Wednesday, December 16, 2009

All about the food

As the training continues for all us, Lisa, CAYLIE and me included, things are improving. Karen is working with Lisa mostly and will concentrate on me later. CAYLIE has taken to going to bed with Jack around 7:30 or 8:00 everynight. She did have a couple accidents, which we thought might have been a uti. We took her to the vet but they found no trace of infection. Figuring it must be behavioral, we now let her out around 10pm and put her back in Jack's room when we go to bed around 11pm. This seems to be working well for now and have had no further incidents.

As far as the kitchen goes, things are getting a bit better. Some days she will "go to bed" and stay on a rug or pillow for the duration of the meal but she still is "all about the food". I'm sure it is maddening for her to smell all the delicious smells coming from Lisa's kitchen. If she won't settle then we put her in the laundry room and try again the next time.

We are looking forward to the time when we can take her out to church and other locations with us.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

It's official...

see our other blog, Jack of Our Hearts, regarding news on CAYLIE.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Working it out...

Karen came today and worked with Lisa, Jack and CAYLIE in the home. For the kitchen issues, it was decided that it would be best for CAYLIE to be assigned a place in the living room rather than expected to "go in" under the table. This way, it won't interfere with her previous training for restaurant duty. She will now be instructed to "go to bed" on a blanket and expected to stay there until we are finished eating.

A little bit tougher situation is when CAYLIE is wanting to get a little closer to Jack than he likes and he needs to instruct her. He is going to have to learn the commands, the proper tone of voice and maintain calmness in order to get her to lay down and not bother him. Karen also instructed Jack to look away from her, avoiding eye contact, and say "down". This is a lot for a 6 year old to learn but we think he will be able to handle it. He is obviously attached to her as you can see it in his face when she comes in the room.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Welcome to jack & CAYLIE

Hello everyone and welcome to our new blog. In this blog we will talk mostly about the transfer training with CAYLIE that will occur over the next few months. CAYLIE graduated from the paws4people program on November 14th. Although we had some limited training with her before, it is now much more intense. Karen Owens, the paws4people trainer for NC, is working with us and will be over the next few months. CAYLIE has stayed overnight with us several nights but won't officially become a member of the household for a couple more weeks.


A few positives so far.....


CAYLIE is sooooo affectionate. She wants to be touched constantly. She loves to play with her toys, mostly stuffed animals. She is always picking them up and whining, an indication of wanting to play. She minds her commands like "sit", "wait", "eat", "leave it" almost all the time. She and Maggie, our little sheltie/corgie mix and obvious alpha seem to be getting along well.

Lisa was practicing walking up the stairs with CAYLIE and having some trouble. CAYLIE kept crossing in front of her until Karen pointed out that Lisa needed to hold the food more out in front and to her left side rather than her right. When she did this, CAYLIE was perfect.

Also a few challenges...

CAYLIE likes to spend time in the kitchen, especially when Lisa is cooking or Jack is eating. She tends to hover around Jack like most dogs do to catch crumbs. We've tried to get her to "go in" under the table. She is supposed to go lay down and leave all food alone but she soon stands back up and starts nosing around again. We've discussed this with Karen and it is something that we will be working on.

She also tends to stand over or lay on Jack when he's on the floor, probably as a sign of affection, but he doesn't like that. Again, this is something we will work on with Karen.


Well, that's all for now. We'll keep you posted. Check back frequently and don't forget to check on our other blog......Jack of Our Hearts.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

jack & CAYLIE

to learn more about jack and CAYLIE, go to www.jack.paws4people.org