Always with the Planning

Well, it's that time again. Changing Attitudes only has two weeks left in the class, so once more it's time to decide where to put my dog. CA has been going really well for us - almost too well. Rubi has been much calmer in class since we started with the pseudo-forced relaxation. Her pacing has decreased by more than half, and she even offer a hip bump several times on Wednesday. I have proof!

As much fun as it's been being at the top of the class, particularly considering where we started, it's time to move on. Last week, I had B tested for placement in regular classes. Her evaluator basically told me to enroll her where ever we felt comfortable, which was no help to me at all. At TCOTC, classes run in sessions of nine weeks. CA is only six weeks long, so we'll be finishing in the middle of a session. I don't want to go weeks without having class because our dog-dog contact has been rather limited lately (brrr, it's cold out!).

So I've decided to put Rubi in rally until the new session starts. Rally is a form of competitive obedience that I've worked my other dogs in off and on. Actually, I usually run Maus in rally, but I can switch him back to regular obedience. Because I've already got experience with the sport, the instructor is willing to let me jump in to the class in the middle of the session.

Once the new session starts, I'd like to bump B into a regular Level Three obedience class. Level Three tends to be a little more crowded and a little more exciting than rally, so I think it will be a good transition. I want to keep challenging Rubi, but I also don't want to move too quickly.