Zoltie started the day by helping me hose down the deck. Boy, if he's this easy to entertain, he's going to think it's Disneyland at Caroline's.
Our morning entertainment ended with a big smile on Zoltie's wet face. When you find something like this that Zoltie really enjoys, it makes for a great reward when practicing recalls.
His recalls are coming along nicely but he's still a touch slow. But finding something really exciting to him makes him come to me much more quickly. Since he's not always taking treats reliably (really, you don't care for hot dogs???), it's nice to have some other tricks up your sleeve.
Another fun activity for Zoltie that can be used for a reward is Tug. Zoltie loves to tug and we're going to take advantage of that to teach him to bring things back to you and give them up easily in case he gets his little paws on something he shouldn't have.
It's also helpful when he gets a bit distracted. If he knows he's going to be rewarded with something really fun, he's more likely to pay attention.
You can also use those distractions as a reward. Excited about someone new? You can go visit after you come to me. Want to smell the flowers? Well, ok, you can just do that because you are cute.
This picture reminds me a bit of "Horton Hatches the Egg." I can just hear him saying "I meant what I said and I said what I meant, And an Zoltie's faithful, one hundred per cent!" But it really does suit him. He random check ins with me are really strong which is going to make his recalls that much stronger. He is such a good guy!
All in all, just happy. We are all just happy...
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