Molly is lowering 1/2 of her body into DOWN on her own and at today’s very first training session of the day. We only began training DOWN yesterday. This shows that she is thinking about the work on her “off time” and comes back stronger than I left her at last session. She’s “putting it together” on her own. It’s FABULOUS.

This also means she has turned on her “following brain” and is allowing my leadership in her life. What comes by default once submissive obedience is achieved is the innate will to please the leader. That doesn’t need to be trained in and again comes by default once we authentically outrank our dogs.

You’d think it would be totally easy to gain submissive obedience from such young animals. That is true of the window between 2-4mo, and the age we typically train our puppies. But by 5-6mo pups are vying for rank as it’s an integral part of all things from 6mo forward. It dictates their place at the carcass or Pack’s kills for feeding. If your low ranking you may not eat from a small kill. There’s no hunt again until the upper ranking dogs are hungry. It’s of critical importance then to learn how to navigate your rank.

Outranking our dogs is the #1 goal in all training and even in emotional re-balancing, resolving aggression/ fear/ anxiety etc. DOWN work is a great place to see where our dogs are at regarding their thoughts on outranking us. It’s also the first great place to outrank our dogs. Once we have a good DOWN from our dogs, training the rest is fast and easy.

** SIT does not have this impact. Dogs heads never get lower than at STAND for a SIT and so it’s a benign request. DOWN is a loaded request as it’s the very conversation of submission.**

However, we want to ride a fine-line between outranking our pups as well as not squashing spirit so that they have enthusiasm for training. Again this is easiest between the ages of 2-4 mo. They’re so mailable at that age. But this age is like teenage rebellion age and it’s easy to turn them off and alter their course… particularly gaining that innate desire to please you and will to work for you.

I’m thrilled to see Molly is exactly where we want her. Now to Molly’s credit she’s also a poodle breed. Poodles are the highest ranking dog in the AKC for intelligence. So if we compare Molly to Luna where comparing apples to oranges. There is something good about an apple as much as there is something good about an orange! Lol

We recognize lunas greatness too… heck she outranks Molly and that’s a huge achievement that earns 5 gold stars. Rank equates to your value in a pack. Luna has higher value for this achievement. Luna is also very “go with the flow” and is supper quiet in her crate, and is satisfied with the 2 bone resources I allow her and below ample bedding in her crate (for HB purposes). She excels on leash and over Molly and In household etiquette like behaving around the dinner table. So she has many great qualities. Molly conversely complains about much despite having 5 bone options in her crate and a comfy quilt! She is constantly getting tangled in the leash as her emotions make her super bouncy and wiggly. Luna is more straightforward on the leash. She’s often the unintended victim of Molly’s leash entanglement! lol See what I mean…” apples and oranges.” Nether is better than the other. They are just different.

So Luna still needs my 2 hands to help her into a DOWN and so we’re not at the place where I can video her progress. She’s also the dominant puppy and lately is really showing Molly that she far exceeds Molly’s rank. It’s just that time of her life to be involved w this rank-developing task. So I’d expect both more resistance to lower her body in submission when everything in this dominant puppies body tells her to stay high-ranking. I’d also expect a lower learning curve from any breed that’s not a poodle. Don’t worry. She’ll get there! I’m preserving her right to outrank Molly while instilling in her she cannot outrank me.

On that note, I’ve begun tempering luma’s “play” with molly since she’s becoming overly pushy in exerting her dominance. Since I outrank both puppies I only have a small say, but I do have some say, in how she expresses her dominance. That’s also a fine line to walk. If I interfere too much, the top ranking pup can come back even stronger against a lower ranking member when the alpha isn’t watching. So I allow her to express dominance still, I just insert what I call “volume control” when Molly is being “abused” by Luna taking it over the top. Then I comfort Luna vs Molly. It lets Luna know I recognize and respect that she outranks Molly.

This is my favorite part of training and I revel in the work around micro-details of behavior, particularly in pack dynamics. I just LOVE doing this part the most! Lots of “demons” can also show themselves during DOWN work and I enjoy “slaying the demons” so we can bring out the best of each pup while keeping spirit intact. Great time in Trainihg Indeed