...hurrah!

Phoenix passed into Level 6 at Australian Dog Training last night! Level 6, as in the second from the top! As in Gold, in a Platinum level structure! This, the dog who couldn't walk on a leash properly when he first came home. The dog who'd never been taught how to 'drop' or 'heel', to not savage other dogs, or any basic form of obedience whatsoever. The dog who came home and we worried if we'd made a huge mistake - terrified what we'd do when we groomed him, had clearly never had the joys of a bath, was too highly strung to play with toys, was petrified of the beach, and couldn't make out what to do with a bone. And now, 4 months on, he's slowly losing the fear of being patted on the head, rolls onto his back willingly, doesn't lash out when asked to face a wall, and mastered the art of formal and informal recall, heel at 15 paces and 3 about turns, and general doggy wonderfulness. I am SO proud of him!

While all this was going on? Sahara had to be removed to the Sin Bin (back of the car) in Time Out for the rest of the session, due to her massive attack of the sook's, as she wasn't allowed to play with Phoenix for a whole hour. I'm considering enrolling her in Agility properly this week, and giving her more independent outlets for her to unleash her fury and to give her training in a more entertaining environment for her. Who said girls are drama queens?!

...Also got Phoenix's 'photoshoot' photos back this week, and I think you'll agree, he looks like a star :)