Today we took the boys to track at the park. I got to handle the retractable leash with Jeremy following along and advising as we went. My biggest hurdle is waiting until Panga gets to the end of the leash and gives me a signal of which direction we are going in before I take a step. I really have to work on this. Once she got the boys' scent, she did really well and found them quickly. I'm still amazed by this.
After the park, we took the boys back to the hotel because Kasen was having a meltdown. It was one of the worst ones he has had. Luckily, he calmed down before I needed him and Levi again.
At the center, we worked on practicing tethering, giving verbal and hand signals and seizure alerting. Panga was trained in seizure work, however, Levi does not have any active seizures other than the staring off (Petit Mal seizures). Panga will probably not alert to those. But, if he would start convulsing, Panga should bark. I'll try to take a video of this. She is awesome at it.
After the center, I went and picked up Chris and the boys and we went to the mall. Chris walked the boys around while I worked on heeling with Shelby. Once that was over, we waiting for our turn for inside tracking. Chris hid with the boys twice while I tracked with Panga and she did awesome. She finds them quickly every time and I am extremely grateful for this skill. After we were finished tracking, we went to see the train ride again and Panga, Kasen and I went for a ride. Panga was not thrilled with getting on, but enjoyed it once she was on. Kasen was a whole other story. He was not tethered and ran away from us. Chris had to chase him. It's the first time Chris has seen him run off like that. He's done it to me before. We got Kasen tethered and he went into a tantrum. He was overwhelmed, overtired and we needed to get out of there. He kept going dead weight on Panga and I wasn't sure how to work through that. I know how to work through him trying to pull on her, but him dropping to the ground was new. Luckily, Jeremy was still at the mall and I asked him what he would suggest. He said that he doubted I wanted Panga to drag him through the mall (at that point, I didn't care how we got to the exit lol) Jeremy told Kasen to hold onto the tether strap so Panga didn't get lost and he did for about 20 steps, then he dropped again. Jeremy reminded him he needed to hold on so we didn't lose Panga and Kasen again hopped up and held on. Jeremy walked us to the exit and we made it to the van.
We then hightailed it back to the hotel and got the boys back in the room. I then worked with Panga on the hotel property doing her commands and seizure alerting. She does really well but distractions are still an issue. I have to remember to take the really good treats next time to motivate her.
Other than Kasen's tantrum and running off, today was a pretty good day.
No comments:
Post a Comment