Recalls, Shaping, and Fun

Brit has been a busy girl since she has come to my house. Every day we go somewhere new, and every day we train something new, and practice stuff she knows. She is a sponge and seems to absorb information at an fast rate.

She likes to learn, and seems to enjoy the challenge and thoughtfulness of clicker training games. She starts jumping and wiggling when the clicker comes out and then starts offering all the behaviours she knows to see what I want.

She has been to the daycare building and has done recalls and attention work. She has been to the arena and has done recalls, some shaping games, and even more recalls. She has been to both of the parks I frequent and has done recalls, the first stages of circle work, and some shaping games. She wasn't phased at all by the new places or people, and seems to be a very well adjusted dog.

She was spooked by the horses at the arena, but I think they surprised her more than anything. And the hairdryer makes her nervous too- she will leave the room and watch from a distance. Once it is off she comes running back over to make sure I am okay. It makes me laugh. I am not too worried about as I think that once she hears it every day it will stop bugging her....

Her people skills are great- she is not nervous to meet people and is very friendly and waggy. She is learning that often people will have cookies for her so she went around at class last night sitting in front of everyone for food, and when that didn't work she'd start poking them...she's just a little pushy...

The gentle leader is a regular part of her life already and she doesn't mind it. She is still very excited by motion so it is a good way to control her excitement and focus. She sees it now as a signal that we are going to do something fun.

I think that she is going to be a very fun dog to train- she is very eager that's for sure! I have gone back and read through Pixels' training plan and journals to see what I will do again, and what I could change or improve on. There is lots that will stay the same, but some things I will change, or do more of, or in some cases less of.

One thing that will be the same is teaching the toy drive and tugging. I have her tugging now- but not 100% and not reliably. So right now we are focusing lots on play.

Running, Play, Recalls, and Shaping will be the focus for the next little while! I want to create another dog who loves to learn, run, and to play with me...