Back to the Basics!

Well Christmas is over....phewww. It was great! We all had a great time relaxing and playing! Below is a video of the girls opening gifts. They had a blast!

As you can tell they had a really great Christmas!

Well now that Christmas is over I think it is time to start some training. Don't get me wrong, we did do some training over Christmas, we did some basic jump training with Hallie. But I think it is a good time to revisit the basics.

Recently I listened to a couple of seminars Dr Ian Dunbar gave at this years APDT Conference; he said something that really made me re-look at the basic training my dogs have recieved. He said that dogs learn hand signals more reliably then voice signals, and he is so right. Our dogs will often respond to hand signals before they respond to the voice command. A good example: Mia will "Down" almost all the time when the hand signal is used, but if you use the voice command she will often not listen.

So we are getting back to the basics. I am going to work with all 3 dogs on 2 things. Sit and Down. My expectation when we are finished: they will Sit and Down with both Hand and voice commands, also with just Hand, and with just voice. They will also do Sit and Down at a distance, also with distraction, on leash, off leash, inside, outside, on the bed, on the floor, in the tub, on the grooming table, etc etc. My goal is to have a very reliable, no correction, extremely reliable Sit and Down.

These 2 commands are the very first behaviors that they were trained....and also the 2 commands we did not proof before moving on....simply because we wanted to do the "fun stuff" The mistake most owners make.

This weekend we are packing up the camper and going to the beach, camping on New Years! Weird! We are used to 20 below and snow for New Years, the beach will be a nice treat. Anyway, this weekend will be a good time to start with "Getting back to Basics" Wish us luck!!

Christmas Pictures!

Well it is that time of year again. Time to take Christmas pictures. Every year Crystal makes covers for all the pet's collars out of Christmas material and we take pictures of everyone looking beautiful!!!


This is Pyper, she really likes to get her new collar, she know's she is beautiful! :)

Hallie with her gift, I wonder if she will remember how to open presents? She got to last year!

Mia being a good girl....it is a small victory to capture a picture of her....she has a hard time sitting still! :)

Christmas Time

Well Christmas Day is fast approaching! Christmas @ our house is going to be a little modest this year, with the wedding next year we are pinching our penny's. That does not mean we do not have presents under the tree, we do, hand made ones. Sometimes they mean the most. Crystal and I have made our gifts for each other this year, not that that is entirely uncommon, Crystal is so crafty/artistic, she often makes me gifts!

The dogs will also be getting something special this christmas, we did buy them gifts but the best gift we can give them is the gift of Opening Gifts! Each year we let the dogs help us open gifts, they LOVE to tear the paper! Last year was Hallie's first try, at first she thought she was going to get into trouble, but when she didn't she relaxed and really enjoyed it. This will be Mia's first year trying to open gifts, I am sure she will love it also. Pyper is a seasoned veteran in the present opening department, she loves it! She not only helps open them she also continues to tear the paper into tiny little pieces. We will be sure to post pictures!

Have you ever noticed that our pets will often pick something to play with that is NOT the toy we bought in the store? An empty pop/soda bottle, paper, leaves....etc. Sometimes frustrating.....but often Cute. Hmmmmm this reminds me of a story from my past.....

Back when Crystal and I lived in Canada we had the pleasure of raising a Canadian Lynx, he lived at Crystal's Uncles Zoo. Kenya was his name, he was amazing! We tried to buy him toys, he really didn't like them that much. Some of things he did like were: a Pop bottle (plastic 2 L), he especially liked/hated it when you stood it up, he HAD to knock it over! He also liked it when we would pick a handful of really long grass and tie it in a knot. He loved to bite and pull on the grass. One of his other favorites, I would take a tassle out of crafting rafia and tie it to a long string....he loved to chase it. We actually played with this toy with many different captive wild animals. Cougars, Wolves, Tiger, BobCat, Fox....etc

Any way the point is....some of the best things life are free! At least our pets thing so!

Challenge to fellow Dog Agility folks!

Look at the world from your dogs perspective! I was @ a trial on the weekend watching some friends compete. I watch several Novice dogs cautiously attempt the dog walk, you could tell they were anticipating the board to start moving like the teeter.

Challenge - look @ all obstacles from a lower perspective, to be more specific, from your dogs height, get down on all 4's if you have too! things look very different!!! The dog walk/Teeter is just an example. What about the weaves, as I have said in previous posts, if you approach the weaves head on, they look like 1 pole! Winged vs non Winged jumps; winged jumps are easier to see then not winged jumps.

Also note: it happened more then ones that the novice handler left the novice dog on the upside of the dog walk, just a piece of advise don't leave your novice dogs alone on these pieces of equipment, especially if you have not been trialling long and not sure how your dog is going to react. I know it is often easier said then done, I have only begun my journey in the dog agility world and am still a novice myself, so I understand how much you have running through your mind when running around in 50 seconds or less. :)