Okay, first for the excuses. We've been extremely busy, short and sweet of it. I admit I have not put in enough training time for either dog - this after countless dollars for puppy classes. Now that I am ready to devote the necessary time, both kids have conveniently forgotten most of our progress. Thank goodness they are Newfys and are pretty mellow to begin with.
Here is the problem, Syrus the male is neither treat nor toy motivated. He does very well in a controlled environment without distractions or sister. But once outside he has better things to do. Treat, nor toy, not sound of clicker gets this boy's attention until after he is done checking out what he wants. I'll give commands in stern voice, happy voice and just plain "you're buggin the h*** out of me boy", voice, to no avail. He is a stubborn guy and I really think he is testing me.
Also with training inside, he does sit, and sit/stay for a short time, but I find I don't do enough with a down/stay because it is so hard for him to keep getting up and down for even a short training period. How important does anyone think this particular command is for a Newf?
I would seriously like to train him as a therapy dog, which I've never done, but need to get these basics down pat.
Any ideas for training the non-motivated dog?
Oh, they are both 10 months old and spayed and nutered.