Tonight I called Sierra my little monkey. She's really focused on what
Dakota does and she follows suit. She learned the stairs in record time
for watching Dakota where initially she wouldn't budge a single step.

Walking, ditto. Her first reaction was to buck the leash but the moment
Dakota started trotting along, Sierra immediately wanted to follow.

Nine times out of ten if Dakota sits when I'm giving some sort of
command, Sierra sits too.

Tonight I called Sierra to come to me and she just sat there looking at
me. Dakota, however, immediately came running. That jolted Sierra into
action and she came running, too. She's becoming quite the little copy
cat.

She's also beginning to realize that certain behaviors result in getting
happy petted "good girls" which she has decided she really wants.

She hasn't done the monkey-do for throwing balls, however. Or maybe she
has... LOL! Dakota would rather chew on a ball than bring it back,
though she only chews on it while running since I'll take it away if she
stops running and tries to lay down and chew it.

I threw a tennis ball for Dakota and off she went. I threw one for
Sierra and she immediately went after it, plopped down and proceeded to
start chewing.

Dakota likes to play with her bones, throw them up in the air, pounce on
them like a cat, bat them around. I don't think she's done it in front
of Sierra but maybe the monkey-do is in the air because Sierra is
starting to do the same thing.

As I've pretty much kept Sierra with me anytime I'm home, often on a
leash following me around if I've got things to do, she was off leash in
the living room and I told my husband to keep her in there as I had some
things to do. The minute I tried to leave the room she wanted to
follow. Because I've made her follow me around so much, she's getting
into that habit even off leash. It was like that with Dakota in the
early days as well, though I think moreso with Sierra for her youth.

I don't allow them to just wander the house until I know I can trust
them. Freedom is earned.

Had both dogs outdoors playing ball and with carrot treats. Even with
food involved, no problems. Sierra snatched a piece of carrot right out
from under Dakota's nose and got away with it. I still lord over dog
play and if it even remotely appears to be getting too rambunctious I
put an end to it.

The whiney business is usually short-lived. Sometimes she simply has to
go into her crate and that isn't popular. She pitches a fit but she is
realizing that isn't going to get her anywhere so it usually stops after
a bit. Right now she goes in there for the night. Even though our
bedroom is pretty dog proof, there are a couple of things she needs to
learn before being loose in there while we are sleeping. Also, to make
sure she and Dakota are solid.

The dog crate is a bit of an issue. Technically you're supposed to feed
them in there to make it more their "home", but we have a very specific
feeding routine that I want her to learn and it doesn't involve the
crate. We started that routine today.

When we first got Dakota we tried to put a blanket in the crate with
her. First night she chewed it up so she never got another one in
there. As I've seen Sierra grab several blanket type things in her
teeth I have no doubt it would be a bad idea so we're not going to set
her up for that particular failure.

I've got this Felix Unger nasal noise I make for "no". It works like a
charm on Sierra. I rarely have to get up and go stop her from
something. The minute she grabs something in her teeth, I make the
noise and she immediately stops. It's like magic on her. She's knows
that bones are legal and she has embraced the bones.

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