Bronze - Part I
We have continued the training and there is some real improvement - Toby is walking nicely to heel now, which isn’t to say that he doesn’t occasionally pull, nor that he isn’t slightly distracted by other dogs, or people, or anything which could be reasonably thought of as potentially distracting - but it’s definitely better. Let’s just leave it there… Until last Monday he was doing brilliantly and I was starting to think he would soon be ready for the bronze exam but unfortunately my friend Jacqui let him bite her all weekend so he’s regressed back to unruly puppy stage - it didn’t help that I was quite busy on Monday and it was wet so he didn’t go outside and I sort of forgot to take him for a walk. Generally he’s pretty good and can do most of what is required. It’s just that he gets distracted by the naughty dogs (cockers) and, like me, thinks that a minute is far too long a time to stay still when there’s so many more interesting things to do.
Current Rating
- Sitting still by my side - v good
- Recall - excellent, unless small children or dogs around outside, pretty good in class
- Heel - generally good
- Sit - good
- Down - not really unless there’s a treat involved
- Wait - excellent
- Ignoring other dogs - fantastic if I dangle a treat in front of his nose, less so if I don’t
As a group we have decided to do another six week session and go for bronze at the end of this. As long as I can keep Jacqui away and remember to walk him I think we should be okay…