05-03-2009

I'm late with blogging again! On Thursday, Duece & I were out by the trailer to play 'get up' again. Only this time we brought Duece's playmate, Ziva along. Ziva is almost fearless, which can be scary when we are near a road, but it's also handy when you're trying to show Duece he can run up the ramp and jump over the trailer railing. Ziva ran right up the ramp and over the railing and got the treats I was dropping on the trailer boards. I even picked Duece up and helped him over the railing but it took his watching Ziva get all those treats to finally get him to jump over the railing. It's another little step in our journey. The way Duece can jump, he should be able to skip the ramp and jump right up onto the trailer bed but even with Mattie, we had to start somewhere and the ramp worked great.
Tonight Duece and I went for a ride, only this time we stopped and did some fun work before driving back home. We also played the CD from Through a Dog's Ear - Driving Edition on the trip. When we got to the play/work area I put Duece on the long (30'+) lead to let him move around while still keeping him from running off. Shows my lack of training in the "Come" department, I guess. Before we unloaded, I threw a plastic container of cadaver scent out into the grass a little ways off the path. We walked past it into the pasture, keeping up wind so he wouldn't find it right away and to give it time to put out some scent.
I picked up a small rock and let Duece look for it, not thinking he would actually find it but when he stopped I could hear it 'clinking' on his teeth as he had picked it up. He was rewarded and we threw it again for him to find it only this time I watched him closer and when he found it, gave the 'sit' command and he sat until I got closer and he left it for a treat.
Another little step in our journey.
On the way back to the suburban, I gave Duece his cadaver search command and let go. He didn't get too far from me but did locate the container and sat after the command. While rewarding him I threw the container again and he sat when he found it. I'd like him to sit a little longer, until I was standing at his side, but we're working on it. We did this a couple more times and went back to the suburban for the ride home.