Kazi and Capri are learning to sit for anything they would like. It's a way of saying "please." Capri is sitting here for attention. She's doing a great job even with other dogs in the area. Sometimes when the two of them are together, they compete for attention and both jump up. It's a big step for Capri to sit in the middle of all these dogs and wait for me to pet her.
They are learning to sit for their meals, for their water, when they want to come out of the crate, when they want to go outside, etc. Sometimes it takes them a minute. They'll jump and I look away from them and don't move towards what they want. It's funny because they both seem to get it at the same time and both will sit. Then their reward is whatever they have been asking for (their breakfast, getting out of the kennel, etc.). It's a pretty powerful reward and they are more willing to comply.
Kazi is learning to share better. He does not guard all his resources but, when a dog does start to resource guard, it is difficult to predict what they might choose to guard that day. The important thing is make sure that no one gets bit. Right now, he guards his toys from other dogs by snapping at the dogs and hovering over and protecting his treasure. This is not safe for the other dogs (or him if he chooses to guard with the wrong dog) and it's potentially not safe for people (especially children who may not know how to read is body language well). I don't leave things out that Kazi may guard. He can have those things while I am supervising so I can control the situation a little better. If he does guard something, I take it way and put it put telling him "too bad." If I were to let him keep the item he is guarding he would just learn that guarding works. He needs to know that the leader in the household is the one controlling the resources.
Kazi starting asking to go out to go to the bathroom today! Yea Kazi!! He went to the door and whined and I immediately took him outside and praised him lavishly when he did go to the bathroom. Puppies this age still need to be monitored closely and should not have free run of the house. The scheduled meals are going really well. Both Kazi and Capri are eating their meals pretty quickly and it gives me the opportunity to work more on their sit and attention. It also causes less tension for Icee because they are not diving into her bowl.
Tomorrow we start on coming when called. Everything we've been working on has been leading up to this so it should fall into place nicely.
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