Hi guys, Thank you for putting this together for James. I hope all is going as well as it sounds, and I am really happy it went so great with Willow! It is amazing to see when another dog helps a dog to just be a dog!
It has been a while since I have updated, and SO much has happened!![]()
James graduated basic puppy school! woohoo! Will be exploring intermediate over the summer...maybe agility if things go well
He LOVES his toys now - which is so great to see! He whips them around and gets all goofy with them - ahh - so nice to see him being a dog!
We DID have a rough week or so a little while back - not really sure what was up - but we made it through even stronger for it!
Walking on leash continued to be a challenge, so we now use a prong collar which akes walks much more enjoyable for both of us becuase they arent filled with corrections and frustration. His is still anxious and scared when on leash in the parking lot...now that he has gotten confidence in other areas, we will begin to increase "city noise & sights" exposure...
He has become a real part of the family - I always felt it, but now I think HE does, and thats the most important!
Pat & I find ourselves saying this a lot lately! All in a good way! ![]()
James has found out that the bed is really comfy...hmmm...my fault! I have been teaching him jump and up on the logs at the pits, and have transfered that knowledge to the bed and couch! ooops! I do enjoy the cuddles though! Pat thinks I am crazy of course! ![]()
He now plays with his dogs toys around the house on his own, and enjoyed his forst game of tug of war with Pat!
He has also started barking at visitors, he does quiet down, but he is now wanting to be very aware about who comes to our door and in the house...the poor pizza guy!'
I am happy to report that James is doing so well ![]()
However! With his growing confidence, his stubborness is beginning to show!! Thank goodness for dog school! Tara is helping us work through this and giving me the "permission" I need to toughen up a bit on him!
He still has the odd scare and pee, but more often than not, he is being a dog! Beginning to leave his "spot" to greet Pat & I when we come in...doing tricks ~ he is getting really good @ sit and lay down...working on wait and stay, but coming along! His newest & most fun trick is "jump" - check out the newly added video!
James had his first (at least with me!) grooming experience today @ Bark & Fitz...The boy clenas up well! The ladies were treferring to him as Casanova by the time I picked him up! ![]()
After a few moments of
"umm...where is jay going?? umm..k..i'd like to go with Jay....LET... ME...OUT...OF... MY...COLLAR..." he settled in well! ![]()
By the end, he was sitting on his new lady friend's lap as she blow dried his fur!
He is so very handsome and smells so good! ![]()
With lots of encouragement, we were able to make it by the big green garbage bin at the pitts, without the leash!
Way to go Jameson!
He was so proud of himself!
James did WONDERFUL this weekend with his new adventures!!
Tails wags are becoming a common occurrence, and not just a little wag, an "I am so so so happy to see you" wag!
And when he does something new and gets praised for it, he just seems so proud and bounces around! although, now I am working with him now tho to not leap for joy right into my face!
He is becoming increasingly brave and outgoing at the pitts...playing and exploring with Willow...and he MUST be in the lead! She did tell him off once because he got a little rough...its so neat watching him learn how to play! He met a little pooch today, and tried to play, but i dont think he knows how big he ease because he took his paw and pancaked the little pup who let out a squeel!! I dont know who was more scared, Shelby or James!
He had a successful play date with Hailly, Bruno & Ella last evening, although they did most of the playing around him! In this case, success means he was not stressed, and was able to relax, and brave it and go up to new people on his own! And no accidents on the drive all the way to Kanata!
yeah James! ![]()
Today, he met Allie (5) and Dillon (3ish!) and a pup named Bear. ONce again, James impressed me! The kids were also AMAZING! Taking thier role of "calm kids" very seriously, respecting james and his space! So proud of everyone!
And tonight, well, he's poooped! I dont blame him, so am I!
Oh how I love my James...but the escapades we have do seem to be endless! ![]()
This Tuesday morning, I was taken out at my knees by him at the top of the stairs that resulted in us tumbling TOGETHER all the way down...James had the poop scared outta him literally with each step! I was severly bruised and in oh so much pain. My physical pain probably equaled the emotional pain James felt! Poor guy.
Oh, and did I mention I was holding my fresh and hot morning coffee??? Yeah. COVERED my walls and rug! That along with the submissive peeing resulted in an immediate call to the carpet cleaners! The kicker was I had baby gated the stairs to keep him out of the carpeted area, but that morning....I didnt follow through with my own rules! ![]()
The week got progressively better! James is now picking up sticks when I throw them...although once he has picked it up, he holds it really awkwardly in his mouth and then drops it along the way! Its a start though! and he looks prety silly! ![]()
He continues to instigate wrestling and playng with other pups at the pitts - that WIllow is such a good teacher! And today we went to the pitts without Willow, and he found a friend to play with all on his own (who just happend to be one of Willows best buddies, Prnka!)
Oh wait, did i say the week got progressively better...i forgot tp mention a minor slip up mid week when James decided he just couldnt wait to get to the pitts and took a big poop in moms car.
Poor Willow was crushed up against the window trying to escape with this look on her face like "WTF just happend??? are you kidding me??? this is so not cool" ![]()
We are off to meet 3 new friends tonight, Bruno, Ella (2 1 year old boxers, And Hailly, a 5 (i think!) year old choc lab. Should be intersting! I considerd delaying this, but he is just so at peace with other dogs. I have given strict orders to everyone to IGNORE James for the evening! We are doing an outside walk & meet before. Keeping my fingers crossed that I dont regret this!!! I have faith in our little man! ![]()
This weekend was...interesting...James had a massive scare on Friday that resulted in me accidentally dropping his retractabe leash and that sent James running (and i mean RUNNING!) throughout the parking lot, up and down, his leash whacking into everything as he ran scaring the crap outta him. He was completely checked out and in panic mode. Eventually he managed to make his way up to the landing, and I was able to get hold of what remained of the leash. BUT not before a "helpful" workman tried to help by chasing him - NOT a good idea.![]()
Up until then it had been a week of growth. Now we are seeing some regressive behaviours. His submissive peeing is increasing, so is his nervousness. We decided to move his crate upstairs, where a) there is no carpet, and b) he will have maximum exposure to us. So far (as of 4 hours ago) this idea seems to be a good one.
This weekend it seems that the gods seem to be against us.
This is what I mean:
James has now retreated to his crate. I dont blame him. Do they make crates for humans? I think I need one
.
James had HUGE successes this past weekend! We made it out to Conroy Pitts Fri, Saturday & Sunday! Not only is he becoming comfortable with people and dogs, he has begin frolicking with them! Today, my little man amazed me when he initiated wrestling play with Willow AND stole her tennis ball.
This was HUGE! The first time he even demonstrated interest in a toy! ![]()
He continues to be afraid of the big mean green garbage bin at the pitts...walking towards it until he sees it and then off he goes back into the forest 2 days in a row he did this, although the second day he eventually came. Today we decided to leash him and walk him by it - which he didn’t love but he made it!
ANother positive sign is that he is finally letting himself fall asleep when we are upstairs with him...he fights it ALL the time!
Simon continues to assert his "hey dawg - you know I am the boss right?" attitude - but it doesn’t seem to bother James...except when Simon refuses to move out of the way and James doesn’t know what to do so he bows to Simon's reign of whatever hallway he is guarding!
An Animal Reiki Therapist recommended we give James a holistic medicine called "Rescue Remedy". I hadn’t heard about it before but with some research it seemed like a safe and legit intervention to try to help James with his continued (although lessening) anxiety. Hard to tell now though if he is just getting more comfortable OR if the remedy is working - I say "who cares! Whatever it is I imagine he feels a whole lot better!"
Another successful day!
Day 3 began with me waking up @ 9am and thinking how nice it was of James to let us sleep in! But then I turned over and Pat was not in bed...and James wasnt in his crate...hmmm
Turns out James HAD been up for the past 3 hours, and so had Pat - Clearly I am a sound sleeper and James morning wake up call didnt register!
He is nervous about our celining fan, and even turned off it still seems to make him anxious. Pat & I worked with him for a while this morning to get him to come into the kitchen from his bed in the living room, and after lots of patience, praise, and 20 or more attempts, he made it! It is very interesting to try and train a dog who couldnt care less for dog treats!
We went to the Pitts at 11:30 with Mom & Willow, and boy did James make us SO proud!!!!
He ventured bravely into the forest with Willow on his long leash, and then after some recall exercises, which he successfully completed, we thought we'd give him a go off leash (something we so did not anticipate doing today, or even the first month!). Sure enough, he came back upon each call, AND consistently looked back to make sure we were coming if he ventured off ahead of us!
Our pooch was SUPER pooped on the way home! ![]()
This afternoon, James met Willow, who is totally going to be amazing at helping James be a dog! His tail is continuing to raise up from between his legs, he ran around, wrestled with her and ALMOST played with a toy! woohoo! Definitely more willow-time is in order!
...Started early! The dog we thought would never bark - does!
Scared the crap outta me this morning! But it did mean he needed to go out, so that was all god - except for the ungodly weekend wake up hour!
Although this WAS the first time I saw his tail wag! woohoo!
If Simon could talk, Im sure he'd say "ok listen man, on saturday and sunday, we sleep in. go back to bed, your runnng up and down the stairs s starting to piss me off". ![]()
Now that I am up, time to do some dog training research on the web!
We have had a few Simon-James interactions...all without incident! woo hoo! They have actually spent some time in very close-same-level-proximity...it is actually really funny how James just ignores him!
At least Simon's growling has decreased!
Already James is acting more like a dog...if only I could get him to play...maybe tomorrow! Hopefully Wilow can teach him! ![]()
Last night I was happily surprised James slept right through! I imagine he was pretty tuckered though from all the changes and advnetures!
This morning went well-ish. ..
Pats routine is gonna be get James up when he does and take him to pee and eat. This morning, he tried to get him to pee, but he wouldn’t! So I got up with him, and we went for a pretty long stroll, and we were successful! Took a little while to settle when we got back in ~ I realized later he needed to go to the washroom again because he went on the floor AND on his dog bed of all places – sure he wont sleep on it but he’ll poop on it! Thank goodness its washable!! So my error! It’ll take me a while to figure out his signals I imagine!
He is already responding to my command when he pulls on the leash. I say “come back please” and stop and wait and then I say “thank you” an when he comes back and “we can go” and then he starts off again!. He is VERY bright, because even not long into the walk, and on our second one he is already responding and has begun to shift his behvaiour!
Since that point, he settled well. He follows and sits with me – right now he is at my feet and Simon is on the computer desk, so that integration is a success! He has gone into his crate twice already on his own! Such a good boy! He also spent a few hours in there today while we both had naps!