Bella's boot camp

This is the long leash - harness for Bella to run on in our yard

Friday - day 5 of Bella's boot camp.  I am putting Bella on her harness and playing fetch with the tennis ball in the morning before breakfast  which has always been her routine.  2 milestones this morning - She barked at the neighbor walking down the alley but came when I called her and focused on chasing the ball as the woman passed.  Usually I would have to pull her in like a huge fish on a line, but not this am.

The really big improvement was when Bella saw the black and white cat.  There is a neighborhood black and white cat that Bella usually goes ballistic barking and wanting to chase after when she sees it.  It all started when she was a puppy and we wanted to chase the cat out of the yard because my friends 2 toddler children would not stop trying to pet it.  So that night long ago, we put Bella and Butterscotch out on their long leashes and they barked at the cat so it ran out of the yard.  Since then, Bella sees the cat and wants to go chase it.  Talk about quick learning!

Butter gets his rewards for being calm too

So this morning as Bella runs to get her ball, there is the black and white cat sitting about 50 yards away right in the middle of the street.  Bella looked at the cat, but did not bark or run out towards it.  I called her and she came to me with her ball and we continued to play!  For her to not react to the cat, chase, bark and be able to be called away is huge! 

There was still a little barking at dinner time, but not as much as the day before.  Improvement is coming every day.