Sweet Roxie had a breakthrough! She has been so fidgety and nervous working without a leash on that she would make mistakes just because she was fretting. With a leash on she does very well but when she didn’t have a tether she would toil again. But yesterday and today she has had off-leash workouts with no bolting or pouting or “dropping anchor” (flopping the the ground dramatically and pretending to be dead). She asks for a lot of praise still but since we are building her up she can have all she wants.
Make no mistake. She knows her commands. Her silliness isn’t due to her not knowing what to do. She just gets in her head about there suddenly not being any leash on and she gets excited or makes a mistake. Luckily it is very easy to get her going again. A happy voice and warm praise gets her right back to working mode.
I’m very pleased her confidence is growing when we work with no tether. When she isn’t in a command she is very happy to plod around the farm with the chickens and other dogs. But it’s great that her attitude is staying so positive when we start working now. She is such a happy-go-lucky girl we don’t want her to be pouty while she works. So keeping her training lighthearted and fun has been key to letting Roxie do things Roxie style.
In the house she is a peach. If only she would stay on her Placemat! She has twice now sneaked over to her friend Gus’s mat to lay with him when I left the room while they were practicing.Its very cute but not quite what we are after. It’s very funny to see her act as though I won’t notice she isn’t on her own bed suddenly.
This cutiepie is a fun girl and I am so enjoying helping her learn.
Make no mistake. She knows her commands. Her silliness isn’t due to her not knowing what to do. She just gets in her head about there suddenly not being any leash on and she gets excited or makes a mistake. Luckily it is very easy to get her going again. A happy voice and warm praise gets her right back to working mode.
I’m very pleased her confidence is growing when we work with no tether. When she isn’t in a command she is very happy to plod around the farm with the chickens and other dogs. But it’s great that her attitude is staying so positive when we start working now. She is such a happy-go-lucky girl we don’t want her to be pouty while she works. So keeping her training lighthearted and fun has been key to letting Roxie do things Roxie style.
In the house she is a peach. If only she would stay on her Placemat! She has twice now sneaked over to her friend Gus’s mat to lay with him when I left the room while they were practicing.Its very cute but not quite what we are after. It’s very funny to see her act as though I won’t notice she isn’t on her own bed suddenly.
This cutiepie is a fun girl and I am so enjoying helping her learn.
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