Getting cocky

Short walk this morning and Gustav lunged and barked at the dog across the street, causing Dottie to bark once (not bad-she also then immediately sat and looked at me-good girl!) and the leashes to get totally tangled. I blame myself, I wasn't prolific enough with the treats. I got cocky. Saw a few other people and by then Gustav was a little riled and tense. But all I got from him was hackles, no barking/lunging. I would much rather have him improve with people than dogs, if I have to choose.Excellent attention work, with one exception: a very long delay. I still gave him a treat when he finally looked up, but I was on the fence about it.

I've been working on his compliance on basic commands. He definitely has that dominant "only if I feel like it" attitude. I've started asking for sits before going in the yard. Any dog that doesn't have their butt on the floor within three seconds doesn't get to go out right then. They get a second chance a few minutes later. I really think it's reasonable to expect a three year old dog to sit promptly when in the house with no distractions except wanting something (like to go out or eat). It's really funny to watch him lay down when he doesn't want to, he slooooooowly stretches his paws in front of him so he slooooowly slides onto the floor. I read in Dr. Dodman's book that dominant dogs should get three seconds to sit for their food, or they don't get it until the next day! Then you decrease the number of seconds over time until it's instantaneous. That seems overkill for Gustav, but I won't pretend I haven't thought about it. Luckily he sits pretty quick for his dinner. I'm also trying to remember to have him sit to get petted, a "say please" type protocol. Dottie's so good in that regard, I literally can't remember her ever pushing herself on me to get petted. She doesn't seem to love that type of attention as much as Gustav does.