Hiya Pupsters!
I went to a group dog training over the weekend and my hooman learned something new about me. I’ve been having a hard time transitioning from hard play to instant listening skills, and I think we found out why!
See, I like to play, and I mean PLAY! I’m a hyper pup. I can’t lie. I wuv to run, and jump, and most of all, zoom! Zoom, Zoom, ZOOMIES!!!!!! But, I don’t always listen as I should, so sometimes that limits when I get to play. I don’t think that’s always fair, but if the hooman has to go somewhere, she has to make sure she can get me to come along or go to my house if she must leave without me. The other thing it limits is the places I can go. I just wuv little kiddos, but if I start to play, I must know how to calm down on command. Same with the big kiddos ( and by that I mean hoomans never really grow up! )- if I want to party, I must learn to party like a respawsible pup!
Did you that if you lean over towards me, that I am anticipating a chin scratch, head rub, and praise! Well, I certainly did – that’s for sure! BUT guess what?? My Mommers was leaning over to get near me to give me a command or a verbal correction (e.g., at at, no). She thought that if she was closer to me, I would listen to ‘down’ (lay down) better because I would follow her positioning. WRONG! I was waiting for the pets and ‘Good Boy!’, and to keep playing!
So, she learned that if if she stays standing (or sitting depending on setting) when giving me a command, I actually listen! By leaning over, she is actually encouraging me to keep playing! Now I can begin to play and listen immediately on command. We practiced this at group training by being in a circle, with each pup taking a turn in the center. In the circle, our hooman got us really excited and playful, then stood straight and gave the ‘down’ command. And guess what?!? I understood what she was barking! You can practice this at home with one hooman and one pup, but having other teams around will also help with distraction training… oh that’s another MilkBlog DogBlog post to come… DISTRACTIONS!!!!! I wuv distractions…..what did you say? Where’s that kitty cat going with MY toy…
Until next time! Wooferoo!
<3 Milk
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