PJ is an OG. He comes to play and train with us at least once a week. PJ has a ton of energy that we need to manage, so we use structured play to do that.
We are playing his favorite game of search for food. He loves to chase the food when it's tossed along a wall and ricochets. Once he "catches" the food, I have him work for the next search by asking him to offer a known behavior. That's the whole idea...have him work for his favorite thing. Whatever that might be.
He falters a little bit with a couple of cues, but this boy is so ready to work! We love our PJ! ❤️
Some early morning multi-tasking.
Phoenix is getting morning treadmill time, while Scout is learning to relax even when there are some serious distractions present.
We've been working on proofing Scout's behaviors in different environments for a while now. But he loves to play, so having his friend running behind him was a little tough for him to ignore at first. That tells me that we need to practice more of this so he truly understands the expectations.
Get some rest, Scout...we have lots of work to do tomorrow! 😉
Proof that you can teach an old dog new tricks!
For those of you who have been following, remember Odie? The dog that showed up at our doorstep three days in a row? The dog who turned out to be 12 years old??? The dog who had zero training?
Well, this is Odie rocking his positions. This little guy is so full of life, love, and energy! If you will be attending upcoming classes, you might get to meet this handsome fella! ;) ❤️
Our favorite gremlin is back! ❤️
Ollie did a board and train with us about 6 months ago, and clearly his family has been keeping up with the homework! He's still got it!
Nice job, Ollie!!! ❤️❤️❤️
Phoenix was getting bored on this cold wintery day, so I allowed her to do one of her favorite activities - shred a box.
She loves to shred things - all things. She gets joy out of it. It's a part of who she is.
Instead of trying to change that about her, I give her appropriate outlets for it. She is always supervised to make sure she is just shredding and not eating the pieces. But the joy she gets out of this activity and the outlet it gives her is immense.
What are you all doing to keep your pups busy on this frigid day? ❄️❄️❄️
Next, we worked on being stationary while I shopped for graduation certificates. Those of you who will be attending classes soon will see these! ;) Scout did amazing at holding his down with distractions while I was shopping.
Please know that Dave and I were both standing right there in case Scout got goofy. I would never drop the leash without knowing that the dog is under control by one of us. If you are working your dog solo, just stand on the leash. ❤️
Greetings have been difficult for Scout, but here... he rocked it!!! All four on the floor for a win! Fantastic job, my friend. Not to mention, he made that man's day! ❤️
After acclimation in the parking lot, I move Scout to the sidewalk in front of the building, then eventually inside.
He does well sticking with me and checking in with eye contact every once in a while.
NICE JOB, SCOUT!!!❤️
This is Scout acclimating to a new environment. We are at Office Max, and this is Scout's second outing to a store.
We always start with acclimation to a new space by allowing the dog to take in the environment (sniffing, exploring, listening, etc.) before asking the dog to work.
This only took about 5 minutes before we were getting him to follow on a loose leash and offer other behaviors, and we were ready to move closer to the entrance to the store.
Since FB is not cooperating with multiple videos in the same post, I will explain each video separately, so follow along. 😉
Sterling was having a little trouble understanding his recall, so today we focused on recall games.
This is a restrained recall. The goal here is to build anticipation and speed. Normally, we would use a toy for this but he's not really interested in toys. Hot dogs; yes please!!! Work the dog in front of you with whatever reward works for them.
Terry is the target and I will hold Sterling to build a little frustration as Terry gets him excited. Once Sterling is so excited that he just can't contain himself (and only then), Terry will call him (Sterling, here!), and I will release him to bolt to Terry for the reward.
This is a fun and easy game to help work on a quick recall! Make it fun for your pup, as well as the humans! With this game, you can be as silly as you want, as long as it gets your dog excited!
Good luck, and Happy Training! ❤️
If you know how difficult it has been to get Sterling to come out of his shell, you will know how amazing this video of him is.
He's playing!!! He's engaging!!! And he's loving it!!!
Patience, my friends. We have to have patience. AND play where the dog feels comfortable. I'm down low, and going slow. That's where he's confident and comfortable, and that's where we will play for now. This is a huge step for him and we had an amazing training session after this breakthrough! ❤️
Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Heather Pope Dog Training at the Wagology Institute, Dog trainer, 1740 N Main Street, Mount Pleasant, TN.
