| Congratulations and continued success to you both, mccoy.
The road ahead will still contain many bumps and detours...and "just when" you think all is well; there will be a set back or a revisiting of the same behavior you thought you *cured*. :(
You'll always have to be on your toes and ready to reinforce *the new*.......because the *old* behavior is likely to rear its ugly head from time to time.... but DO NOT get discouraged!
That's what reconditioning is all about......it's NOT a cure; its a means to condition an ALTERNATIVE ROUTE the dog can take. They don't always choose to take that new route though!
Remember....when stress or unsureness is present in a situation for a dog....they 99.9999999% of the time fall back on their foundation. Which is why you hear all the time that it's important to lay a strong initial foundation (in training. You can't change genetics and strength of nerve; but you can work WITH it...no matter how weak it may be!)
SEMPER FI!! <~~ very important phrase for owners who have found themselves reconditioning dogs!
You've worked hard and it's paying off! Congrats! :)
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A pedigree indicates what your dog should be. Conformation indicates what your dog appears to be. Performance, personality and character indicates what your dog actually *IS*. |