Day 81

Hops was just about perfect in his recalls today while I played fetch with Rice and Dillon. At first I would only call him when he was close to me and I would immediately release him. As the session went on I started calling him when he was already on his way back and almost back (in the middle of chasing Dillon though), then when he was further away, then just before Dillon grabbed the ball and started back, then when Dillon was nearing the ball, and by the end of the session I was able to call him off of Dillon when he was in full chase after him! Woohoo! After awhile I put the boys inside and played fetch with Hops. At first I just threw the ball, then I held his collar, threw the ball and sent him out to it. He was perfect and brought the ball directly back to me every time. I also rewarded him with a treat every time.

I looked outside to see if the dogs were ready to come in and see Hops lying on the chair, just watching the yard.

He spotted me!

Time for posing!

And more posing! Good boys!

For Hops’s dinner, I played the “Bermuda Triangle Game”. I had a crate, a bed and a tall stool arranged in a triangle and I sent him form one to the other. Bed meant go to the mat and down, kennel meant go into the kennel and around meant go around the stool. I always supported the object I was naming with appropriate body language (inside hand, shoulders facing object). He did a great job with the game. Then we did some perch work, then I had him get in and on a bowl, then we practiced roll over and he was able to do it while I remained standing and we ended with some heel and side work. He was great with everything we practiced tonight.

Day 80

 

Hops had a long day with me. It started with nosework class at work and since the other student did not show he had an hour private lesson with me! He did an amazing job. We started with boxes with one odor out and he nailed those. Then I added kibble and zukes to one box and he completely ignored it, going right over to down at the odor box, good puppy! Next came interior hides, all high because I noticed those were more challenging for him. Not today though! I did two rounds of three hides and he did a great job and found all of them! Next I introduced him to exterior hides. He worked just like he did indoors, finding them all quickly. To end with I introduced vehicles and he did great with those as well. I started him right in front of one hide and after finding that one he started searching the car. What a great puppy! Next I took him to a park but there was no one there, so I took him to Fred Meyer and walked him around the parking lot. He did great there and in Mud Bay, sitting for the people he met. Next we went back to Dog’s World and played tug and fetch then did a bunch of recalls with toy distractions. He had some trouble with his stays as I was leading out quiet a ways but he was still able to do them and almost always made the correct choice of which side of me to come to. Most of the time I had a toy dangling in my outside hand or the toy on the floor. If the toy was in my hand I brought it to my inside and when he reached it and played with him there. If it was on the ground I did a pull or front cross and released him to it if he came with me. He was then quiet for the 1.5 hour agility class I taught then we went home for a break.

 

 

At home Taffy came over for a short play time and they had a blast running around the yard together!

 

When we went back to work Hops was perfect in the crate. He was so tired from all our playing and training he fell right asleep. After sleeping through two classes Hops had his fun and focus class. He did great with everything we did: crate games, backing to a plank, forward and lateral sends to a jump standard, automatic downs on the table, recall, run, send with a short tunnel, perch work, retrained recalls, tug, and he demoed moving downs. He then went home with Jeremiah who he said he was very well behaved for him.

Day 79

Hops once again went with us to the trial and did great. On the way home we stopped by some horses. He was afraid but was able to eat treats off the ground right in front of the horses and was literally nose to nose with one of them as he was eating the treats. I love how curious and friendly so many horses are! I definitely need to continue to socialize him to livestock. Big dogs he does great with but horses are still intimidating!

 

Before the sun went down I took Hops on a walk for a little over an hour around the neighborhood near us. He did a really good job with the cars and barking dogs. We saw some people but he only met one, Vanilla’s owner (an 8wk old cockapoo we met). He was really friendly and calm with the puppy and the owner. He also had no problem doing moving sits, downs and stands while on the walk and responded to his name well. He spent most of the time out at the end of his six foot leash, pulling very lightly on his harness but would continue to check in.

 

All the boys were tired after a long day!

Day 78

Hops had a big day today. It started with him going to the the trial again and as always he loved all the attention he received and was wonderfully behaved. After the trial Jeremiah and I took Hops to Home Depo where Hops was beautifully behaved and was petted by a 8ish year old girl with no fear. He wanted to say hello to her! Big progress! Later we took all three boys on a walk at Allen York Park in Bonney Lake. Hops was hit right away by what have been two of his biggest fears, a skate park and a little kid. The skate park was in full use and Hops noticed it as soon as he was out of the car. He stayed calm though, sat close to me while I finished putting extra layers on and watched and flinched a little at the loud clanging sounds. I gave him treats when the skateboards clanged. The trail we were head for was just past the skaters so we headed closer and I feed Hops as we went. Before we even made it to the skaters though, a little girl (3 to 4ish) spots Hops and runs straight at him! Hops did a great job, he sat and squirmed (and peed) but held his ground, did not run away. He was afraid but he wanted to greet her. She petted him and he allowed it and I gave him lots of treats! I was very proud of how he handled that, it would have been different a month ago. Next came the skaters and he has made big strides there too. He was calm and was able to walk to about 20ft away (we could not go closer because of a fence) and watch the skaters. I gave him treats at the clangs and he was able to eat them and do tricks for them. When we started heading down the trail, I could swear Hops was tracking the little girl. He was out at the end of his 20ft leash and with his nose to the ground in the middle of the trail and soon we caught up to them and walked with them for a little while. Hops was very interested in the little girl. He would walk next to her and watch her, then look back at me or come back to me for a cookie. Then he would go back out and walk next to her and stare at her again. I am not sure what he was thinking, but I know he was thinking. We left them behind after a little while and continued on our walk. Hops was very confident and spent most of his time out at the end of his leash (but nose up, not tracking anymore). He always came when I called him and I could keep him with me if I wanted to. When we reached the end of the trail and walked through neighborhoods, I kept him on a shorter leash. He handled the cars without a problem and was not afraid when a barking dog charged a chain link fence we walked past. On the way back through the woods, we took a detour off the main trail. To do so we had to cross a small (6-8ft) stream. There were logs going across it, so Jeremiah, Dillon and I crossed on the logs, Rice of course walked through the stream, and Hops remained on the other side, too afraid to cross either way. It took some encouraging, but Jeremiah and I convinced Hops to join us and he crawled across the logs to us. Good boy! On the way back he he did not think twice about crossing on the logs, but because he did not slow down he fell into the stream as soon as got on the first log. He pulled him self back up though and crossed the rest of the way without a problem. We stopped by the skaters on the way back and Hops definitely does not like them but he is doing so much better and is not afraid anymore. Good boy!

 

For dinner Hops was brushed which he was really good for, had the hair on his toes trimmed which he was fussy for, and had a training lesson which he was great at. I started with perch work and he did better than ever, then I brought out the paw pods for some shaping. He interacted with them right away but only with his front feet which he has done before. So I put all four in a line behind him knowing that would cause him to back and hopefully get his back feet on them. I clicked and treated a couple of times when he stepped on them while backing up then held out for some duration. When he had backed up and over the pods several times in a row with no click he stopped and looked me in the eye. I could just see him thinking, telling me that he backed up, why didn’t that work? Then he would try again and he would get his back paws on the pods and hold them there. Click treat! Good boy! We went through that several times before he was able to do it a little more easily. Then we did a bunch of things just a few times. Hand touches, roll, face, sit, down, stand, heel, side, front, finish, and heeling with side steps and pushes and pulls. He did a great job with everything.

Day 77

Hops went to the trial with us this morning. He was great in the car when driving and when parked and crated. He walked nicely around the parking lot with me and was even able to do stays and recalls with tugging as the reward. He said hello to a sheltie puppy, a German Shepherd puppy, a couple of springer puppies and a few calm adult dogs. He said hello to many different people, greeting those he has met before with extra enthusiasm and he spent time in other people’s arms too. He was such a cuddle bug with me at the trial. We would sit under the heaters, watching dogs run and he would just snuggle into me and relax! He is such a good puppy! On the way home from the trial I stopped by the Buckley skate park. Hops was still afraid but not as much as the first time. He was quickly able to walk around and do pushups. We walked away and played on the playground equipment then walked back and watched the kids skateboard again. I gave him a treat every time they made a loud noise and he grew more comfortable with the sounds. I am sure if we continue to condition him to skate parks he will get over it. The last stop on our way home was Pet Pros for dog food. He met a couple of small barky dogs and some new humans too. He climbed on whatever he could while we walked around and waited nicely in a down while I purchased the food.

 

I played some fetch with Hops in the bedroom, randomly rewarding every, every other, or every third retrieve and he continued to bring the ball back with enthusiasm, good boy!

Day 76

I played fetch with Hops both inside and outside before going to work today. He did a great job bringing the ball right back to me and I started to not feed him every time he brought the ball back and that did not seem to effect his retrieve.

 

Later Hops went to work with me and was perfect all day while crated. He did not make a peep today. When I had a short break he went with me to the bank and was very good, downing and waiting calmly. After all my classes were over Hops and Rice got to play with with Riser, a three month old BC and two adult female BC’s Seek and Cedar. What fun they had! This was the second time Hops and Riser have played and they wrestled and tugged and chases and played like crazy! Good puppies!

 

Day 75

Hops went to work with me today and was really good as usual. There was not much time for training at work today though he did do a short recall to heel demo. He went to the vet for another shot and was good for that. We had to wait forever for our appointment so while we waited we practiced it’s your choice while he was on the exam table and I brushed him. He was great for the vet and for the shot and did a great sit stay on the scale, weighing in at 20.5 pounds!

 

 

Hops stayed at home alone for a little while then was good for Jeremiah while the big boys and I were at agility class. We did lots of playing after I came home but little training. I did find out he needs lots of work with playing gently when there are no toys! Ouch!