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wyoung2153 06-17-2014 11:15 AM

Down stay to perfection-brag :)
So Titan and I have been working on solidifying his down stay. he's always been really good at wait.. but it was never 100% under heavy distraction. So we have been doing a lot of that.

Small back story: Back in December, my neighbors let their dogs roam the neighborhood without though. One afternoon we were out front and their dog charged Titan and bit him on the butt, luckily titan let me handle it and didn't escalate. After a talk to my neighbors about controling their dogs, they have been awesome about not letting their dogs roam anymore. So Titan and I started doing more out front again in the last couple weeks.

Well every morning after my work out I come home and grab Titan for some heavy fetch time.. gotta tucker him out before work. Location varies.. sometimes it's the dog park, sometimes it's at the school up the road, or my back yard or front yard. Well this morning is the front. We don't live on a busy road at all and Titan is perfect in the front yard, never had issues. Reason for front over the back is really that, oddly, we have more space to throw in the front. Also, it's so early when we play.. no one is out running about :) usually.. but still on the occassion of a passerby, he's focused on the ball and doesn't give a hoot, and I position myself properly when playing.

Well this morning, we were playing and were just about finished when I heard collar jingles that were not Titans and I heard them coming fast.. low and behold, my neighbor's dogs running toward us snarling, growling, etc. I placed myself between Titan and the dogs, and put Titan in a down stay. He was ready to go, but stayed. I was able to block and catch the dogs and get them back to their owner and we chatted for a minute, her apologizing profusely, that they slipped past her when she went outside. Now this is next door.. not houses down so I was within like 15 ft of Titan. BUT he didn't move at all. My neighbor was like "OMG he's so good, how'd you train him to do that??" That's when I realized he was still sitting there waiting for the release :rolleyes:

I know this is a little thing.. but it was very exciting for me because we have been working really hard on it. So yay for that!! I'm so proud of him!!

The end. :)

Shade 06-17-2014 11:17 AM

Good job Titan!! :D I love those little victories :)

Zeeva 06-17-2014 11:25 AM

Aw Whitney! That's not a little thing. That's HUGE!!! A down, stay under heavy distraction...honestly, IMO, that's like THE most important thing to conquer safety wise.

And good for you for not panicking...


wyoung2153 06-17-2014 11:35 AM

Thank youuu :) I was very excited!!! and even at myself for instinctively doing everything!


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