Turning Tricks At Just 6 Months-Where Did The Time Go??

I just figured out the puppies are 6 months old now! 

In some ways I can hardly believe it, but yeah, I guess they ARE growing up. The Pup has ceased with destroying the bathroom every time I take a shower. 

She fights bravely for the toy in tug of war with The Dog now.

She is the loudest thing ever in her crate (she's figured out what she's missing out on when she's in there!).

Then of course there is the genius factor. 

Inside her sizable baseball head, there is a baseball brain too, filled with many tricks.

Yep, just 6 months old and already turning tricks. And letting people take pictures! Scandalous. I warned her that they'd probably end up on the internet...

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Voila, the "Monster" series...

Original Monster

COOKIE Monster.

Zombie Monster wants more braaaiiinns

Godzilla Monster

And the "Where's Yer Butt Go" Series:

Does it go on a wall??

No? Hmm....

Does it go on the Leader??

No? Not there either?

Does it go on the truck???

No, definitely not on the truck. Maybe...

It goes in the air!! 

You got it! Genius, I tell ya!

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Also, I've shameless stolen the following images without consent, because I have to show off The Pup's equally adorable siblings.  I'm so lucky to be in touch with their Leaders and to get so many updates. (Hearing that it's not just MY puppy that is naughty is so comforting!) I saw these fresh 6 month shots the other day and couldn't resist stealing...er, sharing-

Mr. Crime aka Beefcake

Ms. Triton, looking quite svelte after all the coffee and cigarettes!  

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So I suppose I should update on The Pup's training status too, seems appropriate. 

Besides tricks, we're still making our way through agility basics.  She is being an ace at weave channels (moved 'em in ONE NOTCH! woo!) and I know she "gets" it because she's turned up MPH through them. Happy to report that the 'weave channels, no guides' approach still hasn't bit me on the butt. 

No changes or unexpected complications for the DW board work. She gets on, runs off straight every time. A bit boring really, heheh.This weekend I hope to get my DW assembled so I can start back chaining across the full but low obstacle. 

Tunnel is pretty fun now, she will send to it independently but still comes out as quick as she can to find me again. 

We introduced the tire, no problems there. It hasn't (yet) occurred to her to go anywhere but through the middle. Give it time...

Teeter is looking super- I'm extremely happy with her performance. We've made our way to a foot tall at the apex, she's running (FAST!) through the tip and applying breaks nicely to hold the four on end position. Probably will end up sliding based on how it's going now, she seems comfortable with that feeling. She loves the dang thing!

Table is lovely. I'm a terrible owner, we practice on the 16" table- 12" wasn't cutting it for getting her to jump up in a down position and was starting to go against what we'd worked on.  But she loves table. LOVES it. She has an adorable way of jumping on while at the same time turning in air to make sure she lands, in the down position, so she is facing me.  Good multitasking? We just started working on me walking away and no elbows popping up. One of the downsides of short-haired dogs! 

"Jumps" (don't worry, still essentially no height there!) are looking better every time. She was a bit Velcro-y (which I suppose is natural the way I teach them) but now is seeking them out. We can race a line without her running around- for the most part she does what is in the line I've set- which was totally the goal.  It's only been the last few sessions where she's seemed to think these exercises were really fun. I think before she was thinking about what she was doing and what I was doing.  Now she's got a handle on it though and is having a blast. I like that she is largely very respectful of my handling and has picked up on the various signals. Fronts, blinds and post turns are really nice. We just started rears which were harder due to Velcro-iness but she's catching on. 

And in my quest for being for amazing to her, I've started just doing super short sessions, alternating her with The Dog. And she always goes second. Rather than try 'leave 'em wanting more' I'm sort of trying to cut it off when attention wanes. No attention? You're done.  She REALLY wants to be the one 'out' so going away for not focusing should get through to her quickly.  She definitely came out stronger each time last night trying this tactic. 

And (proud Leader moment of boasting!!) she even managed to work in the same ring as another dog last night! Without chasing the other dog!! The other dog was a super exciting barking Sheltie too, her favorite kind of dog to chase. I was really happy with that- it's her absolute weakness- and the fact that she maintained attention and upheld excellent obstacle performance showed me that she knew it was 'her' time so she better not waste it!  

So yeah, that's where we are at. Sitting pretty good on my goals for her for the summer. Here's to another productive 6 months of fun!