The thought of being a therapy team with Settler keeps me extremely motivated to continue learning and training. Just for fun, I started a short session putting stickers on Settler just to see how he would react with something strange on his fur. I think he appreciated a few extra colorful spots!
Quickly it was back to business working Settler and Chesnee on their 'hold.' While on Day 1 I started with various toys and tugs (which the dogs were familiar with), I have switched to a small hand bag - which is not a toy but rather an unfamiliar object. Both dogs are doing a nice job picking the object up, but soon I will increase my criteria and ask for duration. I also want to continue to introduce more odd objects with different weights and textures. Chesnee tends to get a bit more frustrated and offers putting her front paws and back paws on the object opposed to picking it up in her mouth. Timing is critical for her.
Now onto agility for the evening - just Settler tonight since the sprinklers were on in the backyard. We worked weave poles again and I could see progression. However, he has made a bad habit from circling objects so tends to guess over and over by circling. Looking forward to continuing to work some of the skills learned at Sun Coast Agility in Naples, FL. Hopefully we will be ready to do some runs in the fall.