Here I will share extra training and answer any questions you have. What I am doing is a collapsed FC/TS Program that I do when I train students dogs as well as my own dogs.
Week 1:
Hannah is an Alpha field bred dog, nearly impervious to pain and discomfort. While she is not mean-spirited, she is smart, but is more than willing to push the limits again and again and again just to make sure I 'meant what I said and said what I meant.' She is not in the best home for her genetic hard-wiring as she needs to be working the field and running for miles. Instead, she has kind owners, with two young daughters, a small backyard and zero experience training or educating a dog like Hannah. It is what it is, but it's a case of a great puppy being owned by inexperienced owners that only wanted a pet Lab, a coach potato.
The "Wait" command is used both for "Wait" when a kennel door is opened or a gate. In reality, it is The Moving Sit without the "Sit" command being used. I find it easy to train this concept into a young puppy, before it gets into the teenage stage. And once it has been layered in, the imprint of this concept then is quite easy to train a dog that has graduated from the FC. Thought you'd appreciate this tidbit of wisdom for your own young pups when it is the right time.
Also, since I know Hannah, like Redd, Boaz and Pree, will be doing the FC through Week 6, then doing TS at the same time they are completing FC Weeks 7-10, when I start a MP dog's formal FC, I begin on a check cord, on the chain collar, and do Informal Recalls and reel them into "Touch", "Sit" (SSIF) and "ok.
This introduction to what will become the field work is laid when the puppy is having to learn it can NO LONGER bolt to be with the PACK, nor can it charge towards another person or another dog. So, my bridging from MP to FC, with my own dogs and students' dogs (I do NOT teach this approach to a new beginner student as they are too unskilled to understand or do it correctly), is to invest a few days using the known check cord and do Informal Recalls + 4 Whistle blasts against distractions the dog is interested in. It sure makes the transition to the ILL SOOO much easier, layers in the belief in the growing puppy that every time it charges, a Recall happens. And doing it this way, MAY, save a young dog's life as the Recall is needed for young dogs. Anyway, it's what I do and it's highly effective when done with a skilled KMODT handler/trainer.
Case in point, Hannah had only 3 days of such introductions and then yesterday was the Demo Dog for the ILL. I needed to LL her BETWEEN TWO unruly young dogs, one dog she knew VERY well, to get Hannah inside my training area. Get this, Hannah, knew they were BOTH there, on BOTH sides of her, within 15' and yet, Hannah, remained in the Safety Zone. We did this tunnel twice and although she saw them, she NEVER moved towards them at all. Food for thought, food for thought.
Week 2:
Well, this isn't the first time I've had to compress and accelerate the FC for a field bred Lab, but it IS the first time I've had to accelerate the FC for a young dog, named Hannah, NOT EVEN 5 MONTHS OLD. Case in point, when I met Kimber the first time and we did ILL, she was a handful, but we got through it. The next week was Week 1 LL in an open field and Kimber was so jacked up, I finally, said, "I am going to do what I've never done before and that's work this dog on Week 2 material BEFORE she has completed the Week 1 EXAM." What that meant is the RATT, the shaping of the Sits, the RT and LTT AND the "Out!".
Hannah has been dogmatic in that she believes she CAN and WILL hold and pull and tug on the LL while working. Despite my best efforts to head her off from doing so, this week I added the "OUT!" and a sharp yank when she did so. Cannot let her chew through a LL and be gone as her Recall isn't strong yet. Today, she got ALL JACKED UP AGAIN, as there were multiple collar corrections for her on LL (she attributes the corrections to the LL) so she attacked the LL.
Nothing worked so finally pulled out all the stops, did a staunch "OUT!" + taking her into the sky. She was shocked but shook it off and pulled her same stunt again so she earned a repeat of my staunch "OUT!" and going towards the sky. Well, that caused her to rethink the error of her ways and although she THOUGHT about repeating her mouth on LL again, I told her quietly, "out" and she backed off. She didn't make that mistake again with me, however, she was more than willing to do so with Jessi.
So, I couched Jessi what to do so Hannah would believe her. Finally, success and we worked her for over an hour solid on LL.
All this to say, when I brought her home with me today, I worked her on Week 2 heeling for nearly 15 minutes + "Wait" @ 6'. Then QT, then another LL session working against planted distractions. She did AWESOME, but let's remember it took the above and over 3 total hours for her to give up on her opinions and get with the program.
Yup, she's a field bred Lab and totally in the wrong household. She's incredibly smart, but oh my does she need boundaries and a VERY firm educated handler.
Week 2, Day 5 1-21-2022.
Had QUITE the training sessions with Hannah yesterday. She did successfully pass the Week 1 EXAM LL:Readiness Test and Jessi and I have already the past few days been working her briefly on Week 2 material. Yesterday, after the LL sessions, and the Week 1 EXAM, I used Hannah to demo some Week 2 material. OH MY WORD...HANNAH HAD A TOTAL BREAKDOWN WITH 'HER MONSTER'. Anyway, it took me nearly 15 minutes to work her through the issue and for me to discover the monster was NOT the pile of sticks, the monster was NOT the black/white Place Board, the monster? The monster WAS the block wall. There is an enormous amount of advanced Instructor techniques I had to use for her to achieve succeess. But she DID achieve success.
