New Year's Commitments

On her blog Patricia McConnell was recently discussing the New Year and her preference for making not making vague resolutions but for specific commitments. She invited her followers to share their New Year's commitments in comments. - See more at: http://www.patriciamcconnell.com/theotherendoftheleash/2015-new-years-resolutions#comments

I decided it would be a good idea for me to share mine here as well and to further commit to posting regular updates here on how I'm doing at sticking to my commitments. 

I have a penchant for almost finishing projects; I get them to the point where all they can be used but they lack the finishing touches and get distracted by something else. For myself this year I commit to finishing completely one project per month.

For the dogs I commit to having them practice taking turns at least once per week; Ranger enjoys the training time and Finna needs the practice in self-control. I was pleased, the other day when I had them taking turns walking front feet only on the treadmill one dog on each side and I was able to cue them on and off. Of course the dog waiting for their turn is also getting rewarded since, especially for Finna, waiting is also a skill that needs practice and reinforcement.

I’ll also commit to putting Finna in the car at least once a week. I want her to learn the car is a safe place for her so she can go more places.

I’ll commit to spending weekly training time with Ranger perfecting his ‘take a bow’ and ‘say your prayers’ and teaching new tricks. Currently Ranger believes that ‘take a bow’ means to down slowly front end first and saying his prayers is pretty sloppy although still a crowd pleaser at the senior daycare.

And finally, I’ll commit to teaching The Great Catsby to walk on a leash and to join the dogs in walking on the treadmill. That’s going to mean dedicated training time at least once a week. At the moment I’m able to put his harness on so that’s a start in teaching the cat to walk on a leash and he’ll at least come close to the treadmill when it’s running so a start there as well.