[RKDinOKC]

I was training up my 3rd dog. She is a golden and the puppy enthusiasm takes some work to get control of without breaking the dogs spirit. Start with only a 2 ft leash. When they learn not to pull on that i.e. not let their base attention get distracted to the smells sights and sounds, THEN move to a 6 ft leash and it will be plenty.

Anyway, was going well and had to board her a 8 months old to go on a trip of a little over a week. Left her with a friends trainer that was really good, taught classes had winner goldens etc. She had 4 goldens and was just going to make my puppy part of the group and add her to the training exercises. Thought it would be great.

The lady said Pepper would be in good hands. Of her 4 goldens. One was a obedience show dog, one was a hunting dog, one was an agility dog, and the last was a service dog that worked daily in a mental health clinic. All of the training disciplines. My friend had told me she was a really good trainer and taught training. I did notice she was one of the trainers that doesn't give any verbal feedback just treats. Anytime the dog does anything positive the get a treat. Didn't think it would make that big of a deal as I use a mix of treats and praise.

Puppy was well house broken. In fact, she would come to me and say "I want out" then go to the door or if I was in the same room got to the door and say, I want out.

My first golden, Penny taught me dogs could imitate sounds. She barked at me to get my attention while I was busy on the computer. Annoyed I said, "What do you want!"...Very plainly Penny said, "I want out," and just looked at me. Surprised the heck out of me so got up and let her out.

My second golden started talking when I was trying to teach her Roll Over. Instead of rolling over she imitated me and said, "Roll over." Built on it from there. If you wanted her to actually roll over, you had to say, "Can you Roll over." She learned a LOT of phrases and go so tood my Mom's speech therapist told me, "The dog was making all the right sounds the only reason it wasn't perfect was dogs can't move their lips." She even brought her kids to hear the dog that talks like Astro on the Jetsons.

My current golden. Pepper was just getting started and only knew a few imitations. Hello, good morning, and I want out. I explained that to the trainer she was staying with. The trainer kind of dismissed it and explained how she would work with Pepper daily when she worked with her dogs. She did text me picks of Pepper playing with her dogs and behaving well with good reports that Pepper was doing great and learning fast.

Stopped on my way home to pick her up. She had her dogs and Pepper each sitting on their own mat when I walked in. And Pepper just sat there attention glued to that hand the treats came from. The trainer told me Pepper had done really well and went to the back door and sat and waited to get let out. About that time Pepper started to shake her head up and down and mouthing. The trainer immediately stuck her hand out and Pepper stopped immediately. Trainer commented she didn't know what that was.

Don't know what that trainer did but I can barely get Pepper to Bark, let alone say anything. It takes some coaxing to get her to talk. She is getting better though. She has become very popular at the local Starbucks. She says, "Hello" and they give her a small sample cup of whipped cream. They call it a puppuccino. If asleep she will wake me by licking and rubbing her head on my hand, and when I start to wake up say very clearly, "I want out." She won't say good morning unless it actually is the first thing in the morning.

One of the best things besides good leash (eventually no leash necessary training) was teaching my dogs to use the restroom on command. Started by taking her out on the leash when it was obvious she needed to go and lead her to a specific place in the back yard and say "Do your stuff." Or if I noticed she was squatting a bit differently would say, "Do number 6." And then praise her and call her closer for more praise and sometimes a treat. Now part of the routine to take her with me anywhere is to go to the back yard to do her stuff before we leave. It has gotten so that I just ask if she wants to go for a ride, she barks, gets excited, and goes to the back door so she can do her stuff before we go.

Hope I didn't bore you with my dogs.

Another thing I learned is if a dog has a behavior you don't like...train them to DO IT ON Command, then just don't give them the command! Digging, chewing things (you can get them to bring it to you first to see if it's okay to chew), jumping up, even running around excited in the house (only take that one outside and tell them run run run!).