Week 6

Training Progress - E2

Monday

Today’s focus was on recall training with different family members. At first, Winnie didn’t understand why someone else was calling her — she kept looking to me instead. But after a few tries and some encouragement, she started to respond, especially when they used the same gestures I normally do (like crouching and open arms). It wasn’t perfect, but it was a solid step toward helping her generalise the recall cue beyond just me. Later in the day, I played the “Go Find” game with her inside the house. She loved it as usual and stayed very focused. It was a fun way to reinforce recall without it feeling like formal training.

In the afternoon, we worked on crate training with the goal of reducing treat dependency. I tried giving her verbal praise instead of a treat for going inside. She definitely noticed the change and hesitated more, but still followed the command after a bit. I also had her stay in the crate next to me while I studied for two and a half hours. She was calm and quiet the whole time, which definitely me feel quite proud of how far she’s come with the crate.

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Tuesday

I continued recall training today, increasing the difficulty slightly by using longer distances inside the house and also increasing the amount of distractions that were present. Indoors, she responded really well but outside I think the recall dropped from 80% accuracy to about 50-60%. I still gave her random rewards rather than every single time, and while she noticed, she didn’t seem as disappointed as earlier in the week. Crate time went smoothly again — she’s getting used to staying inside with mild background noise, like music or conversation.

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Wednesday

Today I tried some short off-leash recall session in a quiet corner of the dog park. She did okay, but it was obvious she was much more interested in the environment than in me. When I called her, she’d sometimes turn and look but wouldn’t come unless I crouched and used an excited tone. Still, I had a couple of wins when she did come all the way over with no leash tension. Back at home, I continued crate reinforcement. I tried with turning the TV on loudly today which she handled pretty well.

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Thursday

Recall indoors is staying consistent, especially with the “Go Find” game. Outdoors, however, she still needs a lot of improvement. I tried recall in the backyard again and she ignored me multiple times unless I had a treat in hand. I reminded myself to keep mixing in praise or toys instead of food, but it’s still clear she prefers food the most. Crate training went really well again. I left the room completely for about 20 minutes, and when I came back, she was lying down calmly. It felt like a small but important success.

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Friday

Today I focused on longer-distance recall inside and outside. Inside, she did great — even when I was in another room, she’d come when called (though not every time). Outside was more inconsistent. I tried getting her attention when she was sniffing around the fence, and she didn’t respond until I clapped loudly. Once she noticed me however she came, but that delay made it clear we’re not ready for busy or off-leash areas just yet. For crate training, I played loud music in the same room while she was in her crate, and she didn’t react much at all — she stayed resting, which shows she’s getting used to noise and stimulation.

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Saturday

I took a break from formal training today and focused mostly on play-based learning. We played mainly the go find game which she quite enjoyed. I also mixed in some of my different family members to ensure that she can be called by everyone which is important (as I learnt from my previous experiences).

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Sunday

To finish the week, I reviewed recall progress and did a couple of light training sessions inside. She responded well to her name and came quickly during the “Go Find” game. Today I decided to take her outside at about 2 - 3 pm as I expected that it would be less busy outside (less distractions) and did some longer distance recalls outside in a park. This actually went a lot better then I expected which was nice.​