Give The Dog A Bone (Drop that bone and come!)

DAY 28: (Monday) We are back home in Montana. This video is of Crosby off-leash while I was saddling the horse. This is the first time I allowed him to “run free” as I saddled (usually, he is tied to the water spigot). I wanted to try the “off-leash” free running so I could see if he would stick around, or if he would take the opportunity to run off and chase smells. Rad was also off-leash and free running. Crosby stayed very close. At one point he found an old bone, and was chewing on it. That is when I decided to try a recall, to see if he would leave his treasure (or bring it), and come to me! He did! YEAH CROSBY! I’m SO IMPRESSED.

The dogs got a walk (on leash for Crosby) for 1.2 miles this morning. Crosby responds very reliably to random sits and comes now (for food). He has started pulling again at the end of the flexi, so I’ve started teaching the “Not too far” command. When he gets to the end of the flexi, I plant my feet and give a correction (chain slip collar) and say, “Not too far”. When I am riding the horse, “Not too far” is a command I give that means the dog has to come back a bit, but does not have to come all the way in to hock. “Come” or “Hock” means come to hock, but “Not too far” means … well… it means don’t go too far! My dogs usually learn to understand this command over a long period of time, so I don’t know that Crosby will “get” this one in the short time I have him, but it isn’t a required command for a Road Trial; it’s just a useful command for dogs who actually go on trail rides.

Today was the first day we let the chickens out during the day. We have been keeping them in the pen for most of the day because they get in the garden and eat the tomatoes! But the gardening season is about over (we’ve had a light frost, and a heavy frost is expected tonight), so Brad let the chickens out this morning. That means they are running loose all around the property. When we first got chickens, my Dals wanted to eat them, and had to be taught that the chickens are like our cats – NOT GAME!. This was hard on the Dals, especially Caden, because I have spent all winter training the dogs to flush pheasants. When we are out walking, if they accidentally flush pheasants, I give them a treat and tell them “Birds! Find the birds!” Caden is a natural bird dog, and she now hunts pheasants on our walks, and as soon as she finds and flushes some, she comes running back for her treat. So you can imagine what she thought of chickens in the yard! She thought she had hit the jackpot! And if they were slow enough not to fly away, then they why not catch them! It didn’t take much to convince her that the chickens were “taboo”, but it did take some training (corrections). She seems to have learned the difference between free-ranging pheasant and pet chickens. She still hunts pheasant for me (Flushed 5 or 6 of them just today).

I don't WANT Crosby to learn to hunt pheasant! Crosby really perks up when we are out in the field and he sees birds or hears their chatter, so when the chickens were out today, I took the opportunity to do some off-leash (dragging the leash) heeling right around the chickens. Crosby was perfect! As long as I have treats, he could care less about the chickens!

We also rode for about 3 miles later in the afternoon. Crosby was totally off-leash, wearing a “tab” (a 12” piece of rope hanging from his collar, to make him easier to grab if needed). We still need some work on hock position; Crosby tends to forge (get out in front), but he responded quickly to EVERY recall and call to hock, and performed a 2 minute sit-stay. He acts like he was just MADE for this! Oh. That’s right. He was. MILEAGE: 4