It's been awhile since we've posted. There wasn't really a lot to write about, but the past few weeks we've seen some noteworthy changes in Mags.

Over the past 2 months, we've started working with Maggie on "Come here". She had this down to come over the couch, but at that point "Come here" only meant "go to the couch" - even if we were standing somewhere else in the house, if called, she'd go to the couch.

We started by using Kraft Singles - Maggie's favorite all-time treat - and using the leash in the house to get her to come to us. We then progressed to not using the leash and trying to get her to come. She's finicky about her reward for doing this and will only take cheese. If we try and use anything else she'll just refuse it. She's so spoiled.

We were making some OK progress with this, and then we went on vacation for a week.

Grandma Lela was kind enough to take care of Maggie while we were gone - and sent us daily email updates, assuring us that she was doing OK. It was really hard to leave her, but she was her usual good self and got to go on lots of walks with grandma.

When we went to pick her up, after 8 days, Maggie had the expected reaction - nothing. No tail wag, no spinning around in circles... just "the look". When we got home though she showed some excitement - she wanted to run when we took her on her walk that night, which she normally only does after a day at "school".

Since we've been back, Maggie seems to have gotten a lot better at listening to us. She'll come when called - most of the time now in the house she'll come to us when called, but she's still tentative. Outside the house, such as at the park or the beach (yes, we had 2 days of 50+ degrees, so like all crazy Chicagoans that means shorts and beach weather - no water, just playing on the sand) she's really good at coming to us when called.

Previously, we had the same control over Maggie as a wind-up toy - point her in the right direction and go, but there's no turning back. Now she's started listening to us, so if she's going to the wrong place we can tell her to stop - and she will - and can tell her to go somewhere else and she'll go. That's a huge step that she's started trusting us and listening to us instead of just scurrying along.

The weather has helped too - there's a noticeable change with Maggie once it's over 40 degrees or so, and especially when it's much warmer. Like all of us, she gets really excited to be outside and is generally in a pretty good mood. She's also taken to being more playful at the parks/beach more quickly than last year - last summer we had to give her an hour before she was acclimated and comfortable - now she walks right in tail wagging. We'll give her "school" the credit for that as she's just so much more comfortable with other dogs.

Overall she's doing great, and it's encouraging to see continuous progress with her. Right now we're looking into formalized training classes, as we think teaching her a few more commands will even further increase her confidence and trust, which are two things Maggie can't get enough of.