Sometimes we play

I didn’t expect a lot from Rio on Tuesday; she went back for her first class in nearly 7 weeks, and I fully expected her to overload as she did last Friday. I put her in the Foundation class and warned everyone I might disappear after 10mins depending on how she was working.

Apparently Rio is back in the groove, however. She was intensely focused and working her socks off! I’m very happy, we did some very simple jumping exercises over Small height and did a little bit of V-weaves to ease her back in. We’ll bump her up to Medium next week and then continue from there, she needs to be comfortably jumping Standard again for her first show in July but we’ll take it as it comes.

We have no more anticipated breaks so we can really knuckle down now, no more excuses! I feel like Rio has really matured recently and I can see the adult dog in her now; having said that, she’s never going to be a serious grown up girly, life is too much fun for that! Cat said when she was 11 weeks old that you could see so clearly the dog she would become, and she was right! Rio is the same sassy, opinionated, vocal, independent, party girl she was when she came home, she still loves her snuggles and her home comforts like a real princess should. She’s in a massive coat-blow at the moment and is practically bald so she’s not looking her prettiest, but I really couldn’t love this dog any more.