Bear is doing just fine. His obedience is really coming along though he does still feign deafness when asked to lay down sometimes. He needs the occasional gentle reminder to walk nicely, especially if other dogs are playing near him but it isn't nearly the argument it has been in the past. Today Bear managed to stay on Place for 3 hours. He insisted on standing for the first 10 minutes and it did not look remotely comfortable but then he laid down and chewed his toy and took a nap.
This is a very independent dog who does not want to comply with a command that doesn't make sense. I try to be fair but also insist that, even when he does not understand, that he do it anyway. After all, most likely I am just asking him to Sit. But this will be important for his owner to remember at home, that even if Bear tries to cute his way out of something or refuses to listen, he must be made to do it anyway because if he feels he can take advantage of a situation and not listen he certainly will.
Right now he is playing with Ace and his rope toy and things are quite fun. Though soon it will be time for bed and lights out. Which he has accepted never though never really enjoys.

Well today we did not get a lot of new stuff done but that wasn't Bear's fault. Appointments kept me in town today and so I made sure to give Bear 2 upkeep workouts to make sure he stayed fresh on what we were working on, and a nice long bike ride. That and some house time pretty much sums up his day. 
One thing that was very nice this morning during our long walk is that he has finally stopped pulling on the long line when he is out of his Heel. When he is in a Heel he knows better but when he is in a free walk he still pushes it quite a bit and this morning was the first time that he got to the end of the line and adjusted his walking speed so as not to pull. He got a lot of praise for this and I let him hang out at the end of the line for a little longer today that I normally do before throwing him into his morning workout.
Tomorrow I am out at the farm all day until the evening and so we should be able to challenge Mr. Bear a little more. He is doing well though. Right now he is teaching us the song of his people as he howls in his kennel. Possibly he is upset that he is not inside with us watching the KU game. 

Keeping this short because the internet connection has been spotty all night.

Bear did just fine today. His obedience is coming along. He still toils with self restraint but is getting better. We haven't started torturing him by tossing toys around yet but he was able to hold a Down/Stay in the living room today with the other dogs going about their business and my husband and me coming and going. That was hard for him but he did a good job.
He got his first bike ride today and he enjoyed it very much after the initial the-bike-will-hit-you-so-respect-the-tires stage. Bear also noticed the Donkey for the first time and was so put off by him that we had to stop, stare, and bark for a moment.
Ace and Bear have been rearranging the furniture tumbling around the house. They sound like they are killing each other but have a great time and calm down easily when they get too rowdy. 
Tomorrow will be a bit boring for him as a large chunk of my day is taken up by in town appointments. I will make it up to him with some extra house time in the evening and maybe Claven, my husband, can take him on a slightly longer run.

Bear is my kind of dog. He is a chocolate mishmash of Nordic stubbornness with a smile that can convince any unsuspecting human of his perfect innocence. He will never be an obedience champion, he is too much of an independent thinker, but he learns quickly and enjoys the work. But he can be manipulative if he thinks he is dealing with a soft hearted person who will allow him to “cute” his way out of things.

Yesterday was Bear’s first day and we spent most of our time getting acquainted and re-learning how to walk on a leash. Heel/Autosit was introduced and his shiny new pinch collar was instrumental in getting him to comply with the new rules. By the end of the day he was walking nicely, most of the time, and sitting automatically about half of the time. Not bad for day 1.

Today we introduced Implied Stay which was a bit of a bust. He is convinced that we are all going to go have great adventures (at the end of his 5 foot leash) without him. We also introduced Down, which he seems to already understand but right now it has no staying power. As soon as he is down he pops right back up and is ready to play. Teaching this boy some self restraint will be the trick this week. Come is actually not bad. He tends to zoom past me but is happy to Sit after his initial celebration.

Tomorrow we are going to work on all of the above commands and we are going to introduce Placemat. We are also going to get him out on the bike to spend some of this energy he has stored up. Overall, I am pleased with how he did on day 2.

Well our young friend Abby goes home tomorrow. She is still is chalk full of puppy but I am proud of how far she has come in the past 10 days. She now has an understanding of Heel, Sit, Down, Implied Stay, Place, and Come. She is better about going into a kennel (though is much happier to do it for a peanut butter kong) and she is a charming house dog. She no longer tries to get onto the furniture, even though she will try to ooze onto a lap that does not firmly claim its personal space. She will sniff and pout over food left within her reach but she won't take it (her hot collar is a HUGE incentive to leave food alone). She is still a stinker about getting collars and leashes put on so it is important that her family not play with her when she tries to silly her way out of it. It is working time when it is time to put on her collar or leash and so any shenanigans must not be tolerated. 

Going to keep this short because the internet is spotty tonight.

Abby is doing nicely. She had a mini break through with Down from the Front today and did very well laying down where she is supposed to.

She stayed on placemat for 2 hours today and only made one mistake when her toy rolled away from her. It took a few tries to settle her back on the mat but then she was happy to stay put.

Still working on her entering her crate without a fuss. She is getting marginally better but is still toiling with it a little bit. She has also become fussy about putting collars on. She will flop over and paw at your hands and it takes some firmness and some patience to get her collared in the morning. I think much of it stems from being bored all night and feeling playful. She is a stinker sometimes but always delightful.

Tomorrow we will be starting to get some video for her go-home lesson this weekend.

Abby is doing so well. She is now 100% on her electronic collar. She enjoys Heel and Autosit though still gets distracted sometimes. She is getting better about stopping herself with Come and tries to remember to Sit. She enjoys Down and when in doubt defaults to the down position if she is unsure of what to do. She was on Place for 2 hours today and politely chewed her bone while the other dogs were free to mill around. 
She has such a wonderful sense of humor about things and while she doesn't like making mistakes she celebrates with dances and happy smiles when she figures out the question and gets the answer right on the second try. We are now into the fine tuning stage of things and it is all down to practice, practice, practice. 

Talk about a wiggle bottom! Abby is so cute when she is working. I will try to paint a mental image for you. Imagine a Golden puppy who is so pleased with herself that she is physically incapable of sitting still. She absolutely prances in a Heel, often leading to a whoopsie and getting a correction. When we do an Autosit she sits quick as a flash but then scoots and wiggles with this goofy grin on her face right onto my shoes to make sure she gets her praise. If I pet her she gets so happy that she collapses into the snow and wiggles around, usually ending up celebrating on her back. When I ask her to Down she does a fine job unless it is a Down from the Front. In a Down from the Front (which means any time I ask her to lay down when she is NOT in a heeling position) she lays down, then seems to have some kind of happy spasm where she flops and baby crawls, yet again, onto my shoes. She LOVES Recall (a bit too much) and has what we call "bad breaks." But she is getting better all the time. We are doing a lot of laughing this week.
She is still on a long line for now (20 feet) or in the garden off leash because she is still prone to spooking and I don't want her to spook and dash away. But she is getting more used to the life here and the only really scary thing is the donkey, which is a logical fear). 
In the house she really is becoming a princess. She is very responsive to her electronic collar and no longer tries to get on the furniture and is getting better about not helping herself to food (much to her chagrin). 
Tomorrow we are going to work on her commands some more and try going full off leash in the fence to test her staying power. We are battling a very happy-go-lucky, and care free attitude and so we are working hard not to lose her playfulness while harnessing some sense of self control.

We are having such bad luck with our internet! Once again I apologize for the late update. Abby is doing great. She has been introduced to all of her commands (other than Placemat, we are doing that today) and is learning quickly. She still pulls when she is on a long line and she is not in a command but it is not a difficult thing to get her focus back on the handler.
She enjoyed a romp in the fenced garden and played a fun hide-and-chase game with Ace, the pit bull, in the grape vines. She really is a delightful girl.
Today (Sunday) we are introducing her to her electronic collar and shifting her correction from a physical correction with a slip chain to a correction from the remote. To avoid scaring her or confusing her she will remain on leash today and every time she feels a stimulation she will hear her handler's voice. This is to ensure that she understands that the correction is coming from the handler and not from an invisible monster. 
There will not be a blog post tonight (on purpose this time) but look to Monday for how she is doing on her new electronic collar.

Sweet Morgan goes home today. She has learned her commands and we have made strides with "enough." She is doing well with recall though she still needs practice before going off-leash. That is her owners job now. Board and Train does not mean the job is all done by me. I do the job of teaching the dog new words and about their new obedient lifestyle. It falls to her owners to do the upkeep. To make sure that her lifestyle actually becomes one of obedience and listening. If her commands become party tricks they will not get the level of obedience out of the dog that they desire. However, if they commit to using her words and to using her new skills throughout her day, every day (it is easier than it sounds) she will begin looking to her owners for direction all the time.
Morgan has an active nose and is easily distracted but she does well with her commands in the house and on a 5' leash. On a 20' line she still does quite well but her Come command can become sloppy. It is important that she be asked to Sit when she gets to her handler before getting praise because she has a tendency to stroll right past you. 
I am very pleased with what Morgan learned this week. She enjoys working and loves getting praised. I will miss this wiggle butt!