Training Plan

I've finally taken a step into formalizing a training plan with the dogs. Especially now that we've got three dogs to work with, it's hard to keep at the top of my head what new commands I'm trying to work on with each dog and how they're doing. I know I can't do anything too formal in writing or I won't keep up on it, so I created a really neat little checklist chart. Across the top I have the categories:

Introduced -- Started teaching the activity but the dog doesn't quite get what's being asked for yet

Can Do w/ No Distractions -- Dog understands the cue and the behavior, but it's not strong yet. With distractions or stress, dog gets confused. May still require some hand signals or luring.

Can Do w/ Distractions -- Dog responds to command quickly with no distraction. Will respond under distraction, but may need some help.

Stimulus Control -- Dog will respond to command with my back turned, no hand signal, and mild distractions.

There should probably be a column for "will respond with my back turned and heavy distractions", but I'm not expecting that of any of them at this point in time. First thing is to get a healthy stable of behaviors that we can run through with my back turned or with distractions, *then* we'll worry about both.