Day 8

Written by Michelle O'Neil on October 20th, 2009

Jingle peed in the elevator! She got so scared, it just kinda happened, even though she had gone potty on the way into the mall. I’ve not spent so much time in a mall since I was a teenager with permed hair working at the Oakdale Mall in Johnson City, NY. I was sixteen, blowing all my money on clothes and hair products. Ah, those were the days.

Wait, where was I? Ah yes, Jingle peed.

Even though she is a well trained dog, there are always going to be situations she is unfamiliar with. She is not a robot. She is a dog, and she has fears and feelings. This is why it is important to get her out as much as possible, in as many situations as we can while we are here, and after we go home. The great thing about Jingle is she’s a quick learner. First time in this particular elevator, she pees. Second time. She was fine. She was scared of a certain set of stairs at the mall too, but we went over them just a couple of times and she did much better.

One dog in our group freaked out over a huge cardboard cut out of a cat. Can you blame him? Ack!  

The thing Jingle hated the most at the mall today was a men’s clothing store called Holister(or something like that). It is dark, with loud music pumping, and headless manikins  all over the place. Jingle held her “heel” command perfectly but was too scared to even take the treats I was offering her. What kind of store opearates in the dark? It is weird Jingle. I agree. Spooky.  

After training today we walked around the mall a little longer with Riley holding the second leash, and Seth holding the handle on her harness. Quite a crew we are becoming.

We’re back at the hotel now, chilling out. The kids are watching Arthur and Jingle is snoozing on her Mutt Matt. The Mutt Matt is Jingle’s “place.” A “place” is a little rug or matt the dog uses when put in a stay type mode. It is the spot she will stay on in class if she goes to school. The “place” command is a stay command. They are allowed to move around, stand, stretch, but they have to keep at least two paws on the matt. Jingle will push it, she will be completely off the matt with just her two hind paws on the outside seam, but she’s technically still on her “place,” so we can’t get on her. If Jingle has been put in a “place” command she has to stay for as long as we tell her, until we give her the “free” command.  It can be minutes or hours. All of the dogs understand “place” and it is  incredible how they stay on those matts, even if someone deliberately drops a treat a few feet away to test them.

It will never cease to amaze me how you can have 13 dogs in one room, all of them behaving. Sorry the image below is so grainy. The battery in our digital camera died (HT is out buying a new one) and we had to use our video camera for pics, but look at these dogs! There are 11 in the shot and two more off camera.  They are not on their “places” but have been given the “down” command while the poodle on the left practices heeling. Jingle is in the middle, head down, a perfect little angel. Good dog!

down practice

 

7 Comments so far ↓

  1. GoMama says:

    See? I thought she peed in the hotel room. The elevator…not so bad, esp considering she had to heel through Club Manless. She’s a good dog.

  2. fullsoul says:

    Well. She did pee in the hotel room the yesterday, but it was my fault for ignoring her cue.

  3. Naomi says:

    The mall. A world unto itself where headless manikins dwell. Jingle sounds wonderful. It’s amazing that she can get through the mall without loosing her cool.
    Technically she was outside her ‘home’ when she peed…that counts right?

  4. Naomi says:

    Oops didn’t see your comment Michelle. Oh well. She is a girl…and when a girls gotta go…

  5. holly says:

    no worries, Jingle, the mall IS horrifying.

  6. Amanda says:

    Jingle pushes it with the two hind paws on the seam – now that’s my kind of dog!! you can kid yourself who’s going to be the boss, but I’m telling you now, the real boss is going to be Jingle, she’s one smart cookie.

  7. Carrie Link says:

    Holister makes me pee my pants, too. Just wait until Riley and Seth start dragging you into that God forsaken place!