Today was a productive day all around at Free State K-9. I was worried at lunch time that today was going to wind up being a repeat of yesterday. A lot of back-talk and not a whole lot of progress. However, this afternoon during Chief's 3rd workout of the day we were in a Heel and we stopped walking. Chief side-eyed me with ears pinned back ready to misbehave again when his bottom slowly sank to the ground. We hugged it out over this little success and now that he knows that all I want is for him to sit down after we stop he has been happy to oblige, so long as the horses aren't around. When the horses are in view he has to chuff at them and often forgets what he is doing.
We also started the Come command today and he gets the general idea. He isn't great about stopping himself yet. He tends to just trot right past me but he is starting to realize that he gets lots of praise and petting when he stops himself and sits down.
I feel like we are a much better team today than we were yesterday. He is an independent boy who was not interested in working for a stranger but now that we are better buddies he is starting to see my point of view. This is not to say he is unfriendly. He likes people and wants to make friends but he also has his own ideas about what he should do and unless he respects a person their opinions mean very little to him.
Tomorrow we are going to work on Down and Stay as well as his other commands he already has been introduced to. We are also going to start his focused exercise. He is an active and healthy adult dog so he will get easily frustrated without a good bit of exercise a day. So it is time to start him on daily bike rides to stretch his legs and get his heart pumping. This is always fun for my 7-day trainees because they don't get much time off the leash. This is a good outlet for their pent up energy.
We also started the Come command today and he gets the general idea. He isn't great about stopping himself yet. He tends to just trot right past me but he is starting to realize that he gets lots of praise and petting when he stops himself and sits down.
I feel like we are a much better team today than we were yesterday. He is an independent boy who was not interested in working for a stranger but now that we are better buddies he is starting to see my point of view. This is not to say he is unfriendly. He likes people and wants to make friends but he also has his own ideas about what he should do and unless he respects a person their opinions mean very little to him.
Tomorrow we are going to work on Down and Stay as well as his other commands he already has been introduced to. We are also going to start his focused exercise. He is an active and healthy adult dog so he will get easily frustrated without a good bit of exercise a day. So it is time to start him on daily bike rides to stretch his legs and get his heart pumping. This is always fun for my 7-day trainees because they don't get much time off the leash. This is a good outlet for their pent up energy.
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