Trainers will tell you that when there is training problem, it is most often the human who is messing up, not the dog. That is true in my experience. Bud is doing beautifully, I have to get sharper.

But on the whole, he has made amazing progress. Not how calm and relatively focused he is 10 feet from a flock of sheep he was charging and barking at last week.

He is welcome in the pasture any time now, he is becoming a great farm dog.

Bud is going very well learning to “sit” and “stay,” but I give myself poor marks in this video. I’m using too many words, I’m hesitant and a bit anxious, I move to much. He gets an A, I get a C minus. I know better.

When I give Bud a command, it should be one word: “Bud, Stay,” and then I should back up and be still. If it fails we try again until he gets it right.

Because Bud was initially so twitchy and anxious, I got the same way with him this morning. He isn’t a simple dog to train. Terriers are notoriously independent and, like donkeys, not obsessed with pleasing humans.

It’s imperative with training to use few words and give a single command. If the dog doesn’t obey, wait a minute or two and try again. No yelling multiple times.

I like what I saw of Bud in this video, not what I saw of me.

The good news is that Bud is grasping the concept, and very well. He is really getting it. But the pressure is on me, not him. I’m responsible.

I have to be more patient and project more confidence and clarity. In the video, I seem uncertain, as if I expect him to fail more than I expect him to succeed.

In training, I should always project confident and assurance, I should project what I want to happen and expect to happen. In this video, I seem afraid of both of us failing. That’s a bad head to bring to training.

I’ll try again later today and tomorrow.