Sweet Bucky goes home tomorrow morning. I am so proud of how far this guy has come. Especially with his Recall. When he first arrived he could not be let off leash for fear he would bolt and disappear. Now he enjoys off leash walks and with the remote trainer his owners can have the confidence that they can remind him to come when he is called if the temptation to run is too great. 
His obedience is stellar and his house manners are quiet, and charming. I will miss this young guy's company and so will his buddy, Ace. These two have such a great time playing! Even old Ted likes Bucky and Ted never likes puppies. 
But, as much as we have enjoyed having him here Bucky will be happy to get home to his family and if his family is consistent and a little patient, if know they will be pleased with his new skills. 

Great job today, Bucky! 
After a bit of a sour mood yesterday morning and a half day off Bucky had some WONDERFUL workouts today. He was happy to work, did all of his commands well, had a happy-go-lucky attitude, and enjoyed his challenges. I could not be happier with how today went for him. He only needed verbal reminders to stay in a Heel when his friend was bouncing around near him (great distraction) and needed no other corrections all day!
Tomorrow I hope to get some good video of Bucky doing his obedience to show his owners at his go-home lesson on Saturday. I am willing the weather to stay tolerable just long enough to get some good outdoor workouts because he hates working in the training room. 
Right now he is watching the evening news with us and processing his wonderful day. 

Bucky had an interesting day today. Every so often I get a dog who will have a tough day about midway through the training. Today Bucky decided to toe the line with his obedience. He would lay down when he was told to Sit and he would Come but would wander off at the end, etc. He was just feeling argumentative and sullen until the afternoon when his mood perked up. I skipped his afternoon workout because sometimes over work can sour a dog to training. Bucky played with Ace all afternoon and had a good time and relaxed some. 
Tomorrow it is right back to work and hopefully he will have a fresh outlook. Usually it just takes a little bit of a break and then the dogs are happy to get back to work. Bucky is a good boy and just had an off morning today. We will clean up any obedience that still needs cleaning up and we have plenty of time to go over things again if he needs it. Silly puppy!

Well miss Pip goes home tomorrow. She has taken great strides here and I know she will work hard for her people. She really does want to do a good job but she is, and will always be, a strong character (diva) who has her own ideas. Her owners will need to be strong and help her grow from the foundation she got here. They can all help make her obedience a way of life for her. If her commands become party tricks she will back slide to old behaviors. If she is expected to behave while on walks and in the house she will do much better. I am going to recommend she be on leash or on a training tab when she gets home for a while to ensure she can't run from commands.
Today we took her video and tomorrow we are going to take her glamour shot for the yearbook. I will miss this little stinker. It is no secret that I love the little guys and they are so much fun to work with. But she will be happy to be home and with her family. Of this, I am certain.

Well Miss Bossy Pants is almost done. Her obedience is there, she knows it. But she will absolutely take advantage of someone who she thinks she can manipulate. In classic Chihuahua form she will always have a plucky little attitude, which is fine. She is also very smart and can, most certainly, be expected to do her obedience.
At this point she needs a leash on to be held accountable in her obedience. I have her on a tiny thin leash that she can drag or a little teeny training tab (very short leash) to make her easy to correct when she is being a stinker. She has learned somewhere in her life that she can scamper from work if she doesn't want to do it. When she goes home I am going to recommend she wear a leash at first to make sure she "get's home" well and that her owners can make her listen to commands without chasing her. She can be transitioned to not wearing a leash indoors after a few days if she earns it.
That said, when a firm but fair handler is in charge, she has gotten pretty good at her commands. And she is super cute doing it. She has especially done well with Placemat. She will start stepping off, and it just takes a verbal correction to back her up. Her Heel/Autosit is going fine. If the ground is cold she tries not to put her bottom all the way down. Also, out in the cold she greatly dislikes Down. I try to be fair about this, she is very small, after all, but I do make her do it sometimes just to prove to her that she can. In the house her Down is pretty good, as I said she needs a handler who will follow through and make her do it.
Tomorrow we are working on proofing all her commands and taking her video for her go-home video. Proofing is simply using distractions to make sure her obedience is the best it can be before she goes home.
Tonight, as soon as she quiets down she will get to come inside for some Placemat and play time, however, right now she is seeing if barking non-stop in her kennel will get her let out. She will be sorely disappointed but she gets points for trying. Silly Pip.

What a change has come upon young Bucky! He is now completely off leash (except for the Last Chance Potty that happens late at night because we just can't see him in the dark) and loving it. Today he enjoyed running full tilt after Ace, his buddy and came back every time I called him. He sits immediately upon reaching me. I am very pleased with his off leash manners when he isn't in a specific command. He stays close but still enjoys his freedom.
When he is in a command he does extremely well. Inside or outside he only needs an occasional correction. He toils slightly with Heel when he is off-leash, he likes to trot or lope and I don't move as quickly as he would like. He also has a strong startle reflex and so if something startles him he does spook a little bit and jump but is easy to coax back to where he belongs. His startle reflex has become less pronounced over the last week. Now what startles him most is the donkey who likes to bray at him.
The one aspect of training that we are still working on is Implied Stay. As I said, this dog is a little bit on the spooky side and he greatly prefers to be near his handler. It frightens him to be left in a Down while outdoors. We are working on helping him stay put while I walk away from him and he is getting better. Indoors, especially when in the Place command he does very well with entertaining himself while I bustle around the house. He even stays when the other dogs are messing around near him. Though, if Ace makes a game look too inviting Bucky might try to join him but for the most part he does just fine.
Bucky is now in the proofing stage of his obedience. He knows his commands and what is expected of him. So now we challenge him, and practice, practice. practice. to make sure he will be able to perform for his parents when he goes home.

A quick update on little Pip because we missed the blog yesterday.

Pip is doing fine. We worked inside today because she gets cold quickly. I worked hard on Down and Implied Stay today. She did very well except after the afternoon workout she decided she never needs to sit again and just lays down at every opportunity. So the last workout was spent working Sit and Down. She likes to keep me on my toes.

For some reason tonight she has been barking up a storm. I am going to leave NPR on in the training room to hopefully drown out whatever she is barking at.

Tomorrow we are cleanin up her obedience some more and practicing Place. I can't tell how she will take Place. Some Chihuahuas love it and others take a little longer for it to sink in. Either way, it will be an adventure, I'm sure.

I usually don't post on Sundays but seeing as I missed yesterday I thought I would give a quick update.

Bucky is doing great. His obedience is going fine and he is doing better at "Leave it!" He is struggling a little with Heel when he is on the 20 foot line but as his attention span grows he will get better at this. He also has a hard time not army crawling to my feet when I ask him to lay down in front of me. He is the kind of dog who feels much better if he can just be in physical contact with his handler. But I hope his obedience will help him become a bit more independent.

Tomorrow we are going to see about going off leash with nothing but the electronic collar. Should be exciting. We will start in the training room and maybe move outside in the afternoon.

Keeping blogs short tonight because of spotty internet. 
Little Pip did a good job today. She is now Autositting about half the time and the other times it is only a short argument before she sits down. We also started on Down today. After the initial introduction of the command, we got as far as my telling her to lay down, Pip flat out ignoring me, so I give her a little pop on the leash, she gives me this look of absolute disdain and slowwwwly slides down. 
For day two I call that a win. She enjoys walking and she and I are actually becoming good buddies. She hops into my lap during house-time and we snuggle for a while. She just is very much not used to being told what to do. But she is adapting slowly. It will take a while for this to become a way of life and she is doing her best to look adorable, innocent, and put upon, throughout the process. 

Keeping it short tonight because our internet keeps blitzing in and out. 
Bucky did well today. We introduced him to the electronic collar and at first he was very confused so we took it really slow and just did the easy stuff like Sit and Down in the living room. We kept it very low key and by the afternoon he was outside (with a physical leash on) doing well accepting cues from the collar. Will probably keep him on leash tomorrow too just to help boost his confidence. 
He is very ticklish and so even with the stimulation set very low poor Bucky gives a little jump when a stim catches him off guard. I trained a little boarder collie like this as well. They are showing no signs of pain but the sensation just makes them jump a little.  I am sure he will get used to it after a few days.