Obedience Training

Today went well with Morgan's obedience training. We got there about a half hour AFTER I had planned to go. As I have written before, I decided that she doesn't go outside off lead any more and it really puts a kink in my schedule. I had to get up, take her outside, let her go potty, scoop the poop, go back in and let Merlin out to do his business. When they are out together, she is too wild so I'm doing it one at a time for a while. Then I showered and got ready to leave.

I had 1.5 hot dogs for treats for both dogs today and I decided not to get any more. When I ran out I ran out. I just had to see how far I could stretch it.

Morgan and I did a warm up with a tug and palm touches. She also did a couple of weaves and then we went straight into heeling. She is fabulous in a circle so today we tried a straight line and turns again. She was much better with the left turns. She did bump me a couple of times and that is something I will need to work on but I was pleased with her left turns. Today, the only time she got a treat was on the turns. She didn't lag as much on the right turns and quickly got used to me not making eye contact to make the turn. I'm hoping as I fade out the big move (turning my whole head) that she will continue to respond well.

We worked on recalls again-- this time we didn't have distractions. She did the first recall just fine. The second time she anticipated the command. Ooops. I put her back and said we'd try that again. That time she waited until I called. Did I mention that her fronts were to die for? She is doing VERY well with formal recalls. Now if I could just get that in agility :)

We did some heeling on the right but not a lot. We worked on some CU stuff. I am trying to get her to orient toward me when she comes out of the crate. She has got it in her mind that she has to do a front. Fine. I just have to remember to get her to do straight fronts every time so we don't lose that gorgeous precision. We also had to do a little leash disconnecting work. She usually does not get overly happy when the leash comes off but she does tend to wander away after a minute or two. Therefore, I have tried to get her to give me eye contact when the leash comes off and release her or give her a command. I need to read back in the CU book about what I should be doing when the taking off the leash. I know it is not supposed to be a big party.

Last night we did some 'leave it' work. The CU 'leave it' is different from what we learned in puppy class but I like it so we will build up to doing what was recommended there. We'll work on it more tonight.

I don't know what is holding me up with the retrieve training. I'm suffering from major procrastination. That usually means that I'm avoiding something that is going to be hard. It is probably more about her soft mouth and not knowing how to fix it than it is about not knowing how to teach the hold. I know that she will do it; she is such a natural retriever. It's one more thing I have to force myself to do -- and soon.

Well, we didn't do agility because it was hot and I was lazy. I know I don't have to be completely well before we do agility but I guess I'm using that as an excuse not to work as well.

I am so impatient. I wish she were already trained so that all I have to do is show her. There is so much work that goes into getting them ready to show YKKK!

That's all for now.