Saturday Morning Training

There were a lot of people there today! I like when everyone is there because it's great distraction for the dogs.

Heeling: So-so. Attention wasn't great, but he stayed with me. I think he knows the difference between this heeling and heeling a pattern for obedience. He is completely different when its just him and I heeling a pattern. So I guess thats ok as long as he performs when it really matters!

Figure 8: Lagged a little on the first turn, but was GREAT after that!! Totally not bumping me on the inside turns anymore! So happy =)

Stand For Exam: Perfect. We did it twice and the second time he sort of released himself a split second before Marc said "exercise finished", so he didn't get rewarded after that. But he never moved for the exam.

Recall: Not too bad. Was a bit crooked on the front but not absolutely horrible. I didn't finish him. The second time he was even more out of position so I lured him into a correct front then released, though no reward after that. He's not twitching anymore when the judge says "call your dog", and he runs at me completely straight, but he sort of goes crooked a the last minute. Not sure what's up with that. He does great fronts when we practice in short distances.

Sits/Downs: Excellent! We did it in another room to change it up this time, and he was great. I was worried because he went down on the sit last time, but he was fine this time. My only concern is when the sit was over, he automatically went into a down in anticipation for the next part. Not sure if that's a penalty or not if the dog goes into a down before the judge instructs us to down our dogs...

Dumbbell: The first time I threw it and released him, he was so excited and went and picked it up by one of the ends. He brought it back and I said, "What's that? That's not how you hold a dumbbell!" So he dropped it and picked it back up properly. After that, he always picked it up correctly. He is getting really good about coming right back and sitting, and holding it til I take it. Now I have to start working on getting him to sit and leave it while I throw it without actually TELLING him to wait or leave it...

All in all, a good class. It's our last one before our first CD trial, which is a week from today!! AHHHH!!! I'm nervous and excited. I just want to qualify - that's all I care about. I've decided I'm not going to get there super early this time. Red does better with only a little down time prior to going into the ring - even though I like to have A LOT of time to prepare myself! But I have to do what works best for him, not me. I would only like to get there an hour or so before we start. Michelle is going to help me figure out when to get there...