9/21/99 (13 Weeks 1 Day) 23.0 Lbs Had a great weekend at the Colorado River Hunt Test. Lots of fun and some challenging finished level tests for Rusty. Rosie did not get to enter the puppy stake and I am not even sure if it occurred. We were busy with the big dogs at the time pups were scheduled to run. Not to worry though. We have several chances coming up. We started back with table work yesterday and are currently working on the come and sit command at the same time. We are using the 100 foot table by putting Rosie on the table at one end and calling from the other end. We do several sits down the length of the table each time and we are now able to get in 6-8 sit commands before she reaches the end where we are waiting. This is kind of boring work but it does a real good job of cleaning things up. The kennel command continues to improve and is now to the point that she will stand up on her rear legs and wait to be lifted into the truck when the command is given. As mentioned earlier........no point in rushing this command, she is not big enough to jump into the truck yet. Speaking of big enough. I am always amazed at the growth rate of pups. Rosie is very close to tripling her body weight from the day she came home and that was only 6 weeks ago. In general things are going very well. Rosie is on schedule to have the basics down and doing whistle commands by about 20 weeks. Possibly a little sooner. You may have noticed that we are not doing a stay command. That is intentional at this point. Sit is our stay command and is to be continued until released or in the case of a pup this young it should be held for a reasonable amount of time. I don't expect Rosie to remain at sit while I am out of sight yet. When we start that training we will use the word "stay" as a way of keeping voice contact during the initial attempts of me going out of sight. 9/22/99 (13 Weeks 2 Days) 23.3 Lbs Sit and come are now off the table and yes this did happen a little quicker than anticipated. We have moved this into the yard using a 25' long lead and this move starts what can be considered remote sit training. In it I attach the long lead to pups collar. The lead has a large knot tied in it about six inches from where it is attached to the collar. The use of this knot is somewhat dubious but it is an ages old and proven method. Its purpose is to get pups attention so to speak and that is done by having pup sit and then to move away and turn around and face the pup. The other end of the rope is in hand at all times. Normally the first time I turn to face the pup it will of course come running. When that happens a quick flip of the wrist on the lead causes the knot to hit pups nose. The smack on the nose is accompanied by a renewed "SIT" command. The method is very effective but does require good timing on the trainers part. The power of the smack on the nose does not need to be much at all. It's more of a surprise than anything else. No, there is nothing unusual about this method. It is common and has been around much longer than I have been training dogs and yes I did say I would not be repeating an explanation of every method I use. Bear with me on this because it deserves explanation for a very different reason. This is the first training for pup that is physically enforced. A milestone to say the least. Rosie's response was typical and totally satisfactory. She was at first very surprised and that was quickly followed by very obedient. We did of course have the run and hide between daddy's legs scene. It happened once during our first session and has not occurred again. I expect we will do a couple more sessions of this and then have occasional brush ups when it is needed. I believe staying on this drill for very long at a time is pointless due to the fact that pup will become obedient very quickly and there is no point in beating a dead horse so to speak. Our biggest goal at the moment is getting a very good understanding of how Rosie responds to pressure and this is our first "real" chance. On a somewhat related note: We have started giving whistle commands along with the voice commands "Sit" & "Come". The sit whistle is almost happening and the come in will shortly. FUN BUMPERS: Lots required at the moment and these are not to be skipped before pup is put up after this new and compulsory type of training. For the next diary entry, please visit Week 14 of Rosie's Journal.

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