Russell is very excited about working on the skills that our puppy class supervisor, Heather Kidd, has chosen for the virtual training we’ve had to move into, in order to comply with social distancing.
We started with “bed” – going to the dog bed when given that command. Then we added distractions. (Linus is ALWAYS a distraction, because he wants to share the kibble!) Then we worked on “leaving reinforcement and going to bed” – which is SO hard for a food-motivated Labrador!
The next variation was “doorbell as a cue to bed”. This one is going to be super important, and Russell has almost got it down pat in the practice sessions. The real doorbell rang recently, and he stayed put on the dog bed for his kibble reward, instead of checking out the front door!
Russell and Linus want to say, “thank-you” to our front-line health care workers! Tomorrow will be a different world, but a better world!
Submitted By: Wendy Proudlock
