Hamilton has done a good job today. We have introduced all of his commands except for Place, which we will probably introduce in the next couple of days once he has a really solid Autosit. Currently his Autosit is his most difficult command. He gets Down and Come most of the time and he has wonderful leash manners now (if he is wearing his pinch collar, they are so-so on his flat collar but getting better). But his Autosit is still 50/50. Sometimes he needs a reminder, via a verbal "No" with a light correction to sit when we stop. Most of the time this is due to distractions and his short attention span.
Angela, the kitty, has proven to be a difficult distraction for him to overcome. He is very interested in her if she is moving around. If she is just laying down or sitting and watching us he is not so interested but as soon as she starts moving around he has a strong prey drive that kicks in and it usually takes a correction to get him back on task. We will continue to allow Angie to be a distraction because he needs the practice.
On the flip side he had a very funny reaction to the horses. When I walked him up to the garden which is right next to the paddock he smelled them before he could see them. He was pretty interested until they moved and then he jumped almost clear out of his skin. I had to stop and just let him stare at them with his little tail tucked for a minute before he wanted to walk away. The horses, of course, had no interest in him at all.
He has become great friends with Ace, my Pit Bull, and they play almost non stop. Ace showed him that it is okay to go up and sniff the horses' noses without being afraid and even though Hamilton clearly wanted to smell also he was unconvinced. Maybe in a few days he will be able to say hi to the horses.
Tomorrow we are doing more work cleaning up his obedience and work on loose-leash training. I am very pleased with how he is doing so far.
Angela, the kitty, has proven to be a difficult distraction for him to overcome. He is very interested in her if she is moving around. If she is just laying down or sitting and watching us he is not so interested but as soon as she starts moving around he has a strong prey drive that kicks in and it usually takes a correction to get him back on task. We will continue to allow Angie to be a distraction because he needs the practice.
On the flip side he had a very funny reaction to the horses. When I walked him up to the garden which is right next to the paddock he smelled them before he could see them. He was pretty interested until they moved and then he jumped almost clear out of his skin. I had to stop and just let him stare at them with his little tail tucked for a minute before he wanted to walk away. The horses, of course, had no interest in him at all.
He has become great friends with Ace, my Pit Bull, and they play almost non stop. Ace showed him that it is okay to go up and sniff the horses' noses without being afraid and even though Hamilton clearly wanted to smell also he was unconvinced. Maybe in a few days he will be able to say hi to the horses.
Tomorrow we are doing more work cleaning up his obedience and work on loose-leash training. I am very pleased with how he is doing so far.
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