Eyes on the Prize

Recently we've been working really hard on Eko learning to focus on my face rather than my hands, as I attempt to fade out the hand signals and lures when practicing our Heelwork to Music moves and assistance dog tasks

Photo Description:- A head shot of Eko sitting in the garden looking up at the camera with good focus, his mouth is open slightly and his eyes are relaxed as are his ears

I hadn't realised just how much I move my hands around to lure Eko until I watched a few videos of our training sessions

I used to video all of Boris's training as it's a great way to spot any mistakes your making about why something isn't working, or it captures that fantastic moment when everything comes together as it should

Eko and Boris are so very different when it comes to training

Boris has always be very forgiving of my mistakes and as a result he's figured out how to do what I'm asking by trial and error and we muddled through

I thought I was getting pretty good at this training lark, then in came Eko and it was a whole new ball game

Photo Description:- Eko laying on a woodland path looking up at the camera with his mouth open and a look on his face I can only describe as mischievous as he's getting ready to leap up at me

Eko is **I hate to say it** a lot more intelligent than Boris but in a different way, he pretty some figured out all on his own how to manipulate me to give him treats, if he picked up his breakfast bowl up and brought it to me in the sitting room he'd get a treat

I'd been trying to teach Eko to Sit Pretty (Beg) for months without success, I'd assumed it was his body shape making it difficult for him, and it would probably be a move he'll not be able to manage so I gave up

Recently in class we started teaching the dogs to Wave, suddenly Eko was Sitting Pretty like an old hand and I was momentarily confused did I praise the Sit Pretty or ignore the fact we'd not made a start on the Wave

I opted for big praise and Jackpot  treats for the Sit Pretty to build up his confidence about it 

Photo Description:- Full body shot of Eko almost in the Sit Pretty (Beg) postion, he's balanced on his back paws with his front paws curled in front of him as he raises his upper body up into position

It's  by no means perfect yet and he can only hold it for a few short seconds, but it's a start, you can't rush these things as it takes a lot of core strength to hold the Sit Pretty position which needs building up slowly, now all I have to do is figure out a different way to teach Eko to Wave in time for next week 

Dawn & Eko

xxx

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