Week 21

Twenty down (thirty-two to go.) This is the last full week of May.

My goal, as stated in Week 20, was “to re-establish the previous class times and habits before something else (like gardening) sneaks in to take its place.”

And, for the most part, I think I did.

Accomplished Last Week:

The main focus last week turned out to be Extracurricular Activities – how better to merge back into regular classes than to start with fun things, right?

Core Studies: Still trying to get a solid Sit-Stay from Zachary, and we still aren’t there yet. The hardest part is walking the 40’ away from him (ie: when my back is turned.)

Canine Good Citizen: (see blog posting: CGC Class #4)

Weekly Quiz: Both boys passed staying in a car when the door is open (although Beau has a hard time with distractions)… and that’s it. Zachary did noticeably better as the week wore on Sitting after a Knock on the Door, but didn’t meet my “5 passes” criteria to check it off his Middle School checklist. Beau doesn’t have a problem and passed that one easily. I didn’t do Attention or Go To Mat (I’ve got to stop putting duration activities in Quizzes.)

When it came to Excited Family Members, it all depended on how excited the family members were and when they were excited. I could jump around until I’m blue in the face at 2pm and the dogs would probably sleep through it. If I even look like I’m going to move at 7pm, they are raring to join me. In the end, I decided they weren’t even close enough for government work, and so no check marks for either of them.

Family Member: n/a

Extracurricular: I decided to give TL4 - Scenting a go using Canning Rings. That was “fun” (see blog posting: Good Idea?) Beau is doing beautifully on his Contacts. He just needs to be videoed to cross of TL-3 and we are already working on TL-4. Zachary is still playing 101 Things to do with a Contact Board, and while he settles down to running the board by the end of the session, he always tries several dozen other things first and shows no sign of realizing when the click is going to occur (at the end of the board.)

Just For Fun: There’s a story as to why I haven’t been working on the Trick of the Month, and perhaps later this week I’ll put that in the blog. Until then, take it on faith that you won’t be seeing that particular trick (Circle Around Me) on any list of mine any time soon.

Videoed: n/a

Released Video: n/a

Blog: Good Idea? and CGC Class #4

Planned for Next Week:

Once again, the emphasis for the week will be on Canine Good Citizen. Assuming the weather gods are with us, this will be the fifth and final training class (although at the moment things are looking a bit iffy) with the test the week that follows. I’ve got that sinking feeling that Zachary doesn’t quite have it all together to pass all 10 test items at once, although I think on any given day he could pass any one particular item. I just don’t see him being consistent enough to pass all 10 on one particular day.

The only things that change this week were the Trick of the Month (put in for Zachary, as Beau already knows this one) and the Weekly Quiz. I decided to have it be a final test of known tricks from “Just For Fun”. Given my requirement for 8 out of 10 points, with no zeros, I believe both boys should pass all items. The only iffy one is Zachary doing Bow– I’m not sure how well he knows the cue, and I usually have to do a few warm-ups first (not allowed in Quizzes.)

Now that I have more “personal” time, I’m hoping to get back to writing Extracurricular Activity (ECA) Checklists. Alas, having picked off the low-hanging fruit long ago, I find myself facing topics I know next to nothing about so we’ll see how that goes.

The other long neglected item is the Photo of the Week. Many of the remaining items require actual thought on my part (as in: I need to pick the poem/story to illustrate before I can take the pictures to illustrate it) which is always more problematic than the actual photography itself.

(As always, click to see larger)