What happened to March?

Seriously where did March go. Last I checked we were walking at Nymph Falls and the next thing you know we're in April.  Time flies when you're having fun I guess.
This past month we have been really busy, trying to get Zoe and I up to snuff with our agility skills. Sassy working on that focused heeling stuff. Zoe really wanted to get out tracking.

Sassy insisted she needed to see what the AIOC was all about. Plus we're in a couple of classes, one for Sassy to get better focus and both girls are working on their dance routines for the Island Fling coming up in June.

So here's what we finished up March with.
Sassy Girl entered in the Open class at our clubs AIOC trial. One thing I know for sure this little dog can do and that's retrieve on the flat. Basically it's the only thing in the whole open routine she did, and I have to say she did it very well. We found out that Sassy really is a shy little girl who wanted to visit everyone (ring stewards, judge) in the ring instead of stay with me. A big improvement from the last time in the ring where she basically just stopped. So we went to our class, cried our sad story, and came up with a solution. Lots and lots of practice matches in our future, time to take this show on the road. Sassy knows the exercises just needs to know she can do them anywhere.  Watch for us in the local parks, working on the retrieves, high jump, broad jump and basic heeling.  Feel free to stop and watch, we can use an audience, but please wait until we're finished to come greet us.

Zoe is having a blast with her greatest love, AGILITY. Said with special emphasis on the AGIL part. She starts yacking up a storm when we get close to our practice place, even though she's in a crate and can't see somehow she knows where we're at. Perhaps the pump up sessions before leaving the house have something to do with that! LOL. We spent most of March going to some private, one on one, classes. Yes they were a luxury but a necessity as we really wanted to be entered in a local club trial here this past weekend. Our goal with these classes was to improve on our Weave Poles and master that scary old Teeter. So we went to these classes, worked really hard and entered the trial. Only to find out it's not the dog but the handler that needs the extra work! Duh!   We entered 3 Standard (Starters) classes and one Jumpers (Starters) class. In the Standard classes we met up with the dreaded weaves and the nasty teeter. First run, only 6 weaves, no problems but Zoe was so hyped she charged the teeter and flew off the end, bad handler didn't slow her down soon enough, no Q but a good time. Second run, 12 weaves, popped in and out 4 times, no Q but did get the teeter! Third run, 6 weaves, on the left side (Zoe's not too strong there) again, poor handling and no Q, but we did do the teeter again! Think we've finally figured that one out! On to the Jumpers class, Zoe was doing absolutely wonderful, lots of air time on the jumps blasting through the first tunnel, then we met the air head handler (me) at the next tunnel. I sent her over a jump instead of into the tunnel, no Q. But we did finish on a high note, tunnel, jump, chute, jump, jump with Zoe going full tilt to the finish! Fun, Fun, Fun!
So today is a quiet day for the dogs, no classes. I'm off to print and mat frames to sell at the Airport art shop.

Thanks to my agility buddy Tara for these shots of Zoe and I.

 Conquering that scary Teeter!

Good Girls, Exercise Done!

A Walk in the Park

We went for a walk the other day. I thought I'd like to see what Nymph Falls looks like at this time of year. After parking in a snowy parking lot and traversing a partly snow covered trail we ended up on a nice clean trail. This is Sassy practicing a recall, nice girl comes right away.

This is Zoe, the crazy girl. She was off in the woods exploring but she did come right away when I called, just took her longer cause she was further away. Nice enthusiasm though.

Both girls were most interested in something that was down that hill. Zoe was the only brave one who took off to investigate. Whatever it was it was some interesting. She didn't want to come back this time.

When she finally did we had a party and snapped on the leash for the remainder of our walk.

Here's a photo I snapped of the falls. We'll be going back soon!

Platform Day 3 a different picture

 So this training session, I changed the picture just a little bit. Instead of me sitting in a chair I stood about a foot away from the platform. I clicked for all 4 feet and facing me and also added the word to the action.  With obedience dogs Front means sit in front of me. I want to maintain the stand so I have to change the name to something else. I am calling this "Face".

 After marking the correct stand on the platform and using the new word Face I introduced the second platform to Zoe's left.

 Zoe had no problem with the new word and moving back and forth between the two platforms.

Good Girl! Exercise done.

 Sassy Girl on the other hand was not totally comfortable with the new picture. She gave me a stand but couldn't possible move between the platforms. So we backed it up a bit.

Apparently we had to go all the way back. Sassy is a little more sensitive to her surroundings than Zoe. So first we clicked getting on the platform, then the stand on the platform and finally I was able to introduce the new word for the action.

 

Next session for Sassy Girl I will attempt to introduce the second platform again.
Good Girl for reminding me she is NOT Zoe!
Exercise done.

Platforms Day 2 the learning curve

 So here we are, stepping up the criteria a little bit. Before putting the platform down I clicked both girls for targeting the cones.














So far so good, both dogs understand that pretty much anything I put out for them they have to interact with in some way. For this exercise I only required them to nose touch the cone. I knew we were ready to introduce the platform when both dogs moved from the nose touch to the paw touch.

In comes the platform. The cone is at the end furthest away from me.















Both girls get they need to be on the platform to target the cone. So I click for 2 feet on and targeting the cones. Nice they seem to understand the game!

Next thing I know, Sassy Girl is up on the platform with all 4 feet. She started out targeting the cones but soon realized I just wanted her looking in that direction. Good Girl!  Exercise done.







And then there's Zoe the eternal jokester! Up on the platform, touch the cones and before I can click whips around and says "Did I get it right?"  LOL she can be a card. Next session I will back off a little for Zoe and only click 2 feet on and targeting the cone. She needs to understand she can work with her back to me!

Good Girls!  Exercise Done.

DIY Platforms

 So I just received my Michele Pouliot "Step Up to Platform Training" DVD. I rushed right out, purchased 2 packages of those foam puzzle piece exercise mats, matching duct tape and made 4 platforms. Now I can train any position I like, dog in Front facing me, dog in Front facing away, dog in heel facing forward and backward, dog on the right facing forward and backward and dog behind me etc.

Zoe was first up, I was sitting in a chair with the treats beside me on a TV table, camera in my lap and facing the mat. You can see Sassy girl waiting her turn on the couch.


 

Zoe progressed very quickly from 2 feet on to 4 feet on to 4 feet on facing me straight on. Don't know why she was so quick to pick this up. Usually she's the one that takes 2 or 3 sessions to be comfortable. Good Girl!  Exercise done.

 


Sassy on the other hand was sooooo excited to have her turn she was offering everything from spins, to sits, to downs.


  


She even went so far as to offer all of the above with her head turned away from me.She finally slowed down long enough for me to click all 4 feet on and standing on the platform.
  


This is the look I got, as if to say:  "Well why didn't you say that in the first place!" LOL funny girl.

Stay tuned for our next installment of platform training.  Here's the LINK to Michele's site if you want to order your own DVD.

Good Girls!

Exercise Done

Backing Up is Hard to Do!

So what happens when you make a mistake and scare the C$@& out of your soft little dog? You get to start all over again is what!  A couple of weeks ago I was working with Sassy Girl at a venue that has some pretty slippery floors.  I was a little caught up in how well she was working and decided to set up the jumps and have her do a retrieve on the flat. I totally intended to use the jumps only as a picture and only do the retrieve on the flat. But I got carried away and sent her over the high jump. Well silly me, I forgot about the slippery flooring, sent my soft little girl over the jump after her dumbell. And brave little soul that she is, she actually attempted the jump. Of course she couldn't stop in time to collect herself and ended up crashing into the jump.That was my Big mistake #1.Then on top of it all, instead of lowering the bar and asking her to at least walk over the jump I just packed them up and used words to comfort my little girl. Big mistake #2. Now I have a soft little dog with a huge heart that has had her confidence absolutely shattered concerning the jumps, that she really really likes to do. So here we are all the way back at the beginning, showing her she can jump and not be afraid.

We started with some cavalettis in front of the jump and me running beside her encouraging her to jump, jump, jump those little bars and then over the lowered high jump at the end. This really helped with her stuttering in front of the jump. She didn't have time to think about the jump coming up only that there it was and over she went. So we did some work with this for a couple of sessions, her confidence was starting to come back. We made a game of who could get over the jump first. I called Ready, Steady let's go Over and she really got into that. Fun versus fear won out in that game.

So on Friday we went to Nanaimo for a fun match. We warmed up in the Novice ring with some nice heeling, beautiful figure of 8, a very nice stand for exam, and an enthusiastic recall. Sits and downs were a breeze. She is so ready to trial at this level. Then we had a go at the Open ring. With nice off leash heeling, a sit on the drop on recall along with a very confused look at me (apparently my down didn't sound like it usually does), and a very enthusiastic retrieve on the flat. Then we played with the high jump, did a couple of run by, ready, steady Over games and then the actual retrieve with excellent results. We did the same with the broad jump. In the end she did very well, I was so proud of her. She has truly grown up alot this past year and is proving she can bounce back from my mistakes and still have fun.

Good Girl, Exercise Done!

Two Corner Track

 I laid a track for Zoe this past Sunday. I decided ahead of time to have 2 right angle left turns and that each of the 3 legs would be 100 paces long and we would age it 15 minutes.
Zoe is really liking this game she eagerly approaches the start scent pad, lays down and sniffs all around.

 When she's done her sniffing she points in the direction she wants to go. I've been working with her to wait for me to say those two magic words "Find It"

 And then she's off like a shot. On this track there was a bit of a wind from our left to right. You can just see in this photo a small hill in the upper right corner. The scent was being sucked into this hill so Zoe tracked to the right of the actual track.

 But she knew exactly when to come back to the track and pick up those bits of food. It was nice to see. This is the indicator for me that there is a corner coming in about 10 paces. Zoe circled once when she came to the end of the scent then moved in the correct direction.

 She's seen here approaching the second corner flag. On this leg of the track she stayed almost right on the line. The wind was in her face.

On this corner Zoe had a little bit of a hard time finding that scent again. Lots of encouragement and a few circles around me and then she found it!

And there it was, the article at the end. Lots of drive to get to it, we need to work on our indication though. We're having a great time with this new past time for Zoe.

Good Girl, Exercise done!

On The Road Again

Took Sassy Girl on the Road yesterday to work on some distance and distraction issues we've been having. It seems we have almost overcome these. I picked a place in the park where there was little foot traffic but the occasional vehicle driving by. Here she is on a Sit/Stay with those cute little ears all perked up and watching me the whole time.

 No problem coming with enthusiasm!  She almost ran right into me, if I hadn't parted my feet to let her through to tug on her favorite toy

 Next we did a little bit of work with her dumbell. Nice little trot out and

back with a pert sit and hold in front.  Great job, Exercise done!





Sassy and I have been working on our scent discrimination with articles since she was a wee pup. This is one game she absolutely loves. It's only been in the last year that we've been able to take this game on the road. Now we can do distance and light distractions. What a pro she is!

 She trots out to the pile knowing exactly what her job is. "Must find HER article" Often she indicates the correct article with a quick little nose touch, then checks over the remaining pile until she is absolutely sure she has chosen the correct item.






Sometimes she will check the pile 2-3 times before she comes trotting back with the right article. When we're all done she loves to head back to the pile with me and our little article bag to help me pick up the rest and put them away. Don't know how she's going to react at a trial if she doesn't get to "pick up her toys!" So I have to say yesterday was a success and you can expect to see us in various places around town playing our games and having fun. 

Good Girl, Exercise Done!

Back to School

 This week we headed back to school. Both girls to their different classes and boy did I notice a difference. Zoe got restarted with the agility classes, boy is she fast! I will be hard pressed to keep up with her. Apparently it's all about timing and that's something I need to work on. Zoe can do the obstacles but only if I tell when does she do them well.  So I need to be able to tell her while she's in the air, or still in the tunnel what the next obstacle is so she knows where she's going next.  Harder to do than you would think! Practice makes perfect I've heard.

 Sassy started back to school in a proofing class through our club. She needs to study a little bit more but I did see a huge step forward this last class. We were doing the drop on recall when another class member came zooming right by Sassy just as she dropped! Well of course she popped right up but stayed connected with me enough to go back down when I asked. But it gets better! Not only does the zoomer get her on the first pass but on the way back to her handler, Sassy once again pops right up, stays connected and goes back down on command. Good girl, exercise done.Whew says Sassy, that was hard!

 Zoe has also been researching tracking. She did an awesome urban track last Sunday as you all saw. We went to a friends place for a field track. Was a bit more than Zoe was ready for. We found out the biggest difference between Urban and Field tracking is where the dogs nose is. In Urban there seems to be a lot of air scenting happening. This does not transfer well to the Field where the scent stays closer to the ground. We had a 4 corner track with lots of incentives (good thing too). As we want to get into a Field trial coming this spring we have a lot of work ahead of us. But I know that Zoe with throw herself 100% into the game and come out a winner in the end.

Sassy also started a new class under a new trainer. We're working on a little more connection when doing our heel free exercise. Sassy came away from her first class today with a whole new appreciation for watch me! And I learned some new ways of maintaining that connection.


So on to another fun filled week, Zoe to tracking with her nose and not her eyes. And Sassy learning to watch with her eyes!
Phew lots for me to remember and to keep straight between the two. Cause you know what works for one doesn't always work for the other!