I'd like to chronicle our training sessions and progress, so I'm coming back to the blog format. I'll publish this publicly, but this is mostly for my own use, and memory, so the thoughts may be fragmented and scattered.
ACD puppy, named Reese, DOB 1-27-16, picked her up from the breeder 4-16-16, approx. 11 weeks old.
Crate training is not her forte, she settles in eventually, but she doesn't care for it. :)
She met Zen within 30 minutes of picking her up and she did ok with that. He mostly ignored her after his initial sniff, and went off to potty and stretch his legs (we did an 11 hour drive that day). Reese mostly hung out near me, she walks on a leash, and pottied without issue.
At home she met the other dogs and was appropriate, as were they, she was submissive, but not obsessively so. She has an interest in chickens, which goes from not sure about them, when they flock out of the coop all at once, to stalking them occasionally. I'm ok with that for now. Don't want to squash any interest in livestock, but if it goes beyond stalking she will be discouraged. I can't have a chicken killer :)
There is an expen set up in the living room for her, toys and blankets. Shes pretty good about chilling in there. She loves kongs stuffed with canned dog food. She does bark and carry on occasionally, but will usually settle in the ex pen better than her crate.
Day 2, she met my friend Deidra, and two of her shelties, and was appropriate. Seemed to have no problem meeting other dogs. She took a trip to petsmart and got a harness and walks beautifully on that. Shes a leash tugger, which is ok with me. I love toy drive, and she's not obsessive about it.
Also took a trip to tractor supply and did great. She's great meeting new people and walking around.
Riding in the crate was, ok. Still barking initially, but settles in.
Field time with the other dogs, she mostly sticks by me. Rumor and Zen race and bark loudly and she's not sure about that. Plus the other dogs run so fast I can see where she'd be unsure about joining in yet. She will run after them some.
Each day she's up at 6 am.
Clicker sessions are going well. Shes doing a paw touch to an object, I have used a Frisbee, metal dog bowl, and paw pod, she will work with all of them. She does get distracted at times. I'm thinking shes just not used to focusing on a task and working through. She gets better each session. Nothing is on command yet. Working on learning her name.
Some places/times she will take treats and others she wont. She's usually always game to play with toys. I think the food motivation will come. She is already improving.
Day 3, nose touch to hand session and paw target sessions. Both went well and I switched between behaviors in one session. Still not into taking treats outside while in the field with the other dogs, she will occasionally. Tugging and retrieving has improved. Shes an independent player, likes to take her toy off and chew it and play little games by herself. Restrained retrieves to a toy were good, and I like having a long hallway to use for that. Outside time is cut short due to all of the rain.
I took her in the car to work today so I could potty her more frequently and she could have more positive time in the crate. That went well, and Travis came by and picked her up when he got off work.
Today, now I'm caught up on most everything from the last 4 days. Today she woke up at 2:30 to potty, then again at 6, and I successfully had her go back to bed until 7:45, which was awesome. She wasn't silent, but her barking fits were shorter and less intense, I think we are getting there. Travis doesn't go in to work until 2:30pm, so she will have a shorter time in the crate today. I will be home my 6:30pm. I didn't do a morning shaping session, just some tugging and retrieve games and snuggling. Then she had a stuffed kong and is currently napping in the ex-pen.
We are enrolled in Silvia Trkman's puppy class, so I need to get some video for that. Hopefully I can post that soon.
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