October 11th 2004 8:52 pm
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Lexi Loo Nut Dog has had many changes going on for her in the last 10 days. Lets see to start off, she accidentally (or maybe it wasn't an accident) locked me and my sister in the garage. Luckily for us, one of the back doors was unlocked. Lexi is finally learning we do not like her munching on our arms when she wants our attention. It took her awhile but she is finally learning what we will and will not put up with. It's the stuborness in her that makes her not give up but she is finally seeing it our way (yeahhh no more bruises). Lexi is also progressing in obediance class. She has decided that it is okay to join the rest of the class instead of hiding away in the kitchen. She even decided that she liked the teacher and that the teacher could use her to demonstrate a few commands. Of course that silly dog in the corner who made all the noise with the chair almost ruined it all and scared the crap out of her. She wasn't sure if she wanted to rush back to me or stay with the teacher for the treats. Lexi decided to stay with the teacher but get her back legs stretched out behind her incase she had to make a quick getaway. Lexi is also traveling in the car with me to as many places as I can take her. We stop at places like the mall or at a local shelter. Depending on how busy the place is, I either let Lexi stay in the back of the car and open the hatch (I have an subaru outback) or I let her out for a small stretch. I give her treats every time a person goes by so that she associates people with good things (the treats). Sometimes I get people to throw her treats. This works well with Lexi as long as they don't talk to me. Lexi has become slightly protective of me and now thinks that when people talk to me, they are threatning me. Of course, once she sees a person a couple of times, she stops doing this. Luckily for us, Lexi doesn't do anything more than bark. Lexi still finds going for walks in places where people are stressful but when there is just the two of us out walking together, she is great to walk on leash. She doesn't pull and generally stays by my side unless there is something she wants to sniff. Even then, she "heels" very quickly with just a "here" command.

Lexi has also made friends with a nice trainer in Texas who has a fearful male Australian Kelpie. She also will soon meet a woman locally who owns a femal Australian Kelpie. I figure I need to learn as much as I can about Kelpie to be able to understand Lexi better.

Lexi now sleeps in a large kennel at night instead of my car. I put the kennel up, put some blankets in it and a blanket over it to make cozy. I left the kennel door open but did put her food in there. Lexi chose to sleep in the kennel as I did not want to force her. She sleeps in there with the door open as I do not want her to feel trapped but want her to have a place she feels is a safe haven. If Lexi does go into agility, she will need to learn to stay in a kennel.