Week Recap

Izzy. She seems to be getting even more beautiful.

It has been a busy week! Izzy is almost 18 weeks old. We have had her for almost 9 weeks! She is growing so fast. She lost a tooth this week. Even though she is teething, she seems to understand now that biting us hurts and is not OK. She was able to do our regular shorter walk at the Walterville Pond which is about 2.5 miles this week! I'm sure she would have gone further but I didn't want to push her and she doesn't know her limits or how to regulate herself yet. Wednesday, her friend Runa, the sheepdog, came over for a playdate. They had a blast! Thursday she met the 2nd grade classroom at St. Paul Catholic School. My daughter-in-law (who teaches there) arranged it for us. I had told her that Izzy really needed to meet more children. I wasn't sure she was up to a presentation and meeting all the kids so invited Barb and Maya, one of the FETCH Therapy Teams I work with. Izzy did great! I talked about what therapy dogs were and also the difference between them and service dogs and emotional support animals. I also covered dog etiquette like asking before petting and having calm energy and being gentle. About that time Izzy had a little melt down and started barking. I started to panic but remembered I had thrown a chew in my pocket and gave it to her and it saved us. Once she was walking around the kids, she was engaged again and did really well. She got to meet a few bonus kids and adults as we walked out. It was a great experience for her.

She had her Puppy Kindergarten class Thursday evening at Training Spot. She did great with settling on a mat and leave it. One of the areas that has been a challenge has been leaving her in her crate. I have been working with a trainer on slowly increasing the time she is alone. She has made improvement and doesn't get near as distressed in her x-pen but would still bark and whine in her crate. I shifted focus and just worked on making the crate a great place. I hid random treats in it at random times, fed all her meals in it, gave her chews and freeze toys in it. I worked on the commands "kennel" and "out". I started closing the door for varying durations. I tried a sheet over it but I think that was worse. Yesterday, I tried leaving her while she was in it. I went in a different room and watched her on camera (having cameras really helps with this). She barked and whined but she was not anxious like before. While she would sit, she would not lay down. I really wanted her to relax. Today I tried again after a good exercise session. I gave her the snuffle mat with treats, closed the door and went in the other room. After she finished the snuffle mat, she barked and whined for a few minutes but wasn't in great distress, so I waited. She lay down and went to sleep! She napped for 45 minutes! When she woke up because she heard a noise, she stayed lying down and was calmly looking around. When I opened the door, she didn't even get out and when she did she slowly stretched and yawned. I am so excited about this! This has been a really hard thing for her! It's been hard for us to because we can't leave her. I see dancing in my future.

We finished the week with a play date with Iylah. These two really like each other and have so much fun playing.

She is napping in the crate with the door closed and me gone!

I love that these two are able to not only play but also just hang out.

They do love to play.