June 10

It has been hot and getting hotter. We had a great time at the WC/WCX but it has taken time for me to get back in the groove. I've been taking long naps--a true sign of avoidance behavior :) Anyway, last night I set up the A-frame grid--finally. I will set up some jumps and weave poles as well and actually start doing what I planned on doing for a month now.

I have actually started work on the control unleashed. Gave both dogs a massage last night (or what goes for a massage in my book). Neither one relaxed enough to close their eyes but I stroked them for about 20 minutes each and they were very relaxed. I think when I do this every day, they will get used to it and start to relax enough to close their eyes.

At the hunt test, I learned how reactive she is to other dogs. I learned more about her today that convinces me that she gets aroused when other dogs are out having fun. She seems to be okay if other dogs are present but when they are happy and the adrenaline is pumping, she loses it. Today, I taught my Novice ring ready class and had Morgan do an off lead recall with the other dogs heeling in the same ring with her. She never took her eyes off me, she did not break her stay and she did a perfect front. Whose dog was that?!! She was awesome! I saw in her eyes, she understood that this was a set-up.

We also did some dumbbell work. We have long way to go with 'hold.' She still does not get the concept and I'm not sure what I need to do to teach it to her. She was doing great, we took a week off and it is as if we never did this before. She will walk around holding it loosely in her mouth, will even trot like that. But she will not bite down. I am going to tie a string around it to see if that will help We'll keep plodding along but I cannot move ahead in the retrieve training until she understands 'hold.'

Her heeling is very good. Today, I got a little lagging when I introduced the right turn. What I did was take my eyes off her and glance to the right. As soon as I wasn't watching, she lagged. Her focal point is my hand but I'm sure she sees my face in her peripheral vision. It took a couple of tries but I was able to get her into position by verbal encouragement and as soon as she was in position while we turned, I clicked and treated. We did that a couple of more times and quit (as you know Ms. Morgan doesn't do high reps). I think she was getting it.

I put her on the pedestal to help her move her rear end to prepare for the left turn. She loves this game but we didn't play long. We only got halfway around before she started getting sloppy so we quit and went back to it later and that time I only asked for a quarter of the way around and we were successful.

In all, not a bad day. Hopefully, it won't be too hot this evening and I will get in a few reps on agility. I probably should do it before we go for our walk. Something tells me she won't be any good AFTER the walk.