Fun Day Part 1: Follow a Trainer

Thursday afternoon, after yoga of course, I loaded up the car with two crates, my clothes, and all of the puppy stuff. It took us a little longer to get the hotel than I thought because of road work, but we did get there safe and sound.

We woke up early Friday morning so I could get ready for Follow a Trainer. Rocco loved the freedom of the hotel room. I allowed him to be loose in the whole room. When I was taking a shower in the morning he poked his head in through the shower curtain and wouldn't leave until I got out of the shower. It was cute and he got water freckles all over his face.

Then it was time for him to board at GDB in the Puppy Raising department. He got his own little crate and found a toy and was really happy...at least I hope he was because I was having a lot of fun during my walk.

I think I got there just a little late because I wasn't too sure where I was going, but I got down to the park in downtown San Rafael just fine and joined my group. The two trainers I followed were Kristan and Vanessa. They were quite nice and answered a lot of my questions. I got to follow 3 dogs. One in phase 2, one in phase 5, and the other was class ready.

The First puppy we followed was Zoria. She was a little black lab, so I really liked her of course. This was her first time training out of campus so we only took a short walk. She did really well out for her first time. Kristan was leading her through all the correct responses if she got distracted or was doing something wrong. She also used a lot of food and a lot of the clicker. He harness wasn't a real harness. It was a soft harness so the "handle" looked like it was made out of the material a fabric tie down is made out of.

Zoria and Kristan walking ahead. They had a fast pace.

Zoria was such a cute girl.

She reminded me a lot of my Freya.

She got a little distracted, but overall she did great!

The second puppy we followed was Nissan. Nissan was a medium sized, yellow lab. He was also what you would call "brisk." Kristan didn't use as much food or as much of the clicker with Nissan. She also gave him more room to make mistakes so she could fix them. He ran her into a bicycle and she was able to fix it. So the next time they went past the bicycle he led her safely around.

Nissan getting on his harness for training.

He was such a sweet boy.

Look at that face!
He had a little trouble at this curb. He didn't complete a turn correctly so they kept going back and trying it again.
Nissan after he got his harness off.
Isn't he just a cutie?

The third puppy we saw was what they call "class ready." At his point in training he is just waiting for a person to come along for someone who is his perfect match. His name was Dodger. I've been watching Dodger since he came on to the phase report because he's related to our Zack. It was cool to see him. Kristan allowed him all the room to make mistakes. He did wonderful! He led her around a car that was sticking out in the curb. He was also a sweet boy.

This is Dodger. You can tell he's serious about this.
Dodger has a slower pace than Nissan and Zoria.

Kristan answered question that we had.

I think that Dodger is a pretty boy.

Kristan, Dodger, and Vanessa. They did a wonderful job! I enjoyed my walk so much.

Here's a video of Nissan mastering the curb turn.