Too Busy

I haven’t been getting Lyra out to generalize her behaviors.  Too busy these days. I have a lot going on with training, seminars, writing a book, raising kids, and random things that I need to do.  It’s not unusual for me to work from morning till night,...

Lyra – Nine Months – IPO obedience

I do not want Lyra to believe that the ONLY thing she does on the IPO field (or in the presence of the IPO helper) is protection work.  Dogs that associate the field with biting and not with obedience can end up with serious control problems later on; both in IPO...

Lyra 8.5 months – leaving training

I haven’t talked about Lyra for awhile. She’s 8.5 months old.  She continues to be a delight on so many levels; friendly, calm, and very easy to manage.   She enjoys working, though she is not obsessive about it.  Her personal play skills are coming on...

Lyra – 7 months

Have you ever had a training day where absolutely everything went right?  Where you wished every person who’d ever said an unkind thing about you could be there to watch?  Where you ended the work completely bubbling over inside with the excitement that comes...

Lyra 6 months – distraction training

I do not consider distraction training to be a unique stage of training; it is part of the overall process.  Distraction training starts from the day I bring a puppy home, whether I wish to work on distractions or not. Regardless, there are periods in training where I...

Lyra – 5 months – Schutzhund preparation

Along with Lyra’s adult teeth came a brain.  A very nice combination. Her worries disappeared – almost overnight.  Everywhere I’ve taken her this week she’s been a rock. With people, she’s even more social than she was as a very small...

Lyra – 15.5 weeks – working “out and about”

Lyra has worked away from home about ten times now.  Finding the “toy on a stick” was excellent luck, because she loves that thing. For those who have five minutes to kill and an interest in puppy training, I’ll go through this video with you, step...

Lyra – Environmental Cues (Part 2)

Enough people commented on the first “Environmental Cues” blog post that I’d like to revisit it with a few thoughts. Each of us is an individual with specific goals for our dogs.  Our dogs, in turn, have different innate tendencies to consider when...

Lyra – 13 to15 weeks – generalization

You know my doggy genius?  Well, she’s only that way at home. When we take the show on the road, she looks a lot like every other puppy.  She’s fascinated by every leaf, blade of grass, moving person, building, tree, and whatever else is in the world.  She...