He is smart. You can see it in the way he watches you, he considers your every request and does his best to comply. If you put him up, or finish training obedience or agility exercises for the day and the next day you ask him the for the same new behavior he was introduced to the day before, he simply begins to do it as though he had done it many times before. I will be challenged to not increase my criteria often enough with him.
Run training is not an exception to the way he learns. The stimulus of nature was pretty intense for him the first time we ran at the river. He wanted to pee on everything and tried to dart in front of Dave's path on more than one occasion after a squirrel the first day out. A firm "leave it" and "on by" weren't seeming to get me far, but I was intent on getting my message across. Then my one of my worst fears on a trail (based on previous experience with Nakeeta and/or Madison), deer. Two of them. They weren't peeking at us from behind cover, of course not, they were grazing alongside the trail. Dave and I estimated the two doe were within ten feet of us as we passed. Thankfully they didn't start and run, but the excitement was high for Edge. He stopped and looked, checked in with me and then looked back at them a few times after we passed. What a good boy! I was thrilled.
The second time out the squirrels were everywhere. Darting across the path ahead of us, scrambling up trees trail side and noisily scurrying under leaves on either side of the trail. A couple of good firm "leave it" or "on by" demands from me and he was done. Early in the run he began to show attention to them and slow and then move forward and continue on. Occasionally he would check in with Dave or I, but for the most part he was making decisions on his own. It is huge that he has this much control. Our safety depends on good decisions by all of us.
In time, he is going to be a great running partner.
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