Look how far we've come my dayton
Dayton and I have come a long way in our training. We are now in the training/testing phase which is prooving to be harder for me than it is for Dayton.
I know that he knows all he needs to know to be successful, and now I have to be sure that he understands that he is the active guide and I am just the navigator. I now need to be sure that even if I try to push him left/right, he will stay on the sidewalk, he will find the up curb in the street and he will find the most safe and effective route. I have done all of this before, it is just a matter of being sure he understands.
Yesterday on our walk, I tried to push him into the street at a down curb without saying forward, and he refused, I tried to veer off of the sidewalk and he corrected me. He knows his job, and it is time for me to accept that he knows and that I no longer have to question his judgment.
Last night, we had no choice but to walk down a somewhat busy road without a sidewalk, and he hugged the left curb perfectly, found the crossing and indicated when the sidewalk picked up again. He is a very smart kid!
He has prooven to be eager to learn all there is to learn of the ins and outs of traffic, too. Earlier on, I taught him that he was to refuse to go into the street if there was traffic coming in our purpindicular line, but this week, he has been taught much more intensive training including when he should back up, when he should stop and when he should continue with the crossing. I cannot find the words to describe the pride that comes with watching a dog do his job so well and knowing we got here together. It will only continue to go up from here!
I know that he knows all he needs to know to be successful, and now I have to be sure that he understands that he is the active guide and I am just the navigator. I now need to be sure that even if I try to push him left/right, he will stay on the sidewalk, he will find the up curb in the street and he will find the most safe and effective route. I have done all of this before, it is just a matter of being sure he understands.
Yesterday on our walk, I tried to push him into the street at a down curb without saying forward, and he refused, I tried to veer off of the sidewalk and he corrected me. He knows his job, and it is time for me to accept that he knows and that I no longer have to question his judgment.
Last night, we had no choice but to walk down a somewhat busy road without a sidewalk, and he hugged the left curb perfectly, found the crossing and indicated when the sidewalk picked up again. He is a very smart kid!
He has prooven to be eager to learn all there is to learn of the ins and outs of traffic, too. Earlier on, I taught him that he was to refuse to go into the street if there was traffic coming in our purpindicular line, but this week, he has been taught much more intensive training including when he should back up, when he should stop and when he should continue with the crossing. I cannot find the words to describe the pride that comes with watching a dog do his job so well and knowing we got here together. It will only continue to go up from here!