Happy has done a great jump forward again. I feed him now with stuffed KOngs, it took him a while to figure it out, but his retrieve improved LOTS. He finds (at home) a my-scented object out of 20 now -and brings it over. He is more playful, so at last we did the "101" things, with smaller objects he would not be afraid of.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Go To Mat	6	2	0	100%	Yes
Trick	6	3	0	100%	Yes

It has been a long timwe since Iīve been here. Well, working abput 60-70 h/week does not give you great possibilities of dog training … but weīve worked hard on the Stand – Stay, Sit-Stay and Down-Stay, building up time and distnace (following the scheme by Morgan Spector).

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Stand	4	30	2	93%	Yes
Trick	6	4	0	100%	Yes

I really donīt know whether we have accomplished Leash Manners Level 6, but as nobody answered my question, I think it will be all right … anyway, they behaved so splendidly with this other barking mad dog, I do not think it can get better

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Leash Manners	6	2	0	100%	Yes

we are so much happier with the "soft retrieve"...

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Jump, High	5	3	0	100%	Yes
Target	7	5	0	100%	Yes

Tarik did all the plan for the day – sending around two poles without changing direction, figure 8 around two poles with a belgian and a japanese change (no problems there), jumping one low hurdle, jumping two low hurdles- calling him over, running by on both sides and sending him over (straight away and angled). Tarik enjoyed it a lot, and we were having big fun.

Then, I changed dogs. Happy was as always a bit slow to start with, but at least, trotting and not walking around the poles. Then I took out the chew-me rope. After the fluffy bone, it is his second favourite to play chase with (well, to tell the truth, he plays chase only with these toys).

To my surprise, Happy really woke up. He started running after the toy, really eager to catch it. I let him catch it several times, clicked and gave him a treat as he touched it with his nose. He did not take it, but he was so … donīt know, playful, keen to get it, really wide awake, tail wagging. We did the hurdles with it as well – I showed him the rope, the jump, threw the rope over and he ran after it. Tarik volunteered in bringing the rope back. At the last try, Happy PICKED IT UP AND BROUGHT IT BACK. He lost it over the jump, turned, picked it up and carried it over to me. He got a big jackpot, lots of praise and we finished, because that was the best moment he had the whole day, adn I wanted him to finish with a feeling of being clever and strong and fast and not with a feeling of being overworked. But he wanted to go on, he hopped around me and invited me to play. I let him rush over to Bagīs End to look out for cats, he loves to do that. It had started raining as well, I donīt know whether it was because of the rainhe was so eager? He was so much fun to "work" with, we really enjoyed training.

I keep on asking him holding objects in his mouth a bit longer. He holds nicely the fluffy bone, the chew-me rope, the big rubber bone, and in the evening, Iīll ask him to take the flat rubber bone. After that, weīll switch to wood and then to metal. Letīs see how it works. But I think if he still makes a disgusted face holdng metal, Iīll leave that metal affair. I can always restart in the future, if necessary – and as long he does a more or less reliable retrieve with softer objects, and enjoys it, thatīs enough for me.

We did the target test level 3 = OTR level 5, too.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Target	5	3	0	100%	Yes

Yard full with dogs (5-6) and there were cats sitting up in the trees and in hiding places. Extremely distracting surroundings for Happy.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Jump, Broad	6	4	0	100%	Yes
Target	6	3	0	100%	Yes

As I was taking them on a nice long walk, I thought it would be a good possibility to test some behaviours

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Down	7	2	0	100%	Yes
Heel	7	2	0	100%	Yes
Sit Stay	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Stand	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Stand Stay	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Watch	7	2	0	100%	Yes
Zen	6	2	0	100%	Yes

I decided to do rthe scenting test today. I do not bleieve he indicate better, and he is very certain about which object to look for.

Yesterday and today, we worked on scent discrimination and retrieve. The scent disvcrimination is really very good by now. We tried yesterday 3x and today 4x, no errors, 1 out of 12. If I fail to acknowledge his first indication, Happy repeats emphasizing his indication – he looks at me, wags his tail, noses the object again, looks at me, wags his tail, noses the object and pushes it a bit or opens his mouth when touching it. Very clear communication now!! Retrieving is fine with his fluuffy bone, the rubber bone and the yellow toy bone, but he does have difficulties with the wooden dumbell. Even metal is easier! I keep on shaping and click him for going over, and then every touch with the muzzle. Yesterday, he even picked it up and carried it a bit. Today, he mouthed it but didnīt grab. Well, weīll keep on trying.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Retrieve	5	8	0	0
Scenting	6	0	7	0	100%

Happy had a bad day. Very anxious and nervous. Still, he performed not too bad, but he did not radiate fun … at least, he still ate treats, thatīs something.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Come	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Crate	6	2	0	100%	Yes
Down	6	4	0	100%	Yes
Down Stay	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Finish	6	2	0	100%	Yes
Front	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Handling	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Jump, High	6	6	1	83%	Yes
Leash Manners	6	2	0	100%	Yes
Sit	6	5	0	100%	Yes
Sit Stay	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Watch	6	4	0	100%	Yes

We did: 1 out of 5 – he hit the right one 5 times in a row, indicating clearly, although still he varies a bit – sometimes he just lowers his head, than he lowers and mouthes it, one time he really hitit with his nose and the stick rolled just to my feet. Impressive! REtreiving: he retrieves his fluffy toy bone quit happily. Sometimes, he drops it, but he picks it up again. I tried with another bone, but he was not so interested in it and lost concentration. So I gave him a rest and asked him (a bit later) again to retrieve the fluffy bone, which he did eagerly.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Retrieve	5	0	10	3	70%		25.0 ft
Scenting	5	0	5	0	100%

Well, that was easy. I was sitting in my chair, Hppy on his mat and hoping for something nice to eat … so I asked Happy (is to say, gave the cue), Happy thought about it, got up wagging his tail, went straight over and touched the target spot at the door… the very interestng thing about this is that I never before asked him to do it without showing him the target spot and I never sat in the chair.

Happy was jumping out of his skin when we started training – we havenīt trained very much the last weeks, as I had lots of work. He hopped back and forth faster then ever, and his tail was rotating that it surely added some propelling effect!!

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Target	5	0	20	4	80%		14.0 ft

Itīs a rainy and stormy day. so i decided to to the Sit Stay / Down Stay at home. My father sat at the deak as controller, I put the dogs into the Sit / Down, went out and closed the door. My father watched the dogs and clicked when the time was over. I started with Tarik, but after the first round Happy volunteered and I did the rest with both of them together. Tarik needs a bit of distance to Happy, though, so I laid out two blankets on the floor (we do not have carpets and the floor is hard and cold).

Now the problem: We are working on building up distance, that is especially difficult with "stand". Down he does on a distance of about 120’ (using the whistle), and a Sit about 60’ – if Iīm too far away, he often lies down or when he is sitting, folds his front paws back, that means that he is a bit anxious. He sits with his front paws like this /_ (the sign "/" is the fornt leg, the "_" is the paw folded back).

Stand is incredibly difficult for him to understand. I tried a leash, I tried to keep him behind a gate, but he gets very nervous and excited and tries to jump over it. When he is beside me, he stands either on voice or hand cue alone (just 1 cue necessary), and he stands from heeling on hand signal or voice signal (as long as I stay with him).

So what I tried now was to ask him to a stand, I step back, wait maybe half a second, click, go back and feed him right there on the spot. I build the distance Iīm stepping beack up to 5’ by now, and he stands there, relaxed, tail a bit low, but wagging, one ear pricked up (he canīt prick the other). Itīs more a Stand Stay then actually standing up, but I hope when he sees that he gets reward for standing in distance heīll get calmer and will respond better to the stand signal. Kind of splitting the exercise: 1) stand up 2) stand in distance and then joining the two parts together.

We havenīt been to the stables for about 6 months. There were at least 6 dogs running around, 5 cats, horses… lots of distractions.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Contacts	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Distance	5	8	2	75%	Yes
Go To Mat	5	2	0	100%	Yes
Retrieve	5	9	0	100%	Yes
Scenting	5	3	0	100%	Yes
Stand	5	5	0	100%	Yes
Stand Stay	5	2	0	100%	Yes
Trick	5	4	0	100%	Yes
Watch	5	3	0	100%	Yes
Zen	5	2	0	100%	Yes

Happyīs target is still a wobbly.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Scenting	5	0	10	1	90%

Well, that seems like a double test, but actually I did "Crate" in the morning" and "Got to Mat" in the evening. Crate: Poor Happy got a bath, I put towels in his crate and let him in there, so he would dry nicely. He went to sleep, when I opened the door, he still slept, so I put the treat right beside him. He does not like bathing at all and he behaves so well. "Mat": he wanted to rush out and to bark, I told him to go to his mat. He went. After 30 min, I let him put and there was a cat in the garden! Great!

Sue Eh?" I do feel a ashamed of me. Why do I behave so silly?? Well, at least no harm was done. I have to remeber: WYCIWYG. What you click is what you get. My head knows it, but my heart not always.

I will start scneting again – with paper plates.

For retrieving, well, tug-of-war and running and playing isnīt retrieve, thatīs true. But he enjoys it a lot, and I believe itīs a good pre-exercise to retrieving for him. I played today tug-of-war with him, and he was so great: his eyes were SHINING, he cocked his head, he held head and tail high … he jumped and chased that toy bone and went after it and started throwing it up into the air. OK, I admit that for retrieve, thatīs not the right thing. But he loves it, and maybe it will open some doors in his mind.

Thought we might "test" our grooming session. I do not have a special grooming table, but I prepare the desk with a plastic table cloth etc. Then I do some brushing and cutting and clipping etc. Luckily, it all grows back!

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Crate	6				Yes
Go To Mat	6				Yes
Handling	6	1	0	100%	Yes

After the success with Tarik, I tried with Happy. I made it easy, starting with 1 stick (success 100%, mouthing) and 2 sticks (4x, no errors, mouthing). Then I took 3 sticks. The first tinme, he hopped around them, sniffed and pawed each one, then decided to bring the right one (he let it drop, but that doesnīt matter). he got a really nice big treat. The second time, he hoped even more and mouthed the right one. The third time, he was just hopping and doing nonsense, not even trying to sort out the sticks. Then he wagged his tail, lied down on the floor, looked hopefully at me and then got up and went out of the kitchen, peeping around the corner like saying "Hey, look at me, am I not clever?". He didnīt seem anxious, just playful and with a glint (or a grin?) of mischief in his eye. I really had the impression that he was just looking whether he could make me give him treat for free. So I took the sticks away and clickered Morito making Sit and Down (he has passed level 1, but as he is a rescue dog, I do not include him in this tracker).

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Scenting	4	0	9	1	89%

As he had so much fun yesterday, today I started another tug-of-war game. He was very eager and really fought (well, in Happyīs terms) for his bone toy. He got a treat for giving back adn I threw it away. He rushed after it like a hurricane, jumped on it, grabbed it and pranced back, crossing his front paws, head and tail up, really proud. He got a pigīs paw as jackpot. Never seen such a HAPPY Happy.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Retrieve	5	1	0	0			15.0 ft

We did an rally-O novice course (level 1) without leash

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Finish	5	6	0	100%	Yes
Front	6	4	0	100%	Yes
Heel	7	1	0	100%	Yes
Watch	5	1	0	100%	Yes

We started scenting. Happy did fine (1 out of 3, 5 times) but he indicated very playfully and a bit, donīt know, fuzzy, pawing a lot and hopping around. He started mouthing the sticks, too, so I thought maybe he would like to retrieve. So I took out his fluffy toy bone and played a bit tug-of-war, clicking every time he held it a bit stronger. He won and held it so I could take out a treat, then he delivered it into my hand, took the treat and we played again. He was very eager, jumping up and down and grabbing the bone, so I threw it away. Happy really started after it, took it and came back, head + tail held high, prancing and really proud of himself. We repeated this lovely game and then he got his jackpot. It was the first time he ever played "tug-of-war" with me.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Retrieve	5	0	2	0	100%		15.0 ft
Scenting	5	0	5	0	100%
Stand	4	0	1	0	100%		5.0 ft

Monthly nail check done.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Crate	5	2	0	100%	Yes
Go To Mat	5	1	0	100%	Yes
Handling	7	1	0	100%	Yes

After our meeting on the training field, we went for a short walk on the beach. I thought I could as well do his test…

No behaviors tested

We went for a little walk just after our meeting. I thought Happy might do his test as well.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Come	4	4	0	100%	Yes
Contacts	5	2	0	100%	Yes
Crate	4	1	0	100%	Yes
Distance	4	2	0	100%	Yes
Down	4	4	0	100%	Yes
Down Stay	4	4	0	100%	Yes
Finish	5	3	0	100%	Yes
Front	5	3	0	100%	Yes
Go To Mat	4	2	0	100%	Yes
Handling	4	2	0	100%	Yes
Heel	5	2	0	100%	Yes
Leash Manners	4	2	0	100%	Yes
Sit	4	5	0	100%	Yes
Sit Stay	4	2	0	100%	Yes
Stand	4	3	0	100%	Yes
Stand Stay	4	2	0	100%	Yes
Target	4	2	0	100%	Yes
Trick	4	1	0	100%	Yes
Watch	4	2	0	100%	Yes
Zen	4	2	0	100%	Yes

Happy was enjoying himself.

Behavior	Level	Total Reps	Errors	Success Rate	Passed
Come	5	2	0	100%	Yes
Heel	6	3	0	100%	Yes
Stand Stay	4	2	0	100%	Yes

Standing gets better. I can lure him now and he stands up, moving his hind quarters 10/10. The movement is much more fluent and seems easier on him now. If I ask a stand like before (hand cue), he still stands up walking forward. Yesterday, he was out in the garden, barking, he stodd there and had apparently just moved forward, because a hind paw folded back. As I was watching him, he lifted the paw and corrected the position.

Behavior	Level	Uncued Reps	Cued Reps	Cued Errors	Success Rate	Duration	Distance
Stand	3	0	15	0