... I knew it was coming, and dreaded it ... Tor beat Gata to the ball this morning ... TWICE. It is indeed a sad day ;-( Gata is no longer the fastest dog on the block or even in her home ;-(
Stopped in a park near work on the way home this afternoon. LOTS of activity - swimming, tennis, basketball, baseball, kids on the playground equipment, bikes and skateboards on the ramps. A very busy place. Took each dog out individually and worked them a little. Both did great. Really pleased with that, as each still has some triggers that were present in the park.
Tor - just little stuff; positions, retrieving, tugging and outing, pre-heeling stuff on both sides. His focus was great; didn't pay any attention to anything but me. Worked for the ball, the tug, and treats and switched easily between them. Kept him on leash but gave him plenty of line to have some nice retrieves and throws. He did fantastic - really impressive focus; paid no attention to anything else - dogs, kids, skateboarders, none of it mattered to him. He has come a long way in the last 2 months. There was a time when he would not have done very well at all in that sort of environment. Really pleased with that.
Gata - Did fantastic; didn't bat an eye at the skateboarders even when one was headed right for her as she was chasing the ball. I batted an eye at that one hoping that she wouldn't go for the skateboarder. She didn't, but she has definitely thought that they looked like fair game in the past. Did basic OB drills - heeling is fantastic. Working on getting her head straight up is helping with that little bit of crabbing that she does sometimes. Did some out of motions. Sit was good, not surprising that the down was slower again in a new location with so much going on. Also did a couple of down on recall exercises - also a little slow. Just have to keep working those downs. Her fronts were beautiful.
She had a really good time. A side effect of having Tor is that my value has gone up some, especially when it comes to play time. Plus, in our after work sessions, Tor generally goes first because I know that he is close to his limit in terms of potty training. I know he can go longer but he's still young and there is no real reason to make him.
It is really fun taking Gata out in a situation like that and playing with her. She seems to work even harder and more intensely because of the distractions, like I set it up just to test her :-) She's such a fun dog to start with and between the weather and the new job and the puppy, she thinks she hasn't been getting enough fun or attention!
It's funny. Having dogs like these 2 makes me appreciate how lucky I have been when it comes to my dogs. No question that I work at it and do lots to socialize them and spend time training them, etc. But, I can't discount the luck of getting 2 such fundamentally sound and stable dogs to start with. Very, very lucky :-)
Tor, thinks that he's not so lucky tonight, though. When we got home and I was in the bathroom he shredded a pillow from the couch. I think I gave him a pretty good impression that the end of the world as he knows it was near and put him in his crate. He's been in there eating his dinner. Now he's done and is complaining. However, he has not started barking yet. So maybe we are getting somewhere with the demand barking. It's really tough to a be a 6-month old puppy ;-) So much to learn and those pesky rules about not destroying things ...
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