8 State Hurricane Kate

I was so proud of Cay last week. She graduated from obedience 1 class, passing all the exercises except the stay. It was the main exercise that I had practiced with her all week, knowing that it was the toughest one for her. During week 6, I noticed that it was hard for Cay to stay with a dog on either side of her. So all week we practiced with Chase in a stay on one side of her and Bandit in a stay on the other side. She was doing well at home. But in class, we had a dog on one side of us who wouldn’t get into position at all, and a dog on the other side who started “talking”, then jumped up and walked away. That was too much for Cay! She couldn’t stay still.

 

Cay excelled at the heeling and recall exercises, the easiest for a “Velcro” dog, and passed all the other exercises. She gained much more confidence by going to class. She is a much more joyous dog now. The hot spots that she used to pick at when she was nervous are healing. She is excited to see my friends at dog obedience school. At home she brings me the rubber chicken to throw for her. Now she knows the word “chicken” and gets it when I ask her for it. She’s much more outgoing, yet she has more control over her body. She is less clumsy and runs up to me, but doesn’t crash into me like she used to. I’m so excited to see how much Cay has grown and come out of her shell!

 

We’re signed up for the obedience 2 class that begins in January, and Cay has been invited to appear on “The Dog Show”, a local cable TV show. More on that later…