Learning some new commands as well as tolerance and patience

     Jet went to work with me this morning for a couple of hours to get ready for next week.  While we were there we practiced lots of skills.  He walked back and forth with me down the hall carrying papers and a pencil.  It took a few times for him to keep it in his mouth, but once he figured out what I wanted he carried it all the way to my room on 3 different trips.  He also practiced jumping onto an elevated table, which is something we have not done yet.  It took no convincing at all.  Of course, he used a chair as a stepladder up, but that's okay.  I wouldn't have him jump onto the slick surface right away because it could scare him.  

He also practiced some Down/Under while I was working.  He settled in very nicely underneath my desk with no whining at all.  

    I love getting my daily "here up" hug from him when I get home from work.  For some reason it took him a while to understand this command.  He has always loved to sit and snuggle in my lap, but he didn't get the here up command right away.  He has it mastered now, though, and is getting better about only doing it when asked.

      When Jet was younger (even as recently as October/November) he has been very nervous around little dogs.  He doesn't like them up in his face, he's scared of their yippy barks, etc.  My regular readers know I have no love lost for little yappy dogs.   It seems to me that whenever we are in public and see one their owners think they can do whatever they want to my big dogs just because they are small.  I have no idea why they would ever think it's acceptable for them to lunge and jump on my dog or bite him in the face while he is walking on a leash with me, but it always seems to happen.  This does not result in a positive experience for my dogs.  So, I try to seek out positive experiences with them when I can and avoid the other ones at all costs.  Jet's future owner may have a small dog or know people who have small dogs so he needs to be tolerant of them.  I will do my best not to let my opinion of them affect him.

    This is Bentley, my sister's papillion puppy.  He's really young, but he won't get a whole lot bigger than this.  He's a positive experience for Jet.  Bentley visited us for a couple of days during Christmas.  Jet was absolutely fascinated by him.  He showed no fear of him.  He LOVED chasing him around, but not in a manner that was acceptable inside the house.  This resulted in both of them needing to be on a leash the entire visit.  :(  Neither were very happy about that, but Jet did settle and observe from a distance without too much pouting and whining.  

     Jet also practiced his good manners around my grandmother who was visiting.  We only caught him one time trying to sneak in a "here up" without being asked.  It was really important that he listened to me right away around her because she has really think skin and blood and bruises VERY easily.  One swipe of a puppy paw could have been very bad.  He also walked very politely around her in the house so I didn't have to worry about him knocking her over or tripping her.  (Although, I still watched VERY closely!)  

     Little Jet seems to be coming along!  He still has his moments of whining frequently, but they are getting better.  He is getting more and more confident every day!  And he masters skills very easily!  He is willing to try anything I ask him to, which is very important.  I cannot fathom how I got so attached to this dog, but I have.  He's going to be a big old heartbreaker!