More Adventures for Tonka

Today I took Tonka to the Westmoreland County Obedience Training Club where they were holding obedience run throughs in both buildings.  I thought it would be a good time to introduce Tonka to an environment similar to a dog attending a class for the first time at a training facility.


When we first arrived I gave Tonka time to take care of his "business" in the yard beside the building.  One of my friends, Ellen, brought her young, black Standard Poodle, Ava, out of the building and Tonka and Ava quickly took a liking to one another and engaged in some wonderful dog play.


Then we went inside the first building, where Tonka started meeting other people and seeing a variety of breeds of dogs.  Although he was excited, he stayed in control and even sat at times, always watching the activity going on around him.


Next I took him to the second building where there were quite a few more dogs and two rings running at one time and much less room to separate Tonka from everything else going on.  Again there were many breeds of dogs and Tonka was getting even more excited.  I had put some treats in my pocket before entering the second building and I started asking Tonka for sits and downs, luring him a bit to lay down and in no time he settled and calmed.  I took him near the gate to the second ring where I sat on the floor with him and alternated between trying to play with him and practicing his sits and downs.  He was stimulated enough that his tug toy was not very interesting to him, but the food did keep his attention and we continued our practice session of the sits and downs.  For a 5-month-old Weim he did very well, especially considering it was his first time in this type of environment.


Before we left I took Tonka back to the first building where he got to play off leash, practicing recalls and just having some fun.  Then I put him in one of the crates in the building and left him there for about 10 minutes, hoping he will learn that he can be in different crates, in different areas without needing to worry.  Although he whined a bit, he also relaxed and soon was laying down.


On the way back home we stopped at Mingo Creek County Park and I took Tonka down to the creek and let him play in the water a bit.  He showed no fear and enjoyed fetching sticks and running through the shallow water and the rocks.  This was a great introduction of water to Tonka.

Here's a few more photos from Tonka's stay at my friend Marge's house that she took of him.  The Golden Retriever is her dog Holly and the Lab is her dog DelC.