So, How’s The Training Going?

A question regularly asked of us. The question usually relates to how well we are training Charlie & Champa. Perhaps a better question is how well they are training us!

We are now trained very well at leaping from our sofa the moment either dog shows any sign of wanting to go outside. I’m sure they wind us up by just circling around a couple of times and sniffing the carpet to see how quickly we can jump up and rush to let them out while they seem to smile and settle back down in front of the radiator. Luckily, ‘accidents’ are now becoming rare (finally!) but both Charlie and Champa make sure they give us no notice whatsoever of any such slip up on the toilet training!

They have also trained us well into getting up at 6:30am. Or rather 6:20. I’m sure Charlie knows our alarm is set for 6:30 and decides to wake us up with his barking instead, ten minutes earlier, knowing that our concern for our neighbours means we will rush downstairs to let them outside.

The arm muscles are coming along well – Charlie is making sure that his pulling on the lead, leading to us having to regularly stop to ensure he stops pulling before continuing on for 2 paces before he is pulling again, is better than any gym workout. And for a 4 month old puppy, he is getting very strong!

Both Emma and myself are very good at fetching the ball too. We throw it for the dogs, they run after it. Champa drops down next to it in classic border collie pose, and Charlie plods up a few seconds later, picks it up, wanders off with it for a few paces, then drops it when he finds something more interesting to sniff or eat, and they both lose interest in the ball until we fetch it for them, at which point they pester us to throw it again.

Lastly we are getting very well trained in patience.It is the key to our supposed training of them. Patience and consistency. Not easy things to learn. That’s why dog training is more often than not, owner training.