Perth Agility

The Sonic Project is going pretty well. We've progressed to me being able to recall Sonic to me when he's in the backyard with Riot which he would never have done before. If I let Murphy & Soda out as well I'm less successful but that is what we are working to next. I'm making the most of any opportunity that presents itself, for example last weekend we were out the front of the property gardening. It was such a nice day that we decided to let all the dogs out with us as well. Anytime they are all let outside of the backyard Sonic considers it to be "crazy" time so I worked on rewarding on the few occasions when he was lying down relaxed with the other dogs or when he came to me when I called him. After he'd settled down he would even come over and offer me tricks for a reward which made for a nice change from him spending every second watching Riot in case he did anything interesting.

I've had a couple of weeks off trialing which was a welcome relief. I love agility but sometimes you just need a break.... We had a single trial yesterday with Sonic just entered in both Masters classes. Although we didn't come away with any quallies I was really happy with what we did. Sonic uncharacteristically knocked two bars in agility and I unfortunately pulled him off a jump in jumping. Other than that he was spot on. Just goes to show that a training program of things like recalls and foundation work is far more beneficial than going to training and running sequences over and over again. I think Sonic's greatest improvement has come from me doing the recall work. Since I started working on that his response on course has improved out of sight.