Nakina celebrates her first birthday with an exciting new AKC title while beginning the next chapter of her training journey.
🐾 Another Title and a Birthday!
Nakina passed the AKC Temperament Test under two different judges on Sunday and officially earned her AKC Temperament Test (ATT) title!
And Sunday happened to be her first birthday, too. She turned one! She definitely enjoyed celebrating with cake and ice cream. What a wonderful way to spend her birthday!
Training
Our new session of classes started this week. We are retaking Novice Obedience, and Nakina was very unfocused during class. I know that not every class is going to be perfect, so we will keep working on it.
During our new Rally class on Thursday, however, she was wonderful. And she was even better during her Scent Work Intermediate class on Saturday. Nakina completed her first exterior search and excelled at the interior searches. She really seems to enjoy scent work, and it is exciting to watch her confidence and skills continue to grow.
Now that we no longer need to focus on preparing for the ATT, our attention can shift to the next goal: getting the remaining tricks she needs for her AKC Trick Dog Performer title trained, polished, and ready to submit.
Socialization
I got a set of cameras to help us work on Nakina's separation challenges. I can watch her when I step out of the room, and I can also talk to her and toss treats from the camera.
I'm hoping this will help make the transition of me leaving the room a little easier for her while also giving me a better understanding of how she is doing when I'm out of sight.
What's Next
- Emergency Stop & Hand Targeting — reintroduce and build consistency
- Down vs. settle — continue creating a clear distinction
- Recall — continue on leash in more distracting environments
- li style="text-align: left;">Grooming — begin grooming desensitization on the table
- Continue elevator desensitization
My beautiful girl is already one year old, and I can hardly believe how much she has accomplished in such a short time. From her first training sessions to earning another AKC title on her first birthday, watching Nakina grow and learn has been an incredible journey. I can't wait to see what this next year brings!