These two are doing great. They are both now getting used to the Dogtra IQ. Dexter is now completely off leash and is thoroughly enjoying the freedom. He is doing fine in all of his commands but if he gets overwhelmed he lays down instead of sits. He also has developed the habit of laying down when he gets to me after the Come command. He is supposed to sit when he gets to me but instead he ends up on my feet. Kimber has started doing this too only she tries to get in between my feet, not on top of them. We will work on cleaning this up tomorrow.
Kimber is not yet off-leash. It is interesting. She has a better grasp on all of the commands (though she is still a sassy pants and likes to back talk) but she get overwhelmed easily and she has a tendency to try to escape work by bolting. We have worked off-leash in my little pen but other than that she has been on the 20 foot line until I am convinced she understands that it is better to stick around and work than to run from it. She has been getting off leash potty breaks and exercise walks, however, and done fine with the radius training. She stops herself from getting too far ahead and comes back to check on the people without needing a cue. Classic herding dog.
We started Placemat today with both of them. Kimber got it right away and seemed to enjoy having a spot of her own. Dexter was being a bit of a spaz at first and could not understand the two foot rule (he has to have at least two feet on the mat at all times) but eventually he calmed down and took a nap, though I'm not really convinced he truly gets the rule yet. More work on that tomorrow.
They are doing great. Kimber is such a smarty but we need to work on her self restraint and not trying to get out of work. Dexter is doing fine except for laying down when he should be sitting, but that is an easy fix. Practice makes perfect! One of the big upcoming challenges will be working them together instead of individually.