Zoltie was so much happier today with very few fireworks going off in the neighborhood. The quiet is so nice (for everyone)!
Zoltie is getting much more compliant in play. He's taking treats well now and he's eager to do recalls or check in with me during play.
We had a play date today and he thought this puppy was dressed pretty strange. He couldn't quite figure out the antennas on the top of his head.
He thought the rest of the dogs was pretty fun though. I like to practice recalls when there is a nice new distraction in the area. This mimics real life a bit more (like when you run into a strange dog when you are out on the town with him).
Recalls are fun and exciting but downs can be kind of boring. When I am teaching stay, I avoid calling the dog out of the stay with a recall because I don't want the dog to anticipate the end of the stay with something really exciting. Instead, I want the dog to really settle into his down. So how do you make it exciting without causing the dog to break the position?
Returning to the dog periodically to reward him will help. I'm still going to use a soft, calm voice but I want to make it very pleasant for him. It needs to really pay off for him to remain in the stay.
It's a balancing act to get him nice and relaxed in his down (note the hip shifted off to the side which is a sign that he has settled into his down) and making it enticing enough that he wants to stay.
The goal being to have a dog who is happy to stay. Zoltie is on his way...
No comments:
Post a Comment