a stellar weekend....

Ike continued his stellar doggie behavior all weekend. Holy dog gods....mark this day.

Ike was terrific at Agilty-for-Fun Saturday at the Shelter, even though by 9am we were already melting. I am so grateful Ike doesn't mind being soaked! There was no real lesson to this week's Agility-For-Fun class - we were all just back after a month off with a new dog in class.

The new dog is Ruby a 2-yo pug who has a bit of an attitude. Ike liked her, so that was very cool. Ike is the only male dog in the 9 am class, the rest are females. Predictably there was some tension between some of the dogs. Hopefully Angela (the owner) and Ruby will arrive early next week and Ruby can get to know the other dogs in class.

Since I help train the Agility-for-Fun classes I know Ruby from her earlier classes; it was interesting to see her behaving in such a subdued manner! Obviously she wasn't sure about the dynamics of the class.

Ike was his typical slow-poke self in class, but he really listened to me and did what I requested instead of doing his favorite obstacles (seesaw, anyone?!). I don't know if this was just Ike having a great day or if it was because John wasn't there. It will be interesting to see how he is on Sunday - John won't be coming to the trial, my friend Michele is instead.

Sunday Ike and I hit playgroup at the Shelter. Ike accepted much love from various tall men which was AWESOME! He also developed a dog-crush on a new-to-playgroup shy rescue named Lucy. This is the second red female dog that Ike has taken a distinct liking to - it makes me think about my next dog....would I consider a female? There was a lot of chase, playing, wrestling, and a couple of scuffles and Ike did not do his fun police routine. Hooray!! He also got into the kiddie pool by himself again - YES!

About a half-hour into the big dog playgroup Ike came and got me, so we headed home. Between the heat and all the dogs I could tell he had-had enough. We stopped at Crescent Ridge Dairy and shared a vanilla frozen yogurt; he deserved a treat for being such a good boy.

Next Saturday evening we will head out to Northampton to stay at a friend's house in preparation for the Agile Dogs trial in Adams, MA. I think an hour ride from Northampton to Adams versus a three hour ride from Canton to Adams will be a lot easier on Ike! I am nervous, isn't that goofy? I think I better start taking Rescue Remedy myself!