Every time I am lucky enough to work with a Golden I am reminded of why I owned them for so many years. Such delightful dogs. Gunner is a 9 month old, gorgeous Golden Retriever who graduated from Puppy Preschool earlier this year. He was just a little puff ball then and now he is such a strapping young guy. Not exactly well coordinated yet and he is a tiny bit wimpy with other dogs but he is very gentle and playful and you can tell it is his goal in life to be friends with everybody. Classic Golden.
He is here for 5-6 days for obedience training using a Dogtra IQ. His owners also have some special requests if I have the time. They would like him to be able to close a door behind him and to wipe his face on a towel. The door thing will likely be simply but if I can figure out how to train a dog to wipe its mouth I will likely be a millionaire shortly. His one naughty habit, it seems, is that he still play bites his owners (and no one else). I have had him take my hand very gently in his mouth but so far he has applied no pressure. It seems affectionate but not appropriate. I am going to try a few things to get him to stop this. It is common for Goldens to have an oral fixation, to enjoy mouthing, chewing and carrying things. If it is not 100% fixed when he goes home I will at least be able to send home instructions about how to minimize this habit.
Today we started with Heel/Autosit with a leash on to keep him near me. He picked it up right away but he has zero attention span and so when distractions like Angela the kitty or Donkey Hoadie come around he is difficult to keep on task. By his last workout of the day he was Heeling and Autositting well without a leash on in a minimal distraction area.
We also started Down. He is very soft about it and only needed a little bit of help. His issue is that he knows exactly how cute he is. If he doesn't want to lay down he gives me the big brown eyes (to which I have become immune but they always try it) and tries to tease me into playing with him instead. He is learning quickly that this does not work and that if he lays down he gets to hear a happy voice and get petted.
We also started Implied Stay. It was a disaster to be honest. He is a floppy golden shadow and he wants to be ON your feet if he can. So when I take a big step away from him he just hops right up! In his last workout I was able to take one step away from him and he looked certain that I was going to go have a wonderful adventure without him.
We also started "Bed" (Place) and he is doing well. He knows to get on the bed when he hears it but, like with the implied stay, does not know to stay put yet.
He is now sound asleep in his crate with his little squeaky duck. I think he is pretty well worn out. Tomorrow he is getting more training in the morning with a chunk of the afternoon off because I have a consult and then I need to mow the training spaces.
My entire family is in love with this boy.
He is here for 5-6 days for obedience training using a Dogtra IQ. His owners also have some special requests if I have the time. They would like him to be able to close a door behind him and to wipe his face on a towel. The door thing will likely be simply but if I can figure out how to train a dog to wipe its mouth I will likely be a millionaire shortly. His one naughty habit, it seems, is that he still play bites his owners (and no one else). I have had him take my hand very gently in his mouth but so far he has applied no pressure. It seems affectionate but not appropriate. I am going to try a few things to get him to stop this. It is common for Goldens to have an oral fixation, to enjoy mouthing, chewing and carrying things. If it is not 100% fixed when he goes home I will at least be able to send home instructions about how to minimize this habit.
Today we started with Heel/Autosit with a leash on to keep him near me. He picked it up right away but he has zero attention span and so when distractions like Angela the kitty or Donkey Hoadie come around he is difficult to keep on task. By his last workout of the day he was Heeling and Autositting well without a leash on in a minimal distraction area.
We also started Down. He is very soft about it and only needed a little bit of help. His issue is that he knows exactly how cute he is. If he doesn't want to lay down he gives me the big brown eyes (to which I have become immune but they always try it) and tries to tease me into playing with him instead. He is learning quickly that this does not work and that if he lays down he gets to hear a happy voice and get petted.
We also started Implied Stay. It was a disaster to be honest. He is a floppy golden shadow and he wants to be ON your feet if he can. So when I take a big step away from him he just hops right up! In his last workout I was able to take one step away from him and he looked certain that I was going to go have a wonderful adventure without him.
We also started "Bed" (Place) and he is doing well. He knows to get on the bed when he hears it but, like with the implied stay, does not know to stay put yet.
He is now sound asleep in his crate with his little squeaky duck. I think he is pretty well worn out. Tomorrow he is getting more training in the morning with a chunk of the afternoon off because I have a consult and then I need to mow the training spaces.
My entire family is in love with this boy.
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