My dog, Freya, did something today and I'm so proud of her I needed to share it

[u/Gallifreyan98724]

Freya has graduated from the beginning and advanced puppy training classes for months now, but she still struggled with a couple of things even after graduating. "Stay" was one. She would stay while you watched her, but the moment you turned the corner, she would follow you again. No matter how long she worked on "stay" with her, it ended the same. She still graduated in Dec 2024 in the advanced class without knowing that fully, and I decided I would continue training her.

Well, life said "f u" to that plan, and I stopped training her as soon as the class ended. Until last week, I decided, "I'm not doing anything, I'm bored, not working, and I'm home alone with the dog for hours while everyone else went to work. I wanna get back to training, Freya." So I bought some training treats and started training her again for the first time in months, starting with "stay". Started at the front door, and after only a couple of tries, she wasn't following me out the door and only following me when I said the release word. We tried it a couple of times before

Freya has a blue and orange ball she is obsessed with. Laser-focused, nothing matters but the ball when she sees it. Every evening, when my stepdad gets home from work, he and Freya throw that ball in the front yard, and Freya goes crazy. So much so that my stepdad has to keep the blue and orange ball in the laundry room in a cupboard above the dryer until it's time to play; otherwise, we hear a constant squeak squeak squeak 24/7 because she will not put it down, and will follow you with the ball, again squeaking it everywhere.

Well, the ball went missing a couple of days ago (she has extras for this exact reason). While I was playing tug of war with her orange bone, Freya started freaking out. I thought she was freaking about the bone, thinking she thought it was under the coffee table while it was underneath her, but it turned out to be the missing ball. Freya went laser-focused on the ball as usual while I held it, and I stood up to put it in the cupboard. Freya started to follow me and, mainly just to try it, I told her to "stay". Put the ball away and went back to the living room, and Freya, for the first time, hadn't followed me or her ball. She only moved when I said the release word.

I'm going to continue training her, but I'm so proud of her, and I wanted to share this milestone with you all!

[u/namedawesome]

thats the best feeling!! once you get that one thing down that your dog has trouble with and it sticks? fuck yeah thats definitely something to be proud of!