Day 10: Moving Right Along

Margaret's day began with her usual training and exercise routine. 10 minutes with the Chuck It in the meadow takes some of the froth off her morning energy, and she is ready to work.

Today I used two stuffed rats as novel toys to reward her in an exercise that builds self control and teaches her to hold a Sit when she is excited, instead of jumping up to get attention or anything else that she wants.

Margaret is often more motivated by toys, play, or novel experiences (like sniffing something she is interested in) when she is learning something new, unless she is tired or hungry. Treats are motivating for her, but a new toy puts an extra spark in her eyes and spring in her step.

We worked on all her basics, Name, Sit, Down, Stand, Stay, Wait, Come, Let's Go, This Way, Bed, Leave It, Drop it.

When Debbie arrived, I put Margaret through her paces, asking a little more of her door manners each day.

 She always barks loudly when she hears door knocking, so I simply thanked her and encouraged her to come downstairs with me.

I put her on leash and asked her to Sit Stay in the breezeway about 6 feet from the front door. (Debbie had her camera at the ready.)

 With apologies to Debbie, I closed the front door again if Margaret broke her Sit Stay.  

 I rewarded Margaret with hot dogs for holding the Sit Stay.

 This took a few tries, but she showed much more self restraint than on previous days, and seemed to enjoy having a job to do.

When she was focused and calm enough, I gave her her greet cue: "Go say hi!" Then i let the leash just long enough for her to reach Debbie, and allow her to touch her hand, then praised her, which made her turn back to me, for a treat. We repeated this a few times successfully.

Good girl, Margaret!

 Next challenge - holding a Sit Stay with the front door wide open before being allowed to run out to find The Moose. She aced that!

The reward - intense play with The Moose, who is very tolerant of her teenage enthusiasm and loves to let her chase him around the meadow.

Margaret's next challenge was to wait for me outside the gate while I let the chickens out to roam free. She did very  nicely but there was a moment when I had the feeling she might climb through the wire fence, so I put her in the side yard.

 She is practicing waiting patiently in various  places - yard, crate in the car, crate in the house, at different times of day with no barking or fussing.  

She is also getting some good play time with Moose.

 Next up - Debbie took Margaret and ran her through her basics for an hour or so. This is a good way to cement learning -- Margaret learns that the same words mean the same thing even if different people are saying them - and that it is equally worth her while to do what she is asked to do, whoever is making the request.

Lastly, we set off on a training/adventure hike with Lilly and The Moose. Lilly is a recovering reactive dog, so everyone was on leash. This gave Margaret lots of opportunity to work on her leash manners in exciting circumstances.

 I used a Freedom harness so I could alternate between the back attachment, and both front and back attachments with a double leash when more control was needed.

Margaret was happiest when she was the lead dog!

 When she was behind she wanted to pull more so we had to work harder.

 There were lots of good smells everywhere. Piles of elk scat, some old coyote scat and more!

 We used forest obstacles, like big old stumps, to do some impromptu agility.

On one occasions, Margaret came face to face with Lilly, a little too close. You can see what they thought about that - but both turned away when prompted and nothing came of it.

A teeny bit of trash talk!

 

It was a great hike, followed by some more play with The Moose in the meadow.

Finally, I put Margaret in her crate and she went straight to sleep, no protestation at all, and stayed there for nearly two hours.