I am SO proud of Boone!! I got his collars on, parked the truck in front of the house so there was only a short trip, in case the ranch dogs came at us.
I make him stop, sit and wait at every door until I have opened it and given him a minute to observe.
One of the old ranch dogs was camped on the doormat. Boone stayed in his sit but let out one booming bark. The dog slowly got up and walked a little way off, still on our little lawn.
Boone walked out with me, sat and waited while I closed the door. He got LOTS of praise for it. We walked to the truck, he only glanced at the dog a couple of times.
He and Gizmo both got in, Boone laid in his crate even though Randy had (3) 12 packs of coke in it
and Boone laid there quietly while I drove all the way to and around the barn and back!!!
The old dog was camped out again when we got out from our parking spot. Boone walked beside me quietly. He stopped, sat for me and waited twice, and after the dog finally moved away, he walked to the front door with me, not giving it a glance.
I don’t know what to celebrate more:
Our successful drive, or his controlled reactivity. Both are HUGE!!
We’ve had a problem with ranch dogs from the beginning. Even my great whites (Bru and Potamus) were attacked as puppies. When I first moved in, they went after Cider. Even though they’re different dogs down through the years the pack up. They always go after my dogs so I’ve been concerned, especially with his reaching maturity, that the reactivity they’ve caused would start to show up in public when we see dogs and it was a huge fear of mine. But instead, his usual calm demeanor has finally made its way to the ranch and his reactivity is getting under control.
The drive was a really big deal for me. I need him as my service dog again as I refuse to go to town with Randy anymore I’ll drive in for my 30 minute appointment and then he makes me sit in the truck while he spends 6 to 8 hours doing errands before the 4 Hour drive home and the pain that ensues is just more than I could deal with so I told him yesterday because I was in agony, that I’ll drive myself to town from now on and he we’ll have to take his own self in to do his errands. The problem is that is I won’t be able to get my heavy electric wheelchair in and out of the truck. I’ll have to use Boone for mobility no matter how much pain the walking causes.
I need to proof him at home with the rest of the dogs, proof h is recall, and trained him to walk beside my wheelchair on the opposite side of where he normally heels because my controller is on that side. If he’s good with my wheelchair, I can take him for walks on the ranch.
At any rate today was a huge success!!
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