Exciting Discovery!

The heat and humidity helped me with an exciting discovery. I have a hands-free leash that I use for running with Seeker. It has a quick release buckle that I use when she has to stop and go potty. I had put a big knot in that section of the leash to make the leash a bit smaller so that Seeker is no further away than an arm's length. I discovered that Seeker likes to tug on the leash for a reward just below the knot.

With the current hot and humid conditions, Seeker is not able to run longer distances so I stop and train a bit and then we move on. I have found that Seeker is very motivated to tug after a brief heeling session. This gives me great hope that I can wean her off food for the obedience ring very easily. The added advantage is that I don't have to carry food around.

Nothing, and I mean NOTHING, fires Seeker up like tugging. She gets a gleam in her eye that is so darn cute! So we will tug along in our training.

Catch Up

It's time to catch up on what we have been doing for the last month:

• Seeker finished her GCH in Mt. Pleasant on June 11th. After such a great run, the finish line was a bit of a disappointment because she lost Best of Breed to Uie! I could hardly believe that the same judge who put her up as Best Puppy, WB, and BW for a 4 point major thought that Uie was better! Sigh...that's conformation. It made me not want to show on Sunday especially since Sharon Redmer was the judge. Seeker was the only champion, but again she lost BOB to a Blackwater class dog and took BOS for the 2nd day in a row. Should have known: all judges have their favorite lines. Blackwater is Sharon's. I am showing her again this month at a show in Marshall, MI. No pressure and it will be fun to show Linda's Gamer and then Seeker the next 2 days. I love Marshall and it has special meaning to me because Remy took his first 2 points there with back-to-back BW wins 2 years ago.
• Seeker and I continue to muddle through agility training. We took a Jen and Susan Crank seminar that opened up the world of Linda Mecklenberg's handling style based on motion. Suddenly the book I bought makes sense. It sure is technical! But as an obedience trainer, I like the fact that this book and system can teach me how to move. Since I can't dance and I don't have a good sense of direction, this system might actually help me figure out how to run an agility course because I can practice the different moves ahead of time until they feel more natural to me. Our private instructor, Lynn, believes in this method.
• Obedience training is moving along. Seeker's heeling is starting to improve. As I used to do with Remy, while we are on our walks, I'll throw a bit of heeling into the mix. It's a great way to work on it everyday without having to remember to have a training session. I'm finding that her biggest reward is to be able to tug on my hands free leash when we finish a heeling segment. So easy. Don't need to carry food!
• Tracking: I am finding this new avenue of training fascinating. It combines all the elements I love: an outdoor venue with very little equipment needed. Linda gave Seeker a very hard test this week. I had to lay a track that was much longer than in the past with fewer treat rewards along the line. The hard part was that it was aged a half hour! We jumped from just a few minutes to a half hour! She had to work really hard, but she never gave up. Linda told me I could use a toy at the end instead of always using a glove. Seeker was overjoyed when she found her frisbee with treats on top! We had a great tugging session before we moved on to the next track. As with everything else, Seeker is turned on by both food and toys. Love that!
• Thundershirt: we bought, we used, we were pleased with the outcome. Unfortunately Seeker is showing signs of firecracker, storm fear. I wanted to try to tackle the problem as soon as it developed, so I bought the shirt and I play tug with her whenever I can during these loud noises. So far so good. Hopefully I can keep her anxiety to a low level. I do think Linda's lines just have an inbred problem with this.
• Runs and walks: I'd have to look back in the blog, but it doesn't seem all that long ago that I was trying every method possible to get Seeker to run and walk on a loose leash. She is absolutely amazing now! I am ready to have her TDI tested and I am thrilled that AKC is offering a title for TDI dogs with 50 hours of work. We are going for it! I feel that this is a way I can give back to the community without the stress of raising another future leader dog puppy or coaching tennis. Both are very stressful. I am ready to move on to being a grandmother who spoils both her grandchild and her baby girl Terv. Life is good:-)