Winter Break Update #4: Kaline goes on errands

On the final Sunday of our little break, Kaline came with me (and Mom) on a couple errands and did an excellent job. After a quick stop at Town & Country shopping center, we headed to Stanford for Nordstrom and Macy's.

Because I'd gotten spoiled by Juno's precision with handicap buttons, I worked with Kaline on every button for his accuracy. I don't reward him for the door actually opening, because sometimes those buttons don't work, and in that case I don't want Kaline to think he's failed. But on that outing, Kaline only got a c/t if his paw squarely hit the button. He started doing a lot better after a couple repetitions, and we undoubtedly annoyed several people sitting on benches just inside all these various doors. Oops!

Inside, we worked on walking with a loose leash and settling, as well as the dropped-leash down-stays. He only had a couple opportunities to work on blocking but he did well at those, too. I had Mom nudge him in the butt to see if that would make him switch position, but it didn't! Yay! His settle is getting better every day (or so I like to think). Most of the time he'll not only go down, he'll pillow his head on one of his paws and sometimes do the Big Sigh.

To finish up, we did a quick run to Safeway and again, Kaline was very good. Barely any air scenting, even though we were in the dairy aisle, and good blocking while we were in line. Some guy stopped us by the yogurt to try and convince me that Kaline was a hound. This, after being told he was a Doberman and agreeing that he was a very good-looking specimen of his breed. I totally agree with that, although I may, just perhaps, be biased.

Loudness desensitization continues in tiny bits every day. The high voice still makes him get an instant scared face, so we necessarily are doing this in really short sessions, after when we then go do fun obedience games or open a bunch of cupboards. I'm trying to do the weird loud sounds in places other than the kitchen (he is guaranteed to start a freakout if we work in there), so I've been looking a little ... silly ... on our walks in quiet residential neighborhoods.

Someone looking out their window might see a kid in a hoodie with five dogs, grinning maniacally at the one in the middle and making some damn bizarre sounds.

“EEEEEEEEEEE! Good boy! OOOOOOOOGHHHHH! Good boy! SQUEEEEE! Good boy! AAAAAAAAAAH! Good boy! Ohhhh, you're such a good puppy!”

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!