Silly Games can be Training, too

We continue to do stuff in the bedroom at night. There's not much room but that works out fine for very precise heeling position work. I barely move my left leg up/back; rock forward/ rock back, twist/turn, etc. and the dog has to stay in heel position. It is really hard, detailed work for both of them. Gata likes this game and knows it well. Tor is just starting to play this game but is definitely picking it up very quickly. Every now and then I made a move that he didn't respond to but he definitely got it about 85% of the time. Which I think is quite good considering he's not done this before.

We also continue to work on the take and hold of the wooden dowel. Tor finds this boring. I am not at all surprised by that ;-)  But yesterday morning I emptied a roll of paper towels and he wanted to grab the cardboard tube. So being just a slight bit cleverer than he is, I decided ... Ah, hah, we will practice the take and hold. I didn't have any treats or anything, just my voice and hands. It didn't really matter - Tor likes those just fine :-)  So we practiced the take and hold with a cardboard tube. He really wanted to play tug with it but was quite accepting of the game. Mostly, he's just happy to be playing games at pretty much any time. Silly boy!

Both dogs are doing better and better about waiting in the crate. Gata totally gets at this point. Tor gets it but wants to lay closer to me so keeps breaking his down and coming out of the crate when I am "too happy" with Gata - his definition. He really is quite the character.

On other fronts, some of the dynamics at home are shifting and I will definitely have to keep an eye on them. Tor has clearly overwhelmed Gata a little too much in ways and things that I have not noticed. Even when she tells him off for something she sort of ducks away from him at the same time. So now when I have them loose just hanging out with me, Tor is close and Gata is hanging back. I can tell that Gata is unhappy with this arrangement. So I am attempting to institute an arrangement where both can be close most of the time and neither is allowed to own me. Don't know if I will be able to get this right but I am going to attempt it. I just can't stand to have Gata staring at me dolefully from 10-feet away.