Leon is a super sweet Doberman boy who turned four this last October. His knees have kept us from competing, but this boy loves to train and work. I have been focusing so much on his compatriot, Jack, that I have neglected his work.
Leon was utterly joyful as we started his "auto stand". I want Leon to do an "auto stand" instead of a sit to put less stress on his knees. I have noted lately that Leon has been doing a lot of sits himself lately without much difficulty and without me giving the command.
So once I got Leon into heeling and doing the auto stand (I still say the command now, so it's not so much auto) I told him "stay" and went and placed the dumbbell. Now I have been using a weight training dumbbell as money is a bit tight, and I didn't want to buy new articles. In teaching Jack the working retrieve, I am still presenting it to his mouth, and so it never hits the floor. So the danger to my toes was not realized until I had Leon go get and then give LOL.
Leon is an incredibly smart dog, or I think so at least. Had he been able to be a competition dog, life would have been much easier. Of course I have learned so much from bringing my problem dog, Jack, along for the ride so I can't complain. Jack is more a serious worker, while Leon is all about fun and pleasing. So this item was much heavier than the others Leon had picked up for his "clumsy owner". Previously we started with a toy, then different toys, then toys mixed in with things like the remote, and finally this two and a half pound dumbbell. So as usual when Leon can't figure out the best way to place it in the hand (he needs to roll this out of his mouth) he will fling it at me. Yes I was fairly dancing a jig to avoid the flying dumbbell.
Thankfully and fairly quickly, Leon figured out to roll it to my hand. The other wonderful thing about Leon is he would work for floor lint if you called it a cookie. I had some sample kibble that was his treat, but once he starts going and learning the exercise, he does it for the express joy of working and doing. Motivating me once again to be sure that Leon is included in the training schedule line up. Dogs actually get bored of "playing" all the time too. You need to mix it up with trick training and training of practical things. They love spending time with you and learning with you. Adventure and walks and mixing up what happens at home helps quite a bit.
Speaking of that, I have started reintroducing the freestyle commands to both Jack and Leon's training. Leon enjoys it much more, and perhaps we can still do freestyle or tracking in our future. I get frustrated with myself for not being a more accomplished trainer with my dogs. I feel like the next ones will benefit more, and I have had such stellar and wonderful dogs. I feel like my inexperience fails them in some way. That if they had another owner, they would be in multiple sports and working all the time. On the other hand, the only thing I can do about that is keep learning and plodding forward.
I am so jealous of those folks lucky enough to have been brought up in a dog training or breeding family!! They got so much knowledge early on, and were possibly born into their dream job. It makes me a bit sad that I have no one (a child of my own) to pass this lifestyle onto as infant as I still am in the industry. That being said, I do reach out to those truly interested to know because of this. Perhaps then they will have an earlier start in their dream dog, and then pay it forward later on with someone else.
I will try to get a little of this work on tape later today.
Leon was utterly joyful as we started his "auto stand". I want Leon to do an "auto stand" instead of a sit to put less stress on his knees. I have noted lately that Leon has been doing a lot of sits himself lately without much difficulty and without me giving the command.
So once I got Leon into heeling and doing the auto stand (I still say the command now, so it's not so much auto) I told him "stay" and went and placed the dumbbell. Now I have been using a weight training dumbbell as money is a bit tight, and I didn't want to buy new articles. In teaching Jack the working retrieve, I am still presenting it to his mouth, and so it never hits the floor. So the danger to my toes was not realized until I had Leon go get and then give LOL.
Leon is an incredibly smart dog, or I think so at least. Had he been able to be a competition dog, life would have been much easier. Of course I have learned so much from bringing my problem dog, Jack, along for the ride so I can't complain. Jack is more a serious worker, while Leon is all about fun and pleasing. So this item was much heavier than the others Leon had picked up for his "clumsy owner". Previously we started with a toy, then different toys, then toys mixed in with things like the remote, and finally this two and a half pound dumbbell. So as usual when Leon can't figure out the best way to place it in the hand (he needs to roll this out of his mouth) he will fling it at me
Thankfully and fairly quickly, Leon figured out to roll it to my hand. The other wonderful thing about Leon is he would work for floor lint if you called it a cookie. I had some sample kibble that was his treat, but once he starts going and learning the exercise, he does it for the express joy of working and doing. Motivating me once again to be sure that Leon is included in the training schedule line up. Dogs actually get bored of "playing" all the time too. You need to mix it up with trick training and training of practical things. They love spending time with you and learning with you. Adventure and walks and mixing up what happens at home helps quite a bit.
Speaking of that, I have started reintroducing the freestyle commands to both Jack and Leon's training. Leon enjoys it much more, and perhaps we can still do freestyle or tracking in our future. I get frustrated with myself for not being a more accomplished trainer with my dogs. I feel like the next ones will benefit more, and I have had such stellar and wonderful dogs. I feel like my inexperience fails them in some way. That if they had another owner, they would be in multiple sports and working all the time. On the other hand, the only thing I can do about that is keep learning and plodding forward.
I am so jealous of those folks lucky enough to have been brought up in a dog training or breeding family!! They got so much knowledge early on, and were possibly born into their dream job. It makes me a bit sad that I have no one (a child of my own) to pass this lifestyle onto as infant as I still am in the industry. That being said, I do reach out to those truly interested to know because of this. Perhaps then they will have an earlier start in their dream dog, and then pay it forward later on with someone else.
I will try to get a little of this work on tape later today.
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