THE COMMANDS OF A PRINCESS

 Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

During her training, Princess learned sit and down. Here's a picture of her obeying another one of her commands––place:

Place means that Princess is to go into a down-stay in her spot on the couch. Curtis, the trainer, says dogs love to have a job. When Princess is in place, her job is to watch what's going on around her. This spot is an especially good place because it's elevated and because of its proximity to my desk.

I love it that she heels when we go for a walk. When she sees a cat or a squirrel, she looks at it, but she doesn't pull on the leash to go after it. 

Princess knows, although sometimes I have to remind her, she is to sit before we go through a door. Whether she's in her place or in a stay in another spot, free means she's allowed to get up and do as she pleases (within reason).

I say all commands with her name first, such as Princess, place; Princess, sit.

When she disobeys or does something she shouldn't do, I'm supposed to say, Princess, no. I admit sometimes I raise my voice a wee bit and it can take more than one Princess, no to attain the desired result. If I stop petting her and she wants it to continue, she'll paw at me (or a visitor), which is not a good thing. It's annoying, and her paws are big and rough. A much bigger problem is her desperation to go out the front door with me because she wants to go for a ride in the car. Princess does not do well with place or stay if she thinks any chance of a car ride is in her future. 

I do take her in the car with me whenever possible. She's a wonderful companion. Princess can go in Lowe's with me, and sometimes we need to pick up prescriptions at the vet's office. She likes the drive-through at my pharmacy, where she often receives a compliment on her beauty and behavior.

The training has been a tremendous help, but it's a work in progress. We have to continue to practice. We'll train again soon with Curtis. 

And I'll keep telling her, Good girl, Princess. Good doggy.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug

A TRAINED PRINCESS

Gentle Readers . . . and Maxwell,

I finished the training I had to do at work. I'm happy to say it was easier than I thought it would be. Tuesday was my first full day of using my new skills on a different product line. I was exhausted at the end of the day, but I'm always pretty tired because we're so busy. At least I get to deal with a variety of clients and products. The day goes quickly until I get to the last 60 minutes. At that point I'm ready for the day to be over. 

Princess and I have also been going to training together. We've had two of our four follow-up sessions that we need to complete for Princess to have a lifetime guarantee on her training, which means that as long as we complete the four sessions, if Princess needs touch ups on her training, the school will provide the extra lessons at no additional cost.

I haven't told you much about her training, so let's get started. Princess was away from home for four weeks at the end of  November and the first part of December! We missed her so much. Franklin didn't react to her absence, but Penelope was broken hearted, and my anxiety level went to 11.

Every Friday I received a report card from the school, Karma K-9, with photos and short videos of Princess. She always had lots of stars on her report card.

Princess worked with all of the trainers at the school, while I interacted solely with Curtis. When I finally got to pick up Princess, Curtis talked to me about what she had learned and the skills we needed to practice.

Then he told me he was going to ask me to do something really difficult. He said, I'm going to bring out Princess and I don't want you to look at her until I release her.

So I sat in a chair in the waiting room and turned away from the entrance. I wanted so badly to look at Princess when Curtis brought her to within several feet of me, but I waited until Curtis told her Princess, free.

I called her and she ran to me. We hugged and cuddled and kissed. I scratched her back exactly the way she likes it and she was so happy that her back legs moved like she was pedaling a bicycle. 

After the big greeting we had our first training session together. I'll tell you in my next post about the commands we use and what Princess has learned.

For now I'll finish by describing the young lady's homecoming. Although Franklin hadn't reacted to her absence, he was happy to see Princess return. He wagged his tail and wanted to greet Princess and sniff her. But Penelope was thrilled. Her best friend had returned and all was right with Penelope's world. She wiggled and waggled while she and Princess cuddled and kissed. If I had known I could make Penelope so happy, I would have gotten her a Princess a long time ago.

Infinities of love,

Janie Junebug