danity acres Italian Greyhound Puppies

 Blanco is Looking for his Forever Human!  

Blanco is a 3 year old neutered boy; he and I are still working toward his Rally Novice title, so their are some more things to learn before he is ready to leave Dainty Acres.  The nice thing about working slowly on a goal like this, is I can keep it fun for him.  Long breaks are fine, because we just pick back up or go back to the things he does know and work forward again.  Training is a series of building blocks, before he can learn to do the "down" he needs to know how to "sit".  Before he can sit, he needs to learn how to "stay".   The good thing is he is doing the "down", so we have made great progress.  I am not using the leash in my training so far.  Next month we will work on stringing some of the Rally Novice Course #1 signs together, and I will start using the leash for that stage of our progress.  Since I trained him to follow my hand, I don't really need a leash to do our work.  And when we get to the advanced levels, he competes without a leash.  Rally is a competition through AKC where the dog and handler do a series of commands all strung together on a course in a timed event.  We started with the commands in the Rally Novice course, and Blanco is loving the challenge.  

As you can see from the photos here, he is very athletic.  He has an acre of 6' fenced yard to run and part of his daily routine is to get to run the yard chasing squirrels.  Blanco is happy to stay in his environment with his human, whether it is lounging on the couch or running to Hobby Lobby.  He is rather insecure though if he is left alone.  IGs don't like being left outside alone, actually, they don't like doing anything alone.  That is why I crate train all my dogs, so I can go to the kitchen without them if I want. 

#RallyNovicePractice 

#HaultDownWalkAround 

#DaintysCashmereFedora 

#DaintyAcresItalianGreyhounds

October flew by as Blanco got to sit in the bleachers and cheer on his siblings in the show ring.  Blanco was my pick for the show ring back in 2022, then his ear didn't fold.  I don't plastic surgery imperfections, so he gets to be perfect just the way he is, just not in the conformation ring.  Blanco and I are working on his Rally Novice title when we are not on the road showing dogs.  

Blanco is one of my favorites to train because he loves to do things right.  He gets very upset if someone around him is naughty, he knows it and runs from them so he doesn't get pinned for the crime.  In June a puppy came to live with us and he and the puppy became besties.  He is super playful and silly with her, and he respects the happy souls and gravitates to the kind and happy players.  His perfect human will have a fun spirit with a desire to do fun things with him that include the outdoors and going places.  His perfect human will be as co-dependent as him, and as kind and sweet as him too.  He plays well with others, but he is a typical Italian Greyhound, meaning he will be aloof until he thinks he has the other dog or human figured out.  IG's are super loyal and smart.  Once you are accepted into the IG circle, Blanco will jump out of his skin for you.  Speaking of skin, he is a blue fawn, that means his skin is blue and the hairs that come out of the blue skin are tan.  In certain light he shimmers in pink and purple tones, he is truly exquisite!   

In this video we are going back to the basics of hand and voice signs.  He remembers the drills, but is rusty because I was busy showing for the last 2 months.  If I can control his head, I can control the whole dog, and I have his head, he is watching my hand nicely.  There are 13 signs we need to perform in the Rally Novice Course #1.  First he needs to know how to Heel, that is where he stays with me when we walk around, his front feet tracking in the lane left of me, and at my legs.  In the heel position, he will also need to sit automatically when we come to a stop, keeping his front feet at my feet.  I am holding my hand where he can see it, I use my hand to tell him what to do.  If I manage where my hand is, I can line him up with my leg for the proper heel position.  I want him to look at my hand for the sign of things to come.  In a Rally competition I can not use bait, treats or toys, but for training purposes, I am a Pez dispenser.  

I like warming up with the Fit Paws and disks to play the "touch" game.  This gets him thinking and listening to me.  He really likes to get things right, so this is fun for him.  This training session is only a couple minutes long, so we finish up with asking for the "Front" and "Left Finish".   Today was a huge success, later today I will bring him in my studio again for another 3 minutes of fun.  Our next goal is to get that "down" again.  In the next competition he needs to perform the "down" with a stay as I walk around him.  Everything else on that course he can do as long as he follows my hand. I hope you are enjoying these videos, it sure helps me grow my reach if you hit the "Like" button on Youtube and Facebook.  And please "SUBSCRIBE" if these are helpful!!!

#RallyNovicePractice #HaultDownWalkAround #DaintysCashmereFedora 

#DaintyAcresItalianGreyhounds