Blip

*sigh*

Well I guess it had to happen eventually. We've made such amazing progress this week, but today I've realised that either I've moved too quickly or Bran has got a bit bored.

As he really knows "on the mat" well now, I've been placing the mat in different places and sending him off to it with the cue and a pointed finger in the direction of the mat.

He is doing 1 of 3 things:

1. heading over to the mat at the pace of a very slow snail and then sitting there looking miserable;

2. bouncing over to the mat, bouncing into a very quick sit, then bouncing back to me for a treat;

3. bouncing over to the mat, tapping it with a paw and then coming back for a treat!

Although, to be fair, on 2 occasions he offered "downs", which was lovely :o)

It's sooooooooooo frustrating! He clearly knows what he's supposed to be doing, but I don't really know why he's coming back to me for a treat. He is only being fed treats from my hand if he is offering the position I want whilst remaining on the mat and I step towards him to give these if the mat is at a distance from me. Even then he only gets 3, then the next one is tossed away to the side so that he HAS to move off of the mat.

Maybe he's just bored with this one now. Perhaps I'll start doing something new tomorrow and come back to the mat in a few days. If that doesn't work, then I'll try taking a few steps back and re-doing things again.