Interesting day indeed. Hannah was kenneled for an hour before I picked her up, then she did Quiet Time (getting better each time we do in public) at Ladies Bible Study for nearly 90 minutes.
And then it was time, officially, for me to do the TC with Hannah. I had 1, just one TC on me.
And then time for some precision heeling. Hannah's Finish is off, she wants to jump up instead of heeling around, so I held her responsible for her choices. Of course, the Sit/Stay under the dripping eaves on the cold pavement was a FABULOUS training opportunity for a field bred Lab-:)
I knew our training wasn't done as I was heading to IFA soon, so opted to do some snowball retrieves with Hannah for the first time.
*WARNING - DO NOT THROW SNOWBALLS OR ANYTHING UP IN THE AIR AS YOU CAN SO EASILY HAVE A CRUCIATE LIGAMENT INJURY. I DID THESE FEW ONLY SO I COULD CAPTURE HANNAH'S ABILITY TO 'SEE'/'TRACK' AN OBJECT IN THE SKY (LIKE A FALLING DUCK) AND TO HAVE A FEW PHOTOS TO CAPTURE HER REAR END MOVEMENTS. * Normal snowball or anything tossed in the air activity is done parellel to the ground so the dog doesn't tear anything.
Hannah was ecstatic!!!
Oops...lost my psuedo LL in the excitement. Would Hannah, without any ability by me to control her, do a Recall?
ATTA GIRL Hannah! TC's gotta love the belief system they layer into a dog's mind.
Some more play time...
We headed to IFA as I was freezing!
And after nearly 40 minutes of active heeling, sits, stands, downs and extensive Figure 8 training (the circular racks of clothes make exceptional 'posts' for doing multiple Figure 8 turns, it was time for Quiet Time. I opted to do Quiet Time in a VERY PUBLIC and WELL TRAFFICED AREA, the shoe aisle. IFA was nuts with so many people shopping, families with children, families with babies, families with strollers, and even two young men deciding which bullwhip to purchase (yes, they were cracking the whips out within 20 ' of Hannah, quite the distraction indeed).
How did Hannah do?
She watched everything, even had people walk right by her, within 18" of her nose, and STILL, she maintained her Quiet Time position. Then, she just curled up and went to sleep, there in the shoe aisle, with tons of activity all around her.
AWWWWW, THAT is why Quiet Time is so valuable for a handler to do consistently as it trains a learning dog to vege out, do nothing, and still take responsibility for their position which is to yield into a voluntary Down regardless of what is happening.
I'd say this Quiet Time understanding is well engraved now into Hannah's young mind. And when Jessi and I started training Hannah SHE WOULD NOT DO QUIET TIME in a public place at all. Now, it's becoming common, and she is doing this well.
ATTA GIRL Hannah! Took her home, had to coax her out of the warm kennel in my truck, kenneled her at home and she promptly curled up and went back to sleep.
Gotta appreciate ALL the layers of obedience Hannah has acquired thus far!
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