Future Draft Dogs

This is another one of the Sparklers — Lucas, who lives in Arizona with Kay and Sue (humans), and canine relations, Ruben (Glitterati) and Micah.

It is clearly draft season!

Lucas looks very relaxed in his cart — nice job! And thanks to Kay for sending along those great photos :)

Here in Montana we continue to be buried in snow but that has not stopped the draft training. Our long straight driveway is really perfect for draft because it allows a novice dog to get used to the whole thing without the need to do a bunch of turns or deal with distractions.

Yesterday Claire did the entire 1/2 mile round-trip on the snow covered driveway for the first time — of course I went with her! I give pretty continuous treats to reinforce the happiness of pulling a cart and to reward her attention on me; a draft dog needs to pay attention to the handler.

On these long forays down the driveway, I also work on stops (ALWAYS a sit and always rewarded), the change of pace, and I throw in a few “back” as well. My main goal, however, is just developing comfort in the cart.

We will do the driveway again today and then go to Missoula for the next two days to practice at a park. I will set up a very basic course in a large parking lot and we will evaluate our progress to get info about what needs extra focus.

My hope is that we will be ready for the draft test in southern California on April 6 - 7. If we can get that NDD, Claire will be a Versatility Dog and can be entered in that class at the Specialty. This is a lofty goal because of the winter challenges but we will keep training and see how it goes.

Draft Questions? Send me an email!

And have a terrific Sunday, even with the lost hour.

Don't Lose Sight!

I once had a student share that she manages tough times by having things to hope for, and that really resonated with me. She described it as looking ahead to the next happy lily pad — what a great image.

As we trudge through what is hard, having one eye on something happy and wonderful not only keeps us moving in that direction but also shifts some of our focus to things that are positive. I am not sure it helps any of us to just look down at our feet when we are sinking deep in the manure pile of life.

That is why I always have goals, which are really just dreams that loom ahead sparking hopeful joy and serving as helpful reminders to put on the work boots and get busy heading in that happy direction.

I am needing to use extra Little Soldiers these days to keep one eye looking ahead because my training arena looks like this…

Those are jumps sticking up.

I have an intermediate goal of a draft title for Claire, and plan to enter an April test. I have been looking forward to it for months. The weather, however, has been less than cooperative…

Will it melt by August?

People always think we get a lot of snow in Montana — that is not actually true where we live. Therefore, it was entirely realistic to think that I could train draft — off and on — through the winter.

You know what they say about best laid plans?!

When things do not go according to plan, it is tempting and easy to just give up. But then we lose that lily pad of hope! If I did that, I would be stuck staring at all that snow and feeling sad and disappointed. That doesn’t sound like fun at all.

Instead, I am digging in and improvising — hence the need for additional Little Soldiers. [Note: If the reference to Little Soldiers is new to you, please read THIS for clarification].

The cart is in the living room. This allows practice for harness/hitch, backing up, some tight turns, and stay.

Daisy, Claire, and Sparkle practicing a group stay.

And later today I will pack up the cart and the dog and head to Missoula in search of a deserted but plowed parking lot in which to practice.

All that snow is just a series of speed bumps...

Really BIG speed bumps, to be sure.

Don’t let the speed bumps we all encounter turn into stop signs. Look down to make sure you do not trip but keep looking ahead at the same time — you have places to go and dreams to achieve, just like me.

Have a terrific day!