Letters From Camp... Outing time!

*(Posted by Duchess's handler, Toby's Raiser)*
I received a email yesterday from the father of the family Toby is staying with. It was a really long email with great details about his training, but I did take some parts out to make it shorter for you guys (if something sounds a little odd, it may be because I took a section out).
Enjoy!

"Recorded my first 4 hour working session with Toby. My gut feel- he is going to make it! The first place I took him was the bus stop. After that we dropped the 5 year old at pre-school and then went to the insurance office to conduct some business. We went in the office and he did very well staying in a seated position to greet the staff. After introductions and some petting, we went in to a private office where he laid down and slept for an hour. PERFECT.
We then drove to down town where we could walk past restaurants and shops.
We met some toddlers where Toby sat so they could approach and pet. Once again PERFECT!
Toby had a few issues walking past some sidewalk displays with plants and he also jumped when a semi rig bounced over the railroad tracks. We left that area and entered the new city hall. We rode the elevator up, stopping at 2 and 3 and then back down also stopping at 3 and 2 before exiting at 1. He was once again PERFECT! He remained in the sitting position as the door opened and closed on each floor.
We went down Richardson without issue and even stopped to watch some men making a racket by throwing kegs of beer out the back of a truck and loading them up on dollies. No issues with beer for this dog but the handler’s urge to enter a pub created a minor distraction. The will power prevailed and Toby’s work continued.
We passed a few pedestrians without issue and the number of bumps to prevent marking had dropped to near zero.
We took another pass down main street and he once again returned to PERFECT. He passed the flowers, plants, pedestrians, poles hydrants, signs without a single bump. He is really smart and learned how to meet expectations really quickly.
We made a pass through Lowe’s where I stopped and talked to several people and made a restroom visit. He was PERFECT Again!!!
He does very well with “come”, “sit”, “stay”, and “down”. Very sharp with “stand” and “forward”. He also knows “heel” and “switch” but could use a little practice to make those perfect. will get some pics to ya soon...” Looks like Toby's main issue at the moment is marking things, but it sounds like he is getting better!

I will be doing a "Paw it Forward" post soon, and passing it along to 3 other doggie blogs, so stay tuned!

Duchess's Handler & Toby's Raiser "The human that has a dog with a blog"