This week’s Basics continue:

ACTIVE CUES

• Get Busy
• Settle
• Sit
• Waffles! (name recognition and recall)
• Yes! (marker word)
• Uh-uh
• Trade You
• Touch

PASSIVE CUES

• Kennel up
• Get Dressed
• Come
• Wait
• Down

BUTTON CUES (PASSIVE)

• Outside

OTHER BITS AND BOBS

• Leash 101
• Tether training
• Crate training
• Housebreaking
• People-neutral behavior in public
• Self-soothing and self-entertainment in a pen
• House manners
• Routines and naps
• Training sessions
• Public visits (in arms)

The second week of training is a reinforcement week — a week where we aim to gel the previous week’s skills and switch a few things from the “passively taught” cue category to a category where they get assigned a true verbal cue for reinforcement. Passive cues can include verbals (Kennel Up and Get Dressed are good examples — I use the words but don’t actively teach the dog what to do. I put them where I need them to be.) Others are still being lured (e.g. Down) without a verbal cue attached for now. His recall is currently passive in that it’s attached to his name!

Waffles has a big week ahead of him. There are plenty of short public training opportunities, a visit promised to our local coffeeshop owners, a vet visit, piano and cello practice and lessons, and a visit with seniors at a local complex. He’s going to love every minute of it, I’m sure! If you’re local to us and want to come by, let me know!