This is a happy face. This is the face of "Oh my goodness, I get cold cuts for doing what my human wants!" Yep, I've begun using deli meat for training treats and it works just as well if not better than hot dogs.

Of course...
sometimes he still gets distracted. My little dirt lover thought the dirt was more interesting for a moment.

"Anything for turkey!"

Yay, finally some real progress with the weaves!

And Treader has always been good with the jump, but...
using the new training treats and a clicker, I've been able to make him do better on higher jumps. The one above is set at several inches over Treader's head!

I've also been working on teaching Treader to sit up and beg, pick up and hold objects on cue, and to go get his toys when he wants to play. Out of that list, the one with the most progress thus far is "sit up and beg", which to Treader is just "beg".

Recently, we went to the Petsmart near Jacksoneville and I was interested in the food choices there. We found canned Blue Buffalo. Cookie gets canned food about once a month, and up until now we've had to get her grocery store brands which are full of detestable ingredients.


How do you like my Collie figure? I saw this at the store and being a Collie fancier, I just had to get it.
Also got a figure of a German Shepherd puppy, to remember the puppy in Cookie:


These are the Kongs we I froze for the dog because I'd be gone for a while.

Now, very few Cookie pictures on this post for far, huh? To make up for here, here's her one and only, Mrs. Cookie Grumpypants:
This is what it looks like after a good brushing session with a German Shedder. Haha. But I can't take the credit for that pun. I got it from a fellow Shepherd owner.




No, I'm afraid she's not holding it. She'll take things out of my hand on command, but we have yet to have advanced that to where she'll hold the object until told to drop it. This photo was just taken very quickly, before Cookie dropped her comb.

I decided to have a mini Easter-egg hunt with the dogs the other day. Great way to exercise their minds. They both have to find the eggs, which is not hard to get them to do if you encourage them and help with the first few, and figure out how to open them to get the treat inside. This time, I put little bits of cheese-filled hot dogs therein.
Treader opening an egg he found.

Cookie with her egg.

Cookie getting her treat out.


I wanted to get a good shot of Cookie taking the egg off of the table, so I encouraged her again and again to take it off. I succeeded half-way a few times after many tries.
Heh, she thought I wanted her to paw at the egg.

Oh no, it's gonna fall down!

Well, I suppose that's all for this entry. Godspeed!