William's Debut Part II

Well I am happy to report that William did a fantastic job during his runs at the APDT Rally Trials last weekend. He won his class both runs! And not only that, his second run was nearly perfect except he knocked a sign over ................. because he was looking up at me!! I'll take that kind of attention any day! I put him in the puppy class because there was another puppy entered and I didn't want that puppy to not have any competition, but by his score he would have done just as well in the Sub Level 1 class competing with the older dogs!

And this weekend we participated in "Check Your Leash at the Door." The entire 90 minute class consisted of us taking our dogs off leash and leaving them off leash the entire time while we loose leashed walked around each other, did stays, recalls, reaction to neutral dogs, meet and greets, etc. It was a fantastic attention training opportunity and I was able to keep William with me the entire time. I am so proud of how he is coming along.

William's Debut

I will be entering William in Puppy class fun runs this weekend at our APDT rally trials. Wish us luck!

On the Agenda

I've set some short term goals:

He'll take the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) test next month. Tucker got his at 4 or 5 months too, so William should be fine.

AKC RN (Rally Novice) at 6 months. I will be showing him in rally at a couple of shows the end of March and the beginning of April, hopefully finishing his RN at the Dalmatian National Specialty show. William will be showing in futurity, sweepstakes and in breed entered in the Puppy dog, 6-9 mos. I might show him in Pre-Novice obedience as well. It all depends on how well his stays are. He does not like stays!

Life without William?

It's funny. He has become such a part of our lives that I can't remember him not being here. He has fit in so well. He knows not to bug the little boys too much. He leaves Tucker alone, for the most part, except every now and then when Tucker will play a little bit with him outside. Mo Mo and Leo are his favorite play buddies. And at PNI his best buddy is an 8 month old Berner puppy named Bernie. Bernie outweighs him by at least 40 lbs but they are a good match and play very well together.

Okay, he's phenomenal - there I said it!

I am simply amazed at this puppy! He is the most food motivated and focused I have ever seen. If it weren't for the spots you would think he was a Border Collie puppy - oh oh, what did I just say? ;) But honestly, he is catching on to everything so well it almost is surreal. He is attending 2-3 of my classes a week, playing with and socializing with other dogs in daycare, after classes or at bi-monthly puppy socialization hour at least two - 3 times a week. He LOVES people. And the newest behaviors he is mastering are ........drum roll please....

RETRIEVES AND GO OUTS!!

I've placed colored hoops on the floor and he will run to the hoop from 20-30 ft out and .... SIT!!! Awesome. He retrieves his toys and bring them back to me.

Awesome, awesome puppy.

While in classes I can drop his leash and he stays with me while we train, showing little interest of running off to be with the other puppies/dogs. I can get his attention back lickety split. I can stack him on the table and he won't move an inch. Awesome, awesome puppy.

As you can tell this has been a great training week for us. I will do everything in my power to continue this great ride we're on.

Oh, and have I mentioned, I really love this little guy. He is so loving, so sweet, and so willing to play all these games with me.

Goals: CGC in about a month and RN at 6 months of age.