Hello! Who has two opposable thumbs and wrote a post last month, only to realize weeks later that it she hadn’t actually scheduled it to deploy? THIS GAL.

Whoops.

We’re still alive! Waffles is doing really well, learning fast, and committing crimes on the daily. Many of them involve stealing anything made out of cloth, counter-surfing, grand theft sock, and sometimes forgetting he has manners. In other words, he’s an adolescent. Also, still a crimebag.

At his age, our goals all revolve around building confidence, socialization (exposure to all sorts of stuff!), exploring, and trying out new things. In the last couple of months, he’s taken up Dock Diving and is enjoying every minute of it. It’s keeping us quite busy! He’s now jumping about 16-17 feet and is developing some nice skills. To him, it’s all about “run fast, fly far, make big splash.” To me, it’s a bonding thing — we get to play a game he really enjoys, he gets to stay fit and keep up conditioning. It’s a great outlet for him when it comes to prey drive and the need to be a speedster. That way, those needs are met and it makes him a far happier working companion!

For work, he’s been getting public access exposure off and on and continues to be a true gentleman while working in public. The foundations we have in place seem to be quite solid, so we keep building on what we’ve got! Right now, he’s learning how to pick up thin, stiff objects off the floor. Soon, he’ll learn how to tap a bank card chip to a reader. It’s hard stuff but he’s doing well. Now that he’s turning a year old, we’ll be stepping up some of the skills training and building specific tasks from those. He has the obedience basics down, still struggles with long stays (got stuff to DO, man!), has great navigational skills, knows how to make creative obedience choices when he thinks I’m making a mistake (like asking him to go up a staircase he knows leads to a blocked path, or finding alternate routes if something’s in our way), and is getting way better at ignoring distractions while suited up for the job. He’s still an absolute social butterfly but he’s learning the difference between on-duty and off-duty requirements like a pro. We still have a long way to go, but for a youngster, he’s doing great. It’d be really easy to push him too far too fast because he’s doing so well… but I like taking my time, letting puppies grow into their braincells, and letting them enjoy the learning experience rather than feel bombarded by too much too soon. Don’t push the river, ya know?

It’s been a crazy-busy year for the little Breakfast Food. He’s managed to earn six AKC titles in four disciplines (four first tier titles, and two power-ups!) and is now: Water’s Edge Keep Calm and Waffle On DJ, STR, TKI, FITS. We were hoping to finish our third tier FitDog title before his birthday but we wrap up the program three days late. Womp. He is also only missing two Senior distance jumps for his dock diving Senior title, which he hopes to finish in September at a trial in Wisconsin. On the docket for this coming year — an advanced Dock Diving title, completing the CGC test family tree, finishing his trick dog Advanced title, maybe dabbling in Rally for fun. He’s a very busy boy!

For his birthday, he gets some pool time at The Dog Tank, where he trains for dock diving. It’s his favorite thing ever, so we figured that was a fitting way to spend his special day. Then, he heads off into the BWCA for two weeks. What a lucky little breakfast food…

See you all in September as we ramp up Public Access Training. We’ll take you along on the ride as we build up tasks and skills. Oh boy! Let us know if there are any topics you’d like us to tackle, too!