More than just vegtiddles!

James has finally progressed from saying 'vegtiddles' to 'vegetables,' but I think his initial pronunciation will always be in my head. :)

We went to a local Farmer's market this a.m., my first and of course, Fizz came along.   What a wonderful place for a happy puppy!!!    We worked on loose-leash walking, not playing with dogs, not rushing to greet, and sits and downs.   As we get further in our training, this will be an awesome place to do sit (and eventually, stand) for exam. 

The set up is two rows of canopies, with various farmers/vendors set up.   Upon our arrival about 20min after the opening, there were roughly 50 people milling about.   Also present, 2 Labs, one was chocolate, on a harness and jumping/barking and really carrying on.   Of *course,* Fizz, who is quite fluent in "I play!" thought that looked just wonderful.   What put a big smile on my face was her first look at that dog, and the quick head snap back to me.  GOOD girlie!!   Lots of treats for that one.   As we approached the dog, it saw Fizz and was doing all it could to play (this looks like a much older dog, starting to grey in many places).   She did hit the end of the 1ft of leash she had to work with, but I stopped, she repositioned and we moved on past, on a loose line.

The 'yellow' (white?!) Lab came to see us, after we'd spent some time visiting with her 2 young girls (maybe 7 and 5?).   I backed up Fizz and said that we weren't greeting, due to an upcoming test, and needing to be behaved and 'not playing with all dogs.'   The owner was very gracious and immediately put his dog in a sit, and Fizz maintained one next to me.  The two dogs were about 10ft apart.  Again, lots of rewards.  :)

In our wanderings, we met lots of kids, several elderly adults, a few people in big hats, and many with delicious smelling drinks/edibles in hand.   Fizz was exemplary in her greetings, sitting and not fussing at the food.   VERY happy with my girlie!   A story was being read to kids sitting on a quilt, including my two.   Put Fizz in a down a few feet back (so as not to worry any who have breed prejudice issues), and listened to the story.  She didn't even consider the Mom who was feeding her 2yr old son a HUGE muffin, not a second glance.   The one thing that caught her eye was an unclipped Border Terrier racing about on the end of its leash.....it did look like a toy!

Final excitement before leaving was the passing commuter rail train (7 cars plus engine).   James of course was stoked to see a train, so we were plastered to the protective chainlink fence, and could feel the breeze given off as the train sped past, not more than 20ft away.   Fizz was not bothered by the noise, or the size of it (or the horn blasting)......but I think her ears told me that prey drive was turning on.   The LAST thing I need is a train-chasing dog, eek!!  Despite her increased interest/drive, she maintained her sit.

Looking forward to more visits through out this summer and future ones to come.  What an AWESOME place to work training, especially things like sit/stand for exam, gloves, article discrimination (as well as heeling and stays).   There's a different market on Fridays that we're hoping to check out this coming Friday.  The more ability to generalize behaviors and expectations, the better behaved my dog will be.   :)

Men in hats

I was going to title this post "We gave Fizz away today" and head it up with the photo of Fizz and Jeff...........it was sooo tempting!  :)  But that wouldn't have been very nice.   :P

We ran errands this a.m. and came home to find a tree cutting crew, including a large crane, right outside the house.   This was VERY exciting for the kids, and it soon dawned on me that this was a great training opportunity.   Loud things, unexpected crashes as limbs fell, odd smells, BIG huge trucks moving about, men in hats, gloves, goggles, etc.    Why miss out on a training opportunity????

Got Fizz out and worked a bit of short heeling, focus on me, and then sits and downs.   Downs became VERY difficult as the kids ate PB&J sandwhiches (this cool event rated a 'bottom of the driveway' picnic!).  All of my dogs are peanut butter junkies, to the Nth degree.  

After our 'work,' Fizz just hung out with the kids, relaxing and enjoying the show, despite our blazing heat.   And of course, who could pass up the opportunity to have a good stick chew when bits of tree are flying about??   

I was able to spend some time talking to the officer working the detail, and it turns out he used to train K9's in the nearby town.  He knows the Billings, Kenny Ballinger, and a host of other people from my former life in Working dogs.   We had a great time chatting.......had to laugh about Jagermeister in the live blind....ah the memories! :)

Fizz was not bothered at all by any of the men, wiggled and wagged to meet everyone of them, no matter what they had on their heads, eyes or hands.   I was very thankful that she didn't think Jeff's beautiful white gloves meant "game on!"  :) :) 

Every day presents us with new training opportunities, ability to socialize and just add yet another thing to the list of "oh yeah, that's just life."   I'm so thankful to the trainers in my life who have opened my eyes to this way of thinking, and encouraged me to seize such opportunities.   THANK YOU! :)