Weekend Recap!

This definitely was a roller coaster of a weekend; good & bad all rolled into one. The bad was that I had a stomach bug all weekend & felt like crud but still had to keep going. I got rest when I could but not like I wanted. Training with the pups is going pretty good. Aspen did really well with the recalls when he wasn't in a command; just a few hiccups & then he was back on track. He's going home on Wednesday :'o( I'm so sad. I've been giving him much more freedom around the house to see if he's going to put things in his mouth.... so far, so good. If I see that he's a bit too interested in anything I can just tell him no & get stops immediately. He's is SUCH a good dog. Perfect first time family guy & I wouldn't usually say that about a Labrador. Although super smart & great dogs overall, they can be a bit exuberant, stubborn, destructive & possibly insane ;o) for a first time pet. His family should have no problems reinforcing & getting great response from him.

Aspen's preferred method of "place"

Ava had a great training time at PetSmart. We ventured out on Friday to get her more food. Her past experience has been "embarrassing" (owner's words) for her owners. She did awesome with all the people that wanted to come up to her & say hello. She did great with the other dogs that were there & then randomly she freaked out barking at some crazy dogs that came in the door. We worked through that problem & she was great the rest of the trip. I'm going to take her again this evening to get more food for a different trainee & see how it goes. She's doing great with her recalls but she's become a little sneaky with getting off her place command, so , we're going to work on that extensively today :) Her potty training is going great. I make sure she goes out frequently especially when she's been playing & drinking a lot of water. She does have an excited/nervous tinkle that she's getting much better with. She should be ready to go the end of this week!

Vinnie is a STINKER. He's responding to the remote collar now & he understands everything now but he started just stopping & laying down when you tell him "come". So lots of motivation & encouragement to follow through with the command he's coming when called. Silly boy. He HATES coming inside when he's in the middle of playing. I still need to work a bit more on "place" with him. He too wants to leave the room when he can't see me for extended periods of time & when anyone walks in the front door. He doesn't move when the doorbell rings or someone knocks but the second they come through the door it's like his butt propels him in his cute little "U" shape towards that person. Soooo funny. He's too cute. His family is so excited to have him home this week! (I took pictures of him this weekend but they are on my camera that I left in cowboy's truck..... so pictures of Vinnie later on ;o)

Saturday morning I picked up, Dood! He is a 1yr old Goldendoodle that I'm going to have for 4-6 weeks training for my Aunt & Uncle. He is an absolute doll. They have decided to rename him "Kinsley". Of course I think it's super cute & I'm soooo flattered. He is so well behaved, so willing to please, super sweet, potty trained, crate trained, current on everything & beautiful. They couldn't be more excited about him & I couldn't be more happy to have him for the next month or two. I just adore him. I'm so happy for them & happy to have Kinsley in the family!! Updates on his progress to come with new pictures!

Diesel's training is going great. I've finished his forced retrieval, which is asking him to bring things to me & pick things up for me. We're starting on the door opening this week. I had to order a special hook to attached to the door knobs for him to be able to pull down & back to hold the door open. I'm hoping Tom can get some pictures of me working him this week so I can show everyone how well he's doing.

Saturday was the final show of "Annie" at my sister's high school. Henry did wonderful despite the few kinks in the show. I was so sad for him to go. I get so attached to my training pups. I LOVE MY JOB!

Henry & Annie in his first scene "If this is your dog then call him to you.... call him by his name, Sandy"

Street life is hard when you're live'n in a shanty.... Annie & Henry's final scene
Take a bow!