Grace and Bern started obedience classes on Thursday. Grace is in advanced beginners... she is behind some in the class with her stand and maybe down stays but she was cold and didn't want anything to do with the cold concrete towards the end of class. Her attitude is good during class and she didn't seem concerned when an unknown dog grumbled at her. Bern's off lead healing is looking good but he was tired by the time we got to figure 8s so that was sloppy. At home I'm trying to train some obedience/rally exercises before breakfast every morning.
Friday night we attended the Runnels High performance of Bye, Bye, Birdie with Lillian Runnels, an 11 year old golden retriever retired from AKC performance events but not the stage, play a cameo role. Last year, Lillian played the part of Sandy in Annie. The musical was fun and a good event for a rainy, dreary evening. Unknown to us at the time, Tracey and Rich had Maverick at the emergency vet... rest in peace Mav... I'll miss throwing the ball for you when I come to visit.
Saturday we met John, Tracey, and Rosey for a tracking session. Everyone seems to be improving but Bern. Bern was not even trying... I finally just pulled him out of the field and put him back in the car. He was happy to be there but not willing to try to track. Grace, on the other hand, is doing fantastic. We need to improve her article indication but she has good turns and drive - she IS a tracking dog.
I have been frustrated many nights at agility because I take off a dog's leash to run their turns during class and then I can't locate either of my slip leashes again (Bern's green British slip lead or Grace's tug leash). I purchased a 6' leash for Bern and 50 ft of cord for making tug leashes from Cool Glow Stuff to transform the invisible leashes problem into the visible leashes solution. I'll blog how these products work after their arrival.
We awoke this morning to a cold house. The outdoor compressor for the air conditioner is running continuously. When the heater kicks on we get cool air, rather than warm air, circulating in the house. We tried the inside breaker and the thermostat, and still it runs. Tom left our AC guy a message before he left for work. [Speaking of housing, yet again we spent Sunday afternoon on our quest for a new home for Stately Warren Manor].
Grace is scratching something awful.. she didn't get her weekend bath. I'll go do that now before I go to work.
