Review of week 33

TEAM – 1.9 Scent work. Putting the lid on the floor got us some pawing and confusion the first time, when I tried doing the same duration trick as last week. Not asking for any particular duration actually worked better. Not a solid nose target, but nice and still. Started adding a ‘cold’ target as a distraction far from our main position and slowly moved it around me.

30 days of heeling – is restarting for those who want to. I am pretty pleased with our progress, but I’d like to change focus a little now.

Vet-visit – we noticed a lump on his front left little toe, and took him in on Thursday. New vet, so I wanted to introduce Fenris carefully. F did well – started by turning away to sniff something, which is polite dog-language. The vet gave him a treat, then stood up too abruptly, so F got nervous again. Then I was to put a muzzle on him (which he accepts), but he got it off again, and couldn’t eat treats well anyway with that type. So it was a bit of a mess, and with Covid-restrictions, I just had to give the leash to the vet, and he pulled him inside. I’m glad one of Fenris’ familiar vets was in there with him, at least, so it wasn’t all scary, despite having to be drugged. He still wanted out and home when I came to pick him up.

Eh. I tried to make it as fear free as possible, but it’s not always as possible as I’d like. And I’m sad for Fenris’ sake, because he tried to do well, and really just needed a bit more time and patience to get comfortable with the new person. I could see the tail going into a careful wag just before the man stood up.

The lump, they said, is probably a benign growth common in young dogs, but they took a sample to send to the lab. If this is correct, it will pass on its own, though it might take a while. Crossing fingers.

In addition, he needs to lose 5 kilos. So now I measure daily rations of kibble and a very small amount of treats, to use in training, and only half the chews he used to get. I’m glad he likes his kibble and is willing to work for it. I am also glad he is getting very good at working for toys. As long as I don’t let go of his Fox-tug, I can get a solid workout just running back and forth, practicing his Agility crosses and impromptu heelings.

Recallers We have found a couple of favourites among the newer, particularly the Sit-run, where he has to choose to sit, of his own volition. I can even jog a couple of steps before releasing out of the Sit-Stay.

CANIS – we had a session on Hold. The basics are fine, I need to figure out where to increase and modify our criteria.

Planning 34

Recallers We are still at the core games and games 5-9. I try out the new ones as they become available, but we also need to get some formal reruns of the older ones.

TEAM 1.8 and 1.9; Continue with the scent targeting, and the cold distraction, maybe add a little distance from me. 1.8 is send around an object – a cone at 1.5 m away. It should be fine, just need to make sure our criteria are on point.

30days challenge I’m skipping out on, and going back to back-ups instead. Also not having it as a top focus.