Tugging freak

For the last few days Wi has started to LOVE tugging. Before she enjoyed it but now she absolutely loves it!
Now she's offering me one end of her plush tuggy when I let her win so that we can play again, she's killing her tug toy viciously after every win and she's really started to "dig in" while she tugs. Before she never gave so much of herself into tugging but now...WOW!

I decided I'll try to teach her right heel just with tugging as reward. We did some training today outside (on the snow) and she was great. She already knows she's supposed to be doing something on my right side. She can't decide between walking, barking and limping tough.
But it's a good start.

On Friday they'll take her stitches out.
And we're lengthening our walks and adding more and more activities during the walk. She's also kept busy at home with tricks and bones to chew on.

Going Blind

No one is loosing their sight.

Today Wi started training Blind retrieves. We decided to start with visual aid of a white traffic cone (normal orange-white cone, wrapped into a white towel).
I can only say it could not have gone better.
First she retrieved 5/6 dummys from the pile around the cone, each retrieve was slightly longer. Since we just started I think it's normal that it takes her a little more time to find her "picture". She'll also have to get used to keeping her eye on the picture when I move my hand next to her head.
The biggest concern I had was "shopping". But she never shopped...not even switched. Maybe she grew out of it or maybe it was simply that that I'm not giving her "come in" whistle every time she gets a dummy in her mouth. Anyway I was really proud of her work today.
After 5 I gave her some break and then she did another 3 with a bigger distance between.
We also did double marking. Again I wasn't sure about her switching but she never switched nor showed any desire to switch in both doubles.
She seemed to be in a really really good mood today and she even played with other dogs.

Back on track

Wi's recovering really fast. She's her happy old self again with the exception that she's still not allowed to jump. Sometimes during the day she forgets about this, jumps, yelps and sulks in at my feet for a while. Then she forgets about it...until next time.

Yesterday I took her to dummy training. I took some blankets with me and I wrapped her in them so that she was warm and I put a shirt on her to protect her belly. She was supposed to only watch the training (there were more dogs) and be patient. At the end I hid one dummy for her at the edge of the forest and then I let her search for it.
She was so happy.

We're doing some "boring" tricks now...they're mostly related to empty cups of dairy products. Most of the tricks we're shaping will appear in her new trick video which will hopefully be done in 2 weeks time.

Almost forgot to add that now WI has a whole bowl of homemade treats. I was in a baking mood yesterday and I made her some cheese & sesame sticks.

Waking up

Wi got through the operation OK. She had some allergic reactions that we're not completely sure what caused them. She was whimpering all day yesterday and complaining about the pain and her bandage.
Today she got her bandage off and now she's getting to her old self again. She got her apatite back and has even started drinking.

Some photos from yesterday and today:

Sad news

We went to the vets yesterday becouse dogs were still acting as tough Wi was still in heat (for 12 weeks now) and she was (or still is). She has been in heat for 12 weeks now. And she has a bacterial infection. So now she's on antibiotics and tommorow she's getting spayed.

We shaved her belly for the UZ and she was horrified.

At home she wanted to show everyone how poor she is and how dreadful her belly now looks (ant to show she's not sleeping on it anymore).

Today she refused to go anywhere near taller grass or off the path in the woods and when at home she gets on a pillow and wraps herself around it with her tummy to keep it warm.

Biba & dummys

I'm dogsitting Biba (PRT) for a little more than a week.
Isn't she cute?

She also started to bring me some toys.

She's loads of fun and finally I got to dogsitt a dog that actually really likes to eat. And that Wi likes to play tug with.

Dora also accepted her more that she did any other dog. Or maybe she has finally realized that her growling and protesting won't get the dog our of her house and her way...

Today we did some uphill single marking excercises, free search and single marking over moderate cover (with diffrent distance between each mark). Wi aced them all. I was so proud of her!

She found 5 dummys that we're really well hidden, she searched the area with nice style and enthusiasm, checking every bush and cover. She also found them extremly fast.
And she pinned all her markings. I tought she might have problems with uphill marks but she just ran, grabbed and came back. Good girl!
For next week I'm planning to start introducing her to Blind retrievers.

And we're having a nice sunny weather. No rain today. Just sun and nice autum colors.