New set of advanced classes with a couple of new dogs and owners joining in on the mix.

Heelwork

We started off at normal pace, passing person to person.

Then we moved to slow pace and the trainer added in some about turns.

Then we increased the difficulty and did off lead heel work, where the trainer threw in lots of about turns!

Artemis did ok, but of course I had to bring out the tasty treats!

Stay

Next we practised a down stay. I stayed in front of Artemis and walked about near her. Artemis sniffed and wagged her tail when the trainer walked near her, which was adorable, and she didn’t break her down stay.

The dogs around her didn’t stay in the down stay, they were distracted or sat up, breaking the position, and their owners went over to reinforce the down stay.

I think Artemis did quite good keeping in the down stay, considering she could have copied the other dogs near her.

Hold and retrieve

Artemis doesn’t hold the tube if it’s on ground, but is ok when we practise at home inside on carpet.

The trainer advised to ask Artemis to heel, ask her to wait, bring my left leg forward, put the tube down, stand back up, ask Artemis to hold and as she holds she’ll turn around holding the tube and come into the present position.

When we tried this, Artemis didn’t want to hold the tube at all and just stayed in the heel position. We will have to try this command at home.

A Recall

Lastly we practised A recall.

Artemis was fine with this: she waited patiently as I walked around and came to heel when I called. She just went down instead of sit for the finish, she did sit when I asked her the second time.

Conclusion

I was very impressed with Artemis’s patience in the down stay, especially as there were more dogs – and new dogs – today.

We will need to practise the hold and retrieve; well, practise the hold anyways.

I’ll also have to practise the A recall at home and ask Artemis to sit more firmly so that she sits instead of going down for the finish.