15 Weeks

Asher continues to be really fun to train. He’s an enthusiastic and focused problem solver. He can get easily frustrated sometimes, but I try to make sure my rate of reinforcement is very high. He does have a ‘stubborn’ streak about anything that he doesn’t care for, that is a dog that likes to have things a certain way, and is willing to stage a protest if he doesn’t get it. Definitely a dog that does best when he thinks everything is his idea. I think Navarre is similar in that when Navarre is doing behaviors he really likes, everything is smooth and easy – but if he decides he doesn’t care for something, he leaves you know doubt about how he feels.

Asher’s retrieve and hold training went very fast. He quickly moved up to holding an object firmly no matter how I poked and wiggled it, and then targeting the object to my hand. We have tried a few different objects as well, including a dumbbell that is way too big for him, but he had no issues. We then moved into throwing the object and then returning to hand without an issue. Love that puppy, so much fun to train!

We have struggled more with backing up to an object. Like many dogs, he took pains to make sure he DIDN’T touch the platform when backing up, practically jumping BACKWARDS over it. So still working on backing onto a platform, but his stretch forward on his touch is amazing and he generalized coming across the board into position no problem. Haven’t proofed it with speed yet though.

We continue to look at proofing stays, he can now wait to be released as the last dog when we have dinner, releasing only on his name and waiting while the other dogs run past him. He now stays with the group before being released when we go out to play as well. It’s a good start and makes everything easier, such as when I’m sitting down with the bowl of treats to train, I can now put him on a stay so he doesn’t dump over the food enthusiastically jumping on me!

He has a sit now, but it’s not very strong and still has a half hearted wave to go along with it. Need to finish up training his pedestal pivot in the opposite direction, and it has not transferred well to have him pivot into heel. If I ask him to pivot while my leg is there he just bashes into me like it’s a personal challenge to get around me (kind of a theme where Asher is concerned).

Still hates cupboard slamming, and it’s a mystery why. This is a dog that bashes into everything and has no noise sensitivity that I’ve seen – and my cupboards don’t slam with his sissy nose touches anyway but ever so gently close noiselessly. We keep at it, starting training sessions with a very reluctant cupboard close before moving to the ‘fun stuff’.

We started teaching a pole hug this week, he’s done a few sessions and is doing some very cute enthusiastic hugs … in a down, which is probably related to the paw crossing, as they are related. He can also hook a paw around when he’s sitting, but in a down he’ll get both feet around the pole. He wouldn’t be able to do that in a sit since he doesn’t have a sit-up yet, and doesn’t have the strength for that yet.

Things that didn’t go super well were circle work, where he would cut behind me every time, and downs when he was excited – he gets sticky and mesmerized. Also had some issues with his leg weave recalls where he would abort at the last second as well.

We do considerably less visiting while I’m teaching these days. First he doesn’t really need to go out much, and second he’s trouble as he knows how to go through the doors in the arena and run amuck, so I have to be careful. If I’m working with him directly, no problem – he has amazing focus even with other dogs and people around. But if I’m not directly engaged he’s off to pummel the masses. That is a dog that is going to need some serious retraining not to leap on people when he gets bigger, as I’m certainly not teaching him good habits at the moment and he’s very physical. He continues to love his crate in the car and as we always have his mid-days snacks, he loves to get into the car, which is handy.

He continues to love play. He loves to play with all sorts, chasing and tugging and retrieving. He switches easily from toys to food and back, and from toy to toy, he just wants the action. He does want to show off his toys if there are other dogs around though, so his retrieve isn’t nearly as strong then. He’s just a fun boy, I don’t understand why other dogs don’t like him as I think he’s super fun.

Went hiking with his siblings again this week, things were much less chaotic and calmer overall. Especially in the beginning all the dogs were getting along with much less posturing and overarousal. Now, later in the hike we had issues again, almost exclusively between Flea and Asher – they have a thing, mostly it seems like Flea really feels the need to give it to Asher, and I think he’s inviting it. But siblings are interesting like that, they have a whole history together. Overall they had fun together, and my crew doesn’t worry about all the puppies, they ignore them all equally.

Asher has had more appropriate interactions with adult dogs this week, which is what he really needs. I don’t think he’s learning anything helpful playing with puppies, except possible how to swear more. He’s more relaxed around other breeds and they seem less offended by him. He’s a confident guy, but seems to feel less need to posture these days.

We had an interesting change in our relationship this week, not sure if it’s a phase or what, but suddenly Asher got much more cuddly. Where before if he was on the bed he was usually over by himself, but this week would come snuggle up next to me before obnoxiously chewing on things for hours at a time. He just seems sweeter and initiating snuggling instead of just constant action. I’m a big fan of sweetness, so this is a change I’ve been enjoying. He’s been a very busy puppy and not too interested in cuddling so far, so maybe that will change. It’s okay if he’s not that into it, I’ve already got three very cuddly dogs – it’s hard to cuddle four dogs at once!

Meanwhile, all the thawing that seemed to take place with Asher and my dogs did not seem to last long. They’re all back to wanting him gone and letting him know about it. I still don’t understand why they are so against him, he really is not an annoying puppy compared to many of the others we’ve had through the years. But my dogs, ALL my dogs, think he needs an incredible amount of discipline, and they are giving it to him. Even Haku corrects him, and Haku doesn’t correct any dog! I would say they’re more USED to him, but there is a lot of unhappy older dogs. Asher, of course, doesn’t care – just as happy as can be. Go figure. I try to give them lots of breaks from the puppy and special one on one time – and continue to be optimistic that they’ll learn to like him once he’s out of the baby puppy stage. I do think that if they’re still unhappy with him at 6-7 months I need to make a decision if he’s right for us, but I truly think they’ll thaw in time.

The EO was over the weekend, such a bummer for the ridiculously hot temperatures. What is it about that event? They always seem to have extreme weather of some sort there. I’m glad they ended up figuring out ways to make sure the dogs didn’t have to run in the heat though. Courses looked really fun and, wow, they’re are some amazingly fast dogs out there! I do very much enjoy watching it, but I’ll admit I’m feeling rather ambivalent about working on the skills that would be needed at such a level. We just don’t have that kind of agility around here, and never will. I have zero interest in flying to europe just to do dog agility, so I’m with those that feel agility in the US is stagnating. I very much believe it should be accessible to all, but there is no reason at all to actually train and push in this country, just be steady and qualify. I feel like if it bothers me I should do something to help fix that, but I’m not sure what that would be.

Actually training Asher in agility seems a LONG way away, but it’s amazing how quickly they grow. I expect him to be a big boy, so we won’t be doing a whole lot until he gets older. He does occasionally do tunnels just for fun when we’re hanging out in the arena, just because. I do love training agility, so I’m very much looking forward to that. The training is my favorite part, after that it doesn’t seem like there is much to do with the skills once you have them!