He turns two this month! He'll supposedly be a big boy then, but I don't think that's going to happen.
We've made some definite progress in terms of his training. I've always put a prong collar on him for safety purposes, but haven't really put it into a whole lot of use while training. I decided to just take it off of him and work on a buckle to see how it goes.
There was no difference. In fact, it may have lowered his work inhibitions a little. Weird! But now I have an excuse to buy him a new collar to train in. :)
New stuff we've been working on:
1. Moving stand
Not bad! It doesn't hurt that he knows what "stand" means...when I give him the command while heeling he freezes into a stand, wonky feet and all. I'm ok with that for now, but will teach him to stabilize himself in the future. He kind of understands the return to heel at the moment, but he's a little unsure.
2. Directed Jumping
We've worked on this a lot with just one jump, but I've introduced them both at the same time. I haven't been asking him to "choose" yet, just showing him two jumps and what signals mean.
3. Broad Jump
I've been doing this with him for ages, but just this week I pushed it to his actual jumping length - 56". He did it successfully twice! so we'll continue to get him comfortable with the leap.
4. Finishes
I haven't done a whole lot with finishes, just teaching the basics. I haven't really taught him a square sit yet either, so that's why I've only been teaching him the movement, not the entire exercise. I want him up and moving when I give him the command, so I've taught him a "touch" to have him jump at the command.
5. Out of Sight Stays
This one is going to be a little rough. On downs he's pretty good. It's when he's sitting up and can watch me go behind him or out of the ring that makes him chatter his feet and twist. I've been using a board to remind him not to move his feet but it's gotten too small. I'll have to use something different.
6. Go Outs
He knows how to go to a designated place. I've been extending the distance necessary to see where his confusion starts.
7. Heeling
Yay! I've been able to get him to understand where his head is. Now I just have to teach him how to sit! We can do it very nicely without starting from a sit. I'll be able to put them together sometime this year.
Ruby has decided her recalls are no longer broken, but her stays may be. D'oh! I think it's a matter of practice and her "old age"....she's getting crankier. We just need one more leg of her CD so I want to get her back in form to finish that up before she goes to straight Rally.
All in all, a lot of good progress lately!
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