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I'm trying to remember what I did for fun and personal satisfaction before I had a dog, and before I got into formal training? Can't imagine how I spent my time back then.
Just had a three day Schutzhund seminar. For three days we talked, worked, drank, ate, breathed, slept dogs and dog training. There was still patchy snow on the ground and the ground was soaked and so were we. My face is peeling from sun and wind burn. The last day it was cold and rainy, and we sat in the rain, shivering, drinking in all the info we could possibly take in. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, rain, wind, and snow galore. We all live for weekends like that.
Tonight, wanting to do something different from my usual walk, I took Keeta to a playground. I had her jumping the bicycle racks, the row of teeters, the tire obstacle course, the fallen trees. Hop, hop hop!!! She just keeps going!
We climbed all over the jungle gym, and I had Keeta walking across suspended, swingy bridges, a suspended tire bridge and going down a small slide, a tube slide, and a BIG slide, significantly taller than me (and I'm tall!). The first time, I had to do the route with her, gently tugging her leash and encouraging her to follow. So she crawls across the bridges, or tries to jump them!
And my sweet girl, she wasn't sure about those swingy, moveable bridges and those slippery slides, but she did as I asked because she trusts me. And in no time at all, she is taking it all in like a pro, trotting across the whole thing like she does this everyday.
The next step is her following me off leash. Then lastly I stay on the ground and direct her up the ramps, across the bridges, and down the slides! Then we run around and play tug, and I fall into a stinky puddle hidden by a good layer of unmelted snow and get soaked. And I'm drippy and cold and stinky and out-of-breath, and I try to think what would I be doing right now if I didn't have Keeta? I'm sure I wouldn't be having a fraction of the fun.
And if you want to hear about how Keeta did in the seminar, check out the Bragg section.
Just had a three day Schutzhund seminar. For three days we talked, worked, drank, ate, breathed, slept dogs and dog training. There was still patchy snow on the ground and the ground was soaked and so were we. My face is peeling from sun and wind burn. The last day it was cold and rainy, and we sat in the rain, shivering, drinking in all the info we could possibly take in. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat, rain, wind, and snow galore. We all live for weekends like that.
Tonight, wanting to do something different from my usual walk, I took Keeta to a playground. I had her jumping the bicycle racks, the row of teeters, the tire obstacle course, the fallen trees. Hop, hop hop!!! She just keeps going!
We climbed all over the jungle gym, and I had Keeta walking across suspended, swingy bridges, a suspended tire bridge and going down a small slide, a tube slide, and a BIG slide, significantly taller than me (and I'm tall!). The first time, I had to do the route with her, gently tugging her leash and encouraging her to follow. So she crawls across the bridges, or tries to jump them!
And my sweet girl, she wasn't sure about those swingy, moveable bridges and those slippery slides, but she did as I asked because she trusts me. And in no time at all, she is taking it all in like a pro, trotting across the whole thing like she does this everyday.
The next step is her following me off leash. Then lastly I stay on the ground and direct her up the ramps, across the bridges, and down the slides! Then we run around and play tug, and I fall into a stinky puddle hidden by a good layer of unmelted snow and get soaked. And I'm drippy and cold and stinky and out-of-breath, and I try to think what would I be doing right now if I didn't have Keeta? I'm sure I wouldn't be having a fraction of the fun.
And if you want to hear about how Keeta did in the seminar, check out the Bragg section.
