Saturday Earthdog Practice

On Saturday we had practice up in Gardner at the Fish and Game club. I love that site. There's a lot of grass, shade and a pond for the dogs to cool off in.

We were running late (of course!). I just could not make myself get out of bed. Anyway, we got there at 11 and it was in full swing. I saw that they were working IQ and starting JE. So I decided Shelby could go first. Gloria was doing the training. She decided not to break up the tunnel and put the rats where Shelby could see them. She wanted Shelby to want to go all the way. So I put Shelby's head in and waited, but she really wasn't getting it. Gloria and I switched places and I called Shelby through the tunnel and she came right in. And she worked the rats really well. She was scratching and digging and barking and whining. So we switched back and ran her a few more times. The last time was tough-Shelby really didn't want to go in, and I felt bad holding her there, but we didn't want to end on a failing note either. So I was patient and eventually Shelby went in one last time. As a reward, I let her swim and try to catch frogs for half an hour.

Then it was time for Spot to practice Senior. I released him, and instead of going right in, he ran over to a couple of tunnel pieces that were sitting on the ground. After that he ran over to the entrance but popped out and looked at me, then finally went in. He went into the false den, then came out the entrance again, back in to the false den, then finally found the rats. He worked like a champ and did a perfect recall, so I'm very confident he'll have an SE title by the end of the summer. Spot had a great time in the pond as well. He was loving chasing all the frogs and tadpoles. I almost thought he was going to actually swim, but it didn't happen.