Agility, Tracking, and Dog Day Care

The Weave Poles

I come running out of the garage and grab a multi-colored tug toy along the way.  I wave it around at my side as if it is alive.  It captures Magnum’s attention and he runs after me trying to grab the toy.  We reach the weave poles, I take the toy away from him and say “Weave.”  He races through nailing them the first time.  I turn him around and say “Weave” again and he charges through completing them perfectly.  He’s been doing this for 3 days.  Wow!!  And, I thought he would never learn them.

Tracking

I stop with Magnum about 30 feet before the first flag that indicates the beginning of the track, which has aged for 25 minutes.  I put his harness on him and then we walk within a few feet of the flag.  I say, “Down.”  Magnum lies down so he can get a smell of the article at the flag and I snap the lead onto his harness.  I give the command, “Track!” and he takes off.  He is a fast and enthusiastic tracker.  There are no flags at corners or the end of the track, so I am completely dependent upon Magnum.  We should be working as a team.  My challenge is to be able to read the signals Magnum gives when he loses the track and then finds it. Alan noticed that at a turn, Magnum picked up the direction, but I didn’t immediately follow.  The lead line went taunt and Magnum thought I was holding him or signaling it wasn’t the correct direction.  He eventually went back to the correct direction and I read his body signs – nose to the ground almost being hooked and a strong pull on the lead.  I will have to be careful about letting the lead out and not restricting him.  I must be a better member of our team.

Day Care

Magnum and I visited Wags Inn, where he will stay while Alan and I are in Scotland.  He knew right away that it was a place dogs are left.  He refused to go into the building.  He is also shy when he first meets people, so he was leery of the staff.  Lori, the owner, had me bring him through a side yard with her dog Buster.  Magnum loved Buster and it made the process go smoother.  Lori suggested I bring him to dog day care once a week until we leave for Scotland to get him used to the facility.  Wags Inn is no ordinary kennel.  It is on 25 acres with a number of fenced yards for the dogs to play.  Dogs in day care run loose in the yards in supervised play.  After a couple of hours of play, the dogs nap for an hour or so.

When we arrived on Friday, he started to go up to the building, and then backed off.  Fortunately another dog arrived and of course he liked the dog and followed it.  Magnum was in the side yard playing with 6 other dogs when I arrived to take him home.  He had a great day.  He had a silly grin on his face with his tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.  I think it’s going to be okay.