Wensleydale
We’ve learnt something about Wensleydale – the cheese, not the place. It turns out that it really isn’t as good for using in dog training as Emmenthal. Now don’t get me wrong, what dog wouldn’t like a good piece of Wensleydale? You only need to watch Wallace and Gromit to know it’s Gromit’s cheese of choice. However, as Mum found yesterday, on a warm day and held in her hand a piece of Wensleydale turns into a very unpleasant squidgy mess. Pebbles was happy to lick her fingers clean, but if you want nice neat pieces of cheese Emmenthal works much better.
Training
Whilst Mum was learning about cheese, Pebbles was learning a number of more useful new things. Her morning class with the other dogs was to say the best ‘mixed’. Pebbles was absolutely beside herself with excitement to see all her friends. Mum said it was as though she’d been kept apart from them for months instead of a fortnight. For that matter, Pebbles didn’t care if they were dogs she’d actually met before or not – she declared them all her bestest friends in the whole world.
Because Pebbles was so excited that was why Mum had to resort to cheese so early in the day. At that point it was a cheddar string, so not so bad. The cheese totally kept Pebbles attention while dogs walked around her, but woe betide Mum if she dropped the cheese or ran out of what was in her hand.
One to one training
After a very mixed result at her morning class, that was what led to Mum cutting up a block of Wensleydale. For Pebbles’ one to one training in the afternoon, Mum was prepared.
For the first exercise, they were using ‘sprinkles’ with pieces of food dropped on to the floor to keep Pebbles’ attention away from other things. Mum was surprised how quickly Pebbles understood while working on the dog training field – at home – not so much! Then they moved on to loose lead walking and after a short time Pebbles was doing a little better. I’ll be honest with you, I think it’s Mum who’s the problem.
I’ve said this to her many times. She needs to learn to walk in a straight line. It would also help if she was quicker at doling out the treats. It’s not so bad with a dog like me who understands Mum’s heart is in the right place and cuts her some slack, but Pebbles expects higher standards and Mum just isn’t up to the job. More practice is required.
Love and woofs
Wilma
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