Elton graduated from his puppy class last night...knowing less than when he started lol. He appears to have forgotten what down means....he knew it and was doing it really well, then this last week or two I really am not sure he knows what it means....I don't know what the matter with him is! Must be adolescence...

So next week Solei moves up to the next class, and Elton will be taking a break for a while...at the moment I don't feel he'd gain enough from going on to the next class, I need to work with him at home a bit longer and refine a few things...his stay is still incredibly ropy and as I say, his knowledge of the word down has left him! Once he is doing reliable 10 second (at least) stays and responds to 99% of requests to lie down as he does to sit, then I'll be happy to take him back! Might take him to the odd class in the mean time, if I feel like it. Hopefully it won't take too long anyway!

Then this morning Elton and I had our first session of box play! "The box" is something I gave up with with Solei - he's such a sensitive dog, which extends to anything which he feels might hurt him...I wouldn't call him nervous, more wary? He's so sensitive to any kind of sudden noise..etc. So when Solei and I tried to play with the box I put a piece of high value food in the middle of the box....Solei would go right up to it, lean his head as far forward as possible and stick his tongue out to try and grab it...but there's absolutely NO WAY he's even going to think about putting a paw on it :-P

I've been wanting a wobble board for ages, but haven't yet found one I'm happy with...I think I'm going to end up making my own, but I need to work out how would be best!

Yes, anyway. So then I put Solei away and got Elton out...wow, he's everything his dad isn't lol. Though I do wonder; I think if I'd been able to put into Solei what I have into Elton (Solei was 3 days off 3 years old when I got him) he'd be quite different...though I don't think he'd ever have been quite like Elton! So there's Elton on the floor with this fairly large cardboard box, with very little encouragement he puts his front paws on it :-) Gets suitably rewarded, thinks this is good so stays there...I get him off, he puts paws back up - excellent! Then I turned it upside down and he was jumping in and out of it, turned it back the other way and he was jumping on and off it and doing sits and downs on the box :-D Couldn't ask for more! He was confident, enthuasiastic and it was just a very positive session. Now I just need to find a small basket or bucket of a suitable height because I want to teach him to walk round it with his back legs, whilst keeping his front legs on it....this box is too big really, but it was the only thing I had of a suitable height.

I think that's about all...we've still been working on trotting nicely in the ring, but last weekend we had a show and he actually felt like his daddy (Solei outmoves just about every Pap around atm and feels incredible on the move) when I moved him, so that was very positive! He's a lot more settled on the move at the moment, but we're now having issues with tablework! Elton is quite a submissive dog and he's not keen on anyone picking him up, nor is he keen on people putting their hands round him in a certain way. I realised part of the problem was he didn't like judges approaching him from the front, so I started standing in front of him instead of to the side (he backs away, was even doing it with me to start with) and now the problem is hands coming towards his front....so that's what we're working on now! When I feed him I usually give him half as a training session on the floor (sits, downs, targeting, spins...etc) and then half on the table, so I'm still doing that but instead of just making him stand on the table and then giving him the bowl I'm handfeeding some of it whilst my hands come at him from the front and touch him. We seem to be making progress :-) There's a full month between his last show and his next, so plenty of time to work on it.

There was a bit of a blow yesterday when I found out there's no chance of any agility before May. I miss it so much and I've been dying to get back. I was hopeful that as soon as the weather cleared up we'd be able to start again, so to find I'm looking at at least three more months is just...meh.

Our garden is completely unsuitable, but I reckon my grandfather's is big enough and flat enough to set up a few jumps...so I'm going to buy a few cones & poles and a rigid tunnel and see if I can set something up there so at least I'm doing something.

Well this is good - we haven't even started and I've already failed! Though in part that's due to major connection problems which is resulting in very brief and sporadic internet access - and sad to say, when I am online I have rather more urgent things to do. Typing this, the thought just occurred to me that I can write the entries offline and then it'll only take a couple of minutes to post it - so that's that excuse gone now :lol:

Elton has just two weeks of puppy classes left. We're looking forward to our last class, when we get to forget about sits and stays and play around with the FUN stuff :lol: I tend to weave some into our sessions anyway....he knows spin both left and right, and we're working on this really cute slide backwards - which is probably ruining any attempts at stay :lol: but I'm not too fussed about that...his stay is more or less non-existant (for other reasons) and yes he's 9 months old (today! Happy 9 month birthday Elton!) and really should have some kind of stay, but we are working on it and he'll get there in his own time...he's still a very bouncy immature puppy with the concentration span of a flea! He's the eldest in our puppy class by quite some way, yet last week towards the end he had totally lost concentration and was ignoring my commands, whilst these 4 month old puppies were still going :lol: I also have a 17-month-old Papillon called Darwin - who wasn't mentioned in my previous post because he belongs to friends and could be going at any time now, but I've had him since March 09 - and he took forever to get any kind of concentration span. Even now it needs a lot of work; it's still not brilliant!

Elton and I have had one breakthrough. At shows we've had big problems walking on a lead - I can practice all I like, but once he gets into that ring instead of a nice controlled trot he goes bounce jump skip hop gallop wheeee! :lol: I don't want to spoil his fun, because he's obviously enjoying it and the last thing I want is a robotic dog that's lost all enthusiasm by the age of 12 months...but now he's 9 months and no longer considered a "minor puppy" I thought it was about time we got on top of it! I'm not going to count my chickens before they're hatched, because at 7 months he had a couple of shows where he went much better, but at ringcraft last Tuesday he went better than ever :-D and then yesterday I took him to a show and he moved really well there too! So hopefully now it'll be onwards and upwards.

As for Solei...well, he's Solei lol. I haven't done a whole lot with him over the last week or two, I've been so tired. Last Wednesday I started a cleaning spree which was rather an undertaking! It took me the best part of two hours just to scrub down the (not large) puppy pen, and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately I've still got rather a long way to go.

The good news is that we're finally allowed to progress to the next class! Our club has 5 classes - the 8 week puppy intake, then four levels of constant "turn up as often as you like" type classes. Solei has been in the bottom of these since I started attending last May. Ever since then he's been more or less "too good" - our one sticking point is the retrieve. His stays are lovely, he has a good recall, he walks nicely on a lead..etc. The classes are done on a badge type system where there's a list of exercises you must complete, each of which must be done correctly twice...and then you move up. Though that in its self can take a while - you don't get a chance at everything each week, and it can take weeks from passing the first time to being able to attempt it a second time. Solei has all of them except his second retrieve, and has done for months! I went through a period at the end of last year where I only went once or twice over the space of a couple of months, cos I'd just lost the enthusiasm! Because you choose when you attend, the class sizes can vary enormously - I've been there on weeks where there have been just 4 or 5 dogs, but our record is 20(!). The week after the puppy classes finishes is generally busy as a lot of the puppies come up to the second class, then after a couple of weeks the numbers tend to drop back again...Average for a long time was probably 7 or so dogs, then in the latter half of last year it suddenly went up.

Anyway, I digress! Last September our regular tutor went on a break, and although the "replacement" was very good, he was much less focussed on individual dogs and progressing up into the next class. Two weeks ago our regular tutor came back...week #1 she was obviously watching Solei, week #2 she asked if I wanted to move up :lol: So when Elton finishes his puppy class (the classes are concurrent, so if Solei moves up now I can't work them both), Solei will be going up! It's rather nervewracking, but I'm also excited to finally be pushing him more. The current class is basic pet obedience - walking nicely on a lead, up to 1 minute stays in any position, waiting for food until they're told..etc. and working towards the Good Citizen Scheme Bronze. At home Solei and I are doing competition heelwork (on & off lead), 5 minute sit stays and semi-out of sight and have started out of sight down stays :lol: This class takes you through Good Citizen Scheme Silver, all of which he *should* already be capable of (we have issues with control when we're any where dogs have peed...:P), so we'll see how it goes...I don't think he'll be out of his depth (touch wood!).

So yes, that's that!