The Zeva Project -- halfway point
The Zeva Project is my quest to find an activity that Zeva and I can participate in together to relieve her current state of boredom. I am reading nine books, some of which are on the psychology and training of dogs and some which describe specific dog activities.
This week I've read five books on the subject of dogs. They were all good, but did not move me forward in my search for what to do with Zeva, who doesn't like dog parks, other dogs, children, strangers, chew toys, smart toys, tug toys, catch toys, . . . Well, the purpose of this reading project is to find something that she does like.
The books I read this week, while they did not help me find that magical activity that Zeva is going to Love, have given me a stronger background on what I should be able to expect from her given her temperament, and I should be able to communicate more effectively with her.
I won't get much reading done in the next three days, because when my husband gets home at five this evening, it's the start of a three-day weekend for him, and when he's home I usually try to pay attention to him instead of books all the time.
So, the project is on hold until Monday, but this is the plan for what comes next.
I think Zeva will really enjoy agility training, but the classes didn't work for us because there were too many dogs, too many people and too much noise. She never got to the point where she could Focus. The things I want this book to do is provide step by step instructions on how to teach her the tasks, but also show me how to set up my own back yard course, ideally for a reasonable price tag. I've researched equipment online, but it all seems to be professional-grade, and more than I want to spend, especially before I know if she likes it.
Do More With Your Dog, and Brain Games. -- Zeva is smart. I'm the one with the problem. You'd think it would be easy to teach your dog to roll over, but I obviously don't know how to get my point across. I'm expecting these two books to show me exactly what to do. I've flipped through, and it looks like they have lots of good pictures with detailed explanations.
and Dancing With Your Dog, because who wouldn't want to do that!. Here's a Canine Freestyle video from Britain's Got Talent 2012:
After that, if I haven't OD'd on dog info, I also checked out a few books on Working Dogs:
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