Sophie's Video

Sophie and I have had some obstacles to overcome in her time here, but she is doing well despite them. The day before she flew down, she got her tongue frozen to the door (she is from Wisconsin). So, needless to say, it took a few days for her to recuperate from her flight down as well as the damage that was done to her tongue. Bless her heart, the only thing I could think of was The Christmas Story when the boy got his tongue stuck to the flag pole. We did watch that movie together on Christmas Eve while Santa put together Mackenzie's rocking horse. LOL

Sophie's Training

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We have trained quite a number of toy breeds over the years, but by my estimate, Sophie is the smallest dog I have ever trained. She probably weighs 3 pounds soaking wet. Sophie is still very young and a little unsure of herself. After the first few days, Sophie started showing us more of her personality and she also found her voice. She gets along great with the other dogs and loves to chase Athos around the yard. It is hilarious to see this big German Shepherd playing with this tiny little Yorkie. Sophie has been learning several commands this week. She is starting to follow me on the leash, Sit, Down and go to Place. She is doing a great job with the Place command and will stay there even if I leave the room. I have done some training with Sit and Down using a table. This saves my back as well as keeps me from "hovering" over her which causes some submissive behaviors from Sophie. Sophie is a smart little dog and I look forward to seeing her progress with her training.

Introducing Sophie

SOPHIE
Yorkshire Terrier
Female 5 months old

Owned by Tammy from Wisconsin

Board N Train began on 12/13/08

List of Problems stated by owner:

Not completely housebroken
Overactive and doesn't settle down easily
Urinates when excited
Nuisance barker/whiner when owner is eating or doorbell rings
Play bites
Does not come when called consistently
Bolts through open doors

Stewart Unleashed

Stewart is doing very well with his training. I have put together a little video for you to see how he is doing. He still gets a little distracted at times, but with time and consistency, that will improve. At his age, he is like a little kid with a short attention span. However, he has greatly improved in the time he has been here and will only get better as he matures.

Stewart's First Week

Stewart has done excellent his first week here with us. He is a smart little guy and I am having a lot of fun working with him. He does great with his "place" command. He is also doing well with sitting and waiting at the door to go out or come in. He is having a blast with the other dogs too. He is 95% off-leash now. I rarely have to use a leash with him at all now. He goes outside off-leash, plays with the other dogs, and performs all of his commands off-leash. We are still working on more consistency with him, but he is still very controllable off the leash. Every now and then he gets a little spur in his rear and does a little "freaknik" dance around the yard, but then he will come back when I call him and sit at my side. The biggest challenge for you when he comes home will be working with his adolescence. You must be consistent and not let him get away with disobeying. You must always follow through with the commands you give him. Treat him like you would a child. You would not want an uncontrollable kid running around. Believe me, he understands what is expected here, and he is so smart that he can learn bad behaviors as quickly as he can learn good ones. Keep this in mind while you are waiting on him to come home. The hardest part of dog training, is training the owner.

I have also been working on the "speak" command and "wave". For "speak" I am using the German command "Gib Laut", pronounced like it looks. You can check out the short video clip to see these commands. We are still working on consistency with these commands, but for the short time we have been working on them, he is doing very well. I hope to try working with the frisbee later this week.