Bonnie is doing quite well! Today we focused on Heel work and she is sitting automatically some of the time. Her Implied Stay is so/so because she is easily startled and so she likes to sit on my shoes. We also started Cone and a Down both of which she is starting to understand but it still needs practice.  Her Down is a bit dramatic with a lot of flopping over and rolling about but she isn't popping up as much anymore so there has definitely been progress. 
Probably the easiest thing that we have been working on is house manners. She has been a very polite house guest. She needed a couple reminders about not counter surfing and she had to learn not to walk on the baby's Tummy Time mat and not to be too rowdy. She caught on quickly though and other than being the size of a cart horse hasn't been too disruptive in the house. I think the fact that the other dogs know the rules has helped her here. They know what kind of play isn't allowed inside and so they do not participate when she tries to invite them to wrestle. I think she will like Placemat quite a bit. 
Tomorrow we will keep on working on the basics. She isn't ready to take the leash off yet but I hope to get there by the weekend or during. So far so good for Bonnie!

Bonnie is a handsome female Harlequin Great Dane. She is here for two weeks of obedience training as well as some practice at house manners. She is a spirited dog but not out-right defiant. Like many Danes she is affectionate and devoted but also independent and easily bored.
Today we just did the very basics (Sit, leash walking) while we got to know each other. The real work will begin tomorrow as we start to buckle down. I am looking forward to working with this girl and I think she will be rewarding to train.

Kimber is going home tomorrow and I am quite pleased with how far she has come. She enjoys work and if we can keep building her confidence she will go quite far. She will likely always be a bit of a wimpy kid and that's okay. But we will make sure she is under control even if she is a little scared sometimes.
Kimber knows her commands and doesn't try to get out of work but she will sometimes lay down instead of Sit if she thinks she is getting something wrong. Just a little bit of encouragement goes a long way here.
For some reason Kimber saw fit to murder her bed today. Maybe it's because the weather changed. Maybe it's because she had to spend a little more time in her kennel than usual because I had a large lesson load today. But her bed was properly turned inside out and it she appears to have had a blast doing it. Naughty girl.

Kimber is still coming along nicely. Her only big draw back is confidence which is something that we can work on even after she goes home.
Her obedience commands were going well enough that just for fun I gave her an off leash work out in the training room. She was wearing her pinch collar and a 6 inch training tab (teeny tiny leash) so that I could correct her if I needed to. She did well and seemed to enjoy it. She still needed a correction for Down every time but not because she was being defiant. She seems to be relying on a correction to confirm what I'm asking her. We worked until I got a couple Downs without a correction at all and then I let her go play.
She is a sweet and sensitive dog but it is important that we don't praise her anxiety and that we (fairly) correct her when she needs it so that she can have confidence in us. She finally seems to really trust me which has made working for me more enjoyable and relaxing for her.

Ms. Kimber is doing great. We are still pushing the basics and helping her gain confidence. She toils here because she wants to get the right answer but her anxiety over getting it wrong causes her to try to anticipate what I want and she often guesses wrong. She still gets a correction here but she also gets encouragement to wait for an actual command instead of jumping the gun.
She is getting more and more comfortable around my pack which is helping her relax. The fastest way to rid a dog of anxiety or timidity is with good old fashioned rough housing. She had a fun game of chase with Ace and George before grumpy Ted came and barked at the younger dogs to calm down. Ted doesn't always like horseplay when he wants to lay down and nap.
Tomorrow we are going to work on more of the same but we are going to up distractions and make things a bit harder. Good work, Kimber!

Kimber is a beautiful young GSD girl who is here for a week of obedience foundation. She will likely be taken much farther than the basic on-leash stuff but I'm here to kick start her learning.
Because she's a shepherd I tossed her into the deep end and started her on Heel, Sit, Down, and Come. She got Heel right away and Down is getting there (she needs encouragement or she will stop halfway through and kind of crouch instead of laying down). Sit is fine but sometimes she gets distracted (hey, it's day one). Come is fine but she has bad brakes and sometimes just walks right by me. But I would say that with where she is at the end of the day vs. where she was at the beginning, she made fine progress.
Kimber is a sweet-natured dog who isn't always very self-assured so she looks to her handler for a lot of support. This is fine so long as the handler doesn't accidentally comfort or praise her anxiety. She acts more confident with a confident and calm handler.
​Welcome Kimber!

Sweet little (giant) Petunia goes home tomorrow. She has come a long way and I am sure that with the right practice she will become an outstanding adult dog. This is not her owners' first rodeo with me so they know the drill about making this a way of life and not letting her "opt out" of listening. She does try to do that though and it's something to watch for. If told to Sit (for example) and she thinks it will lead to an end to whatever fun she is having she will bound away and need a correction. Also if she is told to Down (for example) but she gets stressed out and overwhelmed she will throw a little tantrum and need to be corrected and praised through it. The worst thing you can do with a dog who "opts out" is to allow them to do so. Remote collars make life ten times easier with this habit because even if she looks at you and says "bye" and lope away instead of sitting you can easily correct her and boy does she change her mind fast when she feels that vibration warning.
I am looking forward to her go-home lesson tomorrow because I think her people will enjoy it but also because I get to see her BIG brother Zeus who I trained a while ago and see how well he has retained his training. It is always gratifying to have customers return with another dog. There is no higher compliment.

Tomorrow is Petunia's last full day with me and I am fairly pleased with how far she has come. I had hoped to improve her response time a little better before sending her home (especially on the Down she is a little slow). If she stresses herself out she can become destraught and requires some help building herself back up to get back to work. I got a decent video of one of these little temper tantrums she can throw and if you know how to respond they don't last very long. I swear if she could fit in your pocket she would be very happy just sitting in there watching the world go by.
Heeling her is like Heeling a cart horse. She prances, bucks, and bows but she does it all in heeling position so I don't fault her for it. She just has some nice flare to her gate (I wish I could say the same thing!)
Tomorrow is just a practice day in the morning and some Placemat/R&R in the afternoon. Maybe she will be a sweetie and speed up her Down for me.

Stinky (Petunia) is doing great. She had fun at the farm today running around off-leash. Her Heel work was pretty good. Every so often she would bolt ahead (just a bound or two) but would correct very easily back to the heeling position. She is laying down on command but really REALLY wants to lay on your feet. We're working on speeding up her response time to commands while keeping her Implied Stay intact.
She is coming along nicely. She is a nervous pup and that is noticeable in her work sometimes but she enjoys praise and f she can stay confident she does very well. Sometimes she acts like a screw ball and that is when she needs some firm direction. But she responds well and is a good girl.

Petunia is a sweet little harlequin Great Dane puppy who is here for a week of obedience training using a remote collar. She has a mild temperament and while this makes her a really sweet dog it can make training a little delicate as her feelings are easily hurt if a handler is too harsh. But she responds well to the collar so that helps a lot. It is more that she doesn't like getting an answer wrong and so she gets pouty.
Today we tossed her into the deep end and started everything. Heel, Sit, Down, Implied Stay (which she rocked because if she is feeling pouty she likes to sit still anyway), and Come. Heel went very well,Sit she kind of knows but isn't going to do it without help just yet. Down she loves as soon as she realizes what we are doing but she fights you to get there. Come is a game. She bounds towards be but hasn't learned the finer points of stopping yet. So we have some things to work on. I am looking forward to getting to know this stinker some more as the week goes on. Welcome Petunia!