I can promise you that the dog is not thinking about what he did or how to apologize. He is wondering why he is in his crate, likely barking his head off or falling asleep. BUT! End a game for 5 seconds of excruciating patience and self restraint will soon have a dog thinking twice about nipping or jumping up or what have you. Such was the case with Cowboy. After 5 minutes of playing with the big ball (but being put in time out if he nipped it) he was having a fine time bouncing around the ball and moving it with his muzzle but not nipping it. Unfortunately he would still bark at the ball but we will correct that later.
His obedience is doing just fine. If I could ONLY get him to stay on my left I would be a very happy trainer. His herding instincts tell him to circle me or stay behind. On leash his Heel/Autosit is almost 100%. Off leash he will do well for a while and then he will end up behind me or try to circle to my right. With encouragement he gets back to my left only to ooze over to the right again later.
Tomorrow we are playing with the ball again to work on that barking and nipping some more. We will also do more work on obedience. I am determined to get him to stay on the left nicely.
Some beautiful pictures were taken of this striking boy working in the snow today. Also took some glamor shots of him. Will post them soon.