Sit, Stay and Down, that pretty much sums up our whole repertoire... I know, we should have all kinds of cool tricks down, someday lol. However, it pleases me that Gibson is under such good voice control, it has taken little effort yet much consistency. That's dog training in a nutshell eh?
I highly recommend all dog owners have that kind of control with their pet. Good voice control is essential, truly vital, to a healthy and safe relationship with your canine companion. You and your dog can have it, but you must build it into your daily routine. What some folks don't realize, is that training is never done. I don't consider anyone or any dog officially "trained". It is ALWAYS a work in progress, hopefully it's a fun labor of love as well.
Gibson has been "Sitting" and "Staying" in multiple situations, at least eight+ times a day, on average, since the first day I owned him (at three months old). With that said, it isn't rocket-science as to why he is as good at it as he is... We won't discuss his jumping up right now though hahaha. Over the last two years, my wife and I have honed our/his skills by slowly integrating different distractions, testing his mettle with traffic, kids, other animals, etc.. When working with him, or any dog, I try to remember that it isn't ever the dog's fault. He/she can not be blamed, all issues lie with me, the owner or handler.
Now, in his most impressive moments, Gibson can sit and stay in the middle of the Medium Roll, with 20+ other hyper dogs cavorting around him. He stays, eagerly waiting until I give the command "OK!", cuing his release. I'm proud of him and happy with my follow through. Most dogs are pretty darn smart. Remember, it's us and our lack of consistency that can sometimes screw them up.
Horn tooted and thoughts out of my head for now lol! Keep you and your dog's routine tight, you can do it. I believe in all of the Fort Fido dogs and their owners!
Enjoy your weekend, get out in that sun! It's time to garden!
-Grant
Diego knows a bunch of tricks: lay down, sit, stay, speak, roll over, play dead, sit pretty, fetch specif items, crawl, turn around etc. But the distraction fiasco is a whole different thing LOL
ReplyDeleteTime to garden indeed, my yard is a mess and I hired 2 neighbor kids to do it :-D
Happy Friday
Wow, way to go you two! You will have to show us some of those tricks in the lobby sometime :)
ReplyDeleteYes, the distractions are hard.
Good idea to hire the neighbor kids lol. Then you can just do the fun parts hahaha!
-Grant