January 2008 - Posts

• Bambi and friends show up and Scout gets in a tiffy

  I took out Scout this morning and I heard some noises in the woods and I see several whitetails leaping and running. I guess we scared them. Several seconds later Scout sees movement and starts barking. I try to do my version of a 'doe call' (Hey I am no hunter but I got a hunting game for us to play around with and thats the call that stuck in my mind!) and Bambi and friends stopped. Scout continued barking which continued inside for a couple of hours. He was certainly on edge this morning. Perhaps because he did not get a good night sleep because he kept on growling and barking last night. I wonder if it was because we moved the crates closer together and he didn't like feeling closed in? He woke me up several times and I noticed Chloe was sitting in her crate all tense so I took her out because of all the commotion he was creating.   Posted Jan 31 2008, 09:56 AM by jdata with no comments

• Almost one-dogless this AM

  Woke at 7:51AM to the sound of a whining dog, Scout, that was either telling me he was getting tired of being in the crate or he had to go. Previous experience tells me he had to go. So I got up did morning hygiene and got the dogs out of their crates. Note: Yesterday morning I left Scout in his crate I get ready to take Chloe out first and walk about the door and all of sudden I see Scout bolting past me! I rushed to put Chloe back in the house and followed in the direction where Scout was. Luckily, there was a dog outside (I hope he was left outside because with with the wind chill the temperature felt like it was at 0!)  which caught Scout's attention that slowed him down. He had his spike up to this black Lab/GS mix asking, "who are you?" Every time I closed the gap he ran and we imitated a NASCAR race by going round and round this lady's house. I was getting winded and as I turned the corner, he was taking a leak. So there was my chance to get him which I managed to do so. The lady apologized but it wasn't her fault at all. I grabbed Scout by the collar and walked him home. Then proceeded to take Chloe out for her potty. My lungs were getting killed out in the ice cold. Ugh. After they were fed they took their morning naps for a couple of hours. When Scout woke up and he disappeared but he did leave me a present in the kitchen. We still have some ways go to for potty training I see. He didn't give any signs at all.   Posted Jan 30 2008, 10:33 AM by jdata with no comments

• Last Night Mr Busy Body

  From around 8-9pm, Scout would not just settle down as he wanted to play and sassed when he did not get his way. So I got to thinking in what Jennifer did with him and Stella so I pulled out a comforter and sat on the floor. Sure, enough right in the pocket Jennifer! Chloe followed suit. Then the hardwood floor was killing my rump so I had to get in the chair and he followed me up. Then he started to slip down so I put Chloe's bed under the covers and there he went.       Posted Jan 30 2008, 10:00 AM by jdata with no comments

• Door Ettiquette

  No, this entry isn't about the canines but about the humans that enter the household. I am stickler about having control over the dog(s) when someone comes over. I hate it when someone comes over knocks on the door and lets themselves right in while the dogs are excited. You can't control the dogs or train the dogs. Obviously the people like this are either clueless or just like make more difficulty for someone else!     Posted Jan 29 2008, 05:27 PM by jdata with no comments

• A rocky start that ends big

  Besides Scout going crazy behind the gate - doing the Jack thing - Jumpin' - and me having to put him in his crate upstairs while I trained Chloe, today's sessions were a big positive step for both dogs. Chloe's session just mainly involved working on her 2o2o, front and rear crosses, and the tippy board. She was getting rather speedy in setting her 2o2o and I wonder if it was because Scout was whining for some companionship upstairs. Before she was getting stressed because I was getting stressed because Scout was testing out the gate, jumping, and whining. This session lasted about 15 minutes or so about 5 minutes for each part. Then it was Scout's turn. I had to get him and Chloe followed suit. He was excited to us and I waited for him to settled down. And he started to until, Chloe barked at him which got him fired up again. I finally let him out of his crate and he bolted downstairs to explore was what going on while he was upstairs. I grabbed the old red slip lead and brought him upstairs because I wanted to burn some of the energy out of him so since he did a beautiful job on the treadmill, he was going back on it. We again worked up back to 2.5 MPH and the distance - although short - was only a quarter of a mile. We will slowly increase it. Chloe just sat there and watched. I kept praising him and egging him on to continue. He was doing great. A fearless one he is - Yoda. Then we went downstairs to do some leash work, sit, down, and his name. The good ol' basics. The leash work involved him understanding to sit when I stop walking near my side. He did that rather well. No pulling whatsoever. In fact, Chloe joined in and they had a little train. She was in front nice and tight near my leg and he was back there. She actually helped in the exercise. Because she knew what to do and Scout just watched her. I stopped using verbal commands at that point. I had to sent Chloe to her bed as we continue our squared circle in the living room. Then it was time to work on those commands and for him to look at me when I call his name. It is somewhat difficult to tell when he is looking at me though so I had to go by the whites in his eyes. I couldn't see his pupils very well. Since Chloe's eyes are splayed out, it is easier to read. He was certainly getting his sits and downs really well. So I am going to start backing off with the treats. The name word associated with a default behavior of looking at me needs more work. It takes him some time to look at me. It is as if he is shy. He started to get the hang of at the end. Once he learned not to look for my hands or any movements and look at me. Oh yeah, I worked on stays at the door earlier today too. It went well for most of it. I managed to open the door at one point but at times he got up and moved.   Anyhow, moving on... The last two sessions mainly involved introductions to the  ladder - he already did it once - and the tippy board. The tippy board went first. And I figured since he was a terrier he would be cautious about getting on it. He looked at puzzled at first but went on it and slammed it down! He heard the click and was looking for the liver. Chloe came in and joined in on the fun and by habit kept on doing her 2o2o! Good dog! Scout attempted to make the noise again and Chloe was on it. He shook his head why it isn't moving. I was laughing because Chloe did a 180 and did another 2o2o. So I had to treat her for it and tell her to get off of it. He came right back on it, bang! And the liver door opened. He started to understand that was treat central when he was making a noise and was walking on it. Then we moved to the ladder and Chloe confidently wanted to show him how it was done. Being eager, Scout just try to muscle his way in between Chloe and I just to get the liver. No sir! It doesn't work that way. He managed to successfully do 2 clean ladder passes in it! Atta boy!  Session ended right there and then. That was a good 15 minutes I suppose.     Posted Jan 29 2008, 03:19 PM by jdata with 1 comment(s)

• Scout's first 24 Hours

  I managed to sneak in some time to write another entry which probably won't last long. But I have both of them laying down in their beds next to me. Scout right now is somewhat opposite of what he was yesterday morning as he was just a busy body. Cue 24 time stamp!  Sunday 6:39PM - Monday 6:39PM The First Night: Well, we knew would be busy since he would be something similar like a 2 or a 7 year old boy at a toy store picking and prodding anything he can see and touch that was constantly putting us on our toes when it was time to set a limit or a behavioral change.  His special words for this week are "Off! and Leave it!"  He got feed and I really have to think of a way to slow him down when he eats as he just inhales it.   The good old baby gate was pulled out of the archives and resurrected. Keep does in dining and room kitchen.    He was just very curious of his new environment and when he was focused on something he wanted it. He literally went through the toy bin and literally took everything out of it and was fixed on it most of the night until I put it away upstairs. Chloe on the other hand was tired and beat and laid on her spot on the chair and still didn't know to think about all this energy late at night. It was time for me to give Chloe's medications (cut foot from ice) and to brush her teeth which Scout was interested to see what I was doing. So after doing Chloe, I gave Scout a taste of the toothpaste. And like a bad habit, I started to grab his snout which he just pulled away. The trust isn't there yet. But I did manage to stick the toothbrush in there and was able to get on some of teeth while he licked and moved about. When it was time for last call, Scout must've been all packed up because he did a #2 twice and three #1s. I decided not to use his harness and his pulling tendency seemed to have stopped. When it was time for bed around 11:30pm, there was some difficulty getting him into his crate which I will resolve this week and the first several minutes he whined a bit which again, I plan to resolve in the next coming months. But he finally got over it and started making his bed. However, if he saw me leaving the room to do my nightly hygiene, he would whine. So he has some separation anxiety issues that we are going to have to work on. During the night you would hear him dreaming and then around 3am, he let out a loud bark. At 6:19am, he was whining away telling me that he needed to go. Silly me for breaking the rules because I never give anything to the dogs after 9pm in which the both got ice around 10pm! I couldn't get back to sleep and so woke up Laurie - isn't that nice of me on her day off!   The First Morning: I took Chloe out and Laurie took out Scout and I was waiting for the bucking and pulling to begin. We all came back in and began to feed them. I noticed something, Chloe herself usually inhales her food but now she was eating slower. After the morning ritual were finished, Laurie told me there is Mt. Scout out there because she forgot to bring a baggie to get it. Scout was going to investigate every part of the house. He remember where the toy bin went and went straight for the sewing room. I went up there and brought him back to where we were all at. Sure enough, he goes for the bookshelf, what for? He sees a tennis ball and smells a plastic cover that I use for target training. He is trying his hardest to get at them and I keep getting of my chair. Then I started to use sound abatement which was just a bunch of pennies in a can. When he got up on the shelf, I threw can near the area. He wasn't startled but he his expression was like, "What was that? Why is it near me?" Then he walked off into the kitchen to continue sleuthing. Meanwhile, Chloe was getting worried about she heard the can so she ran to mommy. I see Scout trying to get behind the dog food and there goes the can followed by the same reaction. It breaks his focus. Now he starts putting his paws on the dining room table, "Off!" and then praise. That was basically the ritual all day particularly around the tables, stove, and kitchen counter. The dogs seem to be tolerating each other rather well so far. The only time there is play is when I take Chloe out first for a potty break and Scout second in where she gets ready to jump onto Scout and does a bow. And starts the chasing but Scout finishes. She is surprised of his size. Scout did have a zoomie moment in the house on the second attack of the Chloe. Another instance where there is play is when one of the tugs becomes the focus object. Chloe will play for several seconds and stops that I think is because she is not use to hearing Scout growl in excitement. And for sure, when he does his high pitch bark, Chloe seems to lose her confidence. She was like that with the Sheltie in class. Not a lot of dogs bark in this house - only when the mailman comes! She is use to a quiet household. The key is, will she get use to is which is inevitable or will Scout change and relax and be quiet? We'll see. We noticed last night that Scout was laying in Chloe's bed for like what? 2 minutes? And then he was back to become an explorer. This morning was the same, when Chloe gets cold, she walks to the registers when it is on and sits by it. During that time, Scout walks over and takes her bed. So we figured to get him a bed or make one which Laurie had planned to do awhile ago. So she made one that was similar to the Cozy Cave bed that Chloe has. There was a growl match over it in the late evening where Chloe was getting it and Scout was stepping over it. Chloe jumped off and I got Scout off the couch. He wasn't suppose to be there in the first place. Since he was still wound up I decided to see what would he do if I put him on the treadmill. He got on with confidence and I put the lead on him. I started at one MPH and slowly increased the speed by 0.2 MPH every 30 seconds. We ending up at 0.75 MI and at 2.0 MPH. The default speed on the treadmill is 2.5MPH. He did really well and actually progressed farther than Chloe in this area as she is really sensitive. She watched of course. We did the treadmill again for another 0.8 MI at 2.0 MPH later on in the night before bed. I did walk him on the Hill which took longer than expected since we had to stop every time he pulled and I started to slowly introducing walking at my side. This walk took several pieces of chicken breast. Then I walked Ms. Chloe. I hope to get Scout where Chloe is in the next coming months.  I wanted to workout but only managed to get in some ab work and I still need a lot of it! Chloe knows the routine and brought up a toy for me to hold onto while Scout had no idea what I was doing so he decided to get up close and personal.   I did start clicker training with him with the following commands, sit, down, heel (just the action), here, go, and his name. I see the willing to please in him and he is a bit aggressive when getting the treats when its either thrown or getting from my hand. I did introduce the ladder to him as well. Chloe will get her training on the next day. I will either have to separate the dogs via the gate or put one a crate upstairs. Laurie told me that Scout wasn't going to be as bad as she thought and I kept trying to tell her that. She was so focused on how bad the first visit was and I kept on telling it was just worse case scenario....   Oh yeah, I learned a lesson last night and that is to never cook 2lbs of liver treats at 9 o'clock at night as it will never dry out in two hours.     Posted Jan 29 2008, 08:33 AM by jdata with 1 comment(s)

• Our Trip to Maryland to get Scout - long one

  We awaited for this weekend for several weeks now and what could be possible spoiler or two was the weather as no one wants to do a 'meet' in the rain and the possibility of the dogs (Chloe and Scout) not getting along at all. After I loaded the FJ and let Chloe do her last call and with route loaded in the Garmin, the three of us were on our way to see Jennifer, Stella, and Scout. There wasn't any real major hiccups along the way besides the three stops for potty break, gas, and food. I was highly interested to see how the gas mileage would be like since that was the very first trip with some distance we had taken in it. The Cleveland trip wasn't long as it was 2 hours one way.The total trip took about six hours and the gas mileage seemed to be surprising well. After reaching our hotel and checking in, we decided to relax a bit so I gave Jennifer a call to let her know what we were doing. When got into the room, it was 3 o'clock and little did I know how fast time flew past as it was almost for 4 and the daylight was diminishing. So I made the call to Jennifer and let's get this meet started. We had agreed earlier to meet at a school since he had never been there - Thanks Callie for the advice! We arrived at the school and my first goal was to get Chloe all relaxed so I took her out for a little walk and played with her for a bit. Once Jennifer and Scout arrived, Chloe recognized her voice and the dog and started to get really interested. We were some 100' away and her excitement was growing. Her tail was wagging back and forth rapidly and she wanted to investigate. This was a really good sign because the first meeting was completely opposite. Jennifer and I slowly started to shorten the distance between us. This slow and tedious process of weaving back and forth towards one another seemed to work well. The whole experience was rather pleasant. Chloe exhibited that she wanted to play. Scout didn't seem overly anxious. After 10-15 minutes of the meet, we headed towards Jennifer's house and to meet Stella. Being the eldest and the queen of the house, Stella was a bit defensive and territorial which is normal. She is such a cute dog and I see a lot of similar traits between Chloe and her. Physically, Chloe is just a smudge taller and heavier. Personality wise, is where they are very alike which mainly being a worrywart and anxious. Watching Stella's body language and facial expression was like I was watching Chloe's twin. Since she was the queen of the house, she was on watch duty and made sure Chloe knew it. Scout on the other hand, really didn't care much of what was going on but when there was a commotion he wanted to be there. Jennifer had mentioned how Scout was acting out of the ordinary because he was acting more subdued or submissive as he kept on going back to her. In the past with guests, he would just be all over everyone. Perhaps the reason for his behavior was mainly because earlier I would call him and he would come and get his praise but if he started to climb all over me (I was sitting on an ottoman), I told him "off!" Looking at his reaction confused him he started to understand after several attempts what was going on because he stopped doing it.   As the visit continued, Chloe was tired from the trip and just laid beside Laurie while Jennifer was on the floor with Stella. Scout, on the other hand, was roaming around and didn't know what to think and at times laid with Jennifer. Jennifer gave us a brief of Scout's history and had everything that you need to know. It was so nice of her to have his a copy of his records so that I can show the Vet. Anyhow,  with Chloe and Stella starting to wind down for the evening that was a sign for us to go as the visit was winding down and it was time to head back for the hotel. We were going to pick up Scout some time in the noon. Sunday was here and Laurie and I decided to do some errands before picking up Scout. For thing, the truck need a washing as it look gray as it was black truck. We looked out of place because everyone else's vehicle looked clean but then again, they have no snow. So after visiting the spray and wash and some three dollars later, all the salt was gone and the truck look decent. We went to Petsmart to get some bully sticks and some treats to use during the trip. We met up with Jennifer around noon to get ready for the hand-off for Scout. We didn't want to stay long and prolong the visit because this was going to be hard on her. You could feel anxiety in the atmosphere. She assisted me with Scout and I loaded Chloe into her crate. I loaded up all his belongings into the truck. I could sense that the reality of Scout was going was becoming true so I tried speeding things up more instead of dragging this on. It was for the better. You could hear Stella whining and barking away as she sat in her crate. I each dog a treat and a bully stick to keep them busy for the trip back. Scout whined for a bit which she told he would do but then stopped as the bully stick kept him busy. We filled up the tank and we were off to cold and snowy NW PA. Scout started to do some play sassy barking to Chloe and Laurie told me that his bully stick must have fell out of his crate. Crap! Or did he finish that 12" stick that fast? You could smell them going at bully stick in the cabin. Ugh. As we reached to the MD-PA state line, the temperature was descending and snow started to show. As we traveled through the mountains and looked into the distance, you could tell that snow was falling. I was telling Laurie that it seems that every time we take the FJ for a couple of hours, snow just happens to fall. Is this a sign from God to go play in the white stuff some more? Haha! After 4 or so hours into the trip, we made our first time for petrol and the dogs for pitstop. Chloe was out first and Scout showed some serious separation anxiety issues. We also go something to drink - caffeine - and to eat - sugar and carbs and fill the tank up. Homebound! We were 18 miles away from Pittsburgh and this trip is looking rather good. I was worried about some black ice because the temperatures this point ranged from 27-29 degrees and the snow had stopped once we were out of the mountains. As we paid the toll and head towards to I79, snow started to come down and you could see it on the highway. Ugh. It was around 5:30pm at this point. The GPS predicted that we would be home at 6:39pm and we seem to be on time. As we reached Meadville, Chloe sensed that we near home and she started to whine a bit and soon later, so did Scout. But then again, it doesn't help when one says, "We're almost home."  Unloading the truck was a neat experience. You have two dogs whining and whimpering. I take Chloe to the porch and followed by Scout, which when anyone is out of his view he whines like there is no tomorrow. They are in the house and no one is in there as we continue to unload; Scout continues to wail. Chloe barks and growls which I have a feeling is basically saying, "Calm down, relax, dude!" BTW, did I tell you Scout has a Halloween costume? It is a frog or a toad! Jennifer had put it on him the previous night and he loves it. So we're thinking of doing a princess for Chloe.   Here comes the "first night"  Posted Jan 28 2008, 08:45 AM by jdata with no comments

• Today was a good day

  We went to Countryside Agility to do some practice and to work on certain areas. I packed our 12 poles in our new equipment bag that Laurie made - Thank you, dear! And loaded up with toys and treats then we were off. My main focus was to work on the weaves and get her confidence back on the teeter since she hasn't consecutively ran on one for some time as before class, I usually get her on it just once and she gets hesitant about it. The other area was correcting the weave pole problem which I mentioned in yesterday's blog. Anyhow, after the lady at the bookstore opened up the facility, it was cold! Once illuminated, the temperature increased somewhat. I brought everything in and started to assemble 6 poles. I took Chloe out and stretch her out. It was time to have some fun! I revved her up by using her football and then sent off to her weaves on the poles that she is familiar with. She doesn't look comfortable going through them. I was tempted in opening them up but I got lazy and hey, this just first time doing this and I am pretty sure I'll be doing this again on the next visit. I'll throw once she completes them and then start raising the requirement which in this is speed. Once she was comfortable I put my 6 poles to the competition set thus having 12 poles. And you know, the speed didn't change regardless of what poles were being used first. I begin to notice something. I did set up a complete 12 poles using the competition base and the same speed. We'd take a break and I'd play fetch with her and when she would change direction or try to stop, she would slide. I wanted a baseline time for today's competition 12 poles for something as reference as this year progresses. The times ranged from 3.46-3.53 in comparing to the outside environment (our backyard), she's from 2.5-2.8s. There is a big difference there and I hope the solution is cutting the fur under her paws. When she was jumping, she was at what it looked like full speed which I am use to seeing, she would go wide after the jump and slide. At time progressed, her jumps got tighter which I don't know if it was because she went slower or my timing and positioning. Once she hit the poles, today's entries were always fast but slowed dramatically when going through the poles. All momentum was lost something wasn't right and she wasn't comfortable maneuvering around the poles. It was time to move onto another obstacle, the teeter-tot. The teeter workout went slow and started getting better the more times she went on it. Practice makes perfect as they say. In the beginning she wanted to jump off and then started running on it. I wasn't going to force a 2o2o but if she offered, she got reward with some liver. Then it was time for some distance work in which I just send to obstacles, jumps and tunnels from a distance. That went well she hiccuped once or twice out of 25 attempts from a distance around 10'. I couldn't go any further as I would bump into other obstacles. Now it was time to take up on Denise's offer to try the JWW course that was used back in November. But first I had to remove and pack my poles and put away the other 6 competition poles and fix one of the jumps. I put Chloe in her crate and walked the course.  There were certain issues I had with the course, first, I didn't what direction I was suppose to go at the start because the positioning jumps 1 and 2. They were next to each and its going to be a wrap around or 180 jump and jump 3 was about 15' somewhat on the same plane as 1. The other issue was where was 13 and 14. I didn't find them. So assumed on jump which was 5 and 17 was 13 and the weaves were 14. I mainly used front crosses throughout the course. I did try a rear cross and Chloe didn't like that much so I need to continue on working on the rear cross. We had an issue with 11 because I was asking for a lot from Chloe and I wanted a lot of lateral separation. The problem was that she couldn't see me because of the building column and would refuse to jump. So I had to wraparound the column. Yet, at jump 3 is almost the same scenario and she had no problems with it. Because 3 is inline with a column that I ran at the opposite. Dogs are funny! Her speed surprised me because I don't know what version of Chloe is going to show up but I think she is starting to get the hint. With the exception of the weave poles, her speed was pretty much on par from what I am using to seeing and running with. We did run the course several times because we had some problems mainly because of .... me! It was mainly a positional and timing issues where I was either, wasn't there on time or body language was wrong.  For one thing, when I am in the backyard, I don't say "Jump!" anymore, talking and running I don't like very much. I want the dog and I to read each other. There were times when going to jump 11, that I would turn my shoulder way too early and it would pull her off her commitment. The problem I have is from a distance that I am assuming she is going to commit to it which is a big no no. She was still watching me and when I pulled my shoulder to head in between 12 and 13, that yanked her away from 11. This was all prior to her losing sight of me. This verifies what Linda Mecklenberg mentioned in her handling article in Clean Run. Chloe wasn't committed and I pulled her off the jump. And as one of my shirts says, "Praise the Dog, Slap the Handler!" No truer words than that! There will also times when she lost sight of me, it pulled away from the jump. I am learning a lot here! We successfully did the course twice and the other times there were refusals yet sure learned a lot today! One thing is for sure, my backyard is the same length and its width is half of what facility has which meant that I had to run more than usual.     Posted Jan 23 2008, 05:38 PM by jdata with no comments

• The upcoming trip, Vet Visit, and training.

  Our trip to Maryland for our second meeting with Scout is coming this weekend and we're excited about it. We just hope the weather will be favorable this time around. And on this visit, we get to meet Stella, Scout's aunt. Our goal is to bring him to his new family and home. The route had been programmed in our GPS for sometime now - like two weeks. And you know, why didn't we get one of these earlier? Our is the Garmin 750 that we got ourselves for this past Christmas.   I took Chloe to the Vet today because she has been licking her right foot for several weeks. I had originally thought it could be from the salt that I used on the sidewalk or one of the training treats I had been using. I was using several treats that ranged from Mother Hubbard, which I have used since she was a puppy, homemade liver treats with AP Flour, eggs, and bacon. She didn't doing this until the day I started using salt on the sidewalks after shoveling snow, I gave her bacon and started using MH treats. She hasn't licked the fur off like this since she has a bad allergy which was probably due to a flea bite - I am pretty sure of it. So for the past several days,  I stopped using or giving those items and made my first homemade liver treats (Mary Strauss recipe I think) as a permanent change for the better. As the couple of days past nothing changed so I decided to get some Benadryl and see if that helped. Several days later, no change. When I looked at her right front paw, it was missing fur, raw, and really red. I saw some scabs which I thought she licked it pretty raw. To make short story, since there was no change, I took her to the Vet today, which happens to be a new guy there whom I have never seen. I told him that one of the other dogs, Casey, had ear mites as well to check for that as well. So he looked at her ears and found nothing and mentioned how clean they were and I told him that I use the "Blue Ear Treatment" (given to me from Calliecitrus). He assumed that I did it everyday because it could be a bad thing and I told I don't and haven't. I use it every 3 months of course, when you first started on it, you had to use it like 14 days straight. He looked at the paw and saw the problem which I didn't see, she did have a laceration which I am thinking from the ice. So we got a pill and some steroids for her to take. For this past week, I have been alternating training areas like one day is 2o2o and tippy board while the next day would be working on crosses, handling, basically dancing together as I call it. Since Denise is judging an event in FL, we were suppose to be off for one week but it seems it is now two. [:'(] I told her via email I was bored and working out didn't help matters so she offered that I could train at the facility and mentioned that she has never lets a beginner do this yet she sees how Chloe is safe over the obstacles. Hey, having your own agility stuff in your backyard has its advantages. She told me where to get the key and what days and times I could train. I just leave some lunch money on the microwave when I am done. She told me to try the JWW course that is laid out now or to use the course maps posted on the wall. I plan to do this and to do some pole work. The goal is to bring my 12 poles and slowly integrate the competition poles there since Chloe seems to be bothered with the base. She goes through them at 3 to 4 times slower than normal. I could basically make a sandwich and eat it before she made to the end! Haha. That was too harsh. Lots of stuff to do tomorrow. I have to be sure to work out before going there because if I don't, I won't end up working out.     Posted Jan 22 2008, 11:44 PM by jdata with no comments

• Second Level of Agility Class has begun and ended with a bang!

  It has been a month since we had class but have visited the facility on several occasions due to trials being held there. We arrived about an hour early so that I can continue working on Chloe's anxiousness or timidness. Chloe had a wee bit of anxiety but it was all good from what I could tell once I let her out of her crate. She whimpered a bit and I took her out to do her thing. Once back indoors, we walked onto the mat away from the class and I decided to try sending her through obstacles such a tunnel, A-frame, and some jumps. She did go over the teeter once and she still hasn't gotten use to the one there even though it has been a month since she has seen one. She was doing well and as motivators, I  used food and toys. In fact, this was the first time she was actually smiling in the building! I did have to retrain her on the chute. Now if she started to lose focus I pulled out the big gun, an expensive tug toy that we got at the IX dog show. This toy would usually pull her out of her rut and has a high success rate so far. There was one sheltie from class that broke loose and went towards her and she didn't think anything bad from it. This was a good sign for today's class. Michelle and Molly (Corgi) had arrived and followed by Lisa and Carson (Brussels Griffon). Lisa and I talked and she was explanation what she has to do to get him ready to show in which there's a big show in March. We were waiting for Barb with Kaylee (Papillion)  but Denise told us she got into a big car accident during Christmas and broke her back. She just started walking again and misses doing agility. We wish her all the best. Then a new dog and handler had appeared and I thought it was a new dog for the class but they were there to observe. In the distance, I noticed an aussie named, Patriot, who usually shows up in the class that follows ours and to find out, she is now part of the class! This is nice we are getting some nice size variety. The one person that was missing was Lynn from Pittsburgh and her sheltie pup but she couldn't make class because her other sheltie was going to have puppies. As we all sat there in the middle off the arena, Michelle wanted to show everyone what Molly had learned during our vacation. The Ms. Molly had learned how to do 12 pole weaves and she did them very well. Then out of nowhere, Denise asked me to send Chloe through them. She did them well but not up to speed. I still don't know if it is the poles themselves which Sue Hobday speaks about in her book when dogs encounter a set of poles different however it didn't phase Molly since she happened to have the same set of poles that Chloe trained on. Or it was the environment. Bah! I'll be getting a set of 12 poles from Denise and bring them outside and see what happens. I wanted to get away what I used to teach her to something familiar that is being used in class and in trials. Of course, I can't do anything until we get Scout home which is in a couple of weeks. Nevertheless, I sent her through the poles on the left side and Denise said if she could do it on the right which she can. Heck, back home, I can be 15' away from the poles and send to them. After that, Denise had brought us over to do some sequencing which mainly consisted of a jump, weaves, tire with some wraps and crosses. I think some of the dogs, including Chloe, got the shock factor with the weave poles because of the pens being used as a guide. Several dogs popped out or refused to go in. Everyone got critiqued and everyone was used as an example. I didn't too well in the beginning because I wasn't in rhythm at all because I am use to a certain pace that Chloe gives me at home. I put her in a start-line stay and led out and then called her. She was confident over the jump but lost all confidence when she hit the weaves as she had never seen them before. She basically treaded lightly through them and her sensitive nose caught the aroma of some treats that were thrown in the pen. Meanwhile, I am already past the weaves and expecting Chloe to be near me and I call for a jump and she isn't even there! And of course, I got critiqued on for calling the jump too early. Haha. And when I deflated - a disappointed exhale - while she was trapped in the weaves which I had promised myself I was never going to do because after watching trials I see the body language from the handlers out there. And for those that do it, you can see their dog's reaction and believe it or not, the dog does not perform because it tries to please the handler so much that they aren't going to get a Q! This was the very first time I had ever done this and I was upset with myself for doing that. Yeah, you can say that I am hard on myself but having an overly sensitive dog that action was a big fat NO! Continuing on, Chloe finally gets out of the weaves and jumps the tire however the wrap is all lost because Chloe isn't focused on me as she wants to go elsewhere. Ack! I managed to get her back under control and head back to poles and the jump. The critiquing had begun. And what is humorous about this whole thing was that I was wearing a shirt that I got from the IX dog show which said, "Praise the dog, Slap! The handler!" Very well put in this case! After the constructive criticism, I am have to do the second run, we cleaned up a lot better. Denise saw some speed out of Chloe but the weaves came and there goes the speed; the tire came and the wrap around was better but there was a problem. The dog wanted to go in-between the pole and the tire which meant I had to go further back and pull her out and push her through the poles and jump. More criticism and this is very good that she is pointing out what is going on because it helps me correct the issue quickly. So I go again and have that liver treat for her as she jumps the tire. She wraps pretty tight yet this time around we're suppose to do a rear cross once we send the dog to the poles. Once Chloe is in the poles and notices me run behind her... Screech! She didn't like that one bit. I don't so rear cross much at home when at the poles so I guess I am going to start doing that once the weather warms up. All of us got some good criticism. Molly did lose focus and started to go on her own. Carson wouldn't hold a stay. Patriot would just follow Kayla and not do the weaves.  All done with that and now we were going to the teeter intro since we didn't get that in last class. We were first and Chloe was acting like she never saw a moving board before which I again I attributed to the environment. She really fell in love with Denise's treats! The other dogs did really well especially Patriot. I was hoping that she would let him see 12" of height. Chloe was just fixed on the treats Denise was giving out. Mind you, I made my own liver treats! Chloe either had brain fade or fear about the teeter. Denise did mention that she was thinking about moving me up to the Novice class but I still need a tweak here and there. Now it was onto the A-Frame which was sitting about 4'. She wanted us to do the A-Frame, 2o2o, and two jumps with a column and back to the A-frame and your 2o2o. When it was our turn, Chloe was a bit timid so Denise threw some treats up there and the fear went away. Her first 2o2o were OK. 2nd set, she stopped on the mat. And then... Chloe had the zoomies! She did 2-3 cycles and came right back where she started. I just basically waited for her. I wasn't embarrassed about the whole situation because that is what dogs do. The observers were laughing. Oh such is life. Now Denise wanted to raise the stakes even higher and two jumps with no column first and then repeat the last sequence. Patriot did every well. I kept Chloe occupied as the other dogs did their thing. I got the toy out and started tugging with her, she was staying on my left, switch!, then to my right, and then to tug. it was our turn. I send off to jump and she kept wanting to go see Patriot. Denise told me earlier to make me more excited. We try again. The result was better but I was grabbing her too late. Isn't this fun? Another attempt, off to the jump and back over the jump, it was tighter than everyone else's and "walk it!" I hear Chloe's little feet and she is running with some speed behind it. I call out "feet" and she stops hard with her 2o2o. Do my front cross - it was sloppy but I was just in amazed that Chole had finally woke up in class! - send off to the jump and wrap her around the column (she can't see me) to the other jump until she sees me. She is running faster now than the first leg because she is starting to close the gap. "Feet!" Bam! She stops hard with her 2o2o and then I release her to a jump. I was simply elated! My peers were talking about the speed but I know she is still faster home so the speed will come. Denise wanted to us to do it again. This time the first set of jumps were tighter yet and the speed was getting faster. She was starting to stretch her legs! She gets the contact, release and send to the jump and back over the other jump! She is closing the gap faster, "walk it!" and she goes to the other side and I hear her behind me, "Feet!" Nails it! "Break, go jump!" It was awesome! We ended the class on that high note. We won't have class next week since Denise will be going to Daytona.   Posted Jan 15 2008, 02:26 PM by jdata with no comments

• It makes one feels good

  Last week on New Year's Eve and New Year's day, the weather had been great to so some outdoor activity for Chloe to stretch her legs out. On the Eve, after doing a walk with Chloe, I still had enough time to work in some outside work which meant some weave pole time. So I decided to run upstairs and get all the equipment and bring it outside. Laurie told me not to forget about the time because we had to attend a little shindig. I started with the poles at 1.5" and started sending Chloe through them on my right and left sides about 3-5 passes on each side. . After she started getting her rhythm, I started to close the poles in 0.5" increments until they were aligned. From there I started working on sending from a distance and using the face of a clock and sending her off to the poles. I think we ended up around 15-20' at the end of the exercise. It was a good session, her speed was still there. In the beginning she popped out once. Her motivator was her squeaky football which Scout killed and I have been saving this one because Chloe has killed two others in the past. When training outside, she is mostly a toy motivated. As long as she gets to retrieve an item it gets her jacked up and amped to keep going with the training. It was time to go so I needed to bring everything to the porch. New Year's Day. After some walking and 2o2o work, I decided to bring Chloe outside to work on sending to the jump - just one jump, nothing more - and also working on some flat work (cross, pivot work). Just like the day before, we started close and easy and started to increase the difficulty. The jump bar started at 0" down and increased in 4" increments until 12" was reached. Starting distance was from 10' and then ended up at 20-25' or so running the face of the clock and left and right sides. I used some of the exercises cited in the Clean Run handling magazine. I also tried teaching her and I how to get tighter jumps which not all were successfully tight but those that were seemed to mimic Zippity's. I mean when I cue correctly she wrapped around the pole tightly. Performing front crosses and pivot turns are no problem but getting my body language to be read confidently by her for the rear crosses is still a slight issue. But for sure, doing from a distance is a easier than binding her up at the jump. This was another positive session. I guess some 15 minutes had passed and I heard a scream from across the street, "Awesome job! You are so good together. You to work well together! That is what having a dog is all about! Good job Julian!" It was from someone down one street who has 3 GS in which she trains for tracking/hunting. Those compliments meant so much and elevated me to an even higher level. Everyone in my neighborhood pretty much knows who I am since I walk the dog basically everyday.  I remember when Laurie was getting her eyes checked several months ago in the Fall and was talking to the Optometrist. And the optometrist said, "You mean that guy that walks that dog everyday? I know who you are talking about. He walks by my boyfriend's house and he has a dog as well."  Laurie, "Yeah him, he pretty much knows every dog's name and where they are and such." I think I am pretty much known as the "crazy dog nut" on the hill too when the agility equipment is out in the backyard.   Posted Jan 09 2008, 07:56 PM by jdata with 2 comment(s)