Oh and teaching retrieve is soooo useful. I started with Z as soon as I got her. Her toy had a string leash on it, so the toy always came back. Zest quickly learned that if she brought me stuff, she got rewarded. So now she'll bring me all sorts of "treasures" she finds. Innovative little girl. She brought me a 1/2 dead rabbit, bones she finds in the yard, and her latest was a wrapper from a tenderloin cut of meat. Don't know where some of it comes from - we're on 5 acres and the wind blows like crazy.
Welcome Jackie. The ideas about leaving Akila alone for a short time and then lengthening the time have worked in the past for us. The soft things with familiar smell also should help. One other trick we have tried is to leave a TV or radio on at low levels. Talk radio or TV seems to work, but not too loud!