Riggs arrived here a bit timid, as do many dogs. The first few days we worked on bonding with him and acclimating him to his new environment. After a full week, he has grown in his confidence but is still a bit shy in certain settings and shows fear of some people especially if they come up behind him. Riggs takes a few minutes to acclimate to an environment before he will take any kibble from my hand. Even then, he does not appear to be food motivated. In our circle training, he shows little engagement and does not like to make eye contact. This is odd because he has created a very strong bond with me to where he will get up when I leave the room and wait at the door until I return. He follows me everywhere but in training settings does not like to show much engagement or respond to treats. To help with this I am waiting him out until he makes eye contact to proceed with training. I hope that over time, he learns we do not go anywhere or progress in training to the next command unless he is making eye contact.
This last week his heel has improved, he is no longer pulling, and he will come when called. These are strong attributes in a dog and he is grasping the basic concepts. This week we dialed in his sit, down, and stay and will work on “leave it” next week along with “dress.”
Riggs is very easy going which will make for a great service dog. He wants to be by his handler and is very loyal.
