Obedience with Jennifer

We had our third obedience class meeting with Jennifer on Monday. Tomorrow will be our last class!

Dodger has been in the circle of acceptance from the beginning and usually gets to play one of the circle 8 dogs as he is one of the least dog distracted dogs in the group.

Here is a shot of Fred and HRH Berkeley practicing a down stay. She is in the circle of acceptance too. This is a new experience for us after having Bingo. She relishes being in the spotlight and Carolyn has even caught her crossing her paws for that extra special cuteness factor!

Thursday's North Pinellas Meeting with a Panel of Guide Dog Users

Last Thursday Chuck was able to secure a wonderful panel of guide dog users for us for our monthly meeting with Don and Donna. They spoke about their experiences with their dogs and some of the things that they thought we as puppy raisers should be aware of. Chief among them was that the stay and the come commands were VERY important for our pups to know. Kathy said she was out on a hike with a fellow guide dog user and they both had told their dogs to stay and the other woman went to feel for her dog and it wasn't there. Kathy immediately put a hand out and Angel was right where she was supposed to be.

Thanks to Don and Donna for setting up the meeting and making it all go smoothly!

Obedience with Jennifer

It was rather a dark and rainy night when the 11 of us started our class with Jennifer the trainer. You can see Carolyn in the distance and Dodger, our only yellow lab, sort of glowed in the night.

We started out the night with a basic circle of acceptance with most in and a few outside of it. The big thing to realize is that being outside the circle isn't a bad thing, it only means your dog needs more time to deal with his dog distraction before he/she can get closer to the circle or get into the circle. With time and patience, admittance to the circle is guaranteed. 8-) Go out from the circle until your dog obeys your command the first time. Then, periodically, come closer to the circle and see how your dog does. It may take 15 minutes, it may take two classes! It's all about the dog feeling good and getting praised for following commands.

Discovery Center Meeting

On Saturday we had our first puppy meeting of the 2011 year in Sarasota at the new Discovery Center. The center is really nice. They have two great meeting rooms, a nice gift shop and a very cute puppy petting place.


Stephanie and Princess made the long trek from Clearwater for their last meeting as Princess goes in for training next week. She's a real sweetheart and has really grown from the rowdy gal that Stephanie got to finish!



After the meeting we all took a walk down to the farmer's market where it was crowded with people and dogs. Quite a challenge walking for everyone.



After braving the market, we decided to head over for some lunch. We had five dogs under a table, which is a new record.