Good girl, Sabrina! More letters for Luther! Pretty Olivia!

Since Sabrina needs a new career in her mid-life, I decided to do obedience with her as well. Using a cookie just confused her as she has been programed for 6 years to stack & bait for food. Manually putting her bum on the ground was retaliated by dirty looks from the princess and an instant stand. So, last Monday I brought Sabrina to class so she could watch from the confines of a crate. Then I let her watch Luther & I practice later in the week from the confines of the dog yard. I then took her out... and she rewarded me by heeling & SITTING perfectly ... better than Luther!! She is now enrolled in the next beginners class that starts next week.

CH Visions I Have A Dream CGC

Luther graduated his beginners class tonight! First we did a pre-novice test, followed by a CGC test. Of course, he passed both.

He received lots of compliments and made many the new admirer. Next week we can start the club's rally & intermediate class. All I can say is I am having loads of fun as well.


Barb Miller sent me this beautiful portrait, photographed by Cheryl Prehm. It was taken at a Cappy Pruett herding clinic. On the left is her elegant Luca, and Olivia is on the right.

Our first "at home" Rally Course

I am REALLY am enjoying Rally! The local club where we are taking classes is having their annual AKC Obedience & Rally trial next month. I volunteered to steward for Rally, hoping to learn more while helping.

Tonight I set up my first Rally course ever! Click to see the course map I used. I did not give myself enough room between each sign this time. Now I know better and will give myself more room tomorrow.

For my signs, I printed them from Sinister Labs and I am using 8x10 plastic picture frames as my sign holders. This seems to be working well. Thanks Cait for the idea for the sign holders! I was able to get the small orange cones at the dollar store as well (2 for $1) so my investment was quite minimal considering what some places charge for a Rally set up. The photo will enlarge if you want to click on it to see more details of my equipment.

Luther is working really well for me, even though practice was hit and miss with everything going on in life the last few weeks. He is such a happy dog and I know he is enjoying the extra special one on one time with me. And he is SO SMART! He will pick up a new exercise so quickly, it boggles my mind!

Luther's Next Adventure

I didn't have the opportunity to write about this sooner, with my worry over Sabrina. Luther & I are embarking on a new adventure - rally obedience! I have not been on the other end of an obedience leash in over a decade! I hated the stresses of the obedience ring, though I did put CDs on 2 dogs.

My first, "Damian", whom I ILP'd as Goldhoff Damian Debonaire CD CGC TDI (9/21/92-6/18/99), was a shelter rescue Dobe whom I took to an obedience class just to be able to live with him. It was this dog that introduced me into the world of purebred dogs. We lost him way too soon to Cardiomyopathy.

I was burned out by "military style" obedience and that is where I found enjoyment in the conformation ring. I did enjoy watching Rally at the National. I think it is much more natural to be able to talk to your dog while working as a team.

I think Luther's likes this too!

Last Monday was our first basic obedience class with a local obedience club. I am so proud of my boy. In the past, before I decided this is what I wanted to do, I did try to use the food method to lure him into a sit. Luther is so well trained to stand and bait for the show ring, he was getting frustrated with me and not understanding what I wanted.

I taught him to sit in minutes by gently pulling up on the leash with my right hand and using my thumb and fore finger of my left hand to put a light pressure just ahead of his hips, both at the same time while commanding "sit". He was then praised for being a good boy.

We also started heeling. In class we only heeled in a big circle. 1. I got dizzy. 2. It was boring.

When practicing our home work, without using food, when Luther was lagging I to talk to him to keep him up with me. If he started to forge ahead, I did an "about turn" to keep his attention. It is working well! A friend suggested that I heel in a zig zag. It definitely keeps it more interesting than a circle.

Our instructor told us to do our homework for 30 minutes each day. Cardigans are way too smart and would quickly hate obedience if you worked them that long. I am training Luther 5-10 minutes a day with great results! In the first practice session he started sitting automatically when I stop. Lots of praise makes Luther a happy dog.

I also am not fond of using my back yard as the sole training area. When I can, I like to work my dog in public places. On Wednesday morning we trained in the truck stop parking lot. Diesel engines and Leonard busy doing the pretrip inspection on his tractor-trailer make good distractions.

After we practice, we get to play. Luther only gets his new sheep toy after our homework to keep this special.