Getting her Smarts on!

Dylan has now reached 21 pounds.   At 14 weeks, she he is getting lanky and smarter.  I'm not sure what they have in common, but that's my observation.  With her lankiness comes the irresistible urge to jump onto things.  This morning she jumped onto the fire place.  Then realized she wasn't supposed to be there and jumped down, all without me saying anything.   When a dog jumps on to a chair or sofa, the instinct is to yell, DOWN! Well, that's the wrong command.  The command is OFF!  See, DOWN is a good command, OFF is a command to let the dog know they screwed up.  I couldn't even get the "OFF" thought formed, before she got OFF.  See, lanky and smart!

We took Dylan to meet another puppy sitter as we will be gone a few days.  Georgia, a retired lady who has had many breeders for GDA and has a career change Lab named Nala, graciously agreed to watch Dylan.  Dylan immediately took over and ran the place.  Georgia loved her.

Dylan with Nala

Puppy K on Monday was a recap of what Dylan is supposed to know along with something new called, walking with distractions.  Her sit and stay was good.  Her downs, not so good.  The walking with distractions included going up two steps and then down the other side.  She had to be coaxed to go up with some kibble.  Then she launched herself down to get another piece of kibble.  (so food driven)  Leaving toys alone, walking on fake grass and through a shallow box.  All designed to get them use to walking and not dragging their owners all over the place due to distractions.

We have Bailey.  The biggest distraction known to GDA dog-hood.

So, working on all the commands and seeing her grow as we progress through this adventure is becoming routine.  Dylan doesn't know that yet.  She's still just a puppy.  A smart and lanky puppy!