2014, back to school!

Session 16 ...

Polly and I struck lucky with the weather for our first training session of 2014 ... after the miserable heavy rain and howling gales we've had of late, it was actually a beautiful sunny day!  That didn't help one jot with the drive because the sun was so low in the sky it was hard to see where we were going, but despite one or two hairy moments with determined on-coming traffic on those narrow country lanes, we arrived in one piece, slightly anxious, but ready to start work ...

Waiting for a wet 'n wild pavement walk in 'lumpy rain' yesterday!

And thankfully, Polly hadn't forgotten her stuff over the Christmas break!  Recall is no longer an issue for us, she plays hard, then races back to me for her cheese eagerly when called.  She also raced around the agility circuits (albeit a little clumsily when it came to the hurdles!) and thoroughly enjoyed showing me what she could do in return for a treat ... and now we're treating at the completion of a small circuit of about three or four pieces of equipment, rather than for every item, so progress is definitely being made.  She's also staying focused throughout, which makes my life so much easier!

Heel work is coming along nicely too.  At home Polly now heel walks to command off lead, with sits, downs and recalls (and we're working on 'stands') but walking round a circuit with other dogs in close proximity is a much bigger challenge, so as yet, we haven't ditched our lead (with a brief exception when she's asked to come round to heel -simply because she can do this well now and it works better for us both without the lead as I don't tangle us up!  Also, I am now confident to drop her lead and ask Polly to 'sit and stay' as I walk forward, then call her to heel.)  Polly worked really well for her heel circuit this time, particularly as she also had to contend with seated dogs watching her.

In fact, the only real issue this week, (aside from Polly's total lack of focus when two horses clip clopped up the lane) was Poll's refusal to 'down stay/out of sight' at the end of the session.  We're miles from 'out of sighting' yet, as we still struggle to maintain a 'down' in this task - Polly is a bit of a rebel, particularly when the ground is cold and wet!  After eventually achieving a brief 'down stay' I bailed out and Kevin kindly allowed Polly to redeem herself by using her as a heel walking distraction, while the other more compliant dogs remained in position.  Polly was put through her paces and the other dogs stayed in place ... a happy ending for all concerned!