The Joy of Training

Today, I want to share a brief video of me and Shyla training before our huge snowstorm. The main thing that I love about the video is not Shyla's skills - it's her utter joy in playing and engaging with me. That's what I want more than anything, especially knowing where we started.

For new readers, I met Shyla more than 3 years ago when she was 9 months old. She was very fearful of almost everything, and she was apathetic in her interactions with me. She was the first Lab who I'd ever met who seemed so fragile and scared.

With the help of several people far more knowledgeable than I am, Shyla has come a long way. She's now rarely afraid in our home environment - which includes the area where we live and almost anywhere rural. Anyplace that "bustles", like a town or a crowded event, can still scare her to the point that she is not happy.

I adore the time we spend training together. We do nosework training, and, in addition, I've been focusing on our play interactions through a course we've been taking in the past few weeks. When I watched this video after our training session, I knew that Shyla loves our time together too!

I hope that this short video, taken in a place that was new to Shyla, makes you smile! You can watch here or at Youtube.

I feel that the time that I spend playing with Shyla improves her behavior in every aspect of our lives. Here she is recalling to me off moose tracks today. The same moose as yesterday had made a big circle, leaving fresh tracks on our path this morning.

Both of us were moving more slowly in the snow today. It's hard work, and I'd love to see some real sunshine that would start to melt the snow. Instead, it's snowing again. With all this moisture, we're going to have a brilliant wildflower season!

And, on the surgery recovery front, R seems less unhappy today and is weighting his bad leg a little bit more, which is a good sign!