Clemmy is such a sweet little dorkball. She is a superstar on our workouts and actually a little bit of a ham however, when we aren't working out she can be a bit of a rascal and so I have decided to use a training tab for her around the house to make correcting her puppy antics (that's really all they are, she is just being a kid) more easily. A training tab is a small leash, usually under a foot long, that they wear like a necktie with their training collar so that you can easily grab it and correct for things like jumping up or thieving food and then drop to let the corrected dog go on their way.
She has held Placemat for me for about 30 minutes so far and we are working on building on that time. She LOVES praise and solicits it often so she is easy and gratifying to work with. She is also enterprising and has a very golden sense of humor so trouble finds her often. This will ease up as she matures a little and until then she is very charming even if she likes to pilfer a roll of paper towels and run around with it (none were eaten, she just enjoyed running around with her prize which my kids thought was HILARIOUS). 
Things we are still working on are jumping on people and her self restraint with picking up things she shouldn't. It's difficult because strangers praise her for jumping up all the time. She looks like a stuffed animal and people love her immediately but they aren't teaching her  great habits by petting her when she jumps up. So she has gotten a few corrections for that behavior still. 
Tomorrow we are working with more distractions and also trying to get her time up on Placemat. For now she is going from dog to dog in the living room seeing who she can tease into playing with her.

Scout is coming right along! She is still a sassy pants some times but she and I have developed a fun friendship and so she is happier to work for me. She has been introduced to all of her commands and has held Placemat for about 30 minutes without correction. Hoping to get her up to 1.5 hours or more by the time she goes home. 
Now that she has been introduced to her commands I start the work of "proofing" or making sure she is still fairly reliable in a distracting environment. This is the job that will continue at home with her owners. She knows the words and so they don't need to take her out to "practice" so much as she needs to be asked to work in different circumstances that will occur in her daily life, like when guests come over or when she is very excited for fill-in-the-blank. 
I'm pleased with her progress and happy to report that her feisty attitude remains intact. She will need her training collar for a while after she goes home at least on walks to help her stay on task but she shouldn't need it all the time in order to behave. She has been very polite in the house and has only needed one correction so far for counter surfing. I expect as she feels more comfortable here she will start misbehaving a little more. :)

So Clem is a perfect Golden Retriever puppy. She is cute and soft and affectionate and floppy and stubborn and distractible and what did you just eat!? Clemmy is here for a week of basic obedience and to curb some puppy behaviors. She is VERY sweet and emotionally young and so she is an absolute love sponge. She lives for physical touch and so praising her is easy. She is also a bit of a buffalo and so correcting her can be difficult because she gets so distracted that she will take a correction in order to sniff whatever thing has caught her interest. I am confident that as her handler (me) becomes less of an afterthought she will be easier to keep on task but for today we had to focus on not pulling on the leash, sitting when we stop, and on coming when called. I am keeping her workouts short for now because her ability to focus isn't terrific but I plan to push her more and more each day. She is a fun dog to work with and she is catching on quickly. She has settled right in and loves Scout and Ace (the other dogs here). I always enjoy Goldens and I am sure Clemmy will be no different. But for now it's time for her to go to her kennel for the night to rest up for tomorrow.

Scout is a darling and plucky little dog who is here for a week of basic obedience training. She is a little shy of me still and she is still settling in but she has made good friends with Clem, the puppy who is also here for training and with Ace. So she is relaxing quickly. 
Today we spent time seeing what words she knows and how well she knows them. We also did some Heel work and practiced loose-leash walking. We introduced the Implied Stay, Heel/Autosit, and Down though Down was a bit of a struggle at first she does seem familiar with the word so that helps.
Tomorrow we are doing more intro to commands as well as asking her to work for a slightly longer stretch than she did today. For now she is trying to convince Clem to let her play with a stick that somehow managed to find its way into the house but Clem doesn't want to give it up but pretty soon it will be kennel time for everyone until morning. I am looking forward to working with this sweet girl this week. I think she will enjoy working especially as she gets used to corrections and my praise gains a bit more value. For now she still seems to be wondering why a stranger is bossing her around so much. More on Scout tomorrow!

Well this weather has been no help but we finally got Jasper out to the farm for some proper off-leash work. He did well! A little sloppy at first and when he gets distracted it's easy for him to completely lose focus and then you have to correct him back to you but overall he has done well. We still struggle with laying down instead of sitting but he parks it well at least. I'll continue to encourage him to sit when told to instead of laying down.
One thing we may not have time for is a walk down town. The ice really threw a wrench in the gears of that plan because even if the sidewalks are treated the city does not always use pet-safe chemicals to melt the ice and I don't want to irritate his feet. We'll see if it happens. If it doesn't we may do that during a follow up lesson instead.
Jasper is still very much a puppy but he is much more responsive and easy to control now. His collar helps greatly with keeping him on task and the goal is that he needs it less and less. But if we can be vigilant for the time being he will graduate from needing it faster than if we only use it occaisionally. Tomorrow we are back at the farm for some more off-leash work.

Alas, not much to report today. Weather halted all our plans and so we mostly stayed cozy inside with the kiddos who were home from school. Back on track tomorrow when there is, hopefully, less ice falling from the sky.

Well tomorrow is the day! We are going to be out at the farm after the winter weather advisory lifts and we will be doing our first bit of work with no leash on. I am looking forward to letting him really enjoy some freedom. His recall with his remote trainer on is good enough that I feel confident that he will be safe though I expect his obedience will be quite sloppy without the leash at first.
this weekend we took it pretty easy but he is doing fine with his obedience and being polite in the house. He is a handful when we are putting his collar on but once it’s there he is well behaved. I am going to recommend that his owners get a quick snap collar strap so they don’t have to wrestle with him if he is being a pest about it. He is strong enough to really throw his weight around just because of his sheer size.
I feel like he is right on schedule. I’m very happy with how he is doing.

Another smooth day for Jasper. He isn't perfect but he is trying hard. Working with him is interesting because like many dogs he doesn't make a lot of eye contact when you work with him. He enjoys praise and is responsive to corrections, though sometimes he needs more correction than others because he gets distracted. But he doesn't look at you a lot and that's okay. His handler needs to know that so long as Jasper is listening to them then they have his focus. Insisting on constant eye contact won't work with him. But if you have his ears you have his attention and he is actually paying attention to you even if he isn't looking at you all the time.
Still working on him sitting when he needs to and laying down when he needs to. He really prefers to lay down but he is getting better slowly. 
Tomorrow is a very busy day for me with weekly lessons and so I'm afraid that Jasper is going to be a little bored. He will get lots of play time and time on his mat but likely his work day will be light. Probably good for him to get a little rest in since we are getting so close to removing his leash and seeing how responsive he is to his commands without a tether. 
I will give a short update tomorrow but we won't be doing much with him. I don't do blogs on most Sundays so Monday will be his next big update.

Jasper is coming right along. We aren't ready to take the leash off yet but he has been introduced to his remote collar and understands it well. I am able to walk him with just his remote and his leash and flat collar without any incident unless he gets very distracted and then he needs reminders that he needs to stay by me. 
He has a funny habit of laying down instead of sitting when we stop. I'm trying to correct this but laying down really seems to be his default so it may be something that his family needs to continue to work on when he goes home next week. Hopefully I can break that habit though. Tomorrow or the next day I am going to switch him to a long-line check cord and start asking more self-restraint from him. I hope to have the leash off by Sunday or Monday. In the house he has been trying very hard to be polite. He is too big to rough house with Ace in the house so he practices self-restraint a LOT inside with varying degrees of success but every day is better! He's a sweet guy and he is working hard. Right now he is playing with a balloon my daughter was throwing around. Maybe he will pop it and learn something about playing with toys gently. :)

Jasper had an easy day today. We are still focusing on the basics and he is enjoying the work. I am trying to keep it light and fun for him so that it feels like a game. His leash manners are much better. He is still a little impulsive but a lot of that is puppy antics. We started Down today. He seems to have some idea of the word already so he is catching on nicely.
Right now he is asleep in Ace’s bed, which he has had to fold himself in half to fit into but the end result looks comfy enough. Tomorrow we are continuing with his foundation work and asking more and more of him. He has settled in nicely.