I really want to get back into animal training. Locke has inspired me. I used to be big into researching it in the past, and when I told my college adviser that I wanted to be a marine mammal trainer he looked at me with a look of bewilderment. Huh? Operant conditioning?
We've taught Locke: Sit, Stay [and to stay and not move when we put his food bowl down until we say it's ok], Go, Shake and we've almost perfected the lay down command. I am thinking of changing his word for that to "Down". I was originally saying "Lay" because we've been saying "Down" when we want him to get off of something. But we should change that to "Off". I think he is more attached to hand signals than the word commands anyway so hopefully that will not throw him off. Matt is very into the training as well, which is nice. We worked with him for awhile before bed last night. I'd like to get him an agility tunnel, but I think they are expensive. It would be nice to do agility with him some day, since he is one of the breeds perfect for the sport, but I'm not sure if I have the patience or competitive drive. However, if I don't, what makes me want to train at all? Agility is just a bit more advanced training. After he finishes his rounds of shots I'd like to get him into a good training class. Hopefully money allows.
