Foxglen

08/09/2026

Early morning searching with Eirwen
In the spirit of getting out this week with the dogs to do something other than "walk", Eirwen got her first big outing for search work. Up until now we have been working on the deck or upper yard. Today I wanted to do something different so before the temps spiked and the humidity set in, we headed down to the driveway where the next door neighbor does an amazing job of giving us constant area change.

This experience is new for her because
#1 She is in an area where people are there to pet her and she does not have to work or focus her puppy brain

#2 Again new area and skills challenges are all new, so time is taken to learn how to catch and then source

#3 She is sporting the familiar harness, but for the first time there is a long line attached. Also for the first time I am putting her up in the van crate so I can rearrange boxes and the search area instead of kicking stuff around while she continuously works. In other words, I have changed the whole game for her and she needs to learn the new process!

#4 Eirwen is 8 months old with an 8 month old Labrador attention span. I know I have made serious changes to our game, so although there were five searches in this session, all but one was under a minute.

With just these points mentioned, the correct thing for me to do as a trainer/handler is drop my expectations and allow Eirwen to work at the pace she needs to for her to learn how to work Odor. If it takes extra time now for her to do that and the more she encounters the same problem, the faster she will work that in the future.

Off we go to search number 5 of the morning.

08/08/2026

Poem and I joined another pack walk this morning and afterward we had some time to work a few searches. Like Shaman, Poem has not been worked since May and again today is hot (plus two miles walked before this). The Poe Dog rocked this, but I will be stepping both dogs back to rebuild motivation and duration at source/sourcing all the way to the Hides.

08/06/2026

Shaman decided we were doing boring stuff like walking all the time, so to pull her from the ceiling this morning, we did some practice work out in the backyard.
It was hot and it was more humid and this search is round 3 of NW practice after some heeling work. I am surprised she was still going as I was giving up.

Always fun when your dog gets creative with sourcing hides. ;)

07/29/2026

Found these photos of Shaman & Poem at 8wks looking for puppy photos for at Work string/post.

OMG OMG OMG.
They were so cute and huggy-squishy.

07/28/2026

Eirwen finished her 5k Star Spangled Scurry last night. We are still doing "short walks" due to her age and recommended walking/activity distances so this was accumulated over three different days. That is the fun for this event as it is about getting your dog out of the house.

07/25/2026

Today was dog packed. Shaman and I met up with our new dog walking friends for a Pack Walk and did our Star Spangled Scurry. We really are lucky to be so close to so many natural trails that spur from the Schuylkill River Trail. It was a great morning to be out with a dog

Spent the afternoon bathing dogs right down to a fluff dry of the red & white, short dog. The house is currently soooo quiet.......

07/24/2026

Out & About Class #3
Another outdoor shopping mall. I really did not think about this until we were working stays and manners walking on the grass. The push back I was getting from Eirwen was because...... we haven't worked on grass footing before. So, remember to work your skills on grass because after a zillion 100f days, it gets crunchy and pokes butts. Who wants to sit or lay on that?

The Mannequin experience, second exposure went so much better, although there was a nose touch to one of the hands. Instead of trying to get a repsonse from the "kid", she looked back to me for the treat. Hey, we are getting places.

This morning I decided to take Eirwen on the longer walk and included Main Street as her first exposure. I do this part of the walk five days a week and "no one" is out. Today? Nope. Five different people were waiting for rides or the kids to come out and I walk by with Eirwen. 6:30am is waaay too early for Eirwen meet & greets.

Her only apprehension was the ram statue. It looks familiar but doesn't smell or move like it is expected. No worries, like the mannequins at Old Navy and the mummy at Lowes, she figured this one out too.

Happy Friday!

07/20/2026

We had spectacular weather for the AKC 5k Star Spangle Scurry yesterday morning and enjoyed the trail that meanders along the Schuylkill River. We did not need to cool the dogs off in the water or benefit from the shade from the forested trail, but it added to a peaceful and clear morning.

This Scurry was a popup event for AKC, deciding to offer a summer Fitdog event in spirit of the 250th July 4th celebration.
If we needed a cool and clear day after days of a fifth heatwave and severe wildfire smoke, we got it. We celebrated a lot more than just the event itself.

Poem got to be the ambassador dog and finished hers with this group.

07/17/2026

Out & About class #2 saw us at Lowes last night.
This is scary and fun, rolled into experience. Carts & forklifts make weird & loud noises and smells of all strengths & evilness abound. At least the people who magically appear at the end of aisles make everything so much happier.

Eirwen did really well at Lowes and seemed to be having fun exploring as well as working the long stays and loose lead walking. The only thing that was confusing was a mechanical mummy on the Halloween display. It was kid sized, it talked, but it wasn't a kid. Hmmm. Poor confused puppy. She tried. 😂

07/14/2026

Dauphin DTC is hosting a first come/first serve Sniff n Go this Saturday if anyone is interested.

Join us this Saturday for our first Sniff and Go!!!!