Happiness is a Happy Pup!

It's been about 6 weeks since I posted about Surf's early experiences and the issues we have been dealing with.   Since then, she has done really well with the exception of dogs barking in crates in her agility class.  The format of the class changed at the beginning of the new session.  No longer were all the dogs out on the floor working at the same time. Now they are crated while waiting their turn to go on the floor to do the exercise.  And guess what that means? WAY more barking and whining from the crating area.  I found that she was able to hold it together for about half the class, but then was going over threshold.  So I have had to get creative, and take lots of mental breaks, but this past week in class she was just super.

A few weeks ago, we went to visit a new farm where Surf will be staying for some herding training while we go out of town.  As I mentioned in a previous post, Surf has very different expectations of dogs in a herding environment vs. an agility environment.  Right before she went into to work some goats, she had to walk by a bunch of dogs making some noise in crates (all wanting their turn on the stock!). She didn't even look their way.  The arousal level of dogs who are working stock is VERY different from the arousal level of dogs working in agility.  And Surf very clearly knows that.  She's a smart cookie.

We also went to an indoor agility trial last weekend, with lots of dogs crated in two good sized rooms, and I was fully prepared to have Surf need some extra support in the environment.  To my surprise, she had absolutely no issues.  The dogs barking in crates did not worry her.  She was super confident, happy to take treats and tug, and started dragging me back in the building when I got her out of the car!  She also made a fun new friend---a BC pup about three months younger. The instant Surf and Vanquish saw each other, it was game on!  They played for a very long time, it was just adorable! Surf also met a few other dogs, said hi to some people and just had a positive experience.  Yay!!!! Have I mentioned that I am still in awe of her resilience?

This past weekend we met up with a few other dog friends. First we went to Bella's house and had a play date there.  Bella is a black lab, and Surf loves her--which makes me happy that Surf isn't a breed snob.  :-)  Then we had an outing with puppy border collie Charlie.  First we hit up Tractor Supply where Surf taught Charlie how to climb on all the things!  And they had a play session the hard store floor, rolling around playing bitey face.  As we were leaving, a little Jack Russell went crazy barking and lunging at Surf and Charlie, all from the comfort of his seat in the shopping cart.  Surf barely even looked his way!  Then we went over to a local park to work on desensitizing the pups to screaming kids, who were in the pool.  A huge success all around!  They saw people riding bikes, kids running with big tubes and lots of traffic.

Right now, I am feeling super optimistic that Surf is going to be just fine. She may be the definition of resilience!  This week, she is heading to sheep camp while we go on vacation.  This is the first time I will be away from her since she was born!  I know she will be in the best hands, and will LOVE getting to work the woolies (or goats) a few times a day.  She may not want to come home!  I am hoping the experience will boost her confidence even more.

I am in no rush to do anything with Surf, this whole journey is about her timeline and keeping all of her experiences going forward positive ones.  In order to compete successfully in agility, she needs to be totally relaxed in her environment.  Some trainers would say to get her to focus on me and ignore the environment.  And for some dogs, that might be the right choice.  But for Surf, I know that it's not.  Surf needs to check out her environment, assess any potential dangers and feel comfortable before she can fully connect with me.  So I will allow her to do perimeter sweeps and whatever she needs to do before asking for her focus.  I think it's only fair, after all she's been through.  Surf has lots of drive, is very clever and has a nice desire to please.   It will all come together but until then, we'll just keep having fun!

Super Surf is 10 months old!

I don't know when it happened, but Surf looks like a big girl now.  She has always been a mature puppy---definitely a wise old soul.   That's not to say she doesn't have her crazy moments, or lapses in judgement.  :-)   Physically now, she looks like an adult and I have to constantly remind myself that she is far from being physically mature.  It's can be so easy to rush a puppy into training, and push them harder than we should---we see it all the time in videos being posted to Facebook.  And sometimes I get caught up in wanting to try something, but then I always take a step back and remind myself that Surf is still a baby.

Hopefully we have the next decade to play agility together, or any other sport she might like.  Right now is the time we have to focus on our relationship, her body awareness and thinking skills that will set her up for success down the road.

Surf absolutely loves working sheep, and I wasn't sure how much I should be letting her go herding.  She was pretty crazy at first, but now she's gotten pretty dialed in to not having to work them at a million miles an hour anymore, so I worry less.  The herding gives her so much confidence!  You can clearly see her genes at work, and how much of her grandparents show up in her.  Surf has SO much eye, and she finally knows what to do with it.

It was very interesting to see how she handled agility class on Thursday and herding on Saturday last week.  Surf is still very distrustful of dogs in agility class--and rightfully so.  She does really, really well when all the dogs are out on the floor working.  But when she's the only one on the floor, and the others crated and making lots of noise, she struggles---not knowing if they are coming after her. She was able to work well for about 30 minutes, but then was just over threshold.

When we went herding on Saturday, it was in a new location, with a lot of new dogs around.  Some even crated next to the arena and making noise.  She never even noticed them barking!  She was just there  to do her job!  She was happy to say hi to lots of dogs, and even played with a wee 9 week old pup.  Surf was totally relaxed, no worries at all.  The ONLY environment where she gets worried is around the arousal of agility, and that seems to be confined to indoor locations, where we just can't get far enough way from the "barking crates".

My goal continues to be to desensitize her to that environment, as well as build her confidence in herself and trust me.  But for now, she just gets to be a puppy.   We play a ton together and I've been working on new tricks with her---just no pressure stuff.  Part of my challenge is going from Gypsy---a balls to the wall girl who you could hit over the head with a  2x4 and she'd keep working---to Surf, who is much more thoughtful and honestly more "normal".  Surf has tons of drive and is wicked smart but thinks things through before reacting.  Gypsy rarely thinks about anything before acting---she is just a freak of nature.  :-)

I adore both of them, and respect them for who they are.  And I am SO grateful that they get along so well!