Daddy, Mommy, Daddy, Mommy... Confused!

We had an interesting training experience yesterday.

The hubby and I went out to do some Frankie-training at the mall. I left Willie home with a peanut-butter-filled toy. That can usually keep him busy for hours.

When we arrived at the mall, I wanted to have Rick work Frankie a bit first before we started the wheelchair work. I was hoping it would calm him down a little so that when I took over he'd walk a little slower. I had Rick do some different pacing exercises, slow and fast, and they worked together for about 10 minutes.

On a side note, Frankie is no longer working with a prong collar. Rick now hooks the leash up to Frankie's harness, right at the spot where I hold onto it when he pulls my chair. He's walking great with a loose leash, maintaining a heel position and responding well to reverses if he gets too far out front.

So, Rick works Frankie for a bit, and then we switch. Rick pushes my chair, I have Frankie on leash, and I issue commands that both Rick and Frankie follow (left, right, ho...). Frankie does fine with this.

Then I decide that I'm going to go off on my own with Frankie. Rick sits on a bench at the end of the mall where we started, and I begin rolling away with Frankie. Frankie is TOTALLY distracted. He's not pulling, he's looking behind us and all around, and he's not responding to any of my commands. He was obviously looking for Rick. It was very frustrating.

I decided to go back to Rick and get the prong collar (Rick still carries it in his pocket just in case). After putting on the collar, I try again to roll away from Rick. Frankie is still distracted.

Realizing I was fighting a lost cause, I make my way back to Rick. We decide to just go for a walk around the mall, Rick pushing me and me holding Frankie via a short leash and the prong collar. The rest of the mall outing was pleasant and fun.

So what did we learn from this? I think we learned that Frankie just wasn't sure who he was working for that day. He started with Daddy, then had to switch to Mommy, and this was all too overwhelming for him. He couldn't make that instant transition.

Next time we do a wheelchair outing, I will be the one to work him from start to finish. I won't bother having Rick work him to try to calm him down. I will do all the handling and command issuing.

I think we asked too much of Frankie yesterday, but we're always learning!


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