Ardella Post

Cathie came over to work with Ardella on Friday morning. We worked alone and then she worked with Karren and Annalynn at their house. It worked well because our dogs are really very different. Cathie said she could not change Ardella's personality, but if I work with Ardella with food rewards while walking in places like the periphery of the dog park or parks in general that I could help her feel more confident in these settings. We took a walk around the neighborhood with Cathie's beautiful black Belgian shepherd and Ardella was fine. We met an intact male dog on the walk who really wanted to come over and see our dogs, which was making Ardella uncomfortable. I was able to keep her attention and fed her duck frequently enough that she didn't really care about that other dog. Cathie called Ardella an "old soul" with a librarian personality. I think that's an accurate description of Ardella. Cathie thinks that Ardella will be a great mentor for puppies and even encouraged me to think about fostering retired guides. That really sounds like a good idea! I would like that!

We finished up Ardella's obedience class with flying colors on Saturday and Emily said she felt that Ardella was ready for the CGC test with a little practice. I still think I'd like to take the master's level obedience and let Ardella mature a little more. I'm thinking that therapy work or being a reading dog would be a good activity for Ardella, but I think she needs to get to the 18-month to 24-month mark to do that kind of training.

It's been an interesting week with Kristin. She's a very sweet dog with a lot of energy. She also has a relieving issue and is only allowed to walk down the street and back after she relieves. We've had a few accidents and I'm a little discouraged. We haven't done a lot of socializing and I was really looking forward to that. Kristin went to graduation with Lyn on Saturday and did well, but had an accident yesterday on a walk down the street. We're going to be riding Max this week with the club and I'm a little nervous about it. Meanwhile, we're doing what we can to work through the relieving problem. Has anyone ever successfully helped a dog through a relieving problem at the age of 9.5 months or older? I sure would love to hear your story if you did! Ardella was career changed for relieving problems at 10 months so I'm reliving those days with Kristin. We both need some work!