Tessa Update and . . .

I haven't been doing a lot of formal training with Tessa lately, but we have been doing some "real life" training, and I really am still giving her time to settle in and feel more comfortable being here.

There have been a few big milestones, though. Early last week, Tessa played with a ball! I was thrilled. I had noticed her watching the balls fly, but she had never shown interest in actually putting one in her mouth. I was concerned that she, like Maddie, might never be a dog that plays with toys. I don't worry about that with Maddie, but I really think Tessa needs to play. I think that play - whether with the other dogs with or without toys, or with toys, or with me - will be very, very good for her.

Then one day I saw her pick up a ball. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and was careful not to let her see I was watching. She chawed on it a bit, dropped it, picked it up, and then lost interest. A few days later I tossed a ball to her while I was playing with Speedy and Dean. To my surprise, she ran to it and picked it up and played with it a bit on her own. She isn't comfortable with me moving in to her to get it for another toss, but once she drops it on her own, I can get it and toss it again.

The biggest progress has been outside, though. She is starting to run with a ball in her mouth. This is good because she loves to run after Dean and she is FAST! The more I play with her with the ball outside, the more she is running with the Border Collies and she is spending less time sniffing with the mutts. After a bit, she does join the mutts, though. I think this is a good balance for her. She gets physical exercise and then she gets a chance to sniff around and explore. And she has good interaction with all four of the dogs.

Tessa has become a star when it comes to sitting on cue. She is to the point where I ask her to sit before I put her food bowl down. I have built up to an uncued stay for about 15 seconds before I put the bowl down, and now I am just starting to add movement into the picture. I do have some reservations about building this much value into the sit. Normally I don't want a dog to have too strong of a default sit. But in Tessa's case, I think the benefits outweigh that. It is good for her to learn that doing something that I ask will earn her the meal, or the treat, or whatever I have that she wants. Right now sit is all she knows to do and the fact that she is comfortable with, not stressed by, responding to a cue is major progress. She's a smart dog. We can override the default later on if it becomes very strong.

She is still a snuggle monster. She loves to be petted and I am planning to take her to a massage workshop at the training school in a couple of weeks. That will be a perfect intro for her into the training and sport world. Nice and relaxed! I am going to take Maddie along in case she needs a buddy to feel comfortable.

Tessa has become very good friends with Maddie. In fact, yesterday evening there was another big first. Maddie finally played with Tessa. Tessa has been teasing Maddie to play with her for weeks and Maddie has stood there and ignored her. Often Maddie would start up a game with Dean soon after ignoring Tessa's requests to play! Yesterday they finally went to town!

Speedy seems to be her other best buddy. Well, who doesn't love Speedy? Last night they slept the entire night curled up together. I seriously think that is the first time Speedy has ever spent an entire night snuggled up to another dog.

She more or less ignores Sammie and Dean, except when outside. Outside she does enjoy chasing Dean with the ball in her mouth. And she does join Sammie for sniffing.

Part of the reason I haven't been doing much structured training with Tessa is because I had two competitions in the last two weekends.

Two weeks ago, I took Speedy to a Freestyle competition. We did our new Waltz routine in the Senior Division. It was a good day.

I was very surprised when I got him out of the car and he didn't even want to go for a walk! He kept throwing himself into heel! I finally put Dean back in the car and took Speedy down the little road in heel! I had him practice heeling on both sides, and we did some moves. He was definitely ready!

This new routine is extremely fun for both Speedy and me. It really brings out his particular strengths which are not technical, but artistic. He loves to perform it.

So, we went in to wait for our turn and Speedy was rarin' to go! There was a bit of a delay between our sound check and when the judge was ready for us to go in to perform. Speedy was standing there looking at the audience with delight in his eyes.

We really had fun doing this routine in competition. He started off just a little too enthusiastic and at first he galloped where he was supposed to prance, but by about 1/3 of the way into it, he fell into step and he was definitely "on"!

After we had finished, I actually let him run around a little in the ring - just back and forth in front of me. I don't normally let him do that, but it was a bit of extra celebration - he really deserved a special reward for that performance.

We qualified and got Second Place and we earned our Beginner Title. That's his third Beginner Title - regular division, of course, Heelwork to Music, and now this one. Speedy and I love Beginner! And we love Novice and I'm happy that we are back there again!

And we got an award! And I just love this - it was for "Most Musical" in the Senior division Beginner/Novice. That is just the most perfect award for Speedy. To top it off, the prize is a free video entry! We are actually planning to do video competition very soon!

The best part of the day for me was seeing Speedy so eager to be there and to get out there and dance. Going to practice weekly (for the most part) has made a HUGE difference for him.

You can see it in his face in his beginning pose . . .



And in his ending pose!



This past weekend we had a good Rally trial, but I'll write more about that later!