Training Challenge Week 4

Happy 4th of July everyone! Today is also my grandma's birthday so Happy Birthday Grandma! We'll be going to visit her later and Cousin Wilson will be there!

We didn't do agility for our training challenge this week so no glitzy video (LOL!). On Wednesday we went to the park and practiced my emergency whistle recall - we have been really neglecting that lately! I did well though. And mom says it's hard to practice with me because I check in with her all the time when I am off-leash so she finds it impossible to surprise me with a whistle! Sounds like a good problem to have!

Then this morning we did a real challenge - we went walking in the neighborhood that is across a busy street from our neighborhood. You know I have a thing for cars. Well in our own neighborhood, mom has been working very hard with me that if I see a car coming, I am supposed to sit quietly and wait for it to pass and then look up at her. If I am quiet (that's the most important part of the criteria), I get a treat. Mom is crossing her fingers right now and knocking on wood, but she thinks I am starting to get it. We've been having more successes than failures, so she thought it was time to try me out in a new neighborhood. (We had tried walking there over a year ago and it was a disaster - I pulled and acted like a crazy dog the entire time). This morning I did much better! I was very good when we crossed the street, I walked right next to mom the whole time we were over there, I sat and was quiet when cars passed by - until we were on our way back to my neighborhood and I knew we were closer to home and two cars passed by at the same time - and well, I lost it for a second! BUT after we crossed the street, I recovered my composure and we walked the rest of the way home. So mom thinks it was a huge success (and believe me, it took a lot for her to get up the courage to give the whole thing a try this morning!).

I am beginning to wonder who these weekly training challenges are for - me or mom? LOL!

Next week we don't have our class so we hope to get out to at least two other places to practice agility. It's going to be very hot here again so training might depend on the weather. This week we had a wonderful break from the heat and humidity. Too bad it didn't last!

Gotta zoom!

Ricky