Scrimmage

It has been quite some time since we were able to go to the Dog Den for playtime. Monte was excited as we pulled into the parking, but he was soon disappointed. No Play for him. I observed an hour of doggie playtime while Monte sat calmly, practicing greeting dogs when they approached. After the session we practiced a few CGC style greetings with trainer Deb.

Lisa has been ill for the last couple days, so Monte and I stopped for some bakery on the way home, as she requested. Monte was riding shotgun and I tested him by placing the box of muffins on the seat in front of him. He looked at me, then the muffins, back at me, then the muffins, a heavy sigh as he dropped to the floor.

Tonight was hockey night; Monte's first exposure and he endured five periods. The men's team scrimmaged, which was much closer than the women's game. Scrimmage sounds so much better than practice. So from now on Monte and I will be scrimmaging instead of practicing.

After two periods of the women's game, Monte had become accustomed to the fog horn. It still startles him, but not panicky. Our biggest challenge was getting Monte to DOWN quietly. He wanted to watch the action on the ice and cried when he could not participate. When DOWN, he would pop up every time the crowd cheered to see what he had missed.

No canine distractions, so we concentrated on greeting humans and I did a very good job of training my humans to reinforce good puppy behavior - stop petting when Monte stops sitting. Note: rules are applied much better by adult humans. Correction, we did see a real guide dog and Monte was only mildly interested.