Stirling finally taking his metal article!

Wow, FINALLY tonight Stir took his metal article! For some unknown reason, although I suspect the article was cold, Stirling promptly stopped taking his metal article about 3 months ago. EVERY night we worked on this. Now, honestly, my inclination was a light ear pinch, but Stirling is different from my previous shelties. I really thought if I put even a light ear pinch on him he'd totally stop. Not from helplessness as you would think, but of sheer not wanting to. Now, I've been able to break through this with him, but I just didn't want to do that with the article. Every dog is different.
Since Stir was a pup he has LOVED this toy called, "wiggly." During training Debby and I have used 'wiggly" to pair with the dumbbell. Debby showed me a "have to" correction that wasn't an ear pinch. I hold Stir by the collar and take him to the article, and lightly place his muzzle over the article until he takes it and then guide him back to me while holding his muzzle (hence the article) in his mouth. After he does this we do the same thing with his "wiggly." Boy, Stir is banging on the door to get his article! It's amazing how each dog is different in their learning. Yeah Stirling and Yeah Debby!!

Stirling heeling

Debby Boehm, our trainer and friend, really captured a moment of brillance. What an amazing gift. Debby brings a lot of talent to our team.