The first group of small dogs was up. We headed outside where Rocky was quick to plop himself down in the shade by the fence. Timbits headed over to see what he was up to before running off further into the yard. Maya had gotten a bit further into the yard when she noticed Rocky wasn't following. She turned around to go and check in with her brother. She then noticed Anejo and went to see about getting him to play with her. Flora stood watching everyone from the sunny portion of the yard. Once she realized we were on our way she went trotting off to check out the yard. Coco had made a beeline out to the far yard, while Timbits went racing after her and tried to convince her to play with him. It was pretty cute watching him play bow to her while she remained aloof. Maya left Anejo alone so to take up a position where she could see what was going on all around the yard. She then went to join Coco for a little exploring. Flora took advantage of Anejo being alone. She gently placed her paws on his back so she could give his ears a good sniff. With that done, Flora started to bounce around trying to get Anejo to play. He ended up deciding to see what Timbits was now looking at in the grass and so Flora just went off racing around the yard. Timbits and Anejo didn't stay exploring for long and soon found themselves playing with Penny. Flora came running in and launched herself at Anejo. A little while later everyone needed a bit of a breather. Timbits went and joined Coco as she went around exploring. Maya took some time to give Anejo a very thorough ear exam. When she was finished, Maya decided it was time to play some more. I left them to their fun and went to have a visit with Rocky. We weren't alone along, but Rocky didn't seem to mind.
Next up was the second group of little ones. After saying their hellos most of the group made their way out to the far yard. Apple and Sky were quick to head off and do some exploring. Apple ended up back in the rocks along the fence while Sky was happy to just exploring in the grass. Cooper wondering what Apple was looking at went trotting over to check it out. He then went running off to see what Stewie was up to. Casper was next to make his way out to the far yard. He also made his way over to see Stewie. I think William finally realized he was the last to come out to the far yard and made his way over to join us. He was all about the exploring and was quick to put his nose back to the ground to do just that. Cooper was so full of energy so once he greeted Stewie he was off to visit with Casper then went racing off around the yard. Casper decided to then come over for a visit with me. Sky saw this and decided a visit was a good idea. He was especially happy to receive some neck scratches. Apple was still totally absorbed by the rocks and grass by the fence. I eventually convince her to come over for some loving of her own. She and Sky then headed off to do some exploring together. Cooper continued to race around. He managed to get Casper and William to join in for a bit, but the brothers soon went back to exploring. Cooper set his sight back on Stewie. Apple and Sky made their way back over to me. They were starting to feel a bit more frisky and started to bark, howl and play bow.
Rex was pretty happy to get outside and enjoy this lovely day. We took it easy and wandered around the yard going wherever Rex wanted to go. Rex did a little exploring in the grass before heading over to the far gate to see what was going on beyond the yard. When his curiosity was satisfied Rex headed off to do a little more exploring. He was happy to stop exploring for some ear scratches and cuddles.
Everyone in the next group went trotting off to the far yard. When they got out there Boris went to check out an interesting section of grass. Max and Sadie, wondering what he was looking at, went over to join him. Tasha, not wanting to miss out went and joined them as well. They all checked it out for a bit longer than moved on to investigate more of the yard together. Eventually they all split up. Boris soon felt the need to run around, so he did just that. He ran all the way across the yard to check on Tasha and see how she was doing. Max also went running off. I took this as an opportunity to do a little recall work with him, which he did very well with. I then called Sadie over for some pets. Shortly after that Max launched himself at Sadie wanting to play. Boris and Tasha then took off racing around together. It soon turned into the four of them racing around together. They all zoomed around for quite awhile and eventually they needed a bit of a breather. Sadie led the way over to the shady part of the yard and plopped down.
Bella had such an exciting first day today. She was a little bit shy when she first met all of the other dogs, but once she went for a walk around the field she started to come out of her shell. By the time she went out for her group she was already waiting at the door very eagerly to go play with everyone. When she got outside she began to run around right away. She went up to each dog that hadn't already ran up to her to give them a sniff. That's when she started getting playful! Bella ran over to go see Tanner and Tanner had so much energy in him today that he started to run around the yard with her. When they caught up to each other, Tanner play bowed in her direction to let her know that he was about to bolt in the other direction. Bella stood there with her eyes on him waiting to take off, and there they went! They ran until Tanner got a little tired out so they just started to jump up on each other and wrestle around a little bit.
Kai and Tsavo were being such sweet dogs outside in the yard this morning, like they usually are of course. When they first got outside they took off to explore, Tsavo noticed right away that there was a new face joining their group and ran over to sniff her out, after she was done seeing Bella, she ran back over to the far part if the agility yard in the grass to explore. Kai went around on her own for a little bit and she continued to wander around until I called her over to me. She trotted on over with a big smile and held her head down for me to pet it, as I was petting Kai, Bella ran over and started to jump up on her to play. At first Kai wasn't sure if she was ready to play, but then she got a burst of energy and took of running! She joined the others as they began a game of tag. Tsavo quickly hopped up and ran over to join them, too. She's so fast so it was very easy for her to catch up with the others. She stopped playing when everyone began to wrestle, instead she ran around them in circles a few times until she went to take a break on the doorstep. Kai seemed to run out of breath, too, right as they stopped playing. She decided it was a good idea to lay down and roll around as everyone ran up to her and pawed at her. She loved the attention for sure.
Maverick and Shyla were being so well behaved like usual on their walk this morning. Maverick kept running ahead with Shyla then turning around to come back to where I was so I could pet him before he continued walking. During their groups outside, at first they just took it easy and started to explore along the rocks by the fence. Shyla walked around the whole yard while she was exploring while Maverick seemed to want some company and kept running up to me for cuddles. He stuck by me as I was petting him and waited nearby whenever someone else came up to me. It wasn't until later when Shyla saw everyone running around that it seemed to bring out a little bit of energy in her. She started to chase Bella to the other side of the yard as the others joined in. Maverick wasn't about to miss out on this either and he hopped up and started chasing her as well. At one point they got everyone involved and there was a huge group of all the dogs running from one side of the yard to the other.
Fez got to go outside one on one with me this morning instead of going for a walk, he was so eager to go out that he pushed the kennel door open and burst into the hallway. He was such a happy boy outside and took off on his own for the first little while before coming back to say hi to me, he was so focused on exploring at first that when I called him over to me he didn't even look up. When he came over to say hi I had a rubber toy in my hand that I was playing fetch with one of the other dogs and Fez got so excited that he began to jump up and down with the others that were waiting for me to throw it. As soon as I threw it across the yard, Fez only ran a few feet before the others managed to catch up to it and caught it so he ran back to be the first one waiting for me to throw it again.
Issy and Mocha were such calm dogs today, they spent their day in the staff room with Merida and napped almost the entire day. Issy took up the big bed and Mocha laid down next to her on the floor. Mocha always seems to prefer the cool floor. When it was time to go outside, Mocha jumped right up and ran out the door while Issy didn't want to move at all, this lazy girl just wanted to stay in her bed all day as the rest of them played outside, but eventually she got up and followed Mocha out the door. They both took it easy during their group outside; Issy took off the the far part of the agility yard to explore while Mocha made her way out slowly and began to sniff around. It wasn't long before she had enough and Mocha walked right back to the door wear she sat down and relaxed. Issy explored for a little while longer before going back to sit with Mocha. She made sure to sniff out the agility tunnel with the other dogs as they were running through it.
Teddy and Percy were just bundles of energy right from the moment they stepped outside this morning.When they first got into the agility yard, Teddy began running laps as everyone was making their way out while Percy waited in the middle of the yard for me to come catch up to them. Once I got over there they both began to run around me in circles when Percy ran up and jumped up to give me a kiss then took off to explore. I threw a frisbee for them to play with and it got both of their attention right away. As I threw it, Percy ran as fast as he could while Teddy stood there waiting for Percy to come back to play with him. Percy dropped the frisbee as soon as he saw a rubber ball on the ground. He likes those a lot more and they were easier to run around and play with. Teddy wasn't too interested in fetch but had a blast running around on his own, he ran in circles and barked with Percy then ran back over to say hi to me as I'd pet him for a bit.
Cai and Spencer both had such a nice day today. Cai was very excited and ready to greet me as soon as I opened his kennel door this morning. He jumped up and gave me a big kiss on my face, which almost knocked me over! Spencer was just as excited as Cai, but he wanted to see the other dogs and when he ran outside he began to socialize with them right away. They both ran around saying hi to everyone then took off on their own to explore. Cai was loving the attention today and kept coming up to me and whining for me to pet him more, which I was happy to do. After that he followed me around wherever I went while Spencer was busy sniffing up whatever he could find. He spent a lot of time with Merida out in the yard. Those two walked along all the rocks while sniffing up whatever they could. He shoved his nose as deep as it could go between them without having to move anything. It wasn't until it was almost time to go back inside that Spencer began to get playful. He ran up to Teddy and started to jump up on his back as Percy joined in, they all began to play a game of tag around the yard. Cai saw the game and ran up to see what was going on and joined in when they stopped for a second to take a breathe. He jumped and positioned himself as if he was about to take off running. That's when Percy bolted to the other side of the yard and Cai and Spencer chased after him. They ran around for a little while longer before it was time to go inside again. Everyone was so out of breath when they got back into their kennels that they all laid down for a nap.
Training:
Max went out first for his training this morning. We started off with a structured walk down the driveway and at first Max was having a hard time focusing. I had him on my right side, so I switched him to my left which is where he's used to being, and that made a huge difference. He was ready to focus and did some really nice heeling as we walked. I changed directions frequently so that Max would have to be aware of his footing and focus on what was coming next. After making our way back down the driveway we moved onto recall work. There were dogs outside in the yard that Max could hear through the fence, which was a great distraction. Susan called him over and each time that he listened she allowed him to go sniff as a reward, which he absolutely loved. To make things more fun, Susan stood on one end of the line and I stood at the other and we called Max back and forth between us. He was very happy and ran back and forth between us like it was a fun game.
Sadie came out to the front yard next. She and I walked nice and slowly down the hallways, stopping at each door until I allowed her to go through. She can be so patient when she wants to! We went down the driveway and back to practice heeling while walking with a loose leash, and Sadie was a superstar. With a few gentle leash reminders, Sadie stayed right by my side during the whole walk. I gave her a treat and let her sniff around in the long grass before going over to the long rope to practice recall. By this point Sadie had used up most of her energy, though, and as soon as I attached her rope, she went and laid down in the shade! She looked at me as if to say "do we really have to do more work?". Silly goose. I had her sit and wait while I walked away before calling her over and she did very well for the most part. Like Max, Sadie could hear the dogs in the yard but she resisted going over to see them. All in all she did a great job today.
Today Tasha and I went for our structured walk down the driveway and Tasha showed considerable focus the entire time. She stayed away from all the distractions, even the dogs in the yard across the field. We were focusing on heel, and making sure that Tasha was walking along side me, and not tugging on her leash. She started off by pulling a slight bit, to sniff the grass and rocks. I let her sniff them twice but after that is was all focus! She tried very hard to pay attention to when we were stopping and immediately sat right away. That is one thing that she has picked up on very well. Today we worked on a flat collar, and Tasha excelled at that. Boris did very well, too! If he is very focused (like he was today), he has no problem walking right beside my body, taking the odd glance up at me to see if he was doing alright. Each time he did that I told him he was a very good boy and rewarded him with a little pet on the head. Today, I tried to get Boris to focus on changing his pace to match mine as we were walking. He did so well! Each time I sped up, Boris caught on right away and match my pace. Even when we slowed down he did the same thing! Way to go Boris
It has been a while since I've seen Anejo and he sure has grown! The two of us spent some alone time in the front playroom together this morning to work on his training. We started off with the basics to see where he was at. With some of his treats, I had his full attention. We went through sit and lie down at first and once he was focused we moved on to others. I got him to sit at one end of the room and I told him to stay, and proceeded to walk away from him to the other side. We did this many times and each time he stayed like he was told and came running right into me when I called him over. He's such a smart little guy. After some hard work, I thought he would have a quick little snuggle session in the playroom. Anejo was having a blast and wasn't done yet with his training, and he even rolled over for me a couple times! It looks like that will be his next trick that he learns.
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