It's A Berner-ful Life: And Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Training

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Monday, November 2, 2009

And Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Training

Our break is over. We have had no agility classes for the past month as we transition from summer outdoor classes to winter indoor (barn) classes. I did take the dogs out to the agility field a couple times, but mostly we just enjoyed the break. Bosley and I did a bit of open obedience over the past month, mostly just fun obedience games and a couple drop in classes.

Now it's time to get back to training. Today starts the beginning of our winter training. I have a lot of things I want to work on over the winter:

In agility, I hope to get in some good distance training with both dogs as well as continue to work on motivation with Maggie. Agility training is more difficult to keep up on over the winter because we can only train in class time - no luxury of having access to equipment during the days or weekends. I also have a couple agility trials planned for the winter.

In obedience, my goal is to work with Bosley to have him ready to compete in Open Obedience in the spring. He knows the basics of all the exercises, we just need lots of polishing and proofing. Since we do less agility over the winter, I hope to be able to get lots of obedience work in. It would be nice to get Maggie back into at least Rally practice again - she used to really love it. I have pushed back my goal of finishing her CD - maybe someday.

I also plan on keeping up with carting over the winter. Not always an easy task if there is a lot of snow on the ground (unless I get rudders for the cart), but the next draft test in in April so we need to practice over the winter. I know we can pass - we just need to keep practicing and work on getting through those tight areas. I am also going to try to get Maggie in the cart over the winter. This may be easier said than done, as she does not like the shafts touching her. She is used to seeing Bosley pull the cart and she will walk next to the cart now (she used to run away when it moved) so she has made some progress. I will try with her, but won't push her.

So, hopefully we can stay busy all winter so that winter will seem to fly by and it will be spring before we know it.

1 comment:

AnonymousNovember 2, 2009 at 6:05 PM
That sounds ambitious mom!
You should let me play agility with maggie, it was fun that one day
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An Extraordinary Dog For Extraordinary People

"The Bernese Mountain Dog is different from most other dogs in many respects. Take his size, for example. Everything about a fully grown Bernese is big and strong, massive and mighty; his body, his paws, his teeth , his tongue, his tail,his emotions, his responses, his will, his good, and when they exist, not-so-good habits. Anyone who wants to adopt a Berner needs to think large. A Berner cannot be carried to the vet's in a basket; a struggling Berner cannot be pulled along on a leash; a fully-grown Bernese cannot be forced into a down position by the use of a hand-or even two. A Berner cannot be bathed in a sink, scooped up with an arm, or lifted across a puddle. A Berner slurps water with a bigger tongue from a bigger bowl (and thus slobbers more water on his folks); his coat takes longer to brush; he must go for longer walks. A Berner's paw leaves bigger , deeper, muddier tracks in the house, in flowerbeds, in the car, and on clothes; he shakes off more water upon entering the house after a hike in the rain; his tail wags with greater strength at a higher lever; he barks less frequently, but louder. A Berner bounces more merrily, mourns more deeply, sulks more sadly, resists more strongly, clings more closely, and loves more intensely. A Berner Sennenhund requires more than the little finger. He needs the whole hand, no both hands; no, still not enough. A Berner needs the total person."

---excerpt from"The Bernese Mountain Dog A Dog of Destiny" by Bernd Guenter.