What's that you say, Layla? You're not sure what that big, bright thing in the sky might be? Finally, it's sunshine and we couldn't be happier.
It's a perfect day to play with our friends and get a lot of training done. Training outdoors can be so much more challenging because of all the distractions and we are up for the challenge!
Layla's recall (coming when called) is coming along nicely. I'm getting a consistent response from her when I call her to come and we've built up her recall to the point where she will come when she's playing with her friends. When she is playing and I call her to come, I'm sure to release her to go play again as part of the reward. I want her to think that recalls are really fun and exciting. If I call her to come and end her play session, she's going to start to associate those recalls with things she's doesn't necessarily enjoy.
As she is running towards me I am encouraging her the entire way. "Good girl!" "That's it!" "You've got it!" I want her to really know she's doing the right thing and I want to make it exciting for her to come to me.
She does a great job working her way past her friends to get to me and once she does get to me, I give her a tiny piece of a tasty treat one right after the other for about 30 seconds while I'm praising her. I want her to know how much it pays off to come to me even when exciting things are happening and I want her to stick with me when I call her (instead of grabbing a treat and running back to her friends). Nice job Layla! Right now I'm just trying to get a little more speed in her return to me but, other than that, she is pretty consistently following through with her recalls.
And what else do you do after a long day of work and play? It's always nice to have friends to snuggle up with.
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