Observations

So agility went pretty well on tuesday. Suki actually played with a tug briefly a couple of times, and even played with Michael. She did follow that up with a fair amount of barking, just to let Michael know he shouldn't get used to that sort of thing, but it was a step in the right direction.

Suki is always on the verge of being able to let herself go and have fun. My trainers wife pointed out that animals and humans out of abuse situations are often hyper sensitive when it comes to reading the emotions of others. So a little dismay on my part goes a long way to shutting Suki down. This is true, more than any dog I've owned Suki's performance is tied into my mood.

So to counter this I've tried using a bouncy, silly high voice. Well when I was running the course in class Michael observed that when I use the high pitched voice Suki isn't that responsive, when I switch to a more gruff let's get 'er done voice Suki snaps to and goes to work. Things learned:

1. The dog isn't fooled by your voice she thinks you sounds as dumb as you think you do.

2. Suki wants a confident leader and does better when she thinks someone knows what's going on.

Suki is the first dog I've encountered that's just afraid to let go. It's like she cant quite cope with the sensation of all that unbridled joy. She always on the edge of being awesome. Suki slinks through life like a mexican street dog waiting for the next foot to fly out at her. I just have to be consistent and safe and maybe Suki will see that really there's not that much to be afraid of.