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I wish she could talk! She played with Steph's dogs, and the report was that they had a splendid time with no issues. But, Esther had also gotten accustomed to their dogs, and vice versa. I still think she lacks polite doggy language and would come on too strong for new dogs so we'll continue to exercise caution. It will be a hot minute before she can even see another dog without going wacky so it's pretty easy to be cautious - no one wants to come near her. For sure! It's always good to exercise caution, dogs that come on too strong risk, should they one day encounter a dog who has very little tolerance for this. Some dogs though are greatly skilled in diffusing the situation. Perhaps Steph had dogs with this skill. My sweet Petra used a loud snark to correct hyper youngsters with poor social skills, but she couldn't put up with it for longer than a few seconds, if they persisted, she felt overwhelmed and would literally try to leave the scene. Einstein had better skills with dogs, he would do a growl, and once the youngster got the message to not mess around with him, he would reward that with engagement and play. Although I must say, his play often incorporated "mini-lectures" should the youngster push boundaries and dare to put a paw on his shoulder or try to mount. On the couch she has her leash on so we can grab that. Husband has agreed to stop grabbing her, which makes me feel infinitely better on a couple points. A) less risk of bite redirection B) less reinforcement (good or bad) for Esther C) less chaos! So when she starts perking up I don't move, but I do mentally prepare to grab the leash. He can't do it because Abbi is on the other side of him. Esther crowds me on the couch so Gertie sits next to me. Gerts will move, Esther will simply ooze back onto my lap. If she barks I say, "uh oh," and matter of factly take her leash and lead her out of the living room. She hasn't fought me on it and willingly goes, though she tries to get a peek at the screen as we're moving away. I haven't given her the treats in the crate, yet, only put her in there. I was of the thought that it may be perceived as a reward. She's so complicated! Thus far she's seen a pig, a rabbit, and a cow - no more dogs have appeared since Sunday. She perked up for the pig, but did not give any further reaction so I praised her for being calm. Last night I sat with her on the couch and played dog videos, with sound, on my 12" tablet and she cocked her head this way and that while they howled and barked and ran. A couple times she paced and whined, but for the most part she was trying to see where the dog was. She kept looking under, over, and around the tablet. I encouraged her to touch with her nose so she could see they're not real. We did that for 15 minutes with only those occasional pacings and concerned whines. Next will be my computer monitor. I highly suggest keeping Steph in the loop on this, especially if you're making changes to her guidelines, (like not giving anything in the crate). Without the reinforcement in the crate, this then falls more under the official "timeout" using negative punishment, and while it can be effective, as other forms of punishment, it can lead to" side effects," such a dog no longer liking the crate, playing hard to catch, perceiving being reached for as a bad thing. It's also important to monitor data to ensure it's working. If data reveals that the dog is frequently put in timeout, that can mean that it's probably not effective. Progress and setback needs to be carefully monitored and follow-up updates to Steph will be extra helpful so to gauge whether all the interventions are implemented appropriately and whether more troubleshooting needs done/ criteria needs to be split more. I am glad you were able to praise her for displaying calmer behaviors. Great job in capturing those! Training today went well, and not so great. She nailed the spin, emergency u-turn, stay (which she does Not nail at home), lie down with me walking around her, then over her, then touching her lightly with my shoe. Buuuut, today seemed to be Everyone bring your dog to the pet store day and there were about 6 more dogs than usual coming through the door. At one point Steph could see I was struggling and was out of tricks so she took control. This is after we were throwing treats (Steph's liver treats rather than our own so it would be something new) on the ground to distract. Once again it turned into a game to Esther so we started waiting for her to come back and be quiet on her own, then rewarded that instead. At the end there were dogs on all sides of us so Steph had us make a hasty exit (literally told us to tell Esther, "hurry,") because Esther was past threshold. Yeah, weekends are quite busy in pet stores that allow dogs. When I used to train in a pet store, we had to reserve spots for dog-dog reactive dogs on days that were less busy. I would sometimes do training in the parking lot where more space allowed. Funny: she was teaching everyone how to teach their dogs to unravel themselves from their leash. Every time I got Esther tangled up she got out right away (it's one of the first things I teach my dogs so I don't have to constantly fix their leash). So we worked on the spin instead. There was a couple who stopped to stare at us, but this time instead of training them I kept training Esther. It was a good distraction because they were respectful enough to only watch, rather than try to get her attention. She did say she sent two texts but didn't get a response. I don't have any from her so we have a technical issue. They're still ready to come over for the treadmill, and we'll get her to experience the television as well. And you're right - Smarty Pants here figures things out too quickly (except for where the dogs really are when we have screen time!). I feel like she's well above my pay grade, lol. Gertie was very pleased with the pats and says thank you. 🙂 Glad they didn't interfere and start small talk! It's nice to encounter considerate people sometimes! I am happy to hear that eventually Steph will stop by to help you out on this.