Ray Goes to Summer School

Hello everyone - - Gregg again. Jean arranged an appointment with Lee, the trainer, to stop by today, so I took off half-day to meet him, discuss my concerns, and have a go at professional training. Lee arrived, Ray behaved, and we proceeded to the living room for a chat, and some practice drills outside. I mentioned my two concerns:

• The cats' confinement. They are now in a self-imposed, shrinking area of movement, topside in the house. Lee asked if it was like "Little Big Horn" and I replied in the affirmative -  but without the massacre and such. Not much you can do here. Ray poses no threat but is getting bolder in advancing up the stairs and the cats are not particularly happy. Lee says the idea is to de-sensitize the cats to Ray's presence;  they will either deal with it or not, and I agree. 
• Walking & command. This went pretty well. Lee emphasized tone, timing, and body language. Ray has the heel thing down, quite well, I think. He responded positively, and Lee gave me some good tips on attention. I need to work on vocalizing praises and encouragement. I am a runner/walker who enjoys the solace;  I am used to working out problems and issues while running without distraction (no headphones/earbuds/ipods for this guy!), so I guess I need to step up the chatter when I am with Ray.

Jean came home from work and took Ray for a walk, I did the same after dinner (one of those curry packets that work well in a pinch --  just add chicken and H20). 

Ray was an annoying pill at dinner; he was EXTREMELY interested in the curry.  I suppose subject for another post. 

Anyway, an informative and educational day.