Training update

Sometimes life gets in the way of dog training, and blogging. That has been the case around here for awhile. Luckily, snatching five minutes here or there has helped to keep the dogs from getting too rusty. Mostly, we've just been doing little bits of play training. I haven't had time for much of an organized approach lately.

Ceilidh is, as ever, obsessed with her ball; but, she also wants to work when the treats come out, so I humor her and give her a few repetitions, do some clicker work with her and make sure that she gets lots of treats.

Sue, my little genius girl, is starving for some meaningful work. She gets lost in the shuffle sometimes. I'm trying to get in as much fun clicker work with her as possible, trying to engage her ever churning brain. At some point, I am going to have to really get after getting her ready to do some open work. She's got what it takes, we just need to put everything together.

Ranger is really making progress. The immediate goal at this point is to get a CD on the other end of his name. I put him through a novice obedience run through today, and he really did well. His heeling was pretty good for a guy coming out of the conformation ring, with sits getting to be pretty much automatic now. His recalls are coming along nicely, but still need some polishing. He's finishing well to the left or right with a lure, but isn't ready to do them without incentive yet. We also need to work on his stand stays a little more to get across the need for more steadiness and less judge flirting. His static exercises were excellent! He even held while a man and his daughter were playing ball right behind him. Now that's a distraction. I thought Ranger was going to twist his head right off, trying to watch the fun without breaking his stay.