Getting ready for Silky's next evaluation

It's time for Silky's next evaluation. Our CFR will be in town next week and Silky will see him Tuesday afternoon in downtown San Rafael. She was about 6 months old at her last eval and never really settled down. Our CFR had to talk about her "potential". Oooo boy. 

 Now that she's a year old, she has her obedience commands down cold and will do them around different types of distractions (except other dogs and people).  So, to help make sure she can show off all that "potential", we spent some time in downtown San Rafael this morning to "study up" for the eval.

Silky does not like to get her feet wet. It's been raining lately and our drive is wet. She wants to sniff the puddles and steps around them. What about those webbed toes, little labbie? Aren't you a water dog?

The trees in San Rafael were beautiful. It was drizzling there and the sidewalks were wet. Sounds from the traffic on the wet pavement didn't phase Silky, though.

She looks lovely dressed up in her Puppy-in-Training gear.

Hallowe'en is this weekend and Silky was totally disinterested in the store displays. Good girl!

Silky did very well as we worked our way through all her drills - both with the Gentle Leader and with just the flat collar.

 No problem with the scary stairs . . . .

 Or the "public restroom" for civilian dogs . . . .

 Or the loud trucks and heavy traffic.
 

There were two exceptions to all the good work. The first was another dog. And not just another dog. It was a guide from Guide Dogs in formal training being taken through his paces. Silky was distracted by him; and he was distracted by her. I got to watch the trainer work him through his distraction and I had Silky "sit" while we watched. Then the trainer asked if she could bring the dog by again (Stanford) and they passed us without so much as a whiff from Stanford. Silky, of course, was wriggling and squirming and dying to go after them. We have a lot more work to do on her dog distractions.

The second blip happened on one of the downtown corners. I said "Silky, sit" and she didn't move. Wow -- that's just not like her. I tried to place her in a sit and she absolutely would not sit. The sidewalk was wet, but we had already done several "sits" in different places around downtown. Silky's ears were back a little and her tail was down. She seemed to be afraid of something. I couldn't see what it might be, and gave her the "let's go" command and we moved away from that corner. When we were down the street a ways, I gave her another "sit" command and she sat. Reluctantly, but she sat. 

Final stop -- Starbucks for a little relaxation.

 Silky crashed when we got home and slept for almost 2 hours. I think we'll go back for another practice session over the weekend.