We are taking his video today and making sure we don’t have any glaring issues to still address. Today and tomorrow we are in pure practice mode.
Axel had a pretty simple day yesterday. We ran through his obedience a few times and worked hard on Placemat. He stayed on Place while Claven came home and while he walked around getting settled but Axel did need corrections when he tried to follow Dad and the kids down the hall at bed time. That was probably the hardest thing for him.
We are taking his video today and making sure we don’t have any glaring issues to still address. Today and tomorrow we are in pure practice mode.
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Axel is coming right along. He is off-leash now and enjoyed a long day at the Farm. We went for a hike and did our obedience all without needing a tether. He also was quiet and polite in the house. He did have one spinning episode when our house guests were packing to leave but he quieted quickly.
The one thing he is still toiling with is a big reason why he is here and that is calming him down when anxious and getting him to park it. We are working on Place and Down in the house to try to get him to be less of a pacer when he is feeling his anxiety. Once he is down he is parked but getting him there is still a two or three correction conversation. He is getting faster but it’s a process. We are all enjoying this bloke very much. He had a good time being my farm helper today and now he is snoozing already in his crate. Axel is a lovely GSD boy who is here for a week of manners and advanced obedience training. He was trained previously and so he has a decent vocabulary already but he lacks self restraint and reliability. He is also a bit of an anxious guy and so if he gets stuck in his head it can be difficult to get him to slow down and think.
Today we did a lot of review. He is pretty responsive though he is slow with Down and needed pretty regular reminders from his remote when in a Heel. But he did well and enjoyed the work. Tomorrow we will work more on his patience and also chilling out when he is nervous by adding stress and distractions to training. We are also going to start putting him on Placemat when he starts spinning or being too interested in what the kiddos are up to. I am already enjoying this guy and I know it will be a fun week. Smarty pants Jackson goes home tomorrow. I am so proud of how far he has come. His obedience was going so smoothly on leash that we moved him on to introduce off-leash work. He isn't as far as he would have been had he been here for the off-leash package but if his owner is interested in that continued work it should be a very easy transition to make in his follow ups.
He is a special dog and one that I have deeply enjoyed training. He is a good worker and has mastered his commands quickly (which gave him time to find new ways to misbehave). Being firm with him is important as is having high expectations for him all the time, even when he is excited. He has the capacity to restrain himself but he will happily not do so if he doesn't think it is expected of him. I look forward to continuing to work with his owner in Jackson's follow up lessons to help him be the perfect dog he can be. My sweet submissive friend Lasso is going home tomorrow. She is a good girl and a fast learner and so she has done well this week. I will miss her sweet face and snuggles but she will be so happy to be back with her family. She needs a lot of encouragement in her training. She takes very little correction and needs more direction and building up than her sister did. But her mom is sensitive to Lasso's personality and so I think they will do well. We just need to remember to be clear and firm with her without being overbearing or scary.
I have enjoyed training her. Soft dogs are fun and rewarding to train but they pose their own challenges and Lasso is not immune to that. Finding the appropriate balance of praise and discipline will be essential to her success at home. Lasso had an easy day today because I managed to tweak my back yesterday moving something heavy. We did short workouts, off leash, in the back yard and she is doing pretty well. She is still very nervous when the leash is off and I'm working on helping her to relax and keep her composure instead of wiggling everywhere and trying to lay down on my feet every time we stop.
She has been on Placemat for about an hour now and though she needed some corrections at first she is doing well now, though she is a bit pouty about not being allowed to play and follow the kids around like she likes to do. But her self restraint is growing every day. She is a hard working little sweetie. Jackson had a short day today because I hurt my back yesterday but his workouts were fine. He is still wearing his pinch collar on walks but this afternoon I started him on a remote collar for around the house behaviors and I plan to see how he does using that on walks tomorrow. He is a good candidate for remote collar training especially to help curb his excitement when he gets overly enthusiastic.
Tomorrow I should be back to normal and so we can have our full work day. He has been on Placemat for an hour tonight and did extremely well even when my 2 year old daughter visited him, gave him the junk mail from today and all the pillows from the couch and climbed up onto his cot with him. He stayed very still for her and seemed to greatly enjoy her company. Lasso is back from her weekend at home and she was ready to get back to training. We went to the farm and she had her first off-leash work out. She did fine. She was a little nervous and sloppy but she only made the mistake of laying down instead of sitting. We kept her workouts short today and kept them enthusiastic and fun so that we ended on happy notes to prepare her for longer workouts tomorrow.
We won’t be going to the farm tomorrow because my car will be in the shop but we will work off-leash in the fenced yard and on a long line around the neighborhood. She is a smart cookie! This guy is doing such a great job. His obedience on walks has improved greatly and he is responsive to commands. His prong collar keeps him on task and he loves praise. I’m trying to help him focus for longer periods of time both while walking and while resting.
Over all he is being a polite guest and a good student. He still acts impulsive at times but he is easier to correct verbally than he was before. We are about halfway through his stay so now that we have introduced him to all his commands we are working on his ability to listen even when distracted or excited. Jackson arrived today for a week of obedience training. He is a big, healthy, doodle boy who has a sweet nature but is a bit of a Buffalo and has gotten accustomed to throwing his weight around a little.
Today we focused on leash walking. We introduced Heel and Autosit as well as the Implied Stay and Come command. We also worked on walking politely in a “free walk” meaning he is walking nicely and not in a strict Heel command but still not pulling. He is a quick learner but that doesn’t mean he is always responsive. He actually knows quite a few words already but he doesn’t have a lot of incentive to listen. The prong collar I am using with him for now is making a huge difference with his focus and helping him keep from putting his owner on the back burner. This should be a fun week. I’m looking forward to working more with this big guy. |
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