The mountains have snow already and young Bella has never seen it. I want to take her up there this weekend to see what she thinks of it. I promise to take lots of pictures.
Basic Obedience class ended Monday night. I enjoyed the classes but am glad they are over. Unfortunately, the follow up class starts at 8:45PM—way too late for me. I wouldn't be home until 10:30PM and then would need a bit of time to wind down. It would make an early dawn wake up hellish and leave me dragging through work.
We did a fun relay at the end of the class. We divided into two teams. Large stuffed biscuits were laid 20 feet apart on the floor in two rows, two per row. We began with our dog in a sit at the head of a row. Our pups had to heel to the first biscuit and then sit. At the second biscuit, a down was required. Past the biscuit, we requested a sit and wait. Returning, we had to go clockwise around the first biscuit and counterclockwise around the second. When we finished, the next team member could go.
Our team lost miserably. The first dog had a tough (but enjoyable) time attempting the commands. Next up was Bella. Oh my! Each biscuit was just too much for her as she'd grab and shake it. It was very funny, but certainly slowed us down. I guess that means I need to diligently work on distractions with her. It's funny because on walks, she's pretty good, but giant stuffed biscuits seem to be her weakness.
The instructor told us to work on the 3 D's: Duration, Distraction and Distance. Duration being how long they could hold the command. Add some distraction and see how that affected the duration. Then add the clincher distance between owner and pet. She advised to make the duration shorter when we added the distraction. After a pup could successfully hold a command with some distraction, shorten the duration, lessen the distraction and add distance. I think that will be a fun to work on until another class presents itself at a more reasonable hour.
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