USDAA weekend-Thanks Go-Dogs Omaha crew

This was my first weekend using the gentle leader with Deuce. Thanks to Dana for suggesting it because it worked like a charm. If you remember my last post, I was very sore from deuce lunging at every person and dog as if they all wanted him. He will sit and wait but boy when you say okay, he is like a bat out of hell. I came back from the last show very sore from his antics! Well, in AKC, we can't use any type of head collar or pinch collar so I won't be able to use it at the usual shows but boy did it help this weekend. The Go-Dogs crew (Dana, Ami and of course Melissa!) really stepped up and helped me learn how to use it properly and made sure it fit correctly. We even worked some downs and waits with distractions and gave me some great clues on how to put "go see" on command. I do feel like he is gaining some impulse control and I am so sure it will get better the older he gets. I do feel 100% more comfortable using the gentle leader and would recommend it to others. It is a really nice, gentle way of controlling their lunging and pulling behavior. Not sure how we are going to work on this at the AKC show since we can't use any thing like that. I did get to get him out more and work some behaviors ring side and he did great. He is such a clicker whore, he will offer every behavior he knows if you don't let him know what you want. I like this so much because it means he gives me great attention. He did get to play with Ami's aussie Taser for a little bit and boy do they play the same. All feet and wrestling!

Deuce didn't do as well in the hotel room this time for some reason. We stayed thursday night and friday night and he was real restless both nights. He slept by the door mainly and had to go out multiple times friday night. Probably was my fault due to the rawhides I gave him so i could sleep in a little on friday morning. The show didn't start till 12 so I wanted to sleep as long as I could and he kept on waking me up every 2 hours from 5:30 on. Every 2 hours I would throw him another rawhide and he would quiet down. He has started a new trend of barking when Miller runs but harley does the same thing. We are probably going to have to forever crate deuce and harley in metal crates, since they both get way too amped up when Miller runs. I could hear him when I ran in the ring closest to where he was crated. Other than that, he stayed quiet and just slept when I didn't have him out. He is so easy to deal with at shows, just content to sleep in his crate rather than be out. He is so good about just relaxing at the shows, unlike Harley. We have another show this weekend and may stay overnight saturday night so should be interested to see how he does. I do feel like leaving him in the hotel room when we aren't there is not an option because he barks at noises so he will have to stay crated in the car. Harley does too so that is normal for us.

Well, time for bed! Need to get some sleep!