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No, not me... Moss :-P

With Cedar in heat and Joe and I lazing around on winter break, Moss has gotten really bored and stir crazy over the last few days. The kind of bored where a simple game of fetch just won't do. Damn Border Collies ;). Unlike a lot of breeds, physical exercise alone does little to temper or relax a BC. They crave mental stimulation... a job to do. So... with that in mind, I've made an effort to train him more over the past couple of days. It's amazing how much that helps him.

Yesterday, I taught him how to roll over, a trick he's always struggled with. I think the coordination required is hard for a dog of his bulk and mentality, LOL. Luckily, what he lacks in coordination, he makes up for in "try." Moss is the most enthusiastic dog ever... everything is his favorite thing, every day is a good day for him. I really do need to get a video of that trick.... it's super cute. He flings himself down and over with way more drama than necessary. Leave it to Moss to give a run-of-the-mill stupid pet trick some extra flair!

Today, I continued refining his roll over trick, but also worked on some basic agility foundation stuff as well. I have done a lot of the Linda Mecklenburg DJS drills with him in the past, and have started to expand our repertoire of skills with some of AgilityNerd's One Jump Drills. These are really fun and productive drills that you can do without a whole lot of time or equipment. Since I plan to trial Moss at 26", we spent most of our training time today at that height. He did really well! He is really starting to jump nicely, with good form, coordination and confidence. Much better than the flailing/uncoordinated/knock-every-bar style we started with! ;)

In addition to the "around the clock" stuff, I also made sure to reinforce start lines and begin training rear crosses. Because this was the first time I asked him for a "turn" command over a jump, I moved the bar down to 20" to make it a little easier for his body (and brain). Within the next several sessions, I plan on gradually bringing the bar up to 26".

I was so impressed with his focus and athleticism today. He's really learning from the foundation training. My boy might make an agility dog yet! :)