Just conditioning the muzzle again today with a few reps of a slam down and basic position to keep him energised. Was going to go out and try some focussed heeling but it decided to rain sideways during my only break from work 😫 He is really progressing with the muzzle and is already happy to hold his head in there for a few seconds of duration with intermittent reward. We trained a “side” commend when he had a paw injury which is to go from lying down to lying on his side and I’ve been slowly trying to get closer to trimming his nails as he’s been wary since he had the painful paw injury. Today he willingly let me cut every single nail on his front paws with no objection 😭 I was so proud as this is a big step for him to trust me to mess about with them again! Finally we did a super short rep of street heel on a slip as I want to move away from using the prong as a management tool and it went fine. I think we’ll be able to move easily to a different collar for regular walks (he doesn’t really wear it for anything other than street heeling and training sessions) which is good and I’ll start to work on this soon.

Cybi had a semi rest day on Saturday, just a wander y walk in the evening. He was tired from the last few days, and still is on Monday actually 😂 Sunday we took toddler on bike out for a 6.5km ride - I’m not sure who had more fun out of all of us, Cybi is getting so good with B on his bike. We did some focussed heeling which he was super at - I’m really pleased with how it’s coming along (glimpse into life training a dog with a toddler in the video 😂), and he got to splash in the river loads. He was really good with bikes and dogs passing, holding a down while we waited. A very innocent man approached him with his hands out saying “oh he’s lovely, don’t worry I’m good with dogs!” Before I could get between but our “go say hi” cue does pretty consistently turn him into puppy mode now when we do allow him to greet people so I was glad we have been consistent with it. He then had a full shampooey bath and blow dry in the diy doggy shower which he tolerated, then settled while we had a cup of tea and an ice cream after. He then was almost totally unconscious for 20 hours straight 😴 😂 we actually were a bit worried because he was so chill but turns out we’ve just finally gotten through to him that he needs to relax in the house! Then his new muzzle came and we picked up conditioning it with free shaping - he is so smart. He’s done this once and within 3 reps he remembered entirely what he needed to do and would just put his whole head in and wait for the terminal marker 😂 so I think we can build some duration in our next session which is great progress. I’m planning to do his DNA health test next month then to book him in for hip and elbow scoring the following month which is exciting but also terrifying as the idea of them not being perfect is awful 😅 but his litter have also begun these with everyone being clear so far, and his lines are great so I am hopeful for some good x rays!

Today, I remembered to film Kairo’s contact heel (first video). Sadly it wasn’t as good as yesterdays, which was exceptionally neat, but it’s still an improvement. Ignore my right hand, idk why I’m doing that lol. Now that Kairo has source focus, her orbit is coming along nicely (second video). I need to tidy it up and fade out the hand movements, but we’re getting there. It’s genuinely a life goal to have a dog that can orbit! Amigo had a turn too, working on a few bits and pieces for back end awareness. He was particularly excited about backing up onto this box (third video), but I have no idea why!

Just working at club on the commitment issues we have sometimes on course. Like my older dog she has a tendency to pull off if I start moving too early - need to keep that commitment once she starts to give me more time to get to the next place.

I think by doing the 90 minute session we are making huge improvements in our agility! I get to practice the same course and I feel like some things are coming more naturally to me! I messed up a bit in the tunnel in the middle but we still got a clear round! If your considering trying agility- go for it it’s so much fun!