Flying Poodles

Another way to train high energy…

Before breakfast.

When Dancer is truly hungry, she will work for food. So this morning, before the girls’ breakfast, I took Dancer out and worked a speed-and-distance oval of four jumps. Got great energy.

Then I groomed Elly. Yesterday I did most of the her body, clipping to the skin with a #10. I even did her ears, as they were somewhat matted and thus due to be clipped. And it’s August. Today, I cleaned up the shaggy bits from yesterday and finished her legs.

I’ve been using lots and lots and lots of treats when I groom, and it’s really paying off. Both dogs are much calmer and much easier to groom.

After the grooming and the training were done… THEN the girls got breakfast.

I had to go into Velotech for a while today, so I left the girls in puppy jail and biked in. When I got back, I realized that Dancer was in a lovely high-energy state when she greets me. I grabbed a toy and we played tug for a few minutes, and then I put the toy away. I want that tugging to be something that means high excitement to her.

Why didn’t I do more of this when she was younger? Well, I did… and then I kind of let it go. Hard to maintain a good tug when your knees hurt. Bad choice on my part. But that’s twenty-twenty hindsight.