Alexandr and Alexandra

Obedience basis with Alexandr Smirnov

The puppy - Ambergold GK Alexandra

Lesson 16

Sandra is 4 months and 12 days old

Lesson 15

Sandra is 4 months and 9 days old

Lesson 14

Sandra is 4 months and 5 days old

Lesson 13

Sandra is 4 months and 2 days old

Lesson 12

Sandra is 3 months and 28 days old

Lesson 11

Sandra is 3 months and 23 days old

Lesson 10

Sandra is 3 months and 20 days old

Lesson 9

Sandra is 3 months and 17 days old

Lesson 8

Sandra is 3 months old

Commentary to Lesson 8:

Sanya is three months old. She is very diligent and intelligent so I’ve decided to add several new elements. First of all for the first time a soft puppy’s dog-collar was put on her, and it’s a new experience for her. She feels a little bit nervous but the collar doesn’t hinder our work. Sanya only gets distracted from time to time to scratch her neck. We already made a significant progress with the commands “Beside me”, “Come to me” and “Lie down” and now I can perfect them giving tasty bits only when Sanya fulfills them excellently.

Secondly to make our training more exciting I decided to teach her how to fulfill the “Snake” element. It’s very easy: I put my feet apart and Sanys passes between them, and in such a way we make several steps. For some minutes it was a real torture – both of us tried it for the first time, but then Sanya managed to do it correctly earlier than me. And then both of us managed to do it correctly – we made two steps! If you’d like to train your dog to make this element don’t forget that at first you should give an incentive to him/her even when the element was not fulfilled correctly so that he/she wouldn’t lose confidence and a desire to study.

Lesson 7

Sandra is 82 days old

Commentary to Lesson 7:

This lesson is very important for us. Sanya becomes a hooligan that’s why she needs to be acquainted with the commands “Forbidden” and “Allowed”. I do understand that these commands provide a stress for a small puppy and you should give them gently so that a puppy wouldn’t be frightened. She hears these words for the first time in her life, for the first time in her life she is forbidden to do something and I speak with her harshly. I use the most simple situation – show her a tasty bit and say “Forbidden”. As any reasonable puppy Sanya reacts to the  menacing intonation, gets frightened and does not approach. Right you are! And a biscuit disappears in Sanya’s jaws.

Sanya’s tasks each time become more complicated. I must confess that I believed in Sanya’s intelligence and planned to make a better progress in her self-control, but this time she decided to go on a strike. You should be very patient and persistent to achieve results. Nearly a half of the lesson we spent training this element and Sanya became tired. But at the command “Beside me” we walk for a much longer period of time and Sanya receives tasty bits more seldom. Sometimes she receives them not after one fulfilled command but after two ones. For example “Come to me” and “Sit down”

Lesson 6

Sandra is 72  days old

We made a definite advance in our studies. Although Sanya still jumps at the command “By me” we manage to cover a much more  greater distance. Just look how I have to fight with this behavior – you should follow closely all puppy’s movements not paying attention to her jumps and encouraging her only when she moves beside you correctly. While learning your dog to do it don’t forget that it’s not an easy task and you’ll need a special skill. Sanya quickly understands what is wanted that’s why I needn’t to look too closely how the command is fulfilled.

She fulfills the command “Lie down” with more confidence as she understands what I’m waiting from her and lies down immediately without long persuasions. And her self-control at the command “To sit” has become much more better – I can go away at the distance of several meters and wait there and she would still sit on her place – it’s a wonderful result for a puppy of two months old.

Lesson 5

Sandra is  67 days old

Commentary to Lesson 5:

Look, how we've managed to make the task for a small puppy more complicated.

Sanya knows a lot already - she can lie down, be patient and move for a long time at the command "Beside me".

Each lesson begins from the repetition of the previous skills - it's important for securing of already known.

But Sanya is growing up and starts to make a game out of each command.

She likes to work and precisely this makes a problem as Sanya tries to fulfill each command excellently and from her point of view it means to fulfill it as gaily as possible.

Look how she jumps at the command "Beside me". We should fight with it very carefully encouraging her only when she walks and not jumps.

Sanya fulfills the command "Lie down" gloriously, I can even move away for a considerable distance, but there's also some difficulties. As soon as we add new commands or make the already known ones more complicated some commands become "lost".

So if you mark Sanya after command "Patience" is rather slow with the fulfillment of the command "To me" which is her favourite.

Lesson 4

Sandra is 62 days old

Commentary to Lesson 4:

Sandra grows up and her character grows up together with her. Look how she has begun to fulfill the command Beside me: somehow she decided that she has to jump not to walk, and I have to explain to her that she is wrong. Pay attention I try to encourage her precisely when all her four paws firmly stand on the ground. But she achieves some success with self-control while fulfilling the command To sit, besides I've started to explain the command Lie down. But the most favourite command with Sandra remains Come to me.

Lesson 3

Sandra is 8 weeks old

Commentary to Lesson 3:

We again repeat the acquired skills and add something new. This time I really needed patience - Sandra didn't want to work and I had literally to persuade her. She made mistakes, got distracted and ran away, in other words she behaved herself as a puppy of her age should. Nevertheless I've managed to train the beginning of self-control at the command To sit.

Lesson 2

Sandra is 7 weeks old

Sandra is  6,5 weeks old