Day three was dismal. The good news is that both dogs actually did their best to refrain from jumping on the gate. They did pretty well…but that was about the only thing they did well!
*sigh*
I knew these guys would be a challenge. We worked on gates, off, leash manners, and putting on and taking off the collar and leash. Back to square one on everything. Very dismal.
Dog “B” gets that she is a good dog when she sits and looks at me so the frequency of that behavior has increased. Both dogs still push and rush in–they jump and nudge as they compete for attention. They still don’t get that it doesn’t work as they only get the desired attention when they are calm and cooperative–not frenzied.
I can only imagine that the behavior has worked for them over the past 18 months of their lives and so it is going to take a while to extinguish. They need 45 minutes to an hour of exercise to come down to a normal level.
They both have serious issues when together. Once they “learn to learn” I’ll have to work them separately so that they can advance. Right now I work them individually on the clicker/whistle training but together on the day to day activities such as going in and out of gates, feeding, crating, etc., because that is how their home life is.
On Day Three we had a short session because they were doing so poorly I thought it best to end early and try again another day. Still I was these a couple of hours.
Ups and downs are predicatable in some training situations but I really hoped for some forward movement from these guys. Normal dogs would have learned much more already…I never get normal dogs into boot camp–only those that are really tough.
So, I am off to see them again–hoping for the best.
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