# I erased my dog's memory bank?



## Bluebird (Nov 28, 2017)

My spouse and I adopted Emily just over 6 weeks ago. I've been training 2x per day, just before meals, in the house. She seemed to come [and sit] instinctively, as if someone had already worked with her. She had mastered come, sit, come, sit-stay, down, down-stay, and kennel-up in the house, without distractions. She was just beginning to show some glimmer of understanding on stand and stand-stay.

We decided it would be too difficult to repair our old Invisible Fence with snow on the ground, so I bought 200 stake flags at Home Depot and staked her "safe areas" in our yard. I did boundary training with her late yesterday with a 10-foot lead. This morning before her breakfast I did the boundary training with a retractable 25' lead and with treats for rewarding her when she backed away from the flagged line and then responded to my whistle or a "c'mere". She seems to grasp the meaning of the flags and really enjoyed being able to run a little. I used "easy does it" as the verbal warning as she approached the end of the 25 feet, and she even seemed to grasp that fairly well after some repetitions. I was quite pleased and considered the outdoor sessions a great success.

Then I brought her in and tried to do our little routine on the obedience commands that she already knew, and it's like she has no clue!! I said "come" and she came to me but WOULD NOT PUT HER BUTT ON THE FLOOR. I said "down" and she acted like she had never heard of it. Same thing with the "sit" command; it's like she has never heard the word. Ugh! I am going to have to go to the very beginning and start over? Are you kidding me? 

From now on when I do boundary training, I won't include any "c'mere" and there will be no treats for coming to me. It will just be the verbal warning for starting across the flagged line, and "good girl" for not crossing the line.

If it weren't so cold, with snow on the ground, and her with a shaved abdomen from her November 2 spay day, I could do traditional obedience training outdoors in conjunction with the boundary training. Apparently she can't distinguish between "c'mere" or a whistle outdoors as opposed to "come" in an indoor training session. 

Cross your fingers for me that her memory comes back. Or more precisely that I as the trainer figure out what the hek I am doing!


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## Aviannah's Mom (Apr 28, 2017)

Best if luck with training!


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## Bluebird (Nov 28, 2017)

The "cluelessness" seems to have been a temporary thing. By the next morning, she was back to her regular level of performance. My best guess is that she was chilled and tired and hungry and that's why she would not or could not obey the simple obedience commands. We are working indoors on stays with distractions and for longer periods of time.


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## Aviannah's Mom (Apr 28, 2017)

Bluebird said:


> The "cluelessness" seems to have been a temporary thing. By the next morning, she was back to her regular level of performance. My best guess is that she was chilled and tired and hungry and that's why she would not or could not obey the simple obedience commands. We are working indoors on stays with distractions and for longer periods of time.


I can not blame her, :blink: I can not focus well when I am cold, tired and hungry either! :w00t: To point out the obvious, I made a typo (in my tired and busy state) in my last post on this thread and did not catch it. 

I am glad all things are back to normal for her! :wub: Let's hope I get better too! :HistericalSmiley: The typo queen in me seems to keep living on though!


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## Bluebird (Nov 28, 2017)

When you said you made a typo, I had to go back and look. I had not even noticed it!


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