Dax is a 5 month old black lab puppy. His owners have always had labs and wanted another when their last one past away at 16 years old. They loved their last dog dearly but realized they made some errors with him that lasted his lifetime. They didn't want another dog who would run away and not come back for hours or that jumped all over their guests. Several weeks ago Dax decided to run off to go exploring. His owners were terrified he would be stolen or hit by a car. When he returned home they immediately called me for help.
Our first lesson was an anxious one for this couple and I needed to get them in the frame of mind that they needed to tell me what they wanted instead of what they didn't want. I spent my first hour with them explaining that controlling a dog offlead requires hours of on lead training and proofing first. Once they understood this we started teaching him the first level of recall (Come). Dax and his owners are proving to be excellent students. Dax doesn't have months or years of rehearsed unwanted behavior. This has made training him to come when called a lot easier. His owners are surprised by his quick learning, but they work really hard with him and are extremely diligent about only giving commands they can reinforce until we see he is ready. Dax is still four levels of training away before he will be ready.