I have spent the last few training sessions focusing on Rachael’s sit. We have been working on
- duration
- distraction
- distance
Duration
We have built up the duration of Rachael’s sit to half a minute (whilst she is sat next to me), and practiced this in lots of different locations indoors and out.
Distraction
Rachael has also learned to sit quite still and not move whilst I do some very simple handling distractions (stroking her/taking her lead on and off again/moving about next to her).
And she has learned to sit still next to me even when there is someone else standing quietly in the room. This is quite hard for her because she is very friendly and inquisitive.
Distance
I can now leave Rachael on the sit at one end of her play area outdoors, whilst I move to the other end, either with my back to her, or backing away.[wp_ad_camp_1]This is a distance of about 6 or 7 yards.
To move on from here I now need to start taking her to my training field.
I return to Rachael every time I leave her.
And still reward her for most of her sits.
Keeping up with heelwork
We do some ‘heel’ practice each time we train, and I am very pleased with the way Rachael has progressed with heelwork.
I started by teaching her an off lead heel using treats, and the progression to heeling with the lead on has gone very smoothly indeed. This is definitely my preferred approach now.
A good week
All in all a good week and nice progress in building the foundations of the all important sit command.
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