quienquiereleche

Hey there! Big fan of Chaser and your dad here :) I just finished the book a few weeks ago and thought it was amazing! Thank you for this AMA!

I adopted a border collie from the SPCA 4 months ago and I'm trying to follow in your dad's footsteps regarding training. My dog was neglected by her previous owners as she had no clue about anything when I first got her (not potty trained, not leash trained, followed no commands, no recall, nothing). So far, we've made great progress with commands and I'm now trying to stimulate the problem-solving part of her brain by naming 3 of her toys and asking her to bring them to me. We've been at it for several months but I'm finding she's not completely "getting it", so to speak → whenever I ask for a specific name, she just picks up a random toy to see if that'll produce a good response from me. So my question is - how hard is it for a dog who was not properly stimulated as a puppy to analyze problem-solving type play? I know your dad was Chaser's first guide and was highly stimulated from the get-go. Do you think this sort of training could be achieved for a dog that did not have a great start in life? Thank you for everything and I will definitely be buying your book soon!

Very sorry if this is a difficult question and I totally get it if you don't want to reply. I know your dad passed before Chaser and I was just curious to know what happened to Chaser after that? They were so incredibly bonded and your dad was in Chaser's life 24/7 that it must have crushed her. Did you notice changes in her behaviour? How was this handled? Did she ever not want to follow instructions from any of you? And maybe on a less personal note - how do you handle the loss of one member on a highly-bonded pair (human or not)?

Thank you so much for your reply! I am playing with her :) All you said makes perfect sense, I think it'll take time because she is super smart, she was just not stimulated. Such a privilege to have witnessed the relationship between Chaser and your dad <3! Thank you for giving us a glimpse of it in the books. I love all of this!