July 20, 2008 - Show and Tell

My first full day home from school...Mik and I spent the day making the rounds.

Meghan and my mom got to meet Mika the day I moved in to school. We only got to spend a brief moment with her then so this weekend allowed them a chance to get to know her a bit more and see some of the basic training we've been doing.

After lunch Meg and I took Mika up to see my brother, Mike. Naturally we had to take her bench and training toys in tow. Once there I put her on her bench where she stood and stared at the plasma TV--stone still--for a solid 3 minutes, which is a long time in dog years ;) I tried to do a demonstration of the Ball on the Wall game that builds prey drive but quickly learned you need more than a 6 foot radius to make the game effective, otherwise you just end of looking dumb, and the dog acts like she doesn't even want to know you. Overall, I think Mika was able to impress but I don't know about me ;)

The next stop was to Casey's house for a quick visit and demonstration. Poor Meghan had to listen to my spiel over and over as I played the part of proud mama everywhere we went. We headed home after we left Casey's.

The various outings that day were great training for Mika. She met a lot of people and got to practice her climbs, sits, stands, and downs in a variety of environments. This is called proofing, when you test the behavior in different locations and with different distractions around. It is recommended by our instructor to practice training commands in at least 5 different environments. Mika has undoubtedly had more proofing than any other dog is class. I try to take her any place dogs are allowed I can so she can see, hear, and experience as much as possible while she is young.