Grace is coming along just fine. Her obedience is great on-leash and off-leash with her remote it is good about 75% of the time. She gets a little sloppy and if she makes a mistake she sometimes tries to "cute" her way out of working and tries to tease me into playing instead. She gets pouty when it doesn't work but then she shapes up and shows me that she does understand what I was asking her to do. She is a lovely and spirited girl who likes to put her own spin on things.
She is still toiling with Come. She knows the word and will come to a certain extent but she always assumes that if she comes to me then it means fun is over and we are either going inside or we are going to go back to work so I invented a game that I've called "catch and release" where I call her to me and once she sits in front of me I throw her a little party and then I let her go play for about 30-45 seconds and then I call her again and she is starting to get excited about coming and sitting to get her praise. Tomorrow I may tone it down a little (so her owner doesn't have to throw a party every time the dog comes to her) but dedicate a workout or two just to coming without a leash on when she isn't in another command. It's easy for her to come when I've left her in a sit/stay. There isn't anything better to do. But when she is off doing Gracie things and having Gracie thoughts she likes to blow that command off. So I'm focusing on getting her to come reliably even when there is something "better to do."
Gracie has been cracking me up all week. She is a challenge but not because she has a sour demeanor. She is a ton of fun and loves to be the center of attention. If you ask her every day is the Gracie Show. But as much as I enjoy her I am making sure to keep my standards very high. She is a dog who can scare people just because of her breed and so we need to make sure she is under control and that she has a good vocabulary with her owner so that she stays as safe as possible while enjoying the freedom that a remote collar allows in Lawrence.
She is still toiling with Come. She knows the word and will come to a certain extent but she always assumes that if she comes to me then it means fun is over and we are either going inside or we are going to go back to work so I invented a game that I've called "catch and release" where I call her to me and once she sits in front of me I throw her a little party and then I let her go play for about 30-45 seconds and then I call her again and she is starting to get excited about coming and sitting to get her praise. Tomorrow I may tone it down a little (so her owner doesn't have to throw a party every time the dog comes to her) but dedicate a workout or two just to coming without a leash on when she isn't in another command. It's easy for her to come when I've left her in a sit/stay. There isn't anything better to do. But when she is off doing Gracie things and having Gracie thoughts she likes to blow that command off. So I'm focusing on getting her to come reliably even when there is something "better to do."
Gracie has been cracking me up all week. She is a challenge but not because she has a sour demeanor. She is a ton of fun and loves to be the center of attention. If you ask her every day is the Gracie Show. But as much as I enjoy her I am making sure to keep my standards very high. She is a dog who can scare people just because of her breed and so we need to make sure she is under control and that she has a good vocabulary with her owner so that she stays as safe as possible while enjoying the freedom that a remote collar allows in Lawrence.
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