Great Bounce Session
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Bounce Utility
So we had a quickie practice session for Bounce today, articles 4 reps, she did super..i started w/ 12 o'clock then 8 oclock then 4 o clock and ended in themiddle...she did super. the we did a couple directed retrieves w/ just two gloves, she did GREAT. Onto moving stand, great, thensome heelwork and signals...recall needs to be alittle more confident on signal, she's not as brisk as the rest of her signal work..but it will come. she had a couple boo boo's wanting to sit on halt/stand dog..but again, just a proofing/confidence thing that is not a real concern. She was evenable to stay focused doing article work while one 'screaming' puppy was bummed it wasnt him out "playing";-)

Little E-Z had a splendid little session as well;-)

Monday Night Training
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Bounce Utility
So Bounce & E-Z kid came to club Monday night. E-Z to dosome socializing, and Bounce to run thru some snappy training ex. She did some signal heelwork, signals super, we varied the time in between ea signal on different reps. & she did great. We did a couple short go-outs still needing much work, but I hope to have some help on those shortly. Articles, last week she was stressed about doing them at club, we were just beginning when they needed the jumps that were near us and they said go ahead and finish articles then they'd wait for jumps, but then everyone was watching her..good proofing for her, but proved to be almost too difficult at this point. she was able to get her articles but it took some re-sends back to pile to work. she was 50/50 getting 2 out of 4 and noted having trouble w/ articles in middle of pile. I went back to laying articles into a spiral type circle and have done systematically around the clock in reps..one at 3, then 2, then 1 and so on...to get her back in gear searching w/ a system. Last night it was really hot in the building, I was sweating, literally, and she panting, so i wondered how she would handle articles..the first rep she needed re assurance but then was able to do the next reps beautifully. So its coming.We did some moving stands as well, and some out of site groups..again VERY hot but she held them both wonderfully & didnt drop like a rock;-) E-Z played w/ some puppies, met some older dogs and was loved on by everyone who saw him, so it was a good night for both.

Thumbs Up for Morning Practice;-)
Mood:  happy
Topic: Bounce Utility
Ok, so it's not really morning, more like early afternoon, but we just did Bounces articles in the house, not outside but different time of day and she had four successful reps. One thing I did change or alter on second two reps was that I did NOT give her my scent before my turn/sit/send. I have been cupping my hand to give her the scent but many times she turns her head away like get lost mom!! Get that hand outta my face! So..after speaking to a friend I am grasping the fact that she really doesnt "need" that and its really more for me, smile. And she did her articles just fine without me giving her scent so...phew. Smile. Later on we'll do another little session and work some gloves and signals:-)

Almost Forgot
Mood:  incredulous
Topic: Bounce Utility
Beanie did her articles last night w/ Shane as our judge helper. she did all four successfully. She's taking today off since we did agility today.And also because I want to do her articles in the morning, and since I only have one set I want to make sure theyve been aired out well before we do them again. Normally we do them once each night, so they have a full day to air out before we do them again. So tomorrow we'll do some articles for breakfast instead of for dinner;-)

Taking it On the Road
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Bounce Utility
Tonight I took Bounce to club to work her a bit before Pk class. Thankfully a boxer friend was available to help us do our articles and some quick exercises:-) This was the first time Ms. Bounce has done articles outside of the living room with the exception of a number of weeks ago we went out into our wet at the time,icky yard...and she got that boo boo correction I managed to be stupid enough to give her, so I wasn't sure how she would handle this. Also, we chose to do them on pavement cause we were at fairgrounds w/ lots of good smells on grass, and I wanted to make the latest outdoor experience as 'easy' & hopefully successful as possible. I chose to do just pile of 4, 5 w/ the scented article on first rep..she went out to pile and proceeded to choose EVERY article "except" the correct one...lol, rotf..I just kept giving her
"uh-oh's!you go find it!" and kept sending her back to pile happy-like and offering her alittle "I got your back Beanie" help.."don't panic Beans!!!" You CAN do it!!;-)So after that we started with a fresh pile and she was able to do correct leather this time w/o issue, and then we did one more metal which she also did w/o issue. So we got our successful reps in outdoors for first time. A banner night!I was VERY happy with her. She was a real trooper bean;-) We also did a couple glovies, a quick heel pattern, signals, & a couple moving stands. It was GREAT. And my kinda little session, short-n-sweet ;-)

Great Evening
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Bounce Utility
Tonight we watched the Tim Allen movie The Shaggy Dog..cute movie...the frog body with the pug head was quite interesting,...but you'll have to just go rent the movie for more, smile. Oh, and by accident I came upon themovieI had been trying to find just because of a funny preview that sent me rolling on the floor laughing. It's called "Prime", a movie w/ Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman. Good movie...but I still think the best part was the preview of the boygriend meeting the girlfriends friends which included a dog..a small dog, being held by one of the friends...the boyfriend bends over to say hello tosaid dog...said dog barks at him...and then..my eyes my eyes...rotflmao....the dog is wearing a citronella collar....and it sprayed the dude in the face..omg it was too funny.
Ok, back to tonight...we had a short and sweet training session, me, Bounce, and Shane who is now getting in on the obedience action too. We did some heelwork, signals, a moving stand, then articles, 4 successful reps alternating metal leather metal leather, placed at 6 o'clock, 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock and 12 o'clock. Yesterdays were placed at 4, 2, 12, and 10. I have recently gone back to setting them out in clock fashion to help her gain more confidence and control to her searching pattern within the pile. Last we did glovies, just two set out, she did well with them, the third rep she started to head to wrong one but I quickly helped her and she quickly fixed herself happy to do so and try another next rep. I need to make a pac w/ myself I will begin go-outs ASAP !!!!! We have started them but more a up close and personal mark/send thats it. So its an absolute must that we begin to work on them more sooner rather than later!!

Happy Happy
Mood:  happy
Topic: Bounce Utility
So last night B did her articles, 4 reps,all good, that was that. Tonight we did some signals and moving stands with Shane following us and giving commands. He also did the full exam on stand a few times. They both did great. Then we did some glovies:-) Just one out mark and send then an added one mark and send same one, then the other,she wanted to go to wrong one but I grabbed her and got her moving with me to right one before she could make it all the way in and be incorrect. Then we did it again w/o me with her, she checked back as she was going but ultimately decided to keep going on her own and was correct. PHEW. Last we did her articles, 4 reps alternating metal , leather, metal etc...full pile, Shane put out pile and we watched, then he stood with us while I scented each article rep and he placed it into pile and gave us the send. She got all of them, what a trooper!! The last one, I thought she was going to make a wrong choice because she for some reason was 'stuck' searching only 2/3's of the pile, and of course the right one was in the 1/3 of the pile she wasn't checking for some reason, but finally, she checked those too and made the right choice. YIPPEE!! thats it, now time for dinner and a movie with Shane;-)

Articles Tonight
Mood:  a-ok
Topic: Bounce Utility
Tonight we did articles, I only did two reps, one metal and one leather. I used a pile of 7 in total each time. Shane placed the article for us each time. Bounce was hoppin' pumped up, she got correct article each time so we just ended it quickly w/ a woohoo party after she got both metal and leather correct. She RAN to the pile, worked the pile "feverishly"...and super briskly...it was actually sort of comical to watch. When she returned w/ the first article and I took it and released her w/ a WOW!!!! She sprung straight up into the air....Shane was laughing at her and how "springy" she is....he said how excited she gets and how much fun to watch her it is...I would have to agree in my bias opinion of that! ;-)

Training Hiatus
Mood:  sad
Topic: Bounce Utility
So we are on a short training hiatus(sp?) because ms. Bean has been feeling alittle under the weather. Iron clad tummy she does NOT possess! And as such has a case of the trots we are trying to remedy w/ some pumpkin rice and immodium. She is otherwise in good spirits but her tummy just isn't having any part of the rest of her feeling well. She also had her first time away from me EVER. Except for when she was a tiny tike..so that doesnt really count. She stayed with my mother and her two crested boys. She said she was amazingly well trained...because she stayed with her on walks and didnt take her arm off..I just call that well mannered;-)She also said she paced around the first night not knowing where to go, and that the next night she seemed more comfortable in settling in but that her ears were curled on top of her head so she didnt think she was that relaxed about being there:-(
We had a family mini vacation from Thursday thru Sunday so she hasn't trained at all since sometime midweek last week! But, breaks ARE good!;-) Hopefully we can get back into the swing by this weekend, but she needs to feel 100% before we do anything.
The red chick is back home and I am thrilled to have her back home, Bounce is neutral in her feeling on the matter. She is happy to play with her but wasn't giving her that long lost sister welcome when she arrived back thru the door either, lol. Mai-ling coulda cared less, I don't think she even noticed she was gone for two whole weeks! But what else should I expect from a toothless, going deaf little old bald chick that pretty much just sleeps, eats, pee's,sleeps, pee's & then pee's some more at this time in her life? ;-)

Super Girl
Mood:  special
Topic: Bounce Utility
So tonight when we got home from puppy class we did our articles. She hasn't done them since last Thursday I think it was..even I have to read back in the training blog to recall!!! But since we were away Fri-Sun for trials, we did no training during that time and none on Monday either as it was a recoup day for her & I. So tonight we did four successful reps with no problem, she was happy, brisk, and confident. I was thrilled! The first two reps were mixed piles of 7 including scented. The next two reps I added in the extra articles I had so they were mixed piles of 9 including the scented. We did metal,leather,metal,leather. On the last rep of leather I remained in place with her and had my son place the article into the pile for us. She was a trooper and was unphased that I broke tradition of me leaving her to place it after I have scented it. I have to be careful when I leave her to place the article as she likes to be a sneaky nosey girl 'sometimes' and wing her neck around twisting her head like the exorcist to see what I am doing behind her back!! So that was our little session, nothing more, nothing less. It was a good evening! She got steak with her dinner when we were done as well as in between ea 'two' successful reps, and I am getting ready to have some cheesecake;-)