Each day I'm more and more impressed with this new pup's willingness to learn and perform what he's learned...he's one of those intuitive dogs that can anticipate what you want, which I love!
It's nice to not even have to wait on a dog to go into position as he's already there.
This morning I was in a hurry when I fed, so just scooped, turned and gave Jake his food, turned back to scoop some for Ben...and turned around to find him already lying down as I've been teaching him to do, waiting calmly. I just about burst buttons from pride of him and gave him much lovin' for going that next step...Jake hasn't even figured that one out yet! He still has to be told or waited upon to get into a calm position...but then, Jake is a different temperament than Ben, with all that Border Collie side showing jittery energy pulsing through his body. Ben is much more laid back and able to hold a calm demeanor.
He's also pooping where he's supposed to poop after I finally learned to give him positive reinforcement when I dumped his scooped up loads there...only had to do that twice and he got it. Hasn't pooped in the yard since. Wish I learned as quickly as he does!
Would have saved me the daily scooping of the poop and the grumbling while doing so.
The other night some people beat on our door around midnight, wanting to use the phone. Jake didn't bark once, which was odd until I realized he has slipped into sidekick mode with this pup, like he always did with Lucy, my GP mix. The pup barked a couple of times, so Jake didn't need to.
Love that about Jake...he's a very quiet dog and only barks when necessary. When Lucy was alive, I rarely ever heard Jake's voice and only when we had a bear or coyote pack visit the land or strange man walking by the house. I'm hoping Ben will follow suit and bark only when he perceives a threat~strangers on the land or strange vehicle arriving, predators in the area, hawk overhead and flying too low.
Ben's collar is showing a great fit now and he no longer even attempts to challenge the boundary. He has stopped putting his paw up on any of us entirely, even when excited, but approaches with tail wagging and nose outstretched for our greeting which is more desired. He only needed a couple of corrections for that, so I'm duly impressed.
Overall I'm impressed with what this pup has learned in only one month: He's learned the electric fence boundary, to come each time he's called, to lie down and wait calmly for food, appropriate greeting(no paws), no jumping up, to walk on a leash on either side, sit, stay(still working on that one but he's got the concept now), lie down(all these basic commands he also knows the hand signal for), no chasing chickens(VERY important and among one of the first things taught and learned), where to poop and not poop, how to stay out of the way when we are walking past, and to stand or sit calmly while I take off and put on his collar/leash/harness, where to sleep, how to act when humans are touching or around his food while he's eating and, last but certainly not the least in importance~who buys the food around here.
What he hasn't learned just yet and I've not had time to do training on is raiding the coop for chicken feed and eggs. Usually that gets taken care of in time due to continued body growth but I'll take some time to work on it also.
Might load me up a few eggs with some super hot sauce I have and see if that won't discourage his egg suckin' activities...never tried that before but it might just work. Might also lace up the chicken feed with some really hot peppers I have canned up...the chickens won't care and it may even improve laying, but he's bound to have a hot mouth if he should take a taste.
It just might work.
Things I want to teach yet: Loading up and unloading from the truck or car, stay out of the coop, and keep back from Aliza's face when he greets her...go in low and slow and let her reach out first.
All training of everything he's learned and will yet learn will be ongoing for the entirety of our lives together, with every day showing opportunities for him to grow in skills and understanding of our lives here together. I'd venture to say this dog will be so versatile and intuitive in his capabilities that we'll never stop learning from one another and our partnership will be incredible.
He's learned so many important things from Jake that I could never teach him~what animal poses a threat and is worthy of barking, how long to bark for strangers(just a couple notes to get attention in the house or much more if we are not home), when to pay attention to the chickens and when to ignore them.
I thank God for sending him our way...God always knows what we need and when we need it and this pup was a direct answer to prayer.
Tomorrow will be his first time left alone on the homestead while we travel for two days. Well, he's not alone but first time totally without human supervision. I feel he knows and heeds the fence boundary enough that he won't be wandering off~ only to be shot by the neighbors. He also is trustworthy around the chickens enough to be left alone with them. I'll entrust him to God's hands while we are gone, like I do with the rest of the animals and property, and will not worry one bit while I'm away.
Ben has now been here a month and is only 3.5 mo. old, so he's moving right along in his education, top of the class.
My dogs get them both ways and always have, with no problems.
That's going to be one healthy pup...that fermented feed is filled with pre and probiotics. 
The pup's first time without supervision went well, though he did steal all my eggs and licked the chicken's feed trough clean. Will be placing a harness on him this week with a coop blocker accessory so that he can no longer enter the coop until he gets big enough to be too big to enter the chicken door...but first I'm going to have the fun of baiting an egg and the chicken feed to give him a little, nasty surprise..... 
