Day 19 (09/29/17): Higby's, food toys and chews

I had to get chicken feed so I took Terra to Higby's feed store. I bought the food and worked with the boarding dog first. Terra is good at chilling in the car while I'm running errands.

I have to lift her out of the car because her legs are always tangled up and she doesn't quite know how to get them under her and exit on her own.

The feed store had been quiet, but thanks to Murphy's Law, three male employees came out front and started loudly moving merchandise around and talking right as I got Terra out. She did not like that. She tucked her tail and leaned against me. I gave her a moment, then she was willing to walk away from the store front and to a quieter part of the grounds. The more time passed, the more she expanded the area that she was wanted to explore. We just stopped and I'd give her reassurance whenever she needed it. She was not overtly bothered by a forklift going by, or a car driving by loudly on the main road. She did get very scared of the sudden sight of people when she went around a corner and peeked into the shop.

Getting high value treats here and there helped. I need to teach her a few more basic behaviors that I can cue and reward while we're out, to help her gain confidence. I just started a nose-to-hand target but it wasn't strong enough yet. I was able to reward manding (offered) and eye contact (also offered, not on verbal cue yet). Often I would add a paw-to-hand target as one of these basic behaviors, but she currently whacks people (and gates) with her paw when she wants attention, so first I want to get that under better control. (On the other hand, maybe it would be a good lesson in stimulus control to work on it now. Hmm.) Maybe I should add "behind" or "between my legs" as early behaviors.

All in all I would rate this field trip as "meh." It wasn't too bad but I wouldn't consider it a successful socialization experience.

In the late afternoon, the client dog with separation anxiety came for another training stay. Terra heard the commotion from the yard as he came in and said "nope." But once everyone was in the apartment, she came over for petting and treats from the owners, and was comfortable ignoring the other dog.

I put her in the bedroom with a kong filled with treats. Somehow, in nearly three weeks with me, she hadn't experienced food toys yet! She emptied it quickly. Then I offered her a frozen kong (too difficult, but it was worth a try), a smoked beef bone (only while she's small and has baby teeth), and her jumbo bully stick. She chewed the yummy crust off the beef bone and then settled for a nap.

Terra ate 1.5 C of Honest Kitchen for breakfast, 1.5 C for lunch, and raw chicken for dinner (about 10 oz of drumsticks and 16 oz of ground meat). The HK portion is providing about two/thirds the calories she should get per the box, and the raw chicken is providing about half of what I would expect her to eat per her weight. So I'm feeding her extra to help her gain weight, after the lack of weight gain during her first two weeks. I'm watching carefully to keep her lean, though - very important for growing puppies, and especially giant ones.