The First Hurdle

I’ve been working on the paw press with Cowboy almost since the day I got him, and he’s very reliable with it so I introduced the round silver handicapped button into the exercise.  At first he just swiped at it, and then he used it to “stand” on so that he could reach my hand, but today he actually touched it with his paw.  We played the game three different times today and by the last time he was touching the button and not my hand – good boy!

He was really trying my patience this evening however. His incessant barking (among other things), was about sending me over the edge. I almost snapped at him but opted instead to clean off the kitchen table.  Somehow he knew I was very upset because – even though I never made a sound toward him – each time I walked past his kennel he backed away from me. He finally laid down and went to sleep while I ranted about on my cleaning frenzy. 

I know he’s very frustrated.  He has all of this energy and no outlet for it, which is resulting in the barking and biting.  He can’t play with Kizzy because he’s too rough and knocks her over, and I can’t keep an eye on him all the time, so he’s stuck in his little kennel in the house.  He has room to move about and play, but still cooped up. It’s frustrating not only him, but me and Kizzy as well.  There’s a lot more stress in the house the past couple of weeks.

I play with him but not as rough and tumble as he wants to play, and I’m teaching him the service dog exercises and other things, but it just doesn’t seem to be enough.  I think Ricochet needs to come over for some play dates…

I need to find a way to channel his energy - I have to find the key that will unlock the great potential in this pup.  And that key is more likely with me than with him.  Maybe I'll try to teach him to run on my treadmill; not only would that help with energy but would keep him in great shape as well.