Happy Thursday With The Reufus Training and also... Quiet Celebration!

My, how time flies. It's already Thursday again, and this past week has been chock full of extreme triple digit temperatures and also busy-ness.

Of course, you know that I much prefer laid back, quiet kinda Bleusy times with the cool air blowing gently through my furs... so I'm really not so happy that my time has been hi-jacked by incessant training and volunteerism.

Don't get me wrong. Both are important and valid and noble. I just miss indulgent The Bleu Time (and so does my the Mom!)! 

Thursday nights are what they are. Reuf runs off with the Mom. And I make the very most of the evening... from start to finish... self indulgence and guilty pleasures!

I love starting the evening out with a bubble bath and a glass of wine. It's nice to unwind from a week of Reufus. And tonight, with just a hint of abandon... I decided to let my ears dip in the bubble pond!

And meanwhile, a couple of miles from here... My shadow, my thorn, my brother is greeting his trainers and fellow classmates with enthusiasm.

He and the Mom had a difficult week of training. I don't know if you would call it a plateau... or if Reuf is maxed out or maybe even mad at the Mom for some reason, but it wasn't a great week.

As training weeks go, the time investment in this one has been thoughtful but maxed. The Mom holds herself totally responsible for failures, and she thinks this training week has pretty much been one.

I don't know her personally, but I can't say enough good things about Reuf's trainer, Tracie! She seems to understand, love and appreciate the bad boy... and she's able to explain him to the Mom. Tonight, for example... Thoughtful words are exchanged. And the Mom is re-energized. Hope is restored. And frustration, for the time being, has subsided.

Tonight's Beyond Basic Class included:

1. Walk with loose leash and intermittent sits.
2. Sit/ Stay with distance.
3. Settle or Down/Stay with distance.
4. Spin and Reverse. Our Little Reufus is a pro at this command!!!
5. Wave.... Ain't happening. Thank you, Tracie, for your counseling!
6. Roll Over. Great job, Reuf!!! He did great!
7. A-Frame. Reverse from last week, and from the right side (tonight's class required the dog to work from the right side of the trainer... Obedience always requires work from the left. Agility from both sides.) Reufus was PERFECT on each attempt!
8. A-Frame / Call Away. This exercise teaches the dog to listen and to be called away from what he expects.
9. Tunnel. Reufus did well racing through a hard walled barrell.
10. Over. Reuf learned to jump over low boards/hurdles. And tonight... from the right side.
11. Jump. Reuf learned to jump through a hoop!

Reufus and the Mom arrived in a state of frustration and anxiety. As class ended, they walked over, gathered the long lead and started their way out of the arena...

When they passed the box top, Reuf hopped on top and sat. The Mom paused for a great while and then released him. He hopped off, wagging his tail!

And now, we are all here. We are all home. The Reufus is settled in his crate. And it's BED TIME for all of us! No need for stress. No need for anxiety. It's truly... all good.

Night Night from Me! Woo Hoo!!! 

Bubble Bath... And Beyond Basic!!!

As you know, Thursday nights are bittersweet for me. On the one paw, my the Mom is away from home... And on the other, the Reufus is also away from home!!!

Bring on the bubble bath, cookies in bed, and all my other guilty pleasures! Join me if you will!!!
 

Close your eyes and picture me here in my pink bathrobe and shower cap. Why, you ask, do I need a shower cap when I'm taking a bubble bath???

To ensure that my ears are dry when the Mom gets home... of course!!! But I digress...

Tonight is the first night of Reufus' new class... Beyond Basic. You might wonder, as I did, what is involved in "Beyond"... And here is the course description:

Beyond Basic See spot come, jump and sit up! During the six-week session, you will teach your dog to go through, up, and over obstacles. As your dog becomes proficient with the jump and sit, you will introduce him to a variety of tricks. In addition to teaching new skills and tricks, you will continue to enhance your relationship and rapport with your canine companion by reinforcing the skills introduced in previous classes. After mastering the skills and concepts introduced in this class, your dog will be ready for Hollywood!




[My the Aunt Karen sent us some new photos that she took at last week's graduation... so I thought I would use them to illustrate his experience tonight.]

Having eaten half of a koozie on the trip, The Reuf arrived... did small business outside, sat politely at the door until invited to enter... and then greeted his favorite trainer, Tracie, with enthusiasm!

Reuf was pretty wound up, as he discovered that NONE of his friends from the last class were joining him... but the arena began to fill with other, fresh and new friends (i.e. distractions)!

Here he is, fully engaged with the Mom, as he is supposed to be. In truth tonight... at least at first... he was checking out new pals, that included:

Toy Poodle
Standard Poodle
Border Collie
Australian Shepherd
Lab / Lab Mix
Great Dane
Golden Retriever Mix
Who Am I Missing?

First, there were loose leash walks... varying speeds with sits. Reuf did pretty well, but did have some distractions. Next... the group gathered in a circle. Each dog connected with their person, as one by one... dogs took turn weaving in and out of the circle, an arm's length from the sitting dogs.

Reuf did great with the distractions (or make that he AND the Mom didn't get it right away... but they did learn with the help of Sandy and Tracie)... just like he did last week, when Tracie was his distraction!

Next, the students demonstrated their SPINS and REVERSES. This happens to be a favorite of Reufus. And he did it over and over and over... with enthusiasm!

Next... a new trick was introduced... "the wave".

The Mom worked with Reufus. Sandy worked with Reufus. And Tracie worked with Reufus. Sandy and Tracie were able to identify small measures of compliance, and they rewarded him. The Mom promised them that she would continue to work with him at home...

And she did when she got home. The first time she waved at me... I waved back. She waved with the other hand, and I waved with my other paw.

She turned to Reuf, and said... "Seeeeeee?????"

The Reufus loves to be an example in class, as he was in class last week... but there was no need for his volunteering spirt this week [in part, due to the maturity of the other dogs... and also because the other dogs and their people seem to be focused and on point. My the Mom worries that this is too much too soon for the Reuf... and she worries that she won't be able to keep up!!!]

Reufus did GREAT with the A-FRAME (42"-48" high), up and over, quickly and then recall. He also did great with the BOX. Sit until release!

And Christy worked with him on his SIT/STAY and JUMP. The Mom is also grateful to her for addressing the LAZY SIT. I think it's safe to say... this will be the primary focus of this next week!!!

Ok... that and the lazy lay. This is not the lazy lay. This is the just hanging out, chicken / frog leg lay. And this photo was taken of Reuf last week when he was letting it all hang out... after his obstacle course. He was proud!

Reuf leaves you with another glimpse of his lazy sit. And if I know my the Mom, she will be asking that I fill my blog with his newly learned pretty sits. We'll see. This is MY blog, after all, and not his!!!

And for now I leave you with a tender "Good Night". And the Reufus is just asking to be put to bed.

Knock on wood: Reufus is slowly and quietly assimilating into every day life. Once last week... and again once this week... the Mom missed him, sought him out... and discovered him relaxed, just hanging out like a normal boy! I kinda think that a normal family is in bloom for the three of us!!!

Reufus Jackson Wright... Pass or Fail???

As many of you know... Little Reufus has been faithfully attending and Basic Obedience classes and also taking up a lot of my the Mom's time working very hard outside of class. Until last week, there was a giant question in our collective minds if he might be repeating Basic...

[The photos that follow are not very good, but they capture a little of last night's Class 6!]

Before class starts, it is important that the Mom captures the Reuf attention. That accomplished, she turned the back of her shoe to show off the part Reufus has eaten.

This was not embarassing for Reufus. Setting the Wimberley sofa aside, he considers this some of his best work.

As The Trainer takes charge of the class, the Mom is to issue the settle command. Here is Reuf doing it very nicely...

They also did some loose leash walking, reverses...

And sits. The Mom says he is particularly good with his sits. I would agree if she acknowledged that there is a consonant missing. Just saying.

Little Reuf's success is largely due to Tracie, The Patient, Dedicated, Inspiring Trainer. And the Mom is always proud when she uses Reuf as an example... good or bad!

Here is a nice settle... though Reuf is borderline doing the A.D.D. thing that The Trainer is keenly aware of!

She calls him back to attention, and he looks to her [adoringly] for direction!

The Tracie taught him how to walk across the board. And he loved it! He did it several more times, quickly and with joy.

A little later, he maneuvered a long obstacle course... And he really loved it!!! It consisted of:


Hoop: Sniff and Sit.


Ladder: Step between rungs.


Upright Board 1: Sit. Stay. The Mom crosses over the board. Stay. The Mom crosses back. Release. Both cross over the board.


Upright Board 2: Sit. Stay. The Mom crosses over the board. Release and Recall.


Boardwalk.


Elevated Pad. Sit. [The Mom is reminded to praise!]

In and Out. Weave.

Spin and Twist.

Then Pose... Course complete!!!

A huge part of the whole experience is learning to look to the Mom for direction and approval. Truly, this is the key to success.

Who knew there would be a written exam... Reuf even took a lesson in how to let the Mom take an exam. [To call it an exam is a slight exaggeration, it was more like a comment card... but for the Mom, trying to do this with the Reuf nearby... it was a test!]

The suspense was about to kill the Mom, so she was quite relieved when Reuf's name was called first, and indeed... He graduated!!!

Reufus Jackson Wright... PASS!!!

You know how proud the Mom is if she is willing to allow me to share this photo!

She balked, but I reminded her that noone would believe the little IMP and also HELLION had actually passed if we didn't offer photographic proof! You will note that it took quite a bit of "convincing" on the part of Tracie, the Miracle Worker / Trainer... for Little Reuf to face the camera!

It was a proud moment for all of us. Yeah, yeah, yeah...


In the meantime, I was having my nails done... trimmed not painted... and having my slippers cleaned up. This has been a true spa week for me, as I have been pampered in some way every single night!

Word on the street is that I'm doing something very special on Friday!!! Stay Tuned!!

P.S. We will, hopefully, have better photos to share soon!