Post Four: Getting to Know You

Lilli has been in our home for three days now.  She's acclimated well with our two dogs and three cats.

It has been a great learning experience so far with this little girl.  I wanted to start training her as soon as possible, because she wants to win!  Just like any new animal, each one learns a little differently.  At the trainer draw, I brought a training pouch full of treats.  She would not take any of them.   I was a little concerned, but then realized that my other dog will not take treats when she's stressed.  Lilli had no idea who I was, no wonder she wouldn't take any treats!

When we got home, I tried again.  She ate each flavor I had in my pouch.  I decided to try to capture a sit, since that is a natural behavior for a dog.  She caught on quickly and tried to slip in her "sit pretty" every once and awhile.  Lilli came with "sit pretty."  She will gladly sit up on her hind legs if you put a piece of food above her head.  It is adorable and a great crowd pleaser, but I know she's got so much more in her.

Lilli is catching on quickly to the clicker way of life.  The moment she does something I want, I click and she gets a treat or gets to play with her favorite toy.  During our "sit" training session, I took a break and clicked for any kind of focus of me when I called her name.  Focus is such a great tool to have for a dog owner and it will definitely help with recall work.

My other dogs love to work for treats and Lilli is really engaged to learn all of their "stuff."  It'll be interesting to see any mimicry start to happen!

Another tidbit we have learned from this little girl...she loves to play fetch!  Preferably with stuffed animals that have squeakers!

We have now moved on to target work, sitting on a mat, jumping through a hoop, and lying down.  Stay tuned for more information on those!