It’s quite silly how dumb humans can be… that’s Jersie’s new motto. We’ve played ball in the front yard several times since your visit. Last night the neighbor came home and walked over to greet Jersie. She behaved like a perfect lady, obeyed every command, tossed the ball back to whoever asked for it, and even waited at the edge of the grass before retrieving a ball that rolled out into the road. Well duh. It seems that the greatest take away here is that Jersie is most stressed by that which is unknown. It also seems that most of her stress is removed by introducing her to that unknown. Damn. There’s a tough lesson to learn. It’s hard to believe I managed to parent two children who are able to cross the street.

Catherine, thanks again so much for your patience and help! Jersie would thank you herself, but her overprotective parents don’t allow her online.

Just wanted to let you know that we brought Lily back down to our daughter in Panama City Beach this weekend and so far, everything seems to be going well. We crated Lily several times during our stay for varying periods of time and the most we got from her were a couple of minutes of whining and a few barks that quickly subsided for the remainder of the time she was in the crate. We see this as a very positive result and we expect it to improve as Lily becomes more familiar with the area and Kelley’s schedule.

We would like to thank you for all the assistance and encouragement you gave us in this effort. I think Kelley is extremely relieved that Lily can continue to live with her without disturbing her neighbors in the apartment complex.

Kelley may contact you with further questions and some information on boarding and daycare that you provide but I wanted to personally thank you for the wonderful help you gave us in conquering this problem.

This morning I heard something that, at least for a while, I thought I’d never hear. Abbey and I were out on our walk ~ she was sitting before we crossed a street. A lady was walking toward us on the boardwalk, so I waited for her to go by before I “released” Abbey. Wide-eyed, the lady exclaimed, “I wish MY dog was that well-behaved!”

Thanks

Just wanted to let you know how the weekend went at the tournament. Gatlin was wonderful. He did not say an unkind word to any other dogs. He did his job enthusiastically and never went after another dog. Ava of course was remarkable. We took Esther and between races I walked her around the room so she could get the feel of the barking dogs and running dogs. She did great. They have a dog park right there by the gym so I took her over there to play with the some dogs that were at the park and she got along beautifully with all of them large and small. She has really come a long way. Thank you for helping me build confidence in them.

Hey! Just thought I would give you an update on the boys! They are doing GREAT! Diesel and I have a whole new relationship…he is now listening to me on a regular basis…I say come and he does 🙂 It’s a wonderful feeling…he ran the first couple of days we got to my dads house but that stopped after about the third day. I never even had to worry about Gunner…he now loves to chase sticks…so much so that he has gotten Diesel interested in them enough for him to eat them! I don’t know what it is about the taste but they are almost as good as treats to both of them! I couldn’t ask for anything better…They both listen…oh! We also got the dog doorbell…Diesel is still touch and go with that…he still tries to hit the door every now and again, but he’s doing pretty well with the doorbell…Gunner has touched it once!