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| Jack gets so excited when Ronda returns to pick him up. |
I am so pleased with his progress! It may seem to take a long time to get to the point where the dog picks up and joins the game, but once they do the world is theirs. That moment they join the game and start to work the game the dog is thinking and working out problems to get the rewards they want. A thinking dog is a learning dog.
Jack is becoming a thinking dog. He's still a bit shy about trying new things still, but I am starting to see him turn the gears and try something new occassionally when what he's doing doesn't work. He's joining me in the games I play and because of that he's finding new things he can try to get me to click him. It won't be long before he's fully engaged in the training and I'll have a learning animal on me.
Max, who's been at this whole thing longer, is a thinking dog who tries different things because something might work to get me to click. If you watch the attached video of Max learning to focus on a certain part of the rope to open the fridge, you'll see him thinking and puzzling out what I want to get the click. Soon Jack will be there and working on problem solving with me and gaining stronger and improved skills because of it.
Today's Lessons:
Target
Jack is working on Level 1: Step 3 Target. In this step Jack is asked to take three steps to touch my hand. Today I tested him on Steps 1 & 2 and he passed with flying colors. I then started moving my hand further and further away from his nose and asking for a touch. Jack did extremely well. He was able to move up to 5 steps to touch my hand, though he's not doing so all the time yet. I will continue to work this step until Jack is solid on it.
Crate
Jack is working on Level 2: Step 1 Crate. Since Jack is having issues with being crated when I leave I have decided to train him properly to a crate. He is okay in a crate if he can see me, but not if I am out of his line of sight. Today I wanted to see where he was on Crate as a behavior. He will not willingly enter the crate himself unless I guide him in with his collar. He won't balk going in once at the door, but will run and try to avoid being near the crate if he thinks I am about to crate him. This shows he's not comfortable with the crate in general.
I started with clicking for looking at, touching or interacting with the crate today. Jack began to purposely touch the crate with his nose, but would not put his head into the crate to see if it will gain a reward. At this time I will look for some crate games for both Emma and Jack and work them both two or three times a week on crate behavior. I would like to keep Jack's crate at my house for a while so I can work on crate behavior with his crate.
Observations
Jack is starting to consider my home a second home. He can handle my being away from him in the house and sometimes in the yard. By nature Jack is a Velcro dog and thus stays either directly at my side or pressing against me whenever possible. Getting him to venture away and play in the yard, chew on a toy or even find a spot to go to the bathroom is a challenge, but with consistent patience and reassurance that he's safe here, he's finally moving away from my direct side and playing or laying in his own space. It is good to see.
He and Max are still working out their communication. Today they were playing Tug-O-Dog and when Max let go of the rope he charged Jack and started a bit of a "get outta my space" argument with him. Jack stood his ground and told Max he was rude and it ended quickly enough. I will have to watch these two and ensure they don't develop bad feelings toward each other.
Later, when Max and Jack tried Tug-O-Dog with each other again it was Jack that started the argument - so it's not just one or the other that get into a bit of a "back off" posturing in my home, but both. I do want to mention this happens rarely and two events today is very unusual, but I think part of it was a bit of stress.
Josh came over again today and would occasionally come into the house without knocking - this seemed to upset all of the dogs. My son Wayne, who was also visiting, was a new addition to Jack's day and with all of that excitement and the sound of Josh breaking up concrete outside, I think it setup for all of the dogs to be a bit more stressed than normal.
On top of that, Wayne watched Jack, Emma, Attitude and Dieter while Max and I ran Josh home after he finished his work for the day. It was right after that we went out to play in the yard and I had to two arguments between the big boys. After the arguments they both came into the house and curled up in their corners and are now asleep - so clearly it wasn't a serious breach, just a disagreement of play.
Hopefully, in the next two to three weeks they'll have that all sorted out and be as comfortable with each other as Max and Emma are now.
Level 1
| Zen | Target | Come | Sit | Down | |
| Step | Completed | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 |
Level 2
| Zen | Come | Sit | Down | Target | |
| Step | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Focus | Lazy Leash | Go To Mat | Crate | Distance | |
| Step | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jump | Relax | Handling | Tricks | Communication | |
| Step | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Level 3
| Zen | Come | Sit | Down | Target | |
| Step | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Focus | Lazy Leash | Go To Mat | Crate | Distance | |
| Step | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jump | Relax | Handling | Retrieve | Communication | |
| Step | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
Level 4
| Zen | Come | Retrieve | Target | Relax | |
| Step | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Focus | Lazy Leash | Go To Mat | Crate | Distance | |
| Step | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Handling | Communication | ||||
| Step | 0 | 0 |
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