Training today - Round 1

Today we trained on the back porch. Went through all but 3 of our school assignments before the sun got to the LBD. He just laid down, and wanted in. We did a big Whoo Hoo, and knocked it off for a while. I'm not going to post of all of the details since I'm tracking them in Excel now. Highlights included lots of volunteered nose touches on the matt (new criteria) and even a few sits. Having to "free dog" him out of his sit/stays, and really good eye contact.

We haven't practiced "give it" much at all yet, and we'll go back outside again once it cools off this evening to finish practicing. I had to create a toy that we could both have. I'm allergic to so much that we're pretty limited in our choices of tug toys. Charlie also never learned bite inhibition as a pup, and we've had some difficulty with MINOR biting. He just doesn't know not to, but its hard to teach after 3 months. I didn't get him until he was 10 months old. He's better at this, but will probably never be perfect because of his background. I had a long discussion with Alena about this. She recommended making a circle tug out of old jeans with the floppy ends hanging out for the dog to grab. I've already tested this, and he goes for the floppy ends every time. This is NOT a pretty toy, but Charlie loves it.

In case anyone wants directions, I took an old pair of jeans (could always pick some up from good will or salvation army). Took a pair of scissors and made random sized jagged strips (not pretty). I tied two strips together until I had 6 double long strips. Then, holding one end (untied) with my foot, I braided the strips (2 strips together), and tied an overhand knot at the end leaving the floppy ends hanging out.