Today Sherman and owner handler Carol Watson of Ramsey, obtained an AKC Canine Good Citizenship and Therapy Dog International Certificates. They have been training with me and I am very proud of this accomplishment. Now Carol and Sherman will be able to make visits to hospitals and nursing homes in the area bringing joy and happiness to all that meet him. See a picture of Sherman in the photo gallery. 

Buck is progressing well. On the Come When Called exercise he responds well to his name and comes to the caller fast, the problem, Buck will run past the caller. We began to call at a close distance. 2-3 feet. This way we are focusing on the sit/front. 
Buck is in seated position and attentive. He is told to wait. The owner steps out with her right leg about 2-3 feet in front of Buck. When ready Jennifer calls out Bucks name, then quick the command Come. Jennifer steps back several steps. She has time to take the collar under the muzzle and say Sit/front left hand on the rear. Buck's head is up developing eye contact and Jennifer praises Buck. The short recall distance teaches Buck to come directly to and sit. He does not have the opportunity to run by. Use the lead to guide.

Also today we began to teach Buck the take hold and give with the training bell. Buck is in seated position, holding the bell with the right hand, say "Take It" if he opens his mouth that is great, if not just open his mouth and insert the bell dowel behind the canines. Then say "Hold" and praise. Each time you say HOLD place one hand on top of the muzzle and the other below and gently press. Each time you praise release the muzzle. Be careful the dog does not drop it. Keep the head up and the dog must be attentive and settled. If the dog drops it just say AH AH and simply begin again. After several times saying HOLD command "Give". Then gently the the ends of the bell and gently take it. Then Praise. Repeat many times.

Both are coming along nicely. Training is key between lessons. Even if it is only for 10 minutes. Any review of the lessons is better than none.

Proper heeling or controlled walking is still a challenge better when there are no or limited distractions. Continue to teach proper position, walking on a loose lead, correcting faults with lead, give voice praise and encouragement.

L pattern train for consistency in heeling, teaching circles, turns and when halting sits. Work on eye contact and attention skills. Its work.

Come When Called was reviewed. We want our dogs to be responsive to their names, come directly to you and sit in front to accept praise. Working on lead teaching them to sit/wait, then call out their name. If they do not respond gently pull on lead to teach proper response then hand signal and Come Command and guide them into a sit/front and praise. 

Also began reverse recall with Neo and Come Forths.

Reivew Down/Wait/Sit ( began sit signal with Neo) and Stand/Wait/Sit 

Took Maxine (Boxer) and for the first time she placed her front legs up on my van to get into her kennel. As I placed her in she seemed fine. Her ride to Ramsey town was great. She laid and was relaxed. Usually, she would have been apprehensive. 

I walked her through the town of Ramsey and implemented formal obedience training skills during her walk. She sat an accepted praise and petting from some youngsters. She handled the noises and area fine. 

She is on her way being more confident away from her owner Michael and Judy. Good lesson!

Maxine is attached to her owner Mike. We are working on separation anxiety issue today. She was outside by her bed and Mike and I were inside talking. Maxine could see us and of course she began to get upset and started barking. I opened the slider door and verbally corrected her , went to her and got her to sit/settle, holding her head and looked in at her as if to say all is fine. Be confident. 

I began heeling with him and he did nicely. At times he looked like a little show dog. Every time he forges or faults gently correct him with the lead and praise with uplifting voice tone to get his attention back to business. Pat the side of your leg to teach proper position. When he is too silly just sit and settle and begin again. Right turns and Right about turns are more difficult because you are walking away from the dog. So we need to teach him to bend to us as we make the right. Attention is so important. 

All the hard work training pays off with my pal German Shepard Mei Mei. There was a sidewalk sale this afternoon in Ridgewood today and so many people were walking and shopping on the sidewalks. I took Mei Mei there to train. We walked the entire town up one side and and back down the other side off lead. Mei Mei walked with me at heel position. She minded me and her business. She sat, laid down or stood and every corner listening to my commands. She waited nicely when people wanted to say hello. I am so happy and proud of her and I thank Dave Stapinski who trusts me to train and do brush up lessons with her. 

Its nice when Neo is learning the walk properly and its challenging when Neo looses focus and becomes distracted by smells and noises. Just have fun teaching him and work the training process. When is can not back into focus or attention. Stop sit him and begin the Stand/Wait/Sit exercise or the Down/Wait/Sit exercise. This will bring him back into focus. Practice heeling 15 minutes a day.He is a typical puppy and although we are teaching him and he needs to learn be patient and do not get fustrated.

The new exercise is the Come When Called or Recall: The dog is in seated heel position and attentive. Command “WAIT”, with right palm hand signal by the dogs eyes and place tension on the lead with the left hand. Step out with your right foot and walk to the end of the lead. With the lead in your left hand, call your dog’s name firmly while you pop the lead towards you. After the dog gets up, step backwards say "Good Boy" and command “COME”. PRAISE while the dog trots directly to you. Use the lead to teach your dog to come directly to you   When within arms reach command “SIT FRONT". With your right hand hold the collar under the muzzle and guide it upward while your left hand places the dog into a sit as you command “SIT/FRONT”. Then PRAISE. Eye contact.

Every time we want the dog to respond to it’s name immediately.

Every time when called we want the dog to trot smartly and attentively to you.

If the dog breaks the wait do not correct, simply call the dog to you.

Always use uplifting voice tones and praise.

Always encourage our dog to come to you as we want our dog to be happy to be with you. 

Practice this exercise 5-6 times per set.

Trained him yesterday. He is doing similar to Neo the Chocolate Lab. Began with heeling and the little guy begins to pull and he wants to go his way. With simple corrections with the lead and voice tone corrections and encouragement, he starts to pay attention and walks properly. If he becomes too far out of control, especially for the client he needs to be seated, focus and begin again. Suggested about 15-20 minutes heeling practice a day, breaking up the time.

Also reviewed Stand/Wait/Sit exercise. Neo is more willing to wait in place than Buck but Im sure Buck will catch on.

Then reviewed the Down/Wait/Sit exercise. Buck does well for the client on this one better than the other two. Began to teach the down with right hand signal.

I'll be seeing Neo for his forth lesson later this morning.

Neo had a good lesson yesterday.. Began with Stand/Wait/Sit exercises. Of course working on attention and eye contact skills. Next step: After the "Wait" Command left hand on rear. We want him to hold the standing position. He tried to sit. Quickly command correction, UHUH and place left hand under tummy. Positive Preventative Training. After a couple of times he did not fault. Learning to wait. ** Reviewed the DownWait/Sit. He did well. Next step. Slightly place left and right legs out. Hold in place with left hand on the wither. Then right hand signal while commanding DOWN and gently place down. He will begin to learn to move his legs on command. Praise then Wait, and Sit. ** Heeling was more difficult as he wanted to pull and lag. Using the lead and voice tone, teach him to walk together as a team. After two to three corrections with lead sit him and begin again. Focus. Thursday is his ne