I thought I would include these two videos of me working with Boss when I’m 8 months pregnant. The first video is just me working some obedience with him, but it’s nice to know that the remote collar system of training allows me to waddle around, off balance, and still have great control over a high-drive dog.

This video shows us introducing two decoys to Boss as he gets started with his suspect apprehension training. Again, I’m 8 months pregnant, and I feel like my handling skills are starting to decline with some of the upper level stuff, but as far as the obedience and control factor goes, Boss did a good job. His bite needs some definite work, you can tell I haven’t been able to play tug or do any bite development with him for a while in this video.

I’m getting fancy now! I’ve uploaded a video of the Sit Means Sit Atlanta crew (Darin Shepherd, Chris Laseter, and me) working our dogs together on a Sunday afternoon in an open field along a busy road. We were really just goofing off and having a good time…our friend and fellow trainer Rebecca came in from Alabama to train with us and our friend and colleague Jill from Jabula Dog Training in Atlanta was there to round out our crew. Sunday mornings are about the only time that we can get together as a staff and work with our dogs, check back frequently for more video!

Well, I’m finally getting around to getting this up and running. I’m not tooting my own horn here, but while I’m a darn good dog trainer I’m not so good with the technology stuff. We’ll see how this all unfolds. I suppose I should post the most recent personal news first…
1. Boss, the German Shepherd formerly known as “Bo” has been progressing slowly but steadily with his protection work. We’re working on getting a nice “guard” out of him and we’re trying desperately to get the turkey comfortable with leg bites. That’s going to take some work.
2. I’m still not decided on what type of small dog needs to come and live with me, although there won’t be anything else that breathes coming in before the baby is born. The official due date for my bundle of joy’s arrival is March 9th, but I’ve had two separate dreams now that he comes into the world the week of February 25th. We’ll see what happens.
3. On a non-training note, I’ve been doing a fair number of portraits lately, both of dogs and children. If you want to see some examples of my work (this is not photography, I work in charcoal and pastel, so these are “fine art” portraits) you can check out my little mini-gallery online at www.K9byDesign.com/gallery and browse through all the Vanessa’s Dog Shampoo products while you’re there! If I can figure out how (I’m seriously challenged) I’ll upload a picture or two here.
4. Back to dog training…I’ve been tickled pink lately with all the folks showing up for group sessions in Alpharetta. Most everyone that comes has a really good time with their dogs and they are really working at raising their expectations for their dogs. I love it! I think more often than not we hold our dogs back, thinking that they aren’t capable of doing something or finding excuses to maintain the status quo. It’s a wonderful thing to see people raise the bar and begin to problem solve and think things through on their own.
5. Speaking of group sessions, Alex is now in Vegas and will be returning in a few short weeks. Once he’s back we’ll get him going with group class and I suppose by mid-February I’ll be out of the picture for a bit. I’ll be around as long as I can, but I won’t be in the director’s chair anymore. All my students better take good care of Alex and Darin while I’m out of commission! We’re very excited to have Alex on board!
I suppose that’s all for now.