29th March 2007

Its been over a week now since I posted. Nothing major has happened in this time. I am continuing to work on Molly's sitting and she is excellent now both on and off the lead. I have not yet attempted to back away from her when she is sitting and I think that I will continue as I am for the rest of this week and then next week will start work on making her stay. I have a feeling that this will test my patience to the last. Molly has a very soft temperment and any harsh words of correction are met with a tail between the legs and a very upset little girl. She will have to be handled with kid gloves. In saying all that she is very brave also if you know what I mean. She takes on new environments and situations with no sign of fear. She does not give up - at all - in the search for a dummy. She does not take critisism very well is all ha. A gentle approach is needed with her.
Away from the formal training I have been taking Molly into the fields and getting her used to new environments and sights and smells. She has taken to this like a duck to water. I have kept the walks in the fields fairly short and mixed in a few retrieves to keep it interesting for her. Last Sunday we were walking around a shallow pond and after a few minutes sniffing around the edge she took off out into the shallow water like she had been doing it for years. The pond is very shallow and she did not have to swim, but she showed no fear of the water which was great.
For the rest of this week I am going to continue the sitting exercises on and off the lead and get her out into the Irish countryside as much as I can to build up her confidence.
I am very happy with the progress she is making so far.
One thing I have noticed also is that while I have been doing a lot of work with Molly my other Spaniel and my English setter have not been getting as much attention as they had before Molly arrived. When I take them out now 3 times a week as opposed to every day before Molly arrived they go like the clappers. Both are more responsive....especially my other Spaniel who seems to be trying extra hard to please me and is dropping almost before I blow the whistle. Long may it continue ha. My English Setter is listening to me more than usual also. He is still as arrogant as ever and has an air of superiority about him but at least he now seems to listen to my opinions a bit more and takes longer than normal to dismiss them as foolish. HA. You have to love him though!