Whose bright idea was it anyway...

So, in my previous life, I was a sheltie owner. I loved my shelties; they were fabulous. They also barked-A LOT! They barked to go outside, they barked to eat, they barked, well...just to plain bark. When I had the shelties, I didn't have a concept on how much they barked, until I got Stirling. There wasn't any barking. Not barking to go out, to eat or at all; weird. So, I had some potty training accidents, as Stir would be at the door to go out, but since I didn't hear any barking..well, whoopsss, potty accident! So, in all my wisdom, decided to train Stir to whack a bell when he had to go outside, or wanted a treat. Believe me, during the training period he really tested how much "power" the bell would hold. He would whack the bell constantly to get me to respond; what a fun game for a Border Collie! Well, on occansion, this idea bites me in the rear-end usually at 4am when Stirling is bored. As such, this morning at 4am Stir starts whacking the bell. UGH, up we go to take him outside....nope he merely wanted his frisbee. Ah, life with an amazing Border Collie!
We had a great training session with Monika and Brady this weekend. First, we had to kick some boys out of our obedience ring set up; don't mess with 2 women and 2 BCs! Brady is coming along so nicely with his heeling and drive! He and Stirling both wanted to work for me at the same time. Stir, for the first time, did a full go-out complete with a turn and sit! And, some beautiful heeling. WAY fun!
Monday nights are our agility nights with our agility friends. Stir and I are the comic relief, but we are coming along!
Stir and I had our lesson with Deb this week and, as always, made some great progress. Stir's "wait" (for active behavior) is way broken, as Deb identified he is anticipating that "wait" comes with some active behavior such as a recall. So, we worked on proofing his "stay" (complete with Stirling impersonating Elvis- he shakes his right leg during stays) and retiring the "wait." We also worked some go-outs, Broad jumping with forward focus. And, some beautiful heeling. :)
And so goes, life with an amazing Border Collie...