A bit about obedience

Devon really enjoys obedience. We had another private lesson this week with Linda, and Devon did surprisingly well. I still have to work harder on set ups, but the "get close" work we were doing on her left turns was really nice. She also surprised both Linda and me with her fronts. I've not really worked them, and we had her doing side step and step back fronts within a minute. She is going to be a fantastic heeling dog.

Our only struggle in obedience has been the foot touch to the wall. This is a part of how Linda and Mike teach the go out. Unfortunately, Devon hasn't liked the foot touch. She'll do it at their training facility, but when I get home after a couple of successful attempts, she runs away very stressed. This time I've stuck with it, and I've seen some improvement. I started sitting on the floor and asking her for the behavior with lots of good treats. This is really helping. I'm also changing the word to "Smack." I think this will also help solidify the behavior as a happy one for her. Thursday night we were able to get her to touch three different posts at Pawsitive.

Devon is a really flashy obedience dog. I can't wait to see how her skills will continue to develop!