I've been working with Louie and Marie twice every day. I work with them before I feed each day. I did not think they would want to "play" at feeding time but I was wrong. Louie is not a big chow hound anyway and he is more then happy to play for a while before getting his grain. Louie is progressing a bit more everyday. I am now requiring that he place the toy in my hand. If he drops it, I tell him to fetch again. I can see him starting to understand. He is so funny though. When he feels he has completed the task appropriately and doesn't get a treat and I ask him to try again, he give me the funniest and most disgusted looks. He lays his ears back (not flat) and twists his head sideways and out towards me rolls his eyes. You can just see him thinking the he is sure he did the right thing and I am being unreasonable. But, after a second of expressing his opinion, he tries again. Louie is so much fun to work with.
Now Marie has actually made some progress. More in her attitude then in being anywhere close to fetching. She is now consistently targeting the toy when dropped on the ground. And when the light bulb went off and she FINALLY figured out that it was touching the toy that earned her the treats, she suddenly started looking forward to our sessions. Before she was just angry, frustrated and quickly would just leave. Now she is eager and is no longer mugging me for treats but rather looking for the toy. Big step forward for her.
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