I’m sure I’ve talked about LiverLips before. Tracy Hill up in Washington State makes them herself and the Baddogs love them. They are little squares of baked liver. Because they are dry, they don’t slime your pockets nor make your hands stink. Every instructor I’ve ever had sort of poo poos them because they are not a soft treat, but my dogs would rob a bank to get some.
Chase is entered in his first agility trials next weekend. He knows all the obstacles except — well — we are not yet fantastic on the weave poles. So, we’re working on them. I have a set of six set up in the back yard. I used poultry netting as guides. Chase went through them with guides at warp speed — at the end, he gets a LiverLip or two for being such a good boy. Today when we returned from herding, I ran him through the poles a couple of times and rewarded him.
What’s that coming through the poles? It’s Naughty Nola, and she’s coming fast, right to me and awaiting her LiverLip treat. So I ran her through a couple more times and treated her and told her she was a brilliant girl. I then unfastened the guide from one pole, put Chase on a long lead, and told him to weave. As I sent him, I threw the Cleartainer containing the treats to the end of the poles. When Chase reached the “no longer guided” pole he paused and looked at it then ducked behind it as he should have. YAY, Chase! Liver Lips for you! I took him through a second time, threw the Cleartainer — but this time he tried to skip the unguided pole. I put enough pressure on the lead that he couldn’t go past the offending pole. I could hear his brain working, and then he ducked behind the pole. YAY, Chase! Good Man! LiverLips for you. In the meantime, Naughty Nola was cavorting around the weave pole set begging for treats. I put her on the long lead, threw the Cleartainer and told her to weave. She flew through the poles, weaving as she should. Lots of LiverLips for our little red girl. I guess she needs to be signed up for an Agility class.
Even Old Inca Dink made it into this photo — because there is really good stuff at the end of the weave poles!
The POWER of LIVER LIPS! AWESOME! Go Naughty Nola! Can’t wait to hear how Chase smokes the competition at his first agility trial!