Firstly, I’d better point out this isn’t Robin so don’t expect the usual wit. This is the son-in-law and its time I stepped out from behind the scenes to give a little Treacle Training update, and of course an updated photo.
Caroline and I have been delighted with Treacle’s progress. She is always happy and tends to pick things up really easily. I’ve never owned a dog before, but obviously Caroline has always lived with dogs and I’ve been amazed at the way she has been able to teach Treacle commands like ‘Down’ and ‘Speak’ while I’ve been out.
A few weeks ago both Caroline and I had both been starting to dread Treacles’ walks. While she was generally well behaved, the sight of another dog or person soon meant we had no control. She was gone. Even if we saw the distraction first, by calling Treacle back we gave her the clue to look around to locate the fun and again, bye-bye Treacle. The only way to retrieve our Retriever was to chase her down and re-apply the lead.
Luckily we know an expert and it didn’t take long to get the re-training sorted out with an extra walk one Sunday afternoon. Of course, it wasn’t Treacle that needed re-training – it was us. We had been letting Treacle ‘run’ the walk – almost to the point of letting her choose the route. We threw things for her to chase when she wanted and it was all a big game with Treacle at the center. She knew the ‘Come’ command but would only execute it after being sure there wasn’t anything better to do. What we needed as a change in the power whilst on the walk, and we got a few hints and tricks that now seem obvious, but which I certainly would never have discovered on my own.
The most valuable lesson was with simply using the problem ‘Come’ command to our advantage. Treacle had now associated it with ‘There’s something else fun to do around here somewhere’. What we had to do was make the come command worthwhile for Treacle. So now we often call her back during the walk when there is no actual need to. When we comes she might get to fetch a toy, a fuss, a treat, or a game of find something that has been hidden behind a tree. She now comes back without thinking about it. She’s not perfect, if she gets a chance she’ll generally go to play with another dog (without asking for permission) but we know that she’ll return to us when we ask.