I feel good about my session with Ivan on Tuesday. We had some good talk about both Trigger and Cannon before getting down to business with Trigger. We did work on the "four point sit-stay":
1. Trigger in a sit beside me
2. I move to in front of Trigger
3. I tell Trigger to stay and walk away
4. I crouch down in the place I have walked to.
Eventually I say okay and call him. Honestly, the part he struggles with the most is the coming to me at the end. We practiced it inside and outside and he did this a couple times. Once inside I was calling him and he decided that laying in the kitchen was more fun. I was directed to pull out the leash and gently get that on him to lead him back to where I expect him to be.
The other thing we worked on was adding structure to Trigger's play and I was encouraged to work with him with a ball (as it would be easier to carry with me as a focus aid) as well as his Frisbee work. Trigger is now getting much better at chasing down a thrown object and then actually bringing it back to me.
Today was actually a day where I can say things felt *good*. We had a nice walk this morning where he was wagging his tail at the strangers we met instead of acting wary and he seemed a lot more at ease. We played about 20 minutes of ball when I got home, which he loved, and then we did some sit-stay work, which also went pretty well. When we came inside, he was very calm and relaxed and he spent most of the night dozing on my leg while I watched TV. It was a very, very good dog day.
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