Time for an update! 

Isabella started her first, official training class on Monday.  This is the basic, beginning class...What fun!  While I've heard of clicker training before, I didn't really know how it works.  So neat.  It's amazing to me that what I thought was dog training - ask dog to do something, dog does it, give reward - is not at all "where it's at"!  To simply wait for dog to do what you want, click, then reward is so different, yet so effective!  Our first exercise was simple eye contact.  Once eye contact is made, click, then reward.  Second was sit.  Butt hits the ground, click, then reward.  Then down.  This one was broken down in stages for the class...first head down, then front paws/elbows down, then backside down.  While Isabella already knows sit and down, it was amazing to do these with no voice commands at all!  So much fun.  I must say that she (along with a wonderful Husky) were the chatters in the group.  Isabella developed a nice chain of bark, bark, do what she was supposed to, reward, then repeat.  She's quite pushy, so we are working on rewarding her when she ignores us!  We don't want her to learn that the bark is part of what earns the reward.  :o)  This was a very successful first class...all after her trip to the vet...

Just prior to the class we took Isabella to the vet for her itchy feet...This seemed to develop not long after her spay surgery.  We keep her nails short and trim the fur between the toes.  I thought it may be from all the wet grass and soggy paws.  I dried her feet as often as I could, tried bitter apple and other hot spot spray, but it kept getting worse.  Mainly one of her back paws, but a little on a front paw, too.  Anyway, vet gave her a cortisone shot, some Betagen spray and 10 days of Simplicef.  She seems to be getting better already!  She HATES when I spray anything on her feet.  She goes totally mad, rolls around on the carpet, talking like a wookie...I think the spray tickles her nose or something.

Her fluffy coat seems to be getting fuller all the time!  She is so furry.  Last time we had her groomed we had her backside trimmed up quite a bit more to help with the sticking poop syndrome.  That looked cute, but it grows so darn fast!  Time to go back for another haircut.  :o)