tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5113601946852996568.post4230813565499837122..comments2023-05-07T04:59:51.600-07:00Comments on Willard Unleashed: DISA & DATAWillard Baileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939227410560442023noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5113601946852996568.post-85454280424157026252011-06-21T20:29:28.673-07:002011-06-21T20:29:28.673-07:00Oh, the shriekers. They hurt my ears and I can onl...Oh, the shriekers. They hurt my ears and I can only imagine how it hurts the dogs'. There's a woman who competes in agility and obedience with her Malamute locally (there are so few of us, but she really stands out) who just shrieks at the dog. I haven't seen her do obedience, but from what I'm told it's more of the same.<br /><br /> I like having the other problem, where Layla might break on the "cah" part of "come". I love a little anticipation. Yes, sometimes in agility, when Layla's half the ring away from me, I'll have to use a loud command. But on my worst day I don't sound like the screamers. <br /><br />We haven't progressed to a lot of difficult places yet because we're still working on basics. But we have played some attention games at the hospital where we do therapy work. Not while we're seeing patients, but either starting or ending the visit. That includes a parking garage, near a cafeteria, gift shop with 4 foot tall stuffed animals, screaming patients, gurneys, etc. At an elementary school where we also do therapy visits at, we do attention games near their playground or recess yard and happened to be there during one of the fire drills. THAT was a good experience. <br /><br />I think one of the best ones is when we visit a friend's rabbitry. I used to be involved in 4-H and bred and showed rabbits. I'm still friends with some rabbit people and took Layla to their farm. Picture a decent sized barn filled with a few hundred rabbits in a sophisticated cage set up, including some play areas, whelping boxes and regular cages. I'm proud to say Layla was focused!<br /><br />I kind of like telling people, "Oh of course she knows how to ______ (sit, give paw, howl, etc), but she really only listens when I say it."Amy / Layla the Malamutehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17483472323529793052noreply@blogger.com