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This week I have made a start on some controlled retrieving outdoors.  Tess has been retrieving keenly outside from an early age,  but has not been allowed to do so since I began clicker training the delivery at home.

As I want to be certain to avoid the problems I had earlier (with her wanting to keep the dummy and run around me) recurring,  I am keeping her on the double lead  to begin with.  

Sure enough she tries to skirt around to my right.

 A gentle bit of guidance with the lead

I have progressed Tess's 'stay' in the yard.  She now sits patiently for 30 seconds or so by my side and  for up to 10 seconds at five paces.   Also, at just a couple of  paces from her I have started moving around her. 

Tess walks to heel very naturally  -  this has been quite easy for her and I am occasionally adding some simple distractions  -  walking her past people in the yard.  She finds this a little more difficult as she is quite friendly, and would like to greet people, but she responds well to a brief 'no' or a light tap on the lead when she is tempted to move away from my side.

At home,  Tess is very settled and calm.  She is very different from my spaniel pups,  showing no interest in pursuing the cat or the chickens!  She has adjusted well to life without her crate,  and apart from my oven gloves (which had seen better days) she has not chewed much, nor attempted to get into the bin, or to take anything off the kitchen units.  We do try and remember to keep temptation out of her way, but have a couple of times left food out which she has not touched.   She has however worked out how to open the back door,  so we have to keep this locked if we don't want her to let herself out into the garden.

In a day or two we will start going over what Tess has learned so far,  in the grass paddock.  There is quite a bit of rabbit scent there so we will see how she gets on. 

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TRAINING TESS

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