#lichen training

[firelightfoxes]

check out her newest trick !!

[firelightfoxes]

ok well i woke up not feeling great so i decided not to do dock diving (it was a really early time slot) BUT i made it up to the girls by taking them to the park

this park is right next to the zoo so to get to it is super crowded with lots of foot traffic and Lichen did awesome. there was even a super reactive GSD lunging at us and Lichen was like whatevs, didn't even care. very proud of her!

[firelightfoxes]

sorry if you follow/are friends with me in multiple places bc i posted this everywhere, but LOOK AT US GOOOO

[firelightfoxes]

check out our newest trick!

[firelightfoxes]

and another one bc we had such good runs today

[firelightfoxes]

i've decided that Lichen and i will be taking a short break from agility! we both really love it, but i want to focus on some other things in the meantime.

for the next month+ we'll be doing a CGC + Trick class as well as Conformation class. i'm really, really pleased with Lichen's personality and temperament, but i think i could focus a bit more on giving her more tools to appropriately deal with certain situations, as well as just general exposure. i was really good about that when she was a puppy, but now that she's a year, i've definitely started slacking (like, she got to a place where i was like yay you're normal! and then i stopped working on it so much) - but i think for now, she's a dog who will benefit from casual "management" (like, taking a socialization-geared class every few months-ish) to keep her confident and mentally equipped for different situations.

her genetics have given her a great baseline for her temperament, but i want to make sure i'm keeping her exposure/socialization up so that she maintains her confidence. also, i'm excited to get her CGC and the next level of her Trick Dog titles!

[firelightfoxes]

for a while i considered getting Lichen’s AKC CH to be, like, a pipe dream. i mean, she’s from great parents but idk, i’ve never had a show dog and i also didn’t want to put too much emphasis on her looking a certain way, because i didn’t want to feel disappointed if she turned out differently.

but man, after seeing her give it her all last weekend i’m really excited to try and finish her. i know it’s kind of silly for a dog to give it “their all” in a conformation ring where all they do is trot around, but for a sensitive gal who dislikes being touched by strangers, i think she has to do a lot of mental work to stay composed throughout it. like, i don’t ever think she’s gonna have a breakdown or anything, but similar to a human with a social battery, i can definitely tell that she gets drained after prolonged exposure to that environment. and to add, she passes the fuck OUT when we get home - she seems more tired after a show than she does after agility, for reference.

i think this weekend, she finally understood what i was asking of her, and did her best to allow it. like, hey, i need you to just let this stranger touch you and then it’ll be over and you’ll get treats and praise. and weirdly enough walking her through it and reassuring her beforehand seemed to help? (probably just picking up on my vibes being reassuring i guess?) i dunno, it just seemed like she steeled herself to tolerate it for me because i asked her, and i appreciate her so much. we have a really great connection and i’m glad she trusts me enough to get through little moments that aren’t super pleasant for her.

and to clarify, it’s not that she dislikes showing. she’s super alert and likes watching all the people and dogs move around, loves sniffing around the venue, and of course she gets to hang with me the whole time and get tons of treats. it’s mainly just the judge touching her, or staying in that environment for a prolonged amount of time, that starts to get to her (and i just mean in the sense that she doesn’t settle as well).

but yeah, i tried not to get too attached to the idea of showing while she was growing up, because i didn’t know how she’d turn out appearance-wise and i also didn’t know if she’d even like showing. but we both definitely enjoy it enough at least to get her CH, i think. for reference we’re at 8 points out of 15 - so pretty close! she’s just so great and i am so incredibly proud of her.

[firelightfoxes]

i really just have to brag everywhere about Lichen

we had our first foundational agility class earlier today. i am seriously blown away by how well Lichen did. including us there are 6 dogs in the class, all of which are medium-large dogs. Lichen was definitely overwhelmed when we first walked in bc a couple of the dogs barked at her, but she settled in quickly and shook it off.

she didn’t whine through the whole class even though there were periods where we were just sitting still listening to the instructor. she didn’t bark at any of the other dogs. she was SO polite, quiet, and best of all, focused on me. a couple of the behaviors required a lot of leash-hand-switching that i was struggling with and honestly i didn’t even think twice about just dropping the leash bc she was SO in tune with me and didn’t even care about/look at the other dogs near us.

she absolutely rocked the new behaviors we learned (rear foot targets, wraps, and wobble board) to the point where the instructor asked if i had already taught them to her. i was like, “nope! :D” she’s just so quick to learn, happy to work, and i absolutely LOVE  how she’s indifferent towards other dogs or people. (trust me, i love Ava with all my heart, but i can only handle so much embarrassment when she blows off a recall (that we drilled nonstop for months) in agility class to go harass a border collie)

now we just have to get through her first show this weekend! honestly, the way she acted today makes me think she’s gonna be a rockstar for the show. as my friend put it, she’s showing me glimpses of how she’ll be as an adult. and i’m so excited. she’s so great already