So I know I have sucked lately at the pun titles so here is some alliteration for you. Don't say I never give you anything! Today has been warrrrrrrrm. I have missed the heat to be honest, although it does make training and/or playing for any duration during the day quite difficult. We played with the Chuckit ball today, putting Aster in a down and having her wait until I cue her to go get the ball. She has had breaking early variably reinforced lately so she has gotten a bit of a habit of helping herself. My fault. So she was in a harness with a little tab and I can grab that if she goes to break. Islay also rocked up to provide a bit of competition and add some difficulty to the impulse control. We had fun and I noticed for the first time that Islay was really hunting properly for the ball with some grit! I like this a lot. Indications were OK. My tiny cubes of raw melt so quick in the heat that they stick to the underside of the tin and slow me down so that was annoying 🙄but we moved it onto the lawn for a change and she still did well. For her dinner I got out my contact mat and did a send away to her bowl of food. Ever since watching @Gary Martin's incredible send away video I have this picture in my mind of how I would like my send-aways to look - like that! :)

Plugging much the same. Had some great "stops" from Igor, when he is listening he is great. I've been using a flat hand with the word heel which seems to be working better with him. Tried to start teaching him "tidy" however it proved too much having more than one toy so it's going to take some work. Phoenix will show you what he is supposed to be doing, he will show you how he does it 😂 I got some good clips of them. Igors middle is still some what of a wrecking ball 😬

As I’ve been ill it’s been hard to train much. But I can say Mabel has been a star. Lower level walks, not as much variety (as the field opposite the house is the easy option when energy is low) but she’s survived and she has two hours of agility tomorrow as a reward for being awesome! We have been working more near other dogs/people just because of local field and she’s doing great. If she’s searching for something everyone disappears!

Had some great classes tonight, Maggi was really calm and enjoyed all classes, we have levelled up to level 4 tonight! 😇 had some Christmas tricks started with paw print for Christmas tree decorations, got very messy! 🤣 and finished with scentwork, been a very busy night for Maggi, so we got home and she took herself to bed!

We have been trying out some of the Christmas challenge from another group I'm in. I'm not sure Igor will grasp it all but I think phoenix will do ok. It's just a bit of fun but it gives me something different to do when we are at home. They have both been a bit sleepy today. I can always tell if phoenix isn't feeling it as she will just lay down no matter what I ask so we will give it another whirl tomorrow. Highlight of my week I got myself a new Christmas jumper! So Impressed with how well it came out.