Tonight I am quite upset and disillusioned.

Tonight I am quite upset and disillusioned. The woman who runs the rescue place where we got Timmy has been looking at my progress updates and not only disapproves of my training methods, it seems that I'm over training him. But worst of all is that she is also turning the words I wrote last night to make it look like I have been ill treating him so much so they are sending out a representative on Saturday to do something, I'm not really sure what. Anyway if anyone else thinks what I wrote last night means I beat or ill treat him you are absolutely wrong. I've never raised my hand, voice or anything else to him in anger and as for the training it's all fun and games to both of us. He loves the interaction and he's allowed to quit whenever he wants, usually though it's me that gets fed up first.

 

Tonight we did some sit and stay, the sitting part isn't really training anymore though as he is now the best sitter in our house. We also played the LEAVE IT game. This is where I drop or place a treat on the floor and if he ignores it he gets a treat from my hand then at the end he also gets the treat from the floor. Neither session lasted more than a couple of minutes.

 

Today in the garden we have been lifting and storing Dahlia tubers.

 

Lessons on road walking.

Today we had to plant some shrubs down the sides of the avenue which is outside the confines of the main garden. For a while I had Timmy fastened by a long lead to a tree next to where I was working but when the time came to go and fetch a wheel barrow full of compost I decided to see what he would do when I let him off the lead. He followed me to the compost area okay and was happy to sniff around so I took my eye off him for a minute and next thing you know he was rolling around in the pile of horse manure next to the compost pile. After a quick brush down he then followed me back to the planting site but instead of stopping he continued on so I called him back and he stopped but hesitated so I called again and he came back so far before diverting in to the old garden where we burn rubbish. I called him again but he was now deliberately ignoring  me and he knew it because when I caught up with him he started rolling around in the bonfire ash thinking he was going to be getting some sort of punishment. In actual fact I was more concerned about him rolling around in the ashes as I didn't want them all in his coat. To my mind his punishment was once again being confined to the lead, I didn't need to hit or shout as he already knew he did wrong and if I'd beaten him he would have been less likely to have come back to me next time he felt that he did something wrong. I'm thinking now that perhaps the second call I gave may have led him to think he was already in trouble which is why he diverted in to the old garden on the way back to me although I do know there are rabbits in there so I don't know for sure. I know my second call had a ring of desperation to it as he was about to disappear around the corner and out of sight.

 

These last few of mornings we have been coming back through the village purposely to give him some lessons on road walking. The first morning we both nearly end up in a heap on the floor when Timmy decided to do a figure of eight in and around my legs, it would seem that walking on the road at seven in the morning is very exciting. Since then things have gone very well so much so that this morning he did a proper walk by my side with very little correction for pulling. There is no footpath on the part where we walk but the cars don't bother him in the slightest.

Apparently previous owners have always provided him with a pillow on which to rest his weary head, or at least that's what he tells me so I thought I'd better do the same.

Sit & Stay.

Today we have been doing some sit and stay training. We tend to do stuff in small amounts rather than prolonged sessions on one subject. I'm not a trainer so don't know if this is the right approach, it just feels right. He is very good at sitting when asked, especially if there is a treat to be had, very often sitting without even being asked. He is not so eager to stay though.

We have also done more work in the car. Up until now most of the car work has involved the back seat, mainly because he really didn't like the tailgate entrance to the car and also I am able to get on to the back seat and so encourage him to do so. Anyway now that he seems to have got the back seat under control I thought why not now move on to the rear compartment which is where he will be travelling along with Tess when we go places. The back seat is okay but we really like to keep that area of the car clean for people to use. So at feeding time tonight I showed him his dinner bowl before putting it in the rear of the car and then tried to get him to jump in but he didn't want to so I remembered what Cesar Millan once said which was to keep them moving forward so I walked him away and then turned back to the car and walked towards it and as he got close told him UP and like magic he jumped straight in the car and eat his dinner. After he finished I asked him to leave which he did but as I turned to get his bowl he jumped straight back in again so that was the icing on the cake for that lesson.

Apart from the usual walks the rest of the day has been spent helping me in the garden. We have been moving plants from the unheated conservatory to the heated greenhouses. He likes to help me either watching or following me around.

 

Below is a sit and stay moment for the camera.

In He Jumped Just LikeThat.

For a few days now after taking Timothy - Michael for a walk I have fed him part of his daily feed in his bowl on the back seat of the car. Up until this morning I have gone in first and then encouraged him to follow me which he has done quite willingly. This morning however I put the bowl of food in the car and on returning from the walk I opened the door and encouraged him to go get his dinner while I remained outside and in he jumped just like that. I was really pleased and let him know it once he had finished, and the best part was that I had to ask him to leave the car as he was quite happy to just sniff around. A few minutes later with the help of Vicki we also managed to get him to jump in through the tailgate of the car which he has a particular dislike too and again he seemed quite happy to stay there a while. So as things were going so well I got Vicki to drive us a couple of miles down the road and drop us off so that we could walk back across the fields which of course he enjoyed immensely. He wasn't settled in the car while travelling but he wasn't going frantic so hopefully he hasn't been put off by the sudden leap forward.

 

Timmy on the walk back home.

 

Has anyone seen Timothy - Michael?

We haven't had time to post anything for a couple of days due to being busy keeping grandma and granddad rounded up.

Can anyone spot Timothy - Michael, I don't know where he is.

We have been learning 'LEAVE IT', which he seems to have got the hang of while I'm around to say the words but when I'm not around everything is fair game to him. For instance last night I left him in the care of my wife Vicki while I took my parents home which is a round trip of about three hours. On returning home I discovered that he had raided a bag of stocking fillers and eaten a whole packet of biscuits and torn to pieces a large tub of Smarties. The thing I found interesting is that he ripped the cardboard tube to bits but didn't appear to have touched the Smaties which were scattered around the floor.

We had the tractor out on Thursday so Tess came to help in the garden also as she loves a ride in the trailer.

We have also been continuing the car lessons which have progressed well. With a little coxing he will now get on the back seat for treats and his food although I would go so far as to say he is happy about it beyond filling his stomach but it's certainly good progress for a week. I notice too that he no longer avoids passing the car and even sniffs around he doors when he is given the chance. When we first started he didn't want to leave the garden if he could see the car parked outside.

Car Sensitive Timmy Vid.01

Today we had a good day, three separate walkies amounting to between 5 and 6 miles. Also with a little coxing Timothy - Michael volunteered to put his front paws into the back of the car at which point we called it quits for the day. It might not seem a big deal but he did it all himself on a completely slack lead. Tonight on the TV there were some sheep and this freaked him out so much we had to turn off the TV. He turned instantly into a completely different dog to the one we have had for the past week. Even with the TV on a different channel it took him over half an hour to return to something like his new self. Someone should be locked up for what they have done to this dog.