Jogs and CAT

I guess I haven't posted in a few days. Not much to report, we've been jogging on the days I'm don't work (hooray spring break!), which has been going great. The dogs get tired, I don't have to jog that fast and I have a ready excuse why not. Yesterday I drove them to a different neighborhood for the novelty, an aspect of dog exercise that Patricia McConnell pointed out on her blog. I think it's smart, even I have a better jog when there's new scenery. So they're getting aerobic exercise, novelty, choice (they get to sniff a lot, it's not a force march all the time), and mental stimulation through the brief door training we do at home. They seem pretty content to me. Yesterday we also had both my nephew over and the band later for practice and a show. I think visitors are very tiring for them, especially my little nephew who is a tornado and also a constant source of food for them. They like to follow him around in case he drops his cracker or whatever, but they also have to be on guard since he makes loud, unexpected noises sometimes. If they seem stressed I put them in their room for a break. I also put away all dog items when he comes over to avoid an inadvertent resource issues, I know this isn't Gustav's strong suit and I'm not sure what his reaction would be if he felt like Bjorn (my nephew) was after his stuff. When we go play in the yard I don't allow Bjorn to approach Gustav if he has a toy in his possession. It's not that fun, but I think it's important.

Pretty soon I'll be doing a CAT session with Chelse, our behaviorist. I was thinking how a great "watch me" is perfect for jogs and other neighborhood outings (we couldn't be doing the jogs we're doing without Gustav and Dottie's major progress in this area. The fact that I can be across the street from anything now is huge. We can also deal with people just by stepping off to the side if needed, although I still prefer crossing the street if possible to reduce pressure on Gustav). CAT would be good for getting Gustav to like specific people: Justin's mom and her boyfriend (huge!), the vet, the behaviorist, and my sister-in-law would be great. Otherwise just getting past people is fine with me. CAT would be nice for Dottie to learn some alternative ideas on how to increase distance with dogs, but there's no specific dogs I'm dying for her to be friends with. I'm really excited about this procedure, and it makes a lot of sense to me.