4th Day of School

Driving to class, Jeff said you know that since the dogs were so good last week, they will be impossible today. I had to agree. Both dogs were wound up and racing around in the snow, before jumping into the car to head to class.

I was amazed, but Coop and Otis did really well. During the recall exercise, Cooper was distracted by the puppy class. Coop started towards the puppies, but a quick "Cooper!" got his attention refocused on me. At 4 minutes into the 5 minute down, Otis began to bark long and loud and would not be quiet.

The dog trainer spoke to a canine behaviorist about Coop's reluctance to stay down and shaking when forced into the down. The behaviorist thinks that someone was harsh in teaching Coop the down command and that we should NOT force him to lay down. The behaviorist had 2 suggestions 1) do not use "Down", but come up with a new word (lay)  for this command 2) Do not force the down, instead give Coop special treats (cheese or chicken) to get him into the down position and if Coop lays down on his own, say lay and give him a treat (to associate the down position with a positive)