08/30/2026
Maya
It has been an amazing few days with Maya and her family down in New York/Connecticut!
We completed 2.5 days of training to include proper introduction to strange dogs, recalls off leash, boundary training in the yard, learning dog psychology in order to better understand other dogs and their energy, following through with corrections, continuing engagement and eye contact with Maya, watching to reward the positive that she does, and met horses for the first time with exploring Central Park. Environments such as Central Park can be very overwhelming to some dogs but Maya did amazing with all the people, dogs and loud sounds.
She is a sleeper cell in her yard with deer coming and going all the time. She will be calm and appear to be sleeping or simply relaxed and all of a sudden the bullet is fired and she is off like a flash. She has run off too many times to count so recalls and boundary training was imparative for her safety and a big part of her training schedule with me.
I had the opportunity to experience her stealth approach as she took off after a deer the second day. Her and I had been out in the yard for over 45 mins with her completely relaxed and sometimes sleeping, or what appeared to be! I wandered around with her on a 30 ft long lead and dropped it staying close by. With no warning, she took off around the side of the house after the deer! After calling her along with a few corrections from the e collar, she came running back 💪. There was no searching for her as was typical or waiting on her to come home. She recalled in less than 20 seconds.
The third day we came back to the house, I dropped her leash beside us and it was only seconds before she spotted another deer in the yard and took off.
We didn’t have her e collar so relied on her recall we have been working on for the last month. I gave a good holler “Maya come!”. We waited a few seconds and back she came running to us 💪👌♥️. Her family will continue to work on strengthening the recall with the deer and eventually she will know to ignore them. This part I was not able to do at Elhart because no deer come into my yard to practice with except winter.
She also met some German Shepherds in which the owner was very willing to do some impromptu training together and just proved that Maya was a superstar with being incredibly balanced with the two dogs and playful. The female in his pack was young and unsure around Maya but Maya did not take on this energy and was extremely good with leaving her alone and respecting her space. Prior to her coming back to Elhart, she had been somewhat unpredictable in how she would react to strange dogs but observing her these last few days, aside from the first dog she met and was corrected for, we had no reactions from meeting and passing countless new dogs. She even made another friend with plans for future play dates 👍.
Cats - we made great progress and now with the proper tools and instructions, her family will continue to take baby steps working with Lux, Leo and Maya. One of the cats (can’t remember which one, Leo? 🤦♀️🤣) is noticeably relaxing around Maya which was really great to see. She is learning with ignoring them and focusing on mum and dad, she is given a high value reward which she loves and will help shape balanced behaviour.
As I fly home, I’m proud of this girl as well as Maya’s family, that only wants the best for her. Training dogs are hard work with a lot of patience and dedication but the reward is ten fold when you see what they are capable of and the devotion they give back ♥️.
www.elhartk9shepherds.com
