RA Training - Day Three

Walk to Heel
Today, we spent 30 minutes exactly, going around and around the courtyard, plus I've added a few more metres of road. For the first time today, I felt and saw that she was responding to the command, not the check on the leash. Quite a few times, I was able to say "heel", and the dog moved into position, without a check being required on the leash.

I can say that she is no longer pulling, at least not in the sense that she was; in a "must go rush ahead, must go rush ahead" manner. I would say that the only time she is now deliberately pulling is if she sees something that interests her. That's to be expected at this stage, and I feel it will subside as she gets more and more accustomed to the "heel" command, and recognising that I'm not accepting deviations of heel, such as thirty-centimetres ahead or behind.

I've also introduced the "stop" command, just by saying the word each and every time we stop. I'm also trying to remember to issue a "sit" command at each stop, as that is how I've always liked my dogs to act when I stop to talk to someone when walking.

Food
We've now got hold of three different flavours of Burns food, and shall be introducing that into her diet from this evening. Oddly, despite not actually giving much thought to diet before, I'm really looking forward to seeing what, if any, difference it makes to her overall nature, over the coming weeks.

Leave
I love the way she has adapted to the "leave" command. I really cranked up the pressure today, and in all honesty, expected her to fail. I got out her absolute favourite toy, a bright orange squeaky ball, and then got her all excited. At which point, I let it drop to the floor in front of her, and issued a "leave" command. Sure enough, she moved herself right away from it, in fact practically leapt away from it.

Now some might view that as being a fear reaction from Rob's bottle session. They might be right for all I know. However, you know, I don't care, if one day it could save her life. And let's face it, there are many scenarios in which it could do.

I then repeated the same exercise outside, where we traditionally play with the ball. Once again, she moved right away from the ball. On each occasion, I then moved to the ball, called her to a "come - sit" position, and let her take the ball from my hand.

Grooming
Grooming was a disaster today, but I honestly think I was to blame for that in some way. I groomed her just after we'd finished the heel exercises.

Traditionally, I've played with her in the back garden after training her out in the front. So, I think she was all fired up and ready for play. Then I came along and expected her to sit still and be brushed. Lesson learned there. Whilst I do think she should be capable of being brushed at any time, she still needs a lot of work doing with her before we get to that point. Does anyone here use a grooming block, and if so, how easily did the dog adapt to it?

Stay
She was so close, bless her. She got to 12 minutes out of the target 20, before her concentration broke. At that point, I returned her to the seated position and carried on for the remaining 8 minutes. Something tells me that she's going to make the full twenty minutes tomorrow. It can't be easy for her, as it kills me standing right next to her for the full period of time!

Go to Bed
We've practised this one quite a few times through the day today. I can now stand about a metre away and issue a "go to bed" command. Seeing her face, as she jumps into her bed and sits down with her "happy face" on, in the full knowledge that she's done something really new and clever, is a sight to behold. It's one of the main reasons I adore Blondi so much -- she's just the most eager learner I've ever had to date. The hardest part is actually drumming up new challenges for her. However, at this stage, I'm more focused on getting the key commands to be almost second-nature to her, before we move on to anything more advanced.

Overall Nature Changes
There is absolutely no doubt that she is much much calmer. I would go so far as to say about 50% calmer than she was prior to Rob's visit. I believe this is down to three key areas of change:

1. She gets stroked and rewarded at random times during the day, just for laying there and being calm.
2. She's getting much more mentally taxed throughout the day, as we are demanding more and more focus from her.
3. She's not allowed to demand attention any longer. Well, she can. but it's not acknowledged.

Point 3 is quite significant for us. Rob stated very clearly to us, several times in fact, that he did not feel Blondi was a dominant dog in any way. What she was however, was a dog who, in the absence of any real and consequential authority, had elected to make her own rules up. Along the lines of, "if you're not going to show me what to do in these situations, I'll show you what I want you to do, as one of us has to create some order around here". That's a far cry from being dominant. It's just wanting a consistent and reliable structure, with clearly defined rules over what is and what is not acceptable. So, as well as educating the dog, we've had to educate ourselves too, and clearly decide several things in our own minds, before we can expect the dog to do right or wrong.

For example:
Is it ok to jump on the bed? If so, can she sleep on the bed?
Is it ok to jump on the sofa? If so, with or without permission?

Those were two areas where we'd previously been wishy-washy, and have now set in concrete. It's unfair to the dog to have rules that are ever-changing.

Tonight, incidentally, my partner was able to lay out on the floor, without Blondi bothering her in the slightest. Actually, she came and laid at my feet, as, I presume, she's caught on that "if I just lay here and do nothing, I might get a reward". It might seem like a small change, but as mentioned before, my partner really does get very ill with her gall-stones, and so when she's in pain on the floor, the last thing she wants is Blondi climbing over her, or pawing her in the face. It's been a remarkable change.

Number of mouthings today: ZERO!

Sounds like you are coming along well... well done Blondi for being such a quick learner!

Woohoo sounds like everything is going really, really well for you all. You must be so proud of Blondi at the moment and yourself for doing such a great job. Tilly can sit stay for about 2mins before she falls over and goes to sleep lol