On a beautiful winter day, raisers and dogs took part in a wide range of exercises in conditioning, novelty, and skills practice.
First, a conditioning exercise. Stepping into/through boxes encourages the dogs to pick up their back feet as well as improves their "hind-end awareness."
Cocoa
Sparks
Bruno
Rosie
Julia
Snaking through close cones helps exercise the muscles used in lateral motion.
Julia
Coast
Julia
A pine cone provided a distraction during passbys.
Cocoa and Wookee
Bruno
Bubbles are very hard to photograph, but they're fun! A novel experience for many of the dogs.
Cocoa, Suba, Wookee
Jen and Bruno demonstrate a long-line recall.
Tic-tac-toe -- the "sits" vs the "downs."
Dog distraction work -- one dog circles the rest of the group while everybody tries to retain composure.
Close-proximity stays.
The close-proximity stays for small groups of dogs were just the lead up to one of our group's favorite (and certainly most challenging) exercises -- "the star." All of the dogs have to maintain a sit-stay with their fannies touching (or nearly so). Then, all are called to return to their handlers at once, leading to a starburst effect.
Thank you, everyone, for your hard work today. I think we all deserve a good nap -- in a sunpuddle or otherwise.
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