Swy meets new friends

My little yellow guy has been a true test of patience. LOL

He is very different than Sophie. Sophie wants to please (or maybe its more about the treat/toy). Training her was a breeze. She picked up flyball, agility and obedience commands very quickly. Basically…I was spoiled as a handler.

Swyatt…he is a whole other ball game. He has food drive, very very high that his brain tends to shut everything else out but the food. I'm also convinced he ate jumping beans because sitting still causes him to vibrate in place because he so wants to move. LOL

Training has been a bit of a struggle. Small sessions multiple times a day have really helped and he has made some awesome progress over the last few months. He still has a very short stay and its by no means solid. But we have a wait/stay where before there was none.

He seems to have hit adolescence/teenage stage and recall isn't that great. Long lines at practice are a must and even then….its hit or miss if there will be focus.

Leash reactivity has shown a great improvement, so long as we aren't in our neighborhood (too many barking/charging dogs for Swy's comfort)

All that said…he is awesome at flyball tournaments when he has to be crated. He settles and naps or watches everyone around. Past tournaments, I get him out and walk him around but tried to avoid meeting other dogs and causing reactivity.

This tournament, he was super calm and relaxed so I decided to push the boundaries a little. He was walking around so calmly and with no reactivity that I had him meet some of our calmer dogs while on leash.

I took several deep breathes, tried to relax and loosen the leash. And…he did fantastic. He met 5 different dogs. He was only interested in playing with one of them, about his age and height. They play bowed to each other and barked/pawed, tried to zoom which is hard when attached to leashes and owners. LOL

He got tons of treats and praise!

We worked near the ring on commands and watching the racing dogs.

He also finally tugged in public (he won't tug anywhere but at home…well he wouldn't).

Very happy with his progress. We start agility basics in three weeks and I am looking forward to this new class and activity with him. I think it will help build his confidence and I am excited to see how that plays out in flyball and life in general :-)