Leaps and bounds

Riva loves jumping and climbing. He conquered the couch the second day home and now he is jumping on and off furniture several times a day. I don't know if I should be worried about it or restrict his jumping but he doesn't have any hesitation. He seems to have a good coordination and the jumps look controlled. Yesterday he climbed on a bench in the kitchen and balanced on his front feet against the back of a chair to investigate where the cat went (he was already on top of the big brick oven). The only restriction that I have been sticking to concerning jumping is that he is not allowed to jump in or out of the car himself, I lift him and later when he is grown up he will have to wait for a permission to do either. Still, some of the jumps he makes on his own are as high or even higher than the jump to the car would be.

We went to meet a local trainer yesterday, she wanted to see Riva after I asked if I could get into her training group with him. Salme is an obedience and agility judge and has competed successfully with her own dogs in obedience, agility and Finnish working trials (not herding, tracking). She also breeds lapponian herders under the affix Tuulenkuun.  Some of my friends have been in her training group and she is very good in coaching handlers and teaching them to use their dogs full potential. That is exactly what I need, someone to look from outside and give me critique about what I'm doing, keeping me from becoming blind to my own manerisms and a regularly meeting group to keep me from slacking.

Salme liked Riva a lot, he played with her very enthusiasticly and did not show any signs of stressing. While we were talking he explored the surroundings and amused himself with pinecones that he found but when called he immediately engaged in interaction with people. According to Salme he is somewhat independent (and I thought he was quite attached to me but hey! its almost ten years since I have had a puppy)  and needs some conscious contact training now, but its good that he still seems to prefer interacting with humans over playing on his own. The training group is on a break now and will continue later in the fall but I got some tips on what to do before it. Can't wait for it to start! And believe me, that's a lot coming from me when talking about obedience training.  ;-P