Hi there! It was so great meeting all of you last night. We covered a lot of information and some of you may feel overwhelmed. The videos, worksheet and book referenced on the beginner novice course (seriously, you should get the book) will help tremendously. If you do get the book, do NOT read ahead. Do not jump or read the problems chapters. We don’t need that. We need to build a solid foundation and that is what solves problems. I promise if you can buckle down and do the work every day, every week you’ll see amazing progression over the next 6 weeks. I want to see you succeed and have the best dog you’ve ever had! I am glad many of you stayed for questions and help. There are several attachments that apply to your training this week (and in coming weeks). Please review these to help you through this week. Remember, I’m here if you need help and getting me a video on day three really helps move things along so I can SEE what you are doing outside of class. Remember you are all in this class together. We must progress together. Your classmates and their dogs depend on you to put in the effort so we can all be successful. Dogs are never to meet or say “hi” at class. This is a safety issue. Keep your dog away from all other people and dogs. They are distractions and we do not allow our dog to access the distraction when training. Sit On The Dog will be part of next week’s lesson. Incorporate this daily this week at home. This is an exercise every dog owner that has a dog willing to get into things should do. It’s good for a dog to “do nothing”. https://sanityshome.blogspot.com/2010/01/sit-on-dog-aka-long-down.html?fbclid=IwAR21KPzq5lfpesURoN1xVSCc-9QUDRiyjSKGAH3Fs593SI1phQmnjcfuVh4 All of the videos and documents will help. Now go do the work! You will REAP the rewards. I promise!!!! Tiffany

So Eva’s thing tonight, is when I stop… she goes a dog length in front of me. How do I address this? During the walk, I would do a right turn and try again. Also. We both struggle with our front door! She either darts in front or loops behind. I get all jumbled in the two door trying to open them and keep her leash and her in line.

I've realized I make a certain repeated mistake, but I'm not sure what the specific changes I should make in handling. This was recently brought to mind by a foster dog I trained through week 5 (as far as I planned to take her). She had been, with only a couple exceptions, one of the easiest dogs to train. From the start I had her attention on me and she *kinda* walked in heel even during the long line work. So fast forward several weeks and we hung out in week 5 practice until her spay. Over the course of spay recovery it seemed her training really regressed. In my mind, I can't take a recovering dog out on a long line in case that dog gets a zoom of energy. I am afraid of the dog hitting the end of the line on either long or 6 foot leash in case it hurts their surgery area. Doesn't seem like about turns are fair or any sort of down correction. Most corrections seem like they might not feel great after a major abdominal surgery. So what happens is I end up shortening the leash to go down the stairs slowly and go outside slowly and within a few days this dog (who was not a puller) learned to pull. And her stays got weak, etc. And because of major pent up energy from extra crate time it was just kangaroo on leash. How could I go better in the future? When there's so much pent up energy, no way to run off steam, etc what do you do? Or do I just make corrections right away regardless of surgery? Is there a happy medium? (I've invited her new owner to this group so she can do the work I started, at least as a refresher)