The Test

Finally! The day that has been marked on our calendar was here , Shirley's first test. On stake was her passing the puppy obedience class and moving on to the next stage. At first, it was not looking that promising. At our warm-up, Shirley was not participating to her fullest and was being  very stubborn . I knew something was up, so I excused us and took her aside and sure enough Shirley had to do her business. With that out of the way ,I decided to move us away from the two brand new puppies distraction  in group. Shirley started to act better, which gave me more confidence. After our warm-up the final test was about to begin. We watched the older dogs finish their test, and it was our turn to take the stage and perform. Patriot was called first, then Clem, and finally Shirley. For her first part of her test she did pretty well; only a few minor mistakes were made by both of us. But that was the easiest part of the test. The harder part was coming right around the corner. After a quick break, Shirley, Patriot, and Clem were called back to do the final exercises. Sit and stay for one minute , and down and stay for three minutes is a daunting task for Shirley and I on any given day, so I was a little nervous . We were given the go ahead to sit our dogs and have them sit for one minute. Let me tell you, each second that past by was nerve racking hoping that Shirley would not get up or lie down . Ten.nine.eight.seven.six.five.four.three.two.one. YAY!  Shirley  past the sit stay .
Now the down stay, as much as we practice does not always go as planned in front of an audience on exposure and our living room. She's pretty good, but in the heat of the moment we average 50/50. We will work on this and I’m fully confident she’ll get this . Shirley has really grown in the past few weeks.And I was just commenting how she doesn't dump her water bowl anymore. Also, the alley way with the extra large barking dog is a breeze now, and overall she is just a lovebug  that is eager to please with a mind of her own . Check back in a few days, because we are going to start posting  some videos.