We are delighted to say that following just a few weeks of training, Tess (our 20 months old Jack Russell Terrier) is doing very well. Tess can now be walked through a field full of sheep without her showing any inclination to chase them, she walks to heel both on and off lead, she will sit and stay when commanded to do so (even from a distance) and she returns when called upon to do so. She responds to commands whether given by whistle or voice.
She has learned the command “leave it”. Using that command, we can place a number of tasty treats on the floor right under her nose and she will not touch those until we allow. We have set other boundaries. For example, when we are eating, she goes into her crate (door stays open) and remains there until we have finished our meal.
Tess has after just a few weeks become far more manageable and obedient. We can now let her off lead when out for a walk in the countryside (something that we could not do before). However as you would expect that after just a few weeks, challenges remain. For example, Tess can have difficulty focusing on commands from us if she sees something rather more interesting (such as a rabbit running across a field) but we are working on this. As time goes by we can see the continuing improvements. Following training (which was more you training us how to train our dog) we feel so much more equipped and confident to continue and improve on the great work to date.
Tess is a joy to be with. She is a happy, fun, playful, friendly and content dog whilst still retaining her terrier instincts to keep us on our toes. Thank you for your help,
Tony and Yvonne, and Tess
