Happy reunion

Tristan paid a visit to his lady friend, Sara. He met Sara at puppy day care which he attended daily until he was six months old. The day care would write notes about any items of note and Sara's notes often ended with calling Tristan a puppy genius. I loved getting the notes and would proudly post them in my office to verify Tristan's stellar qualities. After his stint at day care, Sara became his daily walker. They had many grand adventures at Magnuson Park with extra curricular trips to the pet store or Three Dog Bakery. Poor Sara had to endure Tristan's dramatic performances when she would hose him off after playing in the mud at the off leash park. Tristan would make such a fuss because he loved playing in the water and with the hose and he wouldn't want to stop. Thank you, Sara, for the great care you gave Tristan.

Lots of potential

Today the training directory said Tristan could be a top Schutzhund competitor. He was discussing various club dogs and their competitive qualities. He's indicated that Tristan has great potential before but this was the first time he's said exactly how much and explained why. He said Tristan has high prey drive and this makes a good Schutzhund dog. He has some aggression drive and would protect me but he isn't as aggressive or "sharp", for example, as one of the other club dogs who could compete but likely wouldn't be a very top competitor. The director likes a balanced dog with both prey and aggression drives. Very interesting and, as always, very motivating.

Ready to blind search

Tristan did great on his blind searches today. We did it four times and he was perfect each time. He took the helper down one of the times. I say it was because Tristan is so powerful but Marc the helper (the downee) says he could be taken down by a gnat. Yes, sure - a 6'5" hulking guy - but the field was pretty wet and slippery.

The helper does have to stay very alert and move fast when Tristan is barreling toward him. Often Tristan will do a pretty good fake and at the last moment round the blind from the other side. He knows the helper is going to run out from that side so he goes directly there.

Last week the training director declared Tristan finished on his blind search - meaning he's set for doing it for his SchH1. We'll still practice it and he'll have to do more blinds for his SchH2 & SchH3 but that's later. For now we're celebrating his latest accomplishment.