March 30, 2011

Ruff's sheep herding instinct test was both successful and adorable! He went absolutely CRAZY over the sheep, and immediately started chasing them in circles, turning them, barking, and just being adorably crazy. The trainer said he'd do very well with herding if we wanted to pursue it. I may look into it later this summer, but for now I prefer Schutzhund. He had his second day, and he did much better with prey drive. He chased, tugged, barked, and was suitably driven to chase his toy around. Our next assignment is to transition him from his stuffed animals to an actual Schutzhund training tug. To teach the bite work, they start the dog on a little stuffed tube toy on a rope, that's covered in the same material as the outside of the bite sleeve. From there, they transition to a pillow, to teach them to grab it with a full mouth. Then they go to a wedge, to help them make sure they're biting all the way to the back of their teeth. Then they go to a soft "puppy" sleeve, then the full reinforced sleeve. We've been working him with pieces of burlap to help him learn the feel of the material, so the next step is the tug. I need to ask about the tracking training, but we don't start the formal obedience until he's older. The big part of getting a puppy into this sport is teaching them to be driven and excited while they're working. It has to be a fun game for them, with lots of satisfaction and rewards. If they don't really want to do it, they won't do well.

His next training is on Sunday- 58 degrees and sunshine, best weather we'll have had for this so far!

We haven't gotten a weight lately- probably upwards of 55lbs. New photos soon.