Lyra 4.5 months - a bit of precision work and introduction to the stick

Today I removed two of Lyra's teeth playing tug.  That second tooth forced me to admit that I need to put the toy away.  Regretfully.  What can I say; besides the fact that I have a very strong preference for training with toys, the other reality is that Lyra's food drive is still minimal, and during teething we are going to be restricted to the picky details as opposed to the high intensity stuff that I prefer.

I also decided that I need to get a little more serious about doing work that would allow Lyra to work in protection, should I decide to go that route in the future.  For starters, I need to buy a new clatter stick; mine has lost it's ability to clatter. And I need to start desensitizing her.  She'd probaby be fine if she first saw the stick as an adult, but why take a chance?  The ability to tolerate a stick, or (even better) to associate it with the fun of biting, is important, and best not left to chance.  I'm a little sorry I didn't start this when she could still play tug - it's more logical to associate the stick with bitework than with pieces of food that she's lukewarm about.

Here's today's lesson.  I cut out the middle which was "more of the same".  I trained for eight minutes total.

In this video I cover:  precision heeling, precision fronts, the down/recall hand signals, go outs, and a bit of drive building for food.