Day 60: so exciting!

Wow. Did so much with Ike today, its crazy.

Played with him this morning and wanted at least a couple of new easy behaviors
1. "kiss" which is just touch which he already knows but on my cheek. I guess polishing it would be him raising just his lip to my cheek
2." Hug " which is just flexing with me in the space that flexing creates.

Yesterday, I worked on him with cross (crossing his front feet) and he already knows that from side stepping, so its just capturing the moment one leg is over the other and having him hold that. So much of training is capturing a single movement within a motion or series of motions. Or, breaking something up into all the little motions that create it, so he understands more.

Also working on 3 different leg movements in addition to the cross.

1. Fold your leg under and hold
2. Stretch your leg out and hold it on ground for parking
3. Step high

He's being called forward on the pedestal so getting more confident about back legs up there. Not all 4, just walking his front down and his back up.

Other than that, George suggested I let the horses on the grass today which I've not been doing as its newer planted sod ad the roots are easily pulled so the single time I'd done that in the past wasn't looking like I'd be doing the grass a favor which is a favor to the horses in the long run. Anyhow, I let them out and wanted to see if Ike would listen on new territory with grass all over the ground as a distraction.

He even had to cross a real ditch and his practice with the word "step" up, down, over, made teaching that a breeze.

Also, walked him by and up to a bench swing and a punching bag with a flapping plastic black trash bag on it, by a squeaky windmill, and over an old burn pile. All of these were new to him but bc of past exposure to other things and a calm demeanor in his human:p... He was able to follow with only minimal hesitation.

He's outside eating lunch now. He's sooo awesome. I think he's going to have an awesome vocabulary come his fourth birthday. I don't know what I'll have left to teach him at that point! :p



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