Young Master Beau goes home tomorrow. I am very happy with his progress. He knows his commands well and if his owners are firm with him he will do just fine. He likes to tug on your heart strings and pout if he doesn't get his way but he is perfectly capable of performing all of his commands just fine. Even Down has gotten really good.

Beau is a young guy and he is still very exuberant when playing. While he has improved at not nipping or jumping up I am certain there will be times when he fails to restrain himself. When this happens it is imperative that his owners stop playing with or rewarding him until he calms back down. He tries so hard to do the right thing but sometimes he will forget. Luckily his owners are patient people with a sense of humor. Perfect for a spirited little spaniel.

I have thuroughly enjoyed this little sweet heart. The baby will miss him to. They are giggle buddies for sure.

Sweet Delia goes home tomorrow. We have taken her video and her picture and I have started gathering up her stuff which has spread around the house. I am very pleased with how far she has come. She still has her little personality and she can be a stinker sometimes. But she knows her commands and her owners can have high expectations of her. It is easy to forget how young she is!

If her owners make her obedience a way of life for her and don't let her manipulate her way out of work she should do well.

I will miss her spunky little face. I have really enjoyed working with her!

Sweet little Beau was a bit of a stinker today. It is not uncommon for a dog to feel comfortable enough on day 4 or 5 to get a bit argumentative if they feel like it and Beau tested the waters today. He did not want to work much at all and so I shortened his workouts today but did make him practice everything. 
He is doing well with Heel, his Autosit is fine except when he may have to sit in a wet area (which, unfortunately is most of the property right now). His stay is getting there and his come command is awesome. Unfortunately his Down command is still really sticky for him. He fights it and he fights it hard. He will feign deafness, try to hide, try to tease me into playing instead, and do pretty much anything to avoid laying down. This will be the main thing we focus on tomorrow (along with the Implied Stay) because everything else is going so well. Even Placemat is fine! 
I do partially blame the weather because when we are inside he doesn't fight the Down command nearly as much. Beau is so sweet and silly, we just need to really try to clean up his Down.
Right now Beau is trying his best to be friend's with our sleepy old dog, Ted, while the other dogs are all playing a game that is too rough for him to enjoy. Unfortunately Ted is no fun. 
I am going to start taking his go-home video tomorrow to show his parents what he has learned. Beau is a very smart little guy!

Delia had an easy day today. She is nursing a sore foot (hopefully just a growing pain) and so I gave her the day off of training. She has been working so hard a day off won't hurt a thing. She spent a long time on her Placemat (close to two hours!) without making a mistake! Considering what a wigglebutt she is this is saying something.
She is still doing well in her obedience. She will need her folks to practice with her and make obedience her new way of life but so long as they are firm with her she should do fine. She likes leadership but she is still a very goofy young puppy who, it is certain, will make some mistakes here and there.
Right now the bit she is still toiling with the most is that tricky Implied Stay. She just can't help inching across the room to get onto someone's feet. You can also see her inner turmoil sometimes with the Come command. She is seriously thinking about playing instead but she is still Coming on command more often than not.
Tomorrow there won't be a blog but we are going to start videoing her workouts to make the video to show her people when she goes home early in the week. For now she is curled up on her mat with a toy she stole from Ace while the family watches TV. 

Keeping the blog short tonight. Our internet has been blinking in and out. 
Beau is doing fine. We have now introduced and are working on Heel/Autosit, Sit, Implied Stay, Come and Down. He LOVES Come and needs to work on not jumping up when he gets to his handler. We have been introducing and practicing Down indoors only right now because of the bitter cold outside. Implied Stay and Down are the two areas where he needs the most work (he only gets down maybe a quarter of the time) but we have plenty of time to fine tune and practice. Not bad for day 3!

Keeping it short tonight because we keep losing our internet. Delia is doing fine. She knows her commands but she still will misbehave if her handler isn't firm with her. She will take advantage if she thinks she can get away with it. Her owners will need to commit to making sure she follows through with all of her commands. I hope to get her around some chickens this weekend if the weather holds out. 
All in all, she is doing great. She definitely still has all of her puppy character.

Beau is doing quite well considering the weather has been so crummy. Beau enjoys the snow but he gets cold quickly and so we have been keeping his workouts short. Some things we can work on in the house and so we are taking advantage of that and that makes things easier. His Heel/Autosit is pretty good. He had some practice at this before he got here. His Implied Stay is also coming along. His Come command is very cute as he sort of bounces over to you and then either tries to fly into your arms or sits, quivering, waiting for his praise. 
We have not started Down yet simply because it feels unfair to introduce this command in the cold and wet so I am going to introduce this tomorrow in the training room or in the house and then move it outside when it is above freezing outside. 
Overall, I am very pleased with where Beau is for day 2. He has made good progress already!

Another good day for Delia. She learned a hard lesson about trying to avoid work. It was her second work out of the day and she was being very playful and wasn't focusing very well and we were working on Implied Stay, which she still toils with, and she was feigning deafness. I gave her a correction and I immediately knew what was going to happen. She gave me a side-eyed glance, thought for a second, then bolted across the yard. I corrected her and she spent a few minutes trying to run away from the correction until she finally stopped, gave me a disgusted look, and walked back to me and sat down. This testing of the collar and her handler is common and I am certain she will do it again. The important thing is that her handler not lose their temper, that they remain calm but firm (my husband calls it the "I'm very disappointed in you" voice), and that they absolutely follow through and make sure she does the task she was set. 
Her obedience is coming along. She still has some rough spots but she is improving every day, even though she sometimes tests her boundaries. She wouldn't be a rottie if she didn't.

I have trained a few Cavalier King Charles Spaniels before but not during a board and train. Beau is a sweet and feisty little spaniel and he has those trademark warm, melt your heart, eyes. He arrived this afternoon and so is still a little unsure of the place but he is settling in quickly.
Beau is here for 7 days of on-leash training. He also needs to work on his play manners as he can be a bit of a play biter when he gets riled up. I hope that playing with some big dogs will help get some of this energy out while learning some respect. Ace will play rough but the other two will end a game if he gets too rowdy. 
I already know I will enjoy training this sweetheart and the only thing I worry about is him staying warm. He is not a trembly toy breed at all but he doesn't have much of an undercoat so we may keep his workouts short while there is still snow on the ground.
Welcome, Beau!

Delia would like everyone to know that she is officially a fan of her Dogtra. We took the leash off and after a little bit of nervousness as to what would cause a correction she started to really enjoy her freedom. She spent the first ten minutes trying to get back into the garage because she was unsure about when a correction would come. This is common and I usually remedy it with a "therapy dog." In Delia's case this was her buddy, Ace. She didn't know what to do without a leash on in this newish place where she doesn't know the rules so her "therapy dog" showed her that it is actually a place to run and play. By following Ace she naturally learned to avoid the off-limits areas like the horse fence and the woods. After Ace got her playing she started to really have fun in the snow. She found the coolest stick ever and bounced around the yard pouncing on it and playing with it. 
While there was a lot goofy fun we are also working on her off-leash obedience. she is reliable about 7 of 10 tries at a given command. Her Heel is really good, her Come is fine, her Down is very silly and she usually ends up on her back eating a snowball but at least she is down. Her Implied Stay needs work. It isn't very good yet. She really wants to stay on your feet. That is our goal to work on for tomorrow as well as Place.
Delia sure is delightful and she is trying so hard to get the right answers. You can see her second guess herself sometimes and you can watch her inner turmoil when she clearly knows she is supposed to do a command but instead wants to play with a leaf. But her focus is growing everyday and she just needs to build her confidence and self restraint. 
She is absolutely hilarious in the snow.