The weather is finally breaking & I couldn't be happier. Sherman & I took a nice stroll through the neighborhood & he was, once again, the perfect dog. Then Lola & I went around the block & I think she might be going through a bit of a fear period. Things she used to be fine with elicit her big girl bark or she gets real close to me. First it was a gaint blow up Easter bunny (can't say I blame her for barking at that though...I hate those things)...next it was 2 kids popping wheelies on their bikes. Birds are another big thing...far away, she's tough. If they're too close, she gets a little freaky. I just tell her "Oh stop it...let's go". By the end of the walk she was much more relaxed. She's also starting to pull...and I'm nippnig that in the bud. I learned my lesson w/ Penny not to even let that start.
As Penny was going to class, she didn't get a walk. We did leave about 15 minutes early to practice LLW in the parking lot before class. She was a little stressed when we went in the building. 2 staffers wanted to pet her & she was pretty skiddish. Once we got in class, she was better & started to focus. Heeling was fine, attention was fantastic as usual, recalls...bleh! We worked on separation differently in that I left her w/ Jim, told her to wait, walked away & then returned to her (p/t), put her in a sit stay, and then called her to me. First time I left her she was very tense and hesitated on the recall. Second time, she was more relaxed, but when I called her, she kept her butt planted on the ground. What?? Her recall is usually great. Something more to work on. We also worked on Finishes, which we haven't done diddly of in 6 months. That's on the agenda for this week.
