Ok, So I Lied. . .

A few posts ago I said that I needed a break from dogs, and that we were going to take a break from training. I was hoping that the training break would last until January... I had a feeling that it wouldn't, but I was still hopeful. All sings were pointing to a nice long break until our rally instructor said that Abby would be ready to move up to level 3 for the next set of classes.

Normally, this would have made me very happy and proud. A few months ago, I fully believed that Abby would be in level 1 for the rest of her life. I truly thought that I would never be able to ask her to do all of these exercises and do them off leash. But, Abby proved me wrong, as she continues to excel at this odd little sport. I am very proud of her, but now I have to start training again!

Most of the level 3 exercises are built off level 2. Some are new to level 3, but not new to Abby - we just haven't practiced them in awhile. But there is one new exercise that I knew was coming, but I had since chosen to ignore: the retrieve. Ack! Abby can't retrieve! How in the world am I supposed to teach Abby to retrieve? Sure, there was a time when Abby couldn't do an A-frame, or a tunnel, but those were different! This is a retrieve!

So, now our *vacation* from training is now a super intensive retrieve training. Luckily for me, a wonderful trainer is teaching her dog to fetch (aka, retrieve), and she is posting videos on her blog. Her dog started out a lot farther along than Abby. Right now, we are just C&T for a touch on her absolutely awesome new retrieve toy:


I was trying to find something plushy and small enough for her to carry. I also wanted something that squeaked as she *sometimes* gets excited about squeaky noises. When I saw this, I knew it was made especially for us. I know it is technically a Christmas item, but Abby is naughty all year long, so I figured it was ok.