The Trials and Tribulations of Owning and Training a Puppy! Part 13

A bit of fun! Brin and I really love our competitive obedience classes, but this week was extra special as we changed things up for our Christmas party. We did some cavaletti work, played with the skateboard (Brin has his sights on the next Olympics now) and experimented with leg weaves and other tricks. Working with the clicker to reinforce Brin taking any interest in the skateboard looks like a slow way of training this but it teaches the dog to use his initiative and make his own decisions which can really help with confidence. It also ensures he is really learning the task as luring can often make you think the dog knows something when in actual fact he is just following food with no thought process behind the actions. Brin was actually starting to step very positively towards the skateboard and, with me holding it steady, he even put a paw on it a few times. I have a skateboard at home (Sonic likes to skateboard!) so I will continue the lessons over Christmas just for fun.

Two other experiences which we added to our socialisation list this week were cows (big highlands with lots of hair and horns) and a walk along the river. I don’t know if Brin had seen cows before he came to me, but this is the first time I’ve encountered them with him and he was pretty chilled about it. Interested but not silly which I was really pleased about. The same could not be said about the river which he was definitely quite scared of. Luckily Sonic and Logi like to paddle and he was quite reassured by that although not inclined to come to close himself. Maybe he will change his mind when it’s hot and he wants a drink.

This week Brin also got his first Christmas jumper decorated with snowmen. I hope it lasts till Christmas as he has eaten his way out of four coats so far this winter. He wears them happily but if the temperature goes up and he’s not supervised then he takes it off with his teeth!! So far, it’s been mainly old jumpers and hand me downs from Sonic and Logi but last week it was a brand new blizzard coat so I’m hoping I can find someone who can patch it for me.

Merry Christmas everyone, I hope you have a wonderful time!