KCGC - Bronze Training - Week 8&9

After the Bird Scarer incident, we returned to the barn to find that the issue had been sorted out. No more loud bangs, and in the even of such, Christina had been given permission to go into the farmers field and turn off the offending item.

Over the last two weeks we have done lots of great stuff in terms of the Good Citizen Bronze award. Lots of sit/down stays. Ellie dies exceptionally well at this even when I wander out of site into the training centre shop and better still even when there are distractions around.

Last week we did an exercise whereby there were tasks spread around the barn.
1. Go to bed. Top marks for this one.
2. Recall present. Again top marks.
3. A number of toys were placed on the floor and owners had to sit their dog at the toys and then pick each toy up and place them a few feet away all without our dogs moving a muscle. Ellie did this perfectly and was rewarded with one of the toys at the end of the exercise.
4. Take a chosen toy and place it somewhere for the dog to retrieve. I placed Ellie's toy on a table as I knew that she gets the remote control at home from a height. When asked, Ellie fetched the toy every time.

This week, we had a similar theme. Christina had lots of tasks written on bits of paper mixed in with a few 'jokers'. We were all given a piece of paper and had to perform the task that was written. The idea of the jokers was that when we were given one of them we had to go to another dog and owner and ask them to perform a trick. We did two jokers and Ellie was asked to perform a twirl and leg weave. Both perfect.

The other tasks on the paper were:
1. Send away around a chair.
2. Get up on a low step and lie down on it.
3. Agility weaves.
4. Send away to bed.
5. Recall present.
6. Jump through a tyre.

Over the last two weeks, Ellie seems to have performed at a higher standard than usual. She seemed more focused and eager.

The bad news is that the date for the exam has been postponed. We don't currently have another date as yet.

I'm not sure whether she will be attending class next Tuesday as she has a tummy upset at the moment, and, assuming that it may be viral, we don't want to be responsible for spreading it to other dogs. Despite her stomach, she's not unwell, and it hasn't stopped her bouncing around in the snow, and playing as usual.