An awesome training session

Mom and dad took me to PetSmart yesterday and did a training session with me. First we worked on staying calm around other dogs and not barking because I want to "talk" to them and play. Then we worked on sit/stays. During that section of training mom was very proud of me. I was sitting and staying and a guy stepped over my butt end. Mom didn't plan it and wasn't expecting it but I did really good. I looked back and watched the guy but I stayed sitting. After that we worked on down/stays but mom did something different. She put me in a down/stay and then walked backwards to the end of my leash then she dropped my leash and kept walking backwards for a bit. If I got up she said "ut ut" and moved me back to the same spot and started over again. She was really proud of how good I did especially when dad told her that another dog had walked past behind her and I didn't break the down/stay. Oh and for some of the times she did this instead of calling me to come to her she walked back to me and gave me a treat and then backed away again then called me to her. She said that's good practice for some test she wants me to take but I have a long ways to go still before I will be ready for that. She said I have to learn to stay calm around other dogs first and be ok with people petting/examining me and brushing me. Plus I need to learn how to walk beside her without my head collar on. She said next week I get to see Kelly again. Kelly is the trainer who is helping mom teach me and Jameel what we need to know. I have only met her once so far but I like her a lot. She makes learning fun and gives mom great ideas on how to help me with my behaviour. That's why mom has been able to make so much progress with me so quickly. She follows Kellys' advice and does lot of work with us in between sessions with Kelly. She said next weeks session is going to be really special though because we are meeting Kelly at someplace called a mall. I can't wait to see what that's going to be like.

Wow a lot has happened. Mom got me my very own vest so no more borrowing Jameels' vest. My new vest is blue and after some minor adjustments fits me great. She has also started taking me into stores. I know I posted about her taking me into one but I forgot to post how great I did. That was my very first time in a store other then a pet store and I did awesome. I stayed right beside my mom walking to the store and then stayed right beside her while we were in the store. I didn't try to get attention from anyone or jump on the counters or anything. Well the other night mom brought me into another store and this one was much busier. Lots of people shopping. Mom was proud of me. I was clearly nervous and was fidgety but I was listening to mom and going where she told me too. I ignored all the shopping carts and didn't try to chase after kids that ran past. That's something mom has been working with me on because being a herding breed I was trying to do that. I did try to jump on the counter we stopped at once but mom caught me and corrected me quietly and I went back down to the floor without touching it with my paws at all. Dad was surprised by how good I did but mom wasn't. She knew I would do good. I can't wait to see where we go next. Oh and the vaccumm monster isn't so bad after all. In fact I got so good around it that mom had to stop working with me around it because I just simply started knocking it over instead of being scared of it. She said the next step is to get me to be calm when it's moving and then we will work on me staying calm when it's making noise.

Recap

OK so my new mom says this blog site is a lot better then the other one so here is a recap of what's happened in my time here so far....although it's been a bit since I posted a blog but not much has happened.....I'll fill you in later for now here's the recap.
I guess I should start by introducing myself. My name is Gambler. I am a 1 year old purebred Australian Cattle Dog. I am fairly new to my family. They got me a month ago just before Christmas time. My new lady needs a special dog called a Service Dog because she has some really bad health problems that she needs help with. One of my new brothers, who is just a tad older then I am, is already well on his way to becoming a Service Dog for her but she wanted and needed a playmate for him and was also hoping that the playmate could possibly become a "back up" Service Dog so if he is sick or hurt or just plain doesn't feel like working because he is having an off time she still has the safety that she needs by having a Service Dog. It took a lot of talking before her and my new man decided that another dog would be a good fit for them and once they decided that they found me. My new lady started working with me right away teaching me this stuff called basic obedience and manners. I learned a good deal of stuff real quick. I learned how to sit, lay down, stand, lap up, high five, touch, walk beside her, go up and down lots of stairs, ride calmly in the car, go in my bed, off and settle. We have also been working hard on me learning not to jump on people, not to mouth people, being quiet, leaving things alone and not trying to chase after the cats or cars and my name. Believe it or not I spent the first 11 months of my life without an actual name of my own. My new lady had another lady come over last week and that lady stayed for a long time and her and my new lady talked a lot and I got lots of treats for doing good things and got corrected or ignored for doing not good things. In the end the other lady said that I have the makings of a great Service Dog once I learn a lot more stuff. It sounds like it's going to be a lot of work but my new lady has this little thing she holds in her hand when it's my learning time and when I do something that is right I hear this odd noise and I get a treat. That's making learning so much fun because I have to try and figure out what I did to hear the noise and get the treat. My new lady is even saying things in a strange way now but I already figured out what the strange new words mean because I'm super smart.
So I'm still settling in here in my new home and all of a sudden my new lady brought out this monster last week. She said it's called a vacuum. I don't know what it is other then a very loud monster that I thought needs to be destroyed. I did my best to try and destroy it but she had me in my bed so I couldn't reach it. Now she told the new lady who was here Friday about it and I have to see the monster every day. It doesn't make any noise but even if it moves I feel it needs to be destroyed. Tonight mom(that's my new lady) took it out and then brought me out of my bed. To my surprise there were treats on the floor and on the monster!!!!! Mom wouldn't let me eat any of the treats at first because I was too excited. She said that I needed to calm down and pay attention first. After a few minutes of the boring sits and downs she has me do she finally let me eat the treats and I even got the ones from the monster. Guess I showed the monster. Anyways then mom had dad(my new man) get my clicker because I wasn't really catching on to what she wanted me to do. I decided to check and make sure the monster didn't have any more of MY treats and heard the click sound that always means I get a treat because I did something right and good. I caught on real quick then and started sniffing and even touching the monster and every time I did I heard the click sound and got a treat!!!! I even got more then one treat if I touched it. Finally I started getting bored with that so we worked on "Go say Hi" which is when I get to say "Hi" to someone but I can't jump up on them for a few minutes and then mom said that we had trained enough for tonight.
I don't get it. Same night, mom said training is done and yet we just had another training session. Her and dad took us out for our nightly walk before bed and I wasn't good. I kept trying to play even though mom kept saying it wasn't playtime. Then when we came in I didn't go into my bed the right way so mom took me back out and put me back in. She kept doing that and then I started ducking when she reached for my collar and running into her "office" and so I got in trouble for that too. She did something interesting though. She didn't yell at me or even say anything to me other then "Ok if that's how you want it." This was said in a very even toned, nonchalante way like it didn't matter to her. Then she slipped my leash over my head and let me struggle until I stopped. I didn't get hurt at all but I got the point. After that she brought me back to my bed and we went through the going in, her shutting(but not locking) the door, opening the door, her reaching in and grabbing my collar and then telling me to come back out. Just to praise me and pet me a bit and then repeat this whole process. We did all that over and over again until I was doing it all the correct way. I just don't get it. When I do something wrong she doesn't ever raise her voice to me but yet she gets what she want to acrossed to me. Boy oh boy has life gotten interesting.
Oh my goodness what gives already? Today my mom took me out of my kennel and put this thing on my back. It even had to go over my head. I didn't know what was happening so at first I backed away but mom was patient with me and tried again. The second time she got it over my head and let me settle a bit then strapped it on so I couldn't get it off. Then we went for a walk and dad picked us up in the car........in the middle of the day! Then we went for a ride and me and mom got out at a store and went INTO the store. I don't usually get to go into stores exept the pet store and this was NOT the pet store. Then tonight when dad got home from work mom put the thing on me again. This time it was much easier because I knew it wasn't going to hurt me. I even got to go into another store with mom! This one even had one of those vacuum monsters in it. It was quiet like the one here at home has been so I ignored it complety which made mom very proud of me. Everyone we came across was telling mom how handsome I am and how well behaved I was being so mom was even prouder of me.
So that's pretty much everything. Oh about the "evil vacuum monster" I have now figured out that it's not so evil after all. In fact I got so used to it that mom had to take time off working with me around it because I just simply started knocking it over. We haven't really done anymore work in stores because mom has been having problems with her eyes and I guess last night she talked to the other lady I met and they agreed that she needs me and Jameel(the slightly older pup) to learn some Guide Work as well as the Medical Alert training. So now mom said she is going to start really working on teaching us both to pick things up for her because the other lady said that would be the best place to start. They also agreed that I am ready to try working in stores more when the stores are quieter so that I don't get too stressed out or scared so mom and dad said that at some point this weekend they are going to take me into a store called Walmart or a store called Target or someplace called a Mall. They aren't sure which one yet. I can't wait because it means that I will start getting to do more with my mom instead of staying home all the time unless she is going to a pet friendly place. It also means that I will be able to help her more.