Kya’s last class was tonight. It was a pretty good one too. There was another mini-Rally course set up. Kya was a happy girl again. The course was pretty simple, some sits and turns and heeling pretty much. Her hardest part was not begging for treats from the people who have routinely been giving them to her. She was wagging her tail, trotting around, trying to play with the other dogs and sniff their people - just a general goof. Here she is realizing that the Look command results in treats:

But anyway, we passed!!

That is her very first certificate, here is to hoping there will be many more!

I talked to the instructor about where to go from here and we agreed she is not ready for the next level yet so my best option is to take the class again. I don’t feel that she is going to gain much more at this time though, so we’re taking a little break until there is yet more progress at home before we add another class. Yay for Lil’ Ms!

The boys (and hopefully Kya in the future) are really starting to be competitive and earn some awards and certificates. I was keeping everything in one binder but that was starting to overflow so I separated and organized.

Binders:

Search and Rescue

Dock Jumping

Agility, Rally, Non-Competitive Obedience

Misc - this one includes things like their AKC/UKC registration, OFA, shot records, raw diet information etc

Tonights class was interesting on several levels. Kya was upbeat when we got there, tail slightly up, ears up and trying to go to anyone that in the past had given her a treat. She was focused and performed her commands quickly for a change.

The instructor had set up a mini-rally(ish) course.  There were rally signs but we didn’t actually follow what they were intended for. Instead they were a means for everyone to practice what they had learned in a course-type fashion, so they worked fine. I just had to make sure I did what she told us to do for each one, instead of what I knew the sign to be asking.

We started at Start, then we had to walk along a mat, in a heel, to a turn, which led to a sit (or down, I can’t remember because Kya doesn’t down, so we always do sits). Then we continued on in a heel to the next sign which was another sit and another corner, an about turn and then a sit/stay. The instructor said when I put her in the sit/stay, her ears are pinned, as I slowly reach the spot where I am going to turn and then release her, her ears slowly start forward until the point when I turn she is fully focused, ears up, on me. I thought that was pretty cool. When I released her she ran to me, ears and tail up and even wagged when she reached me!!! That was pretty neat considering her reactions to sit/stay/recall in the previous classes. I was excited!

We did the course twice. Kya was much more confident. She was focused on me nicely, without being scared, her sit/stays were very good and her recall was fantastic. She even wagged her tail when I spoke to her on the course and as we were walking around! After the class, she tried to get everyone to give her a treat and even allowed a lot of petting by one lady - who also convinced her to do the Look command (even though normally eye-contact by others outside of Eric and I scares her). When we left class she was just as perky as when we came in - it was a very good time!

Eric decided to come with to Kya’s obedience class, to see what it was all about. So, there are now photos to document our story . He said he was very impressed with how far she has come!
She is much better about riding in the van by herself now and gets excited when I get the treat bag out - she knows what it’s all about. She is still a little pully on the way to the door, so we’re practicing that. The room was still decorated but still didn’t bother her.

The entire class time focused on sit/stays and recall, every single dog in class has some issue with one or the other. Kya’s is being left behind and then moving (creeping) across the room on her own.

She started with her tail tucked when I increased the distance outside of her comfort zone (notice we’re on the end of the room so she doesn’t have to go by anyone else):

Her tail slowly made an appearance:

But once she reaches me it’s a happy face and snorkel-snuffle to get the treat, she goes cross-eyed and everything, it always makes me smile .

Then back to the same spot to do it all over again:

Then we moved to a different part of the room and did it all over again:

She started to get more comfortable:

She even stopped to sniff the table on the way by…but she still wanted her treat:

Then we moved into a rough circle, placed our dogs in a sit/stay and walked away a short distance, allowing someone else to get closer to our dogs while we got closer to theirs. Something that generally makes Kya pretty nervous. Then we each took a turn and called our dog to us.

Then we did it in the opposite direction:

That was the end of class. Kya also took treats not only from the same lady she has since day one, but a brand new person she’s never even met, a guy too. But, once they start giving her treats, every time we even go near them, she is begging. Her little sad face and her gentle sniffs and stretches to get close melt everyone. She’s a treat slut lol

I spent some quality time with little miss Kya tonight before we headed for her class. She was relaxed and happy until I loaded her up on her own but still in a decent mood. She was not too nervous when we pulled in and she hopped out, ears pricked and forehead wrinkled. She’s even started pulling on the leash a little, I think she recognizes this as a place she frequently gets a lot of treats.

The building was decorated inside with streamers and balloons, I thought for sure she would freak out by everything hanging from the ceiling but she was totally fine. She even sniffed several balloons and was done. Proud of her!

We started out with some basics in class, Look, Sit, Heel, Stay. Then we moved to a grid around the room. She did pretty well but there was a lot more pulling this week than before. That’s difficult for me because I don’t want to correct her too harshly and scare her but I also don’t want her to take advantage and learn that pulling is ok. She is the worst at the sit/stay and then recall. She does not like to be left behind and she comes to me in an awkward arch that puts as much distance as possible between her and anyone else in the room - and it’s slow and she does the creepy snake crawl thing. Hopefully she’ll get over this with time, we shall practice at home to get her more used to it.

Next we all moved into the cattery area of the Humane Society. She didn’t even notice the cats. Was totally fine moving around in there and even snuck up behind someone to sniff them while they were getting assistance at the desk

There is one lady that always tosses treats her way when we are around her (and not working on anything) and now Kya perks up when she comes by and tries to sniff her more - the same with our instructor - both excellent signs .

Next we moved outside. This was both harder and easier. She stopped pulling for the most part but was really interested in sniffing everything. Since I want to encourage her to be curious, I just let her sniff as long as she paid attention to where I was. We did some weaving around people/dogs again. She was much more interested in trying to meet the dogs this time and did a little whining and tail wagging as they passed. She even wagged her tail a couple of times around.
We went back inside for a couple more short exercises and then we were done. As we were sitting discussing any problems or questions, Kya actually laid down and relaxed!!! That’s a huge step - she used to not even lay down outside of her kennel at all, not even at home! I was thrilled! She got lots of treats while in the down position and then we headed home. A good lesson.

Tonight I was in a big rush, so I didn’t get to spend any one-on-one time with Kya before we had to hurry to class, which we were still late for. Therefore she wasn’t really “connected” to me when we got there and was really distracted and timid.

Luckily, we started out with some simple heeling and sit/stays. She stays very well, but she does not enjoy it, her ears are pinned back the entire time. She’s still taking treats from me with no problems, and is starting to anticipate the delivery of a treat.

Next we worked on having one person go around and meet everyone else - while their dogs were in a sit or down/stay. Kya did pretty well. One of the bigger guys made her a little nervous but she ended up taking a treat from one of the women (and the instructor - who she then followed with ears pricked up for the rest of class lol) . When it was my turn to meet everyone, I left Kya with the instructor, who she went to willingly but by the time I came back around for her, her tail was way up under her belly and she was standing at the end of the leash.

We then gathered into a loose circle and practiced, one-by-one, walking our dogs in and out of the other people/dogs. Surprisingly, Kya wasn’t very good at this. She desperately wanted to sniff other dogs and had a hard time keeping her sit/stay when they passed and keeping her nose to herself when we passed. The second time through though she was really good. She even perked up and wagged her tail for me .

So, there are good things and bad things, I think I see us retaking this class again just for some more practice before progressing. Most areas I can predict what will scare her, but there are some that come totally out of the blue and are completely unexpected. Hopefully the more I bring her out into these situations, the more I’ll know to expect.

Tonight Kya and I started Intermediate Obedience at the Humane Society, the same place that Mason went through classes. She did better than I thought she would. She was a little scared but there was no slinking like some demented snake. Her tail wasn’t thoroughly tucked, but definitely down. She took treats from my fingers with no problems, so I was very relieved. The best part though, was that her head and ears were up the whole time, taking everything in. There was a lot going on too.

There were dogs being walked that she could see out the windows, there were dogs in the back pens, running and playing, then there were the dogs inside barking and the dogs in class whining and barking, plus all the people. I chose a seat next to a little wall so that she could sit with her sides covered if she got uncomfortable. She did slink in there when the instructor passed out and collected our paperwork but was peering around my leg the whole time.

My goals in class are different than everyone else’s so we work on different things. The main objective in the beginning was to work on the Look command. She has never been asked to do this because in the beginning she wouldn’t even look in our direction, let alone give consistent eye contact. She caught on quickly though and was soon doing it like a champ.

The next thing was to practice heel and sit (she doesn’t do Down yet and the instructor said to wait on that until she’s more comfortable because it’s such an extremely submissive position) in our area. She was soon comfortable right in front of our chair, and even gave me a couple of tail wags. So, I extended our area out. She heels almost perfectly and her sits were solid for the most part.

Then the instructor set up cones for us to walk around and sit next to. I thought she would be scared of the cones but she was only curious. She had the hardest time focusing when other people let their dogs feed out their lead and whine and try to get in her face. She would get overexcited and whine too but otherwise she was really good on focusing on me.

We did work on stay a little bit and coming after the release (she’s only been asked to stay and then been released to go outside or for food so coming to me was new). Towards the end she started to get her happy face when she would come to me . Overall I think the instructor has a fantastic outlook for Kya’s continuing classes and I think Kya is a very smart girl who catches on quickly and just needs the chance to open up. That was pretty much it for our first class.

Tonight was Mason’s last class. He was soooo good! Everything we’ve been working on he did really well at, with the exception of the moving lay down. Those were really sloppy. We worked 1/2 the class off-lead and he never lost focus once. I’m going to bring him to Midas’s Rally class during the next round. Can’t wait.

I talked to the instructor about his lack of attention span outside and she said that I should treat him just like I do in class. With treats and everything. Not sure why I didn’t think of that myself before but I can’t wait until the weather gets nicer so that will be enjoyable for both of us. My only worry with Rally is that I’ve been training Midas on my left, Mason on my right. Now Mason’s at the point where he whips around to my right if he accidentally gets on the wrong side, but in Rally, he’s going to have to work on my left…not sure how to approach this quite yet.

We skipped class last week to meet Kya so I got to make it up by participating in the Beginning Obedience Class yesterday and then our regular class tonight. Adam came with last night but it wasn’t very productive. Since it was a beginning class, there wasn’t a lot of movement welcome and we mostly need to work on correct positioning in the heel and the sit/lay down etc. So, we mainly focused on eye contact and being quiet while other, younger dogs bounced around near us (Mason doesn’t particularly care for puppies). He did really well though.

Whenever our end cleared out for whatever reason, I would work on heeling as much as possible.

This is what I get to see every class:

Who wouldn’t want to work with a face like that??

Tonight’s class I was on my own. But, it went extremely well. Once again we worked on loose-leash walking and sit/lay down in the proper position. We also worked on sit/lay down and stay in preparation for our upcoming event. I talked to the instructor and she thinks that Mason could take the CGC test without the class and pass. I think he would struggle with staying calm while being greeted by a friendly stranger. I’ll have to think about it and see. Either way, pretty terrific compliment!

Since we were one of the only people to show up for the last lesson and last week’s lesson was canceled due to a power outage, we were really just re-doing what we had practiced before. Therefore, the instructor didn’t talk to me one-on-one very much since we knew what we were supposed to be doing/working on.

Adam came with tonight though and he took some photos of us working on heeling and the proper sit position.

For some reason, his stays have been getting worse while at home (according to Eric) so I have to review and slowly lengthen the distance I can go from him in the sit/stay. Then I have to repeat the whole procedure with lay down/stay.

But, no matter how long he can/can’t stay in one place, he ALWAYS comes running straight back to me on his release. No matter what. Other dogs walking by, other people yelling/talking to their dogs…doesn’t matter, he’s focused and knows what’s being asked of him.

We also did a short stint practicing on “focus” which entails putting a treat in one hand (Mason doesn’t know which) and he doesn’t get a click/treat until he gives me good, solid eye-contact.

All-in-all a good lesson again!