Tracking course
Quanda relaxing in a flower bed in the forest.
Today was the start of this years tracking course and Quanda did great as usual! I had to help her back on track on the dead-end part, but we didn’t encounter any other problems. I get impressed each time I see a dog really work the track… It’s amazing work! Quanda gets so focused, she didn’t even give up on the dead end. She didn’t know how to continue, but she continued to look for the track.
New for this year is that Quanda was much more relaxed during the waiting. It actually looked like she fell a sleep for a while 
I took the possibility to practice some rally-o on a dirt road and I managed to get good contact with Quanda in spite of all the distractions around. She has changed so much the last year that it sometimes feels like it’s another dog!
Picture time
Quanda and me at the Blåkullarace.
Family Easter fun: painting and eating eggs.
Blåkullaracet
Quanda has entered her first Rally-O competition and she did a great job!
On Good Friday Quanda and I went to Olofström to enter the Blåkullarace. Blåkullarace is an Easter themed Rally-O training competition, which means I had to carry an egg on a spoon around half the course…
I got really sidetracked by carrying the egg and had a hard time motivating Quanda at the same time. Once we got rid of the egg half way through, I managed to get great contact with Quanda and the remainder of the course went splendid.
So, Quanda did a great job, but I couldn’t handle my egg…
Hopefully I will get some pictures later on from one of our training friends.
Rally-o home version
I had some one-on-one time with Quanda today and we used it to train some rally-o in front of the house. Once again Quanda amazed me… We’re now training without visible threats! Okay, we only have little disturbances when training at home, but it’s great progress.
The first official rally obedience competition at the local dog club will be in August. Let’s hope we’ll be able to enter that competition…
Obedience training
During the past week I got an invitation to join a dog training group at the local club. I’ve been a member since Quanda attended her first puppy training course, but we hadn’t been there for several years since we weren’t good enough… Now it seems like a few members started to organize activities for us that don’t aim for the Swedish Championship competition.
So this morning the two of us went to the obedience training at the club. It felt like the session contained a little of everything: contact exercises, competitive obedience, rally obedience, recall and even handling. Quanda did a marvelous job and I was able to train her off leash again! She seems to enjoy this one-on-one time as well as I do.
I really had great fun training Quanda today and I’m already looking forward to next Sunday’s rally obedience. Once again: I’m so proud
Rally obedience
Tonight Quanda and I start training rally obedience again and she did a great job!
The last time the two of us trained together with other dogs was during the rally course we took in the fall of 2009. During simulair situtations in the past I’ve had a hard time motivating Quanda as she basically shows no interest in me or in the dog treats I’m offering. So I didn’t have high expectations for today.
Even though Quanda started looking around and sniffing the ground as soon as we came in, I did succeed to motivate her. She was actually doing such a good job that we were able to train off leash for some time!
I’m so proud
Shopping
As usual, Lukas woke up early today, which means we’ve plenty of time before his afternoon nap. Today I put Lukas and Quanda in the car and went to visit Lukas’ grandparents.
On the way home we did some shopping. It was the first time Lukas got to walk around in the toy store, but he behaved perfectly and on the way back to the car he insisted on caring the shopping bag…
Happy Birthday!
Happy birthday Quanda !!!
Time is going way to fast… Today is Quanda’s fifth birthday. It doesn’t seem that long ago I run up and down the stairs in the apartment building with a eight week old puppy in my arms…
Afternoon walk
Most of the snow has melted the last week and now it’s freezing again, so we can finally move around! It’s still very slippery, so we have to watch ourselves, but it’s lots better then trying to walk in half a meter of snow…
Here are some pictures taken while the three of us had some fun outside.
It took some time, but in the end both Lukas and Quanda stayed in place and looked at the camera! To bad I didn’t have the good camera with me…
Enjoying the view
The hole family went to Gökalv for a walk this afternoon. Yesterday was a rainy day, but last night the temperature went down and today we had a perfect day for a walk. Clear weather and temperature around 4-5 degrees. Luckily I had my camera with me… I got several great pictures of Quanda.
Quanda enjoying the view.
A few more pictures can be found in the gallery.