Wednesday, November 23, 2011

My computer buddy

Since my hubby and I both work from home, Haddie is missing the office building environment. We will need to find an opportunity for her to practice this setting before she leaves our house. But I try to simulate what it would be like to be a computer buddy.
I alternate from her being under my desk and being beside my chair. She is quick to snooze and is only a moderate snorer. It is fun to see her fluffy yellow to my left.
Our CCI Class met last night due to the holiday schedule. We were able to join my son's future 4H club (we are just waiting for Haddie to graduate from puppy class). It was a lot of fun to be in an environment of kids my kiddos age, watch them working with their dogs, and watching some Service Dogs at work too with their Handler. It was a great evening and we are all anxiously waiting for Haddie to continue to grow up just so we can go to this class every week.
I am finding that there is a standard mode of operating with Haddie. She either tries newness with No Fear, or   can overcome Fear by her third try. Last night her new activities were the teeter totter, a balance beam, and a tunnel (a rather looooong tunnel).  With each experience the Trainer helped us get started by physically moving Haddie on or through the item. The next round through I stepped in as the Trainer role. The third time my son was able to handle Haddie without assistance; she had over come her fear.

I know this is our first CCI pup, but I am so happy that she has so far found her confidence relatively quickly - she has so far proven that she can recover. Last week she had issues with the handmade stairs and platform that are used in class for training. Regardless that she can maneuver our house stairs, she had a road block over these particular stairs. They are wooden and are covered with a linoleum type of material. She would have nothing to do with it.

Our Trainer worked with her last week, and by the time class ended we were able to get her up one side, walk across the platform, sit, and go down the other side. This week - she went up with out hesitation like a real pro. Yay!

Last night was a very successful night. Haddie just seemed to have grown up, her mind was active in learning, she was well behaved, she listened ... we were all a great team together. A great way to start the holiday!!

1 comment:

  1. So glad you all had a fun time at 4-H! The raisers are just lovely! Thinking about different surfaces, grating is a tricky one. Holly had a hard time learning to work over it, and I'm hoping to find some for Bri to play on so she's used to it all by the time she starts PA training.

    It's wonderful that Haddie is getting used to being under desks! I can't tell you have nice it is when a SD just goes under the table and melts unobtrusively into their surroundings. Hehe... can you tell I'm missing Holly's help in public?

    ReplyDelete