I would consider Dottie to be in the "proofing" stage of her training now. She knows her commands. There isn't anything else that I need to teach her but now we have a week to lay the foundation of this being her way of life. Instead of "practicing" with her she will now be expected to be obedient all day because it is her job. She will need to Heel past distractions when on walks, hold a Down/Stay in the house or in the garden when I need her parked, stay on Placemat during meal times, Sit to wait at doorways and stairwells and wait for direction before going in or out. I will be strict with her so that she understands the rules and then her owners will be able to adjust her training to fit their lifestyle as needed, with my support. She is still want I would consider to be advanced for how long she has been here but she is not yet quite where I would want her to be for going home. She knows the words and she is responsive to commands but I want slightly better staying power and I expect she is going to start bucking the training a little when she has other plans so I will hopefully get some backtalk from her and be able to prepare her owners to handle it when she gets a bit of that cattle dog attitude going. But she is such a happy worker that I don't really expect the backtalk to be a huge issue once she understands the right answers and her owners know how to communicate their direction to her clearly. She is a smarty pants and she knows it.
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