Wow.

I have yet again failed miserably at keeping track of things and updating. I've been intensely busy with teaching motorcycle courses, working at the theater and with just life in general. Well things are finally settling down and it looks like I'll find some time to post again.

Here's a quick run down of what's been going on in our lives.

Couple of Sunday's ago we went to the Paws for a Cause dog walk at the Dingle park. Kobi did half awesome half terrible, and I think the terrible was more my fault. The walk started over an hour late meaning we had to stand around for the entire time and that is not something Kobi enjoys. The walk was great, but short, I wish they had planned a longer route. After the walk, I should have left, but I didn't because someone hinted that we would be winning the owner dog look alike, and we did, but as they decided to finally give us our prize Kobi hit his threshold and flipped out. But that was my fault for not leaving when I should have.

The goodies we won... not worth the out busrt from Kobi.

Last week in class we finally encountered some agility equipment and I was soooo impressed with Kobi. He has such low confidence that silly little things scare the crap out of him. We started with a teeter board and thanks to teaching him "Step Up" he immediately planted his feet on the board without hesitation. When the board moved he was a little freaked out but thanks to lots of praise and treats he didn't get totally freaked out. We had some trouble with the tunnel, our trainer had to help direct him inside while I played with his toy on the other side, but he went through once! Same thing happened with the tire, but he got through once which makes me happy!

Kobi and I went on our first ever walk with no treats!!! That's right, not a single treat! And he still stayed at my side and didn't bark once. All the hard work paid off! His loose leash walking has come along so well I'm not able to walk Kobi and Scout together again! I used to have to walk them one at a time so that I could give Kobi my full attention.

We bought ourselves a dog crate. I have never been a fan of crate training and don't think it's necessary for us, but after going to that fun match a little while back I realized just how useful a crate could be in those environments. If I had been participating in the match I along with everyone else would need to go check out the course without Kobi, I would need to pay fees, go to the bathroom, get stuff from the car, all without Kobi. So a crate is really the only option for us. It's currently set up in our living room with the door removed so he can go in and out as he pleases, so far he still prefers out. But he's been eating all his meals from the crate and I frequently toss some treats or a toy in to get him going inside and realizing that the crate is becoming the source for all things fun and yummy. Kobi is terrified of confined spaces so we're taking it slow, I'm not pushing him in or getting him in and closing the door on him, he'll learn to love it on his own time.

Well I think that's about it that's happened. I'll be sure to try to do a better job at keeping up to date from now on.