Cash and I got involved with a training facility (Anything Goes for Dogs) through her Therapy dog testing and because of the facility's information we also were able to find out about The Dog Scouts of America. Now we are on to our next adventure... Rally.
I had heard of rally obedience but really had no idea what it involved. Cash is a great dog, but she lacks speed and motivation sometimes so I didn't peg her as an agility dog. Rally is a nice step for us. It is basically obedience but a lot more fun. In the competitions you have different stations you go to and each station has a task to complete. We took a workshop on it a few weeks ago and Cash seemed to really like it so I signed her up for some classes.
Today was her first formal training class and she loved it. I have never seen her get so excited about anything. We did a few off leash exercises and she had a blast. We practiced healing of leash and weaving around a pole the drill was called "fly" . She really picked it up fast and had fun doing it. We also did off leash drills of walking in large circles and then small circles. It doesn't sound like much but I broke up the routine of basic healing and I think she really responded to the change. I don't' always realize that dogs get board doing the same basic commands over and over again.
We have homework with this class to keep practicing on what we learned so I better keep up. I really want to keep my dogs happy and keep life fun for them. After all that is why we have dogs.
Our family reunion is held annually here in Marysville at Barb and Ron's house. It includes lots of food, family and fun. The hay ride is a must followed by a day of telling old stories and some new ones and lets not forget about the smores around the fire pit. 
