Week 7 LaLa Training Log and Critter Obsession

LaLa trying to get at critters under our penned in area deck.

LaLa and I have just about completed our 7th week training.   She is remarkably well behaved on leash.

Off leash, she is more than just a little critter obsessed as you can see by the photo to your left.  After that photo, I had to work on getting her back into the house by luring with food and having her work for a bit on obedience.  LaLa clearly has the terrier gene hard wired in her.   I know where critters are in the walls of my house (or were maybe).  The critters under the deck clearly don't have the good sense to move their home.  Our previous girl, Shana, was prey driven too, but not as much as LaLa, but then again she had at least 9 years of training under her belt and being diverted to other activities.   

I am working with LaLa on making other activities as interesting as hunting critters.    I am also trying to find a way to make that a motivating factor.   We got 5 minute games of interactive play this week with poor Lamby toy (the only toy she will play a little tug with me with some prolonged enthusiasm.

This luring is inside now, and directly after an obsessive LaLa was trying to get under the deck to "visit" the critters living there.  This exercise will move outside, and it has been done on the porch outside.  Once we get onto the lawn with the long line, we will have made some real progress.

Although, a prey driven dog will never not WANT to hunt or chase, you can use training, games, and luring to create control in those environments, eventually, off leash.  If we do compete in obedience in the future, I can't have her chasing a bird in the middle of an outdoors trial.  We have a longish road to get there.  Right at this moment, LaLa is at the walls following the critter smells.

On the training log below, the gray areas have already been done.  The yellow areas are potentially "to do"  Yesterday was an amazing pool day, and so I took advantage of that and did less training than I planned to with LaLa.​  With our guests here this week, we did more calming exercises than usual, and we made progress regarding Lala getting overly excited when other dogs play and she is left out doing something else.   They are leaving tonight, so I hope to get a well deserved (for LaLa) walk about to the beach.