Day 9

Panga waiting on Levi to wake up

This morning started with tracking.  When it was our turn, Chris took the boys for a walk.  Then it was Panga's time to find her boys.  She did okay, but got distracted a lot.  Jeremy says we need to have a bigger party at the end of the track. Something that makes all the distractions uninteresting because all she wants is to get to her party at the end of the track...which is where her boys are.  I practiced in the hotel room with her and Kasen.  Kasen is not the best assistant as he would come out of hiding before she could find him.  It was cute and it kept Kasen entertained for quite a while.

After tracking, I took the boys back to the hotel and I went to 4 Paws for training.  We worked on "under" and "place".  We also worked on "roll over" and "side".  We could have her play dead, but doing the whole gun motion and telling her to play dead would have ended up with Kasen doing it obsessively to anyone and everyone and that's not something we want.  So, insead, we have him tell her to "go night night" and she lays down.  We also worked on off leash commands and Panga did not do well.  Her and I need to work on our teamwork because as soon as the leash came off, her listening ears turned off too.  I know it will be easier once we get home and I can work with her without my little assistant.

After class, I took Panga in the play yard and threw the ball for her a few times.  She loved it and it helped use up some of her energy.  We can't play ball at the hotel since she stays on a leash outside the room and I wouldn't dare let Kasen play ball with her in the room. lol

When I got back to the hotel, Kasen was hyped up and Levi was upset.  Took awhile, but Levi finally calmed down and Kasen was hyper until he finally fell asleep.  4 more days until we head home and hopefully back to our regular routines.

I also practiced seizure alert this evening and had Chris take a video.  I did it while Kasen was "hiding" from Panga because, otherwise, Kasen would have started doing it just to make her bark and that's not something I want to get started. This is an extremely condensed, fast version since once she barked the first time, Kasen said "what's that?", we had to hurry and wrap it up.  lol  I can do this standing, on my knees and sitting and she barks each time.  I haven't tried laying down yet, but am sure I will in the next few days.

Day 8

Here we are at day 8.  There are moments where I think of how nice Ohio is and that I wish we could stay longer and other moments where I am homesick and can't wait to get home and back to our routine.

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.

Day 7

This morning we went to track at the mall.  The mall wasn't open yet because it was Sunday so we tracked outside the mall.  I tethered Kasen to Panga and he wasn't thrilled with it, but he tolerated it.  Panga did awesome keeping him anchored.  A car drove by at one point and Kasen pulled against Panga.  Had he done that untethered, he would have been in the car's path.  He's starting to run off from me more and more so tethering came at the perfect time for us.  Kasen also has a mini leash that he can help "walk" Panga to keep him close.  He loses interest quickly, though, so tethering will be used also.

Kasen was struggling with behaviors tonight.  He finally calmed with Panga laying beside him and they watched TV together.

During the tracking, Levi stayed in his chair and Chris took him and Kasen to hide.  I handled Panga's leash and Jeremy talked me through it.  The first time, Panga did well but was distracted by the new smells a bit.  The 2nd track, I could tell she knew where she was going.  She found her boys quickly.  I was even more amazed because I hadn't heard where Jeremy had sent them, so I was honestly following Panga's lead on this one. 

We then went to 4 Paws and the boys got to play on the playground while I trained with Panga.  Then we broke for lunch and Panga and I took the boys to the hotel then went back to 4 Paws.  Once there, we worked on tethering again and practiced "nuzzle" and "touch" which are both behavior disruption techniques.  Panga does both well.