Max A Million~!

Today, Max proved his weight in gold when he performed a wonderful long distance recall! What is that you say? He came when I called him!

I had let him and Roxie out front (with Henry James the outside kitty safely secured in the shed). I was in and out of the house and truant girl Roxie decided to take a hike down the driveway towards the road. I called to her and she was busy sniffing some poo in the grass, Max saw her and took off as fast as he could towards her, he was almost 3/4s of the way to her. I yelled to him MAX NO! He stopped, turned and looked at me and I said MAX COME! And I hollered to Roxie, Roxie come get a cookie! Max raced as fast as he could back to me and I fed him some treats out of my pocket and attached a leash. Then we started down to Roxie who was pointedly ignoring my Come command until she saw we were getting closer and then she too made a fast beeline straight towards us.

I was really proud of Max and his recall. I have been training him using as much positive reinforcement as possible. For a while his "off" command was iffy and now he thinks jumping off of anything (namely the couch) is hugely rewarding! (Treat jar stragetically placed on end table next to couch.)

While I had some doubts that I had gotten a dog too soon after losing Chelsea, I think he will turn out to be a fine companion for years to come. Though I still seriously consider changing his name to Goofy, because that he is!