boarding school

[classiq]

Hope you and Chili have a wonderful time. Remember,we need lots of pictures.

[CraftHer]

Anxious to hear your reviews. This sounds like a great option for vacation/training. I'm not sure who will suffer separation anxiety - you or Chili

[Labradorks]

I don't know what kind of training the dog went through - but to get those kind of results in a relatively sort amount of time - you know a lot of it was forced...

Maybe... I have never forced my Lab. I just turned on that instinct. I have seen a lot of unforced Labs at the WC level (very low level) who are bonkers for birds and are not always forced.

[POPTOP]

DD did this with her shepherd while they were on vacation, GSD facility that boards and trains. When they got back it was a long class with all the family participating.

Go and enjoy the festival. Have only seen pictures - looks amazing. Bet Chili will have a great time too learning.

[voodoo]

4 days until school, should I visit chili while he is away?

[kellymccoy]

I routinely board and train dogs but we keep them for 8 weeks 10 days is not long enough to gain any permanence of habit but its better than just boarding at least he will have fun

[voodoo]

Received my 1st status update from trainer at school. Chili is a very, very smart hard working dog that really wants to be right. He is a high energy, dominant dog. He loves to mark. He learns fast. The trainer over the 1st 3 days has been working on overall manners. leash walking/heal, stopping going to sit/stay, jogging with dog at side, chili greeting customers in reception area sit(no jumping), swimming, play in open field, and a few other manners related skills. Since chili isnt neutered he isnt allowed to play with other dogs and gets his own play area. I was invited to watch some of the training/visit chili...but its hard enough not having him at home. I am glad for the update, and the trainer said chili will be a different mannered dog when I pick him up. She said she has only made 2 corrections and 20x more praises. She is the lead trainer of 6 dogs right now(max) and 4 of the 6 are labs I think chili is her fav or biggest challenge

[AlexS]

I only wonder that if the trainer is making so few corrections if Chili just isnt listening to you and your wife? Just a thought.

[voodoo]

Chili always listens to me. he doesnt know a lot of commands, but the ones he does know he listens and executes. I sent him to school so I could have a break and he could learn stuff I dont teach him. Chili is my companion and has never been without me 24/7 since I have owned him at 8 weeks. The fact that the boarding comes with training is a bonus in my eyes. I am excited to hear what a pro has to say and better both our lives. when I did the 1 hour training sessions with a pro at my home, the pro spent more/all the time teaching me. wasnt bad, but was telling me alot I already learned from here, books, etc.. I like the idea of the pro training chili and providing me feedback/homework/followups. lets see how it goes. Chili does not listen to my wife. she talks to him like a human. doesnt work. just sharing whats going on, maybe it will help others or lead to helping me and chili.

[smartrock]

I do all the training with our 2 dogs. I won't pretend I'm great at it, mainly because we're not doing it in competition so I may be a bit... flexible. However, every time we've gone to a class and the instructor asks to demonstrate some maneuver with someone's dog, if they've asked to demonstrate with my dog, the dogs snap into Professional Dog mode and trot around gazing adoringly at the instructor, doing everything immediately, practically without commands. I don't find it too surprising that the trainer hasn't had to give many corrections. Chili must know the commands already and I think there's something about having a confidant and experienced trainer at the helm that some dogs respond to very well. I'm glad Chili is doing well.

Chili not responding well when your wife gives commands probably speaks more to her level of comfort than Chili's abilities. Ours generally ignore what my husband tells them to do until he's raised the volume and intensity of the commands to the point it would scare even a rhino.