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.