Welcome or welcome back to our blog!

Sorry for the lack of posts the past 2 weeks. I’ve ramped up training with Beau and between the addition of a new class, a growing workload for my day job, and Board business for my condominium, things have been busy around here.!

As mentioned above, Beau and I started a new class. This one is focused specifically on attaining a Companion Dog (CD) title. The Companion Dog designation is for obedience and has 3 levels: Novice, Open, Utility. The Novice level has 5 exercises to complete:
– Heel on Leash 40 points.
– Figure Eight 40 points.
– Sit for Exam 40 points.
– Sit Stay 40 points.
– Recall 40 points.

My goal is to achieve our Canine Good Citizen (CGC) title by the end of the year and then, attain our Novice CD by March of next year. I think I get more out of my off-leash class, but like to challenge Beau with a new instructor and new group of dogs.

At this point, we have nose work class on Monday, CD prep on Wednesday, and off-leash on Thursday. What I love is that the CD and off-leash are similar in level and give me reinforcement of proper handling mechanics.

In class Beau is great, there to work and mostly tuned in to me. He still gets a bit too excited when we see another dog during our walks which continues to confound me. On the upside, we have been able to walk with friends and their dogs lately, which is helpful to remove the mystery of neighborhood dogs. Beau wants to play with each dog but settles in quickly. We have walked with a tiny Yorkie, a pug, a pit bull mix, and a large shaggy dog. Beau seems to really enjoy these pair walks so I hope to have more.

Here are an assortment of photos from the past two weeks, mostly snapshots of our everyday adventures. Autumn seems to be taking her sweet time getting here. I am looking forward to chilly morning walks to grab a cup of coffee (and pup cup for Beau) and walk home through the leaves.

What about you? What is your favorite fall activity with your dog?

Let me know in the comments and thanks for stopping by!