More on House Manners

Note: I wrote this the day before this post.  When you don't post things right away, things change quickly ;-)

Over the last ten days or so, I have been transitioning Dante to having more off-leash time in the house.  I blocked off the family and dining room for him, so he had room to move around, but not too much freedom.

Dante's favorite game is playing with his leash.  He does well if I'm holding it, but I still can't really put him on a tie-down because he mouths it and plays tug with it.  Since being able to let him off-leash, Dante has been about 80% better in the house, because he doesn't have that distraction.

For the first couple days, whenever I'd let him free, he would go crazy running around and showing off his toys.  But since day four, he has gotten much, much calmer, and will settle and even go to sleep (which is a big deal, because I don't think he wanted to spend one minute of his free time sleeping).

I have intentionally been leaving a few things out (a pair of shoes, the basket of blankets, computer cord) so that he would have to make some decisions to leave them and play with his toys.  Dante has been doing really well.  Some days are better then others, but he is making steady progress.  Every once in a while he will grab a shoe, or jump up to grab a tissue or piece of paper, and take off running with it.  It is important for me to stay neutral (not get upset or condone it), and not to scold him for picking things up, because I don't want him to refuse to pick something up when he is working, because he was scolded for it when he was a puppy.  He has finally gotten to the point where he will bring it to me and drop it (most of the time) for a treat.  (This is the part when you look at the last post and laugh.) 

He always has to carry his Frisbee from the middle... don't ask me why :-)