Basic obedience is going well at home; he still needs a lot more work outside the home, and a lot of maturing at home, too.
He has picked up sit, down, stand, and recall on hand signals very well. I'm working on a formal recall which is to come straight to me and sit close to me, and this morning he did that beautifully just before breakfast.
Saturday we did a very long day out and about, including a long walk, and I had to insist on some basic obedience until he finally did it on the first command.
After I trained him on the alert sequence using a kitchen timer and treats, he is picking up how to do alerts, and has done two tea kettle whistles, a couple microwaves. He comes across as very natural for environmental alerts, as he is at this highly curious age to begin with.
He also came with more manners, at least, thanks to being raised by a family, although his housebreaking was shaky, and he had an obsession with eating dirty underwear which has worn off for now. I still am working on teaching him not to eat any pencils he finds on the floor, and not to steal socks.
His leash manners are pretty good, when he's not distracted, so I've been working on getting him to focus on a better heel, not cutting in front of me to crowd me. I am also training that offleash at home, wit treats and praise, so I can be sure he understands where I want him to heel relative to me. Right now when out and about, I see other dogs and squirrels are his main distractions, as well as a lot of traffic/activity, which is expected.
Retrieve training will take months to get to the formal level I want. It is not chasing and bringing back a thrown ball. A formal retrieve is "pick things off the floor as I direct; do not chew or play with it, but give straight to my hand." An obedience retrieve requires the dog to come and sit as in a recall and give the object. Fortunately he gives to hand very well whether standing or sitting; Right now we have a good start which will help with the cabin-fever months ahead.
Now, Manitou should do fine for alerting, he's already doing it. But my goal is a dog that is fully capable of public access, so he has a lot more work ahead before I will be comfortable putting the mantle of service dog on him. His mild manners are a start, but that hides many sins.
Public access training begins in small stages, and in short outings, where obedience and manners continues to be reinforced so the dog knows how to behave in various situations. This part takes a minimum of 240 hours of training. I've begun working obedience outside around distractions.
Very short trips lasting only minutes, for training, have occured in gas stations and a few other shops. So far, very good in having him do appropriate manners and follow basic commands. Not perfect, though.
I plan a hardware store for his first prolonged store trip. They are very large and often permit pet dogs.
He looks like he should pass a Canine Good Citizen test as long as I put in enough work. I'm very blessed to have found an "easy dog" when it comes to training obedience and leash manners.
Now to curb his tendency to escape. On Halloween, I found him gone from the yard and after a frantic search, found him a few houses away, busy trick-or-treating with kids.
Well. Manitou does challenge me in ways Kajal never did, both in training and in overall management, and he is also very much an adolescent puppy.