Maestro's Agility Adventures Part 2 and The Joys of Dog Sitting

Maestro and I had our last Agility class today. We absolutely loved it! I can't believe how fast Maestro picked it up. Over the course of the class we learned regular jumps, the tunnel, the pause table, and the dog walk. I really think that we're going to continue with our agility training because we had such a blast! Maestro just did everything so enthusiastically! I have a lot to learn as a handler, of course, but I'm certainly up for the challenge! I think I'm going to coerce one of my friends to help me make some agility equipment so we can practice at home too. It's just such a good way to challenge him mentally and a way for him to put all of his energy to use! Anybody who has a dog with an abundance of energy should definitely give agility a try.

We've also been dog sitting this weekend! Burton the two year old leonberger has been sleeping over with us and we're having a blast. He's such a great dog and Maestro LOVES him. I think Maestro really loves when we dog sit because that way he gets a constant playmate. He's always a little sad when a dog goes home after staying over for a little while. Luckily, he still gets to see most of our clients on their walks!

It's weekends like this when I realize how much I love my job! I get to spend time with so many different kinds of dogs and I couldn't be happier about it. I've always loved giant dogs so having Burton over has been delightful! Makes me want a giant little brother for Maestro. Thanks for coming over to play Burton! We're glad to have you!

 

Maestro tries Agility!

I admit it.

I'm definitely the dog owner equivalent of a crazy soccer mom. I schedule all sorts of organized activities for my dog. I've driven an hour to take Maestro to herding lessons (and I've gotten up at 5am to take him to an all day herding clinic!). We've gone to obedience class. We've attended Yappier Hour (an event hosted by a local hotel where dogs and their owners can come to an outdoor bar to mingle and drink cocktails). We have play dates with Maestro's doggy friends. You name it, we've tried it!

I can't help it! I love spending time with Maestro and I'm addicted to trying new things. So the poor little guy is subjected to my every whim when it comes to doggy activities.

So our latest endeavor? Agility! I've ALWAYS wanted to try out agility with Maestro, but I was told I had to wait until he was a year old to start it. As soon as he turned one (last month) I was immediately on the prowl for an affordable agility class.

I stumbled upon a place called "Magical Mutt" and decided to sign Maestro up for their Agility for Fun class.

Well, we've taken two classes so far and we are loving it! The first class was just sort of a dog introduction class. The instructor had us working with our dogs to see where we were in our training and how well they knew basic commands (sit, stay, come, down). I was very proud of Maestro! He did a great job with all of his commands, but that's probably just because he was getting so many treats...

One thing I liked about the class immediately is that there were only two other dogs in the class! So each  one of us got a ton of individual attention. So even though the first class was just the basics Maestro and I still had a great time. I think it's really good for him to have some practice doing his commands when there are other dogs around to distract him. He loves other dogs so sometimes that's a challenge for him.

The second class was a BLAST! We worked on three different obstacles. The first one was the "Pause" table which is just a table where your dog has to either hold a down or sit for five seconds before you cue them off of the table. Maestro had no problem with that! The second obstacle was the jump (the one I was most excited for!) and he picked up on that really quickly too! The last one we did was a hoopy thing...which isn't a real obstacle in agility, but it was good for the dogs to get used to having something above them when jumping through obstacles. At first Maestro just ran around the side of it as if to say "Silly human! I don't have to jump through the hoop to get to you!". But after some encouragement he made it through! Not only that, but the trainer let us try it off leash and he did it!! He didn't even try to run towards the other dogs! Again, I'm sure the abundance of treats kept him focused, but that was still some great progress for him!

I can't wait for next weeks class! If any of you have dogs with extra energy to burn I highly recommend this Agility class! The instructor is great, the content is fun, and it's not too hard to get to either!

Training Tip Tuesday: Teaching Your Dog Sit!

We've just finished our first official Training Tip Tuesday video! I know a lot of our lovely clients have already mastered "Sit", but in case you need a refresher, or if you've gotten a new puppy hopefully this video will help you!

While we do use Clicker Training in this video any type of verbal word marker works (I'm a big fan of "Good boy!")! All you really need for training is a whole lot of small treats and, of course, your pup!

Enjoy!

Boston Bruff Presents Trick Tip Tuesday!

One thing I've always loved to do with Maestro is to teach him fun tricks. It's a great way for me to bond with him and to challenge his doggy brain! Basic obedience, of course, is the most important (and we'll go over things like sit, down, stay, and come). But why stop there? Dogs love to learn new things and have a blast trying to figure out what behaviors can get them a tasty, tasty treat.

Here's the best part! Kyler is getting a puppy on Saturday (yay!) and we thought it would be fun to document him through the training process! So each Tuesday we'll show Maestro demonstrating the trick alongside Kyler's puppy learning the behavior step by step.

To get you excited about Trick Tip Tuesday we've made a video of all the tricks that Maestro currently knows. Enjoy!

Meet Maestro, our mascot!

We can't forget our very own Maestro! Maestro is a one year old Pembroke Welsh Corgi and a co-founder of Boston Bruff!

Maestro loves fetch, swimming, running, showing off his tricks and FOOD. He absolutely loves other dog so he delights in meeting all of our new clients.

He also moonlights as a doggy model, in fact he's going to be Mr. August in the 2012 Corgi Butts Calendar! You can see it by visiting the Corgi Butts Blog!

When not helping run the business he's usually at home sitting on top of his favorite chair and monitoring the neighborhood from his window spot or trying to convince his roommate (Tasuki the cat) to be friends with him. Maestro is currently taking herding lessons (to fulfill those corgi instincts!) and he's working on passing his Canine Good Citizen test. He can't wait to go on walks and runs with all of the clients of Boston Bruff!