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Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Just When You Think Things Are Going Good

I took Bosley out for some carting practice tonight. I have been feeling very confident lately about how he is doing with all his commands and his cart control. Tonight my confidence got taken down a notch or two.

Whoa???? What does that mean? Easy???? What does that mean? Stand still while you go get the harness????? What does that mean?

On a good note, Bosley's verbal left and right directionals were good. I have totally (well, mostly) faded all arm signals for left and right turns. Bosley is also getting very good at tight turns and can almost do a pivot without moving the inside wheel. Tonight was also the first time I did any significant handling from behind the cart. I directed him over 2 narrow bridges with me totally behind the cart and he didn't even run into the side of the bridge! We don't need to do that for the DD test, but there is a whole section of the DDX test that all handling is done from behind the cart.

We did tonight's practice at a busy park and I am usually good at avoiding people so that we don't get stopped by curious onlookers. It is not that I don't want to talk to people about what I am doing with Bosley, but when we are training I would rather not be disrupted. Bosley also totally forgets what he is doing when someone stops to talk to him, and I really want to keep his concentration on his job. Tonight however, a couple flagged us down, and I couldn't ignore them without being rude, so we stopped. The lady asked me what we were doing and asked a couple questions about carting. She then asked me what mix of dog Bosley was. I said he is a Bernese Mountain Dog and I got that look that let me know she has never heard of that breed. She then said "He really looks like a St.Bernard. Is he a St.Bernard mix"? Yes, that is exactly what he is. Funny!

3 comments:

  1. LoL, people are funny. Lots of times people ask me if Miley is an Australian Shephard and if Guiness is a miniture collie. LoL Diana

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  2. Some people think they know all about dogs but then they open their mouths and the truth comes out LOL. I was with my aunt and her buff cocker (in show coat) when a lady asked if her child could "pet the poodle". Ummmm, okay then LOL. I occasionally get asked if I have miniature cockers because they are so much smaller than the giant pets that BYB's produce.

    Way to go with training Bosley. Going over the bridge sounds tricky and he did a great job :)

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  3. It needs to quit raining here, so I can get some training in with Odda too. We are working on Canine Good Citizen training now. Most people here haven't seen Berners either. It's fun to take her to town and walk. She loves the attention.

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