Miah Starts Big School !

Well its been a while since I have updated Miah's blog. We have just been through a very tragic and sad time recently having  had to give our precious and handsome nine year old Cavalier 'Joey' his wings . I won't go into it as this is Miah's blog, but we have have been left very heartbroken over the loss  of our handsome man. It was very unexpected, it was highly suspected (by a canine Neurologist) that he had an aggressive tumour in his brain or at the top of his neck  :(
RIP Just As I Am Joey

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Miah's  growing into a fine young lady, very excitable and puppy like still  but she's developing beautifully in every way imaginable. She's still very confident and outgoing. I'm fortunate to say she hasn't gone through any of those puppy  fear phases I had read  about phewww  *touch wood*. She will be 1 on the 27th November but we will be celebrating her birthday with a party on the following Saturday. It will be purple themed and she even has a birthday party dress picked out (if it still fits her on the day!), so stay tuned for some birthday pics in a couple months time !:)

Today we took Miah to her first big school training lesson which is through  Banjo's Dog Training. 
It's a basic training 5 week course, and we can do other courses/workshops once we have completed this one.
We particularly like this school as dogs are allowed to wear either a correct type harness and or a  flat collar and unlike past  dog obedience schools I've belonged to with other dogs, this one does not permit the use of choker/check chains for a few reasons.

Today being the first day was mostly chatting about the school and how it operates and getting to know one another, but we learnt a few basic things  that I found new and useful (even tho I have done training in the past). Miah was very well behaved with the other dogs and their owners but there are some things we do need to work on hence why we have started. Each dog gets a mat to sit/stand/lay on at the beginning of  a class and while the Instructor starts of the class with talking to us, it is a place where the dogs have to learn that the mat is a relaxed area which is associated with lots of  positive praising and treats for their good behaviour  )

I have made a collage of photos taken from my husband's Mobile Phone camera of her and some of the other dogs in her class (there were 5 dogs in the class consisting of different breeds/ages). We also took Renae (who is 11) along for the outing. She's featured in a couple of the photos. We had a yellow ribbon tied to her leash as she's deaf and doesn't always like people/other dogs in her face these days, so its a ribbon to make others aware to approach  her with caution. She was fine today, but I think its a good idea to let others know.
I also bought a myself a purple treats pouch bag for training, They sell an assortment of training accessories at each of the classes.

Click on collage to view it larger. The Cavalier with the blue harness on is Chester, he belongs to my friend Lucretia. The Cavalier with the red harness on is our Renae.

 

This photo was taken from her second week at school. She got to jump over a set of small jumps, and over some other poles in a frame. She loved it. Its to teach them about thinking where to put their paws