Well Mr. Smarty Pants goes home tomorrow. I am impressed and pleased with his progress. He has a solid foundation to build on. He still anticipates a little when he thinks he knows what is going to be asked of him but his owner has a good working relationship with him and can help him restrain himself as his obedience becomes his way of life.
He is a good worker who enjoys praise and enjoys a challenge. He doesn’t get his feelings hurt by corrections but he does get frustrated sometimes. Working him through this instead of matching his frustration can be an excellent learning opportunity.
Wesley is a rewarding dog to work with and a satisfying student to train. I’m glad I got to spend this past week with him. He will likely keep his owner on her toes with his sense of humor and he is a very nice working dog.

Wesley had a decent day today. He tends to take a few significant steps forward and a baby step back. He backslid a little on Down today. He gets it really well at the side but from the front he got confused again. Then to compensate he would lay down as soon as I stepped away from him. Because he was anticipating and not responding to a command he would get corrected and then asked to lay down again. He got a little frustrated so once I got him to do it a couple times we had some extra play time before trying again after a few hours. His last workout of the day went much better and he wasn’t as frustrated.
He is trying very hard and is doing well. Anticipation is common and it’s usually an easy fix. He is a little impatient and he likes getting the answer right so it makes sense that he would guess sometimes. But we are working on his self restraint and he is getting better every day.

Another good day for Wesley. His workouts went smoothly. He is responsive to correction and is needing fewer and fewer leash pops every time we work.
He has had some polite interactions with strangers though it is difficult for him not to celebrate too much. He does a LOT better on-leash than he does off-leash, which makes sense.
Tomorrow is going to be a short day for Wesley. Because of the holiday I won’t be working him in the afternoon. I also won’t be posting a blog tomorrow evening so look to Friday for his next update. Today went smoothly and he made very nice progress. I’m pleased with his improvements and am looking forward to practicing with him in higher distraction settings.

Posting yesterday’s blog this morning because last night my internet wasn’t being a team player.
Wesley is coming right along. He is getting better with his commands and is handling longer workouts just fine. We are still working on Down and Implied Stay but everything he is going to be taught has been introduced.
We worked for the first time around a new person yesterday to try to curb his jumping. It is his first impulse to try to jump up but after a while he does settle down and accept pets from a stranger without trying to jump. It is hard on him though!
Today we are going to the farm to work for much of the day and we will address jumping once again with a new person. For now he is happily romping around in the chilly yard.

Wesley is such a charming ham. He has settled in nicely here and is good buddies with Ace. He likes spooking the chickens by running up to them but doesn't hurt them or chase them at all. We watch him closely, of course, in case he gets more daring.
We have spent the last couple days really laying the foundation for the basics. Heel/Autosit, Come, Implied Stay (this one is kind of hard for him in the Down), Down, etc. Many of these words he already knows a little bit and so it was a sort of refresher for him and getting him used to working with me. Tomorrow I hope to lengthen his workouts and take him out during busier times of day. My son is under the weather and since he is staying home from school we won't be going to the farm tomorrow but that is the plan once Noah can go back to school all day.
Wesley enjoys the work. Corrections don't seem to hurt his feelings and he is a pretty happy-go-lucky fellow so he is up for pretty much anything I want to teach him. If he gets confused he can get a little grumpy but once he understands he is done pouting almost instantly.
We have been trying him on a No-Bark collar (Dogtra YS300) since yesterday and it has definitely helped keep him quiet when we leave the house or when he can hear noises outside. 
All in all, Wesley is doing great.

It doesn’t get much cuter or more charming than a Golden Retreiver Laborador mix. Wesley is a happy-go-lucky goodball who is here for a week of on-leash training (plus a few extra boarding days). He is already a fairly well mannered dog but he has some common puppy antics to iron out. I anticipate he will enjoy the work and enjoy learning. Today we mostly let him get acquainted and comfortable. He has his crate set up in the living room and we left his door open most of the day so he could retreat and nap if he wanted to or enjoy the play time with the other dogs. He has been sweet and excited about my young children but he hasn’t knocked them over or bothered them much other than giving too many kisses. He is a responsive dog and a good listener so I anticipate training will be rewarding.

My sweet friend, Oscar, goes home tomorrow. He has great progress. He still needs his owners to practice with him and to have high expectations of his behavior. He will backslide if people allow him to get away with not following direction. Deciding that he does not know his commands or for some reason can’t do it will only teach him how much he can get away with. But he enjoys work and he responds well to fair discipline when he gets a little silly. He will likely enjoy it more at home when he is working for the praise of his people. He is very bonded to his people and so their praise will be worth more than anyone else’s.
Oscar has been a very polite and pleasant house guest. He has tolerated the children and even enjoyed their company but he has rules for interacting with them and it is important to understand what he will tolerate and what he won’t in order to keep everyone safe and having a good time. He does not want to hurt anyone and he is by no means a biter. But he has limits to how much handling he can tolerate from children. He tries very hard to give many clear indicators that he is getting uncomfortable and so that should tell us that he does not want to bite. The hard part is helping small children understand his language. We need to help Oscar by trying our hardest to teach his kids how he likes to be touched and we need to be firm with Oscar when he makes a mistake. He is one smart cookie and so I am looking forward to supporting his owners as they introduce more children to his life.
I will miss Oscar. He has been a good buddy this week and a fun dog to train. Such a gentleman!

Oscar made a TON of progress today. He is finally coming out of his shell now and we got him to play and romp in the yard and I always say that when they are ready to play they are ready to learn. He is doing better in pretty much everything. He is Auto-sitting more than half the time now, he only needed minor corrections for Down if he needed them at all. He is still toiling a little with Implied Stay but I think that is mostly because he is being a smarty pants and trying to anticipate his next command.
I am proud of how hard he worked today. Tomorrow we will continue to push him and encouraging him to play and have a good time when we are enjoying our yard time.
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Oscar is coming along. He was more comfortable with me today and so our workouts were more productive. He is trying hard and making progress. He is needing light corrections for most of his commands but they are becoming fewer and farther between. His Heel is pretty good and we are very close to an automatic sit when he stops. His Down has improved from yesterday. His Come command is fine with his leash on. Off-leash he has selective hearing but he doesn’t run off.
He has been doing okay with the children so long as they don’t get into his face or bother him in his crate (where he eats). He gets assertive and potentially nippy if pestered too much. We don’t want to scold his lip curling because it is actually very considerate of him to give us such a clear warning that he is uncomfortable. I would rathe him curl his lip than bite seemingly without warning. But he is telling me that he would be willing to bite a child if they cornered him. So that is an important thing to know about him.
Tomorrow we are going to up his distraction level and continue pushing his basic obedience.

Oscar was unsure about the training today. He is still acting a little shy and he isn’t sure if he should do what I say. I am
beinf patient but at the same time trying to be clear in my instruction.
Today we started Heel/Autosit, Stay, Come, and Down. He struggled the most with Down. He really wasn’t sure why he should lay down for me. We had a nice cuddle session on the floor while my daughter was asleep earlier today so I think our friendship is growing.
He is indifferent to the kids. He doesn’t like it when children get in his face and he will curl his lip a little to tell them he is uncomfortable but he remains content if his cues are listened to. He had a good day today and I think he will only improve as he and I become better friends.