Life without the Internet

Thankfully dogs don't require electronic devices or batteries to use to enjoy them. Yesterday we lost our internet connection for 24 hours. After a small amount of withdrawal, I found plenty of other things to do. One of which was working on some training in front of the wood stove.

With Kota I worked on :

1. Quiet - that is something we have been working on continually. I try to leave treats in my pocket, so when I tell him to be quiet, I can pulled something out to distract him.
   
2. Leave it - I place a treat on the floor and tell him to "leave it". I often had to use my hand to keep him from eating the treat. Then I reward him if he has left it.
   
3. Down - Kota will not lay down immediately. He will sit very fast, but for some reason I don't seem to have communicated well with him in the down category.
4. Take It - Kota was able to take the frisbee without me having to put any peanut butter on it. My ultimate goal is to have him catch a frisbee one day. It's funny because many cattle dog breeds love to do it, but the only he wants to chase are cars and cows.
   

With Tanner I worked on:

1. Leave it - but his was a little more advanced more along the trick line. I placed the treat on top of his head, trying to get him to hold still for a moment until I removed it.
2. Take It - but he won't hold it for hardly a second and then he wants his treats.

With Daisy I worked on:

1. Bag - She will readily go into the bag if a treat is placed in it, but getting her to go in on command still needs alot of work.
2. Roll Over - She stills needs the hand movement over her body to get her going. I would like to get to the point of just saying the command and she starts to roll.
3. Quiet- Daisy is a frantic yelper when I come home or let her out of the laundry room in the morning. I think between Kota and her they are rewarding themselves for their behavior. I think this one thing that will take much work on my part and many different approaches.
   

We tried to get a good picture in front of the Christmas tree. This time the dogs held their place, it was the camera operator who needed a little work.

Tanner, Daisy, and Kota