I was browsing dog schools in my area and saw that one had an intake form with the questions: 

“List four things that your dog does that you like“ and

“List four things you would like your dog to learn / improve on“

I thought this was a great way to focus on the positives of my dog’s behavior instead of only looking at the things that we need to be working on. So I’m going to try to do a semi-regular 4 + 4 where I answer both of these questions! Here’s the first one. 

Four things my dog does that I like

1. When she’s on leash and we’re walking and I stop, she often does an automatic sit. I’ve done no work at all to make this happen, she just decided it was the goal, which is so smart and sweet. 

2. She loves to play tug. She gets really into it and gives these adorable play-growls. At the same time she’s got a decent Drop It already (doesn’t always work, but usually!), which makes fetch+tug with a rope toy really really fun. 

3. When she wants another dog to play with her, she paws at them with a front paw and it’s so cute.

4. She knows Sit and Down on hand commands, and when I get her to go into a Down just by twitching a finger I feel like a powerful goddess.

Four things I would like my dog to learn / improve on

1. Please god can she sleep until 7. I will take 6.30 at this point BLEASE. (We’re trying to figure out whether 6 is when she mostly needs to pee, mostly is hungry, or mostly just is Ready To Play, so that based on that we can try to figure out an evening rhythm that will help her sleep in just a bit more, but so far not a lot of success.)

2. Really, REALLY need to start working on a solid Leave It so my girl can stop eating alllll the garbage off the ground.

3. I don’t think we’re doing that badly on the loose-leash walking front, but it naturally still needs a lot of work, and it’s something I’m pretty focused on working on with her at the moment, so that makes the list! Where we are right now: She can do half-block stretches of a really good loose-leash walk, but also has lots of times when she’s not able to focus. Often if she gets distracted, refocusing her on me by asking for a sit or other command helps, but sometimes it doesn’t and I just resort to carrying her for a little bit. Thank god she’s small!

4. I would like her to get more comfortable with rough-and-tumble play with other dogs. She’s already improving on this after a few trips to the dog park, but I think it’s definitely something she could enjoy very much!