Rockstar Azul March Madness Update!

It's been awhile since I posted an update and I know you all understand with all that has been going on trying to set up the Yooper Paws Training Center. That all happened so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to post a sneak peak about the possibility to this group. And many of you have made it possible for this dream of mine to come true.

Faith for all the help moving stuff in and setting up, clearing the snow, and watching over the place when I can't be there. Plus being open to learning how to teach classes and all your offers of being my Admin Assistant!

Cindy for brainstorming with me and discussing what I thought was a pipe dream and has now become a reality plus for sending me the cool steps to use as stations.

Scott for being willing to pick up FREE furniture for me and all your efforts in making it be something that will work at the Training Center.

And everyone else for jumping in and picking up all the stuff that needs to get done, but I simply haven't had the time to do it...Ashlynn, Loulou, & Gretta I couldn't do this without you!

On to the UPDATES!

Azul had a busy couple of weekends with the Illinois Family and a busy week in between with Jen & Betsy visiting. But we had a couple of firsts this last weekend trip to Illinois. As a TEAM we worked on calm as we watched Heather feed the skunks they use for animal shows. Azul loves the skunks and always tries to dance, so watching Heather (one of his favorite peeps) interacting with the skunks was excitement overload. Heather let him watch and sniff all the veggies she was cutting up for the skunks and Azul laid calmly, with my help, as she took the food into the enclosure.  He then enjoyed some off leash time running around the farm chasing me on a 4 wheeler. He enjoyed the freedom a little while but thought Heather's car was a fun place to sit and watch the action. I'm sure he would have loved to chase further if we were not doing a Figure 8 back and forth around the driveway into the barn area and back. Azul did really well listening to directions until I got too close to a section of bushes where the birds always zoom out of the bush directly at us. These bushes are a bit too close to road for my comfort, but I knew when he ran that way he was bird hunting and we were able to let him hunt then redirect back to the barn. That raised his excitement level again though so it was time to put the leash back on and help him calm down.

Later in the day, Azul stayed home with Issac while I went to a trampoline park with the kids. He would not have liked the crowds and noise there! Issac has always been one of Azul's pup sitters so he was plenty comfortable staying home. But then we all wanted Chinese and Issac drove to meet us at the buffet only we stayed at the park longer than anticipated so Issac took Azul into Harbor Freight. I practice handing my leash off to multiple family members and clients I trust, but no one had taken him into a store where I wasn't already in there. Issac thought it was odd that Azul wanted to keep going toward the door, but my husband thinks Azul was saying, "Mom's not here, let's go look somewhere else!" Issac said Azul had good manners, just wanted to leave. Perhaps this is something to work on though.

Azul and Finnegan have been getting along really well. Finn is Issac's 7 month old GSD pup that has no personal space boundaries and bursts into everyone's bubble non-stop. We are working on teaching my daughter and grandson how to ask for a bubble when it comes to an obnoxious puppy. Azul generally does really well giving Finn subtle doggie language that says back off. Finn typically listens. But after 3 days, Azul was loosing patience and Finn stepped in the wrong "boy parts" space and Azul pinned him to couch, growling in Finn's face. Azul had no desire to hurt Finn, but wasn't letting him up till he got his point across. That seemed to calm Finn down for a bit but they still played just fine and shared space without issue afterwords. While I don't like that Azul didn't let Finn up when asked or that Azul felt like he needed to take action because I wasn't, it was probably good for Finn to have come from another dog that wasn't going to hurt him.

Azul is loving the Training Center and typically bugs me to go to the office by 11AM if we are not already there. He eats at least 1 meal a day in the Paws & Relax Room either on a lickmat, in a topple, or in one of the many enrichment puzzles we have available. He's also claimed the couch in my office as HIS spot to rest when I'm busy working. Although he did share his couch with Maverick today to practice calm after playing in the Play & Train Room. We have to go to Mav's Office on Friday for a Consult and both boys need to be calm in each other's presence, so we had a practice session today. It can be so hard to be still and focus on the job when your best friend is there trying to get you going. I'm sure we all know what that's like! LOL  I'm also seeing that Azul has started to become more attentive to me now that we are not home as much any more. I really didn't see how much being around my husband was impacting Azul. My husband makes both Azul and I, extra sleepy and lazy so the more we can get out of the house the better we both are for each other.

March Madness has started along with Spring Fever in the Yooper Paws House & Training Center! More to come on the March Madness front as our work load grows over the next few weeks.