I had an unexpected day off this morning, so since I had some errands to do in town anyhow, I decided to pack up Kash and spend the time I would have spent with a client doing some training. I took his breakfast with me, and he spent a half-hour working for his meals at PetSmart.
It was his first time going to PetSmart, which isn't a big deal, really, as he's used to going to lots of new places, but it was a great place to really work on some of his skills. We practiced heeling through all of the aisles, past dog food, toys, and people. There were no dogs present during the half-hour we stayed there, which I was hoping there would be, but we still had a great time. He did really well with his heeling routine, stayed with me, sat promptly, and paid attention to direction changes. Eye contact (which I am working on increasing when he's in heel position) is coming along nicely!
We practiced two sit- and down-stays each from a distance, which he did really well, he didn't get up at all, even when people walked past next to him or behind him.
I'm convinced it was "Take your child-under-5 to PetSmart" day today,because the store was crawling with young children! While it made things a little interruptive at times, training-wise, (if the children weren't approaching on their own, their parents were obviously bringing their children over to visit and/or stop and watch) it was a GREAT opportunity to finesse Kash's comfort around children. He did awesome. Spectacular, in fact. He didn't show any discomfort with any children, had a great time showing off his tricks, and had an even better time taking treats from the little ones. He didn't even get upset when an 18-month old boy ate the treat he was supposed to give to Kash!! We all had a great laugh over that!
I sometimes forget that Kash is still very much a teen, as he has so few "that's not MY dog" days, but when I remind myself that he's still socially immature, I remember how proud of him I really am! Today was just an awesome training day all around. I look forward to our next training session there, I'll be scoping out a time when there are hopefully some dogs present, so we can work around them!
After his long training session we came home and "relaxed" by throwing the ball around. Can't ya tell he was all tired out?!?!?!
It was his first time going to PetSmart, which isn't a big deal, really, as he's used to going to lots of new places, but it was a great place to really work on some of his skills. We practiced heeling through all of the aisles, past dog food, toys, and people. There were no dogs present during the half-hour we stayed there, which I was hoping there would be, but we still had a great time. He did really well with his heeling routine, stayed with me, sat promptly, and paid attention to direction changes. Eye contact (which I am working on increasing when he's in heel position) is coming along nicely!
We practiced two sit- and down-stays each from a distance, which he did really well, he didn't get up at all, even when people walked past next to him or behind him.
I'm convinced it was "Take your child-under-5 to PetSmart" day today,because the store was crawling with young children! While it made things a little interruptive at times, training-wise, (if the children weren't approaching on their own, their parents were obviously bringing their children over to visit and/or stop and watch) it was a GREAT opportunity to finesse Kash's comfort around children. He did awesome. Spectacular, in fact. He didn't show any discomfort with any children, had a great time showing off his tricks, and had an even better time taking treats from the little ones. He didn't even get upset when an 18-month old boy ate the treat he was supposed to give to Kash!! We all had a great laugh over that!
I sometimes forget that Kash is still very much a teen, as he has so few "that's not MY dog" days, but when I remind myself that he's still socially immature, I remember how proud of him I really am! Today was just an awesome training day all around. I look forward to our next training session there, I'll be scoping out a time when there are hopefully some dogs present, so we can work around them!
After his long training session we came home and "relaxed" by throwing the ball around. Can't ya tell he was all tired out?!?!?!
(Yes, that's my boy Kash....at least 4' off the ground....)
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