Frasier and Niles Board and Train day 14

The Boys, as they have come to be known here at the farm, are both getting ready to wrap up their time here in a few days. They have come a long way and they still have some work to do but much of what they are still toiling with falls to maturity and not to skill. They know their words. In the right conditions they are quite reliable. Where they need to mature is in their ability to listen when something startles them or is very distracting. Frasier has actually become more reliable that Niles which shows more how hard Frasier has worked than any short comings for Niles, as he has also beed very steady this whole time. I still use a long line (30' leash) for Frasier on long walks because I can't trust that if a hunter shoots a rifle or a branch falls in the woods he won't skirt a little bit and in an unfamiliar setting I don't want him getting into his head and panicking. The leash makes him visibly calmer because he is attached to a person. 
Niles doesn't need the leash to reassure him as much as Frasier does. He is, however, more insecure without his brother and so I keel a slip leash with me when I walk him solo, just in case. 
These boys are gigantic and so it is so easy to forget they are just babies still. Their training needs clean up, which is what I will be working on until they go home, then they just need it to be their way of life as much as possible. Not allowing them to "run and hide" when asked to do something they don't want to do is critical because if that behavior is allowed to pass then it will continue into their adulthood and it will definitely be annoying at a crucial point. High expectations will be the best things these puppies can receive from their owners.
Luckily motivating them with praise is always easy as they can never get enough of being touched. Sweet babies indeed.