Delilah has quite a bit more energy than Sampson; let’s face it Chet and I have a pretty mellow lifestyle and Sampson has adapted to it very well. Since Sampson has been on the Prednisone and antibiotic, he has had even less energy. The Prednisone has some side effects such as lethargy, and increased thirst along with (naturally) increased urination. I know Sampson is not feeling himself, so I want to be careful on our walks that he doesn’t become over exerted. This can become challenging considering Delilah’s energy level has not diminished in the least.
I think one of the reasons Delilah has become lax on her recalls is because I have become lax in her training, I got her so she came back to me all the time and then I stopped calling her back to me. Now if she sees a squirrel or something else interesting she ignores me. The real key to training a dog is consistency. So we worked on calling the dogs back to us while we were walking.
After about 15 minutes of walking on the trails, we decided a little training was in order. We thought maybe we could give Delilah some additional exercise combined with training.
When I went to the store today I decided instead of roast beef, I would get a pound of ground beef. The dogs eat raw food, so why not use the raw beef, considering it is about $4 less per pound.
We went to the field and Chet stayed on one end with what was left of the roast beef, while the dogs and I walked to the other end of the field. Chet called Delilah and she took off running; Sampson stayed with me at first which was good because I didn’t really want him running. Once Delilah had reached Chet and he had rewarded her with some roast beef, I called her to me and rewarded her with the ground beef.
Chet and I continued in this manner about four times each; just before we called it quits, I had the dogs in front of me and I was feeding them the ground beef when Chet called for Delilah and she turned and ran back to him, totally ignoring me and the beef in my hands. This was exactly what I wanted, I want her to want to come back to us more than she wants to chase a squirrel or explore a new trail.
Practicing being perfect.
Sounds like a successful training session!
I should start doing that type of training with Gwynn – try to perfect his recall command.
It is amazing how well it works. Once they know they are getting that treat, they are right there!
Sounds like a great plan!