by Denise Fenzi | Apr 26, 2012 | Lyra
As I worked Lyra’s heeling today, I was reminded of what a slow process it is to teach beautiful heeling. Lyra has been heeling since she was ten weeks old, yet with six months of consistent training we still don’t work for more than ten or fifteen steps...
by Denise Fenzi | Mar 12, 2012 | Raika
Raika is contemplating a return to the sport of Schutzhund (now IPO). We never earned her schutzhund three title; mostly because I got distracted with AKC obedience and that became my focus. When I returned a couple of years ago, I found that I didn’t have...
by Denise Fenzi | Feb 4, 2012 | Lyra
Playing with a mouthy puppy is different than playing with an adult, and takes a fair amount of trial and error to figure out what works best. I don’t get upset with Lyra for biting when we play; I simply stop moving and wait for her to let go. At this point,...
by Denise Fenzi | Feb 1, 2012 | Juno
Juno’s style of play is yet again different from Cisu or Raika; her style incorporates elements of each of the other dogs. Juno’s natural style of play with other dogs is chase; chase and be chased. Since I choose not to chase dogs, Juno has to chase me....
by Denise Fenzi | Jan 28, 2012 | Raika
My last blog showed Cisu and Ali playing; these are physical dogs who like physical play with a lot of opposition reflex. For dogs like Cisu, play is both physical and reflexive (not thinking). Raika has a completely different play style. For Raika, play is a...