[alaskayorkie]

Several of you offered good advice when Eddie was struggling in obedience school, so here's a Week 6 update. Some history: On Week 1, we went to advance-beginner class, and there were 20 BIG dogs and Eddie. He proceeded to panic and forget everything he learned in beginner class. I almost pulled him out of the class, but several of you encouraged me to give it another week.

Well, week by week, he became more comfortable. He had trouble when the instructors introduced distractions, but we worked on it.

Well tonight, Week 6, he was perfect in the review of everything he learned. The instructor bounced a tennis ball right next to him during sit-stay, and he didn't break his position. At the end of class they introduced some agility lessons, and Eddie was terrific. The instructor even used him as an example of how dogs learn. He was skittish on his first pass through an area with a bunch of obstacles to negotiate, but he sprinted through it on his second and third passes.

I was one proud papa.

Even though he's improved each week, I've decided to repeat the 8-week course to help with his socialization. He still shies from the instructors during "stand for exam" and gets distracted by other dogs, especially small ones for some strange reason. But I'm more confident than ever that he's going to be able to do agility when we get to that. He is way smarter than I initially gave him credit for.

Since I'm more apt to read posts with pictures, here's one of Eddie's Halloween costume. We're still working on it -- obviously.