My pal Rudy goes home tomorrow he has made great strides in his training. He is still a puppy and makes puppy mistakes but he it is easier to get his attention back and he knows his commands. I think his owners will be pleased.
One thing to look out for with a dog like Rudy is that he will back slide if you let him. He needs reminders and he needs support from his family to know when he makes a mistake and when he is doing a good job. His remote helps a lot to gently nudge him when he is making a mistake and he is such a love sponge that giving him good feedback is super easy, you just have to remember to communicate with him.
We went for a nice long walk at the farm and took his go-home video today and tomorrow we are going to practice Placemat once more before he goes home but other than that his big job will be to play and get nice and tired for his go-home lesson. I bet he will be very excited to see his people again. He was a fun dog to train and I look forward to our follow up lessons in the future.

Another good day for Rudy. He had a decent off-leash lesson at the farm. He toiled with Down once and tried to see if it would work to just trot away from me and get out of work that way. Of course, it did not work and he had to come back and finish the job. 
He was also my helper dog for a lesson today with a big dog who barks on walks. Rudy was a very good boy and did his commands even when he was being barked at by the big dog. He patiently waited until the dog he was helping quieted down and paid attention well.
With the weather warming up we have been able to stay outside for longer which he enjoys but we have still been pushing his inside manners. He is doing a good job at trying to be calm and and we have been trying to help him understand that he does not need to run everywhere he goes. When he is inside it is actually better to walk sometimes. A tap on the vibration setting of his collar is very useful to just slow his ever excited brain down and get him to think a little more before acting. 
For now Rudy is trying to kill his sheet that we gave him in his crate so I am about to go take that away from him. Silly boy. He has left it alone for a week but I think now that it is warmer and he is getting a little bored in there the sheet is fair game. He is still a puppy, after all, which is easy to forget with him being such a big kid. 
Alright, signing off now to go remove his blankey privileges for the evening.

A weekend of playing and getting muddy seems to be what the veterinarian ordered for Rudy. Today he had his first off-leash workout at the farm and he did exceptionally well. Better than I expected. He stuck around nicely, respected boundaries like the tree line and horse fence, came when called and even Heeled around the garden. He didn't want to lay down but I think that was because he was cold and being a baby. I still made him do it but I let him up right away.
I am also pleased to report that while he is still a puppy and can get underfoot and excitable in the house he is getting easier and easier to calm down the longer we work together. He is doing great and I was proud of him today. Tomorrow I plan to work him off-leash some more and see how far we can get. He is a good boy!

Rudy had a fun day today. Long walk around the neighborhood that allowed us to work around passing strange dogs and cars. He has a very well developed fear of cars and gets nervous when they pass us on the road. But with more practice this can become less stressful for him. Though, as fears go, a fear of cars is a healthy thing.
We also spent time in the yard practicing Come. He is getting pretty good and I hope to practice out at the farm with him either this weekend or Monday. He is an incredibly active and high caliber dog. He could go for miles and would likely out run the pads on his feet if we let him. But with reminders here and there he is becoming calmer and calmer in the house. He does still need his remote collar on in the house so that I can give him a vibration reminder to calm down when he gets too rowdy. I am pretty sure he will need his collar inside as well when he goes home. Working towards life without his electronic collar will be somewhat slow just because he is such an active guy.
I will give him credit for one thing, he runs everywhere if you let him (and you do NOT need to let him) and he moves so quickly and impulsively but not once has he knocked our toddler over. He has excelent brakes and has stopped short a few times but he hasn't even made Noah unsure of his footing. He is better about not knocking the little guy down than Ace is! I can't take credit for this. He is just lucky or careful or more nimble than I give him credit for.
This weekend he is looking at lots of play and cuddles and work on the Come command. If we can I will get him to the farm to work off-leash but at this point Monday may be a more feasible day for that. He is doing a good job, over all.

Rudy did fine today. He mostly got practice with house time and Down/Stay. His house manners aren't bad because he is a defiant dog but he is so busy busy busy that he never stops moving. We worked on trying to slow his brain down a little and getting him to stay in one place. We found a nylabone toy he liked and that was his motivation. He was not allowed to carry it around while he Buffaloed over the living room. Instead he could have it on his bed, in his crate, or when he was lying down. This worked for the most part but if the toddler had a snack he lost the motivation for the bone, understandably.
He is making good progress and with the Winter Weather Advisory I foresee more inside practice tomorrow as well. But he climbs the walls without some focused exercise everyday so we will be walking unless there are really bad weather conditions, which are not forecasted.
For now Rudy is happily snoozing in his crate with his bone.

Sweet Bentley goes home tomorrow. I will miss his cheeks and his kisses but it is time for him to show his people how well he can walk on a leash and restrain himself on a mat. His learning is not finished. His owners are now tasked with the job of teaching him that he is not allowed to pull no matter what distraction we are dealing with (today it was chickens). And that no matter what is going on if he is on his mat that is where he should stay parked unless told to do something else.
He is an excellent candidate for more training. We may need to make some concessions for his funny knee but he could certainly go farther. He is a good boy and he enjoys work even if it takes a while for his little attention span to warm up.

Rudy arrived yesterday for 2 weeks of advanced training. He is a perfect candidate for it. He is a young, healthy, bull-in-a-China-shop lab who is very sweet natured but also smart enough to get into trouble. We are going to work on his self restraint and his ability to calm down and be a bit more quiet in the house.
Yesterday we mostly just got to know each other and started work on his leash manners. Today we brushed up on the basics like Heel, Sit and Down and introduced him to his remote collar. He is really quite sensetive to it but he is having a hard time focusing long enough to realize he is being corrected for something so I am being very careful to use my voice as a marker so that he identifies the sensation with me and not just an invisible consequence. He is already showing improvement but I am taking it slowly so that we don't end up confused. Tomorrow we are doing more basic stuff and introducing Placemat.

Bentley is doing great. His leash manners are greatly improved and he stayed on Placemat in a low level distraction setting for over an hour yesterday. He is working hard and really trying to get the answer right.
He has been wearing a remote trainer in the house and he does well with it though you can tell he sometimes tries to take the correction and ignore it if he really wants something (like if the baby has a snack that is right at face level). Right now he is wearing a Dogtra and I think if his owner wants to continue his remote collar training I will suggest a collar from E-Collar Technologies because of their boost setting and stronger vibration warning. He is a good candidate for this type of training for sure, we just may find a different model a better fit for him.
Overall, I am proud of him. He is a sweet pea.

Today (technically yesterday I guess seeing as I left the blog a bit late tonight) sweet Bentley arrived for 3-4 days of leash manners and an introduction to a remote trainer to see if it will help some of his house manners. He is a very sweet-natured boy but, being an American Bulldog, he is a bit of a Buffalow. He isn't super defiant, however and he does enjoy praise.
Today we introduced him to his pinch collar and he was more responsive to it than I thought he would be. He stopped pulling almost immediately and he picked up Heel fairly quickly. Autosit still needs work but he is sitting when I stop with a little help from me.
I like this pup. He is a fun personality and his face is cute as a button. I do need to watch out for him and Ace though. They have struck up a good friendship already and both being bully dogs I can't let them play in the yard without directly refereeing the game because I fear they might play too hard and tweet Bentley's sore knee.
Tomorrow we are doing more Heel work and introducing Place. He will wear a remote trainer around the house tomorrow but I don't plan to purposely bait bad behavior yet (like leaving food on the counter within reach or giving the toddler a cracker to carry around. I just want him to get used to wearing a remote collar tomorrow.

As we approach Mattie's last day here we are focusing on cleaning up little loose ends in her training. She is still a puppy who makes puppy mistakes but she has made huge strides these past two weeks.
She had a good day today. A nice long walk with autosits here and there and some good progress on Down. She is such a good little worker.
Tomorrow we are taking her go-home video and her picture for the website. She is sure to make her folks proud.