So far he has already gotten to enjoy some off-leash play time but his commands aren’t fully introduced yet. We will be getting all of his commands formally introduced tomorrow then the real work begins. This is a sharp fellow and I feel like his time here will be a lot of fun.
Blue is here! Riggs’ litter mate is a different dog up and down. He is here for two weeks of off-leash obedience and also some attitude adjustment for an inflated ego. So far Blue has been a fun guy to have around. His confidence is not a bad thing but my goal is to adjust him from just brazenly making decisions to asking for direction from his handler first then confidently performing what was asked of him.
So far he has already gotten to enjoy some off-leash play time but his commands aren’t fully introduced yet. We will be getting all of his commands formally introduced tomorrow then the real work begins. This is a sharp fellow and I feel like his time here will be a lot of fun.
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Tide has come leaps and bounds in his training over the weekend. He has transitioned to his remote collar and is getting better and better with his obedience. He is still a smart alec and no amount of training could ever diminish his sense of humor but who would ever want to do that.
His main job this week is to simply continue improving and gaining experience. He has been tons of fun so far. Not a ton to report for Riggs. He is a very happy worker and his obedience looks really good for day 9. He isn't giving me a ton of work to do. Mostly we just have a good time running through his commands. I keep trying new sequences to trip him up and when I succeed he gets very playful until I get him back on track. Dog trainer secret: it's fun to trick dogs into making a mistake especially when they are cute about it.
I did want to report that today I was in the garden and Riggs was looking all statuesque under the wisteria (his new "spot" while I garden) and Angela the cat walked out from the grape vines. I did not know she was in the garden. I took his remote in my hand just in case but I wanted to see what Riggs would do after 9 days of conditioning. He stood up, interested, started walking towards her and then with no cue from me he very sharply veered off away from her and went back to his spot. I was very happy to see him correct himself without me having to remind him not to chase her. He will need to be conditioned to the kitties that live at his house but it's a good first step. Tide had another good day! He didn't throw any fits but he did try to "drop anchor" a couple times when he decided he was done. He hates that the pinch collar makes that impossible now. We introduced all of his commands today except for Placemat. He has been an enthusiastic, silly and receptive pupil so far. Tomorrow I am upping his distraction level and asking him to hold stationary commands (like Down) for a little longer than he has been. Right now when he lays down you can tell he is going to spring up at the earliest opportunity. So getting his parking brake set is the goal. I will start him on a long-line (30' leash) tomorrow or the day after to move him towards off-leash. He has been smooth sailing so far!
Y’all Tide is darling. He is a young husky who is here for 2 weeks of Remote Collar training. He looks like a big arctic fox with what I affectionately call the “husky smirk”. He is a smarty pants and you can tell he is doing doggy calculus to figure out how to get what he wants.
Today he we worked on walking on a leash without pulling and sitting when we stop. We also introduced Implied Stay and Come. He did really well...after he finished his phenomenal tantrum. Huskies are famous for tantrums and Tide threw a doozy. I stood waiting for him to realize that while he rolled around on the ground complaining that I was making him do stuff that if he just put his bottom on the ground he got a pat. Once his good sense caught up with him all tantrums stopped and he Heeled very pleasantly and was Autositting by the end of the day. The other things we introduced still need work. A chunk of my day got eaten up by a farm chore and so the hottest part of his first day he got to nap in his kennel. He definitely did not complain about that. Moving forward he and I are going to continue command introductions tomorrow and have some play time. Huskies are ornery but they are HILARIOUS and if you can keep a sense of humor around the training they are really fun to work with. Welcome Tide! Riggs is doing so well. His obedience is getting more solid every day. He is now completely off-leash 100% of the time and only needing his remote. His obedience is sloppiest when going from play to work mode. It’s a tough gear to switch but he is getting cleaner and less pouty about it every day.
Today Riggs got to chill a lot because I had a lot of work to do around the farm but that’s okay since he worked really hard yesterday. Our goals for this week are to get his obedience cleaner, form habits and not just tricks, and to smooth out that play to work gear switch. He is an impressive dog and a good student! He is even leaving the kitty alone which is definitely hard for him. Goodness you guys, Riggs is HILARIOUS. I swear he spends most of his day cracking me up finding new ways to embellish his commands with little twists. He is nervous about his remote so he is only off-leash for play time. I want him to be a little more confident about his answers before we go full off-leash for his commands. But he hasn’t needed his prong collar for a day and a half.
Tomorrow I am going to take Riggs on a longer walk and have him do about 15 minutes of heel work in the middle of it. Sometimes short workouts are great for nervous dogs and sometimes a longer one is what helps smooth out those last little hiccups. He wants to get the answer right and that is the most important thing. He is right where I want him for the end of his first week! Sweet Sansa goes home tomorrow. I am gonna miss her snuggles! She is one of the sweetest dispositions I’ve had in a long time. What comes with that territory is she is a big giant wimp about training. She knows her commands and when she feels confident she can do them really well! If she is nervous though her default is to lay down. Her owner’s big homework assignment will be to boost her confidence by warmly praising obedience ESPECIALLY when she is stressed while also insisting she do what was asked of her regardless of whatever thing Sansa has assigned a stressor to. She thrives on a calm handler who doesn’t get frustrated but who also doesn’t praise her anxiety. She also learned who she can manipulate into feeing sorry for her and she will lay those big brown hound eyes on THICK if she thinks it will be an advantage.
I have thoroughly enjoyed working with Sansa and watching her enjoy her training. Riggs is SO close to off-leash. He has been using a long line and a remote collar for about a day and a half. I think tomorrow he will get his first leash free work out. He has been working so hard and I am proud of him. He sometimes hits his limit and quits on me but he is easy to restart and then he will finish his work.
Tomorrow is probably going to be a low key day. Lots of play and lots if the come command just to get it through that that’s the best thing- to come back when called. The first off leash day is always a fun one! I’m sure it will be for this guy too. Sansa is coming along nicely. She is a very nervous girl and that comes out in her training a little. Sometimes instead of just doing what was asked she has to wiggle and stress out and thus she slows everything down. With patience however she gets there and loves her praise in the end.
We are still really working on Implied Stay. She struggles a lot with being still and not wiggling back to my feet. But she just needs practice. And Practice is the plan for tomorrow. She is a good little worker. |
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