This week - getting caught up!

So I'm doing two blogs one after another, so this one will be shorter....

So there weren't too many bouviers at training today. I brought my two out, and Steve brought his little Sasha out too.

Tracking started out well for Xen. He took all of his corners perfectly, and the legs were all good until the last one after the left corner. I'm not sure what happened on that last leg, but considering how miserably hot it was today, I consider it a success that he did so well overall! Uzzi's tracking wasn't nearly as successful. Really, she wasn't tracking period. She's very clever, so she keeps her nose down - very good actress that Uzzi. Tracking has never been her strength and the heat just makes it worse so I think I'm going to put that training on hold for a few weeks. I just ask too much of the dogs sometimes and when they don't live up to it, then it can be very frustrating for me. So leaving Uzzi's tracking alone will let me concentrate more successfully on Xen.

Xen's obedience was great. We are trying to speed up the recall so Carla is now holding him (like we do the puppies) as I run away calling his name. It's like night and day it's working so well. He comes much faster and with more enthusiasm. Even using the ball doesn't work that well.
Other than that, the exercises were fast and the retrieves solid.

With Uzzi, we didn't do the entire obedience routine, just the retrieves. The first time she did the flat, it was slow, but when we repeated that she was fast enough. The jump and climb were OK except that she touched the jump coming back.

Protection for both Xen and Uzzi was super. We have a new decoy on the field, Steve, who is doing a great job. Both dogs were unphased by the new face. Uzzi was even more fired up than usual - she's such a small dog with so much heart that I doubt there is much room left over in the rest of her for anything else! As Fred said, I never ever have to worry about putting her on a new decoy - she'll do the work.

Steve, the decoy, also brought out his puppy Sasha for obedience and protection. He hasn't done much work with her, so up until now she hasn't been biting at all. But today was a breakthrough day - Fred finally got Sasha to take a bite on the burlap, and she carried it off the field. Her obedience was also excellent.