We are continuing to practice Rorys training.

Every day we have to do some soundwork. We try to keep it interesting for him by practicing in different rooms, different times of the days, and while I am sitting or standing or lying down. This is all building his confidence and only takes a few minutes. Most of the time he gets it right !

When the doorbell rings Rory should come and tell me by nudging me then leading me to the door, at that point I tell him "in your bed" then "wait", while I deal with the person at the door. If the person comes in then they should ignore the dog and sit down. Then I will tell Rory "off you go" when he can go and say "hello" to the person. When we practiced yesterday I was in the kitchen and he came and nudged me and went towards the door - however - he decided to skip the part of going ALL the way to the door and instead he put himself in his bed ! lol ... So we have to practice not skipping any steps !

We had a few nice walks yesterday and some playtime in the park with Gordon too. Also Rory met a few doggy friends which is good for him too, and I would like him to do that more often. I just have to figure out the best times when other dogs visit the park :) Mum bought Rory a new ball which we can leave at her house and he can play with it there. He is getting to know mum now and will go and sit beside her to have a pat.

Before Gordon goes to work today we will practice the smoke alarm. We only do this once a week. Last Wednesday was when Alex from Hearing Dogs was here and we practiced it. Rory did quite well with a little encouragement. For the smoke alarm he will touch me, then instead of leading me anywhere (wouldn't want him taking me to the fire!) he will lie down. So we will see how that goes later.

I think we may have to get a bigger water bowl for him ! All the playing is thirsty work and he gets through 2 or 3 bowls a day.

He gets fed on dry food twice a day, morning and evening. At the moment he gets 6ozs at each feed. In two weeks time we will get him weighed again and if need be we can adjust his food.
As a working dog it is important that his weight is kept in check, for obvious health reasons and if he becomes lazy he may stop working.