The Week in Review

At the beginning of this past week my 9 year old desktop computer finally died on me. Hence the lack of blog updates. So as of late Thursday night I finally broke down and joined the cult....I bought myself a brand new Mac Pro. Let me just say once you go Mac you never go back! I couldn't be happier with my new purchase or more addicted to it. But lots of stuff happened this week. I'll start with today and the picture above.

There was no training this weekend with Bob Corsaro. After having lovely weather for the past few weeks it was scheduled to rain all weekend so training was called off. Jim works with Cleo everyday even if it is only for 10 minutes or so. We decided to take her out on a live duck today. She has only been working with dead/frozen ducks for the past 5 weeks. We had a live one in our bird pen so since it was raining we thought we'd head over to the pond and see how she would do.

Before we took her over to the pond Jim worked her on the table and on the ground with a frozen duck. As soon as she saw him in the garage with the duck she ran outside and jumped on her whoa table without being told. I don't think I can adequately explain how much this dog loves to train.

She did great on the table as well as on the ground we so decided to head over to the pond. She knew she was there to retrieve ducks. Jim has taken her over a couple of times a week to throw frozen/thawed ducks for her. As soon as we let her out of the truck she took off down to the pond.

She ran up to the pond on her own and hopped around full of excitement. We called her back and Jim walked her at heel for a bit without a leash. Walking at heel is a requirement for the NAVHDA Utility Test. She does pretty well with it.

Once she got to the pond Jim threw in the live duck for her. She took off after it and brought it back to hand without playing with it at all.

She did a great job today!! Jim threw in the live duck several times and each time she brought it right back. There was no nipping and each time she brought it to hand. We were so happy.

We praised the crud out of her and as soon as we got home she rewarded with a pig ear. Such a happy GSP.

Also earlier this week I got Cleo out and down to the Dog Park in Horsham, PA. I met my sister in-law Rebecca there and she brought Cleo's most favorite dog friend, Fisher the Basset Hound. Below is a pic of Cleo running around the dog park with some new friends.

Earlier in the week I took Cleo over to the park by our house to run her in some fields. I always have her wear her e-collar just in case she sees a rabbit or a fox in the field and takes off in hot pursuit. I have never really had to use it. Only once or twice to keep her from rolling on dead stuff. I had to use it this past week tho. We were walking along and there was a little league game going on. She took notice of the tings of the metal bat when it came in contact with a ball. Some kid hit a line drive and almost in slow motion I could see her face change and like that she was off after the ball. I practically had a heart attack at the impending doom of her charging through their game in hot pursuit. I hit her with the collar just in time to save myself from utter embarrassment and true walk of shame. Luckily the e-collar saved the day and she came back. I did get some evil looks from parents and I quickly hustled away from the ball game. Lesson learned.

We also learned this week that Cleo loves cucumbers. I already knew she loved green beans, sugar snap peas and carrots but cucumbers are her new favorite treat. Once our garden is in full bloom she sits outside the fence and barks at me to throw her green beans and peas. I guess I'll have to add cucs to the mix this year.

So two more weeks till Cleo tests for her 1st leg of the AKC Senior Hunt Test. It's coming up quick and I know at this rate the NAVHDA UT Test will be right around the corner. I feel like we have been making progress so I'm hoping when the time comes we will be ready.