Training

We had class again Monday night, and once again there were only two dogs. This time the other was a little guy (Pirate) -- only 11 weeks old.  Once again, Bob seemed impressed by how Dionne was doing. And I had a chance to ask for a refresher in how to teach the Shake command.

With so many of the commands, I seem to forget from one puppy to the next how to teach them. That seems pathetic, given that we're on our fifth CCI pup. But the teachers (first Mike and now Bob) never seem to roll their eyes. They patiently explain, yet again.

Actually, Bob didn't sound 100% sure himself.  (I assume they don't teach the police dogs (Bob's day job as a K9 cop) how to Shake.) But he suggested we could try tapping the back of Dionne's paw or alternatively, holding up a treat where she would naturally try to paw at it.

We had a little training session earlier today. You can see how it takes me a while to figure it out. But eventually, things start clicking. You can also see how nicely she responds to the Down command.

Just a short while ago, that seemed hopeless too.