First Snow!

Two days ago Trent got to experience his very first snow. News channels described it as a "sneaker snow storm" - no one had been expecting it at all, and I'm glad my puppy got to experience the good ol' white stuff.

He just couldn't get enough of it. I don't think he noticed it when it first came down. We were going on our afternoon walk when the snow started coming down fast, and Trent just shrugged it off. When we let him out in the backyard, however, and there was a good layer of snow on the ground, Trent went, to say the least, crazy. He zoomed and zipped around and flung himself onto the snow like you wouldn't believe. He jumped up and down and all over the place and was full of absolutely contagious excitement. I had fun running and chasing him and chucking snowballs his way (snowballs, which, he ate quite eagerly).

I also took the chance to grab my camera. Though I didn't get any videos (I blame the memory card), I was able to wrap my camera up in a Ziploc bag and get a few good pictures. He moved so fast, even though my camera was on hi-speed burst mode, more than 2/3 of the 200-300 pictures were blurs. Luckily, the other 1/3 came out well and I even got a few good action shots.

There was still some snow the next morning, and Trent had fun catching more snowballs and inhaling the snow, and even got to play with a couple of his doggy friends who live in the neighborhood. Together, they just had a blast, and it was only when my feet were almost frozen off that I had to drag both of us inside. The snow's pretty much all gone, now, but I'm going to keep my fingers crossed for a bit more of it either in January or February. With the crazy Oregon weather, you just never know!

Improving Trent's Recall - Part 1

Trent turned 10 months old on the 20th of December, and while he is excelling at many basic commands and general behavior and manners, his recall now leaves something to be desired. This is partly my fault, as I have not worked on his recall as much as I should have. The longest leash we have is a standard 6 ft. leash, and while he always comes when called inside the house, it's outside with distractions where we're struggling. This also may be due to the fact that he's becoming a bit of a teenager himself, and starting to get his own ideas. Luckily, it's only the recall that's deteriorating, and while he quickly and eagerly obeys all other commands, I'm still going to have to squeeze in more training sessions and being firmer with reinforcing commands. Good thing he's so eager to learn and please (or is it eager to receive his treats?).


Several knowledgeable dog owners have given me a great deal of excellent advice regarding strengthening his recall, and I'm hoping to put it to use while I'm on my 2 week holiday break.

First, I headed online to purchase a 30 ft. lead, which will be used to give Trent running space outside on the fields, and still allow me to reinforce the command I give, if he doesn't come when called.

I also did some digging through the freezer and found a package of meatballs which I'll be using as Trent's "extra special recall reward". He seems to love the taste and the smell of the meatballs, and hopefully if I only give them to him as a reward for coming to me, it'll up their value as training treats.

My next step was to choose a new word to replace the command I once used, "come", as it was suggested to me that I have "burned" the word - meaning essentially that now the word "come" means to Trent "run away from Mommy!" or "time to play hard to get!". I've decided to start teaching "hier" (a German command) as the new word for coming up and sitting down in front of me.

I'll start by practicing in the house and our backyard, which shouldn't be a problem, and then with our 6 ft. leash. With the 6 ft. leash, Trent won't have much freedom or running room, so I'll be backing up quickly and as he starts running towards me, I'll give the command "hier" and reward him when I've halted and he's sitting in front of me. We'll try doing this in more and more distracting environments, and perhaps even eventually take him to practice outside the dog park. Once the 30 ft. leash I'll be ordering arrives, we'll start using it out on the empty soccer fields where Trent likes to run and play ball.

Should be a fun thing to do for the Holidays!