Arrrrg!! This is my second try with this entry. I had it all done and it went 'poof'!
So...as I was saying before the 'poof'...
In our afternoon training session yesterday, I noticed that Frankie was scratching her ears and shaking her head. She wasn't really paying attention to me so we called it quits and I called the vet.
We tried again later in the evening. She was offering me behaviors, so I figured she was more into it than she was in the afternoon. We did a light session and things went well. We worked on down, sit, go to bed, and sit pretty. I think, though, instead of calling it 'sit pretty', I'll call it 'stick 'em up'. When she does this, her paws are up like someone's pointing a gun at her. It'll be fun to pair this eventually with a 'bang' play dead trick. I need to remember not to get ahead of myself. She still has lots of refining to on the stuff we're working on now.
We have a great vet. Even though they were booked until Monday, they told me they'd fit me in as a walk-in on Saturday. Did I mention we have a great vet?
I also thought the vet visit would be a good opportunity to do some generalization. Well, it didn't work very well at all. The office was very busy and all Frankie wanted to do was to sit by my legs. She was very calm, and greeted the other dogs politely that came up to her, but she wasn't about to offer any thing else, even with a lure. I mentioned this to the vet tech that took her vitals and she said that we were welcome to visit anytime. I think I'll do this so the vet isn't always a negative experience.
It ends up that there was no infection, thank goodness, but there was significant build-up and inflamation. We were perscribed some ear drops and ear wash. I guess Frankie has very narrow ear canals. Something we'll always have to keep an eye on.
Our other issue is weight. When we got Frankie she weighed 13 pounds. Now, she weighs 20. Yes...we have a 20 pound pug. She could definitely stand to loose about 4 pounds. The problem is, she isn't all that crazy about her food. I'd love to use her food for training, but it's just not that motivating for her. I guess the food hunt is on. I picked up some venison and rice formula allergy food. We'll see if she likes this enough to use for training. She's a very picky dog. From what I've heard about pugs, they're like vacuum cleaners. Not Frankie. We've tried dog biscuits, fruit, vegetables...she won't eat any of it. So we train with little pieces of cheese, cut up Pupperoni treats (and heaven knows what they put in those), and sliced hot dogs. I guess we'll have to cut all of these out to see if she does better and loses a few pounds.
In other news...rain. Lots of rain. Walks are no fun in the rain. Training outside is no fun in the rain. Maybe we'll play the 'come' game and run her up and down the stairs between 2 people.
That's all for now. Hope this one doesn't dissapear into cyberspace! I will not be amused.
Ellen & Frankie
