We met with trainer Donna Fournier, Detroit Dog Training Examiner, for some ‘neutral’ dog training. Both Stiggy’s , Twig and Big, I will call them to avoid confusion.

This is a great exercise for all to work on. In the video, Spencer is teaching Big when to play (command: ‘lets play’) and when to stop (command: ‘enough’).  Big seemed to respond slowly to lets play (he was tired and it was later in the session). Once Big start’s to play he doesn’t like to stop (this is a problem at home too).We will continue working with Big on playing on our terms, and stopping on our terms. He was a bit ‘stubborn’ (Donna hates that word) but by the end of the video he was perfect.

At the same time, Twig is to remain calm and neutral while keeping his attention on his handler. Now, this is a very difficult feat, especially for Twig, he LOVES his tennis balls. Rosie works with him here in the video, every time his attention was distracted she is to remove him from the room, regain his attention, then walk back in. You will see in the video that we only see Rosie and Twig at the end…….but yes, he did it!!!!! He was such a good boy throughout this training session!

We all left yesterday feeling really positive with our dogs. They both did so good and we couldn’t be prouder! Spencer, Rosie and I left knowing the training is as much for us too. It takes a lot of work, consistency,  it’s time consuming, and needs a lot of patience….but WELL worth it. I am proud of us too!

Thank you Donna, again………