I have gotten complacent. I think this is why some people achieve such great advances with their dogs and some don't. I had been pushing the envelope and walking off leash, new areas, longer times. Somehow the last week or two, granted the last few days have been bitter cold, I am walking the same walk and barely pushing at all. Today I went out into the field out of the backyard.
This walk had some areas that needed attention. Coming out of the patio door the minute he was released he was running down the stairs which is fine but had no response to being called. Today I kept him on leash and called him as soon as he stepped out and played 2 seconds worth of tug because I realize he really needed to pee. I let him run around the backyard with only calling him once. Since it has been so cold the last few day and he has been so good around the driveway I have drastically increased the time between calls, I think I see him looking back more. The goal is to find that line; not so many times that you do the needle in the eye thing, but not so few that he starts to forget you. At the gate to the field I had Iggy sit and then released him once I had opened the gate and called him back after one step. He did great, played a little tug went into the field. About 2 feet later he found a bone in the snow. Sat there and watched him for a few minutes and then called him, he looked up but didn't come to me, took a step in and he stepped back two steps so I walked away at about 10 feet I called and ran and he came towards me and ran by. In the process dropping the bone. I have done some practice retrieving the bone but obviously need some more work. Walked around for about 15 minutes called him about 3 times he responded perfectly. Once he had his nose in the snow, which has always been our downfall, and I walked up and touched his butt, nothing I hugged his but nothing, I moved him a bit he looked up and I ran and played tug. I have seen him startle and look worried when I grab him so I want to work on this when he is intent on something else.
I then came back into the yard to shovel the snow one the deck. I even let Max out with us. I let them play for a few minutes without interruption from me. Max then came over and Iggy was sniffing him i called Iggy. He didn't respond so I had Max sit and repeated, it took a couple of times but he did start to respond. After that it got much better and towards the end Max was running up the stairs with Iggy on his ass and I called and Iggy turned and came back to me :)))))).
Iggy is becoming very fond of snow shoveling. I think he likes me throwing the snow at him but then isn't sure so he stands behind me and pokes and scratches which hurts like hell on the cold legs. He also grabs at your gloves and managed to take one of mine off, luckily I said sit and he did and dropped the glove. This was great because he often picked playing with me over playing with Max but I wasn't really doing anything other than cleaning the deck so it was very relaxed.
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