First Swim of the Year, Back to School and a Sleepover

Is it my imagination but are our dogs better behaved when the sun is shining? Do you think their spirits are lifted and they get more cheerful as we do? Well Hamish certainly seems to be in a better mood this week and today he decided it was time for his first swim in the canal for 2009. It was totally his idea but it did take him some time to finally take the plunge and a small crowd had gathered to cheer him along.
You may already know, but Hamish is back at school at the moment with the helping hand of renowned Clicker Gundog trainer Helen Philips. The first lesson we had to learn was to calm everything down and work on Hamish's ability to focus on me and therefore the job in hand. With a bit of imagination I have incorporated a 'trick' borrowed from Anna and Ziggi to help him relax.Ruby has been back at school with us too but last weekend they got to have some fun when she came over to stay. Actually Hamish stayed at Ruby's on Friday and Ruby came to stay with us on Saturday so they had a whole weekend together.They get on so very well together and were as good as gold....the reform school is obviously doing them good.Hamish is having to get used to being in his crate all over again. It's our first small step towards getting him over his Separation Anxiety and the first time we've had the crate up since he was 10months old. As you can see Ruby is trying to help him out.