I had an interesting client last week. These people had a very fine lab that I had worked with before for various issues and have always been quite pleased with it.

The issue was that in the past this pup had ‘eaten’ a couple of the family birds, and had been corrected (as it should have been) to the point that it was now scared of any bird in the house. She was fine with birds outside but in the house, not so much. In any case a new Solomon Island Eclectus arrived in the home two weeks ago and I was called to work on the fear issues.

When working on something like this the basic starting point is plain old behavior modification and desensitization works. Getting the dog to ‘do it’s commands’ when it gets nervous is a fabulous way to start.

So, after about 5 days of training here is the note from the owners:

“We all seem to be getting along! ”

Mission accomplished for the dog trainer.

Today, however, I am the pool boy. See the photo below. My entry point.

Location:Marshall Ln,Austin,United States

– Post From My iPhone. Dog training on the go.

Location:Lady Bird Lake Trail,Austin,United States

And, even more amazingly, they asked if they could work with the dogs ‘lots’ during the day. Guess that gets rid of the second week of summer boredom.

– Post From My iPhone. Dog training on the go.

Location:Redbud Trail,Austin,United States

After his initial round if barking in th check in line (dogs can’t use early check in apparently) he’s been pretty quiet.

Here he is waiting for the plane.

– Post From My iPhone. Dog training on the go.

Location:Dallas,United States

What I’m wondering is how is that new pup goin to do today on a full Southwest flight home? I’m prepared for all of the smell and fluid issues but I hope the little guy doesn’t bark the whole way home.

The food news is that even on the way out everyone whe sees the empty carrier wants to ’see the puppy’ so we’ll be busy greeting new people the whole way home.

So all in all I guess the socialization aspect of flying comercial outweighs the ease of flying home in the family Gulfstream.

On to to puppy land!

– Post From My iPhone. Dog training on the go.

Location:On the plane

Poo bags
Towels
Treats
Rope
Tinfoil
Bouncy toys
Chewy toys
Ziplock bags
Baby wipes

And most of all, no laptop. They thought that lack of a laptop was weird.

– Post From My iPhone. Dog training on the go.

Location:Aldford Dr,Austin,United States

If you are interested here are the steps:

Drop tennis ball in the holding hopper

Have dog move to the launch button on the launcher

Press launch button to launch ball(s)

Repeat until utter exhaustion.

Sounds fun huh!

Here is a short video from youtube of a dog doing a similar job.

Border Collie and tennis ball launcher

And this one with the whole routine:

Lab doing retrieve and drop for tennis ball launcher

I just had to tell you what a wonderful job maddy is doing! This morning I got up and said “Maddy, Run!” she went right over to her treadmill and jumped on. She then ran 3 miles, after which I put her on her place bed so that I could shower and get ready for my day. She slept there for 1.5 hours before I released her!

Thank you, thank you for helping Maddy be the BEST she can be!

Best,

Jen and Maddy

By the way, they did let Chuy out of the bag!

Let me out of here, now!