What's everyone working on in the winter weather?

We're proofing Duke's behavior for the CGC (still looking for a local place to test so I do not think we'll be making the end of February deadline, will shoot for April at this rate) but have made great progress in loose leash walking. We are completely weaned from the prong for our normal walks and I only use it for high-traffic situations that are out of the norm for us (ie. the local mall) I am working on getting him around strangers more often so that he can be more used to people and he's been both obedient and gentle around strangers for the last several times we've been out.

Duke hit a milestone in that we left him loose in the general family area in the house yesterday for an hour with no destructive behavior. He's looking to graduate from the crate by the end of 2014 for sure

Chance is doing well understanding house life and that being loose in the house means being calm in the house, and that horseplay is for the back yard only. He is learning from watching Duke for some interactive play - this morning he did chase the tug on a lunge whip but again would not bite it - we tried this instead of fetch as he showed interest while Duke was playing with me. That's ok with me.

Anyone have any brags?

Ayla, the pup, is now almost 8 months old. She is going to beginner obedience and puppy agility class right now. Our big goal is a conformation show in a few weeks. I've never shown in conformation before, so looking forward to learning something new.

Vigo, the shy boy, is enjoying a quiet winter. We are gearing up to re-start his tracking as soon as the foot of snow thaws.

Kira, the lady of the group, is enjoying being semi-retired.

I think we may try for a CGC this year for all of the dogs. An acquaintance of mine is an evaluator and is going to be offering some tests locally this year, so it will be convenient.

Ambi and I started some informal nosework at home, working on place command-she has it down but will place herself without invitation. we've also been refining our heel command. and patience, she's learning about patience.

Bad weather, TD having some health issues, and a stretch of 54 straight days worked have left us pretty rusty. We'll get out and train once in a while, but then have to miss several training dates due to weather. Tracking has been very rare. To get back up to snuff, I have started Sadie in object discrimination. She is not picking that up nearly as quickly as she does everything else, so it is very challenging and keeps us stimulated. It is a good exercise for my dog, as she is learning to think when she's in a high state of drive.

I am also determined to make the indoor training as constructive as possible, so I'm using the opportunity to reinforce some basics, such as holding the dumbbell and holding it in the correct position. It's also a good chance to work on position changes, speed on the changes, and focus.

We have had few opportunities to track. I backed off the distance to remove food from the track, and she is finally starting to track longer distances without bait. She has also started to recognize that the articles are one place she can count on being rewarded and is much more solid on them now.

With our English Shepherd we are working on don't chase cars and don't run deer. Actually making some real progress on the car chasing, he let the dumpster guy go today without a look.

Mr. Peabody (the Pinker) is getting better about sitting next to you without wiggling and weasling.
He can be touched everywhere now by pretty much anyone.

It's the winter of the "heat gun", a glorified hairdryer that we bought this year to thaw frozen hydrants. Seems something is frozen almost every day, looking forward to the spring.

What are we working on in this weather? Conditioning! I think my dogs will practically be able to fly when the snow melts. They've been playing frisbee in 2+ ft of snow for the last 6 weeks! But we are getting some self control work in with the frisbee games

Im just trying to stay alive in this snow. So depressing. And I need more socks, again.
To keep me from losing my sanity, we do tricks year round. Been working on our walking up things backyards. We started up this trick where she blows bubbles in water, its going okay.
And as always, keeping my dog from attacking people objects and dogs.

I know for most of you, this is not a big deal but Sasha and I have been working on her doing an automatic sit when I come to a halt. I've had some great advice from people here on the forum and my girl is finally getting it.

Last night the weather was horrible and I was the only person that showed up for class so we were lucky enough to get an hour long private lesson. We concentrated on the automatic sit and ended our session with a perfectly straight, perfectly timed sit. Jackpot!!! and end of training for the night. Always end on a good note.

Congratulations to you and Sasha, Debbie. Sounds like your hard work is paying off.

 Quote: Debbie Martin

I know for most of you, this is not a big deal but Sasha and I have been working on her doing an automatic sit when I come to a halt. I've had some great advice from people here on the forum and my girl is finally getting it.

Last night the weather was horrible and I was the only person that showed up for class so we were lucky enough to get an hour long private lesson. We concentrated on the automatic sit and ended our session with a perfectly straight, perfectly timed sit. Jackpot!!! and end of training for the night. Always end on a good note.

That's EXCELLENT! Woot!!