Ana has a boyfriend ...

Today was round 2 with our trainer from Pawsitive Reactions and we had some interesting results.

She and I each brought a leashed dog into the living room while Ledcat sat with Ana on the sofa. We simply began rewarding them for good behavior and good "looks" at Ana. She promptly got off the sofa and came over for some treats. She was essentially unthreatened the entire time.

We treated and treated and treated. Eventually, Deus laid down on his dog bed and I sat next to him. Xander was a little nonplussed at being handled by Debby, but very calm and laid back. Ana walked around unconcerned. She walked right up and took treats underneath their mouths. She actually leaped over Deus wiggling hind end to get to me.

Xander sniffed her, she lifted her lip. He sniffed again and she nipped his cheek -- he backed off. Many minute later, he sniffed her a third time and when she lifted her lip, backing off was he. He never barked at her and was fine with her coming and eating treats with him.

Deus, on the other hand, occasionally got what Debby describes at the Rotty "Lock and Load" look where he would get a little fixated on Ana. We can't quite tell what it means, but we think he really wants to play with her and just doesn't understand the size difference. He only does it once in awhile and he can be completely distracted with food or verbally.

Late in the session, Ana was pacing back and forth on the sofa side of the coffee table, Deus was standing next to me with leash in hand on the sother side. Debby was nearby with Xander. Deus made a move toward Ana; she didn't flinch.

But Xander immediately jumped between them and made Deus back off. It was really amazing and quite the opposite of what we expected to happen. Xander growled at Deus and nosed him away from the table, then he went over to sniff Ana to make sure she was okay. Mind you, the boys were leashed so Deus wasn't going to get Ana -- he might knock some stuff off the coffee table. But it was still the most interesting display -- Xander is protective of Ana.

Ana never flinched. She kept pacing after her initial start. Ledcat picked her up to avoid any further temptation.

Right now, the boys are having a bit of supper to fill the few inches of their stomachs not packed with treats. Ana is collapsed under my desk, snoring in a very undelicate way. We are heading out for a comedy show, so we anticipate everyone having a good nap.

What's next? We'll continue with exposure and having meals next to each other with a babygate in between. Tomorrow we'll do the living room thing again with high value treats. Monday, I'll probably bring Xander in and let him walk around the room with a loose leash and see how he does one on one with Ana. Then we'll go back to both dogs with leashes. Deus will take some more time until he can be off leash. We'll probably have Debby come back one more time to help us make that final transition.

We are continuing to learn a lot about Ana and wonder what is new behavior for her. She is not the least bit shy in our home, but scared in public. She whines more often than I'd like. Ledcat's tendency is to say "What's the matter, honey?" and shower her with attention which only reinforces the whine. I take her out to potty. She likes Ledcat's approach much better. :-)

She does not have any obedience. She's a good girl and is housebroken, but won't sit, lay down or get off. She's learned what "upstairs" and "downstairs" mean and we are working hard to teach her "back off" to keep her away from the doors. I think we are going to sign up for a small dog social class and then small dog obedience class. Debby gave me some tips on how to better train her so I'll start working on that tomorrow. I don't need her to be some show off dog, but when I say sit and she jumps on the sofa ... we start getting to that dangerous area where small dogs get excused for poor behavior b/c they are cute and that's not good. She's also getting a little jumpy and we want to keep that to a minimum.

Overall, a good day. We bought Ana an elevated feeding station last night at Burton's Total Pet. I hate that gummy residue from the stickers, don't you? Anyway, she really likes it.

I need to go spend some time with the boys, so signing off now.