Even during a quieter week, Nakina made meaningful progress — strengthening her leash skills, social confidence, and foundation behaviors

🐾 Quiet but Productive

I came down with a cold this week, so most of our time was limited to classes — but even that brought solid progress.

Training

Nakina’s loose leash walking is coming together wonderfully. We can now walk all the way around our smaller block with her either fully focused or quickly refocused when asked. Next up is seeing if we can manage the larger block.

She still very much wants to launch herself out of the car, so I’ve continued working on transferring her “wait” cue to exiting the car crate. She’s improving, but we’re not quite there yet.

Socialization

Nakina has met several new dog friends in her classes and has interacted with each of them very appropriately. Her social skills continue to impress me.

What's Next

• Walking — calm leash walking on the left and sitting at stops for longer distances
• Down vs. settle — begin creating a clear distinction
• Recall — continue on leash in more distracting environments
• Car/Crate — calm, cued entry and exit from the car crate
• Grooming — continue desensitizing to the Dremel
• Continue elevator desensitization

Nakina is a very active dog who needs a good amount of exercise. Now that her leash skills are improving so nicely, it’s time to get her out walking even more.