 |
| After the trial I took Sunny and Flint for a walk around the race track. It was a long hike for Sunny and I think she got tired <VBG> |
 |
| Couldn't resist stopping to take a picture of these nectarine trees on the way home. The valley is exploding with color! |
I went to an AKC trial this weekend and Sunny was there to get more socialization. At 15 weeks I would say she has met at least 100 people already! And probably even more dogs. Going to agility trials is a big bonus for puppies :-)
Sunny is learning how to hang out at trials too. I walked her around quite a bit and I was so impressed when I stopped to chat with someone she would lie down and wait. How smart is that :-) She watched with interest dogs running agility, but she didn't act crazy about it. She did a good job hanging out in her xpen and was mostly quiet. Of course she did bark some - but not too bad.
Right now I still have a harness on Sunny and am not asking for attention on me when I am out at these events. I am just letting her be a puppy and experience the big, exciting world around her. Sunny is good at these events and is not barking or acting silly around other dogs and people. IF she were acting like that I would not have her out in the middle of all that activity - letting her get over stimulated. IF she were overstimulated and acting crazy I would keep her further back from the activity until she got used to everything. It may be that because I have socialized Sunny from the time I got her is why she is so good in these situations. She is a high drive puppy and I know she can get overstimulated sometimes, and it may come up in the future as she matures. My job is to keep up the socialization and exposure to many different situations for the next couple of years. Did I say YEARS? Yes!
I have started to put a gentle leader on her though and am getting her used to wearing it. I put it on her and let her wear it while we tug and chase toys, and I also put it on her when I feed her. I will do a lot more of that this week and plan to start using it soon. I won't be letting her drag me around in her harness much longer :-D I will write more about how I use a gentle leader in another post.
