Fonzie: Recalling Obedience

  Sweet boy Fonzie takes the first part of his test tomorrow, and I’m excited for him and his person. They both have worked very hard to reach this point, and they’ve made significant, dramatic progress as a result. Fonzie is checking in with his person more often, he’s responding more quickly to commands, and his person is learning how to use the leash much more effectively. We still have some work to do with his recall and positional work, but overall, I could not be more proud of both of them for how far they’ve come in such a short time.

When I met Fonzie a few weeks ago, I met a dog who was more interested in the distractions than he was in listening to or even looking at his handler. When he did bother to look at her, he was very slow to respond to commands. He pulled on the leash instead of heeling nicely at her side, and he went where he wanted to go – even when that meant crossing in front of her.

Today, a few weeks later, Fonzie is a very different boy. He walks nicely on a loose leash, he’s 100% more responsive to commands, he checks in with his handler far more often, he’s much calmer when he’s meeting new people and new dogs… All across the board, the improvements Fonzie and his handler have made have been quite dramatic.

We still have some work to do, but on the whole, Fonzie and his person are making tremendous strides forward. Keep up the great work, Anne and Fonzie! You’re doing awesome!