Topa at Obedience Class

Topa does exceptionally well during our "meet and greet" exercise which is designed to teach the dogs to remain calm next to us while we interact with others and do other things without being focused on them.

Topa's first "stay" exercise done only a short distance away.

Topa did an excellent job yesterday at obedience class! It took her the first class to really get used to the idea and this week she just blew my socks off! Although worried at times about the intentions of other dogs around her, she remains attentive to me and is giving super eye contact.

The instructor directed us in several different exercises the help move her though this fear of the unknown. One in particular involved each canine/person team weaving through a line of about a dozen other canine/person teams. After repeating this numerous times, she appeared unconcerned.

Dropping treats on the ground in random areas of the training area proved to be the perfect set up for some on-by training. While those not involved in dog mushing used the command "leave it" with their dogs, our command is "on-by" which will be the same command that transfers to working in the team when passing something tasty(squirrel, horse poop, etc) or interesting on the trail.

Topa gets a week off and White Feather attends next Saturday. Wimzi continues to do well at her puppy class. With Hailey and Rebecca along this week, each dog got some extra socialization as neither had to be placed in a crate during the other dog's class. Hailey even got up and took a turn at working with Wimzi on her obedience which teaches the little fuzzy puppy that she may be called upon to listen to what others have to say as well as her musher, at times.