Well, last week was all about road trips for Briar, who turned 13 weeks last Friday. I started by "loading" the back of the car with treats so when I placed Briar in the area of the car I want him to travel in he found lots of fun suprises. This immediately associated the back of the car as a comforting & fun place for Briar.
As I drove, I would toss back treats and continued to tell Briar he was a good boy. I would start by tossing back a treat every 30 seconds or so...then as time went on I faded the treats to every minute, every three mintues, every five minutes, etc. The second time he went for a car ride, I hardly used treats at all. The third time, I only gave him a treat at the beginning of the ride and he was fine the rest of the time. If Briar stood up I would tell him to sit and when he did he would get a treat. Things worked very nicely - probably the easiest training session we've had with him. I think he's just at the age where he's very ready to learn and get established in a pattern.
I've taken Briar on outings with me a few times now and he's been happy riding along with me for 30-45 mintues at a time. He's really a fast learner.
This week Briar also became more comfortable climbing the stairs. He was shy at first but now he's handling them like a champ. We haven't had any accidents in house this week, so that's looking promising, too!
Briar loves to express himself by barking, especially when he's under the bed....something we are still trying to work on. He loves to hide under there and chew our phone cord...ugh! Briar loves to chew our phone cords. I've been sharing my husbands phone charger since Briar ended my phone chargers life while we weren't looking. He's a stinker sometimes - but very manageable if he's always supervised. As a matter of fact, I just pulled him from under the bed right now! Little stinker.
He is a fun loving puppy who keeps us on our toes ALL the time. Basil loves watching him. Even Basil can't resist keeping an eye on Briar - he's our family clown. Well, he's at it again...I better go and fish him from under the bed! Briaaarrr!! :)
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