Home Improvement

February 23, 2007. My improvement in obedience continues. Today when we went to the park, I was chasing the ball and running all over the place, but, each time I retrieved the ball, I came back without wavering. When I started chasing a crow, I came back as soon as Tom called, without hesitating. Tom is very happy with me.

Even better, two other dogs came onto the far end of the field and I continued my focus on Tom and the ball and ignored the other dogs completely. They kept going and did not stop to play. Finally a third dog arrived and I recognized him from a previous play day, but I still maintained my focus. It was only when the other dog came all the way over to say hello, that I surrendered to my urge to play.

We romped and played and I kept getting more and more wound up until I was over the top with excitement. At that point, the leash went back on and we came home. Not a great finish, but a drastic improvement over even a couple of weeks ago. Tom is giving me pats and loves all over the place. I am improving.

When it was time to go for breakfast, Tom tried an experiment in obedience today. This time he let me off-leash in the yard and opened the gate. I waited until he told me I could go and then I walked very gently over to the truck and sat beside the door. When Tom opened the door and told me “up”, I jumped up into the truck and off we went. I am now chowing down on a pupperoni treat as a reward for my compliance with the rules.