It Starts...

Treasure here. I am here to tell you that since Ellie's new job started, we have been left home alone more often. She is able to take us to work with her, but she says she wants to get used to the routine before she has to worry about us being there. Hmmmph. At least the boys and I have each other for company. Before Ellie got married, if she had to leave me home, I was all alone with only my kong and some treats for company. We do get some yummy kongs stuffed with really tasty treats, so it's not so bad I guess. Anyway... I am rambling. I wanted to show you some photos of something else Ellie does while at work.

Yes, she is a dog trainer, but she is also a groomer as well! She showed me some pictures of some of the first dogs to be groomed at this new building. I thought the before and after of these two were pretty dramatic. What do you think?

Oh, and Ellie has a foster dog at the new building! Ellie's boss and a rescue group Ellie knows teamed up to see if we could foster 1 dog at a time while we try to find it a home! Ellie is going to work on training them while they are at the kennel, to help them through any behavior problems they may have. The first one is Sissy:

Sissy was owned by an 8-year-old girl who loves her to death! Everything was fine until Sissy's herding instinct kicked in, and started chasing the cats and horses. Her girl was terrified that Sissy would get seriously hurt or even killed if she kept chasing the horses, so she gave Sissy up to the rescue. How difficult that must have been for her! She even hugged Ellie, and started crying on her shoulder on the day she gave her up.

Sissy is a really sweet, and VERY smart dog who loves to be around people. Ellie is trying to find her a home without other small furry critters (or horses) around. An active home that will engage her brilliant mind would be preferred. She would do great at agility, canine freestyle, and trick training. Ellie has started to work with her on her leave-it, and stay training... to teach her some impulse control.

Ellie and Sissy had the opportunity of a lifetime last Tuesday. They were invited to be part of a new dog training instructional workshop dvd about a dog sport called Bikejoring. The instructor is Sue Sternberg a well-known dog trainer from New York with over 30 years of experience! The workshop was filmed by Tawzer Dog LLC., an awesome company that sells a bunch of dog training seminar dvds and books!

This is Ellie and Sissy with Sue Sternberg after filming was over:

I am kind of jealous that I didn't get to go, but Ellie said I wasn't big enough to pull the bike. Oh well!

Ellie's New Job

Hello all! Sorry that I haven't been posting lately. Ellie has been really busy getting ready for her new job, and hasn't had the time to help me write my blogs! She was hired by a brand new company called Emerald Street Kennels. It is a doggie daycare/boarding/grooming/training facility which was built from the ground up! Ellie even got to have some input on what to include in the different rooms. She was hired to create the dog training program there, and she will also be grooming and sometimes supervising the daycare people to make sure things are going smoothly. She has been training the employees on dog body language and behavior, to help keep them and the doggies safe and comfortable.

Here is Rocky showing his approval of the outdoor play area:

Well, today is opening day! Ellie will be going into work in a few hours to help with the closing shift. She is so excited! In a few weeks she will start teaching group classes again, and plans on doing a variety of classes. These are just some of her many class ideas:

-Puppy Socialization (which will include introducing the pups to things that could be scary... like umbrellas, wheelchairs, etc... plus introduction to other pups and people)

-Puppy Manners (Sit, stay, down, recall, loose leash, potty training, solving jumping up and mouthing, etc.)

-Adult Manners (Sit, stay, down, recall, loose leash, wait, leave-it, drop-it, solving jumping up, barking, mouthing, counter surfing, etc.)

-Beginning Tricks (shake, roll-over, high-five, target, etc.)

-Advanced Tricks (introduction to core positions to build muscles and endurance, rear-end awareness, weaves, backwards weaves, speak, play-dead, back-up, cross paws, act ashamed, cop-cop, etc.)

-Intro to Canine Freestyle (how to pick good music, choreography, heel work, weaves, rear-end awareness, back-up, jumps, everybody show off a short routine at the end)



What do you think? What do you wish YOU could learn in a class?