Day 201

She was finally so exhausted from running, working on new material and worrying about the demon and trespasser in the living room that she slept all the way through the night. Amazing!!

I had a new student start in the a.m. and was one again reminded why I must be careful to not let things become too much of a routine while Sanity is still very much in the beginning stages of her training. I was presented with two handlers and two dogs and had one intern (Lucile) to deal with for a lesson that has to be done inside in cold weather months. My office is simply not large enough, one of the two dogs as it turned out is very dog aggressive, though I didn't know that when I made my decision to do the session downstairs in the studio. In order to make it work we had to move the dog bed that my dogs use to a new location. A location Sanity was not familiar with and then to make matters more difficult the training table also had to be moved.

All these changes plus having to be on the same level as the dog who was threatening her was a very difficult task. She managed and did a pretty good job of it, but I know I must make sure to not let things get too comfortable for the next few months. I certainly don't want her becoming stiff and inflexible.

Her ability to respond to the sit command continues to improve and now I really need to focus on her understanding of how to hold a position (sit) and continue to turn in place to face me as I move about. She understands the stay part pretty well at this point. So the static sit is in place and the active sit is still in the building phase.

Scent work was interesting in that she was pretty determine to come back with the taboo article. Almost as if since she knows my scent it is the other scent she needs to be concerned with and about. She had to have help with the first two tries. The third try needed a flat out correction and then she got one right. Then there were several of the need help type followed by another need for correction and then wonder of wonders, she didn't just get it right, she was brilliant. Went straight to the pile when commanded, sniffed first the taboo article and then the correct article. Stopped, thought about it, sniffed both again and then picked up the correct article and brought it to me.

I confess, this scent work stuff is one of my favorite things to teach. Just watching the light bulb go on and seeing how the dog slowly blossoms into a serious worker is just a fine thing to be privileged to watch. Sigh, I am content.