These pics are kind of bad promise to do better at the picture-taking. It was good to be in the club atmosphere again. I had missed it so much. My knees really held up. It was good to not get tired during heeling or during obedience as well.
Sunday I got to work with Diamond Hansel. He’s an international competitor in IPO with his Malinois. He came highly suggested by Chris Becher, my breeder, Minna’s husband who is a trainer. I can’t go train with them because they are in Wisconsin. We had to lay some foundation work in Obedience of course. She came out strong in protection at first but then got a little overheated and lost her drive. Also, I learned that the harness I have for her is not allowing her lungs to expand. I have a new Julius K-9 Harness for her (in her color of pink). But I couldn’t figure out how to put the chest plate on. Definitely going to YouTube that later. Because I believe that harness is better for her and won’t restrict her lungs. All in all, Diamond say’s she a good dog and now we know where to start, obedience and protection-wise with her. I actually met Diamond and his wife Christina in February at one of Minna and Chris’s training weekends they had in Clarksville, Tennessee. They were very nice and invited me to come out to train with them. They are very close to where I live.
Now for a side note: I’m gonna be honest even before my surgeries I’ve felt some type of way about the IPO Club I belong to. It’s not the people, everyone is super cool personality wise. However, we are the only Boxers in the group and nobody really takes the time to see what makes the boxer tick and work. You can’t train a boxer like you would a German Shepherd. Every time I do a training with Minna and Chris my boxers are like rock stars, I especially see this in their protection work. They are barking and are consistent. I have video proof of it. Of course, Chris has worked with multiple breeds and has done this a long time. The helpers at my club don’t seem to be interested in figuring it out. It’s kind of like “oh well, they didn’t bark today,” and to me honestly it’s just not acceptable. Sunday when I worked with Diamond he engaged Tia during protection. After chatting with him about Tia and just about training, in general, I am very confident that he will get us to where we want to be. He actually shows interest in Tia and Chris is only a phone call away if he has any questions. The other helpers in my club I doubt even watched the videos of Chris with Tia and Capone so they could see what he was doing differently.
So, with all that said I have decided to take a small break from training with the club. I may go on Wednesday nights to do Obedience and practice on the field, but I think I’m going to leave the bulk of my protection and obedience training up to Diamond and Christina Hansel and their group. Diamond has had many off-breeds compete at the national level. And if he’s coming highly recommended by Chris and Minna I believe this is the right thing to do at this point. He is also closer being only 45 minutes away versus over an hour away. So, in turn, I’m ready to get this training started and grow and finally get a BH and hopefully an IPO1 title in the near future. Have Fun and Happy Training!
Ellasha[learn_press_profile]
