Samish gets some skillz!

As you have already read here in previous blog posts, Samish is a hunter extraordinaire.  However, he also was over-interested in chasing the mice and squirrels he was hunting beyond the fence line so we've started doing some training work.  Happily, as his temp foster mom had told me, he is very treat motivated so getting him interested in lesson time is not a problem.  Below you see a video of us doing some work on the "come" cue.  We'll need to work on him not bouncing off of me before completing the "come" but hey, this is great for a little guy who needed to be always on leash (even in fenced areas) and pretty oblivious to humans when he was outside.

 

Another lesson we are working on is "sit".  We do some group lessons with Langley and Frodo, trying to get Langley used to being around another dog calmly.  Both Frodo and Langley were great at sitting and waiting patiently for their treat but Samish was in everyone's face as well as snout in the treat bag so we needed to work on some patience and manners with him.

He's doing a great job.  For now we are just strengthening his connection between the behavior and the reward but soon he'll need to drop the barking to get the treat. Below is what Samish's current method of trying to get a treat is:

Crouching low, growling and barking and pretty much demanding that the slow human hurry it up

 

And then here is how he has to act to actually get the treat.  It's a bit of an reset for him to think this way as he's cute, little, and used to telling you want he wants and when. That hasn't been working for him here though so he's quickly learning what does work.

Still pretty intense, but sitting nicely and quietly, hoping it will earn him a piece of kibble.

 

He's learning quickly and is going to make someone a great companion.