River had an absolutely full on day today - we went to the beach this morning, were home for a bit then around to my sister's for lunch and out to the park with Brandi and Zeta.

Then we went straight to meet up with a friend and her dog for some obedience training practice. Since Riv had a pretty full on day I wasn't expecting all that much from him.

He was teethered while my friend run her dog through a UD round and by the time she finished River couldn't wait to...

Rivsky

River and I have been working particularly hard over the last month to get my drop signal a LOT smaller than what it was and also working on his chane of positions (where I leave him in a stand and go to the front of him and have him drop when I signal) and also getting him to drop on voice only.

Not sure if he was overthinking it or just being lazy but he decided that a smaller signal means a smaller drop so he was only going half way down on them

And...

Rivsky

While I *know* that River is smart I sometimes really don't give him enough credit as was highlighted by him twice this week

First time was at agility training when we were running a course and approached the weavers with me on his non-preferred side - Riv goes in them as he should but stupid me calls him out cos I mixed up my left and rights and thought he went in the wrong side

Second time was I thought I'd get a dumbbell on Sunday so we could start...

Rivsky

River has never been a competent swimmer - as soon as his paws leave the ground he freaks out and heads to safety - be that solid ground or me - which ever is closer!!

Anyway today he was chasing a duck in amongst some seagulls and the duck flew into the water and started to swim away from him. Not only did River follow it into the water (which would have been at least up to my armpits) but he swam right after it for a good 5 minutes

I couldn't believe...

Rivsky

I'm happy to say after a couple of very trying obedience and agility lessons it seems I've got my little worker back with me - and boy am I happy

We've had a couple of breaks from obedience and agility which I think has done River the world of good - and I've also gone heavily back into NILF with him after he seemed to go through a stage of thinking he doesn't need to listen to me because he knows better than me

I just love dog training - you...

Rivsky