Agility

Well we had an awesome class today!

First we started by working on lead-out-pivots, well Harley's not quite ready for the pivot part, but the lead-outs are getting better. While the other dogs were taking thier turns, Harley chewed on his Kong, this kept him quiet for the most part.

We used the kong as his toy today and saw a little more value for that, so that seemed to keep him going.

He had a lot more drive today which excited me, so now we just need to work on getting him to stay when we do a lead-out.

After that we worked on lead-outs with 3 obstacles, a tire, jump, then a tunnel. He aced that one! We ran along with the tunnel but at least I got him to stay at the tire.

Things to work on.... not going under the tire.... practice more circle work around the tire so that if he jumps the tire without me telling him to, at least I can gather him up before he runs back to me under it.

Lastly we worked on some collection and drive, with race-to-reward, and then running and having him collect and stay back with me.

Overall it was a good class, he got a little rowdy at the end, but it was controllable.

Homework: put a jump in his room when it's feed time, make him do a lead-out with his food before releasing him and letting him have breakfast/supper.

Visiting with friends

For Easter weekend Harley got to spend some time with his friends. Overall it was a rather successful weekend and Harley displayed some decent manners compared to his last visit with his family. 

Harley started his adventure visiting Duke the Beagle. Duke is about 5 months old and is still learning how to behave around other puppies! 

Harley took the opportunity to teach Duke that only little agile dogs can be on the furniture, so when Duke was too rough Harley would jump on the couch... and well tease him a little. We all laughed when Duke would lay on the floor on his belly and howl at Harley to come down and play!

Finally Duke got his way and the two of them played for the night. They also got up and played all morning too. This made Duke very happy. 

Unfortunately the two spent too much time running around that this was the best of the 30 attempts to take a picture of the two together. 

The next day we went for Easter dinner to see cousin Blackie. I am very proud of my little pooch. You see Blackie and Harley haven't really been getting along. Blackie doesn't like another dog in his kitchen, and Harley likes to boss his big cousin around. He gets very sassy with Blackie. Well today after an initial barking match, the two of them calmed down and actually stopped barking. Blackie laid down beside Harley's crate and Harley quietly took treats from me while I praised both boys! SUCCESS! We got 15 minutes of peace and quiet this visit, we'll see if next time we can get 30 min, or even 15 minutes of the two of them loose in the kitchen. :) My only disappointment with the whole thing is that I was so busy treating the dogs (each to a hand) that I had no way to record proof of this event :( oh well, there is always next time. 

Outing...

Well Harley had a good walk this evening, it was crisp outside, but he definitely had fun. We practiced some loose leash walking, which went well. He tried to bark at some people in excitement while walking, but he did calm down and heel for me. We also did a few tricks along the way, and he was really good with his "ici" when we were crossing the road.

Nice little walk and exercise for him. We used some of the K9 Naturals lamb treats, I wish they weren't so messy, or so expensive they are like puppy crack! He probably would've done back flips if I asked him.

I think our strategy for class tomorrow will be to bring "puppet" with us for when it's his turn in hopes to motivate him more, and bring along some of these treats for the end of class. I also think I'm only going to give him half his breakfast and bring the rest for when class is over. Maybe that'll help him not be so "full" during class.

Agility Class

Well I think both Harley and I were tired at class today. It just didn't seem to be going well at all. We worked on the lead-out-pivots, but he really wasn't focusing. After a short run outside he did do a few 180s, but he really lacked motivation/drive.

He was decent at the beginning in terms of barking, but got worse. I'm not sure why he was so cranky today, but we'll see how next week goes. Next class I'm going to bring his Puppet. I have to spell it out at home, lets hope that has enough value to get him through the whole class.

Tiny Dog Class-Agility

Last night was Tiny Dog class, it went well. There was mini agility equipment out which gave Harley and I a chance to work on this from the weekend's class.

We labeled his "house" and worked on go to your house.

Then we started working on him doing a sit-stay in front of a jump, waiting for him to look down his line. He was doing pretty good. Tried a few 180s, but we didn't have enough space in our corner to do that well.

After that we worked on the teeter and wobble board. I would say 90% of the time I got him to lay down on the contacts. I think it would have been a bit better if I would have had my dots, but next time I'll have to make sure I bring them.

To finish up we did some weaves, 2 2x2s very closed up :)

Proud of my pup, oh and we had absolutely no barking.... if only the agility class would believe me when I say he doesn't bark there... :P

Agility Class

Well today wasn't great.... but at no fault of Harley's. We worked on our lead-outs, definitely need to practice getting him to look down his line a bit better. It definitely shows when you don't have time to practice during the week.

We did some work with the tunnel getting him to turn both ways after coming out of the tunnel, and did a few rear crosses.

In terms of his barkiness, well it was definitely still present, he's getting better and we actually were in the working area this week, but he was still very barky.

Tiny Dog Class

Had an awesome tiny dog class. Harley was a little angel..

We started out with some weaves while the other puppies worked in the main ring, we did 2 2x2s almost closed up... lets hope this weekend at class we can do weaves again and add a third set of 2x2s.

After that we worked on calm and quiet in his "house" with lots of distractions, some of his buddies even came right up to his house so that we could practice being calm while others were around him. He did pretty good.

Before play-time we practiced hi-five a few times, and then started working on wave. After a few restrained recalls... where I almost got rejected for a piece of sawdust on the floor *sigh* ... we had playtime where Harley started to slowly come out of his shell. He went up to some of the other pups a few times, and of course took the time to re-visit the piece of sawdust that was ever so interesting.

Overall I call that a productive class.