We did it, we made it!

We've been MIA for a little while, and as I mentioned in my last post, we had our final assessments for the Karen Pryor Academy Professional certification program coming up. Well, as predicted, the combination of moving our of our house and back to Northern California, followed a week later by returning to Southern California for our extremely daunting training finals was rather chaotic. We had barely moved into the tiny camper on my grandma's property and were still sorting out a few maintenance problems when suddenly it was time to drop Mooch and Dylan off with sitters (thanks Mom and Farra!), pack up all our training gear, and head back to Monrovia.

I was so incredibly nervous about our test, and really hoping Koa wouldn't be too tired after all the commotion. I even made her an entire steak to use for training treats, along with some slimy chicken livers and a little bacon! And when it came time to do our ten part behavior chain, we got off to a bit of a bumpy start, but on our third attempt, Koa went through it like a champ. I was very proud of her. Day two was the teaching assessment, and by the end of the whole workshop I felt good but not entirely certain whether or not we'd passed. Our instructor had to remain neutral throughout the testing process, and we wouldn't be getting our results for another week.

Well, that week is finally over, and I finally got the email yesterday — we passed! Yesssss, so stoked! The relief is immense. What an incredibly challenging and thought provoking journey it has been! But I am excited to get started training again and putting my new knowledge (and certification!) to use.



In other but related news, I have been researching and preparing to start my own little doggie daycare and training business! I am lucky to have space available for me at Twin Palms Ranch and will be starting the process of modifying an existing animal enclosure so that the space is suitable for romping pups and training classes. This whole business thing is pretty new to me and has been a bit overwhelming but I am excited about the prospect of working autonomously.

The critters are loving our Sonoma County adventures. The temperature is so much better for Koa, and my grandma's property is beautiful and perfect for exploring. There's even a little creek down the hill where the dogs can run off leash and swim! Having all of us in such a small space, and not having a fenced in area has had its challenges, since Koa is still pretty flighty, and we are learning to navigate spending time on the farm without getting too enthusiastic about hunting rodents (and ahem, digging up the carrots...) Mooch is awesome off-leash but is still working on gaining confidence around strangers and strange critters like Kiko the pig and Draco the llama, but his curiosity is growing and he is learning a ton. I'm excited to get to spend some more time working with him now that Koa and I get to take a break from working so hard on our KPA coursework.



So that's what we're up to now — one of my goals for the upcoming weeks is to bring some life back into the blog and get some more fun training how-tos and DIY projects up for you all soon! Let me know if there are any topics you'd like to see covered or questions you have about dog stuff, farm stuff, small space living, or anything else!