Actually, there's not much training to it, more like perfecting. I'm so proud of him and also happy for him, as he loves going to classes and soaks up everything new. We sat through a simulated thunderstorm Wed night in class. A dark room with fake lightning, the sounds of thunder and rain playing loudly on a CD. All of the dogs were fine with it within just a few minutes.
One thing I've noticed...Baloo is a little bit afraid of the dark when outside...not inside. I cut off all of the security lights last weekend and have noticed him hesitating, wanting me to be right beside him. I've done that, but also encouraged him to explore the dark yard when he's comfortable with it. We were walking along early yesterday morning, and he froze in place. Not terribly unusual, so I kept going and made a noise to indicate where I was. He was still in the same spot, staring intently, but I could barely see him. Suddenly he leapt and crashed into me, nearly knocking me down, and when he did, 2 deer ran right in front of me and jumped the fence. He saw them and I didn't. Hopefully, he won't respond as if they're evil creatures for the rest of his life!

Thats a good thing that he isn't phased by the thunder, Junior whines a little but thats about it. I also hope he doesn't become scared of deer....it would be somewhat hard to desensitize and countercondition to an animal that will run away when noticed....that is unless you know someone that has deer

sounds like you have an excellent trainer there Ann... bet there arent many out there would think to simulate thunder storms etc. good job Baloo!!!!

I've done simulated thunderstorms in other classes with other dogs, but never with a roomful of pups. It was interesting! Tonight we are having a REAL thunderstorm, although not terribly noisy the way I like them.

Baloo acted quite proud of himself for saving me from those deer. Who wouldn't rather be plowed down by a Rottie instead of taking the chance that a couple of deer would slam into you in a 3 acre yard?

The grandkids are on their way here and I blew it by saying their names on the phone. Lib and Grizz-Bang know their names. Baloo isn't sure what's happening but knows he should be watching for something or someone, because the others are.

Oh, and yesterday Baloo went for his last parvo vaccine...and he weighs 67 lbs! No wonder the trouble I'm having lifting him these days!

hehe.... he sounds adorable. i love reading your posts about his antics. and the ready, steady, launch photos had me in hysterics!

lucysnewmum wrote:

hehe.... he sounds adorable. i love reading your posts about his antics. and the ready, steady, launch photos had me in hysterics!

Ditto! Me too!

LOL that they know that the grandkids are coming over, do they sit by the window or something? I'm sure Baloo will get the picture soon enough

Yes, they either sit by the window and watch or in the yard, watching for a car to pull in the driveway. They also know "pizza man" is a great person and will watch for him. hahahaha

Ann wrote:

Yes, they either sit by the window and watch or in the yard, watching for a car to pull in the driveway. They also know "pizza man" is a great person and will watch for him. hahahaha

LOL even the pizza man!!

Yeah...they rate a pizza delivery guy much higher than the CEO of the company.

Baloo is a very confident dog at this point. He's hit a stage where it's sometimes hard to get him to focus on me, which I've been told is completely normal. I also know to keep working with him. I'm looking for another group training for him because he really liked his class and it's perfect for having him learn to interact with other dogs and people. He has no fear of humans, likes them all. He's also been very good with other dogs, including toy breeds. He adores children. He responds quickly to sit, down, stand, stay, wait, drop it, take it, leave it, watch me, heel, track and come. I feel fortunate to have gotten him this far in just 3 months but we still have so much to learn together.

Ann wrote:

Baloo is a very confident dog at this point. He's hit a stage where it's sometimes hard to get him to focus on me, which I've been told is completely normal. I also know to keep working with him. I'm looking for another group training for him because he really liked his class and it's perfect for having him learn to interact with other dogs and people. He has no fear of humans, likes them all. He's also been very good with other dogs, including toy breeds. He adores children. He responds quickly to sit, down, stand, stay, wait, drop it, take it, leave it, watch me, heel, track and come. I feel fortunate to have gotten him this far in just 3 months but we still have so much to learn together.

You definitely should be happy! What kind of things are you working on now? I mean he seems to be growing up to be very well-balanced, but is there anything you think he needs improving on?

Right now, his focus. His tracking. We're still doing it but not marking items, because he was picking them up and running with them and I don't want puppy play to turn that into a habit.
The obedience stuff is forever. It will just keep getting better and better as he gets older. He REALLY liked the agility equipment, so we might work with that some. He just can't do the jumps yet because his joints are completely put together right until he's about a year old. He also loves water and will swim, so I might try working with tracking there and maybe retrievals. I have a call out to a friend who does dock diving with her Rotties to find out if it's safe for him this summer or if we need to wait awhile.

I love doing any of these things with him. Normally, when I get a new dog, we spend months training and up to a year to get good responses. They're usually well past their prime before I can even think about any of these doggie sports. That's the biggest plus I can see about starting out with a pup.

Ann wrote:

Right now, his focus. His tracking. We're still doing it but not marking items, because he was picking them up and running with them and I don't want puppy play to turn that into a habit.
The obedience stuff is forever. It will just keep getting better and better as he gets older. He REALLY liked the agility equipment, so we might work with that some. He just can't do the jumps yet because his joints are completely put together right until he's about a year old. He also loves water and will swim, so I might try working with tracking there and maybe retrievals. I have a call out to a friend who does dock diving with her Rotties to find out if it's safe for him this summer or if we need to wait awhile.

I love doing any of these things with him. Normally, when I get a new dog, we spend months training and up to a year to get good responses. They're usually well past their prime before I can even think about any of these doggie sports. That's the biggest plus I can see about starting out with a pup.

Wow, he must be utterly happy with all the sports he gets to do! If you guys do decide to do dock jumping I think we all need a short video of him doing that, that would be neat. I have a feeling Junior might actually like Dock Jump too!