TAG! and Training Stuff

It seems every one's been Tagged but us...so we're tagging ourselves!!! HA!

The most recent TAG has been belly shots & I found some good ones in my photo archives.

RUB OUR BELLIES!!!

"Everypup...LOOK AWAY! This photo is just for my sweet love, DOT!"

WARNING: Boring training stuff ahead:

Penny started her Rally class on Sunday. We've taken one before but this one is structured a little different. The first class focuses on the easy stations...Serpentine, Halt-Sit, Halt-Down, Left Turn & Right Turn. Heeling is the biggest component in Rally & Penny's heeling is pretty spot-on. So if I can just walk like a normal person & not someone with two left feet, we'd be golden. Also, she has such excellent attention that she doesn't see where she's walking & kicked out the cones a couple of times. Penny is the biggest dog in the class! A Poodle, a Westie, a Silky and a little white fluffy thing (might be a Bichon)...and Penny. Mack, the wiggly Pitbull from Lola's Advanced class will be joining us next week. The class was really fun. Class is always fun with Penny.

Lola had another great Advanced class. She continues to improve & amaze me. We saw a bunch of dogs coming into the building and she didn't react once. She greeted a young pitbull very appropriately & rode the elevator with him & was fine. We worked on a lot of the same things from last week. Her Stays are still a problem. She's fine if I'm in front, facing her. But if I turn my back or walk around her, she turns to find my face. I just need to back up a little bit with her. We worked on the start of off leash heeling with a light line & as I teach my dogs to heel off leash, this wasn't a problem. Her Left About Turns were much improved & she's actually realizing she has a hind end. She has a near perfect Automatic Sit. She's struggling a little with Down from a Stand (Drop), but she actually did a pretty nice StandStay. I plan on working on the Stand & Round Finish this week and do more proofing Stays.

On the way out of class, we stood in the hallway facing 10 dogs waiting to go into the training room. Lola was about 8 feet from the closest dog. She sat next to me & I c/t her for watching the dogs & staying seated. She gave me a lot of attention and responded very well to her name if I saw she was getting too interested in another dog. Then a girl & a young LabX got off the elevator & the dog was going nuts. Growling, lunging, teeth baring...reminded me of Lola at her worst. I'm in the hall they needs to walk thru to get to the 2nd training room & rather than ask me to move, she just starts walking right toward us. The dog is still going nuts & I said "YAY! Lola, Let's Go!!" and turned around to find a safe spot for us. Lola was trotting very nicely beside me & I glanced over my shoulder & the girl is still walking toward us, but is moving faster! So I say "Could you please stop & wait till I can get my dog into the room???" She says "Oh...sure." and Lola turns & snarks at her dog. ~Sigh~ I hate people. It was an almost perfect night. But not my dog's fault.

The neighborhood walks are getting better too. She is still reacting on occasion but those times are becoming few & far between. And she's recovering much faster. It's the worst on our street & I think she has a protective thing going on. Once we're a block and a half away, she's much calmer & actually a joy to walk. Her newest thing though is birds. She's obsessed with birds. Pretty much anything moving in general actually. A leaf, a plastic bag, a scrap of paper...she launches herself at them full force. If it weren't so annoying...it would be comical.