Pretty often, after months of him not quite understanding what new thing I’m asking of him, everything seems to click in place for Hugo. It took me forever to teach him to back up, it was baby steps all the way with lots of breaks because it frustrated him so much. He got much better when I brought out the wobble cushion to target and he seemed to find it easier that way, but still, he’d only back up if I walked with him and prompted him with every step.
Then tonight, all of a sudden, I say back, go to move, and he shoots off backwards at hyper speed, looking for a target to hit with his hind legs.
I played on it a bit, and though he got a bit frustrated at the start (please turn the sound on for Hugo grumbling at the start - he does that a lot when we’re training and he doesn’t get it), he was utterly fantastic. All I was doing was waving my hand and saying ‘back’ - when before that would cause him to go into meltdown, now he’s suddenly all ‘it’s ok I’ve got this’ and it’s totally brilliant.
How many times can I say I love my dog? Don’t care - I love my dog.