Week Six

Saturday morning Bailey played fetch with my Mom. He's a pro now- gets the ball  and brings it back. My new aide came over on Saturday and Bailey was slightly better. When he was lying down in his bed he let her pet him. That evening I was watching animal planet and discovered Bailey was reacting to the dogs on the television program. He would start barking and then run from inside to outside the house looking for the other dog that he heard. This is definitely something we need to work on.
  On Sunday my Mom and I took Bailey to the park. It was full of people and dogs. We sat on a bench and let Bailey watch everything around him. He did well. He talked to some of the other dogs but was quickly redirected. He did growl at one man who had the hood on his sweatshirt over his head. But he let another man pet him.
  On Monday my Physical Therapist came over and Bailey did really well with her. He said Hi and even licked her hand.  Later that day we played go get help. Then I wanted to do an experiment. Because my aide is always the one who says "go get help" I was afraid Bailey would always associate the word 'help" with only her. So I asked my Mom to go hide outside and say "go get help". As soon as he heard those words Bailey dashed out of the house into the backyard to find her. What a good boy! I had a haircut appointment that day and decided to go in my manual chair instead of my electric one. I always take Bailey for a walk in my manual chair. So when I left he was a bit confused but did very well while I was gone. After I came back I did take him for a walk. On our walk we encountered four different dogs and Bailey did great. The first three dogs were always on the other side of the street when Bailey saw them. But the fourth dog walked past Bailey just a few feet away. Bailey did his bark/growl noise but was quickly redirected.
   On Tuesday we had a big day! For Christmas I asked my parents to schedule a photo shoot for me and Bailey. Today was the day. Bailey got a bath in the morning  so he would be handsome for his close up. After lunch we headed to Hollywood to an area that was full of people, smells and the city hustle. Bailey did amazing! We were there for over two hours and Bailey had to sit, lay, look at the camera and pose over and over. I can't tell you how impressed I was with his performance. After our shoot we both were exhausted and Bailey crashed out.
   So on Wednesday we both needed a chill day. We worked on go get help. Here is a video from the session.



After lunch we went on a walk at the Rose Bowl. Bailey did great. At one point three little dogs on a walk with their owner came up behind him. He looked back a couple times but that was all. Because I discovered that Bailey reacts to dogs on the TV, I wanted to play clips of dogs and work on quiet. Needless to say this is going to be a sloooow process.
  On Thursday we went to the college campus again. It was lunchtime so the campus was full of lots of noisy people. Bailey did great and even said Hi to a young man reading a book. He also did great when the gardeners were working in our yard later that day. He barked once to let us know they were here and then quickly settled back down.
  Today we played fetch with a tennis ball and boy did Bailey do great! He fetched and returned the ball about ten times in a row each time dropping it near to me. When the pool guy came over he let out one bark of acknowledgement and then totally ignored him. After lunch I wanted to take Bailey to the park This was his first time there and he loved it. It's a pretty big park and we played "go find Eva". It was so cute watching him run full speed across the park to find me.
This is two weeks of "operation no growl" and I know I said I planned to give Bailey two weeks off. However he is still growling so I know he needs more time. We'll do more socializing next week.