Graduating To Retirement

Training is over.  Graduation is here.  Success is bittersweet when you have to say goodbye. Chase is leaving this program ready for his forever home.  This week he worked with different inmate handlers going through his commands.  He responds well, but the stinker can be manipulative!  He wants the handler to give in quick and surrender the treat reward.  Don’t let him fool you, he knows his commands well!

Chase loves everyone he meets; dogs and humans!  His inmate trainer says that Case’s love for food will cause him to try to snatch treats from your hand.  He has been using the “leave it” command then giving him the treat from his open palm this seems to help with this behavior. 

Chase is a great guy who’s sure to make his new family fall in love with him!  His inmate trainer is going to miss him, but knows that this amazing guy has a wonderful future ahead of him!

Graduation Is Coming

Swap week is over and Chase is back with his primary handler.  His inmate trainer says that Chase is responding well to his commands without treat rewards.  He’s not fond of doing the belly command and his inmate trainer believes it may be uncomfortable for him.  Chase gets excited over food so his trainer is using “easy” to slow Chase down and have him take food from your hand gently.  They have also been working on a balance/catch command where a treat is placed on the end of Chase’s nose and he’s told to “leave it” “wait” then his trainer will tell him to “catch” the treat!   Chase is a little slow to respond to “kiss” but he’ll follow through and give ya some sugar! 

As hard as it is to believe graduation is almost here!  Chase’s inmate trainer says that Chase is a pleasure to handle and train and will be truly missed. 

Eager To Please

Chase worked well with his alternate inmate handler this week!  He came in happy and eager to please.  He preforms the "pray" command and looks very cute!  

This week they had a fire drill and Chase got right up from his peaceful slumber and participated in the evacuation with no problem!  (Nor did he have any problem going right back to sleep once the drill was over!) 

Chase enjoys toys, his fluffy bed and watching TV.  He walks really well on the leash staying right by his inmate trainer or a step behind.  He will walk up and down the stairs without a problem.  He does get excited when spoken to in a playful voice.  

His alternate handler is going to miss working with Chase, but is grateful for the time they had together.  

Training Days

Since Chase can perform all of his basic commands on cue and most of his advanced commands without the use of treats his alternate inmate handler has stepped in to help with the training process.  At first Chase refused to do anything for the alternate handler, but he eventually realized that commands can be given by anyone and they too offer yummy treat rewards. 

As you read last week, they have been working on training Chase to touch on cue…. well, this lead to Chase randomly touching things and expecting a treat!  His inmate trainers have been working to focus this response by using a checker taped to the wall. When Chase touches the checker on command he gets a treat! 

Circle is another command that has improved and his trainer hopes to turn circle into spin!  They’re still working on the kiss command, but Chase can be pretty stingy with his kisses.  The pray command is coming along nicely – needless to say he looks adorable doing it. 

Next week Chase will go to a temporary handler for hound swap week.  This will help Chase understand that it’s okay to respond to more people and that having time away from his primary handler is fun!  

Catching Tossed Treats

This week was spent polishing up all of the basic commands.  Chase and his inmate trainer worked on verbal only cues and hand signal only cues.  Chase is hesitant to preform repetitive commands without treats.  His inmate trainer is working to wean him off the kibble reward.  

Chase has been learning how to pray.  His inmate trainer says that this has been a neat trick to train as it combines several commands into one.  They are working to put the finishing touches on this command, but his inmate trainer knows that Chase will be preforming this one on cue in no time!  

Chase has also learned how to catch treats out of midair.  This trick lead to teaching him to balance a treat on his nose, popping it into the air and catching it!  His inmate trainer is enjoying his time with Chase and believes that he is going to make a wonderful family pet.   

Learning The Extras

This week has been a busy training week!  Most of the training sessions have included going through the basics and throwing a few extras in along the way.  Chase picks up on most new skills/tricks with ease.  This week he learned to speak, circle and pray - paws go up on a bench or chair with is head between his front legs.  On cue Chase will touch his nose to his inmate trainers' right hand.  He will also give kisses and enjoys running on the jogging path with his inmate trainer.  

Chase is not a fan of the blistering sun or rain.  He's more of a fair weather kind of guy.  Chase will lay by his inmate trainers side relaxing while getting his nails trimmed.  

Training for Treats

My name is Chase and I'm teaching my inmate trainer how to give me treats.  He's teaching me some cool tricks which I don't mind doing at all!  Sometimes I'll even do tricks for the fun of it without treats, but I don't want my inmate trainer to get out of practice so I'm sticking to the treats for a while longer. This week I learned how to speak after only a few requests!  I'm also learning shake and how to do a kneeling pray!  I would like to brag a little and let you know that I know wait, here, sit, down, stay and jump with verbal or hand signal commands.  

My inmate trainer says he enjoys his time training with me. I think he's fun too!  

Training Like a Champ

Chase's training has evolved from just marking positions to his understanding verbal and hand signal commands!  Other skills such has walking on a leash, wait, heel and bed have also improved.  While preforming leash work his inmate trainer introduced the back command.  This week bow and paws up were introduced as extra commands!  Since Chase holds his paw out while in the sit position his trainer is working to mark this as a shake command.  

His inmate trainer says that Chase has a great personality.  He loves to play with toys and enjoys training.  He does a bouncing figure 8 that his in trainer is working to have Chase do on cue.  

Happy-Go-Lucky

Week two has been very productive for Josey and his inmate trainer!  Josey has settled in nicely and is developing a happy-go-lucky personality.  He has bonded with his inmate and actually wondered around looking for his two legged human companion!  

Josey gets excited during playtime, but calms easily.  He will lightly mouth his inmate's hand while playing showing his excitement at the fun.  Food and treats bring out the bouncy happy side of Josey!

Training this week focused on the basics - wait, let's go, release, heel, sit, down, stay, bed, and a few extras bow, leave it, back, and paws up! Josey is a smart guy and picks up new skills easily.   

His inmate trainer is looking forward to the days ahead! 

From The Track To Training

Josey's inmate trainer says that from the first time he say Josey he knew that this beautiful guy was his canine.  Josey's blue brindle stands out amongst red and other brindle Greyhounds.  

Over the past few days Josey has adjusted well and nothing bothers him.  He walks on the waxed floors without any fear of sliding.  New people have no effect on him nor does the loud floor buffer or vacuum!  Josey has a very laid back personality.  He does get excited over food and toys, but settles easy.  

Josey seems to learn fairly quickly and already has a handle on hurry, let's go, kennel, release, wait, here, sit, down, stay and bed!  

His inmate trainer has no doubt that Josey will be a great dog and addition to some lucky family.