I have been working with Ruby quite a bit since the “dog whisperer” came and told us what we already knew. She is an expert at “sit.” She is making lots of progress with “sit. stay.” I can even turn my back to her and walk away and she’ll still stay there. This makes me verrrry proud! The challenge is getting her to do it when it’s not just me and her in the room, and when there is a visitor. She also knows now that when she stands and looks at us and just barks for no reason that she will go in her crate for time-out. So her barking has quieted down a lot! The other thing we’re working on is “leave it. take it.” So if you drop a piece of treat on the floor and say “leave it!” She won’t touch it until you say “take it.” The dog whisperer thought this would be helpful for when the baby arrives and is throwing who knows what in the floor. I think her “jumping on people” problem is getting better too. The “dog whisperer” showed us how to knee her just right when she jumps up on us. Ouch! sorry Ruby! That’s gotta hurt. It seems to keep her from doing it though.
I guess that’s all we’re working on. We just have to repeat these drills until it’s second nature. That’s going to be a lot of repeating. Here she is in all of her “half-trained” glory!
The Hall's Way of Life 