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taming the beast

One of my new years goals is to train Trilli a little better. 
She is a very smart dog, and always took to training quickly. Housebreaking was a breeze. 
A dog or cat toy will only last minutes around here, but she has never destroyed a shoe or anything else that wasn't hers (or a cats.) Unfortunately she does have some bad habits, like jumping up on people, complete inability to walk on a leash, chasing and killing anything that moves quickly away from her (chickens, rabbits, squirrels) and when outside she is a wild animal, forget a recall or stay. The worst is when my dad goes for a walk, because she gets so excited that she jumps on and attacks the other two dogs. It's interesting to watch, because inside the house Dakota is boss, but outside he is a little baby next to her. She's an amazing dog, she just needs to learn a little manners. I have been working with her a few minutes at least once a day, practicing sit stay and down stay, leave it, and I have started working on a recall with the cue "that'll do", which is a term sheep dogs are trained to be released from their work. I think it will work well as a "stop what you are doing and come to me" command, since no one around us says this phrase, she will know exactly what it means. Well, just thought I would share a little about our adventures!


Until next time,

Angela Kelly

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