Moving On

Now that little Seeker is a champion and knows the conformation drill inside and out, I decided that even though we are going to try for her Grand Championship, it is time to move on.

So yesterday Barb and I met at our club to train. Seeker was very enthusiastic as we did short heeling patterns, short fun recalls, sits and downs, and recalls on a flexi. She is so ready to learn new things and I am so ready to accommodate her! After we finished training, and just to be safe, I switched to her conformation collar and lead, and we had Barb run us through a pattern. She immediately switched to "conformation mode" with no problems. Barb commented that she seems to "float" around the ring. That is exactly the term Linda uses for Braego's movement.

Next training session: Gail's barn for basic agility on Friday. I'll work with Seeker over low obstacles and I am going to start working with a Terv named Gamer whose owner cannot move for agility and conformation. We are going to see if he will work for me. If he does, I'll show him in conformation for her (and maybe agility) in exchange for tracking lessons.

Jump!

Dreamer was a really good girl at her lesson this week. I finally found all the things I needed for us to move forward with a few little Open pieces, and I hauled them to class. Karen had asked me to find some extra-long, extra-wide rubber bands and some jumps. I had PractiJumps from the Legan days but really didn't know if they were still okay or if they had been warped in the heat. They had been in a storage shed in my back yard for years. I figured they had melted by now, but they were in excellent condition. They were in such excellent condition that Karen made fun of how "new" they looked. Yeah, I didn't make it very far in Open with Legan. She just wasn't fun to train, and I have to say I probably wouldn't have loved her as much if we had continued our training in obedience and agility!

But anyway, Karen used the rubber bands to attach the hula hoop to the high jump. You might remember that we've been using the hula hoop to teach Dreamer how to jump correctly. I was wary of the hula hoop on the jump at first, but teaching Dreamer to jump through it was pretty easy.

One of Karen's more advanced students was on the grounds training her dog during our lesson, and we got to watch her proofing the dog on the high jump. Karen said, "Notice she is at 9 steps out." The trainer had taken her dog to either side of the jump, 9 steps out, to send it over the jump. I guess it's supposed to help proof for a bad dumbbell throw, but 9 steps out is pretty far -- and a pretty bad throw!

I'm often skeptical of the many things we do with Karen, but they usually serve a really intelligent purpose. One thing's for sure: Dreamer loves all of the "motion" work, and it is a nice break from heeling and other boring Novice exercises. So when Karen tells me to jump, I will ask how high -- and then I will do it.

Baby Food to the Rescue!

Debbie offered to have me meet her at 5:00 yesterday and today to work with Seeker and then her dogs in agility. We worked Seeker on a very modified teeter using baby food and squeeze cheese to "up the ante". Lo and behold, it worked! Yesterday Seeker was panting and was quite tense. Today she was relaxed and ready for that baby food! Amazing: guess what? We used the same rewards for Remy for his teeter anxiety. So, if you ever do agility with Dreamer, turn to baby food for your baby girl.

A Mixed Bag

This was a mixed bag week. We worked on all 3 events we are currently training for: conformation, obedience, and agility.

Conformation training started the week with a bang on Monday. Gail arranged for Jill Day (the professional handler who handles Uie for Gail when she doesn't show him) to give a handling seminar at the Tri Cities Dog Training Club in Saginaw. I used to be a member of TCDTC back in the 70s and was even their president. But it's a 40 minute drive from Sanford. Their building is very nice though. If we had that building, we'd be able to keep agility equipment set up in one ring all of the time. Sigh...
But I digress: I walked in with Seeker and Jill's jaw dropped. She said, "Where did you go to get her?" (Think she figured out that Seeker wasn't a Blackwater or Starbright dog?) The rest of the night she just kept drooling over her and making comments like, "I'm taking her home!" Here is what I learned:

• Before entering the ring, breathe deeply and evenly and "go to your zone". I already knew this from sports, but she reaffirmed it. The best part was that she admonished Gail for her socializing in and out of the ring and told her to focus! I got a huge kick out of that:) But now Gail will understand when I tell her "I'm in my zone". Jill even taught us how to circle our face with our hands as a cue to ourselves. That will just be my cue to Gail! I love it!
• Go to the ring early and watch the judge's pattern. This I already knew and always do. But what I also learned is to watch to see if any of the dogs show fear around the judge. She says some tall judges or smokers or ladies with scarves, etc. freak out the dogs. By watching, I can be ready to counteract that with an appropriately timed bait approach. Smart! She also said some judges approach from the rear at times and to be ready for this.
  
• Free stack but don't be afraid to hand stack. I've been against hand stacking, because Linda does not teach it to her Oklahoma people. I know this because I've been in touch with Amy Alden. However, I tend to agree with Jill that it is something to teach because I'll need it for pictures when she wins if nothing else! So I tried it and Seeker is fine with it. However, if she resists it in the ring, I will drop it like a hot potato. She has a beautiful natural stack and she is just a puppy. Judges will be forgiving.
• It was a long night and I couldn't believe how focused Seeker was, but at one point she sat down. I told her to stand, but Jill disagrees about having her move forward because you crowd the judge. She said it's better to back her up into a stand. Makes sense.
  
• Seeker is a little poser for the judge. She loves to make eyes with people and Jill says to encourage this big time. Judges will eat it up and remember her "beautiful headpiece".
  
• When I gait her, I tend to run as if I'm running a 5K race: up on my toes and vertical movement. Jill says this causes Seeker to bounce up and down. I must move from my hips and stay low to the ground. When I do this, Seeker floats like her daddy Braego.
  
• On the down and back, she wants me to start out walking and then move slowly. She said I do a great job running in a straight line and lining Seeker up with the judge on the back.
  
• I was thrilled that Jill was easily able to check Seeker's bite. This is a huge improvement from a month ago. Jill says then I should start letting her nibble on the bait while the judge performs the rest of the exam. This was a good tip because Seeker pulled herself forward instead of backward toward her haunches. Jill recommends putting the bait in my mouth during the bite check so that I can quickly get at it for the rest of the exam. It makes great sense and I've seen people do it, but how will I be able to follow the last tip to smile after having liver in my mouth? So I think I'll always have cheese for this portion. I think it will work for "Squeezy Cheezy" and me. That's Lynn's nickname for Seeker.
• Smile, be confident, and work her until the end. Jill says that even though she is a puppy, there are plenty of judges who will put her up and may even give her Best of Breed.
• Jill had us write down all of our dog's good points and bad points and then she went over them with us. She did this so we can accentuate our dog's good points and downplay the bad ones. Right now, Seeker is "close" in the hind and in the front because she is a puppy. That is why hand stacking is important. Other than that, she didn't find any faults with her except that I will need to use a rolled brush and a hair dryer to form her topline. She has so much hair in the butt that it sticks up.
• $25 was a deal for this 2 hour seminar. I am going to Grand Rapids for Seeker's debut with a ton of confidence and hope. If nothing else, Jill says it's important for me to get Seeker out there at least twice a month so judges see her and talk about her. And she says that is exactly what judges do! She says if I am afraid that she will not make the minimum height standard, it's all the more reason to finish her early especially since I'll be showing against large Starbright and Blackwater dogs.

Obedience: I started teaching my new obedience classes on Tuesday night and took Seeker with me. She waited pretty patiently in her crate for most of the night but by advanced class was dying to get out. So I pulled her out and put her in the center of the ring around the 15 dogs and owners in my class. I then proceeded to have her demonstrate the bowl trick on that video I sent you. Mind you, Seeker doesn't spin around as fast as that dog yet, but she is definitely learning to move! Everyone was amazed. I then showed them how valuable it will be to have the dog driving from the rear while maintaining their front feet in heel position. They all decided it will be fun and will be bringing bowls next week. In the meantime, we worked on having them teach "paws up" like Linda does on your leg.
I was so proud of my little demo dog:) The best part was she completely ignored all the other dogs and people and focused in on me!

Agility: this was the low part of our week. Seeker was tired from her lepto shot and was just not that into the whole thing. She worked hard on the dog walk, the pause table, and the A frame, and the rest of the time we stood near the teeter and got plenty of treats while other dogs banged it. At the very end of class, I had her put her back legs on it and I treated her with her frisbee target. We did that twice and called it a night.

Seeker Update

Seeker has hit an impasse in what she can do in agility, so we are going to keep reviewing and having fun by retaking the Foundations II class beginning this Wednesday. This is due to the fact that she is too young to learn the weave poles and the sound of the teeter frightens her. Therefore, we'll take it slowly and have fun building confidence and speed on all the other contacts. I'll miss the people in the Foundations III class, but oh well. Once Seeker gets old enough, we'll see them at agility trials.

In the meantime, I have just started her on obedience training. She knows a lot: sit, down, wait, watch me, come, but we are just starting to learn what "heel" means. She has that cute prance that Dreamer has, so I will definitely work to keep that. So all our heeling sequences will be short and sweet. I am teaching her the tucked sit so that also will take time and patience. On the recall, I don't ask for a sit yet. I want to teach her the tucked sit in heel position before I work on it in front. I have tried this a few times and she does fine, but right now I am working on her stand for conformation and don't want to confuse her too much.

She is entered in her first shows in 3 weeks. If she has fun I will show her again at our regional show a few weeks later. If she gets continually dumped, I'll back off and wait until she matures. But in the meantime, I am looking forward to showing her because it's the only thing we can do right now. And it will be great fun to hear people tell me how beautiful she is:)

The other reason I want to show her as a puppy in conformation is that it will be great experience for her to be in a hotel room, a noisy venue, learning to stay still on the grooming table, etc. My feeling is that it's all part of the training and if I waited until she was mature, I might have other issues.

We are continually working on loose leash walking and she's doing pretty well even with leaves blowing and people walking by. She's learning. We've even added a bit of running and she absolutely loves it. This, of course, pleases me to no end:)

Other than the above, we are busy having fun in the yard. Seeker loves retrieving the tennis ball as much as Remy did. This is a god-send because I can do this with her on the days that I am too tired to take her for a run or walk in the future.

Setting Goals With Shirley

While setting bars at the agility trial yesterday, I also learned a few things about setting goals.

Shirley Stowe, a longtime Terv owner, trainer, and club member, came up from El Paso to help us with the agility trial. I had told her during her last visit that I wanted to pick her brain about obedience because she has been there and done that with Tervs her whole life. She knows what she's talking about.

Because Tervs are sight and sound sensitive, I think we all know that anything goes. You cannot simulate a show environment, no matter how hard you try. Matches don't do it, but they're better than nothing. They're really all you've got to test your dog. Still, the unknowns that happen on show day just can't be predicted or planned.

Shirley came very close to an OTCH with one of her Tervs before hanging it up. She just didn't have the money, time, or interest to keep trying -- and the competition in Texas is fierce. The Goldens and Border Collies show up, and they are just hard to beat. They aren't affected by weird things like Tervs are. I know this to be true. I've seen many of Linda's Tervs acting like freaks about the smallest things. It's in the breed. It's something I've seen in Dreamer, something I saw in Legan, and something I see in most every "normal" Terv.

So there's that. The Terv thing. But Shirley said she knows Karen and has followed Karen's method. She likes Karen's method and thinks private lessons are the way to go for competitive obedience (here, at least; it might be different in Michigan -- our dog clubs suck). So she thinks I'm doing the best thing for Dreamer by training with Karen, and I have to agree. We'll figure out the whole match thing later.

Shirley's best advice was to set my own goals for the dog. It's great to have the lofty goal of the OTCH, but most dogs just don't have it in them. They have to be extra special. I don't have any way of knowing what Dreamer is like in a show, and it will be a long time before I find out, but I do think she has a big heart and a strong desire to work that will only help us. Will it be enough to balance the unknowns? We won't know for a long time.

Shirley's goal for her near-OTCH dog was to get the UD in 3 tries with 3 first places. And she did it. She said her Terv never burned out because he wasn't shown very often. He got all of his titles without busting, which means he was shown only 9 times before the OTCH goal began.

We didn't talk very long, as we were busy volunteering and Shirley had a lot of friends to catch up with, but it sounds like her last Terv was her best shot at an OTCH but just wasn't good enough. Too many things can go wrong, and our dogs are affected when they sense they've done something wrong. I've heard from many people that Shirley is an excellent trainer, and she certainly seems to know what she's talking about. She also mentioned the politics of obedience judges who show their own dogs and know that they might soon show against you, so they let that influence how they score you. I hate the thought of politics being everywhere.

In closing, Shirley said, "I think I remember Dreamer from the regional specialty when Linda showed her as a puppy. She had a big heart. That will help you, but please set your own goals for her so that you are never disappointed in her."

Shirley has a lot of insight. I became so disappointed in Legan for so many reasons, but I wasn't set up with the right tools to do anything with her. Oh, yeah, and Legan didn't care about pleasing me. Dreamer cares, but that might not be enough. I will think about goals to have with Dreamer once we get close to showing. Meanwhile, I will share all of this with Karen to get her take on things. We'll set the bar high with the knowledge that we might need to lower it.

Pilot's Story

I have always believed in giving back to others. I made a vow that when I retired, and our elderly Golden Retriever died, I would raise a Leader Dog puppy. I applied and was accepted as a puppy raiser. Soon, a white binder came in the mail. I read through it carefully and discussed its contents with my husband. He didn’t think he could possibly follow all those rules, so I gave up on the idea. Instead, we got a Belgian Tervuren puppy of our own. Leader Dog kept calling and I kept explaining that our own puppy was too young. In the fall of 2009, Leader Dog called again. Our Terv would be 16 months old and a terrific role model for the new puppy. We said yes (my husband realized he was following most of the Leader Dog rules anyway) and in late November, a little bundle of golden fuzz joined our family. Our Terv, Remy, and our new future leader dog, Pilot, became best of friends.

From the beginning, I could tell that Pilot was a high energy puppy. He just couldn’t relax much. We had set up an ex-pen in our living area, but unlike most puppies, Pilot could not relax when he could see us but not be with us. We had to move the ex-pen to the basement and put him there or in his crate in the bedroom away from us in order for him to settle enough to nap.

He started boredom barking and chasing his tail: both signs of his high energy and inability to relax. But we soon got him over that problem by isolating him when his behavior escalated.

Remy helped him a lot by lying near his crate or teaching him house rules. But 4 days before Christmas, our dear Remy lost his life in a freak ice accident. Pilot most certainly saved my life because if it weren’t for the fact that I was holding him, I would have risked my own life to try to rescue Remy. We were all traumatized greatly by the loss. Remy was not only a best friend to Pilot, my husband and I spent much more time with Remy than we had with any other dog. He ran with me, I showed him in conformation and he was well on his way to his championship. I was training him in obedience and agility and he was an outstanding prospect in those venues. The loss literally threw us all into the depths of depression. As a retiree, I could have become housebound. But a cute little bundle of golden fuzz made me go out into public, train, and answer questions about Leader Dog. I had to smile and go on with my life. And I soon found that Pilot gave me life. He literally kept my pilot light burning. He was challenging, but funny. Although I continued to cry every single day to mourn the loss of our dear Remy, Pilot kissed away my tears and made sure that laughter was also a part of my life. My neighbors mourned Remy’s loss also but quickly became absorbed with Pilot’s progress.

Loose leash walking in the neighborhood kept us all laughing. I did more backing up than walking forward for several months. When Pilot finally mastered the walk, we started adding a bit of running. I can now walk or run with Pilot in our neighborhood with a buckle collar and a hands-free leash.

In some ways, Pilot was an amazing puppy. He learned all the basic obedience commands quickly and easily. He was completely housebroken in 10 days and never had another accident. He has never ruined anything in our house. He is completely trustworthy. Around the house, he is very laid back and calm. He is a tremendous traveler and has been to the Belgian Tervuren National Dog Show in Texas, Remy’s breeder’s house in Oklahoma (where we picked up our new Terv puppy, Seeker), and vacationing in Vermont. He is as at ease in a hotel room as he is at home.

In public, Pilot is a different character. He is a social butterfly, always looking for fun. He is constantly vigilant and aware of his surroundings. It is very rare for him to relax enough to fall asleep on an outing. Each time I think I have solved his boredom barking problem; it sneaks back to keep me on my toes. Pilot is a dog who needs a strong, consistent trainer. Even though I fit that bill, he continues to test me in different situations. We have worked through so many problems with love, patience, and humor. From the puppy who couldn’t possibly control himself when faced with people walking by or meet and greets, he now holds all meet and greets and he can walk through heavy pedestrian traffic. He used to be extremely impatient if I stopped our walk to talk to someone. He’d try to cavort around like a clown, bite at the chain on his collar, roll around on the ground and generally act like an impatient toddler. I smile when I think back to those distant memories. He is getting better around other dogs and this is something we continue to work on. High energy situations cause him to “ramp up” his behavior. Giving him the settle command to relax and be patient in public can cause him to let out random boredom barks or adjust his position so he can try to play with another dog. However, each month Pilot makes strides forward. Although he has not been an easy dog to train because of his high energy; in my humble opinion, Pilot will make an outstanding Leader Dog. He is extremely healthy and fit. He has never been sick a day in his life. He hasn’t met a person or dog he didn’t love. He will walk for miles without tiring. He is very vigilant and will be able to sense dangerous situations. He will continue to make progress in his ability to relax and be patient. He should love being back at school because it will mean learning new things. My guess is that he will tackle each new problem with gusto: learning the commands easily.

In the end, as he matures, I can certainly envision Pilot as a loving, faithful companion who will always be ready for the command, “forward”.

Jesus Christ, Where Is the Dumbbell?

Well, it's been over a month, and we have yet to receive our custom-fit dumbbell from Joe "Jesus Christ" Feist. At our last lesson, I asked Karen how long it typically takes her students to get a dumbbell from Joe. She said the average is 5 weeks! Jesus Christ! I hope I don't have to call him again to check the status. I don't have another potential 40 minutes to kill, listening to him jabber and curse on the phone.

However, there are plenty of other things we are working on as we wait for the dumbbell. Yesterday, I worked Dreamer on the snooted pinch, and our trouble spots seemed a bit easier. We were both a little bored with the regular routine, so I reverted back to the old "To" exercise that Dreamer loved as a baby. I placed a treat on her Frisbee and took her 30 feet away from it, then sent her to get it. She raced out to her "To" spot, grabbed the treat, and raced back to me as though we were back in Tervletville and had practiced that exercise every day. They never forget a thing, you know? We both had a great time! I just didn't feel like using her box to practice the "To," and I'm sure Karen wouldn't mind us going backwards for a day if a lot of fun is involved.

We're working on finishes a lot these days, trying to wean Dreamer off a stick that she hops up to get a treat from before doing her circle around me. I thought we had weaned her off the stick at our lesson in two tries because that's just how quickly she learns, but I could tell she was a little confused when we practiced at home. So I went back to the basics and used the stick for two finishes, then went to practice some downs, and came back to finish her twice more without the stick -- and she totally understood what was expected of her. She is such a good girl!

Now if we could only get our dumbbell. Jesus Christ!

My Little Prodigy

Seeker and I missed agility class last week because of her swollen foot. I did not tell the instructor, Debbie, the real reason because she works at the vet's office. Both she and our vet are really big time worry warts and a visit would have cost me big bucks and more headaches. So I blamed our absence on my coaching schedule. Trust me, if Seeker had been limping, Debbie would have noticed. So when she didn't notice anything, I was even more secure in the knowledge that Seeker is completely healed.

Apparently, Debbie set up the class exercise for last week knowing that Seeker would shine. And then we weren't even at class! I guess she was talking a lot about it with the Foundations I class. Several of the students in that class have been my obedience students. So when we showed up this week, they hung around to watch! The agility equipment is still at the show site, so Debbie had set up jump sequences again. This one involved the dog moving away from you as you direct them to jump 2 or 3 jumps in a row. This made me nervous because I wasn't sure how Seeker would handle this. Then I remembered that when Debbie and I used to get together at her house to train Remy and her young pups, we used my frisbee as a target with food on it.

Seeker knows this well. So, while I waited my turn for the first sequence of 2 jumps, I did some frisbee target work to warm her up. No problem. And then it was our turn. She sure knows how to make me look good! One of my students who stayed to watch said, "It's like the college math professor who teaches calculus to her kindergartner!" I laughed and explained that Seeker comes from working lines of many MACH dogs and that it's in her blood. That is the truth. Other than the work Debbie and I did with Remy last summer, agility is new to me. I have never run an agility course.

The sequence of 3 jumps wasn't a problem either. Seeker just loves agility! Then Debbie set up the exercise that they worked on last week. It involved using a tug toy. She restrained Seeker while I went out about 10 yards away and called her to my left side using the tug to go around a tunnel. I had to be sure to keep my right arm still. That's hard when you are running. Then we went the other way. Finally, I sent her out with the "go jump" command over a bar on the ground by tossing the tug over it after we came around the tunnel. No problems. I'm excited to practice this type of exercise with her at home because she can practice her "wait" command while I run away. That will be good for her. Then she'll get the reward of running to catch up to me and tugging.

It was really cute after she did the "go jump" and came back to me with the tug because I could tell that she was trying to spit out a tooth after tugging and sure enough, I found the tooth on the floor and pocketed it! (I now have a collection of 6 of her teeth). The class just chuckled. I then said "Now her tug will be all bloody." And it was. I think they are all amazed at how well I know my dog, but heck, of course I do! She's my baby girl.

I think the thing that amazes me most is that Seeker is so focused. She can focus on me and she can focus ahead on the obstacles. She blocks out the other dogs and handlers. That is so un-Remy like! It's such a pleasant surprise to compare and love things about her that she does even better than he did:)

Last night we went to conformation drop-in class. In the beginning, she wanted to check out the other dogs in class, but I used the leave it command and then rewarded her with treats. That worked very well to get her to focus on the job at hand. I also was able to gait her in between other dogs. The agility work we have been doing seems to help her focus back on me and ignore the lead out dog and the dog behind her. I'm sure this will continue to be a bit of an issue as we show because the other dogs in the ring will be Tervs, but hopefully I can get her to focus as well as she does in the agility ring. Her free stack is coming along very nicely. She does not like me to show her bite so I will concentrate on that a lot more in the coming weeks. She does hold for the stand way better than Remy did. She has a problem with sidewinding at times, so I'm hoping she outgrows that. Again, I'm using an agility command to get her going straight again. Anything that makes sense to her is fine with me. After all, she is still a baby...my baby girl:)

Pinch Me

Dreamer and her Tacara Terv Trainer have been pretty good about fitting some training time in lately. The slightly cooler weather probably has something to do with it.

We had a really good lesson with Karen yesterday, who is really happy with our heeling but is now looking for absolute precision and perfection. Karen is going to let me try her snooted pinch collar this week. I had never heard of a snooted pinch. If you haven't heard of it, it's basically a pinch collar with a fabric cover that dampens the pinch. The snoot, or cover, is made of swimsuit material.

We put the snooted pinch on Dreamer during our heeling exercise, and Dreamer didn't seem to notice it. I did, though! The pinch has small links because Karen doesn't believe any dog needs them to be bigger. We just need a little bit better control. It's not that I don't have control over Dreamer, but I think the snooted pinch is actually going to help make some things come together more consistently. We still have some problems with back-sits, and it's amazing to try this pinch collar and see that it really does help get Dreamer into the correct position with less effort -- and seemingly no pain to her. Karen told me that a pinch collar without the snoot is a last resort, which made me feel like we're failing or something. But when I asked her if she felt we were slipping behind, she assured me that she uses snooted pinch collars on all of her clients. She then said that Dreamer, at 2 years of age, is starting it later than most of Karen's clients because of her willingness to work on the buckle collar. The Beardie puppy, whose lesson is right before ours, is getting his snooted pinch at 7 months!?! He's crazy, though.

That's when Karen started talking about what she expects from me going forward. She said it's important that I learn how to read Dreamer and that Dreamer is very easy to read. I agree. Dreamer doesn't give me that "screw you" attitude that Legan did. It's very easy to see when she understands something or is thinking about it, and it's equally easy to see when she's confused. It's not that she doesn't want to do something; it's that she isn't sure what I want. I don't think I've had many problems reading Dreamer during training, but it's always good to get this feedback from Karen and keep it top of mind.

Karen also told me that I need to work harder on Sit-Down-Stand combinations in the box so that we can move on and learn hand signals. Dreamer loves her box, so I got it out today and worked her in it. We'll just have to work on these things more often so that we can progress to new things, but I sure wish I knew the full method and what we're trying to achieve. Then I could think ahead and know what I need to focus on. Karen will probably never get those DVDs of the method to me, though. She just forgets to bring that stuff to class.

In any case, I think the snooted pinch is going to help on a lot of the little clean-up items and details that frustrate me. It's like the belt, which solved so many problems for me. Somebody pinch me -- we might actually be making progress here!

P.S. Panda got her CD on Friday with a 190.5. The next day, she showed again and got a 196. Now THAT is more like it! Too bad the high score came after the title, but that's an Aussie for you.

Taking a Break

Seeker and I are taking a break, but not because either of us wants to. She is injured! We don't know how it happened, but I think she injured herself thrashing around in her crate. We have never had a dog who bumps around while in her crate, but she does! Eileen says Tower is the same way. She has been limping since Sunday. I heard her thrashing and went to check on her. She was standing in her crate, holding her left rear leg up. Each day she gets better, but as an athlete and coach, I know the RICE method is best. She has been very tolerant of the ice and elevation and I have not given her any meds, but the R for rest is driving her insane and she really misses playing with Pilot and training with me. Poor baby:(

I called Linda on Sunday night to ask about taking her to the vet and she finally called back last night. We had a great chat, but of course, as always, she had me worried and I didn't sleep well last night. She did reassure me that all a vet would say would be to keep her on leash outside and give her lots of crate rest. This is exactly what we have been doing. But she made me uneasy when she said that this is a rare problem! I'm wondering if it just doesn't happen more than she knows about because other owners don't call her?

She warned me about having her jump up to catch or retrieve, but Seeker doesn't do much of that. I'm sure she thought that's why it happened, but I don't think so.

We did have a nice talk though where I told her more about Seeker and she could not stop the compliments coming about how beautiful she thinks Seeker is. That blew me away! She said she thinks Seeker has the best of both sides of her lines. She was particularly impressed by the pictures since she said that 4 months is the "ugly stage". I agree with that! I've been comparing Seeker's pictures each month to Remy's and he really did go through an ugly stage at 4 months! I sure hope she's right about Seeker. Finishing her would be a dream. Finishing her easily would be even better. When I described her personality, she said that she sounds like Savoy: Braego and Via's mom. Via has the same personality: laid back but easily riled up. She said that Lina is all go - go - go. Apparently Remy and Dreamer inherited that from Koda also. Personally, I love both types of pups, but I must admit that Seeker is a lot easier to deal with; especially now that she is injured and can't do anything!

Even though Linda said it is rare for this to happen to a pup, she said that she hates when her husband tells her that one of her dogs must rest for 2 weeks and be on a leash in the yard. She said her dogs are rarely on leash. So, apparently, her dogs must get injured too! Linda is a mystery, isn't she?

Close-trophobia

Lately, it seems like Dreamer and I are sticking close together. Whether she's hogging the bed or sitting at my feet when I'm on the sofa, she's right there and is taking over my leg room!

She's like this with our obedience exercises right now too. We seem to be working very close together at all times. Karen has had to remind me many times to keep Dreamer next to me between exercises. She wants Dreamer to learn to stay close to me in the ring, even when we're just moving from one exercise to the next. I get it, but sometimes I forget because I'm too busy thinking about what I want to do next.

Tonight, I remembered to keep Dreamer close and engaged with toys and/or treats. She definitely wanted to be close to me but, if not given the incentive, would have run off or spaced out like young dogs do.

This week, we are working on the Stand command in heel position. Dreamer is sitting in heel position, and I have the leash behind the backs of my knees. I tell her to stand while taking one small step back with my left foot. She pops into a stand, my left foot comes forward to become even again with my right foot, and then I have to keep her there in heel position, increasing her stand-wait time each day. She seems to get it. Karen likes doing the stand command this way for obedience because, with a conformation dog that free stacks, you really don't even need to touch your dog. You can just give the stay command and walk away.

I love my Dreamer, but after taking her to work today, where she played/slept/chewed close to me, I'm ready for a little personal space. I'm getting Close-trophobia with all of this quality time!

Agility Foundations Class: Week 2

Seeker and I missed week one of the new set of classes due to an away tournament for my boys team. I was pleased to see that most of the members of the class are the teams we worked with in Foundations One, with the addition of one team: a Sheltie and her elderly owner. I like it: makes me feel younger:)

The contact equipment is all out at another member's farm for a match this weekend, so Debbie set up jump sequences for us to go through. I watched as they set the bar at 16 inches and the bigger dogs and handlers went through. I was grateful for that because watching and then doing just doesn't come easily for me unless I can see it a bunch of times or actually walk the course and mimic the motions. Unlike my sons, I do not have a map in my head and I'm quite directionally challenged. I must move kinesthetically through something many times until muscle memory takes over. I know that because of tennis. Luckily, Seeker and I were last as the bars were moved down to 4".

Debbie warned the other teams that Seeker is only 4 months old and might wander off so to be sure to watch their dogs and help if needed. I must say, I was wondering what might happen with her being off lead in the ring. But I gave it a shot and sat her in front of the first jump and told her to "wait". I like to use the "wait" command so it is different from the stay in obedience. Lo and behold, she waited and never took her eyes off of me! I really haven't taught her this except with the electronic fence. I would tell her to wait, hold my hand up, and go to the mailbox so I could retrieve the mail or the newspaper. Obviously, she learned it and it carried over. Don't you love training a Terv? They make you look like such a great trainer! So, she waited there in front of the jump while I placed myself between that jump and the next one and then I sent her from that lead out position. She focused right on my hand as I gave her "jump" and "here" commands and went through the first series like a dream! She came very close to my hand, but after all, she is a puppy! I was blown away. We did this 4 more times each time with a more difficult sequence, but on the 2nd series, we had to go first since the bars were at her height. We are a team! No problem. We even did a series with a front cross. Seeker cues in on my body so well that she had no problem at all. Not only that: she is fast, but not out-of-control fast.
Another improvement I noticed: as we wait our turn, Seeker is much more patient. She is either looking at me (hoping for treats) or watching the dog who is running through. But she is no longer pulling on her lead to get to other dogs or lunging toward them as they work. It helps that I keep her busy as we wait doing some tugging, free stacking for conformation or touches, but she is really starting to get the big picture. She knows that if she is patient, she will have her turn to shine and shine she did!
At the end of the night, the elderly lady asked me, "How old is she?" I could tell that she was blown away by the answer.
We went out to dinner afterward and Debbie told Mark that Seeker was better than most of the dogs there: all of whom are much older. I know that Debbie had a few doubts about Seeker moving on to this next class, but the later time works better for me with coaching and I just figured we would not push: I would do what Seeker is capable of. Obviously, she is capable of a lot! I love my Tacara girl!

May I Have Your Attention, Please?

Dreamer and I had two consecutive weeks of obedience lessons with Karen. It was good because I felt compelled to work with my dog every night, a tough thing to do in the Texas heat right now. At 8 PM, it's still 103 degrees and miserable.

Last night, we got a cold front and rain that brought temperatures down considerably, and I have enjoyed working with Dreamer in the cooler weather. She lasts longer! She has a pretty good heat tolerance, though, because she just loves to work.

Anyway, in the miserable heat on Sunday, Dreamer really kicked ass in her heeling. Her attention was spot-on, and Karen was very encouraged and psyched by our progress. I was too. I decided to confide to Karen that Nancy and Panda were at an obedience trial. Nancy told Karen that she was doing her own thing and hasn't been to a lesson for several months, but I'm not sure Karen understood that Nancy was training on her own. I think Karen believed Nancy had just lost interest and quit all together.

Well, Nancy became very impatient with Karen's method, which is saying a lot because Nancy is one of the most patient people I know. Panda is a wonderful dog with tons of potential, but Nancy didn't want to wait to trial her anymore and entered her in a three-day weekend of shows. On the first day, Panda scored 191. On the second day, 190. On the third day, her score would have been 193, but she had an itch on the long down that she had to scratch. That's an Aussie for you.

I don't want to belittle Nancy's achievements because, hey, she's got two Novice B legs on Panda now. But I have to say that her low scores are a pity if you know Panda and what Panda can do. From the sounds of it, Nancy did not have Panda's undivided attention, and it hurt her. I talked to Karen about it, and while she respects Nancy's decision to train on her own, she emphasized the importance of attention and working on it more than anything else.

Re-enter conversation about the belt. As you know, I'm a fan of the belt (even though it looks stupid and is highly embarrassing to wear in public). It has been a very good tool for grabbing Dreamer's attention and reducing handler errors. We will eventually ditch the belt and put the treat on an armband instead of a stick.

Karen told me that it's really rewarding once we get to the armband. She said she will put a treat in her armband at shows (outside of the ring, obviously) and that people take note. They get the idea that they can do that to get great attention. But Karen told me that a treat in the armband doesn't work if you haven't started with the belt. She's all about working through the steps.

I have no idea what's in store for Dreamer and me in the ring. Maybe I won't get good attention with her, even after all of this work with the belt. Maybe Dreamer's scores won't even be as high as Panda's. Eeek! (They all act a little different at the actual shows, for some reason.) But I choose to believe in Karen because I already feel like we've been rewarded a lot by working through the steps of the method. I truly believe that if I can get Dreamer's attention now by working through these painstaking steps, I will have a much easier time with her in advanced obedience. Time will tell, and I'll be paying attention the whole way.

August Update

First of all: Mr. Pilot, the pseudo Terv. Pilot accompanied the team to an away match. He did great on the hour and one half bus ride each way. He even fell asleep on the way home!

The bad:

• he tried to chase the Chesaning boys as they ran by to warm up
• he pulled toward a lady who sat nearby and started eating
• he stole an apple from a blanket on the ground!
  
• he barked at an autistic kid who was roaming around the parking lot area (I think he felt the kid's high energy). After the boy's sister came by to introduce him to Pilot, Pilot calmed down. Hard to tell what is going on in a dog's mind, but I think Pilot realized that the kid was special.
• I gave him to a player to hold and he stuck his face into a bowl of cheese!

The good:

• Pilot sat next to me and watched as all the boys were introduced and shook my hand
• He got a little excited as the Chesaning kids ran down their line slapping hands, but after the first few, he settled
  
• He loose leashed walked next to me for the entire match; sitting or lying down on command as I moved around from court to court.
  
• He walked with Marty's little sisters very well until he got excited and tried to hump them (whoops, that goes in the bad column!)
• He ate his dinner by the bleachers as we waited for the exhibition matches to finish
• He calmed me by loving my petting as I watched the matches
• He gave the boys who were sitting nearby lots of love on the bus
• He showed much more patience than ever on such a long trip (the entire trip was 6 hours long)

I am definitely going to have him hanging out a lot as I coach. It was a great experience for him.

Seeker and I are spending much more time on agility than obedience. This is a huge change from the way I worked things with Remy. I am reversing things because I want her to learn to work away from me first and on either side of my body. It will be easy to bring her back to me later. She already has great focus. We still work on "watch me", sits, downs, stays, etc. but I'm just not doing much heeling with her yet. The agility work is already teaching her to cue into my body movements so I think it will lead right into heeling later on.
We definitely work on loose leash heeling. The command is "by me". She is picking up on this much faster than Mr. Pilot did! We don't have to walk backward much unless there are high distractions.

She has a good prey drive but not an insane prey drive like Remy. It sounds as if she is very much like Dreamer except that she can relax more in public. Remy was like Pilot. It took a lot for him to relax in public.

The absolute best part is how excited she gets when she sees me now. We have truly bonded even with the big yellow dog around. She plasters her ears back and jumps all over me. I love it! Shhh, don't tell Linda:)

Her conformation training is coming along. She easily falls into a natural stack and holds it. Gaiting is more of a problem because she wants to sidewind. We are still working on that and have 2 more months. Hopefully it will come around.

She knows most of the tricks in the book in the book, Puppy Tricks by Kyra Sundance. The funniest story is the shell game. I bought 3 flower pots from the dollar store and taught her to sniff out the one with the treat. It's great fun because there is a hole in the top of each pot and they are heavy enough that she doesn't knock the correct one over when she paws it. Kyra likes the dog to "paw it" to indicate the correct pot. One day I forgot which pot I had put the treat under. To my embarrassment, Seeker knew I was wrong. Imagine my surprise when I lifted the "wrong" pot, almost ready to say, "No, try again" and there was the treat!

We have a lot of stairs in this house and Seeker is now climbing them with ease. She prefers to go down, but she does a good job of bunny hopping up them once I get her started. It won't take long before this is a distant memory.

It took her forever to learn to stand by the door to indicate that she has to go out to go potty, but we finally have that mastered.

Tonight is agility class. I'll blog again tomorrow. You're it!

Jesus and the Dumbbell

It's been so hot, and I've lacked motivation to do much training lately. I'm burned out on dog shows and have needed a little downtime.

I decided to do one thing for obedience that could be accomplished in the air conditioning. Karen asked me to call Joe Feist, a guy in Ohio who is very well known for his custom-fit dumbbells and scent articles. I've seen so many of his dumbbells in Texas over the years. They really stand out. You can get your initials on one end of the dumbbell and an emblem that means something to your breed on the other end (like a sheep).

Karen had measured Dreamer for her dumbbell using the closest fit she could find, which was her boyfriend's Golden Retriever's dumbbell. We went a little shorter from there on the ends and also a little smaller on the diameter, but Karen advised me to take any advice Joe had to offer on the measurements. He's been doing this forever.

Karen warned me that Joe is a talker, so it took me some time to find an open window to call him about ordering a dumbbell. I had to block off an hour at work in the afternoon because Joe apparently talks your ear off for 45 minutes and only accepts calls in the afternoons (I'm not sure the latter part is true, but I followed Karen's advice).

Anyway, I finally called Joe, and he was a character! He said "Jesus Christ" every other word because he was trying to remember certain names, places, dates, and other information. We really only talked for about 20 minutes, but he was the nicest guy and seemed very experienced in his line of work. He almost seemed like Jesus because he does things old school. I'll send him a check first, and then he'll "fix me up," he says. I look forward to my first Joe Feist dumbbell and will post a photo when it comes in. My hope is that the custom-fit dumbbell eliminates a lot of problems I had with Legan -- especially the spinning she did with her dumbbell because it was really too big for her. Stay tuned for a religious dumbbell experience.

Seeker the Star

When Seeker and I got to agility class last night, I saw that Debbie had set the ring up for jumping. Since we can't really jump, I decided that I would join the puppy class on the other end of the building and work Seeker in obedience. That was a great plan! Seeker was a little star and the instructor explained to the people in the class that I was also an instructor and that they should watch me work with Seeker. So I demonstrated how I get down to her level with the treat or any leash guidance. I was glad to be of help because I basically just crashed the class and did my own thing. I would whip out her frisbee and play with her while she tugged and growled. She "gives" so well on command. I was able to keep her pumped and working because I kept giving her play breaks.
When they worked on their "stand" command, I had Seeker "stand pretty" and I was blown away by the fact that she did! She watched the bait and didn't move. I am so glad that I started early with her. It should make all the difference in the world. Next week I think I'll go before class starts and work on her movement in the ring. Maybe someone will help me out by pretending to be the judge.

The instructors then brought over a bar from a jump for the puppies to step over and the tippy board. Seeker demonstrated both of those things and then we left and went back to agility. By this time, Debbie and Kali had put a board on the ground as well as the small teeter so we worked on both of those things. She has been working on a board at home and doing well on a slight incline, so I thought I'd give the full teeter a try. She did great! The movement didn't bother her at all. (It's a very tiny teeter). It was so funny. She did great in obedience, but when we got back to the agility ring, she got her second wind! She loves it! And that was how she was able to concentrate for an hour. My little star:)

Starting Over

It seems so weird to be starting all over again training a puppy. Seeker is the hardest pup we've ever had to potty train. She just doesn't pee that often. So sometimes when we take her out, she doesn't go! It's very discouraging. And she has yet to stand by the door to indicate that she needs to go out. Pilot was trained by 10 weeks and yet he wasn't nearly as good as she was at other training. She is much easier to walk on lead. She's actually doing a very good job of loose leash walking.
I'm doing much more training for agility right off the bat than I did with Remy. Seeker is in a foundation agility class and she is doing quite well. I have found that she is very toy driven. She loves her small frisbee. It's easy to get her riled up and ready to work. She knows the commands "give" and "leave it" so getting it out of her mouth is easy. She loves to retrieve and we also use the frisbee as a target for agility work. Today she walked a board on the ground and then I put it on an incline leading up to our deck. She did great and is working hard on the "two feet on / two feet off" at the end of the board. She also goes to her tennis ball target and either touches it with her nose or her foot. So cute and so playful! She is learning to catch the frisbee and doesn't mind if it hits her if she misses. She is amazingly cool about loud sounds. At class when other dogs are barking or there is some disturbance, she looks, but doesn't really react. Today we walked right by the garbage truck and she did fine! I have yet to see her really startle. She is more brave around the vacuum cleaner than Pilot is and I find that very amusing!
We're also working on conformation using the mirror that Maggie gave me. She sometimes gets confused and sits, but we're working on "stand pretty" and "wait" for the bait. It's coming. Because she doesn't get rattled, she should show well in noisy venues. We'll see.
3 months old yesterday and she's doing a good job of worming her way into our hearts.

Moving On

It's hard to believe that I haven't made an entry in so long. Pilot has made tremendous progress and now that little Seeker has joined us, I hope with all my might that he fulfills his destiny to become a Leader Dog.

Seeker: her name fits her. She seeks out mischief and fun. She seeks to learn. She is always striving to do her best. It will be a challenge to keep her mind busy and content. She was 9 weeks old this week and she knows:

sit, down, here, touch, paws up, spin, leave it, take it (retrieving), get it (treat off a target), watch me, and is starting to learn come and wait. She's working on loose leash walking. She's starting to get the idea of housebreaking as we use the commands, "Let's go outside" and "go potty". She's only had one accident.

She's a she-devil to Pilot as she taunts him and bites him. He is quite tolerant.

She plays happily with her toys in her crate or ex-pen most of the time until she falls asleep.

I'm a LUCKY PERSON!

Even More Progress

Pilot and I met with Karen and Kenzie to train yesterday. We went to the Tridge which is the bridge that Pilot feared in the past. I could tell that he was a bit nervous, but he quickly recovered and we journeyed across with no problems. I had Karen swing a child's swing over his head and even though he jerked his head on the first pass, he held his sit next to me and again, quickly recovered. We walked the dogs past each other and Pilot was not reactive to Kenzie while under command. He still tries to lunge to play with her when he is not under command.
We let them play in the dog park which was empty. It was so funny. It's probably an acre in size and they never left us. They ran and played within 10 feet of us. So cute! When it came time to put their leashes back on, Kenzie did not respond to her recall command, but Pilot came flying to me:)
We took Kenzie for a ride in my car because she has been having some fear problems with vehicles other than her own. No problems there.
Pilot and I then went to Lowe's to pick up a few flats of flowers. He got a ton of compliments and was perfect except for the very end when out of the blue, he goosed the lady waiting ahead of us in line...oh my! Luckily, she was very nice about it.
At home, Pilot was getting close to the flags in the yard as he was looking for a place to "park". I said, "leave it" and he whipped his head around and came racing back toward me. I'm so glad I decided to train him to the fence:)
Last night Karen sent me an e-mail that said that if I turned Pilot in today, he would be better than 3/4 of the dogs going back to school. That made my day.

Alien Invasion

I'm beginning to wonder if aliens swooped in and took Pilot away leaving a well mannered Future Leader Dog in his place. Yesterday we went to church, a nursery, a small market, and a large grocery store. Pilot was unbelievably good at each stop. People were coming up to me and saying what a wonderful dog he is! That is just music to my ears. My baby is finally growing up. As much as I love him and would love to keep him, I know that truly I want him to meet his destiny to become a blind person's "Pilot".
We are meeting Karen and Kenzie and Ann and Summer to train today. It will be interesting to see if my new little man remains on track or reverts back to his old tricks.

Gettin' Down without Karen

The last time I blogged, Dreamer and I were down with Karen.

A week later, we are down without Karen. Her technique for the proper folding down worked like a charm in person, but I've had great difficulty replicating that technique at home...so I've stopped. I'm working on other exercises with Dreamer that involve the down, so I'm hoping that something clicks over the next few weeks when we mix and match the down with other things. Here are the things we are working on:

• From the sit position: Stand to down
• From the down position: Sit (or really, a slight stand to a sit)

I'm sure these are basic baby steps leading into the utility exercises, but they don't seem very challenging. So my focus is on the hope that Dreamer finally understands the perfect way to fold by the time we're done with all of these pieces. Otherwise, I'm going to be down, period.

Fence Freedom

Pilot and I are enjoying his new off lead freedom due to the electronic fence. He is such a magnet dog that I will be shocked if the fence doesn't work for him.

During our training session today, I started with the collar off. I put a towel down on the driveway and told Pilot that he was "safe" as we stepped on the towel together to exit the driveway. The driveway is always the hardest part to teach the dog. Our Invisible Fence guy told me to put the dog in the car and drive out of the driveway to go for a walk. I think this is a stupid method. My sister-in-law uses an electronic fence and her guy told her to use a towel in the above manner. It makes way more sense to me. The dog learns that he can only cross the driveway if the towel is there. Easily accomplished.

We took a long walk/run in a new neighborhood and I was so proud of Pilot! He walks so well in perfect lead-out heel position with no pulling. I just love it. When we run, he runs on the gravel shoulder and doesn't pull. It's so very pleasant. Today on our walk, a stray dog wanted to come up to us. I instructed Pilot to "leave it" and I yelled at the other dog to stay away. Worked like a charm.

When we got home, I gave Pilot a drink and put on his electronic fence collar. We walked the perimeter of the yard as I touched flags and told him to "leave it". I then started playing with him. We did some fun retrieves and then his favorite game of all "chase me". I purposely got him all riled up and then ran past the fence line. He came flying and I said, "leave it" but he just kept coming and broke through the fence. The correction startled him and I told him to sit which he did. What a good boy! I then took off the collar and held on to his buckle collar as we quietly walked back into the yard. Here again, I disagree with the fence guy. His method is to let the dog get another correction coming back into the yard. I think not! The dog is doing the right thing by being with you under control.

We played some more in the yard and this time he was much more cautious about going near the flags.

This afternoon, we had another session and it went great. He loves being able to run and retrieve without having a flexi on or a long line dragging. So do I.

Again, the plan is to never let him in the yard without us being right there with him. I'm not that much of a rebel:)

Night and Day

Pilot made a huge turn-around today in his behavior. Last night at the Loons game, Karen had a squirt gun that she used to control her FLD. She also shot Pilot in the face with it when he tried to approach her dog, Kenzie. It hit me that I could use my small spray bottle to solve his exuberant rushes toward people or other dogs. I planned to take it to my classes tonight.

In the meantime, I decided to break another Leader Dog rule and began training Pilot to our invisible fence. I put him on a long line, and set up all the white flags around the yard. I put the collar on him and proceeded to walk him around the yard pointing out all the flags and using the "leave it" command. He learned fast!

I'm not sure if he now associates the words, "leave it" with the electronic collar, but he was way more responsive at class tonight. I was able to walk him by other dogs and he behaved so well! My students couldn't believe the change in him and neither could I. It was the difference between night and day! When he started to clown around by trying to jump on me for attention or bite his bridle snap, I just used the spray bottle. Unbelievable success. Night and day from Mr. Loony.

This boy is going to be a Leader Dog! And if not, at least he'll be trained to our fence and be well on his way to his OTCH:)

Loony at the Loons Game

Pilot started my day at 5 a.m. with gagging sounds that soon produced bile and a stick about 3 inches long and 1 inch in diameter. He is such an intelligent boy but he sure has no street smarts!

After my tennis match, I had no energy to take him for a walk. I opted for a nap instead followed by some play in the yard. I hoped that retrieving the tennis ball would take the edge off, but apparently not...

We met the other Future Leader Dog puppy raisers at the local minor league baseball game. The "Loons" won big: 9-1. That was about the same score I would give Pilot for his behavior. Except he gets the loser's score! While all the other dogs lay quietly on their blankets (we were on the grassy knoll), Pilot was on the move 90% of the time; always stalking his next big move to get to another dog. On the other hand, he never chased after children running by. That was huge!

As I analyzed the night, I realized that he has gone from constantly lunging at other dogs to rarely doing so while heeling or on a sit in heel position. His next big hurdle is to stay under control while he is "settling" on a down. All the other puppy raisers say it will happen. I look forward to the day when my goony loony becomes a content young adult with enough self control to watch the world go by....

Gettin' Down with Karen

OMG. Seriously. When will Dreamer learn how to Down in the perfect way that Karen expects? Dreamer folds beautifully but tends to inch a step forward or two right before folding. If she doesn't inch, she'll miss the fold all together and get in a really low Sit...as if she thinks I might not notice that she's not all the way down! Stinker.

But maybe Dreamer just isn't getting it. We've been practicing a lot, and I'm sick of practicing without results. I told Karen that too. I told her we cannot continue practicing like this without getting results. It is driving me insane. You don't have to tell Karen anything twice. She gets the hint immediately.

Karen watched us do a few Downs in various circumstances and said that she doesn't think it's anything I'm doing. She thinks Dreamer isn't quite getting it, for some reason. So we found a chain-link fence and threaded a long line through it. Dreamer was standing with her rear facing the fence, and I was facing her. The long line threaded from her right side through the fence and back around to my left hand. As I told Dreamer, "Down," I pulled on the long line, and Dreamer instantly folded into the correct position. How does Karen think of these things? She didn't think of it immediately. She had to try a few things, and this one worked. She's such a good problem solver. Now we'll see if Dreamer can understand how to fold. I really do think that this technique might do the trick.

We are down with Karen. She knows her shit!

Working Weekend

Pilot had a true working weekend. On Friday, we spent 2 hours outside of Kroger to help raise money for the Midland Lion's Club. The first Lion we worked with was Andy. Andy worked hard to get people to donate. Pilot worked even harder giving the public his goofy grin and famous tail wag. The second shift Lion was a pain in the a@@! He spent more time talking with me than soliciting funds. He was one of those people who thinks he knows everything about dogs. He was quite unimpressed with Pilot's progress since the meeting I attended at the Country Club. He kept saying that Pilot would probably fail because he is "too friendly". I defended Pilot and kept pointing out how how much progress he had made (he wasn't barking, he wasn't resisting me, he was holding his down settle, etc.) By the end, the guy was a bit more positive and said that I should give an update to the club about how Pilot does when he is returned to LD. I will if it's a positive one!!!

Here is my synopsis on the 2 hours: Pilot was quite good for a 7 month old puppy. We were standing right outside the automatic doors on a very windy day with trash blowing around. Most of the time, Pilot either sat by my side or was on a down "settle". He did get up to greet children but held his sit for most adults unless they were very high energy. He didn't bark, he didn't strain on his leash. He was good! He did try to go after some trash, but I worked on the "leave it" command while I stood there. No, Pilot is not like some Future Leader Dog puppies that you see who are all laid back and lazy; asleep on the ground. He is definitely alert and aware of his surroundings and wishing he could do more than be on a "settle". But for 7 months, I was very proud of him. I gave him a walk break every half hour. I feel sorry for him. Two hours is too much for me....I can't even imagine what it felt like for him! After our Kroger tour of duty, we headed over to the Midland Fairgrounds: the site of the AKC show. I set up his crate, put him in, and helped unload pop and other items for the food table.

Midland Fairgrounds: Saturday. I got to the show site, put Pilot in his crate, watched Debbie show her dogs, watched Tervs, and then spent the rest of the day working Pilot around the grounds. I was not needed to work the show at all on Saturday so I really used the time to work Pilot while I watched. Saturday was a huge turning point for Pilot. I worked him around all dogs: calm, excitable, puppy, etc. He got a lot of "leave it" commands, many corrections, and many treats. By the end of the day, he and I were both exhausted. We took a nap after dinner!

Sunday: more of the same for about an hour before I worked. I had placed his crate near the viewing area for agility scores. This turned out to be a great experience for Pilot as many dogs and owners were passing near his crate to check the board. He did great! I could view him from afar and see that he completely relaxes and either watches the world go by or sleeps. This is great training for when he goes back to LD school.

Overall, Pilot made a huge leap forward this weekend. He can now pass by or stop as we are heeling when approaching other dogs. He was able to walk on a loose leash most of the time around the fairgrounds. I spent very little time backing up. He continues to get very excited when he sees people he knows, but I figure that's fine. He also still gets bored when I am talking with friends and tries several options to get my attention including jumping up on me or biting his bridle snap if he is on a down settle. I am starting to correct now for the jumping up. Ignoring and turning my back is not working. I am giving him a downward pop with the command "off" and then I have him do a down settle. If he holds that for a few seconds without being an idiot, I reward him by moving around and giving him a treat. In typical Golden style, Pilot is very forgiving with corrections. He learns and moves on.

I ran into one of the local LD trainers while I was at the show. She was super impressed with how Pilot is doing and said he is one of the best dogs in our class. She doesn't have a puppy right now, but just came to the class to watch. I was blown away by her comments because I thought Pilot was horrible at class on Tuesday night. She said she was very impressed by my training and loved watching me work. I need to surround myself with more people like her and you while I work Pilot through these tough times.

The LD book says: Hormone changes may affect concentration and obedience training may seem to regress. Your pup may try to test you or push his boundaries.
A maturing male dog may test your authority as pack leader.

For the first time this weekend, I could see that Pilot wass beginning to work past his hormones. I could see him smelling the bitches in heat and getting distracted, but then I was able to get him back to work. He is definitely a work in progress, but a labor of love. As exhausting as he can be, I continue to see snippets of progress and I am enjoying watching him gain control of himself. I feel sorry for him because I think it's sad that he has to learn so much control so fast, but he just loves life and I think he will be happy in his future job. And if he fails, I will be happy taking this high drive puppy and turning him into a potential OTCH and/or MACH dog!!!

Lessons Learned Fron the National

1. It is always better to face your challenges head on when you need to heal an open wound.
2. It is very interesting how some Terv people are very encouraging and supportive of the Leader Dog puppy raisers and some are disdainful as if they are above being able to give a dog up.
3. Even the most seasoned competitors such as Linda Newsome get nervous and fear the judge's
opinions.
4. Tacara people are the best! Linda knows how to find the best homes for her puppies.
5. It amazes me that Linda can be so focused on watching each dog's movement and type one
moment, chat easily with a fellow competitor the next, and then refocus intently on the next dog.
6. It is so amazing to watch all the seasoned competitors in order to gain tips on how to control a Terv in the ring. When handling a young puppy, it appears best just to let that puppy turn to look around at their surroundings and let them stack naturally. The judge will understand and move with the dog. Very few competitors stacked their dogs by hand. Instead they used foot or hand movements to get the dogs to move their feet. I know this takes a lot of time to teach. Obviously most of the dogs in the specials ring were well seasoned.
When gaiting, I was able to watch subtle hand movements that people used to adjust their dog's speed or head without throwing them off balance. With a slight twist of the hand, they were able to slow a dog down or pick a dog's head up.
7. Judges are usually consistent in what they like. It may not be the type of dog you have. It doesn't mean that your dog isn't better than what they like.
8. The Terv 2 Miler is the most fun event at the National.
9. The friendliest, happiest atmosphere can be seen outside the agility rings.
10. The most unfriendly, serious atmosphere can be seen outside the obedience rings.

Future Career Change

Yesterday was the day from hell. It poured all day and was extremely windy. Pilot and I were able to get in a mile walk before the rain came, but that didn't seem to touch on his energy level. He was fantastic around the house as usual, but when it came time to do errands, he became devil dog/angel. At the eye doctor's where I picked up my contacts, he walked in like a gentleman, rode the elevator down with no problem, and walked in quietly. But then he proceeded to jump on people and bite on his bridle snap while on a down stay. My best friend was there and I got a chance to chat with her while her eyes dilated. Pilot once again was good and settled down.

I took him to a pet store to buy treats and I couldn't keep his nose out of the bins with the goodies. I took him to the mall for more walking, but he was quite distracted and I had to back up a lot.

At our Leader Dog meeting, he was Jekyll and Hyde. He was either lying quietly at my feet or lunging for dogs that went past. We switched dogs and I watched him with another handler. He acted the same for her: one minute: perfect, the next: brat.

I finally took him to Mark's concert. I arrived just after the 2nd half began. He was ok, although hyper. John was sitting 2 rows in front of us and when he turned around to pet Pilot, that was it! Pilot went crazy and John had to take him down the stairs to get him away. I got him back and settled, but he never really settled down. On the way out, he was absolutely wild. He had had enough and I had had MORE than enough. I wanted to take a sticky note and put it over his bandanna to read: FUTURE CAREER CHANGED DOG. That is the term they kindly use for the rejects.

Seriously, even though we love Pilot, if he fails, I will feel that I failed.......

Reflections on the National

Dreamer and I finally met Nancy and Pilot, the Pseudo-Terv, at the National. We had a good time, but I hate dog shows and am glad we are done with our first National.

Dreamer gave Nancy a black eye. It's still unclear, to this day, what happened when I stepped out of the room for a few minutes, but now I know not to leave those two wild girls alone, unsupervised!

Anyway, Dreamer was a really good girl all week. My goal was to wear her butt out by keeping her awake all day, for several days, at various events. It worked. I think she behaved on show day because she was tired.

I wasn't able to desensitize her from all the ringside clapping, but I think she's just very reactive to crowds and excitement. I haven't worked too hard on desensitization because I don't want to take her down a notch. I don't want to break her spirit. I'm not sure that I could, but it's a worry I have. Am I in denial? Am I enabling her? I don't know.

Overall, I was very happy with how she showed. Showing on grass probably had something to do with it. As we know, she is confident on surfaces with sure footing, and she has shown well on grass and also on dirt. You never know what's lurking under a rubber mat indoors. One step over a hidden loud metal grate can spook the Tervs. I've seen it. There's just way too much that can go wrong indoors. I wish we had more opportunities to show outside.

Next stop is most likely the Oklahoma City shows in June. Four days. Until then, we will be thankful that we have no dog shows...because we hate them...

The National

Pilot, the pseudo-Terv got to meet many Tervs at the National including Dreamer and Tower. What a week! Pilot aced the vacation test. He easily coped with long car rides, eating in a cramped crate, pottying in strange places, hotel rooms including maids vacuuming around his crate, up and down 5 flights of stairs to potty, elevator rides, flapping tents, trash on the ground, Uie humping him and stealing his toys in the room, bitches in heat, and plenty of reactive Tervs.
Although he continued to be reactive to other dogs, by the end of the trip, he showed tremendous progress in self control.
At my training club last night, Pilot was actually able to walk past other dogs without dragging me over to them.
He cruised right up and down the set of fire escape stairs in downtown Bay City that used to be a challenge to him. He was in total control: no pulling or lagging and absolutely no fear.
The boy is becoming a man:)
Of course it helped that I bought him a new fine linked chain collar to replace his nylon martingale. I call the new collar his "brains".

Tervuren in the Mist

On a clear day, you can see forever.

On a misty day, you can expect your vision to be clouded.

When I took Dreamer to class this morning, I wasn't sure if the rain was going to hold off. It was misting slightly, and I didn't want to go. I called Karen, and she said she'd be willing to show up if I wanted to work in the mist. I didn't really want to, as it was also chilly and windy, but I knew it would be best to get our lesson in.

We first worked on heeling and Dreamer's lack of attention. It is hard to get her to look at me for more than one step. She likes to multi-task. We've been working on "looks" for quite some time, and I just get tired of it. I know it's important, though, and we cannot rush through this. Today, we started with one step, look, and treat. Then we moved to 2 steps, with a quick pop up if Dreamer looked away. We then moved up to 3 steps. By the time we finished that little exercise, Dreamer was filled to the brim with treats...and she ate breakfast this morning...so she was stuffed and less motivated to work for food.

We worked on the box next, which is fun. Dreamer LOVES her box. I send her to her box, made out of PVC pipe, to get a treat. Then she turns around inside the box, facing me, and stands. I reward her with a treat. Today, we added a sit. Dreamer excels at the box. The work we're doing inside the box is going to make hand signals that much easier.

We did a few other things and then ended with downs. I am so freakin' tired of downs! We're at the same point with downs that we once were with sits. Dreamer is inching forward instead of folding back, and I've had a heck of a time fixing that. I didn't want to work on downs today, but I'm glad we did. It was necessary. Karen played a game with Dreamer to get her head back in the game and started grabbing at her collar to tug her back into the correct folding position. When it was my turn to try, I thought I was doing what Karen was doing, but my movements were way off. Dreamer thought I was grabbing at her and didn't like it, so Karen started playing a "tug the collar" game with Dreamer to get her happy and get her mind off the tugging as a bad thing. I think I was caught up in making the correction quickly instead of correctly, and Karen said that being quick wasn't necessary. I think I have the tools now to work with Dreamer on downs and fix this stupid problem. Ugh. It was a painful but productive session.

And now we're off the hook for 3 weeks due to the National and a show conflict for Karen. Hopefully we will be able to make some progress in that amount of time...and hopefully we'll have some clear skies and results to match.

Working Weekend

Pilot worked hard this weekend. On Saturday, at the Saginaw Valley Kennel Club show, he was in high gear with all the distractions. In the last month, Pilot has made great gains in loose leash walking around people. He still has a hard time ignoring food, wrappers, etc. on the floor. Add to all that thousands of dogs and smells of a dog show and Pilot was in overdrive. We stayed at the show for over 4 hours and during the entire time I would say that he successfully maintained a loose leash for a total of 30 seconds while heeling. He did much better on sit and down stays. He barked only once early in the morning while watching a GSD gait about the ring. He must have thought she was hot:) I had my lemon juice handy and got a well-timed correction in. After that, I never needed it again. In less crowded areas, we worked on passing other dogs, kids on a blanket, etc. We also got practice using stairs with an unusual surface. The first time up and down, he was unable to maintain step-by-step control. By the 3rd time, it was pretty much a piece of cake except for the last step. He still jumps off the last step: it's on our "keep trying" list.
I found that when he was in very tight situations, he was able to maintain more control if he was standing or seated. He just isn't at the point where he can leave other dogs alone while he is moving. One more item for our list.
Sunday was an even better day. We went to the Great Lakes Loons Opening Day Parade in downtown Midland. The Loons are our local minor league team. Pilot and I got a lot of practice walking among the crowds before the parade started. I even took him in the street to walk past the people lined up on the curbs. This was his first look at balloons attached to strollers. He held almost every meet and greet even with young children. A month ago he couldn't hold a meet and greet with Debbie or Barb!
When the parade started, he blew me away. He sat very erect and watched every single thing that went by with much interest but great control. Nothing bothered him: the sirens, music, vehicles, bagpipers, camel in a Loon's cap, miniature horses. There were people walking by throwing candy for the kids and I asked a few of them to throw one piece toward Pilot. He even handled that pretty well. A month ago, he would have dove for it while ripping my arms out of my sockets. Today, the "leave it" command and slight tightening of his martingale were all that he needed as he craned his head downward to look.
After the parade, he was hysterical. He kept wanting to bolt instead of heel. It was as if he had said, "I have given you every last ounce of self-control and now I want to run!" I had planned to take him for a walk anyway, so off we went. He was doing well until we came to the "tridge". It's a 3 way wooden bridge with open slats on the sides. Underneath, 2 rivers meet and flow. Pilot was a bit freaked the way he is when we work on fire escape stairs. He might be afraid of heights? Anyway, we were on the way down toward a park when kids on skateboards came flying past. That did it. More bolting. At the foot of the bridge he was further freaked by the flagpole which was clanging. I finally got him settled down by just standing there until he was calm enough to accept a treat. Then we approached the bridge again. He was breathing hard and trying to pull, so we did a lot of backing up. When I got him to the top, I sat on a bench and let him chill out under my seat as I talked with a lady who was curious about the training. She was shocked when he finally settled down enough to stick his head through the slats and look at the water below. I explained that I always use this method to desensitize Pilot to "scary things". It's one of Caesar Milan's methods and it is a good one. Sure enough, on the way down the bridge, he was fine.
We then went for an absolutely wonderful 2 mile walk on the rail trail where he excelled at loose leash walking. He balked a few times when scary runners ran past, but otherwise he was terrific even when cyclists flew past.
On the way home, we stopped by the library. I've been taking him there every month. This trip was amazing. He never pulled once - he walked in quietly, stood by my side as I picked out a book, and lay at my feet as I checked out.
If I can get him past his reactivity with other dogs, this boy and I are going to have some real fun the next 6 months together. I love my Pilot:)

Strong and Silent

Pilot played the strong and silent type today on our outings. I don't want to jinx us, but the lemon shots must be working. First, we visited a tennis facility where one of my former players was playing a college tennis match. Pilot was wiggly, but silent. There were cupcakes on a low table: one for each of the girls on the team. Pilot faked like he was stretching to get nearer to the table. One of the moms laughed and said if he ate one, it had better be Katie's (the girl I was there to see).
From the match, we visited the mall for a walk in the crowds. Each time we do this, I am amazed at his progress. He now walks on a loose leash unless we are near the food court area where we continue to work on the "leave it" command.
I stopped and sat twice to test his down "settles" and his control over his voice. He's still wiggly, but he was quiet.
Our next stop was to Pet Smart. Walking the aisles while tempted with toys, treats, and food is just overwhelming for Pilot. While I was working in one aisle, I overheard two workers commenting that Pilot is a handful for his age. I'm sure they thought he was a year old or more. When I got nearer and started working closer to one of them, she asked how old he was. I loved the look on her face when I said he was 6 months old:)
He finally settled down and I did some sits and downs near the doorway.
Our last stop was Starbuck's. I ordered a drink and sat at a table. He was a little wiggly at my feet, but I'm celebrating that he was quiet at last.
I'm proud of my strong, silent baby boy.

The Realization

I am showing my dog in one week.

Eeeeek!

I'm A Man

I met John and Jess at our Essexville house and we let Maizie and Pilot play in the backyard. Then we took them for a mile and 1/2 walk. I was hoping that Pilot would be tired enough to behave at the high school musical, Annie. Daddy Warbucks was played by one of my tennis players and several other tennis players were in the cast.
I had saved Pilot's dinner to hand feed him while we watched, but that was a mistake. He was nosing my hands and wiggling around. Then I put him on a down at my feet to chew on several stuffed Kongs. That worked for awhile until the occasional barks started. They just come out of the blue. They are isolated: only one at a time, but they are embarrassing!! I wasn't too upset though because it was free senior citizen night and half of the audience is deaf. The first half lasted almost 2 hours and about 20 minutes from the end, Pilot fell asleep. At intermission, I debated over whether to put him in the car after pottying him, or try to get him through the whole thing. I decided on the latter. While I took him out to potty, several people complimented him on his great job as Sandy! I don't know if you remember, but the director wanted to cast Pilot as Sandy, but I told him that Pilot was too young. I steered him to the Davis' who are puppy raising Summer, an 8 month old Leader Dog pup. She did do a great job! Pilot, however, took all the credit at the intermission. I did run into the director who knew the barking was from Pilot, but he just laughed about it. In the second act, Pilot was doing well, but out of the blue, let out a huge bark. From there it was all downhill. He just squirmed and backed away from me. I quietly took him out to the car. After the show, Ann Davis told me that people were surprised that Summer was barking!
Just like a man...Pilot took all the credit and passed all the blame off to a woman!

I'm Not Lion

No lying, Pilot was not very good at the Lion's Club meeting. We got there early and he pooped and peed which was good. But he tried to jump on Karen and Ron Sharp, also puppy raisers. But they knew to immediately turn their backs on him and he immediately responded by settling down and letting them approach to pet him. Their Smooth Collie, Kenzie could not attend because she broke her leg roughhousing in their back yard! By the end of the night, they were probably wishing they had brought their dog, cast and all!
Pilot was not on his best behavior. He barked a few times before dinner started and I finally got him under the table with his bribes (stuffed Kongs). When we stood to say the pledge, he popped out, hitting his head in the process and making a loud boom! Oh brother!
I got him back under the table and gave him a real bribe: a bully stick. That was all he needed. He was perfect for the rest of the dinner.
I had to take it away as we went to the front of the room to present the program. The program lasted way too long for Pilot (I want to say it was 40 minutes long!!!) Well, Pilot could not keep his mouth shut. Fortunately, the Lions thought he was so cute and didn't care. I tried everything: giving him the quiet command, having him do puppy push-ups, heeling him around, having him settle as I gave him paw massages. Each thing worked for a few minutes and then he would go back to voicing his opinion that he had had enough and wanted to go home!
I finally decided to go back to the table, give him the bully stick back, and let him go back under the table to chill. That was my best idea of the night.
When I took the stick away for pictures, he was not a happy camper. I'm surprised the pictures turned out as well as they did!
Why was raising a Leader Dog on my bucket list?

A New Season

Despite Dreamer coming into season earlier this week, I decided I'd take her to her obedience lesson today and just see how it went. I haven't noticed a huge change in her personality at home. She's a bit clingy, but it's not troublesome and doesn't get in the way of what I ask her to do.

When we got to class and Karen wasn't there yet, I was a little worried. She's not a morning person, and I wondered if she had remembered to Spring Ahead. She called me about 5 minutes after our lesson was supposed to start and said she'd be right there. She lives across the street from where we train, so it wasn't a long wait.

Dreamer and I played with her Wing-a-ball while awaiting Karen's arrival and did a few sit-waits. There was a baseball game going on nearby, so the crack of the bat and children screaming were two very good distractions. Dreamer's waits were solid. I was so proud of her.

Once Karen arrived, we worked on some heeling and then moved on to Figure 8s. We touched on those at our last lesson but really troubleshooted them today. Karen works everything in pieces, which drives me insane, but she always has a good reason. We worked on a "back" motion when Dreamer is rounding the post on my inside, and then a "hurry" motion when she's rounding the opposite post on my outside. She's got the "back" motion down but not the "hurry," so we broke it down. I was really very happy and surprised by her willingness (and 100% ability) to work through being in season. I wasn't sure what I was going to get today.

Dreamer did have a few issues during the sit-wait while I was headed to the end of the Flexi for a recall. She wanted to clean herself, and I had to put her back in position a few times. Poor baby girl. She was the first lesson of the day, so I hope she didn't leave a lot of distracting smells for the boys who came after her.

The sweet and loving male GSD that has a lesson after us wanted to greet Dreamer today and is neutered, but his owner had other plans. She wanted to introduce somebody new to Karen. I put Dreamer in her crate and started writing my check out to Karen when I had to stop everything because of an adorable 8-week-old black GSD baby girl. SO ADORABLE! I had flashbacks to when I met Karen during Panda's lesson and introduced her to Dreamer at that age. That little bear cub face also made me think of you and the bear cubs yet to come. It's a new season, and I am so ready for it!

A Mixed Bag

Today's training was definitely a mixed bag, but very worthwhile for Pilot. We started out on our street. I knew the garbage truck was coming, so I wanted to be sure to walk alongside for as long as we could. Pilot did well! Interesting that barking dogs are more frightening for him than garbage trucks. The funny part was watching his nose twitch. I was just imagining all the smells he could distinguish:)
We then rode to Midland where he went into Applebees with me to pick up a gift certificate for a friend. I set the tone in the parking lot where I backed up often and did not let him sniff at all. That made it much easier once we got inside. I had to go to the bar area with him to get the gift card and I could see the manager approaching. I had already asked permission and received it, so I held my breath hoping that there wasn't some misunderstanding. Pilot immediately lay down and settled, so he was being a good boy. The manager was very nice and explained that he is not a fan of dogs but he was very impressed by Pilot and thanked me for what I was doing. Whew!
Pilot and I then traveled back to Sanford where we met Barb and Jessie at the kennel club. Pilot loves Jessie as much as Remy did, so it was a great test for him to ignore her. We helped Barb with the figure 8 (Pilot was not a very good post for the first go-round, but then he got the message), recall, stand, etc. Barb helped me with controlled greetings. I also worked with Pilot on sits and downs and go to your mat.
The best part came at the end when we let them play. How funny to see Pilot try to keep up with Jessie! He was all gumby-like and would often just puppy flop and let her sniff him. But they got a great run in and he was tired when we got home.
We followed up with a nap on the bed: always a great training exercise:)

Leader Dog School

Today was a good day, even for a Monday. Pilot and I and Frank and Summer went to Rochester for Leader Dog class. We haven't seen Sam, our instructor for a month because she was not there 2 weeks ago. She was the instructor who at our first class in January said that I needed to form a bond with Pilot. I think Frank clued her in about my situation after that.
She was most complimentary today. She agreed that Pilot is stubborn and said that he needs to be micromanaged and that I am doing a great job of it! She was blown away by his "arounds" at the doorways. I knew he would do it well because our house door hinges on the left so we get plenty of practice with it. Pilot also did great with "go to your mat". He lay down automatically. I didn't even have to tell him. My heart was bursting with pride:)
For the controlled greetings, they have hooks on the wall. We hooked up our dogs and then went to greet other dogs. I kept my eye on him to see how he would do with the other people. He was amazing! He never once jumped up on anyone or got excited. I can't wait to tell all my friends at the kennel club that our hard work is paying off. He still has problems around other dogs. I think it's the Remy in him:)
We also worked on stairs and he did well. I've noticed a pattern with him when he has a problem. He will repeat his behavior for 3 times and each time we try again. On the 4th try, he gives in and acquiesces.
Because Pilot was so good, I got a chance to observe other people and their dogs. I have to admit: we have made the most progress. I am so proud of us. Go Team!

Dragging Our Feet

Dreamer and I got rained out of our lesson again today, but we trained so much yesterday that I feel like we need the break.

We went to conformation drop-in class yesterday and had a relatively successful outing. We'll go back on Monday night. At the end of class, when people started clapping and Dreamer turned into a wild pony, I grabbed the sides of her mane and settled her down with a light pinch -- Karen's trick at our last lesson when Dreamer was barking at distractions. Dreamer instantly flattened her ears and looked sorry for her behavior. Then we ran around the ring, clapping and all, and Dreamer acted like a dog! It was amazing.

Our instructor walked up to us immediately afterwards, and I couldn't tell if she was going to say something positive or negative about the chest pinch. She said, "That wasn't half bad!" Dreamer responded by jumping up on her and showering her with kisses and love. I told her that the pinch was our new trick. She said it worked! I thought so too. If only we could use it in the ring...

After class, I rode my bike for 90 minutes and then came back home to get Dreamer. I wanted to squeeze in an obedience training session with her and figured she had probably had a good nap after conformation class. After about 5 minutes, however, it was clear to me that an additional training session was a bad idea. Maybe it was the warm weather, but I think Dreamer was exhausted from class and had no brain cells left to focus on obedience. She mentally checked out and was dragging her feet. I pressed on for an additional 15 minutes, but things didn't get better. I decided we'd had enough. Win some, lose some. Not all training sessions can be spectacular, right?

Today we are both dragging our feet. The rain is exhausting. I'm glad we spent a lot of time together yesterday. Being active with Dreamer is a wonderful thing, but our lazy time is fun too.