We have a breakthrough!!!!!!

While it's incredibly late, I thought I might as well write up some news that I've been meaning to post but haven't had the time since we're in the final stages of setting up the b&b. The big breakthrough is that I started doing scentwork on my own with the rabbit tug toy I bought him a while ago. The one he won't tug with outside. And now I know why. He totally loves scentwork and will give up most things to do it. This includes other dogs. This means he'll come away from most major distractions to search for his toy. And the second big change is that instead of parading around with the toy once he's found it like he used to, he brings it back and drops it at my feet or as good as near and he gets a click and a treat.

I can't tell you how happy this makes me. It completely changes the dynamic of our walk because he's much more connected to what I'm doing, has great recall and it's a total joy to see him working. Grey has never got the hang of retrieves as he was always so possessive. I know it's not perfect in many ways and some might say it's untidy to teach him early on to drop the object near me and not to deliver to hand. But to be honest after riding the rollercoaster that is managing young master Grey when out then this is too good a change to miss. So if we're going to do anything training or activity wise it looks like searching and scentwork is a goer.

He will even manage a downstay or sitstay while I walk away from him 20 paces to hide the object in long grass! Yaaaaay! I'm doing a mixture of air scenting and ground scenting. He can track back a long way now. He's also so much better on the lead on the way back to the car. We managed 24 paces doing the 300 peck heeling method.

He did get an eye injury from last week's scentwork training session with his brother. So that was a trip to the vets where they think he was poked inside the eye by something sharp. He's ok now though. Just wasn't too happy to have to have eye cream.