Day 8 -- Resisting Temptations

Mollie is working on self-control and responding to her people even around high distractions. She's a playful girl and LOVES playing with other animals. But this may or may not be the cats most favorite thing. I like to work with cats and dogs first with a barrier. This gate works great for my bigger dogs because Mo, the cat, can go through the cat door but they can't. That gives Mo her own space away from the dogs if she wants. Of course, Mollie is so small now she could squeeze through that cat door but she won't always be that small.

So now I can work with Mollie on attention and responding to my cues when the cat is around without the worry of the cat running off and Mollie chasing after her. If she is barking at the cat, I can tell her "that's enough" and redirect her to another toy or practicing our training. If she continues to bark, I can say "too much" and put her in a quick timeout in her crate. It really does not pay off for her to bark at the other animals. This is still a work in progress for her but she is getting much better. A little barking is ok in play with other dogs but demand barking when they won't play with her or have her favorite chew toy is not in good form. Barking at cats, well, they're never going to like that.

And with practice, she can pay attention to me even when the cat is around. She is to the point where I can trust her in the same room with the cat with just periodic reminders to behave herself around the kitty.

Rewards? When we are practicing or I catch her behaving exceptionally well, I can reward her with play or an occasional treat and always lots of praise. I also discovered recently that she really enjoys a full body rub down. I start at the ears and rub her sides. It just about puts her in a trance.

But let's not forget, our training sessions always start with giving her a chance to exercise...so Mollie RUN!

And RUN!!!

And RUN!!! Luckily, she doesn't need a whole lot of space to do this. I planted a tree in the middle of my smallish dog yard and the dogs are very content to run circles around it and chase each other. I thought I would also introduce her to a lunge toy and see how she does with that.