As an apology for all of my blog dates being inexplicably out of order I have posted this cute picture of Ace and Max on a Placemat together. 
Max is doing great. He is getting ready to go home in a couple of days and so we are in the fine tuning stage of his obedience.
He seems to get things pretty well. The only bad habit I still see from him from time to time is if he is in the house and decides he is not interested in coming to his kennel I have to leash him and pop him sometimes in order for him to understand that I mean it. This is only when he is having too much fun with Ace and Gatsby to want to go chill out in his kennel. He has improved in that he no longer runs from me (the "chase me" game). He just sits there and looks like I am canceling Christmas while I leash him and take him back to his kennel. 
His obedience is pretty awesome right now. He seems to like the work and has really good focus, even for a labrador. 
Tonight we are going to practice Placemat some more and tomorrow we are going to take his go-home video and his glamour shot for the Yearbook. He is one goofy goober!

So looking at my blog page, things seem to be a bit of a mess. I don't know which day I met or which day never posted properly but the numbers are all out of whack. I have had issues with Weebly's blog site posting blogs incompletely or not at all and so I may need to bug them again. Anyway- today is day 6 for Gatsby and so he is getting ready to go home. He now has a good understanding of all of his commands and is responsive to the word "No." He is being sent home with a properly fitting slip chain and most of his bed (there seemed to be a dissection experiment a few days ago and so the bed is slightly less fluffy). He likes Placemat but if all the people leave the room he does try to follow but gets right back on when reminded. He just needs practice. 
Ace will miss his little buddy but I know that Gatsby will be thrilled to see his mom again. He is very much a house dog and he always looks a bit put out when I shut his kennel door. 
Today we took his video and took his glamour shot for the Yearbook. Tomorrow we might give him another workout but we may just take the day to play and get good and pooped before mom comes to get him. I will miss this sweet young man! He really wants to be the best boy!

This guy is doing so well! He had a bit of a boring day today, with the rain, lessons, and errands they basically took the morning off. Saturdays are always my busy, busy days. Even with a sleep-in this morning he has made great progress. He acts like these obedience commands are stirring far off memories because he seems to have a faint idea of what most of them are. He really understands the word "No" now and does not really need physical correction other than a few times while Heeling. He also needed a pop while he was supposed to be holding a Down/Stay but went mysteriously deaf and could not hear the command or the "No!" when he ignored the command. 
We introduced Placemat today and he really quite liked it. He held it through an entire movie and tolerated other dogs milling around, food being prepared in the other room, and people coming and going. He even allowed Ace to curl up on his mat with him for a while and they got in some snuggling. If he did try to leave his mat all it took was a verbal "No" to get him back to his mat. I did have to reprimand him for tugging on the fleece of his bed, however. But he stopped after I told him to.
Tomorrow we are back to work. We are adding distractions in the form of toys being tossed around I plan to leave some food temptations on the floor while we work. He must ignore the cheese! 

Sometimes I feel like a broken record but this Saturday was very busy for me and a bit boring for the boarders. Yes, Saturday is typically my busiest day and so the boarders get a bit of a day off. That suited them just fine this morning as it was raining pretty steadily until around 1pm.  In the afternoon we took a walk and had a lesson. 
Gatsby has been introduced to all of his commands now and just needs a ton of practice to understand that he must be a good boy even when there are more fun things to do. He understands what his Placemat is for but it was extremely difficult for him to stay put. He stayed put for about a half hour but then got pretty restless. 
However, he was able to hold still even while people were bustling in the kitchen, walking through the room, and even when my husband, Claven (who Gatsby has taken to following around everywhere), left to get some water. So he gets it, and now he just needs to gain a bit of self restraint.
Gatsby is doing just fine. He is a good boy and has enjoyed learning. Tomorrow we are going to have some toy distractions around and really make things difficult for him.

Late yesterday sweet little Gatsby arrived. He looks like a cross between a Greyhound, a Boxer, and something else. A Beagle? Who knows. But he is cute and has such a good little heart. A young guy (off the top of my head I can't remember exactly how young) who is attentive and ready to learn.
Today we introduced almost all of his commands. He got Heel pretty quick and Autosit followed quickly after. It helped that he already knew the word "sit" and so it was an easy transition. Down was very confusing in the morning but now he is going down with just the command and hand signal. The Implied Stay is HARD but he can do it. He just doesn't want to be left out of any games or adventures that I might be enjoying at the end of the (5') leash. The Come command is there but he definitely needs practice. He knows what he is supposed to do with Come but he doesn't always think it is really necessary.
His one silly habit is that instead of Autositting right next to me in the Heel position he will swing his but out and sit at a 45 degree angle to me and stare up at me with these huge, innocent, brown eyes. It is easy to correct but the way he does it is very cute. With this sweet little expression on his face full of "did I get it right?"
He has already bonded to Ace the Pitbull. The longer we have Ace the more obvious it becomes what his major role at FSK9 will be. Sure he will be a demo dog but he will also be the welcome wagon. He is so calm and friendly (but not overly submissive) that he makes even the most nervous novice doggy feel at home and liked. If Kylie has one flaw it is that she is a bit of a cool customer when it comes to the boarders and while she isn't unfriendly she also doesn't exactly welcome them with open arms.
Tomorrow we are going to continue to work on Gatsby's obedience and we will be making it harder by adding distractions in the afternoon. So far I have been impressed with this little guy!

Max is a young adult yellow lab. He is a handsome guy and, to quote his mom "is just a big goober." He has a friendly nature and is enjoying playing with Ace and Gatsby. Though we can't let them all out rough house because Max managed to make his leg pretty sore right before being dropped off. It isn't slowing him down at all though!

Max seems to have a basic understanding of Sit and Down already. He isn't 100% on it but seems to know what I am asking. His leash manners cleaned up right away. And he Autosits about 60% of the time.

We are goin to introduce Down from the Front, and Come tomorrow and we may do Placemat if his leg is still sore and we are looking for an easy day. Good boy, Max!

Gatsby has been doing well. We introduced Down from the Front and worked hard on Implied Stay today. He is starting to get it.

We are working on him restraining himself at doorways so he does not charge ahead anymore. And tomorrow we will work on Placemat. He has good focus, especially for a 5 month old and just soaks up the praise.

Tomorrow or the next day we are going to start expecting more of him and make the workouts more difficult. This happy guy just makes us laugh all day.

Good old Hamilton is getting ready to go home here pretty soon. His go-home video has been shot, though we may try to get a little bit more tomorrow as his is still a bit short. We have his glamour shot taken for the website (I meowed like a cat and got some pretty adorable mug shots of him) and are letting him take it a little easier than we have lately. He really has this stuff down it is just a matter of his handler having high expectations of him. 
He is starting to understand that his obedience is not just a series of party tricks but it something that is expected of him all the time. His owners will have the job of expecting good obedience out of him and holding him accountable for his actions. 
He has been a joy to have around and Ace, our pit bull, in particular will miss him. The only one who won't mind seeing him go is Angela, who is still not very impressed with him. We are going to give him a  work out or two tomorrow but mostly he will just be chilling out and enjoying the countryside. 

Well our friend Matia is getting ready to go home tomorrow. We will miss her antics around here but she will be very happy to be home. She has enjoyed the structure and the learning here but she definitely prefers a house dog. I anticipate a very affectionate (and slobbery) greeting for her people tomorrow morning.
Today we finished taking her go-home video and we got her glamour shots taken. We let her lounge around the house this afternoon in celebration of her being "done" with finishing school. 
Now begins the chapter that I call "upkeep" which means that, with my support, her people will be making the skills she learned here a life style for her. Matia has a lot of growing up to do still but just gauging off of the progress she has made this week she is turning into a simply delightful adult dog. 

Ugh, these internet woes can get a bit trying. Even though our connection has been a bit stormy it has been beautiful out here on the farm and that has meant lots of outdoor workouts. Hamilton has been off-leash for the last few days. We have not worked off-leash outside the fence because of his prey drive but in the garden he is doing great. He is able to do all of his commands without a leash on and will come when called even while playing or barking at the horses. 

He is able to work around other dogs who are playing and is very very interested in getting praised. He works very hard and has great focus now. 

He likes his Placemat and will stay on it happily if I am in the room. If I leave the room he  stresses out a little and sometimes still makes a mistake and follows me. But he is getting better at this as we work more and more on it. 

We took some of his video today and he looked great. Tomorrow we are going to take the rest of his go-home video and we are going to take his glamour shot for the website. This guy has been a joy to work with since day 1 and he is a delightful house dog now. 

Tomorrow we are just going to practice more and fine tune some things.