Expectation Level?

I expect the same from Daisy and Gunnar, though the level of tasks each can perform is different. Either way, I expect them to do what I ask when I ask it, if it's a simple down/stay for Daisy or a go find your ball in the closet in the upstairs bedroom for Gunnar. Bruzer, I have no expectations... maybe, don't pee in the house!

Like Sizzle, I expect the same level of manners out of all of my dogs. They all know the house rules equally, and should be able to respect and understand those rules equally.

As for training, I expect the same out of them all, but in different ways. In other words, I expect them to perform and behave to the best of their ability based on the amount of work put into them. For example, Ripley doesn't know as much as Dance does yet, but I still have the same expectations of each of them based on what they do know and can do eventhough they differ... if that makes sense.

I expect more out of Izzie than mum's dogs.

They are (for lack of a better word) ruined as far as training goes. It's all stemmed from my mum's husband believing since he's over 50 and watches BP on tv he automatically knows the perfect way to train dogs. Such as rubbing their faces in accidents, hitting them, kicking them, screaming at them, rolling and pinning them, etc. So they respond to nothing. I've tried loading the clicker with them but they won't even respond to that, it's awful. They just do nothing in fear of getting in trouble (however it seems barking their heads off at everything isn't considered bad?)

Mum's husband isn't allowed to touch izzie, so she's not ruined and she learns very fast and is very creative and free spirited. She's also very smart and just knows what to do. I've done therapy work with her and she knows what kind of therapy she was doing at the time and knew exactly what manners she needed. With seniors she knew she needed to be gentle and calm but when it came to kids she knew she could be more playful and outgoing.

Measure up??????

Your post made me think a lot about behaviour, not the dogs, but ours! Poor Ozzy, our baby Bouvier, he has quite the boots to fill. Andy and I didn't realize that we expected him to do stuff that Vodka did, just because. She came to us fully trained and she was at an age where she was a wise old lady.
As we all live together on the truck, the good and bad seem to amplify as the weeks go by. By the end of the third week, we are all ready to stop living in each other's pockets and when we get home we find that the dogs have learned a lot of new stuff (especially Ozzy ) and put it to use at home.
Merlin's (10 lb shih tzu-toy poodle) found that if he winds Ozzy up to do the puppy frenzy, Ozzy goes into his crate to calm down and Merlin gets all the toys for a while. The humans took a little while to figure this out and it has been addressed. Not bad for a little guy that we thought was more than a bit slow. (Retarded Mental Growth is what Andy mutters some days) I find that the littles get away with more because of their size and "cuteness", with them when stuff goes south, we pick them up and deal with what ever, but Ozzy doesn't fit under our arms any more (95 lbs now and still growing), and his size can be impressive to some people, so he has to do all the basic commands immediately. He does sit, lay down, very well, but come is to be worked on.