Training Day 5

Another day down... each day, Chevy gets better. I am earning his respect and he continues to bond more and more each day with us. He looks for his boy every day. I've caught him a a couple of times in the car, laying next to Nate and doing what we call "lap". He puts his head right in Nate's lap.. and Nate goes "Awwww... good boy." We started the day at the "Waffle House". Nana had never eaten there... so we went. I don't think she will ever go back.. ha ha ha. You just have to try it once and that's all you need. We started to day with a review of our previous night at the hotel. Worked on "under", tethering... tracking. What a track Chevy did today. It was very muddy today and I had my "Hunter" boots on... I bought them specifically for dog walking. They came in handy.. We chose a long track. When we got the first two head snaps... (tracking lingo) our trainer handed me the flexi lead... and we ran. I tried to hold Chevy back as much as I could, we came up over a hill and I almost went head first over the hill when Chevy saw Nate. Jennifer told me to drop the lead and I did... OMG. Face planting would have been so embarrassing. I went out with one of the other kids in our class to hide. It was so cool to see his dog Beckett, come around the corner to find his boy. We had lunch at the same restaurant with two other families from our class. We got to talk a bit and learn something about them. Every family is so different, yet we are so similar in so many ways. This opportunity to connect is just so awesome. We had homework tonight. I took Chevy to Walmart, walked the aisles... did some stands and then went to the dog aisle, put him in a long down and threw squeaky dog toys around the toy aisle. I had a little boy be his distraction and come and pet him. Went back to the hotel and practiced under in the lobby eating area. Just settling in and getting ready to blog for all of you and saw a message from Jinger that her dog Beckett had just peed on her luggage. Luckily, I bought a bottle of Simple Solution enzyme cleaner and ran it up to her so she could spray her luggage down. We have been so lucky... no accidents anywhere, so therefore I probably jinxed myself. Every night we get back to the hotel, I could just crawl into bed... this training is exhausting, but I'm learning so much. The trainers are awesome! I've heard this from other people in previous classes, but you just don't realize how awesome they are until you experience their knowledge and their ability to apply it and teach the stressed out, and tired parents. I really hope this hurricane peters out before hitting Ohio... I really don't want to be out tracking in that!! Good Night all... much love and as always THANKS!!