Tsula is here and she brought her bouncity bounce! Tsula is a sweet little heeler mix pup who is here for ten days of advanced off-leash obedience. She already has a foundation in the basics and so we are going to get her moved on from needing treats and improve her self restraint as much as we can in a dog this young. She enjoys work and praise and she is a responsive dog so she should do well even though we have to keep her workouts short.
Tsula was instant buddies with the other dogs here today and she has a partner in crime named Noah. I don't know how she got my 1-year-old to hand her things in her crate but she was given a toy phone, a bit of chip board from the recycling and a graham cracker (don't worry, the cardboard was removed before she was able to touch it and the phone scared her because it makes noise). We had a talk with Noah about not feeding the puppy in her crate. We will have to watch them closely.
Today I took to figure out what she already knows and how well. Tomorrow I am introducing her to her little pinch collar and working on some spots she is still toiling with, like holding a down and walking with her leash loose. I am looking forward to getting to know her this week. Welcome Tsula!

Rose is a sweet young pointer girl. She is here for 5 days of on-leash training. She is an energetic girl who is not hampered by an old injury to her back leg. She is not a defiant dog as much as she is a dog who lives in the moment and so sometimes makes mistakes if she gets excited.
Today we worked on Heel and Autosit. She was pretty shy at first and so we took it a little easy. Walking on a loose leash and staying at our left hand side. Sitting when we stop is something she is catching on to but isn't perfect at yet.
She made some good friends today. She likes Ace though sometimes he plays too rough and she gets after him. And she really likes Tsula, the young pup who is also here for training. After some play sessions and a good meal she settled right in this evening and played with the others in the house. I think tomorrow we can make more headway as she is coming out of her shell nicely. Welcome Rose!

Petey goes home tomorrow. He has made great strides in the last day or so especially with Down and Place. He needs his pinch collar still but we can work towards him needing it less and less.
Petey is a good boy and his sweet nature makes him fun to work with. We just need to be careful that we don't let him win with that stubborn streak of his. I will miss him and Luby. They have been so much fun this week!

Well Petey is almost done with his stay here. He has made good progress and he has been trying hard. His only real sticky spot that still exists for him is Down and Down/Stay. He is acutely better with Placemat than he is with Down/Stay I think because when he does a Down he really really wants to be on your shoes and Placemat sort of disallows that right away. He will lay down on command and he definitely knows it he will just argue a little before he does it. We still have a few more workouts to get in before he goes home so we are going to try really hard to smooth this out.
The way we have been dealing with his door and greeting manners is to have him out onto Placemat when someone knocks and then requiring him to stay on Place until he is told he can get up. He is pretty close to having this down but he does toil with it simply because he is so enthusiastic. The important thing is that if he steps off of place when the door opens or if he runs up to someone even after the door has shut again, he must be put back onto his mat and made to wait until he is released. While the ultimate goal is to not need his pinch collar for this exercise, as of now it is still useful to be able to correct him for getting up and also to correct him for jumping on or harassing a guest.
Petey is a good boy and he wants to get the right answer but he needs firm handling and clear direction or he will just do what he thinks is best. He is a wonderfully stubborn and houndy boy and that is okay! But his Lab sister, Luby, sure does like being the fastest to get the answer right.

The order of the day today was self-restraint for Petey. His leash manners are pretty good but leashing him is difficult and his manners when new people come around are friendly but not polite. We introduced Place today and he actually did well with it but he was not impressed with the idea. He would try to slink off (being sneaky tells me he understands what I want, he just doesn't like it) or would lay down with a single toe barely touching the mat.
I have decided to teach him a command to turf him off of furniture. He is allowed on chairs at home but when guests arrive he is a bit rude. I don't want to banish him forever but a command for him to get off and stay off until told he can get back on might be useful for his mom. I will see how far I can get this over the next few days and send him home with instructions to further the skill at home.
Tomorrow I hope to have our first "guest" come to the door to work on door manners. I just need to find a willing victim of exuberance.
Petey is doing well. We are doing a lot in each day to try to address all of the things he needs addressed that aren't in the formal obedience repertoire. So far he has been willing and happy to work, even if he doesn't agree with me all the time.

Petey is a very interesting mix of Lab and probably Dachshund (Basset Hound? Something long and low). He has the Lab's affectionate nature and is an absolute love sponge and a hound's stubborn streak and air of having better things to do. He is here for a week of on-leash training with his sister Luby (remember the adorable lab? Check the yearbook if you don't) who is just here for a refresher. Petey also needs to work on his self restraint when people come to the house. 
Today we laid the foundation for his obedience. We went on a long walk and worked on Heel and loose leash walking. His dog walker seems to have done a good job of getting this started for me. I just made it formal. I also decided to see how much he knew. Petey has an idea of what Come means, as well as Down though he refuses to do it anywhere but on my shoes without coaxing and some corrections. He got Implied Stay right a few times and other times he didn't but this will be easy to clean up. I hope to introduce Placemat tomorrow as that will be a vital tool in getting him to allow guests into the house without harassing them in his friendly way. 
Later in the week we will see about adding Luby as a distraction both in the house on Place and Down/Stay as well as on walks. I am sure she will enjoy the attention. Welcome Petey and welcome back Luby!

Ms. Chloe has made such good and steady progress. I am pleased with where she is and am confident she will impress her owners on Friday. She is getting better at off-leash heel. She tends to hit the gas when she thinks a car ride is going to happen but for the most part she matches my speed. She stayed on her Placemat for an hour tonight while my husband bustled around doing laundry and while my son toddled around the room. Her only mistake was when she tried to eat a crayon but in her defense, the baby did give it to her. She didn't even get up when Noah joined her on the mat.
She is now in practice and upkeep mode as we finalize and proof things for her. I hope to get her on a walk Downtown before she goes home. It was too windy today (the wind sort of scared her and there are enough things Downtown to be startled by when the leaves aren't chasing you) but tomorrow it should be calmer. You're a funny girl, Chloe!

Chloe had so much fun today. I took her to the farm to take the leash off for the first time and she did beautifully. The only real issue she had was wanting to walk a little fast during the Heel and once during a Recall exercise she paused for a moment and thought about not coming when called. But a buzz from her collar convinced her to come back to me, get a pat and then get back to her sniffing.
Staying close is her nature but she was adventurous enough to have a good time and allow us to practice Come around 10 times. We still have work to do but today was a lot of fun for everyone. Go Chloe!

Saturday is a very busy day for me with weekly lessons so Chloe got a pretty relaxing day today. We mostly let her relax and enjoy some time in the yard (supervised). We insisted on manners while she was in the house and other than that she enjoyed some time off. 
Tomorrow we are going to do some Placemat and Heel-work with her remote collar. I hope to move her to a 20-foot leash and get closer to taking the leash off when we are not in a fenced area. She does a good job in the fence but when we aren't she is still slightly distractible. She is making good progress though and I am proud of her. 

Today was Chloe's first full day in a remote collar. She did really well. It helps that she is extremely sensitive to the collar and so can stay at low levels most of the time. In fact, in the house simply using the vibration/pager setting is enough to get her to leave all but the tastiest bits of dropped toddler food.
On our walks she needs reminders regularly but was able to go without her pinch collar. She still is very pouty about the Down command but is getting more and more willing. Where she toils most is with the Implied Stay. However she stayed in a Sit in the driveway while I crossed the street to check the mail. Everyday she comes a little farther. I hope to get her ready to go to the farm for some really truly off-leash work by this weekend. Good girl, Chloe!