Hawk's Schedule

8/4 Lake Mills
8/12 CCSDA Training

January 5, 2012

Almost Perfect Weather

Both dogs went to CCSDA training class on Wednesday. As expected Monte did well with the basic obedience (STAY, recalls) and was quiet during class - no crying. He doesn't get as much practice with Greetings and it showed. He was very interested meeting new friends. We confirmed a few areas where we need to step up our training efforts. We are transitioning from the WAIT command to the STAY command. He has a very lazy DOWN and a slow recall. However, the worst was his whining and crying during class. It doesn't happen often or as prolonged in everyday life, so we think it was because he wanted to play with the other dogs.

Today we practiced STAYs before Cooper made a trip to visit his pal Mac for some more "kid training." They played hide and seek indoors before heading outside to enjoy the Spring-like weather. They played fetch until both child and puppy were tired - not sure who did more running. Inside Mac practiced the feeding routine with Cooper and the tandem rested while the adults discussed options/thoughts for Cooper's transition.

With the record breaking temperature, 51 degrees, theoretically it seemed like a perfect day to take the dogs to the park: let them be dogs and burn off some energy. We were not the only ones thinking this because there were at least twenty other dogs to play with. However, the reality was not so perfect. Due to the warm weather, the ice was melted and the ground was soft which doesn't mix well with running Yellow Labradors. Cooper met a girl on the path and she noted that he looked more like a Dalmatian. Needless to say everyone got a bath before dinner was served.

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