Sarge is really getting into the training now. He has an understanding of all of his commands and though he is still, at times, defiant, he does genuinely enjoy the work. He just also has a stubborn streak and is still very easily distracted.
To combat his distractibility I have been keeping his workouts pretty fast paced. He loves the challenge of being asked to do commands on a dime instead of slowly working up to them. Heel-Down-Come-Heel-Sit-Down-Sit performed in rapid succession, for example, is exciting for him and it keeps him engaged. We will be slowing things down eventually to challenge his focusing skills but for now he is enjoying moving quickly.
Today we also learned Placemat and I was surprised by how well he did. I was expecting it to be a battle of wills to keep him on his mat with a lot of distractions around but he really did quite beautifully. He hung out on his mat even though there were 3 other dogs (one was Ace, his favorite playmate), people milling about, and food being prepared around him. He seemed to appreciate being part of the action even though he had to stay put. He even stayed on his mat when the front door was opened and shut many times to take food out to the grill. I was very impressed with the willpower he showed.
Tomorrow we plan to introduce the Dogtra IQ to him. This will be fun for him because, while his workouts will be on-leash for the time being, he will get some play time off leash as soon as he shows me he understands that the pager (vibration) on his neck means he needs to come back pronto. Typically dogs really enjoy the transition to the shock collar because it means so much more freedom. Sarge is doing very well and at such a young age I could not ask for much more.
To combat his distractibility I have been keeping his workouts pretty fast paced. He loves the challenge of being asked to do commands on a dime instead of slowly working up to them. Heel-Down-Come-Heel-Sit-Down-Sit performed in rapid succession, for example, is exciting for him and it keeps him engaged. We will be slowing things down eventually to challenge his focusing skills but for now he is enjoying moving quickly.
Today we also learned Placemat and I was surprised by how well he did. I was expecting it to be a battle of wills to keep him on his mat with a lot of distractions around but he really did quite beautifully. He hung out on his mat even though there were 3 other dogs (one was Ace, his favorite playmate), people milling about, and food being prepared around him. He seemed to appreciate being part of the action even though he had to stay put. He even stayed on his mat when the front door was opened and shut many times to take food out to the grill. I was very impressed with the willpower he showed.
Tomorrow we plan to introduce the Dogtra IQ to him. This will be fun for him because, while his workouts will be on-leash for the time being, he will get some play time off leash as soon as he shows me he understands that the pager (vibration) on his neck means he needs to come back pronto. Typically dogs really enjoy the transition to the shock collar because it means so much more freedom. Sarge is doing very well and at such a young age I could not ask for much more.
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