Kairo and Ember's 2 Month Adventure

Puppy Join date : 2016-09-04 Location : Myrtle Beach

Nearly 1 Week Update
Things are going rather nicely! Kairo has stopped almost all pacing, and I am indeed finding that she doesn't have the stamina to go very far outside at all (it's also climbing in the 90s again). I believe now that all that pent up energy was literally nothing more than change and missing daddy.

Ember and Kairo entertain each other very well, and Kairo's "off switch" seems to have improved drastically, thanks to Ember's... assertive... guidance. Kairo becomes highly interested in whatever Ember might have to herself (chews, food, etc), but to date keeps her distance and does not try to take anything. No resource guarding issues have arisen.

Ember's personality blossomed overnight. She is now this HUGELY needy girl that has to know where Mom is and what she's doing and if she's touching Kairo and oh is that her voice I must investigate... Meaning, she's on my hip if I so much as breath wrong. She is playing harder with Kairo than I've ever seen her engage at the dog park. She played a 2-tug game of tug with Kairo before giving up (Kairo is super strong and learning to adjust to Ember's give and take personality), and snapped at a ball I threw for Kairo. That is the extent of the toys, and she still looks super annoyed when Kairo brings them around, but this has not deterred Kairo from bringing Ember "gifts" and dropping toys at her feet and walking off. Kairo also tries to get Ember to grab the other end of toys frequently by teasing her like we would a cat.

Kairo's training on pulling and door dashing are coming along splendidly. We have this contract going where, if Kairo will refrain from pulling, I will keep her pace, let her stop whenever she wants to, let her lead. If she DOES pull, and I plant my feet against it, she gets the choice of taking a step back to loosen the tension herself, circling around to come to my side (she keeps tension on the lead all the way around for whatever reason then steps in to my side), or just sitting. She now understands this and is more consistently responding to me stopping. She even sat immediately when I stopped to let another dog pass! This is HUGE for the overly friendly dog.

She is learning to talk back too. She's quite the sassy gal. She does NOT want to "down" to go out the door - she wants me to be happy with a sit. She will sit, and if I say down, she will "Roooooooo" all the way down. Sometimes she won't "hear" me, so I'll give her the hand signal and she tries to "shake hands" like she's being cute or something (while trying not to down like she's supposed to - she'll still sort of slip into the down-ish pose....). She is also learning that just because the door opens does not mean "free". I am having to do a lot of opening-closing-opening-closing-opening before she understands to wait for the command.

She also likes to "down" halfway, looking like a contorted frog.

No one has missed a meal (DJ was complaining that Kairo misses meals every so many days like Ember does). I've employed the same techniques for both dogs, and every other dinner or so is used for mind games instead of eating out of a bowl. Any breakfast that goes uneaten has been eaten with dinner portions that night without fail.

In all, I'm very happy with how this week turned out. It hasn't been easy, but it hasn't been terrible either. Everyone is adjusting nicely.

Play Hard, Rest Harder
Kairo and Ember's 2 Month Adventure IMG_20160907_200752_zps1pb9u4ah

Kairo and Ember's 2 Month Adventure IMG_20160907_200752_zps1pb9u4ah

Kairo and Ember's 2 Month Adventure IMG_20160906_172117_zpsrzudf4s2

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Kairo and Ember's 2 Month Adventure IMG_20160908_100421_zpsueuzu1ob

Kairo and Ember's 2 Month Adventure IMG_20160908_100409_zpsnuxorn84

Senior Join date : 2013-12-20

Love the read...so glad every thing is working out. Ember and Kairo look quite happy together...better prepare yourself for the separation when it comes. Both you and Ember are going to be forlorn...