It's time.... time to do do the christmas can-can

Anyone else out there feeling like this??? Holy crap, I'm not ready for Christmas to be less then 1 week away!!!

On other news, my brindle boy has decided to knock off all the crap he pulled on Sunday. The last 2 days he's been much more 'normal'. Normal, that is, for a Dutch Shepherd. I can't promise that any of you reading this that don't have DIRECT experience with the breed can fathom what normal is when you live with a Dutch... but it's entertaining to say the least.

This morning, as I was getting ready for work I looking into my bedroom and saw my 3 yr old, cuddling with Koenig. Naked. Yeah... that is my life. "Hey!! Go put your clothes on!"Naked 3 yr old aside, it was nice to see. Koenig was loving the attention, rolling over on his back for more pets. He wouldn't have done that on Sunday, I PROMISE. The kids have been under tight supervision with the dog the past few days, but I slipped up this morning. :/ All was well though.

Koe's still been getting more exercise then normal. Hard and fast fetch with a ball or his Kong frisbee in the mornings before work. (that sucks... I've been working early, and I'm NOT a morning person!) As always, any game of fetch isn't simply a game. We do position changes, recalls, and long distance commands during all of this. His stand is getting better, and fairly solid after 20 minutes of fetch. When we first start, he's too fuzzy in the brain (BALLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) to hear the not so subtle difference between Steh and Sitz. Dang dog.

I LOVE asking Koenig for a sit/down/stand, and throwing the ball. Wait for it to stop rolling, and give Koenig our mark 'Yes!'.  He BOLTS for the ball, and when he's about 1/2 way there I recall him. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love watching him slam on the brakes and return to me. :) My last dog, that I trained, loved, and played with for 14 years NEVER had a recall like this. I worked and worked and worked. In training his recall was very nice, but when it really counted (neighbors cat,for example) it was gone. If Kramer had something better to do, then he'd be back when he was done, and there was nothing you could do (short of chasing after him) to change it.

It would look something like this...



I've worked hard on Koenig's recall, and love watching him. This is one reason I really hate the change of attitude he had on Sunday. I have a good relationship with my dog. He loves me, I love him. He trusts me, and enjoys being with me. I don't use a lot of compulsion in my training, and I'd like to use even less then I currently do. I need to refine my marker training, and my timing. As it is, he can handle a significant correction without shutting down, and tuning me out. I don't want to ruin that as I crack down on his house manners.

Today, he's only in his flat collar (normally he does not even wear this in the house) and a 8'' tab. I've not needed to 'correct' him, verbally or with a collar pop at all this evening. All he's needed is several reminders to take his stuffed kong back to his bed. Not a big deal. If I tell him to go back to his bed, and he does not INSTANTLY take his striped butt to his bed, I'll take him there. It's working out well. The additional exercise (2x as much fetch... still not as much as he REALLY needs, but it's what I can manage right now! He should have at least a 3 mile jog/bike daily... that's not going to happen right now though) Tonight we did our basic stuff in the house, after our 1st bout of fetch that left his tongue permanently hanging out of his mouth for quite a while. We brought out the touchpad, and worked on PERFECT Fuss, Heir's, and trying to get out position changes (sit, down, stand) stationary, because he's gotten quite mobile in these. We're backing up a few steps, and trying to clarify some of our training as well as our manners in the house! :D


Tracking. I need to track. A lot. Recently, at training, we had a breakthrough and got Koenig back on track... haha. Literally though, he'd been cheating, and lifting his head (using his eyes) to find the food/article ahead. We fixed this by my genius training director suggesting that we try blindfolding him. We worked into this slowly over 2 weeks, just doing some basic OB in the blindfold, getting him comfortable. He already had a good bond with me, and trusted me so that was a nice headstart. Blindfold went on, and Viola! Koenig TRACKED, like he SHOULD! It was amazing. Anyways, tracking is not my favorite, and we put it off. Hopefully we'll get back into good habits soon, it's just so dang hard to start those good habits this week. The week before christmas is traditionally one of the busiest times at a Grooming shop, and while the pat 2 days have not been unbearable at all, it's still been busy. Soon. Soon, we will track.