Good Times

Poor dogs, they probably think I am torturing them. They liked our old routine in California much more than the new routine that we are getting into here. More just crazy, flat out fun and exercise for them. They like the yard fine but Gata returns to the door within 10 minutes waiting for me to come out and play WITH her. Too much time spent at work and too few remaining daylight hours to go outside and play with her all the time :-)  Though I do try to sit out on the deck with them in the evening and eat my dinner out there. The changing weather may put an end to that soon, too.

Anyway, so last night I worked them in my bedroom. There's not as much empty space as in the spare bedroom but there is a crate. I thought the crate might make it a little easier for the dog that isn't working to recognize that and turn off for a few minutes while the other dog worked. I can't really say that it was dramatically better right off the bat but it was easier to have the second dog out of the way. 

Though I think both dogs would still prefer to go work for the ball in the park, they definitely like working for their dinner. I used a locally-produced raw food, Aunt Jenni's, last night for the first time. It was kind of runny and a little difficult to work with as a result. I mixed it with some of my other meat, just in case. The dogs liked it just fine and they didn't seem to have any problems with it. But I guess I should wait until I get home this evening to decide about that. It definitely has more non-meat stuff in it than they are accustomed to.

Anyway, just did little stuff - positions, heel position and very small movements with perfect position, out of motions, and holds. Tor would rather mouth my hands and try to lick the food residue off of them than take the wooden dowel. So, I decided I'm not going to force it, he knows this part. If he chooses not to do it, that's fine, but he has to go back in the crate and he misses his turn. Gata also thinks that this particular exercise is kind of boring but she is more than happy to do whatever. So she came out and worked holds very nicely and got lots of rewards while Tor stewed in the crate and kept trying to sneak back into the game. Then it was Tor's turn again and he said "Nah, I'd really rather not play this game". I gave it 2 or 3 tries and back in the crate he went. Gata's turn and she said "Oh boy, let me at that dowel". Love that about her. Tor's turn and he said "Oh boy, let me at that dowel". Great, the start of him understanding that when he plays the game the way he has learned it he gets to continue to play. If he chooses not to play by the rules he doesn't get to play. This is going to be a core concept in protection work for him. Love it when a plan starts to come together :-)

Took them to the elementary schoolyard park this morning. Played the 4-corners game (but only did 2 corners, 2 throws/corner for G and 3 throws/corner for T) with each of them to get a little of the edge off then did about 5 minutes of OB. It was pouring down rain but they don't care about stuff like that. Love the "Whistler Ball" from Chuck It since they are both very good at following it by ear in the dark and I rarely have to help them find it. We were all soaked when we got home. Tor is so easy to towel off, Gata isn't much worse - more hair but she still dries quickly. Then towel off my hair and get ready for work, feeding the dogs on my way out. I give them their RMBs in the morning so they have a little something to occupy their time while I am gone.

I was also very thankful for my new muck boots (free of all holes) this morning. Nice to have dry feet after working in the rain again. It's been too long since I could keep my feet dry while working dogs - LOVE my new job :-)  Hopefully, it will be a more peaceable kingdom tonight :-)