Another training session that didn’t quite go to plan.

First the environment, the grass was dry, it was overcast and relatively cool but a little more humid than previous days.

Ice was excited to see his new toy, but he would not follow me to the training ground entrance like he has done in previous days, so I picked him up and carried him.  This should have been the first sign that he was not his usual happy self.  I threw his new toy for him a couple of times but he started to lose interest in it and ran over to the table that’s supporting the Teeter and went into a down.

I then proceeded to run Ice along the Teeter rewarding him for remaining in position at the end of the board.  He’s doing the behavior fine – not as speedy as I would want but he clearly knows what the task is that I’m asking him to do, but his enthusiasm to play with the toy is waning all the time.

This is now a major concern, Ice loves chasing his toy (at least he did until a few days ago).  Normally after a few retrieves of the toy he’d be excited enough to tug with it and then be totally focused on the toy and me.  So clearly something is not right. I wonder if I’ve spent too long working on a single obstacle?  Anyway, the Teeter is going away and I’m going to spend a few sessions doing things that I know Ice likes – basically tunnels and jumps and maybe the odd Dog Walk.

On the plus side when I brought him back in the house he didn’t start licking his feet like he normally does, of course I’ve no idea if this is connected or not.