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I arranged Ellie's insurance. Having had one dog with a life-long condition which is expensive to treat (Epilepsy) I was taking no chances! It is important to shop around and get a good deal. In my opinion, it is vital to have "lifelong" cover as many policies only insure a condition for one year - or a maximum amount, then you are on your own!
 I took Ellie to play with an 11 week old standard poodle puppy belonging to a friend. She was shy at first but after 10 minutes joined in the chasing games, but not making much contact. She was definitely not as rough as she is at home.
The journey to my friend's house confirmed my concern that Ellie is not very happy in the car. She is quiet and shy. She doesn't bark and she isn't sick but she is definitely not happy...
Ellie had been exposed to the clicker for a few days and understood "click" is followed by "treat". So I started clicking and treating when she went outside for a wee. The timing had to be just right. Not too soon or she would stop weeing before she had finished to come back for her treat. Not too late so I was clicking for her finishing weeing...
Started doing some "free shaping". Ellie was working me for a click. She would do something - I would click. The only rule was variety. She didn't get clicked more than one for any particular behaviour. She was clicked for sitting, standing, lying down, walking in a circle, sniffing the floor, touching a toy, barking etc. She quickly learnt that if a click/treat wasn't forthcoming, she had to try something else... At the age of 8 weeks she had understood the principle of clicker training!
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