With the excellent instruction and encouragement from our Polite Pooches trainer, Cindy, Maya has made amazing progress in her behaviour.

When we first got Maya she didn't understand any of the usual commands for "sit, stay, come, down, heel, etc." I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to let her run off leash but thanks to Cindy's encouragement, on our walk today we did it!
We have consistently been practicing the "sit, stay, come" routine but up until today, only on leash. Today, on the plateau field of Nose Hill (with no distractions whatsoever), I let her off leash 3 times. Each time she ran ahead about 50 yards and when I called her name, clapped my hands, and yelled "come" she bounded right to me and sat down in front! I could hardly believe it. The 4th time I let her off leash, when I called her name, I could see she was getting hot from running back to me, so I yelled "wait" instead, and by golly she just layed down and waited for me! Doing these commands when there are distractions will be challenging but I feel that we have such a good start that with continued practicing, she'll be a super all-round companion. She has even been able to heel on occasion without pulling at all.