Friday, December 10, 2010

Flatwork Day 1

Day 1 was awesome.  I was so proud of Rylie - whether it is because the skills in this camp weren't quite such a stretch for me, or I have had that much more training since spring, or just because I met three of the other campers at the B&B at breakfast this morning.  Rylie wouldn't really tug at camp but I didn't let it bother me because I know he will do it at home and in environments that are low stress.  Eventually the rest will come.  My partner for camp was a lady with a lovely poodle  (she was very lovely as well)- he was also more food motivated than toy motivated.  I realized that some of my criteria for reinforcement zone and crate games has been pretty low but again - that's something I can work on.  Rylie was very quick to adapt when I changed criteria on him.  The only downer is that Rylie has the runs.  I even brought water from home because I know his tummy is sensitive but I guess that is his way of handling stress.  I wasn't going to feed him his supper tonight (he had a lot of treats anyway) but he was pretty vocal in his objections to that plan so he got to eat - I sense it might be a longish night.  Hopefully he won't have to go out too often.

We got back to the B&B at about 5 p.m.  The only restaurants I know in the area are fast food so I thought I'd be stuck with that but when I walked in the door the proprietor informed me that soup would be ready in half an hour.  Apparently he always makes homemade soup for the dog camp people so they won't have to pack up their dogs and take them out.  Did I mention I might never leave?

 I hope tomorrow goes as well as today.  Other than the tummy issues Rylie seemed to handle the day well and enjoy it.  He's a great partner.

Katie - yes my head often feels like it is going to explode when I go to these multi-day camps.  My own trainer goes to these camps (and is at this one) and uses the same systems so the concepts aren't totally foreign to me but you get a lot in a two day camp and sometimes I feel like I  need more than what I can get in an hour a week.

1 comment:

katie, Maizey and Magnus said...

It sounds delightful!! And how nice to have a warm bowl of soup at the end of the day.

So sorry about Rylie's belly. Can he eat canned pumpkin? Just the plain kind, not pie filling obviously. I found that is a miracle for Magnus, he has a very tender belly. I suspect it is from having giardia the first at least two months of life.:( But maybe that would help Rylie.

Have fun with day two!