I thought I was picking up a Yellow Lab called Jackson this morning. It turned out to be more like a Yellow Bucking Bronco! Here is a virtual picture of him as we tried to adjust his collar –hoping to prevent another Houdini act on his part.
Once in the car, he was a good boy. He didn’t attempt to jump over the console and onto the front seat as he did the first couple of days. And when I exited the car he was pretty good, but jumped forward then immediately back so that I could let him exit from the rear passenger side door.
We walked to the center of our open area on a short leash. Then I attached the long-line to his training collar but didn’t loop it around me at first. What happened then was amazing and totally gratifying: Jackson would not get more than a couple of feet away from me no matter how quickly and frequently I would make U-turns. A visible result of only 3 training sessions!
Next, after only about 10 minutes of the long-line exercise, I set him free. He ambled about 10 feet away, but did not run. I then said, “Jackson. Come!” He immediately ran to me. Wow, I’m feeling good about now! We then spent another 5 minutes or so practicing “sit!” He did well and the little treats helped. We then practiced the “Jackson. Come” routine. The only difficulty I had was to get him far enough away from me to make the come command make any sense! I finally had to throw a treat a few feet away, let him get it, and then call, “Jackson. Come.” Immediate response!
We spent the last 10 minutes learning to heel. Jackson did extremely well and was rewarded with some play time, some hugs, and a ride back home.
Once in the car, he was a good boy. He didn’t attempt to jump over the console and onto the front seat as he did the first couple of days. And when I exited the car he was pretty good, but jumped forward then immediately back so that I could let him exit from the rear passenger side door.
We walked to the center of our open area on a short leash. Then I attached the long-line to his training collar but didn’t loop it around me at first. What happened then was amazing and totally gratifying: Jackson would not get more than a couple of feet away from me no matter how quickly and frequently I would make U-turns. A visible result of only 3 training sessions!
Next, after only about 10 minutes of the long-line exercise, I set him free. He ambled about 10 feet away, but did not run. I then said, “Jackson. Come!” He immediately ran to me. Wow, I’m feeling good about now! We then spent another 5 minutes or so practicing “sit!” He did well and the little treats helped. We then practiced the “Jackson. Come” routine. The only difficulty I had was to get him far enough away from me to make the come command make any sense! I finally had to throw a treat a few feet away, let him get it, and then call, “Jackson. Come.” Immediate response!
We spent the last 10 minutes learning to heel. Jackson did extremely well and was rewarded with some play time, some hugs, and a ride back home.
2 comments:
Woohoo, Jackson! And a bigger woohoo for John for taming the rascal :-)
Keep posting updates - we love reading them!
Love,
Jana
Pitch
John as I tried to say before, remember that the navy took 12 weeks for us during boot camp.
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