Echo at 4 Months

Echo finished her puppy class-boring! and is now in conformation handling class. This is much more of a challenge trying to get a 4 month old puppy to stack and hold still when a judge goes over her. Last night was particularly fun-she was behind a 10 mth old Flat coat Retriever named what else-Echo. Echo's grandmother was Whisper and her aunt was Spirit so I felt like it was all in the family. They tried to play with each other throughout the whole class. But it was fun. Echo hasn't met a dog or situation she hasn't liked. She is so outgoing and happy with everyone and everything.

We are working hard on name recognization and attention. I lucked out on this with Whisper-she seemed to be born knowing her name and an ability to spin on a dime and come back if her name was called and always checking in with me. Echo has the potential but is not quite the natural that Whisper is. So we are working in any and all situations where she hears her name and comes back to me. Lots of clicker training and treats. However I now can usually call her back out of a stimulating situation and playing with other dogs. This weekend we went to an agility match. Echo was fascinated with all the dogs,noise and activity. Only a greyhound person can appreciate the neck stretch they do to watch something that catches their attention. It was her first time in an xpen in a strange situation and later by herself when Whisper and Lyric were occupied. She was great by herself.


I have noticed an interesting phenomen the last month or so between Lyric and Echo. When the littermates left it always used to be Whisper and Echo playing. Recently Lyric has taken over Echo's attention and I often find them playing together and Whisper is now odd man out.