When I arrived at Jamie's on May 23,
Jamie greeting me with news that Carl had been by early in the
morning and said Jim would no longer be coming as he had purchased a
home in another state and had his home for sale. Good, I said, as
that makes me happy as well. I added after Carl's questioning, as
least now we should not need to go through that anymore.
Jamie said that we needed to work as
many dogs as we could today. I said okay and asked which dogs were
near ready for owners. Jamie said that the last boxer needs some
refreshing and two Golden Retrievers need to be worked, as their
owners will be here next Monday. Jamie said that Tom would be
working the Standard Schnauzer and the Welsh Springer Spaniel to
begin his day.
I entered the barn and obtained the
leash for the Boxer. When I entered his kennel, I was warmly greeted
and he was seeking attention, which I willingly gave him. When I
attached the leash, he was all business and we headed outside on the
south side. He responded to commands and behaved in a very business
manner. I attached his harness and sat in the wheel chair and he
really worked with each command. I offered treats, he accepted them,
and wanted the praise I gave him. He even was seeking petting with
the treats and made himself available for that. I worked him for
about an hour and told Jamie that he should be worked in town. Jamie
said that tomorrow would be good before I headed home. The three of
us will work the Boxer and the two Golden Retrievers in town.
I returned the Boxer to his kennel and
gave him more attention for ten minutes until Jamie said he has had
enough. I took the leash to the Golden Retriever kennel, harnessed
him, walked him outside, and then hooked up the wheel chair. I
worked him for ten minutes before sitting in the wheel chair. With
treats and other encouragement the Retriever was working very well
and only missed one command, but when I repeated it, he accomplished
it. After an hour, Jamie asked how he was working. I said he is
ready for next Monday, but something is missing in his training, and
I can't decide what. Jamie agreed and told me to start with the
second Retriever.
I returned the Retriever to his kennel
and gave him some attention. Then I went to the second Retriever and
harnessed him. When we were outside, I worked him for a few minutes
before hooking up the wheel chair. When I sat in the wheel chair, I
recognized what the problem I noticed in the first Retriever. They
were not getting the exercise they needed and were attempting to use
training time for some exercise. When I explained this to Jamie, he
thought for a minute and said you are right, I am not allowing the
dogs to have exercise for the time they need to just be a dog.
Jamie called Tom and the three of us
talked for some time about exercise and finally agreed that the dogs
needed some time each day to run. Jamie said the north fenced in
area should be divided and that way more dogs could exercise. Tom
said the east fenced area could also be used and some breeds could be
exercised together. Jamie told us to expect someone tomorrow that
will divide the north area and then expand the east area for another
exercise area. Jamie then directed us back to our training. Jamie
asked Tom to use the east area and he would start letting some dogs
out for exercise in the north area.
I continued to work the second
retriever and he responded very well to the commands and didn't miss
a command. I gave him his treats and praise and he seemed to work
harder. When I finished, I made sure I made a note about his working
harder for treats and praise.
When I was putting the second Retriever
back in his kennel, Jamie said let's see how the two Retrievers
exercise together. Jamie was taking the first Retriever to the door
and I took the second one there as well. The two sniffed each other
briefly and seemed to realize they would be going outside. Jamie
said that since they were litter mates, he was not expecting
problems. When Jamie opened the door, they were off and running.
They ran and played for almost the full hour. When Jamie called
them, they both came and were ready to go to their kennels.
Tom was bringing the Schnauzer in and
he asked if we dared put him out with the Welsh Springer Spaniel for
exercise. Tom said he would keep a eye on them, as there could be
some biting. I gathered the Spaniel and Tom brought the Schnauzer to
the door. They ignored each other, Jamie opened the door, and they
ran and played for half an hour and then wanted back in which
surprised Tom. We spent the rest of the afternoon exercising the
dogs and only had one dog that did not want to come in when called.
This dog was the German Shepherd and he wanted more exercise and
Jamie allowed him a half an hour more and then we had to catch and
put a leash on him to get him back into his kennel.
Jamie then thanked me when Tom started
to feed the dogs. Jamie said he used to exercise the dogs when he
was alone, but had stopped when the number of dogs he was working and
training increased. He said that once the north and east areas were
ready, he needed to consider hiring someone to exercise the dogs on a
daily basis and possibly learn training.
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