Beginner's Class - Week 3

This week we did the following exercises:

Set 2

• Sit/stay practice: He does very well with his sit/stay (much better than Gussie) and I am able to get 10' to 15' away from him.
• Recall to heel: Flex has been working on this for weeks with me at home so this exercise was very easy for him. He understands that he should come to the hand that I present him.
• Waltz to FX - He also has been working on this for a number of weeks so this exercise was also pretty easy for him.

Set 3 - This set is for teeter training. Flex remembered the drive across the board to the target and did it very well. While we were reviewing this exercise (with the board on the ground) I also worked on his sit/stay by leading out to the end of the board. Again he did very well. After about 5 minutes of review we introduced the board on cement blocks. I was pretty sure that Flex was going to need a little help with this modification but it did not phase him in the least. He hopped right up on the board and confidently ran across to the target. For the first couple of attempts I had the instructor leave the target on the board to ensure he understood the exercise. I was really proud of him!

Set 4 - This set is the tunnel and the weaves. Flexi is doing well with the entries as long as I stay on the onside of the weaves. If I cross over the plane to being offside he struggles with understanding what I am looking for. I really need to practice these at home with him for a little while everyday. He is getting easily distracted by the other dogs at this set. I think he may be getting a little tired by the time we get he but he is definitely showing some stress signs. We also started the tunnel introduction. Flex has been really reluctant to take tunnels so when he went right through without any hesitation I was thrilled!

Set 1 - This is the jumpers set. This week we continued with the phonebook/perch work. Flex does well with and is responding to both pressure and invitation.