Sweet little Captain goes home tomorrow. He has a much better vocabulary now and an understanding of the word No. He is still very puppy but he is so young I am confident he will level out to a superb dog once he gets a chance to grow up just a little.
His leash manners are great now and his Placemat is really quite good. His Down is still jumpy. He wants to be on your toes and he wiggles a lot but he can do it.
Cap is a very smart boy and training him was so fun. He Was more polite in the house than any 5 month old I’ve ever had before. He is charming and if his folks are able to keep his foundation of training solid he will be quite a gentleman when he grows up. I can’t wait for his follow up lessons!

Captain is doing great! He is such a puppy and he has a lot of maturing to do but he is working hard and learning well. Where he still toils is with patience and self restraint. His leash manners are much better and he sits when I stop almost every time now. He even lays down on command! But where he struggles is with that darn Implied Stay. He is so certain that I am off to have some great amount of fun without him that he really can’t sit still very long yet. If I move he wants to move too. So our big project for tomorrow is going to be growing this concept of “I will not be missing out on adventure if my handler goes to the bathroom while I lay on my rug.” I doubt he will make it as long as I usually ask my grown dogs to stay on their mats (2 hours) but I hope to get him to at least 1 hour sitting still in the house with normal distractions And 3-5 minutes of staying still in a command outside with dogs and kids etc running around.
Im proud of this cutie pie. He is trying so hard and all his mistakes are because he is a young lab boy who celebrates every single thing. He isn’t defiant. Just happy and young. His patience will grow with him.

Captain is SUCH a perfect Lab puppy. By that I mean he is friendly, impish, energetic, bright and...energetic. His enthusiasm for pretty much everything has made him a hilarious but distractible student so far. He clearly hasn't had a bad day in his 5 months and this happy-go-lucky kid wants to play with and explore everything he sees. His pulling habit is the first thing we worked on today. He is STRONG and he doesn't feel the person on the end of the leash very well. Fitting him with his little prong collar helped a lot but he needed direction to know what to do, not just what not to do. 
We started him with Heel/Autosit and his leash manners are improving after just one day. We also started the idea of the Implied Stay which he understands but doesn't see much merit to yet. Sitting still? What's that? He doesn't like the Down command but we also didn't spend much time on it today. We are going to push that one a little more tomorrow. 
Overall I like how this kiddo learns and even though he is a bit of a buffalo he is a sweet boy with a good work ethic and so I think this week will move along just fine. 
​Welcome Cap!

My sweet friend goes home tomorrow and boy will I miss him. Ollie and I have become good pals and he has been a fun dog to train. His happy-go-lucky attitude met with his enjoyment of praise meant he enjoyed learning and getting the answers right. He was extremely polite inside and he learned very quickly to sit and wait to be sent through the front door or his kennel door. His patience has probably improved the most this week and it’s made his ability to work for longer periods without getting frustrated.
I like this dog. He will be thrilled to be back home with his people but I look forward to his follow ups where I can see how his work ethic is transitioning home. What a good guy.

Ollie is doing amazing. His commands are fairly solid and we are in "proofing stage" meaning we are just adding distractions to make it harder since he knows what he is supposed to do. His owners will want to keep his obedience fresh in his mind not by practicing every day but by working it into his daily life. He is a good dog and a good worker who wants to please and so asking obedience from him throughout the day will satisfy him for than 15 minutes of Practice in the yard. He likes having a vocabulary and he LOVES praise so working throughout the day makes him happy. 
We took a short run today because he needed to spend some energy and he was a good running buddy even though it was hot. He is a dog who is really game to match his handler when it comes to activity level. He's a really fun personality and he is a good candidate for remote collar training if his owners are ever interested! We're having lots of fun now that his basics are covered.

Ollie is coming along really nicely. He picks things up very quickly and absolutely sponges up the praise. He is calm about it though so he doesn't really act super excited or demonstrative but he loves physical touch. His commands are going well. Heel/Autosit, Implied Stay, and Come with an Autosit are all pretty solid. His Down is reluctant and he still fights it a little but he is getting better with each workout. I'm starting Placemat tomorrow and Implied Stay while in the house.
I'm really happy with his work ethic after getting over his initial nervousness and he has been a polite house guest, even during my son's lunchtime (the 5 year old was home today). He is such a sweet pup.

Sweet Ollie arrived this morning for a week of on-leash obedience training. He has been slightly nervous today but he has been soliciting attention and has been willing and happy to work. He is a gentle natured dog but he is also protective of his personal space sometimes and prefers not to be manhandled. But he has taken any handling he has needed so far with as much dignity as a lab mix can muster.
Today we started with Heel/Automatic Sit, Implied Stay, Come and Down. He was happy to walk but got pouty about having to go at my pace. He started Auto-Sitting quite fast and he enjoyed the praise he got for that. He seems to know down a little bit but he is very unsure about whether it’s the right thing. He likes Implied Stay a lot. I think since he is still slightly uncomfortable here he is happy to stay wherever he gets parked. We will see if this gets harder for him as he gets happier here.
For now he has settled into his kennel and he ate his dinner tonight so I think he will be feeling much goofier tomorrow. I can tell I’m going to enjoy training this fellow. He is a sweet guy and he enjoys right answers. Should be a satisfying week. Welcome Ollie!

Scout had such a good day today. She required almost no corrections during her workouts and she stayed on task pretty well! She toiled when her best doggy friend was running around trying to get her to play but she did okay. Her Placemat is now up to 1.5 hours when the house is calm. When there is lots of activity she needs someone to keep an eyeball on her because she forgets what she is doing if there is the chance for a game or adventure, but this is again just puppy behavior I discussed yesterday. She has such a sweet personality and she wants to please SO badly. She will work hard to make her people happy, that's for sure and her sense of humor makes her a joy to work with.

Boing! Boing! Boing! Scout is such a clown. She is doing really well with her training. Her response time to commands is really fast and her vocabulary is great. Her puppy spunk and impulsiveness comes back the second she is released and so I have taken to releasing her and then promptly putting her back to work just to keep her guessing. Her impulsivity will improve with age but that doesn't mean it has to be "allowed" right now. If she is too hyper or too busy I put her on Placemat or into a Down/Stay. But also it is important to remember that it is her job to play right now and so if she is making it clear that she needs some playful outlet I make sure she gets her exercise and some playtime with the other dogs. 
Scout is a good worker. I would say once she matures a little more she would be a great candidate for off-leash training. For now we need to let her grow up and learn to restrain herself a little bit more but she has everything required for a dog to reach advanced obedience except for maturity and that will come soon. For now we will have fun with her on-leash obedience and her happy-go-lucky, let's go!, attitude. She is a fun one for sure.

Drax goes home tomorrow. He has come really far and I'm proud of him. He definitely will need to be walked on his prong collar for the time being while he learns that the rules he learned here apply to home as well. He will also most likely try to fall back to his jumping up habit because that is what he knows at home. I will help his person curb that behavior after he get's home.
Drax has surprised me in how game he was to work. The only thing he really fought me on was Down. He greatly prefers Placemat to Down but he will Down on command if he knows you mean business. If not he tries to get away with a cute play bow instead. He's a stinker.
Drax has been fun to train and I will miss my buddy. He has been my companion in my lap during my desk work and in the evenings when we watch TV. He is such a sweet lap warmer! He has been a polite house guest and a great student. He is a good candidate for further training with a remote collar if his owner decides to go that route. I know I'd love to see more of him!