It's a challenge working with two boys at once. There is a lot of competition for resources so, when you are trying to get both to sit, you usually have one who pops up and the other one follows. It's much easier to work with them individually to teach them the skills before working with them together. Otherwise, we might be here forever waiting for both boys to sit and hold it while I open the door for them.
So I've separated them out at mealtimes so I can teach them proper manners while I'm preparing their meals. All meal prep stops if he gets up. Kiko is figuring out very quickly to put his bottom back down when I stop preparing his meal. He LOVES to eat (note the blury tail in the photo).
Even if Kiko is the worst offender, we want Poni to be very good at this too because, if he slips up and jumps up, Kiko is sure to follow. Timing is important. As soon as his rear leaves the ground, that bowl goes back on the counter. And, as soon as his rear hits the ground again, I can pick up the bowl and start to give it to him. In the beginning, I'm going to try to move pretty fast so they are successful but, as they get better, they should be able to easily hold that stay while I calmly put the bowl down.
We're continuing to practice Poni's skills that will help him get out of situations when needed. We do this while we are getting him warmed up to other dogs. We did a lot of work with new dogs behind closed doors, through glass doors, and through baby gates.
Kiko is learning to walk nicely on a leash. I start out luring him so he gets the idea. I'm not going to use a lure very often, maybe just during high distractions and in these very beginning stages where is doesn't yet know what "let's go" means. At times, I work with him without a leash. I want him to really understand that "Let's go" means to walk nicely beside me. The leash should merely be a safety devise. I'm working with him separately so he has the skills before we start walking with him with Poni.
And poor Poni...I had the gates Poni proofed so now he can't sneak into Kiko's training sessions.
This will help too when we are working with new dogs. He has no problem with my dogs which makes Sinbad happy.
So back to leash skills. I'm going to have Kiko sit before we start and any time we stop. It's not a hard fast rule, I just want him to learn that we are consciously doing something on the leash, not just walk all Willy Nilly all over the place.
I'm going to reward proper positioning (where his ear is lined up with the seam of my pants). It's not that I want him to precisely be in that position at all times. It's just that I know, if I reward him when he's a little bit ahead of me, he'll eventually end up a few more inches beyond that and next he'll be pulling on the leash. If I keep my rewards where I would ideally like him, he's more likely to be at an acceptable position without pulling me.
Very common with puppies! Especially bouncy puppies. I don't reward him when he's leaping like a rabbit. I just make sure I'm always rewarding when he's on the ground in the proper position. Sometimes that means getting my treat down to him really quickly and delivering it low so he's not jumping up to get it. But the more I'm able to reward him, the quicker he will learn so it pays off to deliver that reward in a manner that does not promote jumping.
Ok, now it's Poni's turn. It may be Poni proofed but we have to interrupt this behavior to keep in Kiko proofed.
Poni feels very smug when it's his turn...
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