Well today was the first attempt in cutting Mr. Scout's nails and it did not go too bad. Yes, he was a tad squirmy but he got focused once Laurie put the liver in front of his nose. I managed to cut his nails on my own. Now with Chloe, I tried to relive the past but this time I was holding her and kept her eyes from looking at what I was doing. She managed to get away after the first clip so cutting her nails right now by myself isn't going to work just yet.  - I remember she use to lie there and I didn't have to hold her at all, what a great memory! - So off we went to the table and Laurie was going to hold her. Now she definitely isn't like Scout. She was a tad stressed and wouldn't take the liver at times. But we managed to get all of them done. I hope the trust builds up again when clipping her nails.

Yesterday, I decided to try some of the HPP freeze dried samples Michele gave me and could not believe the reaction I was getting from both dogs. Their noses told them that something good was coming and they got all excited. I know it sounds like I am trying to sell a product but I assure that I am not because I have never used this stuff although I did see at the big dog show we went to over the winter. The dogs would really work hard for the treat. So much excitement for it. I mean they really showed that they wanted it. Now in comparison to my homemade liver treats, Scout is just a tad more jacked up with the HPP stuff. But for sure, they could smell the turkey heart or beef.

During the first day of the switch which was 2 days ago, Scout had a slightly loose stool and the following day it was firm. And he hasn't gone since yesterday afternoon. Chole, OTOH, went twice and once today. On the first day, her stool was still firm yet soft. Her stomach seems to be tolerating it better than Scout's. I can't believe I am talking about this. 

Both dogs have taken the raw food rather well so far. We're on the 1 tsp service now and I have started backing off on the kibble. We'll see how this goes.

For training, I introduced Scout to the 2o2o behavior and he did OK. He was better on my right than the left. We started off in the heel position and he was just bouncing all over the place. I had to get his focus/attention towards me. When we would go to the board and I stopped, he was bouncing all over the place again. Once I got what I wanted I clicked but then he started bouncing all over the place again. It was getting frustrating so I took some deep breaths. So after 2-3 attempts, I decided just to wait for him to stay in the 2o2o position and for him to look at my eyes then ... click.

Success! He started to settle down after he starting getting the gist of it. We'll see how this goes next week. 

Time for the tippy/buja board! So there goes the calmness and time to bring the noise! For the past sessions, all I wanted him to was make the big bang noise and he got treated. Now I wanted him to walk across the board and make the big noise. He was so jacked up playing this game and then started ringing the bell since I put the buja board in the little foyer we have.

The last part of the session was introducing him to the front cross by using the touch command. That went rather well but he started to understand my rhythm so I started to break the amount of steps. He was staying in the heel position really well. 

Time for Chloe and time to let her out the crate and do my routine before we get started. I sent Scout the crate with the deer antler as a treat for him to chew on and use a comforter to prevent more eye stimulation. I started Chloe off with some 2o2os drills and every time I was getting Chloe amped up, Scout would whine. Several passes later and quiet commands later, this wasn't working. So I decided to lift the comforter off and see what happens. Chloe and I continue with the 2o2o drills and Scout's whimper was still there but not as much and the quiet commands were more effective. And I threw in a treat every time he did the behavior I wanted. Now it was time for Chloe to get on the buja board and makes some noise. Of course, she likes to continue doing 2o2os on it and I won't fuse over that at all. If she makes the noise and offers, she'll get rewarded for it. I know there are some trainers that frown on doing that. So I pretty much figure they are going to freak out when they hear about the Premack Principle.

All in all, both sessions were OK. Total time was still 30 minutes for both dogs. I do need to start working on CU training with the dogs. And since Scout has been here, Chloe has gotten more vocal. OK, she always hated this one particular mailman but when sees the neighbor's dogs (I think the tags rattling the major cause of it), and strangers she speaks her mind. However, on a walk, she is quiet as can be. So its a territorial thing with her. But it is getting out of hand. And with Scout a lot more anxious this could be a big problem in the future.