Small Back Yard Fun

I found the exercise below online @ http://www.cleanrun.com/ (called April Foolin' by Kathy Keats) , as soon as I saw it I was thrilled because it is an exercise I can do in my backyard and it is a great way for me to practice wraps and timing.

Setup 

Exercise #1 will be harder then you expect if you have a fast dog, staying in front of him on such a long streach might prove to be challenging.  Try it different ways, figure out which way would be the most successful for your team.  Try running all 5 jumps with your dog, try a lead out (don't lead out too far as it might prove to make your dog slower then faster)

For Exercise# 2, break it into steps if you have too, try 1 - 4 first then if successful try the entire 9 steps.  You could also try a lead out past #2 if you want.

Exercise# 3.  Pretty straight forward, but the dummy jump might get you so be aware.

For Exercise #4 you may want to break it into pieces, try 1 - 9 first then if successful try the entire 13 steps.

You could also try a lead out here.

Tonight is agility practice at my house so I thought this would be a great exercise for everyone.  Danielle will be over to work Vito, I think Jamie will come with Chloe and I will also be working the girls.  All the teams are different so it will be interesting to see what works best for each team.  There are 3 more exercises that go with this article but I thought these 4 would prove to be challenging enough for tonights practice.  If you want to see the entire article I have included a link below.  Enjoy.

http://www.cleanrun.com/images/features/04_10_Exercise.pdf

Working Three Dogs.

Since getting back from Canada we have been very busy working on fixing up the house.  We are painting the entire inside including ceilings, walls, trim, doors and cabinets; it is going to be worth it but it is exhausting.  Crystal works all day, then I come home and we both work some more until 8 or 9 at night.

As you know Danielle, Zac, Crystal and I are in the middle of a "teach a dog a new trick" challenge.  Originally I was going to teach Mia to Speak and Pyper know the difference between her toys, Crystal was going to teach Hallie to put her toys in the basket....so here it the progress.  Hallie now knows how to speak and get into the toy basket (sit and lie down), Pyper knows how to put her toys in the basket and get into the toy basket (sit and lie down), and Mia knows how to get into the toy basket (sit and lie down).  Crystal taught them all of these tricks, well except for Hallie's speak which happened entirely by accident when I was trying to teach Mia to speak.  Anyway....Great job Crystal!

This challenge really brings things back into perspective.  All dogs learn at different rates and somethings come easier to some dogs then others.  When working agility with our three dogs I have to be very aware of where each dog is at in their training.  For example; Pyper has been training the longest so she is a lot stronger with all of the equipment and with running a course then Mia.  Mia has had little to no formal training so she is green....really green.  She does not yet understand the point of it all and if I try and work her the same as I work the other girls she eventually stops and looks at me completely dazed and confused.  She tries very hard because she knows that it pleases me and that it appears to be fun when the other girls do it.  Funny as this seems it actually could be very damaging to try and work a dog above their level, not only because an accident could happen because the dog is not comfortable with all of the equipment but also because the handler could teach the dog back cues due to the effort in trying to teach the dog to run a course and learn equipment at the same time.  Get your dog familiar with all the equipment individually and work a lot with your dog on the flat (without equipment) before you try and sequence so that you do not accidentally learn or teach bad handling/cues.  You want the dog to follow your natural cues as much as possible, if you are concentrating on the dog on the equipment while sequencing there will be nothing natural about how you cue your dog :)  Honestly if you could see yourself attempting this you would know that there is nothing natural looking about you at all. :)

Just remember that there is no such thing as short cuts, you can try but it will take way more effort in the long run, invest in your team in the beginning so that the rewards will be plentiful long term.  Oh yeah and don't be afraid to make small investments along the way, they will pay off just the same as large installments. 

Reliant Park World Series of Dog Shows.

Every year there is a large dog show held at Reliant Center here in Houston, this will be the 3rd one since we moved here but the 1st one we have been able to attend.  It runs from Wednesday to Sunday with all sort of events; there are Agility, Obedience, Flyball, Confirmation rings set up all across 700,000 sq/ft hall.  There are also a bunch of vendors and rescues set up with displays.  They have meet the breed rings set up, along with a strong dog competition, disc dog demo's and freestyle dance demo's.

We went yesterday afternoon for a quick peak and it was impressive.  We are going to go back on Saturday to take it all in again in detail.  Also since I can't pass up the training opportunity I am going to bring Mia along.  I think it would be really good for her to be exposed to the entire event, all the people, dogs, smells, sounds, sights etc.  I am sure it will be very overwhelming for her but she will get all sorts of attention so she will get over it fast.

If you are in the Houston area this weekend I would suggest you try and take in the show, it will be worth it.

Take a Mile - Update.

It amazes me what a little effort will do.  Mia is doing much better with her potty habits, I think we are slowly getting her to have the same potty schedule as the other 2 girls.  We will continue to potty her on leash for the next few weeks to ensure she continues to be successful.   Walking Mia on leash is also getting much better.  She definitely understands that she must walk nice but still has to learn how to control herself in excitable situations, so we will continue proofing.

I think we have had a small break through with Hallie's barking.  This week Crystal, Zac, Dani and I have challenged each other to train a new trick to our dogs.  I decided that my trick for Mia would be "Speak", which by the way has turned out to be rather challenging. :) Anyway, I was working on my training with Mia the other day (I was in the girls room with them all in their kennels), I would get Pyper to start barking, hoping it would get Mia going....well it got Hallie going instead....so I pulled her aside and now Hallie knows how to speak.  Because Hallie knows how to speak she also knows how to stop speaking, we can turn it on and off if you will.  It is great, I think it will go a long way to curb her bad barking behavior. It also appears I picked the right trick for the wrong dog...oh well. 

As for jumping up, all 3 girls are doing much better inside the house with us, they all know that they are not supposed to do it and for the most part control themselves.  We still need lots of work outside and with other people.  Danielle and Zac were over last night and they helped a lot by not allowing them to jump up but it proved to be too much for the girls so they had to be taken back to their kennels.  I am not worried, this is something we can overcome with a little time, patients and practice.

How are you doing?  Did you make your list and come up with a plan?  Can you see a difference in the behavior yet?  If not, don't worry, be patient...it will happen.

A Brand New Name.

As you can tell I decided to rename my blog.  Crystal and I tossed around names all day yesterday and this is what we came up with..."Wooches Corner"  We think it suits me better.

The blog content will not change, no worries there.  I just wasn't satisfied with the old name and blog appearance.  I hope you like the new look.

Give an Inch they WILL take a Mile!

Crystal and I have had an OFF rule in our house from the instant Pyper came into the house, 7 years ago now.  However, it seems we have given some leniency on this rule somewhere along the way as now it is getting out of hand.  Every time we have company we are forever saying OFF, over and over again it is annoying and rather embarrassing.  So we have decided to put a stop to it!  In fact we have made a list of a few things that we would like to improve.

Jumping up
Mia's ability to walk on a leash
Hallie's Barking
Mia's potty habits

By identifying the areas that need improvement we have taken the first step toward change.  My suggestion to you is to do the same, make a list of the things you would like to improve with you and your dog(s).  This could be things like; crate manners, barking, whining, begging, potty habits, jumping on the furniture, jumping on people, pulling on the leash, bolting out the door, not coming when called, etc, etc.  Sit down with your spouse/family and discuss the areas that you would like to improve, write them down, and post them on the fridge.  This will be your first step to improving your relationship with your dog!

Second step is to determine how you are going to curb or change the behavior.  As a team (you and your spouse/family/friends) determine what changes you are going to make in order to achieve your goal.  This may mean discussing rules that need to be in place or a routine that needs to be followed.  If you are unsure of what needs to be done please let me know as I would be happy to join your team so I can try and help!

Now it is time to put your new plan into action, but don't forget to follow through!!  Life often gets in the way of plans we have set in motion so please try and stick to your plan no matter how complicated life can be.  If you just take the time now, no matter how complicated, you will see results sooooo much faster.  By seeing these results you will be much happier with your dog which will make your home life happier and easier, making life soooo much less complicated!

This is the action plant that Crystal and I came up with:

Jumping up - When we play fetch in the house we ask that the dogs bring the toy to our hand, which often is on the couch, so they jump up to give it to us.  Because of our LAZINESS the dogs have been slowly getting worse and worse.  So we have made the rule, if they jump up on the couch to give us the ball we don't play the game, but in return to them we will make an effort to lean off the couch to allow them to give us the ball.  Also, going forward we are going to have the dogs lie down to be greeted by company.  This way the company can lean down to pet them without being mauled and it will curb the jumping up behavior.  This is going to be very challenging to achieve, not because our dogs can't learn it but because company often do not understand your house rules which in turn they are "giving an inch" which help the dogs "take a mile".  So to help this we will explain the rules to the company before introducing the dogs so they can help with the training.

Mia's ability to walk a leash - this is a challenge I have taken on with Mia.  This is something that I will just take some time and practice.

Hallie's barking - Hallie is our barker of the family, I don't mind if she barks to warn me of something or someone, that is not the issue.  The issue is, if I say leave it, I mean it.  Hallie has gotten WAY better, trust me, but we think she could do even better.  So the rules are the same, if you bark once we say leave it and you bark again you go to your kennel for a time out, simple.  The improvement we need to make is our follow through; we are going to make a real effort to follow this rule, every time.  We are also going to buy a kitchen timer so that we can time her kennel time (5 minutes) so that we remember to be fair.

Mia's potty behavior - since the day Mia came home with us we have struggled with this, she no longer has house accidents but she continues to have accidents on the patio.  Truly they are not accidents anymore, she knows full well that she is not supposed to go potty on the patio but the consequence of her actions have not deterred her.  Mia has real issues with the feeling of the grass on her feet and this has only gotten worse since we have given her summer haircut (we shaved the dogs completely down); so she would rather suffer the consequence of going potty on the patio then walk on the grass....pathetic really.  So we are taking the puppy approach, she will be leashed when she is taken potty and we will walk her back and forth on the grass until she goes, if she does not go she will be taken back to her kennel and the cycle will be repeated.  She will not have patio privileges until she learns.  She is smart but stubburn so it will take a little time but she will learn.

I am very relieved that Crystal and I have come up with our plan, I can see an end in sight!

So what behaviors do you want to change/curb?  How are you going to address them?  Are you up for the challenge?

Working on the Flat.

Well I originally thought I would work on crosses with Danielle this week but I fished out my Linda Mecklenburg articles from Clean Run; Handling Your Dog in Awesome Style, and I have rethought this.  I think I need to start back at the basics with her, which will be a great refresher for me also.

Linda's methods focus on communicating with your dog in a way that they understand best instead of learned cues.  She uses six different cues - motion, shoulders, location, hands, verbal and eye contact, these may be used alone or in combination.  These cues will tell your dog which direction they will be going (before and/or after an obstacle), which side they should be on, how to jump (extension, relative collection and true collection), how quickly they should be moving, etc.  This is a VERY high level explanation of what the articles contain, if you are interested in the articles they are in Clean Run from April 08 to August 09, they are entitled Handling Your Dog in Awesome Style and there are 16 parts.  This week I am going to tackle part 1 (Direction Cues) and 2 (Side Cues).

I have chosen to follow Linda's method's because I believe this is the simplest and most effective way to work as a team, my natural body cues along with some trained cues make me and my dogs a great team.  It also helps that my instructor follows the same method :).

Well wish us luck....Rhonda

We are back!

Well it has been a very long time since I have posted anything but I think I am ready to start at it again.

Before I left for Canada for a month my friend Danielle approached me about helping her with her pup, Vito. So we have agreed to get together once a week to train, this will be really great for both of us.
Vito is an energetic Yorkshire Terrier, honestly, energetic is too simple of a word for Vito! However, he has a ton of energy and drive, which of course create their own challenges. He is a good dog and teamed with Danielle who has the willingness to learn and massive amounts of determination, they will make a great team one day.

This week we are going to work crosses, front and rear. Danielle has not yet been exposed to crosses and both my girls need proofing. I think I will work on proofing crosses on the weaves and tunnels as these have proven to bite me in the rear in the past. I have learned in the past to never underestimate the tunnel, most dogs (not all) LOVE the tunnel so we often underestimate it's complexity.

The tunnel from a dogs point of view: long, dark, smelly, muffled, cave-like thing that is sometimes straight or curved, hard to tell until you are all the way in! My owner wants me to run through this thing (by the way I can't stop and sniff, she hates that) all while anticipating where she is going to be. I try and figure this out by where she is when I enter but sometimes she sends me mixed signals and I turn the wrong way when I exit. I really do hate the look on her face when I do that, but really it is all so confusing.
Ok so there are 3 morals here;

1 - never give your dog that look unless you are certain they did not do what you asked them, and in agility more often then not it is us the handlers who should be getting that look.

2 - be sure to practice rear and front crosses with tunnels to ensure your dog has a clear understanding of where you will be when they come out, so they can be sure to not see that look on your face!

3 - give your dog clear messages on where you are going to be when they exit the tunnel. If you suddenly change sides on the tunnel wfter they have entered do not expect them to know where you are. They can only see slight shadows and hear muffled sounds so they will have troubles figuring these things out.

Well wish us luck!