While I was taking Bentley out today I decided to try something new. He doesn't like the halt transitions too much. He does them when asked but he's getting impatient with them. He also is getting use to his surroundings. Which it looks to be boring him. Soooo......

First I decided to take him on a different path to the round pen everyday. He's getting comfortable with the route we usually take. He's starting to let his attention wander more when we repeat the path. So I switched it up for him. He was very happy with this. Still had his attention on me the whole time. Just enough new to perk him up. But not enough to disrupt his focus. He just seemed more upbeat about it. His ears didn't say he was irritated. Plus this gives us a chance to work on focus when new things come up. I think it will be fun to go for little walks.

Second I decided not to do so many halt transitions. I don't have to do a complete down transition to actually accomplish one. So I'm varying the tempo. I'll pick up the pace of the walk and ask him to keep up. Then I'll bring it back down and ask him to stay with me. This caught him off guard a little. He seemed confused about slow instead of stop. Or a hesitate instead of the complete down transition. But he picked up on it fairly well. Once he understood the "game" he was more attentive. I think it was enough of a change up to keep him thinking.

I think I just have to remember to mix things up for him a bit. I know sometimes I can get into a habit of just doing something a certain way. Or if I get distracted by anything I tend to go on auto pilot. My mind isn't totally on him when it should be. I expect his full attention when I'm out there. I should give him the same. I think it will work good for both of us.