Jase graduated from obedience school a week and a half ago and is happy to be back at home. Johnny did a wonderful job with him. I’m still learning the finer points and may have to take a refresher session. Jase willingly goes into his crate when asked and frequently chooses to spend time there. He sits fairly well. He stays (with reinforcement). Johnny said he was wonderful with Down-Stay at their house, but he won’t do it for me, so that’s mostly where I need the refresher. I must be doing something wrong. For me, it still seems like a lot of work to walk with him on a lead, but he is so much better than he was. I think a lot of reinforcement is necessary as well as a lot of practice. Jase is also still a puppy with a lot of pent up energy.

We’re still working at keeping him from lunging at the cats. With the outside cats, I’m practicing putting Jase in either Sit or Down when we approach a cat. We’ve had mixed results, but I am seeing improvement. Cats, for some reason I’m not surprised at, feel threatened when Jase either lunges at them or bounces at them. Unfortunately, I think he likes to see them run, and he wants to chase them. On the bright side, I noticed he was getting down on Lady’s level to interact with her in the house, so interacting with cats is still a mixed bag, and we will continue to work on it.

To address the concern about him pulling us down the steps when we go outside, he sits before we open the door. We walk out the door together. He sits-stays at the top of the steps. I walk down the steps. At the bottom of the steps, I call him. I insist he sit beside me before we go for our walk around the yard for potty stops. This has been working well. Before calling him down, I check to make sure no cats are around.

Johnny taught him to climb the slide at the playground and slide down. That was fun to see. He did very well. Johnny demonstrated everything he taught Jase, and Jase did great. Mr. L and I worked with him a little bit and got a few pointers, but we’re still earning the respect that Jase had for Johnny. We’re not as experienced at working with a dog as he is, and Jase knows it.

On the left is a photo in the yard from the day Jase got home. On the right is Jase enjoying his new bed that he found in his crate when he got home.