So as these commands always seem to happen together in some combination, I thought I would talk about them all together.
Sit is probably obvious. When mom or dad (or someone else) says sit, and does the hand signal then i sit my butt down on the ground and stick my chest out nice and proud. I stretch my head up nice and tall and look at mom or dad (or whoever is giving the command) and wait for my reward.
When mom or dad says “down” i lay down, swivel my hips to the side (mom doesn’t like it when I stay on my haunches because i pop up to a stand way too quickly that way). Sometimes i put my head on the ground between my paws. Other times I will hold my head up nice and tall — and imitate the sphinx.
Stand is another command. When mom or dad (or someone else) says stand and does the hand signal I’ll stand up. I think I’m supposed to just stand where I was lying, but sometimes I get a little too excited and prance around after this — or chase the hand that I think has the treat in it.
I am getting so good at these commands, that sometimes I won’t wait for mom or dad (or whoever) to do the next signal. I’ll just start switching between sit, down and stand on my own. I am so proud of myself sometimes. And when I show off like this, I’ll look up at mom with such an adorable angelic eyes that she can’t help but give me a reward. But then, sometimes she won’t give me one. She wants me to do them in a different order or something, I’m not sure why it makes such a big deal. Sit, down, stand, sit, down, stand, sit, down, stand…. I can do that all day. Well i could, but it gets a bit boring after awhile.
Another thing that I have to do is “stay”. This is new. And my stays are getting longer – i’m up to over a minute already! But sometimes I find it a little difficult to stay down for that long. I want to get up and be rewarded!! Today mom would get me do a sit-stay or a down-stay and then she would walk to the other end of the house, kneel down on the floor and then say “you’re free.” Then she would call me and I would come running to her. Then she would give me all kinds of scratches, rub and kisses and, most importantly, a little piece of kibble. Sometimes I couldn’t wait for her excited praise of me, so i had trouble sitting where she left me. So I would go running down the hall after her. But then she would walk me back to where she left me the first time, make me get into a down-stay or a sit-stay and walk away again. It was fun. I got to run really fast in the house and get all kinds of attention! What could be better??
So I just found out this week at puppy school, that when I meet people, I’m not supposed to get excited and jump all over them. Or lick them like crazy to so I get a “taste” of what kind of person this is. Or nip them in fun. To be honest, this takes away all of a pup’s fun in meeting a new person. New humans, espeicially little ones, are a lot of fun. Because the more you jump at them and lick them, the more they pet you and the more attention you get. And, as a very adorable little pup, I get a lot of attention. It seems where ever mom or dad walks me, I turn heads. While humans may not be as bright as us dogs, they definitely know real beauty when they see it!
But as much fun as it is to jump all over a new person, a guide dog isn’t allow to greet people that way. Most of the time, a guide dog is working when he or she meets someone new. And I guess, if I think about it, it wouldn’t be really very good for a guide dog, of someone who is blind, to start jumping around. We’d probably knock the person off their feet in a hurry!! So now, to practice, when someone new approaches, mom or dad will get me to sit, and as they come over and greet me (pat me on my head, rub my back or my ears, exclaim over how beautiful a puppy I am), I have to sit. And to make sure I stay sitting, mom or dad will be beside me, kneeling down and feeding me kibble until the person is finished greeting me. I guess when I look at it that way, not jumping around isn’t so bad. The more new people i meet, the more food I get! Hot dog!
But I think this is going to take lots of practice. Because I like meeting new people and they make me really rEaLlY REALLY EXCITED!! It’s going to be a lot of hard work to learn how to meet new people wtihout jumping.. at least there’s something good in it for me!
As mom and dad are trying to get me ready to go to Guide Dog school when I’m older (around 1 1/2 to 2 years old) I thought I would share with you a few of the commands that I’m learning here and there.
One of the commands that I seem to hear a lot of each day is “Not Yours”. Mom and dad seem to say this when I’m about to go after something they don’t want me to play with. I’m not sure exactly why I can’t play with shoes or the remote control or mom’s cell phone or her Bible — but any time I try to I hear one of them say “Not Yours!” Usually (if they remember), as they say it, they lure me away from the object of interested (like dad’s shoes) with a piece of kibble. I mean, if they want me not to play with something that smells THAT good, they better have something pretty good to replace it with! I’m getting enough practice with Not Yours that I’m starting to get pretty good with it. When they say “Not Yours”, sometimes even without the food lure, I’ll turn away and find something else to investigate. But sometimes, being just a puppy who is learning so very much right now, I have a hard time remembering everything, so I need to be told a couple times before it clicks in! And sometimes, frankly, I just don’t want to listen. But i’m learning. And usually, when I respond correctly, I get food and lots of love and affection (and maybe even a different toy to play with) and so it is well worth my while to listen!
