Three babies and a puppy later

Darling Golden Retriever puppies.     Photo: Elin Kile

 I used to be really active on the blog.. then I had a baby, then a new puppy, then another baby and then yet another baby! So needless to say I have been rather inactive here on the blog for the past five years. I hope this will change now, since I have some quite exciting plans for the near future. 

 In these times of Covid-19, a lot of people have gotten puppies, while at the same time puppy classes have been scarce. This I believe has left a lot of new dog owners and young dogs in desperate need fore some online help! This is where I come in. I figured that I will write a series of posts about the different basic things all dogs and their human should learn. Hope you guys will like it!

Macabre dog training

 The other day, on our morning walk, Eddie and I found a dead ptarmigan. It had apparently died violently, but apart from blood on its head and being a little eaten by some crows on one of the legs, it was in good shape. My first thought was "jackpot!". You might find this odd, but Ive been training my golden as a gun dog, and until now I had not had any real game of fowl to train him with. The closest thing I've had before was some pheasant and ptarmigan wings, and the plumage of a pheasant. So this was much better, this had the right weight and feel, since it actually was a real bird!

A pheasant wing I've used for training

 As I didn't know if the bird was full of parasites or not, I took the precaution of freezing it before starting to use it in dog training. To my great relief and joy, Eddie only slightly hesitated the first time I asked him to retrieve the frozen bird, and in most instances he has retrieved the bird without hesitation when we have practiced.

The plan for this summer is to train Eddie to do something that in Norwegian is called "blood tracking" and in Swedish it would translate to "game tracking". Basically what you do is create a trail of blood drops and you also drag a deer foot behind you. This trail is then followed by the dog. The practical purpose of this is to train dogs to find hurt animals, like deer that has been hit by a car or wounded but not killed during a hunt. Game tracking is also a sport however, and that is what I hope Eddie and I will be able to participate in before the year is over. So when Eddie isn't retrieving whole frozen ptarmigans, he gets to locate dried deer legs or drops of blood that I have hidden around the house. I can't wait for the snow to melt so that we can finally begin proper training outdoors!

My previous dog Link and I doing some tracking.

 I do realize that this isn't everybody's cup of tea, but for me it is as fun as it gets! Although the macabre part of it isn't lost on me...

Puppy classes

Link as a puppy.

When I had Link I didn't attend any puppy classes. I figured I would train him at home and that he would be exposed to enough dogs through my job as a assistant at a veterinary clinic where many of the employees bring their dogs to work. He got along with everyone and everything so well, that I could not in my wildest imagination see that this would ever be a problem. But then disaster struck. He got ED, elbow dysplasia, at the tender age of 9 months. He was put on pain meds and kept from other dogs, not allowed to play nor go for longer than 10 minutes walks. He had surgery at 11 months of age and then a 2 month long period of inactivity before he begun more active rehabilitation.

Link, the Danish Swedish farm dog Sally and a mix breed dog named Snusan. Link was fine with dogs he knew or at least had had a chance to meet and check out.

After all that, he started being dog reactive and before long he literally lunged towards all dogs we met on walks. I got a lot of help from other dog people and I also participated in a course for dogs with dog reactivity/aggression. Things got better, but never good. Link was always good with other dogs when off leash, but walking him on leash always meant that I had to keep an eye on our surroundings to make sure we wouldn't come too close to other dogs. It wasn't always very pleasant.. So we most of the time tried to time our walks to when there are as few other dogs as possible out and about.

Off leash Link never had a problem with other dogs.

As you might understand, I am hoping to avoid this problem all together with Eddie. That is why we are now participating in a puppy class and also trying to attend the local retriever clubs training sessions on Tuesdays. We have also participated in a few field training sessions with the same club. So far everything is going really well, lets hope it continues like this! What is most important is working on keeping calm and focused around other dogs. Eddie is relatively good at both those things, but we have to continue working on it. Wish us good luck!

Eddie at a training session with the retriever club.

Dog training instructor

 I've been away from the blog for the last two months, partly due to the dog training instructor course I've participated in from the end of october to the beginning of december. It was a Norwegian kennel club ground level instructor course. The exam consisted of one multiple choice test, one theoretical and one practical part. I'm quite satisfied with my 38/40 on the multiple choice and that I passed the theoretical and practical exam. However, I still don't know if I'm going to try to become a Norwegian kennel club authorized dog training instructor. To become that I have to compete with my own dog in certain dog sports at a high enough level, and have clocked 20 hours as assistant instructor. If I do all that, I am still only allowed to be instructor in puppy classes, "every day obedience" and ground level obedience.

Link practicing retrieving of the wooden dumbbell.

 I think I will try to compete with Link in obedience (one of the approved dog sports). What I will have to to there is getting at least a second place in class 2. I don't know exactly what this is the equivalent of in the AKC system, but I guess something like open class. Anyway this means Link and I have a lot of work to do. I have decided that if, and only if, we manage to achieve this, I will try to get the hours as assistant instructor so that I can get the authorization.

Me and Link at the gun dog course in August.

 The other option is to compete with Link in field trials for retrievers at a high enough level. I don't think it is very likely that we will do very well though. One of the requirements of the dogs for them to be allowed to compete at all it that they are quiet. Link will whine and bark the second he thinks that there will be a dummy to retrieve. He gets so excited that he just can't help it! And I must admit that I really love seeing Link so clearly loving it that I have a hard time telling him to stop. So I think we'll just stick to obedience. Link doesn't find it even half as much fun as gun dog training, so when we do obedience, he is (for the most part) quiet.

My gun dog is scared of birds

Link retrieving a dummy during the gun dog course we attended this summer

 I finally brought home my newly purchased pheasant wings today. I'm going to use them to train Link to retrieve fowl and not just dummies. I figured it would be fun to see what his spontaneous reaction would be to them, seeing as he has never seen nor smelled anything like it before. So I set up the camera, grabbed some treats and put the wing on the floor.

A pheasant wing.

His reaction surprised me. He was afraid of it! He was very interested and wanted to check it out, but something about it spooked him so he decided to try barking at it...
Not exactly a desired behavior for a future working gun dog, but as perseverance is key to success, I was not about to let this slight setback deter me. I tried using the clicker at first, but Link gets a bit too eager when he hears the click, so instead I decided to use a verbal "good" ("bra" in Norwegian) and treat. I did 6 sessions with 10-15 repetitions per session, where I praised and rewarded him for smelling/pointing at the wing with his nose. In the 6th session I felt the behavior was reliable enough for me to add the cue "bird" (or "fugl" in Norwegian). The goal is that he will find and retrieve the wings, but in the beginning I will settle for him showing me where the wing is by pointing at it.

Link pointing at the pheasant wing.

Being a Golden Retriever and not a Pointer, pointing is something he has to learn, it does not come naturally for him. This is where his hesitant behavior actually comes in handy. He will stop and smell it before doing anything else, which gives me ample opportunity to mark and reward the pointing behavior. Another positive side of Link's hesitation it is that Link most likely never will try to tear a bird to pieces, at least not if I do the training right. Right now he has way too much respect (or probably fear, not respect) for the "bird" even to dare to mouth it, let alone chew on it.

I've also bought a "pheasant dummy", i.e. a dummy with the plumage of a pheasant on it, but I think I will train Link with the wing for a while before I introduce it. When we've gotten further in the training I will make a video about it and show you all.

Therapy dog training - Part II

Two weeks ago, Link and I participated in the second weekend of the therapy dog course I've mentioned before. Friday and Sunday were normal lecture days, and the big test, or rather mentality assessment, was done on Saturday. You find the post about the first weekend here.

To get an idea of how the dogs were tested/assessed check out this video from Link's test.

The test was between 15-20 minutes, and I've cut it down to four and a half minutes, so clearly the test is more comprehensive than what is shown in the video. It is not meant to be a thorough description of the test, it is just meant to give you an idea of what kind of things a therapy dog has to be able to handle to get approved. And again, like I mentioned in the first post about this course, Link is not a terapihund (literally "therapy dog", but in Norway that is a dog that works with a professional, and that is paid work), he is a "besøkshund" (directly translated "visitation dog"), something that is done by a volunteer.

Loke, a Flatcoated retriever/poodle mix who were approved for therapy dog work.

Link showed us that he still is a bit uncertain of what the right course of action is when he gets scared/insecure. In the video you see him barking at the person in the wheelchair, that is definitely not desired behavior for a therapy dog! What is good was that he clearly wasn't so scared that he was overwhelmed by the situation, seeing as he still listened to cues and both ate treats and played with the "test person" (in lack of a better word), even though she had been "scary" just moments earlier. He never "shut down", and he showed that he didn't have issues with resource guarding or guarding and area (when there was a knock at the door). What he needs is more training and time to grow up. So I'm going to test him again next year. He was approved for some kinds of work, but not with people that can have erratic or aggressive behavior (like some patients that have certain diseases that cause their behavior to change, e.g. some forms of dementia), but with calm patients or visits to one patient at a time, he should not have any trouble. I don't know how many visits we will do before the next test, for now I feel we should have more training first.

One of the dogs that was approved for therapy dog work, the Samoyed Sara.

On Sunday we had time for some training sessions too. Many of us had discovered things that we had to work on with our dogs. The Samoyed Sara needed to learn to not steal food that she could reach. The instructor showed us how to teach our dog to "leave it".

Sara not stealing food :)

Another one of the dogs, Ziwa, a Rhodesian Ridgeback, needed to practice playing. So the instructor gave us some really helpful tips on how to increase a dog's willingness to play.

The instructor puts small pieces of hot dog in a tug toy, and Ziwa is definitely interested now!

Ziwa about to try to grab the toy, stuffing it with treats really helped :)

Ziwa going for the toy!

Another thing we were told to do is teach our dogs tricks. First of all, it is good for our relationship with the dog, but also it is good to have some tricks on the therapy dog's repertoire. When visiting patients with your dog, some will not want to touch the dog, but like watching it. For those patients it can be more fun to see a dog do something, than a dog just lying there. Also it is good for the dog, when it gets insecure in an new environment, to be asked to preform a behavior it likes doing and that it knows well. A trick is often better than a "sit" or "down" in these situations, since those cues are often told to dogs when we want to stop what they are doing and to remain passive(so in a way the cue means that the fun is over), while a trick is just fun for the dog. It will feel happier when asked to perform a trick than it would following a cue for a "normal" behavior. Of course, if you are a really talented trainer who are very good at reinforcing the wanted behavior, than a "sit" cue can be just as calming and fun as a cue for a trick. But for the rest of us, this trick training can really come in handy.

Loke, a poodle/flatcoated retriever mix, learning how to "sit pretty" (or "sit like a bear").

One of the attendants of the course had gotten a new puppy since we last met, a Pyrenean shepherd called Easy. She was adorable!

Little Easy, with her "sister" Minni the Rottweiler and with Varg the Siberian Husky.

The reason why I haven't written about this sooner is that Link has been really ill lately, he is getting a lot better now, but during the last week most of my energy has gone to taking care of Link. Due to this I haven't done any training with Link nor any writing on the blog. Hopefully Link will stay healthy now so that I can commence both the training and writing.

Two weeks before the test

Link and me just chilling at the dog club.

I'm getting rather nervous. Sunday two weeks from now, we will know if we passed the therapy dog test. If we pass it, it means that we will have the opportunity to visit nursing homes, day centers for the elderly and medical facilities to visit the patients or people living there.
The test is really a test to see if my dog is suitable for this kind of work. We will only pass if Link appears to be comfortable with the different test situations. He does not have to be done with his training to pass the test, he only has to prove that he likes working with people, that he isn't easily scared and that he doesn't show any signs of aggression.

Link and his Siberian husky friend Varg, who will also take the test in two weeks.

I really hope that Link will pass the test, it would feel so good to be able to brighten people's day with a visit.
A dog can often be a better visitor than a human. There are no awkward silences with a dog, the dog doesn't make you feel bad if you forget something or say something "inappropriate". A dog can just be there and you can tell it anything you want, or tell it nothing, just share a quiet understanding that you are there in this moment together. A dog can also provide a chance to get physical contact, something that often is lacking in institutions.
So I'm getting nervous... In two weeks time we will know. Now we're going to just keep on training Link to be able to relax in many different environments and to keep his cool around other dogs. Wish us good luck!

The Positively Pledge

Yesterday I talked to my boyfriend about pledging to positive training of dogs, just because that is what I believe works best and is most ethical. So when I found the Positively Pledge today, just by chance, it took me less than a second to decide to sign it.

The Positively Pledge. Picture from www.positively.com

I believe all dog owners should sign this pledge. There is no need for force or threats in dog training. And if we don't need it, maybe we shouldn't use it.

You can sign the pledge here.

Wonderful Weather on our Sunday walk

Today we finally got the good summer weather back! I've stubbornly claimed that August is a summer month, despite the very autumn-like weather we've had lately.

During today's walk Link had some balance training on a type of swing.

At first he thought it was really scary, but he soon felt more confident.

Tomorrow it's Monday again, but I'm not sad. Tuesday is my birthday! The best day of the year. I can't wait!

Physical therapy for my Golden Retriever

Before we went on vacation in the end of June, Link had an appointment with the physical therapist at work. She analyzed how he walked and moved, how he reacted to pressure on different parts of the back and bent and stretched legs and neck. She found that even though he had very symmetrical muscles (which made me really happy, since that means I've been doing a good job when it comes to the rehabilitation after the surgery. Read more about that here), he is a bit stiff in the back behind the ribs.

So when I came back from the vacation, Link was put on an anti-inflammatory/analgesic drug and he got an appointment to her three weeks ago. During the first session she also found that he was really stiff in the neck and has a slight problem balancing his hind body when leaning forward. She showed us some exercises that we were supposed to do daily until his next appointment one week later.

I decided to use the clicker as a marker to tell Link when he did the right thing, but I didn't technically use proper clicker training as I lured Link into position with a treat (but which he of course didn't get until I clicked). The advantage of using a clicker instead of my voice is that it is much more precise. In addition, Link knows when I start clicking that he get rewarded for trying things, so teaching him the basics in how to stretch was done in less than 10 clicks.

After Link's second session with the physical therapist, she told us that he was better and that the next time I should be with them during the massage so that I can learn how to do it myself at home. 

We have now kept on doing the exercises for another week and a half, and hopefully next week we will get an appointment with her again. Looking forward to learning something new!

 Below are some pictures from the first day we trained how to stretch. The pictures are in really poor quality because they are snapshots of videos, but at least you get an idea of what we are doing.

The rolled up yoga mat is there to give Link a barrier that he should keep his hind paws behind while leaning forward. He is supposed to have his head and back in a straight line, so this isn't perfect, but at least you can see what we are trying to do. 

Streching the neck forward/down.

Stretching the neck upward/back.

Stretching the neck to the left and to the right.

Gun dog training my Golden Retriever

Lexie, the 4 year old golden retriever female attending the gun dog course last weekend.

 This weekend Link and I attended a three day course in gun dog training for retrievers. In addition to Link there were three Labrador retrievers, one female Golden retriever and one Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever. The instructor of the course, Vera Verlo, is a clicker trainer specialized in gun dog training. She has three Labrador Retrievers herself, that she competes with in gun dog trials for retrievers.

Link waiting for me to send him to retrieve a dummy.

 Friday

 Firday evening the instructor held a seminar. We learned the basic steps of gun dog training:

• Obedience - Not the dog sport, but basic gun dog obedience like heeling, being quiet and only retrieve game/dummy on cue
• Marking - Seeing where the dummy falls and remembering it
• Sending and directing - The dog should be able to be directed by the handler in the direction of the dummy. If the dog walks too far away from where the dummy is, you should stop it and direct it towards where it is.
• Delivering the dummy/game - Without shaking, chewing, spitting out on the ground or dropping one dummy to pick up another. The game or dummy should be delivered by the dog unharmed, right into your hand.

Todd, the second youngest participant of the course. He is a 1 year and 8 months old Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever.

Saturday

 Saturday it was time to get out into the field for some basic "hunting obedience", how to correctly use the dog whistle, how to search for dummies in a field search and how to direct your dog to find game that it has not seen where it fell.

Lexie and her owner showing us a perfect "hunting heel".

Link showed me that even though he can heel and retrieve under controlled conditions (indoor or somewhere outside where we often are), he was more interested in all the smells in the forest and running around with the dummy, than working with me. He was the youngest dog participating, so it was not so strange that he was the dog with the least previous training (well, him and Todd the Nova Scotia Duck Tolling retriever that was just a couple of months older than Link). Learning our limits is also important though, that is the only way to find out what we have to work on.

The chocolate lab called Iver retrieving a duck-shaped dummy.

We were also taught the basics of a "close search". I'm sure there is a better term for it in English, but what it means is that the dog searches for the dummy close to where it is. It is used for when you send your dog out to do a so called "blind retrieve", you give it the "stop" signal, followed by the "close search" signal, when it comes to the place where the dummy is.

Link learning the basics of "close search".

Sunday

 Sunday we were also out in the field and that day we learned more about marking both on land and in water, and how to send the dog straight out to the dummy. We also got a chance to try the "qualification test", which if you pass it gives you the opportunity to participate in proper gun dog trials for retrievers.

The 6 year old black labrador felmale called Kimmie, retrieving a dummy. She is also a therapy dog that we got to know during the first weekend of thearpy dog training in May.

Link and I did extremely much better this day. He did really well when we trained sending out. We trained using a bowl with treats, so he was instantly rewarded for running straight out. Between his turns we trained being calm and quiet. It was hard for him to sit there and watch the other dogs work, but he did really well.

Here I am sending Link out to retrieve a dummy.

Next time it was our term it was time to try retrieving on land and in water. We tested what Link would do if he was sent to a dummy on land (he wanted to get into the water so badly!), and then to the other one that was in the water. Link went directly out to the dummy we sent him to, ran back towards me, ran past me, dropped the dummy and leapt straight into the water to get the other dummy. He eventually brought that dummy back to me though. So somewhere inside him, he feels good about running/swimming out to things and picking them up. But taking them all the way back to me is something we have to work on.

Beautiful Eine, a 4 year old black Labrador. He is like Link, aspiring to become a therapy dog.

 We also trained directing to left and right using hand signals. The dog is then sitting in front of you and there are one dummy on each side of the dog, some distance away. Link responded well to these signals, even though we have never consciously trained this before.  

Cute Todd.

He did surprise all of us in the end though. He was sent out to retrieve a dummy out on a small pond, but instead of swimming back to me with the dummy, he got out of the pond on the other side. There he dropped the dummy and went away to... well.. shit. Just hang in there, that is not the impressive part! I called him back to me, and sent him to retrieve the dummy from the other side. He didn't manage to do it on the first try, but the second time he swam over, found the dummy and retrieved it right back to me! I was ecstatic! I could not hope for more. Considering that this is the first time in his life that he has been asked to do this, I think it is really impressive that he grasped the idea and preformed so well.

Eine retrieving from the water.

 We also got to go through a walk through of the qualification test. We did it as training, with rewards all the way for Link. We definitely was not ready to do it then and there, but it was good for us to see how the test is done. The things that you preform during the test is:

1. Sitting next to you while the judge greets you 
2. Heeling on leash
3. Heeling off leash
4. Stay
5. Recall
6. Sitting while dummy is being thrown
7. Retrieving dummy
8. Sitting while a shot is fired

Me walking 50 meters away from Link while he stays on command next to the instructor. The mountain in the background is Tromsdalstinden, the mountain Link and I climbed the previous weekend.

 We didn't fire the shot during our walk through of the test, Link was already exhausted, so I didn't want to put him through more. We had already trained getting used to and liking gun shots, both on Saturday and Sunday.

These are the things we have to work on:

• Heeling in different locations and terrain, both on an off leash

• Retrieving into my hand (first while on leash so that running away with the dummy isn't an option)

• Using the whistle: 
• Close search. Starting by teaching link the signal for it by putting treats on the ground around Link and letting him find/eat them on the signal (double whistle on the dog whistle)
• Stop. Blow the whistle once and the dog should stop. You start teaching this by blowing the whistle once and then throwing a ball or a treat to the dog. The dog thus learns to stop what it is doing and have all of its attention on you
• Recall. This I have already taught Link, but we still have to practice it under varying conditions.

•  Sending out to the dummy (using bowls with treats in the beginning), and directing the dog to the left or right using either whistle or hand signals.

When we can do all of this, it is time to start putting everything together and to increase the difficulty. And maybe then we could pass the qualification test.

The pond where we practiced retrieving from water.

Miserable dog walk and failed training

An example of me and Link failing to cooperate. This picture was taken during the gun dog course, where I was in a much better mood and hence better able to handle situations like this. Today was not such a day.

Sometimes everything you do seems to fail. No matter how much you try to motivate your dog or try to be fun, it just keeps sniffing the ground and pulling on the leash to get away from you and do something else. I had one of those days today.
 
During Link's and my walk home from work tonight, nothing seemed to go the way I wanted. At first we trained on some of the things we learned during last weekend's gun dog course, which went fairly well, but then the trouble started. Apparently a female dog in heat had been there before us, so Link paid no attention to me nor to lose leash walking. Then we met the first dog, a Cairn terrier. I managed to get the now very exited Link to sit while the terrier walked towards us, but in the moment it passed, Link lunged out. The only thing keeping him from getting to the other dog was my firm grip on the leash. Link barked out of frustration. The terrier, thankfully, just kept on walking. I thought I handled it fairly well, under the circumstances, and figured we could still get this walk on the right track.

Then the second dog meeting. A Boston terrier and a mutt. They began barking and growling at Link the second they saw him. This did not exactly calm him down. Link growled back a little, but it wasn't hard for me to hold him back or to get him to walk away with me. At this point though, I was irritated and Link was very stressed. I know that the more irritated I get, the more stressed Link gets. So I decided to just stop for a while, sit down on a bench and wait for Link (and me) to calm down.

It didn't work. Link started pacing back and forth next to the bench. Eventually he sat down, but then he started whining and barking. He just was not able to relax. And I felt my irritation grow. I tried not to show Link that, but he wasn't fooled. I settled for a few seconds of calm behavior from Link and then we got on our way again.

Soon after that, we met a Staffordshire bull terrier. I got Link to sit by my side as it approached, but like with the Cairn terrier, Link lunged. Only this time he lunged behind me instead of in front of me. This got me off balance, and it didn't exactly get better when I tripped on a stone. I almost fell on top of Link, but to my great relief I managed to stay on my feet. This whole maneuver however, led to Link getting all the way over to the other dog. Which in turn, turned out to be aggressive. It snapped at Link and growled fiercely. This probably took Link by surprise, he has never met an aggressive dog like this before. So thankfully he backed off for a second, long enough for me to regain my balance and be able to get Link under control. The Staffordshire bull terrier kept growling and Link answered in kind, when I held him back. Both me and the other owner mumbled something about how crazy our dogs were, both of us rather embarrassed about the whole situation.

I had by now gone from irritated to completely furious. I'm really glad that I am 100% convinced that it never helps to physically punish a dog, and also relatively good at keeping my temperament in check. A lesser person (or less convinced person) would have gone medieval on Link at this point.
I felt that another loss right now was more than I could take, so from that moment on I walk with Link on a very short leash and as fast as I could. I really needed the walk to be over!

The last dog meeting was with a Soft coated wheaten terrier, but I didn't even try to get Link to cooperate with me as we passed it. I just kept the leash short and kept on walking. Link tried to react to the dog, but wasn't given much time nor space to do so. I just wanted to get away from it all.

The rest of the walk home were to my relief eventless, but I had to really focus to stay calm. I felt like the worst dog owner in the world. Furious with myself as much as with Link, and at the same time I felt bad for Link. None of this was Link's fault, yet somehow the dog always gets the shortest end of the stick in situations like this.

I will try to not beat myself up to much about this and start fresh with training Link to pass other dogs again tomorrow. And I will try to remember the wise words I read in a dog training book once: "If you feel that you are in a bad mood or irritated, don't train your dog. Cuddle up with your dog in the sofa and read a good book instead."
Next time, that's what I'll do.

Dogsitting the neighbour's Bichon Havanais

Daisy wearing her cone collar, also known as Elizabethan collar. She is a Bichon Havanais with "wrong" type of coat. I think she is prettier than the dogs with correct coat.

 This evening we are dogsitting our neighbour's Bichon Havanais Daisy. She had surgery on her eye 2 days ago, so when her owner had to leave her for a few hours tonight, I said I could watch her. She is wearing a cone collar to keep her from scratching her eye. She is used to the collar by now, because this is the second time she has had this surgery (but last time it was the other eye). She had a condition called Cherry eye, for which the treatment most often is surgery.

Going for a walk.

We went for a walk down to the store where my boyfriend used to work. I waited outside with the dogs, while Mads went in to the store. Being the dog lover that he is, of course he bought treats for the dogs too.

Both dogs waiting to get treats.

 Link and I have been attending a gun dog course all day, so Link is exhausted. To keep Daisy from trying to get him to play all the time, I had to let Link into our bedroom and up in the bed where Daisy can't get to him. Poor Link, too tired to play, but too much of a gentleman to say no to Daisy's play invites.

Link and Daisy while we waited outside of the store.

Tomorrow Link and I are going to attend the second day of the gun dog course. I can't wait, it is so much fun! Even though we are among the least experienced participants of the course and have hardly impressed anyone today. We have a lot to work on, to put it that way. I will tell you guys more about it tomorrow. Hope you have a lovely weekend!