Training Levels, Level 1 test

Since it is the start of the holiday season there are virtually no puppy classes starting until after the holidays. This happened when I got Breeze too since I got her at the same time of the year, sooooooo, it is PUPPY HOMESCHOOLING. I am taking her to classes and making everyone say hello, and exposing her to the nice doggies I can find, and I started on one of the greatest training programs I have found on the net ......and it is FREE.

There is a yahoo group called Training Levels support http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/traininglevels/ . There is also a site with a description of the levels and the testing for each level and how to teach the behaviors at http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/%20Dog1/levels.html

The training levels use clicker training and positive reinforcement to teach everything a dog needs to have a foundation for dog sports or to just be a wonderful companion. If you pass level 3-that is generally what your dog needs to be a wonderful companion and very nice to have around. If you reach level 7 they say it only takes about a months work in your desired area to be ready for trialing, because there is a little scenting/a little agility/some obedience all built into the levels. The yahoo group can also answer questions and help support you in your quest to work with your dog ;-).

OF course I think the most important thing about training your dog is the bond you develops with them, how you get in tune with how they think, and it makes them so much more pleasant to be around and I think clicker training really trains them how to think.

So today we did the test for Level 1-Cricket is 10 weeks and gosh I can not believe how much she has learned in the short time she has been here. I do have to say that she learned crate training and some sit and come before she came, so I got a real head start, or maybe I was cheating?

Getting to know you....

I am having the most fun today, my two legged kids went with their grandma to shop for clothes and I have had all morning to just sit and play with the pup. I started off the morning going to Petsmart and getting a bunch of chew toys-those little needle sharp puppy teeth need something besides my pants to chew on...and we worked on some come games, and sits and downs and Its your Choice game from Susan Garrett (I think that is what this game is called?)-she is getting the idea that when I hold some treats in my fist she can get them by moving away from them, smart Cricket! Cricket has not totally figured out she has a new name yet, but I have been saying it and clicking followed by a treat so she is starting to figure out Cricket has something to do with her.

I am soooo proud of all my doggies, they are all being FANTASTIC with her. Liz has been doing some tugging with her, she loves Liz, Liz moves fast and what is there for a puppy not to like? Breeze will sort of do a little mouth wrestling with her and is fine with Cricket following her around. Chloe is sort of excited there is someone that is willing to PLAY with her and Skyler is ok with her following him but is not pleased when she keeps trying to lick his muzzle.

It has been nice to have a full morning to just sit and get to know each other more without a list of things we want to accomplish. Cric is still pretty perfect, a lot more wild, and starting to do the zoomies once in awhile but still by far the easiest puppy!

How Lucky am I on this Thanksgiving day?

I am thankful we have a day that is just made for pausing for a minute and concentrating on all the things we all have to be thankful for. So corney as it is, I want to list a few of those things ;-). Since this is my dog blog, I of course am concentrating a little heavier on my list that involves my puppers.

I am thankful for my family of course-my kids are people I am very proud of and I am so lucky they are in my life.

I am thankful for my puppy dogs, they are always there to cuddle and they have helped me learn how to more effectively communicate with other people-the ideas behind clicker training and motivation can work in a lot of ways and don't just work for dogs... Mostly they have taught me a lot about myself-soooo much about myself and that is probably the biggest thing they have given me. What ever we will ever achieve in any competition is such a small thing when you look at all we have achieved already in the more important things, learning about how to effectively communicate, learning about love, learning about patience, learning about how to overcome frustration, learning about prioritizing, how many lessons have I learned from my little fur babies? No blue ribbon could compare with those type of presents.


SKYLER-My tri-colored sheltie is my oldest doggie at 7 yrs old. I got him at about 6 months old, he had parvo as a tiny pup and no one wanted him because of that. I think he came from a dad that was a very fearful dog and then having parvo treatment, needles, and being hospitalized at a very critical time in his socialization left him with a lot of issues. I always was so touched by his willingness to trust me enough to try, and to go along with my reactive dog training, and he has made a ton of progress. He really taught me tons about patience. Lately he has gone through a lot of health issues, but he is on the mend and looking a 100% better, so in a few months I think he will be back to his old self.

CHLOE-What a happy little sable sheltie, she has taught me a whole lot about training and patience because she is a soft, sensitive, little doggie so of course I had to consider a lot of that when we were training, so she is my dog that has taught me sooooo much about motivation.

LIZZIE-she came to me as a pup. She was older and had not found a home, maybe because she was so wild, LOL. SHE HAS TAUGHT ME ABOUT TRAINING, motivation and consistency, LOL, and most importantly taught me how to Laugh, to laugh at life and not take things too seriously and to laugh at myself. She has also taught me not to get so overwhelmed looking at all there is to do and to just keep chipping away and enjoy the journey and before you know it....one day you look around and see how far things have come. She is my dog that made me a real trainer.

BREEZIE-who has so much heart and who will try for me no matter what she is feeling. She loves agility so much that she will work through what ever-she has taught me about not letting things get you down. What a fun dog she is.

CRICKET-newest little puppers who so far is just given me a few days of seeing the world through a puppies eyes. She cuddles and everything makes her excited. My whole goal for Crickie is going to be to not stress, and to enjoy her puppy hood, to trust I know how to train and to raise a puppy, so just to have fun with her and not worry about trying to raise her perfectly.

I am truly thankful that I have met so many people through my dogs that have been so kind and helpful to me. THANKS so much to all my blogger friends who are always there to lend support, and to remind me that my challenges are not unique, and in seeing their successes they remind me that all things are possible.

Cute as a Bug-call name "Cricket"

Yesterday was my birthday and it was such a terrific day. First off I got a lot of happy birthdays on facebook, and actually that was a lot of fun and I got to spend the day with my puppy. At class last night I got a cook bag of the best popcorn and a wonderful puppy toy and a kong from my training buddy Denise, and that was so nice and such a great suprise.... My kids baked a cake for me and decorated it and even put a picture of a puppy on my cake, they are such good kids! SO ABOUT THIS PUPPY- WELL, she is definately a keeper, I am TOTALLY in LOVE with this pup and she has a name! It was so hard to chose a pup that I had never held and cuddled and that I had just seen over the net. All the things that I was told about how this puppy was raised and about her personality really sounded great....and I got such a good feeling, I did all the research I could, but then I got her home and she is all of that and more. I took little Cric to the vet yesterday and the vet (who would definately tell me exactly what she thinks, she always has in the past...) she was so impressed with this little one. She said she shines from inside and out. Those were her exact words, and she said it is obvious this pup has been exceptionally socialized. How cool is that? She loved her structure and said she was very nicely balanced, and had the perfect weight for her body-she is 11 lbs. So Cricket got the big old stamp of approval form my holistic vet.

We still have just had one accident, when hubby was watching her, so I suspect that was not her accident....it was that she tried to tell him and he did not pay attention. She sleeps through the night, she loves to explore, tug and fetch, she is getting along with all the dogs and listening when they correct her but she does not get too upset when they tell her what is expected, she is terrific with the kids. Who could believe the first few days could be as easy as they have been?

Cricket talks all the time. When we come in from outside or when she gets excited she goes whooo hoooo, and talks. That is just too cute. She also is much more into tugging and retrieving soft toys then balls. I have figured out that she likes the huge big doggie balls much better then the tiny little squeeky tennis balls I got that I had thought would fit her mouth right now so much better then the big balls, but she says those little tennis balls are for babies.

I am so proud of how my pack is handling everything, they are doing terrific and do tell her when she is getting rude, but seems to be with just the right amount to let Cric know they are serious, but not enough to really scare her.

I took Cricket to Lizzies class last night and she was so good, Liz was barking and fussing in her crate, but the baby was a good girl. Everyone had to come and say HI, and Cricket was not at all shy, which was great because it was cold and people were wearing hats, gloves, face masks, parkas, and she took it all in stride. She does not seem to be just a total kamakazee without regard, but she will just sort of look at something if she is not sure and try it anyway, and then go after it big time, she really does not seem to be scared of anything yet, and the toy drive is just so awesome.

Our first day....could it really be this easy?

I will just get to the good part about my new puppy: SHE IS FANTASTIC!!! I know that it takes a few days/weeks for a dog to settle in and to really see their whole personality as they settle in, but OMG, this is one fantastic little girl. I do have to say this has been the easiest first 24 hours I have had with any of my puppies. It is obvious that my pup has been exposed to a lot of different things because nothing seems to throw her, and it is obvious she is entirely comfortable in a crate and that has made this whole day so easy.

I let the puppers sleep in a crate but I put it on my bed, so I could see her and she could see me, and the other dogs would understand she is part of our pack now. She got into the crate, made her little nest and went to sleep. She got up twice for a quick pee but then slept until about 8 am. No fussing, no crying because it was her first night in a new home without her birth family, she was perfect. I put her in an xpen with a crate for a nap in the afternoon and she just sat and looked at us and then went to her crate, curled up and took a nap.

As far as potty training, of course I am taking her out after she eats, when she wakes up and after she plays but we passed the first 24 hours with no accidents in the house, whoo hooo! The last two times she needed to potty she even went and sat by the back door. So I am sure we are just lucky and I know there are going to be accidents but we are off to a great start.

Little puppers was tugging and playing within minutes of getting off the plane and has been very playful today. When I took her to the back yard she was running back and forth across the baby dog walk we have on bricks, and she was playing all over the little tykes plastic toys I have for the dogs in the back yard. Nothing seems to throw her yet.

So things are going really well. Liz reacted to the pup by running zoomies, and the pup thought Breeze was her mom because they both have the same coloring, and Breeze wanted to make sure it was known she is not wanting to be a mother ;-). By the end of today everyone was working in a group doing sits and downs, and getting along beautifully. Gosh, it is so weird how easy today went.

I was supposed to be at a seminar today on playing and motivation, but I could not leave the pup-I just wanted to stay home and get to know her.

We still are debating on the name, and I know this little girl will be showing her naughty side soon, and I am looking forward to seeing that too, but gosh so far I am very impressed with how she obviously has been raised. Even though this has been the easiest first 24 hours with a puppy by far, I am still exhausted after the anticipation of getting her and just the whole trip to get her at LAX in the holiday rush hour traffic, it seemed like such a long day and we did not get home until 11pm on Friday.

Looks whats coming TODAY!!!!

This has been a busy couple of days. I had to go and get a bunch of raw food from the place that is very far away so I could get chicken necks which are softer and easier for a small dog to eat. I spent the other evening, the whole evening making some veggie/ground meats mixture of food-enough to last a few weeks. Then I had to go around the house and take away the open trash cans which the dogs are finally old enough that they do not get into the trash and those were replaced with covered trash cans. The toilet paper came off the roll and put in a wooden storage box. Little piles of things had to be cleaned out and put away, little baby gates went up all over the house and the kitchen table got shoved into a corner so the xpen could fit. What could be the cause of such commotion? How about a little ten pound bundle that is expected this evening at the airport. Here is a video of the cause of all this commotion.

I had been on several lists for puppies where the litters just did not end up happening, then I had really liked a little pup from another litter but I really wanted to wait until next summer and so I farted around and lost out on her. I had been ok'd to be put on the list for this litter, but had decided to wait until summer for a pup, and then when she was 8 1/2 weeks old I saw this video of the same pup I had really liked and I loved what I saw. I decided that the timing was not that bad and sometimes you just gotta take a leap and go for it. So I emailed and this little girl was still available, Brittney from Hillcrest said I could have her if I wanted, and here three days later she is flying down to meet us.http://www.hillcrestbordercollies.com/rumorxsinge.cfm
The things that I liked about this breeder:
1. she feeds raw
2. her dogs live in the house and she says she has no kennels-Rumor the pups mom lives as a pet/companion
3. The pups seemed to be exposed to other dogs, and I could tell from videos on Brittney's blog that other dogs are allowed to be around pups, which Ian Dunbar says really helps their doggie skills later on.
4. Brittney does the early neuro stimulation protocol with the pups.
5. The pups seemed to be on a lot of surfaces, exposed to a lot of sights, sounds, kept clean, had lots of toys, etc.
6. From everything I could see or tell the dogs all seem to be very fit, kept active and healthy.

Things I liked about this pup from what I have seen:
1. From what I can tell she seems to have a nice activity level-she seems to be pretty active and wild but from what I could tell she does not seem over the top.
2. I love how she focuses on Lori in the video, she wants to play but the game is about playing with the person and she seems pretty focused on it
3. I love how she is tugging, and she retrieves the toy that is bigger then she is.
4. I think she is just as cute as a bug!!!!

It was just weird because things just seemed to work out with getting this dog, so hopefully this is one that is meant to be. She is not the color I was imagining I would get. I have NEVER picked out a pup like this before, I always have driven on down to a litter and picked up and cuddled the available puppies and just picked the one that seemed right. I have never shipped a pup before and I am a little nervous about that....But wish me luck, I am getting ready to head out and go meet my new little friend.

No name as of yet....although everyone I have run my names through has an opinion, LOL. So far I am thinking of Ivy, Twist, Twig, Cricket, Katie or Kellie(my younger daughters nomination and choice)--so any other suggestions would be welcomed, or votes for your favorites.

I am really nervous about having three border collies and two shelties....and training that many dogs, although we have been doing ok so far I think....I am nervous about starting over and the sleep I will lose and having to keep the wires tucked behind things and the toilet paper out of reach.

Front cross rules per Deannas class and other training pearls..

Deanna breaks things down a lot in our class and really teaches why things work or don't, so one of the things she constantly reviews, asks us about, etc... are her rules for the Front Cross, and they usually work mighty fine.

1. You have to be ahead of the dog, if you are several obstacles behind, a front cross is not a good choice ;-) simple but true
2. Keep your eye on the dog-when you do a front cross you need to keep your eye on the dog and make sure you actually picked the dog up when you changed sides, and make sure they read it and are where they need to be.
3. A front cross involves a change of side, you are going to end up on the opposite side of the dog
4. Place your front cross as close to the next obstacle as possible
5. This is the hardest one to actually see sometimes in my opinion, but a Front cross should be placed on a turn or a curve, . Now the thing that can be hard about that is that you have to look at the PATH OF THE DOG and not your path to make sure the front cross is on a turn or a curve. An example of where it could be confusing or hard to see where the front cross should go to place it on a turn or a curve is this exercise below that Deanna uses to show us that. In the first course, the jump where the front cross goes looks like a straight line if you just look at the placement of the jumps, but if you walk the actual path of the DOG you see that it is indeed a curve. So I think that is rather trippy.




Another pearl I got today in class with Breeze was one about your feet placement. I have always just thought well, I know the feet are way important and if your feet are not pointed and committed the right way then of course your dog does not see where you want to go. But I had sort of figured that dogs mainly looked at your upper body, for large dogs and the feet for smaller dogs. ACTUALLY the topic of this class was foot placement, and we ran a bunch of exercises and you were supposed to stop and FREEZE and look at your feet if your dog went off course. We also we not supposed to use our arms very much. Well, Deanna pointed out that the feet control the whole body. So if you turn your feet a certain direction, your hips open up and point that way, your shoulders turn that way your body orients that way, so no matter where your dog watches to get cues on where to go next, foot placement is going to have a lot to do with that, ahhh haaaaaa, another light bulb moment for me. I always knew foot placement was important but I guess I never fully appreciated why.

Another development I noticed about Breeze today in class, one I have been noticing the last few weeks..., that is good overall, but a little scary right now...BREEZE IS GETTING WAYYYYYYYYY FASTER. She finally understands to just look for the line I am setting up and she is awesome reading it and just takes off. I mean FLIES. Half the time she is soooo far ahead of me it is scary and sad. I had thought up until now that I was doing awesome keeping up with her and thought I had that handled, but this new confidence and excitement has her just smoking around the course, and if she gets any faster....I may be in some serious trouble for sure.

Random training thoughts

YIKES, it has been a very busy couple of days with a lot of running around to do. I had a ton of driving to do yesterday and a lot of time to zone out and think.

I was thinking about the class Liz had a week ago with Deanna. The focus on this class was contacts, and I have taken this particular class and done this course with Breeze and with Chloe, but I think this class brought on one of the biggest light bulb moments I have had with my training.

One thing is that Deanna always has said since we were in beginners that WE ARE DOG TRAINERS, WHAT???? I had never thought that before because I had not at the time worked and got paid for training dogs.....but she is right, she is the instructor and helps us, but WE ARE THE DOG TRAINERS. Fancy that, I am a dog trainer. LOL.

In handlers plus-which is Lizzie's class level right now...there is a homework assignment which very few people usually end up doing, but I think that homework has taught me sooooo much and really helped me be a much better trainer. The homework assignment is to simple write down your criteria, in detail, EXACTLY what you would like your contact performance to look like, so usually there should be one for the dog walk, one for the Aframe and one for the teeter. I put down how I want the dog to enter the obstacle, how they should go over it, the speed, where they are looking, when they should break stride, how they should go over the apex, and exactly what it should look like when they get to the end, should they be looking at me or looking low, how should their weight be shifted, what releases them off the obstacle. ANYWAY, so the light bulb part of doing that was that I realized that training is so much more productive and goes so much easier and faster if you have a very, very detailed picture of what you want in the end. You know what bits and pieces to not reinforce and you know what bits and pieces to encourage and the end product is a lot cleaner and the dog is way more sure of their job. Deanna is the most awesome instructor for being able to break things down and to really teach at a very basic level, these are basic rules for this, basic rules for that, there are so many things that when I go to a trial and am a little confused about say where exactly to put a front cross--I can stop a lot of times and think what are the five rules of a front cross....hummm, and then all of a sudden it becomes clear. I tell you I have been soooo lucky to have such wonderful instructors--so very lucky.