Progress this week

So far this week, some things are improving. Jackson has definitely got the hang of giving a paw now, and he has to do this before he gets any food or attention from us. Both of them are responding to the silent whistle I bought, I don't even have time to blow it, then shout "Come" - they've already responded by the time I've finished my two short blasts on the whistle. There was a particularly good test today, Jacky was wayyy up in the back garden, and I was in the kitchen, with the door open. I blew the whistle from in the kitchen, and Jacky heard it and came running in straight away. Both boys are getting lots of praise and some livercake any time they come back in response to the whistle.

We have tried some doorbell training. After ringing it 10 times, we got Jacky down to just giving one yelp, and sitting by the inner porch door, but Mishka is still rather too noisy, although by the 10th ring even he was calming down. We need to do this every day, as I'd not done it for 2 days and when we had a parcel arrive today, the boys were as loud as ever in response to the doorbell.
However, we did have an expected guest around this afternoon, and whilst I opened the door to him, Olga kept the boys in a sit in the hallway. This was a great improvement, and whilst not perfect (each boy did bound over to our guest once or twice to say hello, although we were able to keep Mishka from jumping up with a verbal command. Jacky still jumped once or twice, but both dogs would quickly return for more treats from Olga, only given once they were in a good sit).

Olga has reported that on a walk on Monday morning, with both dogs, they encountered a Bernese mountain dog out with its owner. The dog was on the other side of the road, off the lead, and whilst Jackson noticed it, Olga had got him into a sit quiet early on, and he remained in a sit for a good few moments, only occasionally looking over at the other dog, and straining a little on the lead. Olga was able to lead both boys away without any barking or lunging.
I was not so lucky on Tuesday or Wednesday morning, when walking down a road with parked cars on both verges, I saw a man on the other side of the road, but not his dog. Jacky saw the dog before I did, and the usual chaos ensued.

I'll be ordering a DAP collar for Jacky and the DAP plugin for the house next week, as soon as I get some time, this week has been a busy one at work.

Time for a change of diet

We've decided to move the boys off their diet of mixed pedigree chum tins & Autarky dried food, on to NatureDiet, a wet food which is much more healthy for them. There are a few different flavours, but we'll start them on chicken and rabbit & turkey. We started them on it this afternoon, still mixed in with the Autarky, so it's not a complete shock to their system. It's a more expensive option, but perhaps I'll get around to cancelling my Sky Sports TV package to pay for it....

Liver Cake - my first attempt

Here's my first go at Liver Cake, the boys have tried little bits and haven't keeled over dead, so I think it's OK. I had no idea how it should look, but I think it looks OK, I had better tell Olga what it is before she gets home, I wouldn't want her tucking into a slice thinking I'd baked some bizarre bread!!
Today I've been keeping my treat-hand well away from Jackson when asking him to give a paw, and he's definitely getting the hang of it, and he also responded correctly to a command of down from a distance today, him by the front door and me in the kitchen.
I'm taking him now for a long walk on his own, to go and collect Lara from nursery. I'm not going to use his muzzle, it's a 3 mile round trip and I worry that would be a long first exposure.
I will take some cake though (just a little!)...

The first week

Tuesday 20th September

I checked on Tuesday afternoon at the community centre where we'd trained Mishka when he was a puppy, and this was the poster I found:

It all seemed a bit "puppy orientated", although I will send an email to the address on the poster to see if they will allow Jackson to come along, even if it is only to sit and watch for a while.

Olga practised keeping the dogs in a sit in the kitchen when I returned to the house, which was more effective with Jackson than Mishka, but they were still under more control than we normally permit.

In the evening we pampered Mishka a little, it was his birthday after all :-)

Wednesday 21st September

Jackson is getting the hang of "give a paw", although he is combining giving a paw with lunging with his mouth to try and grab the treat he knows we have in our hand that is not extended to receive his paw.

I bought a silent whistle and a muzzle from our local pet store. I've not tried the whistle out on the boys yet, and we've just tried the muzzle on Jackson very briefly to check it fits OK, and that he has enough freedom in it to pant and drink water.
I have also bought some liver from the supermarket, and after looking up the recipe on the web, will be having a go at making liver cake soon.

Today we changed the boys feedtime from noon to morning and teatime.

Thursday 22nd  & Friday 23rd September

Continued with Jackson's "give a paw". Also making sure they at least sit, if not give a paw too, before any food or attention is given to them.

Saturday 24th September

My first attempt at taking the boys out on separate leads. We went to one of our usual parks, a small one that occasionally has other dog walkers in it, but not this morning. I let Jackson off his lead for about 1 minute, calling him back three times, each time he returned to me quickly and with enthusiasm. I put him back on the lead then let Mishka off, for about 20-30 seconds, calling him back once. He was more reluctant to return, looking at me first from a few metres away, and only returning to me when it was clear there was a treat on offer. I took this opportunity to put him back on the lead.