Some of you have followed along through some difficult times with me and my choice to take in my Mom's dog Tanner, so I though I would update you on how he is doing!
Mom has been able to see a new doctor that has provided her with some things to help her muscles and joints, so she is able to keep Tanner when there is someone around to help her. This is awesome, but we are keeping that 3rd pack member spot open in case things head the other way again.
Tanner spends days at my house and we've been working really hard on some different OB with hand signals and commands. I am so, so proud to say he now has a very reliable in-fence recall into a half-hearted heel position (he sits diagonal to my leg, but I never thought we'd make it this far!) He also has a 25 foot send out into a down and a sit from about 50 ft. I wish I could get a video of him so badly, but the camera is one of those scarey objects and he will still run away when he sees one. I never thought we'd get to this point and am so happy we have. I see more of the spark that he has slowly developed over the last few years and it is really rewarding to see his thinking brain in charge instead of his reacting brain. Just wanted to share with you all who would be as excited as I am in my position

That is so good to read Amy - put a big smile on my face

I'm excited for you! You are doing GREAT, Amy!!

Big huge smile and hugs for you, Amy! You're doing great!

Thanks Ladies! We still have our "moments" but they are improving! Next on the list: in house recall and some sort of "relax" command to combat the pacing. It has been challenging to train with a dog who cannot be marked (scary when someone gives you a treat), excited, driven by toys, or anything other than a very monotone "good" and a scratch on the back. Very easy reward, but not so easy to teach what I'd like him to do.

That's kind of what Shyner was like when I first picked her up- she was hand shy, didn't like toys, wouldn't take a treat to save her life, and excited noises from me would send her under the bed for an hour.

We actually started training with the release as her reward. If she came to me and sat, that was the end of training for a while. Eventually she would accept ear scratches as rewards, and training went MUCH faster!

It's hard with dogs like that, but you become such a better trainer because of the difficulty. Even Drift, with no food drive was easy after dealing with Shyner.

You are doing GREAT Amy and Tanner!! Keep it up, and we love to hear updates!!!

 Quote: Kelly

We actually started training with the release as her reward. If she came to me and sat, that was the end of training for a while. Eventually she would accept ear scratches as rewards, and training went MUCH faster!

That is really funny, because that's how the send away into a down came about! I was releasing him after recall and one day he decided to only release for a little ways and down. I put a command to it and then released him from that and we worked up to the "good" from there I guess there is a bit of method to the madness of training a fearful dog

 Quote: Amy VandeWeerd

I guess there is a bit of method to the madness of training a fearful dog

It's all about doing what works for the dog. Sometimes finding out what that thing is can be difficult though. It really does make you a better trainer because you learn to read every nuance of the dog's behavior and body language.

this gives me hope as I have a dog who can be fearful of noises and he hates traffic noise. Great the rest of the time. Been working long and hard. So your report encourages me.
sharon

It is absolutely possible Sharon! Each dog is individual and it took 3 years to get Tanner to get this far (a year to just get him to come out of the basement, another year to follow a sit command, then we started to "get" how his training needed to happen.) I'm sure, as committed as you are, you'll get where you want to as well