Mat Training - Start Line Stay

Running is his favorite.

I've been working with Basil to get his start line stay to be more consistent.  After having a frustrating time of it I realized I need to just start him on the Control Unleashed method using a mat to maintain a behavior in a certain place.  I've been training it indoors around a practice jump.  Last night I brought our mat to class and did some more training.  His start lines were much better and I was able to get a good 4-5 feet distance away.  My instructor made a good point to be sure my release was verbal only and to really watch my body language as I gave him the release.

Despite the weather being much nicer than the last several months, we were both exhausted by the end of the night.  He did well on the 270 degree sequences and we fit in some teeter practice while waiting for our runs.  Some weeks he has more confidence on the teeter than others.

So our first trial will probably be 2 out of the 3 days at the CPE trial down in Pasco Paws in October.  I'd do all 3 but we're going to the Tosh.0 show that night at 10:30PM.  I'll need to nap beforehand so I'm not nodding off at work the next day.  We're excited to see Daniel Tosh live. 

The latest news on the Cardigan pup is that they've opened their eyes.  I haven't received any pictures of the eyes being opened yet.  We did get sad news that the girl pup that was having so much trouble feeding passed on after she stopped nursing on Sunday.  They took her to the vet to confirm that it was time and the vet found a small hole in the roof of her mouth.  I guess it just never closed up.  It is sad to hear but she was well taken care of. 

Counting down the days till Labor Day weekend.  I've got some house projects planned (hanging up a motion sensor flood light), general cleaning, and I'm teaching a class.  

"Spring" Cleaning

The time has come for me to leave LiveJournal and move on to other places.  Like a caterpillar shedding its skin, I will arise anew as a butterfly!

Ok, well maybe not as literally as that but I felt like I needed a change from where I began blogging in 2004.  My blog has changed from many things, personal journal, my own personal punching bag, a drama bucket and diary of adventures to... well - I don't post as much as I used to I think because it weighs me down.

So I need a change, a fresh start to get going again.  I hope to journal more about things I'd like to change in my life, things I want to work on, and keep the ranting at a minimum.  I want a positive, drama-free world to share about my life with friends and family.

I considered creating a blog separate from my own personal journal that would be just about dog training, and I still may do that - but for now everything will be in one place, save my Quilting blogs.  Those will continue to be posted on The Quilted Magnolia.

I'll take a deep breath and begin a new chapter on the eve of September 2010.