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95% of the time they love each other. The other 5% Gertie is having none of it, lol. This is them after all the excitement with Abbi's emergency yesterday. They're such good girls to have endured the hour long round trip and another hour of surgery.

Hi Following the détails of this célébration day, we had a "what in Holy Sacred just happened moment" About car training, lately we didn't do much specific training but we tweak a bit the installation in the car : - we actually put the cooling mat in the car crate. Before it was a bedding thing, with fabric... And cleaning after the vomit was always harder. Cleaning mat served 2 purpose : make cleaning easier, and refresh him while in the car. And this really helped. We noticed the first +30min trip without vomit after that, being in a fresher area in must have helped - we moved a bit the crate on the other side. That way, it was easier for my gf to pick him up to put in the crate, and easier to pick him up to put him out of the car. We thought that even if we force him a bit it is at least way quicker and he would stay less longer in a stressed state. Before We sometimes took almost 10 min to make him go out because he wouldn't figure out how to get out, nor wanted to be picked up - all vaccination are done for at least a year, so all the last trips were for pure pleasure : New walking place, puppy school, dog pension visits... we were aware that it may be not the perfect scénario, at least, that we saw progress : less whining, less vomiting... And thought we were on a right track and yesterday, moment of Grace : we went on a nice new walking place, he even met a young Bernese with whom he was allowed to play unleashed... moment to get back, I open the car door, before my gf was supposed to pick him up, but he jumped on the passenger seat, went in the crate through the middle between passager and driver seat, and lied down... we couldn't believe it... slow and steady, with good sense and benevolence would make everything possible !

Célébration day today people !!! Day of joy !! Mister Loki finally accepted to go through the dreaded feared road. I must confess I didn't train it specifically lately but several things may have helped : - we sometimes walk by until he was not ok with going further, then just stayed around enjoying there while being sure he was under threshold and not in a fearful mood - sometimes we met dogs and people around he could greet and train impulse control with - he even met his best doggy friend and could even fully play with him unleashed one or two times - he was walked there with my parents in Law, who didn't know about this fear. But being with them overdid the fear and he walked with them with no issue (I was a bit bothered as with me he wouldn't... But with them it was ok 😭😂) sometimes it doesn't have to be complicated, but what is sure is what you said : "slow and steady win the race"

We dealt with this with the husband's mom every time we took the Dachshunds over there. She and his daughter would sneak ham to them, grrrr. Brownie would bloat up like a stuffed sausage every time he stayed with my mother-in-law and she Swore she only fed him what she was told to. Uh huh, suuuure you did. She can't handle the stress of dogs any more so that issue was self-resolving and we no longer take the little dogs over. With Covid we haven't been there in almost 2 years now. I had Mo trained to go to his mat for dinner time, and if he couldn't manage to contain himself I'd put him in a separate area. It's tougher with the girls because there's no real separate area with an open floor plan. Worst case scenario I put Esther on a leash and tie her to My chair. She knows I will not allow her to beg. Ignoring does work, though, over time. We normally eat on the couch and all three dogs are on it with us. Initially some of our food got licked and we were leaned against as they attempted to get sniffs in, but over time they learned "ain't nothin' gonna happen." They get fed after we eat so this has become a precursor to a happy time for them, which I think helps. In Esther's first few weeks I sure did put her in her kennel upstairs a couple times because she simply Would Not Settle. Tonight we even had steak and Gertie fell asleep. Esther was on her leash that's held down by the cushions so she can only go so far. The main concern there is limiting her access to Abbi. Gertie is my Golden Child and is happy to comply. She'll initially beg, hopeful pup that she is, but once she's told no begging she'll meander off, or settle at your feet. She even plays with her toy under my massage table when my therapist is here. Esther would be jumping on him and trying to get pets, but no no it's My turn, so she stays downstairs with the husband for now. Having said that, when another dog is present, Gertie is only as well-behaved as the other dog, as if she forgets herself and gives into the dogginess unfolding around her. I've leashed them both to the hammock so we could eat in peace because they get each other too excited to behave. Eventually they get to understanding that good behavior = being allowed to hang out with us and begging = being removed from the party. I give them treats while we eat if they are calm while leashed to reinforce that that's the behavior I'm looking for. I haven't done long-lasting treats so I'm taking that under advisement - I am wary of the toy getting away from them and plopping into the pool, which would be a Mess. I used to put them outside of the screen room, but currently the back yard is too wild with mushrooms and poison oak for them to be out there unsupervised. On the occasion that they Do manage to jump up or bump peoples' hands, our guests have been taught to put their hands in their laps and turn away from the offender, after pushing their plates out of reach. Even our 6-yr old grandson is adept at this maneuver so I know adults can figure it out! We also place chairs strategically to to make it easier for our visitors to perform these actions, and to minimize the dogs' access if I don't leash them. I always give them an opportunity to behave before going the leash route. I'll never know if they've learned the lesson if I start out with the leashes.

Thank you FrederykbBlot and Adrienne for the information! Adrienne, the first and third link will not open for me. Both say I do not have access. All the others are fine. Is there something I can do to access these? We brought our girl home today. She is such a cuddly one. Now to implement some of the trainings into our routine.