Tiny Paws, Big Adventures: Exploring Oakledge Park

This Week's Training Class:

The trainer that teaches our class wasn't there because of an emergency so a different trainer taught it. We were supposed to practice last week's homework which I thought Delilah had been doing well. In class she was awesome at sit and touch. The problem was with down. We weren't supposed to lure them or use a hand signal/point- we were just supposed to say "down" and the dog was supposed to lie down with the voice command alone. Delilah just stared at me blankly- she doesn't associate the cue word with the behavior. I still had to lure her into the down. This is kind of embarrassing but I got so frustrated and anxious that when I tried to ask a question I started stuttering and I got self conscious when I saw everyone else watching me and started crying. It was really embarrassing and I got very upset with myself. My boyfriend was not there to help me because he had work. Ugh, I hate myself.

So anyways, we've spent the last few days practicing down practically non stop and it seems like she's starting to get it. I asked on the dog forum again and got a lot of helpful advice, including an exercise we've been doing that she's caught on to pretty well. Lure her into the down, click, feed her multiple treats one after another, and then hold a treat over her head so she has to stand to get it, and do it again. Eventually she should start going down automatically which is when I should add the cue word. When I tried this with the clicker, she'd pop up as soon as I clicked and before I could even give her the first treat, so I tried the exercise without the clicker and she went down and STAYED down each time! So now I need to figure out the clicker problem.

Today's Adventure:

Today I gave Delilah a bath, which she hated so much. So I decided to bring her somewhere fun to make it up to her. I didn't want to drive to off leash hiking trails in Essex or Jericho (too far away) so I brought her to Oakledge Park right on Lake Champlain in Burlington.

There were sooo many squirrels, she spent the whole time tracking, chasing, and screaming at squirrels. She wanted to murder all of them! For such a poorly bred dog, she has a textbook terrier temperament and incredible prey drive. I really want to do something like terrier racing or barn hunt with her so she can have an outlet for it. The problem is it's hard to find a lot of dog sports in Vermont, other than like agility.