First off the Real Big News.......
I entered Breeze in a trial on the 27th, and 28th of May. That is a Thursday and Friday....so it should be a quiet trial, and it is at a place I am familiar with. If you REALLY want to know who needs the relaxation protocol, and to learn to control their nerves...well, that would have to be ME!
I sent in my entry, and after all the injuries with Breeze...I have not trialed in a long time...I really wanted to do this one and I think Breeze should be good for it physically but once I sent the entry I got an upset stomach. YIKES, stressing weeks before the time. How sad is that? I do not know anyone else going... I am sure I will see familiar faces on Friday, but the first trial I am doing all by my lonesome, so maybe I will do a search on the net for a Handler Relaxation Protocol, LOL.
AN UPDATE ON THE RELAXATION PROTOCOL:
I am working on the relaxation protocol with my three border collies. I am sure the shelties could use it too...but have to admit I am a little too lazy for that right now. LOL.
Of course as with anything I train, the three dogs all handle things so differently, same protocol, same starting point, but totally different experiences and challenges. What is new?
LIZZIE-ya know, knowing Lizzie's ADD nature I am sure people would think she would be the one this would be hardest for. They would be wrong. As weird as it is Little Lizardo with her zoomies and her stress difficulties...she understands relaxation and impulse control better then any dog I have worked with. It is true, even if that makes no sense ;-). Lizzie is on day 8 and gets on the mat and starts relaxing-she gets it. One of the exercises that has come into play is walking out of sight for 15 seconds, walking to the door and going out for 10 seconds, she handles it all really well, and really keeps herself relaxed. It might be my imagination but after we work on her mat work, she seems to follow me around more and to look to me when she is going to go over the top--Can not wait to see how this affects her in the long term.
CRICKET-She had a slow start, I had to do the first two days protocol for a few days because she really was not getting it, we limped along but now she is the champion. She really relaxes better then anyone else, even though she really had a slow start. I have been praising and treating when I see her close her eyes, put her head down in a relaxed manner, and now she sees the mat, tugs on the mat the entire way to the living room where we are doing the protocol, then when I put it down and start counting slowly, she flops on the side of her hip and puts her head down. She is a few days behind the others but what a good girl! The hardest thing has been me going to the door and starting to open it. Today Cricket got alert and looked at me, then made a choice to put her head down to relax, wow, that is HUGE-she chose to settle herself down and understood how to do that! I think this whole thing is teaching her to relax, and to look to me for what is expected and when she is supposed to settle she is learning how to settle herself, I can not imagine how much that might help in the future.
BREEZE-Yikes, Breeze goes through the exercises and was doing really well the first few days. She still does it well but the last two days she seems to think it is a shaping exercise or she should be ready to shoot off the start line. I started to treat for heavy eye lids, for putting her head down, for rolling to the side, well, she got confused and just started throwing out behaviors, so she is the only one I use the clicker during the protocol work to pinpoint the relaxed behaviors, we will see if it works. This last day she was in a hyper aroused state the entire time, she did the full day perfectly, but she was not relaxing, oooh Breeze. I think I will just do a couple of extra time sessions just working on shaping relaxing on the mat.
I am pretty proud of myself, each of the dogs takes about ten minutes, and I do it at breakfast time, so it takes me about an hour to feed all the dogs. I also have been taking Skyler out to play Look at That-from Controlled Unleashed -because we have a new neighbor dog and it is really upsetting Skyler-so I want to nip that in the bud now that we are working on everyone keeping their heads!
SUPER FAST ORDER:
I have to give a shout out to a company I ordered my Cosequin from. Today I got my new order, 500 pills for $137 plus free shipping. I thought that was an EXCELLENT price, but in addition I placed my order yesterday at 11 am and by 10 am the next day it was at my door. Wow. The company is called Entirely Pets, and both times I ordered I was shocked how fast it arrived. http://www.entirelypets.com/
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Mothers day 2010, and thoughts on picking puppies
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY! On this terrific day I was thinking about the moms of my dogs...and some of the things I wish I knew before I chose puppies but as time goes on I am learning. All my dogs but one were bought, Skyler is a rescue, and by paying for puppies that were produced to sell...I was supporting certain things, good or bad. I am sorry to say that I did not always know what I was supporting or check out the situations nearly as well as I should have. I have come to think that because I bought dogs I really do have a higher responsibility to be more responsible then I have been with getting some of my dogs. I did the best I could but....I have learned a lot. Hope all my dogs moms have a great moms day-although I do not know where they all are, and I am sorry about that.
This is Nell who is Breeze's mom. Breeze was a part of her last litter and now she has a home with some people who seem really nice. I have seen Nell at some herding trials and she has went on to be a super star at herding. It was cool to see her looking really happy and in a great home.
Crickets beautiful mom is named Rumor. Rumor does Rally and agility and is co owned and lives with Lori. Lori is the best puppy grandma around. It does make me feel really great knowing that Rumor has a wonderful life and is a treasured pet. Getting a puppy from a mom that was really part of a family was a big requirement when I got Cricket, and that was not that easy to find.
I do not know the mothers of the other dogs ;-(, they are just names I could look up. I do wish I had known better at the time and had thought more about what I was supporting-which might have been a good situation, but I will never know. I know now that it takes a little time and effort and planning to really choose a good place if you are buying a puppy, to check out and confirm the health testing and how the parents live and are treated, how much work the breeder does with the puppies and that the breeder is really concerned with health and not breeding questionable dogs. I also have found that people that get dogs from some pretty crappy breeders will give glowing recommendations because they have never checked it out and their dogs are wonderful...so they assume everything is terrific,...I take that with a grain of salt now. My theory now is that you have to check out everything for yourself, look up the health testing and ask a lot of questions until you are satisfied you understand everything.
Lizzie came from a ranch in the wine country. I never even saw her mom, because I got her when she was like 14 weeks old and her mom was a working dog. As far as I know she is living in Northern California and herds cattle as a real job. I think part of Lizzie's problems come from being bred to herd cattle. Dogs that herd cattle react very quickly without thinking a lot. Think about a cow that could kill the dog- reaching out to kick them. They have to react quickly. Not saying most dogs that are bred to herd cattle as as challenging as Liz, but I think her breeding went amuck with those traits. I do know her sisters seemed very spacey and one had a LOT of fears, and I do know they spayed her mom after Liz's litter-humm, think that says something.
Skyler was a rescue, he had parvo and no one wanted him because they were scared of the parvo, so I really did not know his mom, but I did find out his dad was a very scared, fearful, reactive dog.....hummm, wonder why he is? Sky's dad was a dog that never should have been bred, but I am surprised at how many reactive, fearful dogs are bred. Skyler came from a back yard breeder who had two dogs....and wanted to make a little money, not necessarily breed healthy dogs-mentally or physically. I would not go that route again without knowing a whole lot more about what I was getting...but Skyler really needed a home, so..guess he was meant to be here.
Chloe came from Salt Lake City, and I never met her mom, can you tell my dog picking criteria has changed a lot over the last few years? Chloe was just a really cool dog my mom ran across....they were some funky stories about the actual home she came from, the place I bought her was like a co breeder with her actual first owner. I did not do a whole lot of checking at that time. She is a great dog and it worked out, but I truly have no clue what type of breeder I was supporting with my money. I just lucked out that she is a terrific dog.
This is Nell who is Breeze's mom. Breeze was a part of her last litter and now she has a home with some people who seem really nice. I have seen Nell at some herding trials and she has went on to be a super star at herding. It was cool to see her looking really happy and in a great home.
Crickets beautiful mom is named Rumor. Rumor does Rally and agility and is co owned and lives with Lori. Lori is the best puppy grandma around. It does make me feel really great knowing that Rumor has a wonderful life and is a treasured pet. Getting a puppy from a mom that was really part of a family was a big requirement when I got Cricket, and that was not that easy to find.
I do not know the mothers of the other dogs ;-(, they are just names I could look up. I do wish I had known better at the time and had thought more about what I was supporting-which might have been a good situation, but I will never know. I know now that it takes a little time and effort and planning to really choose a good place if you are buying a puppy, to check out and confirm the health testing and how the parents live and are treated, how much work the breeder does with the puppies and that the breeder is really concerned with health and not breeding questionable dogs. I also have found that people that get dogs from some pretty crappy breeders will give glowing recommendations because they have never checked it out and their dogs are wonderful...so they assume everything is terrific,...I take that with a grain of salt now. My theory now is that you have to check out everything for yourself, look up the health testing and ask a lot of questions until you are satisfied you understand everything.
Lizzie came from a ranch in the wine country. I never even saw her mom, because I got her when she was like 14 weeks old and her mom was a working dog. As far as I know she is living in Northern California and herds cattle as a real job. I think part of Lizzie's problems come from being bred to herd cattle. Dogs that herd cattle react very quickly without thinking a lot. Think about a cow that could kill the dog- reaching out to kick them. They have to react quickly. Not saying most dogs that are bred to herd cattle as as challenging as Liz, but I think her breeding went amuck with those traits. I do know her sisters seemed very spacey and one had a LOT of fears, and I do know they spayed her mom after Liz's litter-humm, think that says something.
Skyler was a rescue, he had parvo and no one wanted him because they were scared of the parvo, so I really did not know his mom, but I did find out his dad was a very scared, fearful, reactive dog.....hummm, wonder why he is? Sky's dad was a dog that never should have been bred, but I am surprised at how many reactive, fearful dogs are bred. Skyler came from a back yard breeder who had two dogs....and wanted to make a little money, not necessarily breed healthy dogs-mentally or physically. I would not go that route again without knowing a whole lot more about what I was getting...but Skyler really needed a home, so..guess he was meant to be here.
Chloe came from Salt Lake City, and I never met her mom, can you tell my dog picking criteria has changed a lot over the last few years? Chloe was just a really cool dog my mom ran across....they were some funky stories about the actual home she came from, the place I bought her was like a co breeder with her actual first owner. I did not do a whole lot of checking at that time. She is a great dog and it worked out, but I truly have no clue what type of breeder I was supporting with my money. I just lucked out that she is a terrific dog.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Cricket is getting the hang of Lefts and Rights
I just love her eyes....
One of the things we have been working on is "rights" and "lefts" with fading out cues. I do notice in the video that because I reach over to get the food and then go back for right I end up doing a bit of a body cue, grrrrr. I will have to video that in some other places with the food elsewhere to see if I do that all the time. But, we are getting there.
Cricket is 7 months and she is definitely has a LOT of energy and focusing is harder for her lately, there is just so much to see and do,...so many cats that NEED to be chased and so many people to say "hi" too. LOL. Even with all that energy, Cricket still makes time in the evening to cuddle, and I love that about her!
One of the things we have been working on is "rights" and "lefts" with fading out cues. I do notice in the video that because I reach over to get the food and then go back for right I end up doing a bit of a body cue, grrrrr. I will have to video that in some other places with the food elsewhere to see if I do that all the time. But, we are getting there.
Cricket is 7 months and she is definitely has a LOT of energy and focusing is harder for her lately, there is just so much to see and do,...so many cats that NEED to be chased and so many people to say "hi" too. LOL. Even with all that energy, Cricket still makes time in the evening to cuddle, and I love that about her!
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Back to Dr. Karen Overalls Relaxation Protocol
Dr. Karen Overalls relaxation protocol is a set of exercises where you systematically teach your dog to relax in a sit or a down, or on a mat and look to you even and stay calm even when there are "weird" things happening around them. Using food and quiet praise the dog learns to associate good things with different stimuli. Basically it teaches a dog using classical conditioning to feel more relaxed. I have used it when I was working on Skyler and some of his reactivity issues, but gosh I know this will be great for the other dogs too. I think it will be a great foundation for some of the training I would like to start doing with Cricket, namely some of the advanced Controlled Unleashed work and I figure it would be good for the other dogs too, as long as we are at it!
If you just try to wade through the protocol on paper it looks daunting and confusing, but a few years ago I found someone had made MP3 files to walk you through the protocol, which makes it super fast and easy to actually do it. Here is a link to Champion of my Heart that has MP3 files you can download that talks you through the relaxation protocol, they really help when doing the work so you can concentrate on what you are doing and not be flipping through papers or fiddling with stop watches to figure out what to do next. I downloaded the file to my IPOD, it makes it so easy and they are working perfectly.
http://championofmyheart.com/relaxation-protocol-mp3-files/
Here is another link to the written protocol-http://www.dogscouts.org/Protocol_for_relaxation.html
I took Cricket to a trial this weekend to work on her staying calm and connected because we have worked on that on the side lines of agility classes for awhile and I figured we were ready to move on to some more challenges. LOL, guess I raised the bar too high and too fast because Cricket was amazing outside the area and walked on a loose leash and was terrific, but when she saw dogs running, or moving quickly past her she was a little whirling dervish, LOL. I have just got the new Controlled Unleash Games DVD which I will talk about more in a different post once I watch all of it...so I got a ton of ideas on things to work on but I think I would like to work on some foundation behaviors for the controlled unleashed work.
I think a little of this work might help Breeze relax at the start line, she does great but I do notice signs of some stress when she is at the start lines at trials, and I would like her to be happier for the start line, even though she is doing marvelously on her start line-I am not sure the stress will not come back to bite us later on, so might as well work on some things that might help that down the line.
Liz is the queen of the stress cadets, so it goes without saying it could NEVER hurt to have her do a little relaxation work.
THE PLAN:
I am going to work on the relaxation protocol here at home, then take it as many places as I can, starting out with working in the living room, then the back yard, then the front yard, then maybe Lowes, Home Depot, Pets Mart, the agility yard, and work up to where we can try to do that eventually at trials, first from a long distance away and then getting closer to the action.
Our first day of working on the protocol the results were pretty predictable. Breeze was a super star even though all the other dogs started running around, the kids were walking in and out. Liz did really well. Cricket....well, lets just say she is pretty distractable. Her first session I ended up doing with Liz next to her which gave her the idea, team mat work, her second session with the first day protocol was much better and she was able to do it on her own-good job Crick! Great job Breeze and Liz!
If you just try to wade through the protocol on paper it looks daunting and confusing, but a few years ago I found someone had made MP3 files to walk you through the protocol, which makes it super fast and easy to actually do it. Here is a link to Champion of my Heart that has MP3 files you can download that talks you through the relaxation protocol, they really help when doing the work so you can concentrate on what you are doing and not be flipping through papers or fiddling with stop watches to figure out what to do next. I downloaded the file to my IPOD, it makes it so easy and they are working perfectly.
http://championofmyheart.com/relaxation-protocol-mp3-files/
Here is another link to the written protocol-http://www.dogscouts.org/Protocol_for_relaxation.html
I took Cricket to a trial this weekend to work on her staying calm and connected because we have worked on that on the side lines of agility classes for awhile and I figured we were ready to move on to some more challenges. LOL, guess I raised the bar too high and too fast because Cricket was amazing outside the area and walked on a loose leash and was terrific, but when she saw dogs running, or moving quickly past her she was a little whirling dervish, LOL. I have just got the new Controlled Unleash Games DVD which I will talk about more in a different post once I watch all of it...so I got a ton of ideas on things to work on but I think I would like to work on some foundation behaviors for the controlled unleashed work.
I think a little of this work might help Breeze relax at the start line, she does great but I do notice signs of some stress when she is at the start lines at trials, and I would like her to be happier for the start line, even though she is doing marvelously on her start line-I am not sure the stress will not come back to bite us later on, so might as well work on some things that might help that down the line.
Liz is the queen of the stress cadets, so it goes without saying it could NEVER hurt to have her do a little relaxation work.
THE PLAN:
I am going to work on the relaxation protocol here at home, then take it as many places as I can, starting out with working in the living room, then the back yard, then the front yard, then maybe Lowes, Home Depot, Pets Mart, the agility yard, and work up to where we can try to do that eventually at trials, first from a long distance away and then getting closer to the action.
Our first day of working on the protocol the results were pretty predictable. Breeze was a super star even though all the other dogs started running around, the kids were walking in and out. Liz did really well. Cricket....well, lets just say she is pretty distractable. Her first session I ended up doing with Liz next to her which gave her the idea, team mat work, her second session with the first day protocol was much better and she was able to do it on her own-good job Crick! Great job Breeze and Liz!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Another Proud Moment for me, and vets appointments for the pups
I had another of my PROUD moments the other day. I was at Target walking through the store with my cart and my two teenage girls. Well, I guess I was not paying attention and walked right into a man in a wheel chair with the cart. OMG, you can not imagine how mortified and embarrassed I was, I really felt like an idiot. When I got done groveling and apologizing to the man and making sure no one was injured...I asked my daughter, WHY didn't you tell me I was about to run into a WHEEL CHAIR? My daughter said well, I figured you knew......OMG, SERIOUSLY, that is disturbing on so many levels. Could my daughter really think I am the type of person that would run down people in wheel chairs with my shopping cart on purpose? LOL, I sure hope not! KIDS!
Apparently Oprah needs to widen the scope of her drive to get people to pledge to not drive distracted-(not to drive CARS while texting or talking on the phone..) to include not being distracted while driving shopping carts.
We had a marathon vets appointment, I had four dogs to take on the hour trek to our holistic vet.
OUR BIGGEST LOSER: with a weight loss of 6 lbs in the last few months to a perfect weight is...........
SKYLER> who just turned EIGHT, and got a clean bill of health, including a gold star for his teeth, eight years old and the vet does not feel there is enough tarter to clean them...raw bones from raw feeding ROCK for keeping teeth nice!
Poor Skyler had to have his rabis shot....that is so ridiculous when he has had how many of the shots and I know he is protected....I fully support the rabis challenge study so we do not have to keep re vaccinating dogs without doing research to see how long the vaccine actually lasts. If anyone wants to contribute or to just check it out you can find more info at http://www.rabieschallengefund.org
Liz got her rabis shot, and had had a full blood panel and is in PERFECT health, yea Liz! OOPs, except she has gained a few pounds and is now on a diet, sorry Liz! She says she is not the only one who likes their food a little too much in our house....
BREEZE-Breeze was so sick the weekend after her foot was swollen and she was lame, when she had been injured there was a small red spot where it hurt. It was in a strange place and we could not figure out how she could have done that or how it related to the injury. So now we are thinking she got bite or a sting or something...although strange it did not turn more black/blue, or ooze anything, but Breeze is looking much better...I just wish she could let me know what happened.
Soooo...the plan is to wait until the end of this week and then see how Breeze does and let her go back slowly to her activities, FINGERS CROSSED.
Of Course we did not leave the Crickster home! She comes to visit every time we go to the vet. Cricket ran up and down the stairs at the Bass Pro Outlet, worked on not jumping on EVERYONE, we are down to her jumping on only 50% of the people, LOL, and she learned about the elevator, so she was an extremely good girl. She does get over the top when we got to places with polished floors, it is so bizarre as she looks like she is swimming across the floor because she is trying so hard to run, and is so over the top her feet end up sort of swimming along the ground, being too calm is not Crickets problem for sure!
Apparently Oprah needs to widen the scope of her drive to get people to pledge to not drive distracted-(not to drive CARS while texting or talking on the phone..) to include not being distracted while driving shopping carts.
We had a marathon vets appointment, I had four dogs to take on the hour trek to our holistic vet.
OUR BIGGEST LOSER: with a weight loss of 6 lbs in the last few months to a perfect weight is...........
SKYLER> who just turned EIGHT, and got a clean bill of health, including a gold star for his teeth, eight years old and the vet does not feel there is enough tarter to clean them...raw bones from raw feeding ROCK for keeping teeth nice!
Poor Skyler had to have his rabis shot....that is so ridiculous when he has had how many of the shots and I know he is protected....I fully support the rabis challenge study so we do not have to keep re vaccinating dogs without doing research to see how long the vaccine actually lasts. If anyone wants to contribute or to just check it out you can find more info at http://www.rabieschallengefund.org
Liz got her rabis shot, and had had a full blood panel and is in PERFECT health, yea Liz! OOPs, except she has gained a few pounds and is now on a diet, sorry Liz! She says she is not the only one who likes their food a little too much in our house....
BREEZE-Breeze was so sick the weekend after her foot was swollen and she was lame, when she had been injured there was a small red spot where it hurt. It was in a strange place and we could not figure out how she could have done that or how it related to the injury. So now we are thinking she got bite or a sting or something...although strange it did not turn more black/blue, or ooze anything, but Breeze is looking much better...I just wish she could let me know what happened.
Soooo...the plan is to wait until the end of this week and then see how Breeze does and let her go back slowly to her activities, FINGERS CROSSED.
Of Course we did not leave the Crickster home! She comes to visit every time we go to the vet. Cricket ran up and down the stairs at the Bass Pro Outlet, worked on not jumping on EVERYONE, we are down to her jumping on only 50% of the people, LOL, and she learned about the elevator, so she was an extremely good girl. She does get over the top when we got to places with polished floors, it is so bizarre as she looks like she is swimming across the floor because she is trying so hard to run, and is so over the top her feet end up sort of swimming along the ground, being too calm is not Crickets problem for sure!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Our awesome gift!
Our new awesome gift we received! The PERFECT dog bowl!
I tried to have my dogs do a stay, and Crickets stay is super awesome when she is by herself, but bring out a camera and the other dogs.....not so hot! Liz would like to avoid this situation, she wants to be anywhere but here.
Cricket couldn't stand it anymore, here she comes!
Breeze looks like she is thinking "gosh, with this kid this is going to take forever", and Liz looks like she wants to yell at Cricket, "WHY, can't she hold still?"
I would do a wordless Wednesday picture, LOL, but I always have too many words, LOL. I hated leaving my blog with the depressing messages to sit there but...we have not done anything much worth talking about. We had our last two classes, in the gale force winds, and Lizzie did fine, but of course Breeze is still on the injured list. Breeze goes back tomorrow to see how her leg is doing, but it seems a lot less swollen and less painful, so that is all good.
We got a new giftie from my friend Denise. These are sooo cool. She had one of these thermas things for her dog bowl last summer and they are terrific-DARE I say the PERFECT dog bowl, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to find thermas coolers this size. It holds one gallon so it is not too heavy, plenty of water,it is the perfect dog for taking to trials or class- not too deep and plenty wide for the doggies head to go inside, it never leaks-just pop the lid back on and you are ready to go and of course it has a handle too, it is PERFECT. We both looked at every little store and scoured the aisles of all the stores to see if they had this particular size...but no luck. I have not been looking lately...but Denise, boy, she is determined and she found some at the Bass Pro Outlet, so she and Kodi got my girls one!!!! YIPPIE and thanks so much Denise. I proudly used it for class the last two days, and it worked awesomely, if that is a word.
I tried to have my dogs do a stay, and Crickets stay is super awesome when she is by herself, but bring out a camera and the other dogs.....not so hot! Liz would like to avoid this situation, she wants to be anywhere but here.
Cricket couldn't stand it anymore, here she comes!
Breeze looks like she is thinking "gosh, with this kid this is going to take forever", and Liz looks like she wants to yell at Cricket, "WHY, can't she hold still?"
I would do a wordless Wednesday picture, LOL, but I always have too many words, LOL. I hated leaving my blog with the depressing messages to sit there but...we have not done anything much worth talking about. We had our last two classes, in the gale force winds, and Lizzie did fine, but of course Breeze is still on the injured list. Breeze goes back tomorrow to see how her leg is doing, but it seems a lot less swollen and less painful, so that is all good.
We got a new giftie from my friend Denise. These are sooo cool. She had one of these thermas things for her dog bowl last summer and they are terrific-DARE I say the PERFECT dog bowl, but it is IMPOSSIBLE to find thermas coolers this size. It holds one gallon so it is not too heavy, plenty of water,it is the perfect dog for taking to trials or class- not too deep and plenty wide for the doggies head to go inside, it never leaks-just pop the lid back on and you are ready to go and of course it has a handle too, it is PERFECT. We both looked at every little store and scoured the aisles of all the stores to see if they had this particular size...but no luck. I have not been looking lately...but Denise, boy, she is determined and she found some at the Bass Pro Outlet, so she and Kodi got my girls one!!!! YIPPIE and thanks so much Denise. I proudly used it for class the last two days, and it worked awesomely, if that is a word.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Ughghgh, not again....
Breeze had to have her next herding lesson cancelled next week, our last agility classes of this session are next week-the ones where we put everything we have learned this session together and run a full course, always the best classes of the series, she will miss my bonus class I was supposed to get for getting to class early every week and setting up the courses and helping tear down. I am depressed watching Breeze not wanting to move off the couch and protecting her foot, I am depressed I am setting up the xpen around my bed so she is not jumping on and off and hurting her foot. I hate the xpen around the bed-makes me feel like I am sleeping in a crib, and mostly because it reminds me someone is hurt once again. I have to admit I am feeling a bit bummed.
I should be out working with Liz, or maybe doing some more shaping with the cutie pie puppy...but I am just feeling bad because Breeze is injured once again. I feel so bad for her and it feels so unfair that every time we get going something else happens. It feels so unfair that she is so good and loves things so much, she hides injuries because all she wants to do is do agility or herding or play no matter how much it hurts physically, it is all worth the price for her to be able to play.
I noticed something was wrong going to the start line at class on Wednesday. Breeze was doing a lot of prancing, and I noticed the right foot seemed to prance a little higher and a little slower then the other foot, and I could not get her to settle down and walk, but I was not sure. I remember a soundness test that Nat described on her blog-Dream Dogz:http://dreamdogz.blogspot.com/2010/04/soundess-test.html thanks for posting that Nat. Anyway, so I pick up Breezes bad foot and she stands just fine and I pick up the good foot and she collapses against me rather then put weight on the questionable foot....I did it twice with the same results, YEP, guess she is hurting, class done for us. As soon as I saw that I knew we were done for the day. Later that night the foot was all swollen and it really hurts her a lot.
I think this is a reinjury of when Breeze hurt her foot chasing the ball a few weeks ago, the vet is fairly sure the toe is not broken, but there is a lot of swelling, she got acupuncture and a laser treatment yesterday, lots of ice packs and we will see. If she is not starting to look better by next week then we will x-ray to make sure the toe did not break.
Of course no matter how depressed I feel the little Crickster can make me laugh. First off we were working on putting her toys away and she is such a crack up, when she gets even a little frustrated trying to figure out what to do she talks, and wooo woos, and is the most vocal little girl. I am going to have to try to get that on video. I was on the phone and did get this little clip of how Cricket can get the baby gate open. It is funny because Liz knows how to lift the gate to get it open, but she has no clue how to undo bungees. Cricket is an expert at getting the bungees off the gate but really does not know how to open the gate. If those two ever pool their talents I am going to be in big trouble. Funny thing is they leave all the other baby gates in the house alone, it is just this one that they have decided are optional barriers. Not the greatest video but it gives you the idea how determined Cricket is. First there are two bungees, which are gone very quickly, then Abby ties the one on and Cricket tries to handle that too, LOL.
I should be out working with Liz, or maybe doing some more shaping with the cutie pie puppy...but I am just feeling bad because Breeze is injured once again. I feel so bad for her and it feels so unfair that every time we get going something else happens. It feels so unfair that she is so good and loves things so much, she hides injuries because all she wants to do is do agility or herding or play no matter how much it hurts physically, it is all worth the price for her to be able to play.
I noticed something was wrong going to the start line at class on Wednesday. Breeze was doing a lot of prancing, and I noticed the right foot seemed to prance a little higher and a little slower then the other foot, and I could not get her to settle down and walk, but I was not sure. I remember a soundness test that Nat described on her blog-Dream Dogz:http://dreamdogz.blogspot.com/2010/04/soundess-test.html thanks for posting that Nat. Anyway, so I pick up Breezes bad foot and she stands just fine and I pick up the good foot and she collapses against me rather then put weight on the questionable foot....I did it twice with the same results, YEP, guess she is hurting, class done for us. As soon as I saw that I knew we were done for the day. Later that night the foot was all swollen and it really hurts her a lot.
I think this is a reinjury of when Breeze hurt her foot chasing the ball a few weeks ago, the vet is fairly sure the toe is not broken, but there is a lot of swelling, she got acupuncture and a laser treatment yesterday, lots of ice packs and we will see. If she is not starting to look better by next week then we will x-ray to make sure the toe did not break.
Of course no matter how depressed I feel the little Crickster can make me laugh. First off we were working on putting her toys away and she is such a crack up, when she gets even a little frustrated trying to figure out what to do she talks, and wooo woos, and is the most vocal little girl. I am going to have to try to get that on video. I was on the phone and did get this little clip of how Cricket can get the baby gate open. It is funny because Liz knows how to lift the gate to get it open, but she has no clue how to undo bungees. Cricket is an expert at getting the bungees off the gate but really does not know how to open the gate. If those two ever pool their talents I am going to be in big trouble. Funny thing is they leave all the other baby gates in the house alone, it is just this one that they have decided are optional barriers. Not the greatest video but it gives you the idea how determined Cricket is. First there are two bungees, which are gone very quickly, then Abby ties the one on and Cricket tries to handle that too, LOL.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Neither Rain, nor Sleet, nor Snow will keep us from agility, oooh wait is that how it is supposed to go?
CRICKET-
SEVEN MONTHS NOW andwhat a cutie.
I measured her with a wicket and she is right at 18 inches, ughghghg, she is going to be at the bottom of the 20 inch jump height for AKC I bet.
She is about 31 lbs.
She is just getting more full of it by the day. We are working on some tricks, but mostly stuff that takes a bit to teach, but we will have video coming. We have "left" and "right" almost to the point where it is only on a verbal and she spins the right way with no hints from me, almost there....left still needs a tiny little point, so it will be ready pretty soon. We have used back chaining and almost got "put away your toys", that was a blast to train with the shaping and starting off with just having the toy in a bucket and having her look at it. She is also getting the pivoting with her front feet on something and then pivoting her back legs walking slowly so she is moving her feet deliberately in a circle. So nothing finished yet, just tons of projects in the works!
As far as ears...some days they like to do this....
this was just a few minutes later, somtimes they like to do this- her ears are just waving "hi!"LOL
SNOW in CA in Mid April, what??? and during our agility class? how is that possible?
Yesterday was Liz's regular class at 3 pm and then there was finally a spot Breeze could drop in for the 5 pm class. At the end of Liz's class there was some light sprinkling. Each class has us out there for over 2 hours and there was some wicked wind, so I was pretty cold and wind whipped by the end of Liz's class and there was that sprinkling. I thought about cancelling out on Breeze's class...but my training buddy is in that class and I had been trying to drop in for a long time. Well, let me tell you....it started pouring, not just a little rain..but pouring, and then there were little tiny snow flakes. Mother nature can be quite a trickster.....so she gave us a huge dousing before she decided to start the wind machine, if she had done it in the other order it might have been a little better, LOL. I can not believe how sopping wet we all got. One of the girls in class had to run holding up her pants because they were so wet. There were two small dogs that were not going to get onto the table, no way, no how with the water. Breeze apparently has not had proofing on her stay in the rain, she was not going to stay with rain pelting her in the face, LOL. I finally did get her to stay and it was funny because the wet tunnels, the wet table and running in the mud did not seem to bother her, just that stay. I would not have run if the course had any other contact obstacles besides the table, but it seemed safe for the dogs the ground was not more slippery. Of course Deanna said we will thank her one day....maybe far in the future because tunnels and tables often get wet if the sprinklers get left on, or from morning dew on the grass, and our dogs will have experience, LOL. Guess it will take a few days of warming up before I am thanking her, LOL.
Tables and Start Lines
I love Deanna my instructor because she just breaks down everything into little pieces. When I was new to agility I think a lot of that would go right over my head, but having had enough dogs and doing agility long enough that I feel like I have a hefty list of things that have gone wrong for us....so now I love that because when I have problems pop up now a lot of times what we have learned just pops back into my head and I do feel like it is really helping avoid some things by the foundation I am trying to do with the Crickster. SO I like to put this stuff down so it cements for me and so I remember as I look back...so sorry to make everything so long, but it is my way ;-). The subject for the day was tables and start lines. There is a lot to those and I think it just seems like such a no brainer that a lot of people take them for granted, if their dog stays at the start or jumps on the table it seems all systems are go and no need to worry. The amount of dogs that really have trouble with these two areas seems to tell a different story ;-). There also is a big correlation between the two since they both require a lot of the same skills, a dog that gets into a position fast and happily, a dog that holds the position until released, and a dog that blasts out from that position-quickly, eagerly and happily. You want the dog on the table or the start line to hold their position but just be waiting eagerly to get out of there, not ready to stay for the duration, LOL.
What we mostly looked at last night was the three main areas on both of these things and how we reward or make each of those things rewarding for the dog. So I came up with what I have been doing with my dogs, I play games to do a quick sit and a quick down. At the start line I reward when they go to the line and quickly sit or down, and I have taught my guys to go right in front of me, I keep my back to the first jump and that way I do not have to touch them to play them, which would be a huge punishment for my dogs if I had to touch and move them. So then Deanna suggested I get them in position once in awhile and then immediately release and then treat for getting into position quickly. Some of the dogs in class she would let go over the first jump as soon as they sat to reward that quick getting into position.
Second component is that holding the stay, and I feel I mostly reward that with a a release which is a release of the pressure of having to hold the stay and my dog finds getting to run so rewarding. Now when Breeze was being a butt and not staying on the start line in the rain I rewarded with a ball being thrown back to her, something she did not expect.
The third component was blasting off the start line as soon as the release word is given. I did do some work on getting to my lead out position, releasing Breeze and then when she got going I threw her ball to reward that quick leaving the line, with Liz I got out my tug toy and she got to grab it and tug when she got to me.
The biggest thing that struck out to me was being unpredictable, the dog not getting too set in any one thing happening and rewards may pop up at any time and making each of the parts of start lines and tables which can be sad for some dogs....more happy.
The table is pretty much the same thing. My dogs were having trouble blasting on to the table and not skidding off the side, brakes can be a good thing, LOL, so I kept bringing them back and reapproaching and the second they held onto the table they got released to a fun game or to the next obstacle, I did not feel like I wanted to work on the stay last night, they are doing well with that and hanging onto the table is our big thing now. It all gave me a lot to think about and I am definitely doing a lot of games on the flat with Cricket already in preparation for her future career.
Maybe I could be more fun?
Liz ran the first course....OK, but she was yelling at me and kept cutting in front of me and trying to stare at me and I could tell she was REALLY thinking about wandering off. I had already been thinking maybe I have been getting greedy now that Liz runs better and not realizing that she still needs more frequent rewards. I has wanted to try out a new strategy and I am soooo pleased with how it turned out.
I gave a toy to Deanna and loaded myself up with Liz favorite toys, one in my sleeve, one down the back of my waist band, one in my front pocket and I asked Deanna to throw the toy the second Liz was really obstacle focused and really driving ahead. I told her to do that even if I did not know she was going to, because I wanted to really get it clear for Liz that running and driving ahead is ok. Deanna thew a bunch of toys and I threw things and stopped every couple of obstacles and OMG, I had a totally different dog, so into things and just so happy to work, so I guess I need to remember to be a little more fun and think more of what I want her to learn instead of what I am trying to do.
SEVEN MONTHS NOW andwhat a cutie.
I measured her with a wicket and she is right at 18 inches, ughghghg, she is going to be at the bottom of the 20 inch jump height for AKC I bet.
She is about 31 lbs.
She is just getting more full of it by the day. We are working on some tricks, but mostly stuff that takes a bit to teach, but we will have video coming. We have "left" and "right" almost to the point where it is only on a verbal and she spins the right way with no hints from me, almost there....left still needs a tiny little point, so it will be ready pretty soon. We have used back chaining and almost got "put away your toys", that was a blast to train with the shaping and starting off with just having the toy in a bucket and having her look at it. She is also getting the pivoting with her front feet on something and then pivoting her back legs walking slowly so she is moving her feet deliberately in a circle. So nothing finished yet, just tons of projects in the works!
As far as ears...some days they like to do this....
this was just a few minutes later, somtimes they like to do this- her ears are just waving "hi!"LOL
SNOW in CA in Mid April, what??? and during our agility class? how is that possible?
Yesterday was Liz's regular class at 3 pm and then there was finally a spot Breeze could drop in for the 5 pm class. At the end of Liz's class there was some light sprinkling. Each class has us out there for over 2 hours and there was some wicked wind, so I was pretty cold and wind whipped by the end of Liz's class and there was that sprinkling. I thought about cancelling out on Breeze's class...but my training buddy is in that class and I had been trying to drop in for a long time. Well, let me tell you....it started pouring, not just a little rain..but pouring, and then there were little tiny snow flakes. Mother nature can be quite a trickster.....so she gave us a huge dousing before she decided to start the wind machine, if she had done it in the other order it might have been a little better, LOL. I can not believe how sopping wet we all got. One of the girls in class had to run holding up her pants because they were so wet. There were two small dogs that were not going to get onto the table, no way, no how with the water. Breeze apparently has not had proofing on her stay in the rain, she was not going to stay with rain pelting her in the face, LOL. I finally did get her to stay and it was funny because the wet tunnels, the wet table and running in the mud did not seem to bother her, just that stay. I would not have run if the course had any other contact obstacles besides the table, but it seemed safe for the dogs the ground was not more slippery. Of course Deanna said we will thank her one day....maybe far in the future because tunnels and tables often get wet if the sprinklers get left on, or from morning dew on the grass, and our dogs will have experience, LOL. Guess it will take a few days of warming up before I am thanking her, LOL.
Tables and Start Lines
I love Deanna my instructor because she just breaks down everything into little pieces. When I was new to agility I think a lot of that would go right over my head, but having had enough dogs and doing agility long enough that I feel like I have a hefty list of things that have gone wrong for us....so now I love that because when I have problems pop up now a lot of times what we have learned just pops back into my head and I do feel like it is really helping avoid some things by the foundation I am trying to do with the Crickster. SO I like to put this stuff down so it cements for me and so I remember as I look back...so sorry to make everything so long, but it is my way ;-). The subject for the day was tables and start lines. There is a lot to those and I think it just seems like such a no brainer that a lot of people take them for granted, if their dog stays at the start or jumps on the table it seems all systems are go and no need to worry. The amount of dogs that really have trouble with these two areas seems to tell a different story ;-). There also is a big correlation between the two since they both require a lot of the same skills, a dog that gets into a position fast and happily, a dog that holds the position until released, and a dog that blasts out from that position-quickly, eagerly and happily. You want the dog on the table or the start line to hold their position but just be waiting eagerly to get out of there, not ready to stay for the duration, LOL.
What we mostly looked at last night was the three main areas on both of these things and how we reward or make each of those things rewarding for the dog. So I came up with what I have been doing with my dogs, I play games to do a quick sit and a quick down. At the start line I reward when they go to the line and quickly sit or down, and I have taught my guys to go right in front of me, I keep my back to the first jump and that way I do not have to touch them to play them, which would be a huge punishment for my dogs if I had to touch and move them. So then Deanna suggested I get them in position once in awhile and then immediately release and then treat for getting into position quickly. Some of the dogs in class she would let go over the first jump as soon as they sat to reward that quick getting into position.
Second component is that holding the stay, and I feel I mostly reward that with a a release which is a release of the pressure of having to hold the stay and my dog finds getting to run so rewarding. Now when Breeze was being a butt and not staying on the start line in the rain I rewarded with a ball being thrown back to her, something she did not expect.
The third component was blasting off the start line as soon as the release word is given. I did do some work on getting to my lead out position, releasing Breeze and then when she got going I threw her ball to reward that quick leaving the line, with Liz I got out my tug toy and she got to grab it and tug when she got to me.
The biggest thing that struck out to me was being unpredictable, the dog not getting too set in any one thing happening and rewards may pop up at any time and making each of the parts of start lines and tables which can be sad for some dogs....more happy.
The table is pretty much the same thing. My dogs were having trouble blasting on to the table and not skidding off the side, brakes can be a good thing, LOL, so I kept bringing them back and reapproaching and the second they held onto the table they got released to a fun game or to the next obstacle, I did not feel like I wanted to work on the stay last night, they are doing well with that and hanging onto the table is our big thing now. It all gave me a lot to think about and I am definitely doing a lot of games on the flat with Cricket already in preparation for her future career.
Maybe I could be more fun?
Liz ran the first course....OK, but she was yelling at me and kept cutting in front of me and trying to stare at me and I could tell she was REALLY thinking about wandering off. I had already been thinking maybe I have been getting greedy now that Liz runs better and not realizing that she still needs more frequent rewards. I has wanted to try out a new strategy and I am soooo pleased with how it turned out.
I gave a toy to Deanna and loaded myself up with Liz favorite toys, one in my sleeve, one down the back of my waist band, one in my front pocket and I asked Deanna to throw the toy the second Liz was really obstacle focused and really driving ahead. I told her to do that even if I did not know she was going to, because I wanted to really get it clear for Liz that running and driving ahead is ok. Deanna thew a bunch of toys and I threw things and stopped every couple of obstacles and OMG, I had a totally different dog, so into things and just so happy to work, so I guess I need to remember to be a little more fun and think more of what I want her to learn instead of what I am trying to do.
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