Oh boy!

Finally got to do some training last night out at the all-star field. We haven't really done anything out there since probably December so I was excited to see what kind of work I could get out of deuce. I arrived before anyone else so decided to do some basic work with Deuce first. He was very distracted at first and very excited, running around and sniffing. I let him get all of that out and then started doing some flat work to get his brain warmed up. We also worked on some waits in front of very fun obstacles like tunnels and very low baby jumps. If he was a good boy, he got a cookie and then a release to that obstacle. I was very interested to see how he would treat the tunnel because it was the darker tunnel, with the dark inside and it was in a dark corner. I really expected him to refuse it, but he didn't. We haven't been doing much tunnel work because I have been too lazy to drag it out for him and I don't want a tunnel sucking dog anyway.

Lori had the field set up for working on her running dog walk contact with a lowered dog walk, so i took advantage of getting him on a full dog walk to see what we could do. I had him stay, then released him to a tunnel and then called him to the dog walk at a full run. The first few times, I said nothing, just let him run. I could tell he was a little cautious the first few times as he hasn't really been on a raised dog walk, but once the light bulb went off, he was running full speed. After I got some speed, I started asking for toes at the end. He wasn't 100% but for his first time, I was very pleased. He nailed a couple, blew through a couple, and blew through a couple and then corrected himself immediately. If he held toes, he got a reward in position and then a release to another obstacle (either the tunnel or the jump on the other end). I was really pleased to see the little wheels in his brain whirling. We also did some table work with me counting out loud and then rewarding for staying in position. Again, if he held position, he was rewarded by getting release to another obstacle. I tried to keep all repetitions short and fun. To end the first training session, I introduced the tire jump with the tire on the ground basically, and then linked it to the teeter since they were in sequence together. Lori had the teeter lowered too and I was excited to see him driving to the end into position. I need to lower my teeter too and work on getting speed into position. I also worked doing front crosses off of the end of the teeter and him holding position. Of course all of this was done with no one else on the field so distraction was at 0.

I let deuce take a break and worked miller on some stuff, including some short sequences and some weave entries. I just jumped him at 16 inches and kept his session short. I did warm him up with some fun run and jumps and then took a walk with him to cool him out. I don't want to push him right now but I sure do need to get him in condition so that i don't have to worry so much about injury.

Barb showed up and Lori came out so after they had worked for a while, I pulled deuce back out to work on distractions. He was of course very excited to see his friends but as soon as I put the gentle leader on him, he started offering me downs and sits. He would whine and tremble while the other dogs were working but stare at me and offer behaviors. So funny! Just got to figure out how I am going to work through this at AKC shows since I can't have my gentle leader. He doesn't really care about the dogs in the ring but he loves his friends or anyone he perceives as friends! I had Barb do some work with Chloe while I did the dog walk with Deuce a and he was super. He held his position no matter what barb was doing so i think we can up the anty next time we work on the dog walk. He did take off once when Solei was working and it took me forever to get him back but these are things we are just going to have to work through. He is such a social butterfly! I kind of like having a dog that is happy with everyone and every dog but it is going to present some new challenges for me to get over. Time will tell!

I did weigh deuce on Wednesday and he is up to 45 lbs! He doesn't seem to be getting any taller, just wider. We did decide to start cutting him back on food since he is laying down a bit of fat. I need him to be lean and mean for his agility training! He is also doing very well in his crate without his litter box. I had been leaving it in even though he wasn't using it, but about a month ago, I took it out and he hasn't had any accidents yet (knock on wood, probably just jinxed myself). We are also leaving him out with the other dogs for longer periods of time when we aren't there and so far (again knock on wood), he has been doing great. We have had a few minor casualties, mainly out of the recycle bin and some shoe strings, but overall, he plays with his toys and seems to have a sense of what is acceptable and what is not. I hope this trend continues! I am still don't think he is ready to be out 8 hours a day while we are gone but maybe soon he will be.