Raekin spent the majority of July with amazing sitters as well as a week previewing Advanced Training at the Burnaby PADS campus. The sitters worked diligently on her settling skills, with the help of advanced dog Triton who came home to the sitters for a break from advanced training while the instructor was away. The sitters got Raekin familiar with taking her turn for training as Triton would get up from his bed to train, Raekin learned to settle when it wasn’t her turn.
In addition, Raekin also worked hard on improving mechanics for Sit, Down, and Stand, and her Heel and Side showed tremendous improvement. They trained very hard on improving her dog distraction and loose leash walking, including varying speeds, direction changes and sudden stops. They also worked on her greetings, which sometimes are overenthusiastic, and she curbed her desire to commune with the people by jumping up. She learned to rest her chin on the ground, to pick up her own leash and worked to improve her skills on nose targeting.
She had many public outings with her sitters in a wide variety of settings including grocery stores, Home Depot, Tsawwassen Mills, the hospital and more. She continues to shine when in cape.
Overall, the sitter reported a positive experience with Raekin; she demonstrated great house manners, appropriate play with other dogs, good skills and, overall, a lovely dog to have around.
Raekin had less occurrences of demand barking while with the sitters but it remains a challenge for her as she just wants to be active all the time. The sitters experienced an improvement in this behaviour over the course of her stay with them.
We continue to focus on polishing her cues as she waits for the next steps.
Advanced training location: West Coast
Submitted by: Caroline, Advanced Training Sitter
