Round And Round And Round They Go...

Today the dogs went running with me before work (3.75 miles), walked to get ice cream in the heat after work (~2 miles) and then wanted to play after dinner. Not just play, run. My boyfriend got Maxwell all worked up, which isn't that hard to do, but then Maxwell got Sadie going, and it just went crazy from there.

So we had the pup racing back and forth from the bedroom to the front door, grabbing Sadie by whatever he could grab on the way. She would tackle him as he approached and try to pull him down, and then follow a few steps as he retreated. Repeat.

Then Boyfriend started roughing her up as she went past him, and she started to actually run after Maxwell. So I began running and hiding in random places when the dogs were in the front of the apartment, which sent Sadie into search mode. So now Sadie is running like a maniac trying to find me, and Maxwell is chasing her trying to grab her with his (rather visible) teeth.

The final straw came when I hid behind the bed. Sadie came flying into the room with Maxwell hot on her heels. She banked off the end of the bed and went careening back out of the room, down the hall, and back. We got her to keep it up for a few runs, which was fun with both dogs being a little nuts.

What makes this even better is that I can't remember the last time Sadie went zoomy. I know she did a few time way back when we first started agility classes... but that was nearly 2 years ago now! It was really nice to see the inner puppy in her again.

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 A few other tidbits:

Vote for ARPH (The Aussie Rescue and Placement Helpline) on PetFinder's partner, the animal rescue site. Click the link, type in "Aussie Rescue and Placement Helpline" for the shelter name, and select "PA" for the state. Then vote! Vote early, vote often, as they say.

Also, I found this awesome video on counterconditioning. I wish everyone I've ever talked to about their 'problem dog' could see this. It's how I taught Sadie not to react (badly) to other dogs when she was on leash, and it greatly changed our lives for the better.

One last video, of some guy who thinks he's the greatest dog trainer ever, as far as I can tell. I actually started to laugh out loud as I watched it, it was just so incredibly ridiculous. Apparently what he considers positive reinforcement is 'good dog' when the animal does the right thing, and positive punishment when they do something bad/unwanted/annoying. (That reminds me of another video a trainer/fellow agility student at the club sent around recently about rewarding your dog) According to this guy, I am a follower to both the dogs in my household because I hand-feed them, and there is no way they can possibly be learning anything from me. At least this is one of the few internet videos where I can say the viewers' comments were spot-on.