Puppy Push Ups

Since switching to kibble I've been able to squeeze more training time into our schedule. Before each meal we do some sits and downs for kibble. He came to me with a default sit, but now he's connecting the verbal cue to his behavior. The casual observer might think he also knows the verbal cue down down, but he doesn't. He's guessing. I'm ok with that though :) We've done a lot of puppy push ups (sit, down, sit, down, sit, down, etc.), so when he's sitting, if some noise comes out of my mouth and no treats are delivered Porter knows to try something else and at the moment that something else is a down. I could be saying "pickles" and he would still lie down. But what I like is he's thinking, he's trying to figure out how to get his reward, and since he's predictable, I can give him the verbal cue right before he does the behavior and help make that association. No luring needed in this situation, but I will still lure at other times, like when he's distracted.

Last Wednesday I took Porter to my boss's puppy kindergarten class. Although he's come to the puppy k classes I teach twice already, this was the first time where I was able to give him all of my attention. He did a wonderful job, especially with tugging with me close to the other puppies. He was very fond of Chloe, a Golden Retriever.

On Saturday Porter had another fun day with me at work. Before my puppy kindergarten classes started we walked around and hung out with the beginning agility class. Most of these are young dogs so I practiced standing in class near them with Porter relaxing by me. I was impressed that he would lie down and settle even when the other dogs were eager to say hi.

During my classes I took him out of his ex-pen several times to be the demo dog. He loved coming out to work but also had no problem going back in his pen so I could give individual puppies more attention.  During the first playtime he was a little stiff but more relaxed than last week. For the second playtime he corrected another pup would was too much in his face. I think at this point he was getting overtired since he was awake for most of the morning (last week he slept through the majority of both classes). I might need to just skip his playtime during the second class if it's going to be too much for him. I don't want him developing bad habits.

He also had a chance to meet a lot of adult dogs who are in our more advanced classes. He really loved Sandy's Dalmatian, Kylie, who's still young herself and quite a pistol. I thought he'd be nervous, and he was a little, but quickly warmed up to her. Once he gets more size he'll love romping around and wrestling together. All of the adult dogs he meet that afternoon were very nice to him and he was completely comfortable around them.

Before we left Gabriella took us over to the tunnel to try him out. we shortened it and he went through without a problem so little by little she made it longer. Pretty much instantly he would grab his treat and then turn around and go through the other way. I loved that he was offering the behavior on his own without me
making any gestures or movements towards the tunnel.

On Sunday we had a BBQ which Porter pretty much just slept through :) When he was awake he was given a lot of attention by our guests and their children.

One thing I've noticed that I need to keep an eye on is he seems a bit fearful when out walking at night. He often pauses and looks around before quickly walking forward again. His ears look like they are held back, too. On the way home he tries to run and pull the whole way, but if you know me you'll guess I don't let this happen. He's such a quick learner and has already figured out that when I stop he needs to walk back towards me before we can move forward again. Last night he started pulling again, but then tromped through from plants, peed, and was a lot less anxious. So I think it might be two fold...he is probably nervous in the darkness and with the noises (esp. the barking dogs) and he might not know where he can pee and needs to get home to go. He has no problem pooping while on walks though. During the day he is much more at ease but still doesn't see quite relaxed when walking outside of our cul-de-sac. He's perfectly fine at the two parks we've been to. I just need to get him out and about even more but not push him.