Quinn's class

I took Quinn to class tonight. He hasn't been out in a while, and I didn't feel up to taking two dogs. Class started okay, he was heeling fine and I was calling class so we worked on attention around other dogs.

I was very pleased Lucy was there as well as Osa, two dogs Quinn feels are 'out of control'. He has a tendency to bark and growl at them.

We did stand for exams, and he did great, Georgette came over and touched him, he didn't move at all. A very good boy. I then had a gentleman watching hold his leash while I did exams for the other dogs. He did very well, and asked for some attention then just stood and watched me.

As class progressed, I started feeling ill. As my health went downhill, Quinn's behavior went downhill as well. Barking and growling, lunging at the dogs he felt were dangerous.

I had to sit down, I thought I was going to pass out. Quinn sat in front of me and just growled at anyone who came near. Obviously he knew something was wrong and he had to protect me. I put him out in the car and sat there until I felt better.

I'm very proud of Quinn and the fact he did so well in the beginning of the class.

Danny's Achievement

I took Danny to the Drop in class at the Obedience Club and tried some Open exercises. Danny has issues with other dogs, so I'm very careful about him being near other dogs.
I began to teach him the Broad Jump exercise, one of the Open exercises I haven't ever tried to teach him. He did very well, I began with the three boards jammed up together and an Agility him over them. Had him jump that for a while, then opened the boards up to the distance required. After that I pulled the bar out of the Agility Jump then removed the uprights. When we go back this Thursday, I plan on keeping the boards at the distance required, but putting the Agility jump back.
After we practiced the broad jump another member asked to come into the ring to practice. Danny's met her dog and I thought it would be okay (and it was). I continued on and practiced Off Lead heeling and the Drop on Recall. We did retrieve on the flat--he had a nice clean pick up. When we did retrieve over the high, I realized I need to proof for the jump. He anticipated several times, then he went around the jump when the dumbbell went wide. I did not practice the stays (no point). Even if he never competes, I really enjoy training him. He's not Gita (my heart dog), but he's a damn good obedience dog.

A New Year

Okay so it's been almost a full year since I last posted. The point of the blog was to keep me focused on my goals and to actually encourage me to train my dogs. Well I have been training my dogs, but I did get a little lost on the goal part, and I forgot to post to the blog!
The one goal I have acheived is Quinn is almost ready to go into the ring. I'm sending off his ILP application to the AKC today. He still is a little shaky on his stays, but he's doing much better and I hope to compete in the Seward County Kennel Club trial at the end of April.
Missy's goal of earning her NA and NAJ got sidetracked. I've still been working with her on Agility, but I postponed her Agility debut to get her RN instead. RN stands for Rally Novice title. It's an obedience title that kind of combines Agility and Obedience. I'm starting on retraining her weaves using the Susan Garrett 2x2 model.
Danny, my third dog (who I didn't have a goal for) actually earned his RN in July and I hope to get his TD in the next year.
Let's see if I can keep on track this year.