We took Saffy to a local park for a walk and worked on heeling in a very stimulating environment. We came across someone playing with a very big remote control car and James just had to go see it!😂 When we got close James put Saffy in a sit stay to watch as it come closer. We got an added distraction of a small girl on a foot scooter go by with the owner of the car. Saffy only quietly whined once and immediately corrected after a quiet. She did so good! The experience was much longer than the little video I got. She was very excited after so James had her a down stay with a leash distance walk away and I was able to get some cute leave pictures!😊 She was able to decompress in a calm way.

Sandy did some good training tonight! She is getting great at backup and I am able to go into the heel position and put my hand kind of to the side with the lure instead of right in front of her and she still understands. She is also in the very beginning stages of learning over. I was proud of how she did with the loud chair coming towards her while doing a stand stay. I have not been using her e collar on breaking stand stays right now because I figured it was new enough. @Amanda Taulborg Should I be??? She is very good at understanding that she is allowed in my lap when I say snuggle and is very consistent on going right where she is supposed to!! Sorry I cut it off in the video. Thanks!!

This first lesson is all about teaching your dog how to hold an object, not rushing to a full retrieve yet. We’re working on: - Where the object goes in their mouth - How much pressure to use (not chomping, not dropping) - Comfort with hands near the face and mouth This is also sneaky desensitization work — face touching, mouth handling, and weird new sensations. All good things for future retrieves and real life. Go slow. Break it into tiny wins. If your dog gets confused or silly, that’s normal — just reset and try again. Most important rule: don’t rush this part. A calm, confident mouth now = clean retrieves later. And yes… have fun with it. This should feel like a game, not a test 😄🐾

Mr. Ollie vs the scary pink pool noodle! I am so very proud of him for staying in a down stay the entire time!

We started with going to the Dr for James. I took a moment to get Saffy ready for the visit while James was called back early. When we came into the room his BP was super high. After an over, snuggle and some Saffy love his BP dropped to normal. What an awesome real world “quantitative” effect she had! He has been worried about his BP at the Drs so now we found his secret medicine, Saffy love!💕 😆 oh and she “behaved” really well with an under a chair until after the Dr left. After that, we headed to the skate park again. Monday James took her and she was calm enough to walk around the outside of the skate board area with some stops by the fence. Today we did the same with some sitting by the fence. Then we took a walk and watched baseball practice. We came back to the skating area and did another lap with a step away down stay. She is getting much better with the noises. She enjoys the baseball part. She did calm down enough by the skaters while in her down stay to kick her hip out, which got her praise and treats. There were lots of treats and free dogs but not on video. After that, we were all hungry and went to eat. We just got settled when an Amtrak went by maybe 75ft away. She quivered a bit but held her down stay! She was rewarded with her kibble dinner and then settled right down in the little space we made for her.