Adding More Skills

Kodi and I are always working on learning new things and re-enforcing skills we’ve already learned.

Recently, we created a ‘tug’ tool that we affixed to our bedroom door, for training purposes, so Kodi can start working on “Tug Door”.

Thus far, he’s doing great, as we reward his efforts, even if all he does is take the tug tool into his mouth. When he holds it in his mouth and pulls, even the least little bit, we reward with lots of praise and a treat.

He’s tugged hard enough to pull the door nearly closed. We work on this skill a couple of times a week, while practicing skills that have been acheived.

One evening, while readying for bed I asked Kodi to take off my pants, after he was on the floor. I asked him to “tug pants” and he took a pants leg in his mouth and pulled on it until he pulled it off. He did this twice and then offered me the pants.

When he got back up on the bed, I asked him to “tug blanket”. I lifted the edge of the quilt and he took it in his mouth, stepping back, as he pulled the quilt and sheet back at an angle.

We practiced “tug blanket” several nights in a row and each time Kodi was able to turn back the bed, pulling the covers at an angle, revealing the sheet enough for me to get into bed without sitting on the quilt.

I’ve been walking Kodi, from time to time, without his Halti, affixing the leash to the heavy ring on the back of his vest. He’s done wonderfully with this change, but I continue to go back to the Halti as a means of re-enforcing ‘not pulling’.

The next skill I plan to introduce, once we have some consistency with “tug door”, will be “Hold”. There are times when Kodi picks up an object for me, but before I can reach for it, he drops it. We need him to hold the item until I can take it from him.

I’m always looking forward to working on new skills with Kodi, he’s so intelligent and quick to respond.