Burrito Wrangling #16

Burrito Wrangling Update # 16: We had a minor setback this week (which was, of course, my fault). I changed two routines at the same time: 1) I started doing work in my office in the evenings, instead of out on the couch like I have been for the past month post-incident; and, 2) I let Murph get settled in the bed first. So when Mila came in later he growled at her (resource guarding) but did not lunge or attack which was great. As a result, I have returned to having Murph sleep in his den at night while Mila is with me in the bed. I am continuing to work in my office in the evenings, with both Burritos in there. It's one of Murph's safe zones so I'm continuously giving them treats all night and playing little confidence building games with Murph (waiting for a signal before he can take the treat, target training). I've also started clicker training today with Mila (I purchased a Karen Pryor book). While ultimately this was a *very* minor setback it reminded me that I have to move very slowly with Murph. Changes that I might think are minor, could be huge to his velvety stressed out burrito-brain. To quote my trainer (Train Without Pain) Kara's +R mentor, Sam Wilke - "if you think you're going too slow, you're not going slow enough". To make things more complicated, Mila got kennel cough (she's almost back to 100%) and I have messed up my knee walking them so much (ridiculous I know... but I was only doing Muay Thai and weight lifting before, no endurance training and then suddenly started walking 20 miles/week) so she's going stir crazy. Thank dog I have a giant fenced yard! I'm hoping we can return to the dog park tomorrow so that my deranged pinniped-hippo-puppy will stop looking for trouble around the house. Also I ordered $200 worth of bull penises (aka "bully sticks") so they will be getting spoiled rotten this week! #burritowrangling