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Thursday, September 30, 2010

Progress

Dog Blog Post #133: Still running behind...

Tuesday, September 28, 2010
  • Come:Will chase a kibble if he sees it thrown, will return when he hears a click.
  • Come:Will come when I call Henry (and probably just about anything else)
  • Down: have lured a few – not pretty
  • Sit: Lovely Sit and Stare. No clue what’s it called. Might know the hand signal, but it’s such a strong default at this point that it’s hard to tell.
  • Stand:Has a nice solid stand – while licking a spoon full of Vanilla yogurt
  • Target: Will touch hand if he notices it
  • Zen: Gives a few licks, and then gives up
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
  • Chewies: He’s fine with me holding them, and learning to push against my hand with his paws to get more leverage. That’s good, as it makes me useful and helps him to want me to hold/be around/pick up his chewies. (Meanwhile, hubby and son passed Zachary’s chewy back and forth while reviewing Math, as Zachary was obviously feeling left out and whimpered until someone held his, too, even though he’s usually fine chewing them solo!)
  • Come: Getting better at following and finding tossed kibble (3-4 feet, good contrast between floor and treat.) Comes back more reliably. Is now looking on the ground between my knees for the return treat (as I’m kneeling, not standing, given his size and I don’t feel like being Quasimodo.)
  • Come: Did a 20+ foot out of sight recall!
  • Cuddling: Wow, is he cuddly. He loves to be carried around, is totally calm and sweet when carried, and I’m enjoying every moment as in a few short weeks he’ll be either too heavy or too wiggly to keep doing it.
  • Day Crate: Is up to 2 hours during the day. He was a little fussy when left with his frozen yogurt KONG, but calm and had been asleep when I let him back out. After playing Zen Door the first day, he now just Sit and Stares, waiting for the door to open.
  • Down: Ugh. Really need to work on this one
  • Exploring Backyard: He’s raced around some, sniffed, poked around the shady areas, but it’s still way too hot to do much else. Zachary just pees and high-tails it back inside
  • Grooming: Brushed him thoroughly… while he was fast asleep. That probably doesn’t count, does it?
  • Handle paws, ears, tail: Doing this while holding chewie (two birds with one stone?) He’s fine with everything.
  • Housetraining: Still having trouble with hot weather (ie: he can’t seem to “perform”) but he definitely knows where the door is, that whimpering or scratching brings people, and that if I put him in the ex-pen then he’s supposed to do take care of business.
  • Mouthing: So incredibly subdued and gentle with mouth play that I am allowing it (me only) as a reward for such wonderful bite inhibition. Anything more than the most gentle pressure and I remove hand and insert an appropriate object.
  • Playing Tug: Loves it, plays fair, doesn’t want to win, and is learning to drop when I go “still”.
  • Playing with Zachary: Still a challenge given the size difference. Zachary is learning “Easy” means to tone it down, and will respond quickly and reliably unless I let the energy level get too high (my bad) and I frankly think he just doesn’t hear me then as when I snatch up Henry (and thus stop the game) he give me a “Huh? What happened?” look.
  • Sit: Recognizes “luring” hand signal.
  • Sit and Stare (Eye Contact): His default for practically everything, from wanting a treat, to being picked up, to wanting a toy, to anything someone does in the kitchen. It’s wonderful.
  • Stand: Will stand still for a fraction of a second waiting for the treat
  • Target: Target fell apart today for a while. I’m probably overloading his ability to remember hand signals at this point. If I snap my fingers to get him to look at the hand, then he touched it
  • Zen: Give a few licks the first time or two, and then started to turn his head away
Conspicuously absent:
  • Meeting new people
  • Clipping nails
  • anything new on Rules of Twelve

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