Thursday, February 28, 2008

Jackson Goes to Boot Camp -Part X

Today was pretty much a carbon copy of yesterday's session, except Jackson did some fetching during his playtime.

It occurs to me that I believe I haven't stressed one important aspect of training enough. That is, I believe that the dog should sit and listen to each command before following through (this may not be a universal belief, but I think it is important) -before stay, fetch, heel, etc. Before fetching his long, bright yellow piece of plastic, Jackson was required to sit first and he did very well. I understand that he has always fetched promptly, returned the article, and dropped it at the throwers feet, so I can't take credit for that.

Jackson did not automatically sit when halted at the curb during heeling exercises again today. That will be a happy occasion when he does. Otherwise, he is excellent at heeling. At each halt, I push his rear down and, as I mentioned yesterday, it gets easier and easier. The great news is that after he does sit, he stays in that position longer and longer and waits for the heel command. Today's longest pause at this position was between 5 and 10 seconds -but he sat absolutely still, facing forward, and stepped forward immediately upon my command. He gets lots of praise for this.

After our session today, Jackson came home with me and was allowed to explore my house and yard. He was very happy to do that and didn't get into any mischief. Good Boy, Jackson!

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