Capella is pretty convinced the cart will blow up at any moment. Look at her ears — I suspect she is listening for the ticking of a CED (Cart Explosive Device).
I thought Harper B for Blasted Cart was a tough cookie — I suspect Capella is going to provide even more opportunity for me to stretch in my draft dog training skills 🧐
Grandma Tricia suggested having Capella pull pool noodles — brilliant! They are relatively quiet and light, and after a few days of doing it inside the house it was time to take the show on the road.
Attitude!
Check out her new blue harness! I love the color and am having ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ added to it because yes — someday that beautiful harness will be attached to a cart.
#believe
The pool noodle pulling was a big success — if one defines “success” as “dog tolerated without completely freaking out.”
The other way I know something is successful with Capella is if she will still eat treats. If she stops eating treats, I have pushed her too far and need to dial back. Super important to know your dog.
And every dog is different — if Claire refused a treat, I would rush her to the vet. This is Claire beating the heat.
Something else to think about is how we create associations for the dogs. Capella LOVES agility and so I hitched up the pool noodles and had her pull them to the arena — and then she did agility. So “meh” was followed by “YAY” — that helps add value to “meh.”
BUT I did not end agility and go right back to pool noodles because I certainly do not want to pair “YAY!” with “meh.”
“Great job, Capella!!! And as your reward for your excellent and happy and fun agility work — you get to pull pool noodles, which may also contain explosive devices.”
That would be a Bad Plan.
And so after agility we walked down the driveway for a bit to provide a fun break between “YAY!” (agility) with “meh” (pool noodle pulling) — and then finished off by unhitching from the pool noodles and practicing weave polls, which are another YAY!
Hmmmm… I need to pair draft with swimming because I think that is Capella’s favorite YAY! This is Capella and her dog grandma, Sparkle, at the river earlier this week.
A draft test that involves pulling pool noodles in the water — that is what Capella needs!
Happy Sunday ❤️