I feel so bad that we haven't gotten to keep up on Daisy and Pepper's blogs, especially because they have done so well. These girls are swiss army knives. Anything their owner puts her mind to, they can probably be trained to do, so long as it doesn't require math or thumbs. 
The girls went home this afternoon and they were very happy to see their mom. Daisy was a little too excited to perform to her highest standard but that is why we always have a video showing that the dog -can- actually Heel without bouncing. 
Pepper, in her stoic way, said a quick "hi mom, I love you" and then followed along with the go-home lesson.
I will miss these girls and I hope their mother enjoys them and keeps her high expectations.

My apologies, everyone. We have been having some serious issues with our internet and they stil are not completely fixed. However, while we have it limping I am going to give a quick update.

The girls are doing great. We are now taking video for their go-home lesson. The video will mostly focus on Daisy because she is the one we worked with the most. She has made great strides in her foundation of obedience. She is still a puppy and still very Daisy but she now knows and responds to all of her commands. Easily distracted but also easily reset to task, she will be fine so long as her owners have high expectations of her.

Will try to post a longer update tomorrow. But I am very pleased with these girls.

Daisy and Pepper are doing really well. Yesterday we worked around strange dogs while both dogs were on leashes. While Daisy was extremely nervous around Kylie, my dominant female dog but it was actually Pepper who needed corrections for lunging and barking. It only took a few minutes before both sisters were walking nicely in front of, behind, and next to Kylie. At this point Kylie was still very much a strange dog to Daisy and Pepper. They were not allowed to sniff or say Hi to her until after they were willing to relax and hold a Down/Stay (pictured) in her presence without making a mistake. They got it pretty easily and then were allowed to play with her. Pepper and Kylie are kindred spirits and thoroughly enjoyed each other's company. Daisy is still pretty scared of Kylie but she is being appropriate and that is the important thing. She isn't being overly defensive or snappish, she just gets scared if Kylie comes on too strong. Daisy is a better fit for Ace when it comes to play.
Obedience-wise the girls are doing great. Daisy knows all her commands but still struggles with doggy ADD and needs to be kept on task. Pepper does okay but sometimes breaks Heel. Overall they are doing fine, just some fine tuning to do. I am going to try to get at least one other strange (but trained) dog out here to visit Daisy this weekend.

Well Daisy's obedience is now to the level where I can expect her to understand what is expected of her most of the time. This meant that today I made things a good deal more difficult for her. She had to work today, on-leash, around a strange dog. We started in a Heel walking behind Ace down the driveway. This went fine with only some hackles going up. I then had Ace turn around and walk past us as if passing us on a sidewalk. Other than some hopping and a nervous bark she did fine. She actually did better than I expected her too. When I had Ace following closely behind us it made her very nervous but she consented to laying down next to him without sniffing or barking or pulling once we had made it down the driveway. She was trying really hard and was very nervous about Ace. I then encouraged some play time between her and Ace and it took a little a few minutes but they ended up chasing each other around the meadow. Daisy is still nervous about him but Ace is such an easy-going guy he is pretty easy to like.
Tomorrow we are going to push Daisy's normal obedience. She still toils with Down a little bit but she's getting there. We are also going to practice Heeling around a strange dog when Pepper is with us too. Adding a third dog to the equation will make things a lot more complicated but with Daisy's new focus I am confident that these exercises will help her. Tomorrow we will be using Kylie. This adds another element to the workout because, unlike Ace who is a submissive male, Kylie is a dominant female dog who can be very intimidating even when she is being friendly. If this is too difficult for Daisy we will bring Ace out again and practice with him again before bringing out the boss girl.
I am pleased with where Daisy and Pepper are in their training. Daisy is right on track and Pepper is perfect as always.

I have to repeat to myself over and over again "she's not cute, she's not cute!" while working with Daisy. Truthfully, she is adorable. The problem is that she knows it full well. We have been working hard on Down today and while Pepper is laying down like a black and silver sphinx on the sidelines Daisy is either on her back wiggling around, on her tummy pouting,  rolling all over the place trying to wiggle onto my shoes, or simply blowing me off and bouncing around instead. "She's not cute, she's not cute!" 
If I allow her to tease me into playing with her instead of insisting on a proper Down (that means laying down nicely, patiently and with as much dignity as the dog can muster, which in this case is not much) she will only learn that she can get out of obedience if she acts silly enough. Don't worry though, we are getting a lot of play time and silliness in, just not when practicing Down.
Tomorrow we are going to practice Heeling Daisy around a strange dog. We will start with my most neutral pooch, Ace, and later in the day probably bring out my dominant female, Kylie. We will start by asking her to Heel past Ace while he is in a Down/Stay and move up to walking past him while he is in a Heel, then work on her allowing a dog to follow her without losing her mind. Pepper will be in on this process eventually but first I want to work on this with Daisy solo. 
The girls are both doing well and are a delight to have around.

Daisy and Pepper are two wonderful GSD sisters. Pepper is here for a refresher and for some R&R in the country. Daisy is here to get her off-leash obedience foundation. These two have only been here for a day but they are already cracking me up. Pepper likes to pretend to be the dignified older sister until Daisy teases her into playing and then it's on with the zoomies. 
While I know we will be having a lot of fun with these two this week we also have a lot of work to do. Daisy has a lot of shyness to work through, especially when other dogs are concerned. She is reactive when other dogs pass her on walks which gets Pepper over reacting as well. We are going to first give her a foundation in obedience then start working at passing other dogs peacefully. I always remind owners, dogs are like people in that some know no strangers and make friends very easily, others are more selective while others would rather be left alone. Daisy will likely always be a little shy and a little slow to come out of her shell around new dogs. Our goal is to give her owners the tools to keep her under control and to keep her from over reacting to other dogs out enjoying a walk with their people. 
Today we just went through some basics Daisy to see where we are starting. She knows a couple commands already but she has almost no self restraint. Pepper busied herself with following us around during the workouts and showing me that at least -she- knew how to do it right.
Tomorrow is going to be a bit of a boring day for the girls. Between church in the morning and some family stuff in the afternoon they are going to get their hikes and play time in and maybe a couple work outs but not as much as a normal work day. 
There won't be a blog tomorrow because it is Sunday so make sure to come back on Monday to find out how the ladies are doing!

Dapper Chief is getting ready to go home on Monday. Bless his heart he is SO good at most of his obedience but still toils on a few vital commands. We worked very hard on Placemat today. The first day he learned it he seemed to enjoy it but now I think he knows it means there is no more play time. He gets very bouncy and tends to bolt around when told to go on Place. He is getting better but we will continue working on this tomorrow. His tendency to "put on the breaks" and lock his legs (his favorite form of back talk) has gotten easier to manage. His recall got better today as well though it took a lot of patience. He flat out refused to come all the way until later in the day, after some refresher workouts. He is still reluctant to come but he will do it. He likes the big praise he gets when he does come and so it is getting more and more fun. More work on this tomorrow.
Other than Place and Come he is a super star. His Heel is great, his Autosit is just fine. His Implied Stay is awesome. He LOVES Down and prefers Down/Stay greatly to Placemat (try to figure that logic out). He is pretty good at leisure walking though will still pull if he REALLY has to poop and can't find a good spot. 
Basically if his owners are willing to be firm and patient with him he should do well. I am going to polish his Come and Place commands tomorrow as well as take his glamour shot for the Yearbook on the website and take his go-home video. I hope to not only show his obedience in this video but also show where he might make a mistake. He is a devoted dog and I expect he will be very bouncy when he sees his people again. 
There is no blog on Sunday and so look to Monday for a last word on Chief.

Well cute, bouncy, Ava is wrapping things up here at Free State K-9. She goes home on Monday and has a decent foundation in her obedience. She is right now snoozing on Placemat and has been for the last hour and a half. Her attention span is still very, very short. This will be the biggest thing for her and her owners to overcome. They must commit to correcting unwanted behavior appropriately. If they let little things slide they will notice a lot of backsliding in her training. They don't have to be drill sergeants but they do have to be willing to put their foot down if she gets too silly.
Ava is jogging nicely now. If she gets too happy she will pounce around but a quick correction gets her back where she belongs. 
On an interesting side note, she randomly murdered her ball she has had in her kennel all week. Not sure what it did to offend her but it is no more. 
Tomorrow the task on hand is to take Ava's glamour shot for the Yearbook page of the website and to take her go-home video. The video will showcase her obedience so that her owners see what it should look like. Happy girls like Ava are usually very happy (i.e. useless) when they see their beloved families after a week away from them. 
I don't post blogs on Sunday so look to Monday for a final word on how Ava did.

What crummy weather we've had the past few days! We lose our internet out here very easily and so I have not been able to post blogs but Chief has been working very hard. He has been introduced to Heel with an automatic sit, Down at the handler's left side and from the handler's front, Sit, Come and sit, and Placemat. All of these commands have an Implied Stay. He still toils with Come, he is good about coming near me but stays out of my arms reach. I am trying to train him to come close enough that I can get something out of his mouth but he is very hesitant to approach me all the way. I can tell that were he off leash he would be bolting and bouncing around and playing the "chase me" game. He is very playful and sweet but he is still prone to tantrums at times and when he gets into a mood he is very dramatic. He tries to control the leash when he is forced to do something he doesn't want to and will flop over and grab it with his paws or mouth. When he does this I give him a correction but I do not acknowledge these little fits too much. He is trying to be manipulative and once he realizes it isn't working he gets up and is usually willing to try again.
He isn't a bad tempered dog at all, he just has his own ideas about what would be fun to do and objects strongly when he doesn't get his way. I think much of this attitude stems from me not being his person. He seems like very much a one or two person dog and not very inclined to work for strangers. 
He stayed on Placemat for 45 minutes today. He didn't want to go onto it at first but soon gave up the argument and pouted for a while and fell asleep. Secretly I think he enjoyed the nap.
Tomorrow I have a miraculously free Saturday and so am going to focus on trying to make working more fun for him. So far, because of my packed lesson schedule, it has been mostly formal workouts and not a whole lot of lifestyle work. Tomorrow I am hoping to dedicate a few hours to simply having Chief in the house with me and using the obedience like it will be used when he gets home. We may take a walk to the mailbox in a Heel, he will have to hold a Sit/Stay while I check the box. We might watch some TV on Placemat, or hold a Down while I feed the baby. Simple day-to-day tasks that will help break up the monotony of Heel, Sit, Down, Come, Heel, workouts will hopefully help him have a bit more fun.

Hello again! With all the thunderstorms we didn't have internet for a few days but that doesn't mean a lot hasn't been going on. Ava has made great strides in her training, though she is still very much a puppy. She now has been introduced to Heel with an automatic sit, Down at the handler's left side and from the handler's front, Sit, Come and sit, and Placemat, and Implied Stay. 
She is getting better and better at being reliable with these commands. She isn't perfect yet but she is pretty darn good for a young and enthusiastic dog.Most of the time, when she makes a mistake, just a verbal "no" sets her straight. Though if that doesn't work a quick leash pop gets her focus back. She reminds me very much of my sweet Golden Retriever, Nikki, in that much of her mistakes and misbehavior don't stem from actual defiance but from a short attention span coupled with a very friendly nature. Often we lose her focus a little but it is not all together difficult to get back.
She stayed on Placemat for an hour today. There was one moment when the urge to play overcame her and she needed to be put back on the mat but other than that she stayed on her mat nicely.
She has also been enjoying going for jogs. She liked the bike well enough but her owners plan to run with her and so that is what we have been doing. She sometimes gets a little bouncy but she has been very good about staying on the left and not tripping anyone up. 
We are adding more and more distractions during her workouts. These include toys being tossed, her dog friends playing near by, food on the floor (so difficult!) and while she does still have some puppy antics she is rising to meet these challenges. I am proud of this little lab!