bag and told Juno to take it. She did, and she carried it all the way from that little area of the park over to Anne's car—where she sat and politely gave the bag to Anne. Yay.

I think the only other thing Kaline has really been focusing on is finding heel and finding front. Finding front is a lot harder for him, but we'll get there!