The Will to Prepare

I am formulating a plan to start trying to be more active training the girls again.  Maybe, depending on how things go, I will even want to be more active in competing again.

Once upon a time competing in multiple venues and earning titles was a focal point for me, but somehow along the way it lost its appeal.  Maybe things became too goal oriented and less fun...  I'm really not sure why things changed.

Currently the girls and I dabble in agility, sometimes only actually training the one night a week we have class.  Water work gets only slightly more effort at the moment.  Since I am a fairly experienced trainer and use positive methods and the girls are pretty eager to work and get things "right", we  can do reasonably well in both these venues with minimal time invested on my part.

The girls don't need to compete or earn titles, but they do enjoy training and putting their sharp minds to use.  They've been happy enough with their current routine of regular exercise, healthy meals and lots of love, but I think they will be even happier with a little more mental entertainment in the form of training too.  

So...time to stop writing and head out the door to train and see where the journey takes us.

Independence Day

Steady as she goes...

To keep on a steady course. An instruction from the captain to the helmsman of a ship, to keep the ship heading steadily on the same course regardless of gusts of wind or cross-currents.

Ecko is a team player.

 Often those of us that enjoy dog sports groove on the brilliant dogs.  Eager, driven individuals that throw themselves into activities with a passion.  These dogs are exciting, flashy and fun to watch as they go about their tasks.  I have been blessed with several dogs like this and would be more than happy to work with more in the future.

Today, though, I celebrate and recognize that sometimes unsung hero, the steady dog.  What they lack in flinging them into activities with wild abandon, they make up for with their "can do" work ethic.

Guarding the Gear

My steady dog of the moment is Ecko.  Her eagerness is not so much for the tasks at hand, but to be at my side.  She rarely has a "bad day" training, and (assuming I communicate clearly) progresses quickly and linearly in learning new behaviors.  She is happy to lay quietly in her crate and watch the other dogs work, but is equally happy to join me for her turn to earn some treats and spend quality time with me.

We went water training today.  Ecko's brilliant daughter was a bit lacking in focus, but Ecko was her workmanlike self.  She persevered to complete a task that caused her some momentary confusion and made solid progress on a difficult exercise still in the learning phase.  To take a line from the Eagles, I get a "peaceful, easy feeling" in working with my steady dog and "I know she won't let me down".  I hope she knows how much I appreciate her.

 

Diamond Dogs

"No pressure, no diamonds." ~ Thomas Carlyle

Delta and I had a fabulous agility class tonight.  She has all the ingredients to make a fantastic agility dog.  She is:

• smart
• athletic
• soundly structured
• loves the game
• is a talented jumper

We do have some hurdles to overcome, however, one of which is that she has not handled being pressured well at all.  Delta can go from wild puppy child to "can't do it, no way, no how" faster than you can say "Jiminy Cricket".

We had a super class tonight because we are slowly, but surely finding the balance on pushing Delta ever so gently out of her comfort zone of safe and easy things into some trickier challenges with shutting her down.  

So pleased with my Diamond Dog Delta and the progress we are making.