Irie Update

I am very remiss in my blogging!! Here’s the big news, Irie had her elbow x-rayed last Tuesday and nothing has changed! As long as we do not see signs of pain, I am not to worry about it.

The other big and surprising news is my puppy wants to be an obedience dog. It’s crazy, and yes I am serious.

We have been taking a competition obedience foundations class with Katrin. I am taking this class primarily to prep for Rally but with the understanding that we are laying the proper foundation in case we do want to do “real” obedience at a later date.

Two weeks ago we starting working on right finishes and, I kid you not, I lured Irie to do “around” twice and then she started offering it. She thinks “right finishes” and “left about turns” are SOOOOO much fun.

This past weekend we also worked on “moving downs,” “stand,” and “sit-or-down walk around your dog.”

Her brain BOGGLES my mind. The speed in which she acquires new skills is fabulous. I suppose, this is the beauty of starting work with a puppy and of course, she is whip smart.

She is not even 7 months old and she can work for a solid hour and still be ready for more.

Given how much she loves obedience, I need to reconsider how much time and attention I am willing to devote to it.

There are a few agility trials coming up and I am planning on taking her to work on being calm and working in a distracting environment. I am thinking Wrentham Outlets might also be a good place to hit up because there will be kids there and kids make her nuts with excitement and “squeee-ness.” My library is also next to a Little League field, so that’s another option. We have to work on proper child greeting. Irie wants to lick them all over and some kids are afraid. This is a fabulous thing to work through, much easier than the opposite. Ike is afraid of kids and Bug would like to herd them!

I have to say, with all of the personal crap that has been going on in my life recently, having a brilliant puppy to work with is more than a bright spot, it is a blessing.