Red Dogs Rule

Agility Videos - What the....??

2012-01-23T13:59:00.000-06:00

Typical Agility photo #2 - Grand Prix (PGP)

The family and I just got home from our first 2012 agility trial at On The Run in Ham Lake, MN. What a GREAT venue if you haven't been there. It's a dog training center that we all dream of...well, those of us who dream about ideal dog training buildings. The flooring was amazing - dogs and people alike just marveled at how awesome it was to run on. Definitely check it out, they seem to host trials for all venues.

Perfect Teeter Position, in the yellow and focused on his reward spot!

Prior to going I was getting all my ducks in a row...how many Q's I needed for USDAA Nationals, and when the cut off would be so I can plan my trials accordingly. I was unsure how long it would take me to rack them up. Steeplechase (Performance Speed Jumping) and Grand Prix were elusive classes for me typically. So, even though this weekend I could have wrapped all my Nationals Q's in one 3 day event, I didn't put all my eggs in one basket. I just...well..hoped I could knock out one or two. Well, this weekend exceeded all expectations on all fronts.

Performance team "Coyote Blue" knocked out a first place and Nationals Q. Check! Done and done! I was so pleased with how both Ami/Neelah did, but also how Treo and I managed. None of our runs were complete highlights, but all of them were pretty darn good...and obviously good enough. We also had an opportunity to run PSJ and Grand Prix. Treo and I made it to the PSJ finals were we took 2nd. Three things that have never happened...Q in PSJ, placement in finals. Never. Ever. Talk about HEADY! AND we knocked out a Grand Prix Q ta boot. So, in one day, one event we got 3 of the 5 needed for Nationals. Holy Cow!

Saturday, we were weaker...ok..I was weaker. Literally. Not working out for several months really paid it's toll. I was tired. We managed to make it, yet again, into PSJ finals! Whoo hoo, but the rest of our runs were less than stellar with some highlights, of course.

Typical Agility photo #1 - Steeplechase (PSJ) - Nearly jumping 22"...hmmm!

By the end of the day, I was mentally done - we had just come off a great run for PSJ run, and Jumpers was the last class of the day. I just couldn't muster the motivation. Wasn't an energy thing, only a mental thing. So, Ami decided to run him and it was cute. He likes running with the "other Momma" now, and I think it's cute to watch him do it. With a Q in PSJ, that knocks out another Q for Nationals and we're 4/5 on the list. Really?! Oh really. We boffed Grand Prix, and we were in good company. So, we've got that Q to work towards now at our next trial. On Sunday, we had several great runs. Jumpers was one of our best ever and it didn't get on film! Snooker was short lived...you know how that goes! PSJ Finals we did pretty well, actually and took 3rd! I had signed up Treo for a massage and he was getting it when they were walking Standard, so I didn't get to walk it. Ami ended up running Treo in Standard since she walked it for Tazer and Neelah. Treo, again, had a blast. He held all his contacts for her and was pretty rockin' fast. Great way to end the weekend...except...one thing nagging me...

What's amazing to me, is how I have such a blast running with Treo...such a rush...I would describe it as pure joy. Then, I settle in to watch the video and I'm cringing at this or cringing at that. I'm not sure why there's such a disconnect between how the run "felt" versus how it looked in reality. (most people have the opposite problem where they felt the run was a hot mess, they watch the video and it's not as b

He got the "crazy eyes" in Gamblers....

ad as they thought) Clearly, I'm absolutely fine with this phenomina. One never knows how long you will get to run your dog - anything can happen at any time. So, if I'm experiencing pure joy every run, well...good, right? I hear things all the time about a dog getting cancer, or it's handler. Or, someone breaks a foot, or tears a muscle or tendon. Dangit, anything can end it all in a split second. Grateful for my runs with Treo, however much of a trainwreck they turn out to be, regardless of the outcome (Q or NQ), and of course, we'll continue to train and tweak in preps for the "Big Show" in September.

Game plan for the next 3 weeks before Case De Canine in Lawarence, KS. Lose 10 lbs...oh yeah! Polish Treo's contacts...He's trying to prove to me he can do running. I KNOW he can...I just can't! Polish Melissa's confidence with front crosses. What's your plan from now until your next event?

Agility Blogging

2012-01-10T12:43:00.000-06:00

Agility Bloggers are uniting. They (we) united last year to talk about Volunteering in efforts to create awareness and impact-ful change to all of you, and hopefully get you to considering volunteering at your next agility trial. I wasn't aware of the blogathon, so I didn't participate, but we're doing it again and have formed a yahoo group. If you are a blogger, you can find out more here: Attention all Agility Bloggers - Agility Blog Action Day

As I said, I joined this yahoo group of what is now around 50 agility bloggers. Some are pretty renowned names, but most are Average Joe bloggers like me. What is crazy to me, is that I never intended to be an Agility Blogger. I was headed off to Susan Garrett's Skills Camp with my boy, Treo, and I needed a way to let everyone here (back home), family, and his breeder and various interested friends around the country know how we were doing day to day. It was a 5 day-er and five of the best days of my dog training ever. You can read about them if you track back.
Day 1: On the Grid...Crap!
Day 2: Skills Day 1: On the Grid in a Good Way
Skills Day 2: I think we're getting it!
Skills Day 3: Hangin in there!
Skills Day 4: Last Hurrah and a New Beginning

This is a sleepy boy during our days in Canada. It was EXHAUSTING!!

I NEVER thought that I would continue writing after camp. But, I had more progress to write about. I had Tracy Sklenar, also an instructor at Say Yes, coming to down two times a year and we were progressing! So, I wrote about our progress in Agility, which led to Rally-O adventures, then Flyball...rescuing and all my thoughts about being in this crazy dog world. I guess I had a lot to talk about and lots of observations to share.

Fact is, I've not been much of a fan of the dog competition community. I remember my first experiences with even my own dog club were so....negative. I watched everyone talk about other people's dogs, skills, lack thereof, and their owners and I thought, "I don't EVER want to be a part of this world." At first. Then there was Asha, and I saw how much confidence she derived from the classes and dang it, before I knew it I was sucked in! Got Treo, and it was all over with. Done for. I'm hook, line and sinker. As far as the Negative Nellies in the group, well...got rid of some of them, and blammo - this world isn't so bad after all!

So, I did something really sort of stalkerish when I joined this Agility Blogger yahoo group. I added every single blog to my blog feed. I wanted to know what people write about. It was such an interesting exercise! It was like, BAM!, I had 45 blog posts to read. Nuts, I know. I read them last night, too. There were blog posts about what the dogs got for Christmas, blog posts with practice course maps of what they just did in the back yard, lots of posts about 2012 resolutions and goals, and blogs where they were selling stuff. It was all FASCINATING!

Most of the blogs that I read last night were people who have been in this dog world for a while. Double digit years and they are on their 2nd or 3rd generation of athletes. Wow. I definitely got humbled. I am one lucky gal in terms of how things have turned out for me. I put Asha in a class, then had a game changing experience auditing a Tracy Sklenar seminar and the rest was history...and I started writing about it. I am a NOVICE in this dog competition world compared to most of you, and from that standpoint, I have a unique perspective. I'm so glad I started to voice it, and it's all because of my coaches, mentors, seminar presenters and fellow competitors all who inspire me daily to think, be curious and then I write.

Treo helps me blogin the hotel at Skills Camp

2012 - The End of the World

2011-12-28T16:06:00.001-06:00

No really, it's true...it's all over December 21st, 2012. Here's a link to the official website: December 21st, 2012 On it...you can buy a T-shirt! But, I digress...

Other signs that prove 2012 will be an exciting year:

USDAA Nationals are being held in Colorado, a mere 8 hrs from Omaha.

AND...USDAA added a Regional event in Kansas, a minuscule 2.5 hrs from Omaha.

NONE of this is coincidence, what does it all mean???

It means, I have to get "it" together - and quickly.

When John Cullen encouraged me to add USDAA Nationals to my list of goals last year (in 2010), I laughed. Not a merry laugh, but a defeated, 'yeah right' cynical laugh. I was in a low place with my self-esteem and it translated into a very poor attitude about my future in this sport. Some changes needed to be made, and at least I recognized that and started to make some changes. Some changes were drastic, and some were subtle, but all resulted in a very different 2011 than had I done nothing.

Before I look to 2012 (and the end of the world), I absolutely have to look back at 2011 and acknowledge what went well. I am definitely the type to focus on the negative, so forcing myself to focus on the positives of 2011 is a very good exercise for me, a healthy one, and one that I need to continue going forward.

(1) I set some goals - and I actually achieved them. How many times have you set goals and failed to execute? I can't count how many times I've done that, honestly. But, I set myself up for success by adding some "help" that I never had before. I added my mental prep coach, John Cullen from Cognitive Edge. He helped me get clear on my goals and develop a plan for achieving them.

(2) I lost weight - over 40lbs
No secret recipe here, I engaged Physicians Weightloss, and for a good 5 months, I focused on this goal with almost no deviation...until the summer, ha! I was able to get rid of both my knee braces by the end of this year while running agility. AMAZING! I'm getting back on the wagon in January, but we'll talk about that another time.

(3) I wanted to manifest the types of runs that my friends experienced. No Treo getting way ahead of me and me unable to give him information, much less catch up. As I lost weight, those instances grew less, and less, and less.

(4) I wanted to run on a TEAM in USDAA, and hold my own. We did that, more than once, and the courses were NOT easy, actually fairly hard.

(5) I wanted to feel GOOD about my runs, before, during and after. With the help of John Cullen at Cognitive Edge, I learned how to set realistic goals for each run, how utilize visualization to achieve the runs I wanted, and feel good about them. I also made major cuts in those around me who I felt were sucking the fun out of my agility experience. Sometimes you have to make cuts in your life of those who are not helping, or pretend to, but you find out are not supportive at all. Once I removed the people who were not the positive influence I needed, Wow what a diff!

A feel good moment between me and "the boy"

(6) I wanted to qualify for CPE Nationals - and I did

I wanted to GO to CPE Nationals - and I did

I wanted to compete in at least level 4 or 5 at nationals in all runs, and I did

I wanted a decent showing at Nationals and I won High Reserve 16" in Standard - Kick ASS!

Here is one of our runs at Nationals:
2011 CPE Nats Standard 1

What else went well? I was on a fairly high profile project at work that had me traveling quite a bit. As a result, I got a pseudo-promo at work (more responsibility, not money). We rescued a whole lotsa dogs and raised a lot of awareness via this blog. Raised a significant amount of money for the NHS. I mean, honestly, I could go on and on. The whole year wasn't all sunshine and roses. "Big Sexy" the agility van got beat to hell by a freak hail storm. Close friends who are very sick, friends who have lost those around them too. Awful stuff, at times, honestly. But, when you balance all the bad with being grateful for the good, wow, it turns into a laundry list. At the end of the day, I set intentions and goals, and I achieved them. What were your accomplishments from 2011? I'd love to hear them!

Bring on 2012. USDAA will be my mantra from an agility perspective both from a qualifications standpoint and prep grounds for Nationals. I'm very excited for this goal. This goal drives everything else that I will be doing or choose to do with my time, energy and thought patterns. I will play some CPE, Treo is very close to his C-ATCH, so we'll do all our locals which right now look like a whooping 3 coming up in 2012, that's amazing for Omaha!

In addition, there needs to be giving back as well. Continuing with the fostering. Continuing with instructing others on agility training at my club. Also, want to work with the NHS on some one on one training with dogs in need. I will NOT be focusing on the fact that the world will end on December 21st, 2012, but on what I want to accomplish before it does - and still make time to get one of those nifty T-shirts. It's all about the memories, afterall.

See you in 2012!!!

DINOS - Brilliant!

2011-12-21T08:52:00.000-06:00

My Agility Mental Prep coach, John Cullen, asked me last week if the focus on the Puppy Mill rescues was costing me some training time and energy with Treo. The answer is probably obvious, yes...it has. After a mind-blowing time at CPE Nationals, and an equally great time at USDAA regionals, I think it was a much needed distraction and break. At the same time, however, it was a time of tremendous observation and learning for me regarding dog behavior, learning and rehabilitation. These rescues taught me a lot in exchange for a stable roof over their heads and some good food to eat. They've taught Treo quite a lot as well.

I mentioned it before, and I'll go ahead and mention it again, these puppy mill survivors may not be savvy on how to function as a "normal" dog (but, they are learning), but they are experts on what it means to be a dog functioning in a pack of dogs. Watching them interact with each other, and then watching them interact with other dogs is nothing short of fascinating to me. Every time they saw teach other, they greeted face to face - almost like an Eskimo kiss. Clearly they all were on a first name basis, maybe related or maybe just former roomies, but they definitely greeted each other with a level of familiarity that I have never noticed...until I got more observant. Ami and I took off for NYC this past weekend and for our household, dividing to conquer is the only way. So, the "littles" went to my Mom's and Tazer and Savvy stayed at home with a house sitter. When the pack reunited, I watched and I'll be darned...Asha ran upstairs to the bedroom, and between the bars of the baby gate, he and Tazer greeted each other face to face - Eskimo kiss. Then I watched Treo do it, and Neelah. Weird, right? When we think of dogs greeting each other, we think of butt sniffing....and posturing..but this was right under my own roof and until I looked specifically at it, I never noticed.

When the rescues greet other dogs, strangers, it's much more like you'd expect. What impressed me was how responsive they are to what the other dogs have to say to them. AND how many signals my own dogs gave which were 100% received and respected by the rescues. So, for example, when they met Asha for the first time. Asha isn't big on meeting new dogs, and it's almost like she's sending them a very clear sign that they are temporary, don't get used to it. So, she freezes as she's being checked out, she lifts her lip and if they persist she vocalizes quietly. Other "pet" background dogs have responded by bopping around, asking like a fool to her, to which she reacts with full on growling and sometimes snapping. The puppy mill survivors, in contract, simply ducked and turned their heads as if to say, "NO problem. Got it."
Similarly, I've seen Treo go from milling around to full on attack in what seemed like a nano-second and I wondered if he just was "broken" from a warning signal standpoint. Maybe he got overly corrected by me or others, and he just forgot that he's got a laundry list of signs to choose from. Well, the puppy mill survivors showed me that not only does he have a laundry list of signals that he can and will choose, the does try them out, and if he gets the proper response, that's the end of it. So, I brought him out with Fever and Savvy the first time and went through the list EXACTLY as Asha did. Froze, lip curl and eventually a quiet growl. Puppy Mill survivors responded with a "No problem, Crazy-Pants!" and gave him his space. NEVER tested that space again for WEEKS.

Of course, Tazer was the exception to this reaction. He met them with a much happier demeanor, and in return was countered from the puppy mill dogs with puppy bows and a game of chase and wrestling. So, they do respond appropriately given the right cues.

As I watched Treo and the rescues interact over the past several weeks, I watched him give them all sorts of feedback. Most of that feedback was "leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone" and vice verse. They ignored him when they all were out together, and he ignored them. Lately, I've tested the waters even further, with lots of hanging out in the living room together. Would he guard me? Would he aggress with them over a toy? He did have the pre-disposition to guard me, but with TONS of cues. Never was there random bouts of aggression out of the blue, nor was there signals just to be a jerk and push is weight around. AND every time, they respected is cues. Now, don't get me wrong, guarding me is not going to be tolerated, so he did get consequences for that - if he was guarding me, I'd simply bring him out of the room. No big deal made, just "come on buddy, let's go upstairs with your bad self." Still, I just found it fascinating to at least give him a shot at working it out.

Hanging out of the couch, Savvy - Mill Rescue and Treo w/da Momma

A couple weeks ago, I had Savvy and Treo out in the living room together, and left them alone. All toys picked up (I thought), and went to make myself a drink. Came back down and they both were on the couch together, with 2 toys between them. They were looking at me like, "What's the big deal? And did you bring me a snack too?" Treo was in no way guarding anything, I had to take a pic!

Not only calmly sharing the couch, but there's toys between them. Clearly Treo's toys, but hey...color me surprised!!

Last week we had an interesting exchange - and the icing on the cake, really. Treo was obviously feelin' frisky...and I could clearly see he was giving Savvy signs that he might want to play a little. Ears go high on his head, he stands really tall, kinda bops around when she's checking him out. Wow...really?? He's actually going to engage a foster dog in play? Let's go! So, I encouraged him, but what took place was so interesting. She reciprocated, but she was growling under her breath the whole time as if to say, "Listen, you've been a crazy wackadoo for the past 6 weeks, and you think you are going to play now? My Rules! I run the show!" Well, that's only going to go so far with Treo, and the play escalated too far too fast and I had so say enough was enough, but I thought it was an amazing breakthrough for him. And to see a dog, like Savvy, stick up for herself with a "my game, my rules" attitude - actually quite a feat for her. Very proud of her, actually.

So...what does all of this mean? It definitely shifted my view of dog aggression, and specifically Treo's issues with aggression. I think I was already "there" but these observations cemented my view of things. I'm drawing a line in the sand with my tolerance of every one's "friendly" dogs, and have decided that just because my boy is more likely to tell your "friendly" dog to stick it where the sun doesn't shine, doesn't make him a bad boy. Actually, it's your fault, because he wouldn't be having to do that if you were doing what you are supposed to do in the first place, which is take responsibility for your dog. In addition, I've been made to feel like Treo is an outcast, a freak, something to be isolated. But, see below, this is a relatively young aussie that Treo went on a hike with, and they became fast friends to the point of chasing each other and playing in the snow. He's fully capable of being "normal" in the right environment, with the right people as guardians of the situation. I will always assume responsibility for his history, and I will always need to manage him appropriately - there's no way I'm off the hook for that, ever. I do believe now, however, that there's a new twist to this legacy which includes the "other" dog's owner that also owns some skin in this game, and quite frankly if there's going to be some tango, it proverbally takes two to do it, right?

Treo & Blink, a non-resident dog, find friendship in the snow 12/2011

Call me on a new crusade. I was just coming to all these realizations when this blog post came out that exactly sums it up: My Dog is Friendly! A Public Service Announcement. Please read it, so I don't feel compelled to rewrite it here. Premis is that there are "DINOS" - Dogs in Need of Space, for many reasons and that "MDIF"s are continually challenging that - "MIDIF" is "My Dog is Friendly". Personal case in point. I was at my local CPE trial a couple weekends ago, and I was samwiched in the line up between two BCs. The BC in front of me is very focused on the Daddy, and could care less about Treo and the feelings were likewise. The BC behind me, however, obsesses with watching other BCs run agility, AND the Momma is more than happy to let said BC obsess. In fact, she was allowing her to inch closer and closer to the other BC, which means she was inching closer and closer to my dog in line. Being the good manager of my dog, I just let her "play through" and go ahead of me in line until it was our turn to go. She could CARE LESS that Treo was giving all sorts of signals that he was uncomfortable, I mean, after all, it's MY responsibility to control MY aggressive dog, yes? (said sarcastically). So, after we ran, BC #1's Dad came up to me and was complaining about how BC#2 was making is dog really uncomfortable. OH REALLY?! Haha!! Well, what gets me is that it was PERFECTLY acceptable for BC#2 to do whatever the hell she wants because she's tagged as "friendly" and "she just likes to watch" crap. Yet, it makes everyone else uncomfortable. Did I say anything? No, I didn't. Should I? OH HELLS YA! My "nicey-nicey" days of "oh I am the one with the aggressive dog, pardon me" days are over people. BEWARE of your MDIF crap attitude. You not only will get an earful from me, but most likely will report your ass if you don't accommodate per what will be my very specific instructions. In case you are confused as to whether you fall in the MDIF bucket, here's a list of those I'll personally be looking for:

1. Dogs who drag their owners into the training club, and all over the building where you clearly have no control over your dog.

2. Dogs who enter our local training building, or competition area at any competition, off leash and running amok. (I'm really looking to nail you all...believe me.)

3. Owners who feel their dogs needs to be out for the entire dog competition to the point where the owner stops managing them, and the dog is left wandering around - or my personal favorite, obsessing over the dogs running in the ring.

4. Owners who don't pay attention to what their dogs are doing in class. (this is a broad range of behaviors)

5. Owners who have dogs aggressing at the fences as we walk by.

6. Dogs out loose in my neighborhood.

7. Those of you who have dogs with aggression issues (like Treo) but you are in denial over them, and therefore don't manage them.

8. Dogs who clearly are acting in appropriately, and the owners are doing nothing about it.

9. Dogs who are provoking Treo, and owners that blame Treo's reaction vs. handling their own issues.
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P.S. Savvy is officially adopted as of today. Her transition to her new home will happen in January. Fever has multiple families interested and we're working through that right now. I'm looking forward to the closure of this chapter - and the Puppy Mill Survivors starting new chapters of their own.

Reflections - Week 6-8 of the Puppy Mill Survivors

2011-12-06T09:30:00.001-06:00

As I enter week 6, and the Turkey Day holiday, I find myself in a reflective state of where we've been for the past 6 weeks, and where the dogs are now, and how grateful I am for all of it and for all of you who have posted, or reposted my videos and blog posts to help educate others and also to help spread the word on these awesome dogs. Awareness is key here, folks, and when people are more aware they tend to make different decisions regarding where they get their next dog, and how they feel about dogs from puppy mills. I know I have. Since Thanksgiving, Autumn has been adopted, both the black tri's in MN were adopted and we've got some interest in Fever and Savvy; although, I'd really like people to come meet them. Please repost their PetFinder ads:

Savvy

Fever

In my initial blog post, Puppy Mills Leave Lasting Emotional Scars, I felt I was bringing two aliens home with me. I was expecting some extreme behaviors, and while I wasn't surprised at the behaviors I received, I expected a whole lot more than what I actually got. The original empirical study is published and can be found here: (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159111003005) that supported the puppy mill story.

Since that time, the girls have proven that underneath, once they felt comfortable, there's real dogs in there. I was told by the President of the Nebraska Rescue Council that we got really lucky with these gals. Grateful for that as well. With patience, and understanding, the dogs have come out in most instances and what's left is just some quirky behaviors that really aren't that big of a deal at all. By quirky, I mean that's there's nervousness at doorways, stairs and being reached for. No Big Whoop. Over time, in the right environment, that's going to diminish as well, and some behaviors may extinguish altogether.

Fever was spayed this week and you'd never know it. Other than being a little groggy on Thursday, she was running around the yard like the little maniac she is almost right away. I guess if you've been through a couple bouts of childbirth, what's a little spay surgery anyway? Her and Savvy had a fun play session on Friday and Saturday before Fever was off to her new foster home on Sunday. I know it'll take Fever a while to warm up to other dogs enough to play with them as she did with Savvy, but the fact that she and Savvy could feel comfortable enough to play was always a good sign, I felt.

As we met her new foster family, I knew instantly she was in good hands. All three of their dogs were very accommodating to her, and her new foster home was warm and comfy. She'll be sleeping in her kennel in their bedroom with the pack, and I know she will LOVE that. Melissa said (her name is Melissa, so what a good sign, eh?), that she knew of a couple people interested in meeting Fever, so that makes me even more happy that she's nestled into this new foster home. I got her through kindergarten, and elementary school - she's housetrained, kennel trained, stair trained, leash walking, and started her obedience commands. She's people and dog friendly - and generally a happy girl, I mean, what more could a prospective family want?

Now Savvy can get more focus and attention, which she desperately needs. I'd say she's a good 2-3 weeks behind Fever in her development from an emotional, and trust standpoint, but was always further along in some other ways. She never had an issue with stairs, or walking on a leash. But she's struggling with going through the back sliding glass door, and coming back inside on her own. More often than I like, she panics and slams right into the door at full speed. Ouch. Then coming in, I usually have to slip on shoes and a coat, and go out to get her. She's hand shy, which means she ducks and runs (no aggression), and so she's on a leash when she goes out. Once I pick up the leash, she easily follows me into the house. We found out that this fear of doorways is very much reinforced by metal kennel doors slamming down trapping the dogs at the puppy mills on one side or the other of their kennels. When the door opens, the dogs rush it because it'll slam and sometimes it slams on them. Getting over trauma like that will take some time.

Starting Week 5 - Puppy Mill Survivors

2011-11-13T20:54:00.002-06:00

As we head into week five, there's some difficult decisions that I have to make regarding Fever. You'll see from the video that she and I have a pretty strong bond, which is nothing short of great from my perspective. It's led to a lot of discussion on Facebook regarding whether she's a keeper or not. As much as I do care for her, and I do love her, she's fundamentally is not my dog. I feel like as wonderful as she is, and she is wonderful, there's a feeling as though I'm taking care of someone else's dog, if that makes sense. I know it's difficult for those you who do not foster, but there is a feeling of just that - she's not my dog, and her true owner, just has not found us yet.

Fever gets spayed this week, and I've got an offer to foster her elsewhere. I'm guessing if it all goes through, she'll be with a new family before Thanksgiving. I think it's great that she and I have bonded so well, and I think elementary school is over for her and it's time to go to high school and see how she fairs there. She needs to be around more people, bond with more people, and through that she'll be soooo ready for her new home. I will have to insist that they send me videos to post, though. It'd be unfair to all of you following for her to be stripped away, and you never know how it all turned out.

I also posted on Facebook that Fever's teaching me some things. I keep looking back and remembering where she came from. She's puppy mill survivor, and because of that, she's an alien - foreign. She's teaching me that she isn't dwelling on where she came from. She's always looking forward, she's growing every day and her past is just that, distant and easily forgotten. To that I say, "Good Girl!"

Puppy Mill Survivors Start Week 4

2011-11-06T20:24:00.001-06:00

Fever, Savvy and introducing Autumn, all are starting week 4 with us and they all are continuing to thrive for their efforts. Fever is now willing to sell her soul for a treat - so she's learning recalls across the yard and obedience commands like "sit." She's just doing awesome, but not without a little visitation now and again of being skittish or jumpy. She sure does love people and being petted. All great news!

Savvy joined us as well, and her start hasn't been nearly as stable as Fevers' so I feel like we're at week 2 in her development. She was with me for a couple days, then she went to her foster home for a couple days, then she was spayed, had eye surgery, and had to recover from that. She just didn't get the start of stability that Fever got, so she's back with me to give it another go. She's walking stairs easily, but leaving her kennel is hard for her. Going through any door way is scary, and allowing us to approach is also very hard. She's on leash most of the time so she doesn't rehearse dodging us, and I'm quite sure that if I can fit some small training sessions where she's reinforced for going in and out of doors, she will be much better. It's all time and patience.

Joining us for a play date today is the third Aussie that's being fostered from the 5, Autumn. Autumn was the oldest in the group, and she's got a wise way about her. She's very calm, but shy of new people. She greeted Savvy and Fever as long lost friends, and it did our hearts good to see them all together. Autumn has clicked into her foster family so well. She goes to work with her foster Mom most days (she works at a vet's office), and sleeps under the front desk so quietly that they forget she's there. She lives with another dog, and plays with her on and off throughout the day. She's also living with a young child and doesn't mind it one bit. She walks nicely on leash, and is house trained. All in all, and you will see on the video, she's a beautiful soul, inside and out.

They landed on petfinder this week too, find them here:

Savvy: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/21294658
Autumn: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/21294656
Fever: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/21294657

Please "like" them or share them on Facebook so all your friends can see them. That's the way social media can work for us - by going viral and the more exposure they get the more likely it is that they will be adopted. We are fostering them through Midwest Dog Rescue, and if you can't adopt these three, but you still want to help, you can donate to this amazing group and help another dog get the care and attention it needs, or you can become a foster home and give a poor soul another chance at happiness. I received quite a few requests for an upbeat video, and I think that you will find the occasion warrants it. So, enjoy the formal introduction of Fever, Savvy and Autumn.

Without further adieu...this week's video - Fever, Savvy and Autumn!

Fever - Puppy Mill Survivor: End of week 3

2011-10-30T22:37:00.001-05:00

Fever has progressed nicely by the end of week three. Much of that has to be handed to Ami, the woman left in charge of the house from Mon-Wed as I had to travel yet again to Chicago. Ami is definitely from a different school of training than me, and she applies a lot of what works in horse training to dog training and I have to admit, got some results this week. You can see at the beginning of the video, Fever was getting acclimated to the stairs by having treat bowls around to sweeten the deal. That worked on to get over some initial fear, but after a while, enough is enough and it's time to up the ante. Ami did that by using a baby gate to progress her up the stairs. Eventually the baby gate was no longer needed and she was going up and down on her own - probably knowing that any hesitation, Ami would help her get through by bringing the baby gate out again. ha! I never would have arrived at that solution, but it did seem to speed up the progress. As of today, she's negotiated very stair way in our house (we have a try-level), and it's almost as if now that she knows she can do it, she's doing it all the time to prove to herself that she still can. It's cute. We're finding her everywhere.

You will also see her progressing in coming in from outside and going out from inside. That is still a work in progress. She spooks easily, and one spook can set us back - so, repetition is key on this one. Same goes with walking on a leash - you see her and I on an extending leash moseying around. Then, just today, I upped the ante and we were on a normal leash and she got rewarded for walking with me. By the end of our session, she was walking with me nicely. Going in and out of our back gate is still an issue, but an issue for another day.

Still very clean on the housetraining. To date, she's had only a couple accidents - which is NOT too shabby for a dog who had over a year and a half eliminating where she sleeps. She clearly did not like that, because she hasn't offered it here. We also have good timing. If she goes to the door, she gets let out. So, upon that formula - and getting let out first thing in the AM, and after every meal, and before bed, plus anytime she so much as glances outside....we're doing really well in that department.

We had a house guest on Saturday, Mars - an aussie we adopted out a year or so ago. While his owners were at a Husker game, he was chilling at out house, and Fever took an immediate liking to him. Through Mars she started to explore the yard on her own more, which she's continued to do since he's left. She also had a cute little play session with him inside as well, that I happened to get on tape. What you didn't see is how eager she was to meet Mars' people. She went right up to them, asked for pets, got them and kept getting closer and closer to encourage them to keep touching her. It was so very cool to see.

Ami said my music is too sad, but I think it's appropriate for where we're at right now. We're in a good place, she knows we're in her corner and someday soon we'll have a video of all her badass moves to something triumphing...very, very soon. As we end week 3, I'm reflecting on how much progress she's made. Really above and beyond expectations. I couldn't be happier with her, and I know she's going to make someone a really great companion someday soon.

Fever - Puppy Mill Survivor Days 7-9

2011-10-19T07:43:00.002-05:00

I wish I could say that the momentum of progress we had week 1 with Fever continued into week 2, but unfortunately that's not the case. I'm wondering if that's really such a bad thing? Obviously, how she presented herself in the kennel where I picked her up from, vs. where she was by the end of that same day proves that dogs in kennels, shelters or otherwise boarding facilities are not showing their true selves. I think that's especially true of Aussies - they struggle to function in the confines of a kennel full of multiple dogs, literally bouncing off the walls and monkey screaming.

You saw the progress we had with name recognition, collar touches, coming out of her kennel to go outside, and coming inside the house. Plus, to date, we still have 100% success with her house training. I believe those are huge wins in the adopt-ability front.

Ami's home from USDAA Nationals, and with her Tazer and Neelah. We thought that Tazer and Fever would hit it off based on how Fever was with Savvy; unfortunately, that was not the case. She ran from him no matter what he did, and in the process she ended up tearing a pad on her foot. Being in pain has set back progress on things like walking on a leash, or wanting to be outside for any length of time. She did quickly warm to Ami, which is also a good thing from an adopt-ability standpoint too.

What we have been doing is just letting her roam around the house (which is the living room since we live in a tri-level and she won't do stairs yet), her kennel now down in our doggie room we have made up in the basement. With that, comes new challenges. Firstly, she has no safety spot to retreat to - only a bed on the floor in the living room. We are hoping that it helps her continue to gain confidence. Secondly, she doesn't know how to go down or up stairs, so we are trying to teach her that, and it's slow going. On the way down, I try to let her go the bottom 3 steps on her own, and what she does is just leap them all in one shot. Not exactly what I was going for. On the way up, we put her on the 2nd to the last step, and she freezes. Takes a while for her to do the last step up by herself, and when she does it's a fearful scramble. I would really like for us to have this figured out by the time she's spayed, so we don't have to carry her around - but, I think that's a lofty goal.

We put a leash on her, and she freezes - literally. No coaxing with treats, or encouraging with pats on the leg. She just freezes and stares off into space. Neelah does that when we dress her in costumes, like last night we dressed her as a butterfly - but I digress. So, I bought her a harness last night and we're going to put that on Fever, take her out to the back field with all the dogs, and her on a long line and start there. That I will video, and you can see how that goes.

Advise on leash walking or negotiating stairs is most welcome.

Progress since my post:

Day 6 - Unbelievable Progress

2011-10-15T23:22:00.001-05:00

I received a lot of nice comments from followers on Facebook regarding my patience with Fever etc. I honestly can say that she's just an amazing dog, and a tribute to taking a chance on what seems like an impossible situation. I know when I took her on, I thought that it had potential to be a complete nightmare. Just fearing humans and house training alone could break any dog trainer or foster home. Well, she's surpassed all expectations for progress, and now I think her future is really quite limitless.

House training - nary an accident since the very first one she had when she had liquid-poo and I do continue to claim that it was my fault. She woke up, and I was just slow to respond. She knows outside is a place she wants to potty, and consistently when I take her out, she goes. So, just continuing to set her up for success, responding when she gets restless in her kennel, and I think she's going to be a reliably house trained dog in the long run.

Name recognition - we had a quick 10 cookie game of shaping her to respond to her name last night. Today, did it again outside, and her head was whipping around and she'd trot right over. Very nice progress on that front.

Leaving her kennel more and more, but not go take the leap outside. I always give her a shot at going outside on her own, but eventually I sort of herd her outside most times.

Scared of the cats. Respectful of the little reds in the house. Wondering of it's going to be party time with Tazer when he gets home.

She's in full blast heat, so no spay surgery for her for at least another week.

If you were to ask me what the number one activity that I thought Fever would NEVER do, it would be to interact with a toy and absolutely not with a human and a toy. Last night, I showed her a couple toys and she checked them out, but acted unimpressed and would just walk away. Then, this morning, I got up around 6 am to let everyone out, and what does she do upon exiting her kennel? She trots out and picks up one of the toys, and proceeds to carry it around with her. I grabbed the camera because I could not believe it. She lightly allowed me to tug, she would go get it when I tossed it away. Since then I have brought out other toys of different textures for her to interact with, and she's picked up every one of them and carried them around. Now, I'm worried they are her "babies" and not really toys for play, but it's a start, and where there's a start to interact with toys, there's a game that can be taught.

Day 4 - Fever shows some progress

2011-10-13T09:00:00.005-05:00

4 days is nothing, but it feels like it's been a long 4 days. Progress is incremental at best, but let's see how far we've come.

1. Day 1 - I was dragging Fever in and out of her kennel to go outside.
     Day 4 - Fever is going into her kennel on her own, but still very tentative coming out, if at all - and depending on my schedule, she still needs to be pulled.

2. Day 1 - Fever had to be apprehended to come inside and on Tuesday that was quite a feat. She was very comfortable now with the routine, and dodging me seemed to be the result of that comfort.

    Day 4 - I leave the door open, and her kennel door open and she comes right inside and into her kennel every time.

3. Day 1/2 - Fever had an accident in her kennel, but she also has liquid-poo. Missed letting her out by seconds.
     Day 3/4 - Even with liquid-poo, zero accidents in her kennel. She likes having a clean kennel and she likes to be clean herself. Found that she's got hookworms, got meds and she's on the mend.

4. Day 1/2 - lots of freezing when touched
     Day 3/4 - approaches to be petted and even has curled up in my lap.

5. Day 1/2 - not taking treats, at all or at best she'd take a hot dog slice but spit it right out.
     Day 3/4 - she'll take the treat, spit it out, check it out and eventually eat it.

In five areas, that's real progress, but if I wasn't listing it out like this I think it'd be hard for me to see it.

Savvy update - she's being fostered at my Mom's. I think it's a struggle for both. Savvy is no worse, but the progress is also very slow as well. At least she will take treats, but house training has not been the same experience as Fever's. Mom and I collaborated, and after Savvy's spay surgery on Friday, she's coming back to my house where the kennel can be right by the back door and she only has a step down or up to go outside. It's a little more complicated at my Mom's house. I think that Fever and Savvy will be pretty stoked to see each other, unfortunately they can't play because Savvy will be on the mend. Fever will be bummed about that, but the girl is a hard player - likes to bump and tackle. So, while they can see each other, they can't play. Boo.

Probably no video today as I am at work during the day, and I have agility class tonight. But, with the weekend, there will be lots of training opportunities for both dogs, and I'm sure that we'll have some footage of their progress. All in all, I think we lucked out. We have 2 dogs that mostly have what it takes to be a great family pet.
1. kennel trained
2. quiet - haven't heard one of them bark yet, maybe a little whine here or there.
3. Love other dogs
4. like to be petted
5. Learning how to appreciate their people - this is a WIP (work in progress), but it is progressing

If I can get them to walk on a leash, and at least 80% house trained...I'm not going to be holding on to either of them for very long, I feel.

Please note: Both Fever and Savvy will be available for adoption through Midwest Dog Rescue soon. Please pass along their story to those you know - repost if you can on your Facebook page or where ever you socially network. Above all, please support legislation that put standards on Commercial Breeding facilities (see Nebraska Voters for Companion Animals for current legislation), and never ever buy anything, much less a puppy, from a pet store that sells puppies or other dogs.

Trust and the Puppy Mill Dog

2011-10-12T19:06:00.002-05:00

I can clearly see after 2 days with my mill foster that trust is going to be a big deal in her rehab, and introduction to what it's like to be a "normal" dog. Right now, trust is very, very slippery. I gain trust, and she shows me that it's all good, and then something happens and she tries to run for the hills. Grateful that her reaction to fear is flight versus fight. I'll take it.

We rocked Fever and Savvy's world yesterday by taking Savvy to her foster home. We watched them carefully together and realized quickly that their bond is going to impede their ability to bond with a person - and we need them to both grow in confidence, but also in their trust of us. So, off Savvy went to her foster home, and both are doing OK - but it was pretty clear that we had some fallout for moving them. I had them both able to leave their kennels and go outside without me having to drag them out of their kennels, and now we're back to square one - or if they do act alone, progress is slooooow.

Insult to injury, I had to change out Fever's kennel for a different one. She's got some diarrhea going on and the original kennel she was in only had a crate pad in there and it's quickly gotten soiled. So, I had to move her into a kennel with a metal pan, and she found it slippery and she's not happy with it at all. On an up note, she doesn't like it as much as the other one, so she's more likely to hang out outside it than previously. I just got back from petsmart and got a crate pad that won't slip - we are happy again.

There's a lot of great things too. Fever allowed me to brush her a little bit today, she let me touch her paws, I clipped some mats out of her ears without drama, and she even curled up in my lap for a little while afterwards. I have a feeling she is going to be a really good, affectionate dog.

I've had her mingling with my other red dogs in the house. I can easily tell that from a dog language and savviness standpoint, she's got dog-speak down cold. She heeds their warnings, and she is respectful. She wants to play, though...she's very open to playing with other dogs. I have to keep reminding myself that she only turns 2 in a month. She's a baby-dog.

House training is going swimmingly. She had an accident in her kennel this AM, but I was seconds from letting her out and she just couldn't wait anymore. Not at all her fault. With liquid-poo, she's kept a clean kennel for the most part, and that's kudos to her. I think she likes to be clean. Yippee..it may make this a whole lot easier. Verdict from the vet it hook worms, so we are diagnosed and on the mend. She's also in heat, so spay surgery is delay for a week or so. When she's spayed I'm also going to ask them to clean her teeth, they seem to bother her; and cut her toe nails. She's going to be right as rain very soon!!

Here's the video of our 2nd and 3rd day together.

Please note: Both Fever and Savvy will be available for adoption through Midwest Dog Rescue soon. Please pass along their story to those you know - repost if you can on your Facebook page or where ever you socially network. Above all, please support legislation that put standards on Commercial Breeding facilities (see Nebraska Voters for Companion Animals for current legislation), and never ever buy anything, much less a puppy, from a pet store that sells puppies or other dogs.

Puppy mills leave lasting emotional scars, study finds

2011-10-11T11:33:00.001-05:00

USA Today Article on emotional scars left on Puppy Mill dogs

Now there's a shocker, or is it? If I put myself into a Puppy Miller's mindset (which I loathe to do), dogs are livestock and treated as such. No different than rabbits in a rabbit hutch, chickens in a chicken coop, or pigs in a pig pen. What they are missing, however, is that dogs are not farm animals - they are domesticated animals that have learned to adapt to human interactions to gain reinforcement and sustenance. If you take that human element away, you've taken away their primary form of survival, and information about that world. If their only interactions from humans are being dragged from one cage to another, one kennel to another - what they know of the world is very limited, and what they think they know of us is also very limited and often very scary.

I'm about to experience what that means in real life. I was contacted this past weekend regarding five Standard Australian Shepherds who were being auctioned off at a Puppy Mill liquidation. When a mill goes out of business, the dogs (the livestock) get auctioned off to other millers. The dogs that fail to get bids, are typically put down after the auction and by put down I mean mass euthanizing that includes anything from being shot in the head, to brutally beaten to death, or to lethal injection (if they are lucky). Their bodies are thrown onto fire pyres and burned. Brutal enough for you? I certainly hope so.

So, this fab five - 2 one year old black tris, 1 two year old red tri, and 2 blue merles, three and four years old respectively were not getting bids. Some rescue groups make a point of attending these auctions in order to remove dogs from the breeding system, and sometimes can get dogs or puppies relatively on the cheap. It's a win-win for the auction - dogs get moved. At this particular event, nobody was bidding on these dogs - why? I have no idea. I attended an auction this time last year that forever changed me - I think of those dogs every day...literally. I'm traumatized from the experience. The mini-aussies went for over $450 each, and in no way could I ever bid and hand over money to a miller and help them profit from this business, so I had to let them go. It broke my heart. These 5, however, were in much greater danger. No bids means lights out. So, this amazing woman, who typically is looking for her own special breed of dog to rescue, could not stand by and watch these 5 go down. So, she bid. $1 each, and with no counters, they had to let them go. She had all little kennels, she had no rescue group lined up - she got them on a wing and a prayer that it all would work out. She is an Angel of Mercy, took mercy, and got them out of there and out of danger. But now what?

So, she contacted her friends at Mid-West Dog Rescue (MWDR) - and all breed rescue group here in Nebraska. They went into quick action. There's not really a local aussie rescue group, so their options are very limited. They contacted me, knowing I rescue mini-aussies. Being that they aren't mini's it was a hard decision, but the mini-aussie rescue group could not take them. After having gone and visited them in the kennels they were being housed at, well, now I'm emotionally invested and concerned about their rehab. I put an all fronts bulletin on Facebook - and my friends did not disappoint. Many came forward and offered to help - and to all of you, whether it worked out or not, I'm so very grateful for the offer. We also were lucky enough to line up the Aussie rescue group in MN to take whomever we could not find foster homes for here locally. Well, my Mother agreed to take one, I took one and a vet tech at my Vet took one as well. So, only 2 are being transported up to MN. Thank goodness for them!

So, I got the green light from MWDR to go and evaluate who would be best for my home and my Mom's home. So, you KNOW I took the red-tri girl...I mean duh...of course. I also took the younger of the two blues for my Mom - not because they were blue, believe it or not, my Mom actually wanted the female black tri, but because she would let me near her; whereas, the tris were unapproachable. I evaluated on eye contact, approachability, and whether they would let me touch them or not. Both the red, who I've named "Fever" and the blue who's name was "Savannah" which my Mom shortened to "Savvy" were open to my visits, let me pet them, and ultimately seemed like it was a good start on rehabbing. The other blue, "Patches" was also very friendly, but I had to pick one and my gut said Savvy for some reason. Savvy and Fever are badly matted, smell of urine and feces, nails are terribly long - very ill cared for from a grooming perspective. Teeth are badly caked with tarter. Ears are dirty. I see burns on Savvy from where they used clippers behind her ears to clip out what I can only assume were big mats in her hair. Still, no fleas or ticks, which is quite surprising.

I've started a video diary of how it's going with these two, but mostly Fever. A real rags to riches story. Below is a link to our first 24 hours - all very encouraging stuff. I'd be amiss if I didn't tell you that I'm very exhausted from our first day. Getting them from the kennels to the car took an hour and a half. Then to the vet, which was quick, and home for baths, which both struggled quite a bit. In fact, I ended up in the tub with Fever, tennis shoes and all, came out drenched - but, hey...she's clean now. I keep leashes on them so I can wrangle them when it time to come in from outside. They are kenneled near the back door because they can't negotiate stairs. I have to carry them everywhere because not only are they not leash trained (I mean, why would they be?), they wouldn't trust where we were going anyway. So, wrangling them to come in has been a challenge. They are being good about pottying outside, and they woke me up by being restless in their kennels around 3pm and also pottied outside. Nice to see so far. No accidents in the house due to great timing on my part, I think. Today I'm off to work, headed home at noon to let them out. Crossing fingers. I saw the dogs come out in them so early yesterday that I hope I'm not just seeing what I want to see. What do you think?

Please note: Both Fever and Savvy will be available for adoption through Midwest Dog Rescue soon. Please pass along their story to those you know - repost if you can on your Facebook page or where ever you socially network. Above all, please support legislation that put standards on Commercial Breeding facilities (see Nebraska Voters for Companion Animals for current legislation), and never ever buy anything, much less a puppy, from a pet store that sells puppies or other dogs.

Gorgeous Weekend - All Around!

2011-10-02T20:57:00.004-05:00

Whooo!

Have you ever wondered what dogs remember after a trial weekend? I'm envisioning it's just like some of the images enclosed in this blog. Like, maybe it's screaming out of a tunnel, or hearing me say "YES! OMG, GOOD BOY!!" as he hits an amazing weave entry, or how we celebrate together (regardless of outcome) after every run. If I had a wish, it would be that everyone experienced this past weekend with the same type of memories that our dogs have.

Kickin' some Jackpot booty!

Believe me, I'm not perfect. I've had a moment or two where the disappointment of our run outweighed my ability to celebrate with him, or even be nice to him. One of those episodes sticks out in my mind clearly. We were in MN, and I actually had a rather well known agility competitor just tell me how cute he thought Treo was. That was nice, what happened next was not. We entered team jumpers, and Treo took one look at the judge with her hat, big mirrored sun glasses, and he went ballistic. Try as I might to get him to settle down, and he could not, and he even left me to rush her and I thought my heard would beat right through my throat. I got him back, thank goodness, and I drove him around the course, angry the whole way. Watched him - watch her - the entire run. I was FURIOUS at him. No Frisbee time after the run, and I nearly tossed him into his soft crate. Felt horrible....for the rest of the day. I can tell you, though, that's probably the extreme that it would that to take ME there...to that awful place. Unfortunately, I see people go to that awful place for much, much less reasons. BUT, not this weekend!! This weekend was CPE, and that spells FUN. I witnessed even those who experienced a less than stellar run, having fun with their dog, and heck...that's what CPE is all about.

Hooray for CPE!!!!

You know what? I like CPE for so many reasons. Firstly, everyone is rooting for everyone. Secondly, I like pushing the envelope in every run, and trying things that I'm not quite sure he can handle. I certainly am not focusing on the outcome - just the run at hand. I think I've said this before, but it's worth saying again...you can't plan to Q. You can't plan to win High in Trial. Both a Q and a HIT are outcomes...they occur AFTER the run. If you try to plan for a Q, you will run slower, you will try to control your dog more (i.e. slow your dog down), and dangit that's not what agility is supposed to be. It's supposed to be FAST, and FUN. That being said, I actually overheard this conversation this weekend.

Person1: How did your run go? Did you Q?

Person2: Well, uh, no..we didn't Q.

Person1: Oh, then did you have fun?

Person2: *silence*

I'm a good boy...ta da!

That is a conversation that totally sucks - for all involved, including the dog. The Q is the measuring stick for having fun. Listen, facts are facts. I've had rip snorting runs that were totally awesome and failed to Q. I've had runs that were a stinkin' hot mess and we Q'd. And both were this weekend. Ha Ha! I will take a rip snorter that I can be proud of over a stinky Q any day, every day. Plus, let me re-emphasize, Treo never knew the difference. We partied like it was 1999, every time. Mainly because, if he can keep up the motivation and energy when things obviously have gone awry, then God Bless Him, he deserves a game of toss and fetch, in my book. Anyway, once I knew a run was blown, we start working other things big and bad. Below is Treo working a contact well after I rear-crossed him on the dog walk with a ton of pressure, and he bailed off the equipment. Four Paw safety rule dictates, you much go on...so we did and he demo'd lovely stopped contacts on the teeter and A-Frame. Good Boy, definitely worth celebrating and the rear cross on the dog walk gets written down for future trainings.

Yes! Let's party now!

The other observation I had is that people are more interested in rehashing their run, than reward their dogs, if they are in the practice of rewarding their dog at all. Listen, there's a couple things Treo know for certain. First, he knows that I'm going to tell him he's a "Good boy" at the startline...he actually waits for it - I see it in his eyes - which is good...because we've had startline focus issues in the past. So, seeing him watch me and look/listen for his "Good boy" really helps him focus and watch me. Lastly, he knows that "Party Rock is in the House" after every run. His toy is left just 10' (per the rules) from the ring, at all times. After our run, and after I loop his leash over his neck, he DRAGS me to it and we enter doggie nirvana...we...play.

I blew up this last picture, because facts are facts. Having fun is contagious. Look at the faces of my friends! I think this is when I was running down the gamble line like a drunken sailor, screaming (literally) as I tried not to cross the line. Too much futzing to get the beginning of the gamble blew our chances, but dang-it, I was ALL IN and driving to the end. As a result, Treo drove to the box like champ. Always like a champ.

Outcomes...sure, they are pleasing. We achieved High in Trial one day this weekend, we walked home with 11 Qs. I know there's people out there who would give their eye teeth for those outcomes. Outcomes that they feel are so far out of their grasp. Guess what...maybe it's the attitude about the game that needs to change and possibly...the outcomes will follow.

~All photos taken by Doug Neal~

Whatcha Doin'? Nuttin.

2011-09-01T12:13:00.000-05:00

Nothing is going on with the Red Dog. Poor dude. From my last post until now, it's been a black hole of nada dog training, nada agility, nada mental prep homework. I think one would call it an agility vacation since regionals. So, a whole month of a whole lotta nada.

Well, I wasn't a complete slacker. I took the videos I had, that you saw, and I sent them to Tracy Sklenar (http://www.lotp.com/) for analysis. Wow, did I get some great feedback! It's great to take your perceptions, and then someone else's and slap them together and see what's really going on with your handling. Tracy, however, takes these observations to a whole new level. Here's a quote, for example:

Look at the 32 second mark - you're not digging into the diagonal and pretty upright, so he is unclear. Be sure to dig into the RC diagonals and drive really hard to give the best info.

"Look at the 32 second mark" kind of feedback. That's good info. It all adds up to me driving lines, pumping my arms and quit with the late cuing. In other words, I need more practice with this handling stuff. Which, I haven't been doing. I've been doing other things.

A couple months ago, Tracy said, "Training happens when it happens." What a true statement that is. No excuses, because at the end of the day, this is a sport and by definition we do it for sport and by definition that means that it's a past time or a diversion.

At times, however, it becomes an obsession. I have a good friend in class, a retired gentleman, who said, "Melissa, I think about agility all the time. Do you do that?" The quick answer was and is, well...yes. I've surrounded myself with it to the point where it's really all I can think about. Not only my personal relationship with my dogs being centered around agility and agility training, but I teach classes, I write an agility blog and I read several agility blogs, I take agility seminars and once a month or more I spend days doing nothing but agility. Yeah, I think about it all the time, even when I'm not doing it, I think about how I'm not doing it. Friday and Saturday there's a fun run at the Nebraska Humane Society, so the dry spell is about to end. I'll be working on driving those lines, pumping my arms, and getting my cues in earlier.

Bottom line, though, is Treo and I have had a 22 day agility vacation. Honestly, it's been kind of nice. I went on vacation for a week while he stayed at Grandmas. After that, there's been a few walks, many Frisbee sessions with no other end other than improve my throws, work on getting him to track the Frisbee versus react to the Frisbee, and see if we can improve his catches with more forward momentum versus vertical. Oh MAN! I just realized that I replaced Agility training with Frisbee training! What the.....?! I guess I have to admit it. I'm addicted to dog training. Even when I think I'm not doing it, I'm doing it. "Training happens when it happens" and for me, it happens everyday whether I intend for it to or not. Treo is a lucky dog because Frisbee is one of his favorite past times, diversions and sport.

In honor of that, I'm coordinating Omaha's first Frisbee Toss&Fetch fun match at the Go Dogs Dog Training Club (www.godogsomaha.org) on Labor Day, 9/5/11, from 9AM-Noon. Proceeds go to the Nebraska Humane Society's Walk for the Animals on 9/25. Come out and support us, toss a Frisbee or just watch. Should be a good time!!

"Vacation" Minus Pups

2011-08-21T22:37:00.000-05:00

We just got home from a really wonderful vacation in Wyoming and Montana visiting Grand Tetons National Park and Yellowstone National Park. Vacations are so important because for a little while you get to vacate your "real life" and enjoy some other reality for a little while. At the same time, parts of my real life I don't want to vacate - and you know I am referring to my dogs. (I know some non-dog people are rolling their eyes right now, but hang with me...I can explain)

Sure, after we take the dogs to their perspective sitters (we have to divide to conquer), the house seems eerily empty and hollow. I don't wake up with Tazer's foot in my face, or Treo chasing a kitty out of the room - which is nice, ha! I'm excited to get on the move, and start my new experiences and adventures. Yet, in the back of my mind, there's regret. I know the dogs are confused as to where we are, and wondering when we're coming to pick them up. They have to adapt to a new routine somewhere, and new rules sometimes. Most sleep in the kennel versus sleeping with the people. I can't help but feel guilty that my holiday is not really a holiday for them.

In addition, other than Asha, the dogs are used to going with us when we vacate Omaha to a trial in another town. I have no consolation thinking that they would be happier at "Grandma's" then they are in a hotel with us because I have the unfortunate experience of knowing that they aren't happier at Grandma's - that Treo would be SO HAPPY to be doing what we're doing, and finishing up a day of hiking and sight-seeing curled up between my knees in the hotel for the night. Asha, Treo, Neelah and Tazer absolutely are great travelers, and love to hit the road knowing that we're about to have a dog-filled blast of a weekend.

It's not all about guilt, though. My relationship with my dogs (and your dogs with you) is a bond that runs deep for so many reasons. There's basic companionship, guardianship, and relationship that exists, sure. And when we're separated, we worry, and we miss them. For those of us who spend a majority of our free time training our dogs for agility, herding, flyball or obedience...I think you have to click up that bond a notch or two. (or three or four) Having much of our free time, hobby time, or where you make time all surrounded around your dog(s), and when they aren't there - consider it a big gaping hole. When you experience so much together - an agility victory, or an agility bomb - either way, it wasn't experienced by you alone - it was you and your dog. So, you experience so much of the world together - to go and vacate and not take them with you is like experiencing the world with only one eye. Yes, you see everything and enjoy it just fine, but without the dog...I find myself thinking, "Treo would have loved this creek." Or, "Asha would have loved this meadow to just run, and smell the wild, and be a mountain dog for a day."

You know, I think we under estimate the mutual comfort they give us as well. Treo has this amazing capacity to just snuggle. To climb into my lap, choosing to lay in my arms like a baby, and rest his head on me like a hug. And he stays there, while I gently pet him. All my stress, washes away with every pet. If I stop petting him, he lifts his head and looks at me and them plops it down again as if to say, "No, we're not done yet. I need you to pet me some more, and you need to pet me some more." It's usually me that breaks it off with him before he breaks it off with me. I think he'd stay there for as long as I'd let him. Asha can't tolerate that closeness for very long, and I had to train her to sit in my lap for the length of time that she does it, which makes our cuddle time just as special, but for a completely different reason - I had to earn it with her.

Treo and I snuggling

And when I got home last night, it was past midnight, and way past our bedtimes. "Grandma" and our sitters had dropped them off at our house so they'd be there to welcomes us when we got home. The dogs were so happy, of course. And we let them downstairs to go out for a quick potty before we settled down. Treo dashed downstairs and immediately found a Frisbee and jumped up to put in in my arms as if to say, "I missed us, Momma. Let's go have some fun and catch up!"

USDAA NC Regionals 2011

2011-08-08T15:08:00.002-05:00

John Cullen (cognitive-edge.ca) told me that Regionals and Nationals both are just agility trials dressed up as bigger events. I was a bit skeptical. I mean, this is a BIG event, with BIG names. Names I've read in Dog Sport and Clean Run...people who got their crap together! And here I am, competing at the same venue...how could it be the same?? Well, guess what? It is. Now, don't get me wrong, there were some inherent challenges just to the size of the event that I had to overcome, but other than that...it was an agility event. That's it. (Thank goodness!)

Other than the challenging courses we had to manage in the Team events, the other main hurdle to overcome was the way we walked courses. We were assigned a group, and that was the group we walked and ran with. Sometimes they set up the same course in all three rings, you walked it and ran it. No big deal. BUT, then they set up 3 different courses in the rings, and you walked all three one after the other, and didn't run then until it was your time. So, for example, they set up PSJ in ring 1, a team event in ring 2, and 3. You walked PSJ, then changed rings and walked the team course, then changed rings and walked the next team course. Then, you typically ran the first one you walked according to the running order. When all the rings finished, you would switch to the next ring and run that. So, there would be hours between the time you walked a course and ran it. Oh. Dear. It was my nemesis from CPE Nationals coming back to give me another go. This time I was better prepared, though.

Here's how I prepare for a run - first I plug into my iPod to tune out distractions - I look at the course map and decide on my plan. I hold that plan loosely, because depending on how the course is set, it could change - but by the time I walk it, I already know the course for the most part and it's just deciding on handling by this time. Then, as I walk the course, I first look at the dog's path and see if it matches with what my 'on paper' plan was. I adjust accordingly. Then I walk my path and decide what I need to do where, where I need to be, etc. I will walk that several times - until I'm buzzed off, actually. Then, I will step back, and visualize the run while watching others run. I usually gauge how much time I have before I have to have Treo ready, and I'll use that time to visualize my run. Now, I could do a whole blog post on visualization, but until you practice it yourself, it wouldn't make a lot of sense. I thank John Cullen for his techniques in perfecting this fine art, because it is what saved me this weekend. By the time I am up for my run, I've already ran it several times in my head, and now it's just executing what I visualized. At regionals this past weekend, I would have to focus on only one course at a time. So, if I was getting ready to run Grand Prix, I would 'forget' the other courses and just focus on that one. Then, after my run, I'd go to the other rings and remind myself what the course was, use visualization to "walk it" and "run it" in my head to cement the plan. As a result, no lost on course moments for me - a feat in itself! Plus, most of the time, I was in position. Definitely overcame some lessons I learned at CPE Nationals.

Did I mention some agility big names were there? Yes, there were some big names there. Watching them run was a treat. I mean, you see these names all the time, and it's very cool to watch. Then, I thought of THEM, personally. I wondered how they feel running, especially with their up and coming dogs. It can't be easy. Everyone watching, critical, scrutinizing. I know I'd be a basket case, or most likely, annoyed as hell. I mean, is it fair to expect a baby dog of a big name to be anything but where every other baby dog would be of a non-big namer? I don't think so, but I know quite a few people and caught myself as well, thinking things should be different for them. Fact is, it isn't different. Baby dogs do wacky things, drive long, grab obstacles - sometimes self-reinforcing, and sometimes offering behaviors because they knew they were wrong, but all of it natural for dogs their age. What I saw was potential - lots of it. Some of these dogs...well, they will be really good. Scary good. It will be cool to see.

Treo and I don't have any major outcome brags to share for the most part. We Q'd in Team, 16th out of 38 teams. Most of that was due to Cheryl/Karma's contribution - I can admit that with a smile. They were awesome. We got a PIII Snooker Q and a PIII Standard Q. Our PIII Standard was the only run that didn't get videoed, dang it. It also was our best run of the weekend, too. Plus, none of my friends even saw it due to conflicts in other rings. That's alright. Treo and I know how we did, how awesome it was, and we nailed it together. That's all that matters.

Treo and I are on a journey together. We measure our success based on whether the execution was average or better than previous runs and our personal goals. One day, we might be in Performance Speed Jumping finals, we might be in Performance Grand Prix finals and even then, our success won't be based on the outcome of that competition. It'll be based on how we did compared to our normal execution - was it average or better than we typically do? Fact is, if we continually improve, the outcomes will follow the performance accordingly. You can't strive for outcomes because you can't control them. Most likely there will always be someone faster, someone who had a better plan, or just a knocked bar on your part. If you base your success on the outcome, then you will be disappointed a majority of the time. If you base your performance compared to your other performances, you will be pleased most of the time. THAT is what the other partner on your agility team needs - to know that he did either AMAZING compared to the usual, or he did pretty dang good regardless. This weekend, Treo and I get shiny gold Qs for our mental game. Here's some of our highlights:

Rescue Me!

2011-07-28T12:31:00.003-05:00

I’ve not written in a while, or maybe ever, about another area that I have a passion for, and that is rescuing – specifically Miniature Australian Shepherds (MAS). I get many different reactions from people when I mention that I rescue, or that I have a foster dog at my house. Some people feel that it’s got to be the most difficult thing to be a rescuer, and others feel that we must be sainted or something, but most of the time I get the reaction, “I could NEVER do that. To bring a dog into our house hold, and then turn around and watch it leave. I couldn’t.” What’s interesting to me about that statement is how I have never, ever felt that way about rescuing – except the first one. Asha.

Asha to this day has been by far the worst case we have ever received. We got a call from the NHS asking us to foster her because they knew us as the Saturday AM Cat Cleaning Ladies, and sometimes we’d bring Neelah, Ami’s mini-aussie, and they thought maybe we’d foster one since we had one. I got the call from Ami about a red merle mini-aussie, less than a year old, who had been found wandering, dragging a leg and nearly starved. They decided to try to save her leg, which had been dislocated possibly by being hit by a car, or tossed out of a moving car. She was freaky in the kennels, and they thought that if she was in a home, she’d come out of her shell, and possibly use her leg that she seemed to have decided didn’t exist anymore. I told Ami, sight unseen, that she’d never leave our house. The rehab on the leg would take months, and by then…she’d be ours. I was reluctant. We had 3 dogs already, and the 2 were old ladies, one with diabetes and the other with CHF. Ami wanted to just go visit. So, I rerouted my way to meet Ami and the NHS, and I was not at all prepared for what I saw. She was so skinny, she was covered in feces and urine, wild eyed and pacing the room, dragging a leg. She would not come to me, she was in complete distress looking for how to escape the room and I started freaking out. “She needs to come with us right now! We have to get her out of here.” I couldn’t bear to see her suffering – not for even a minute, much less 24 hours that we’d have to wait for the NHS to re-open. Well, we ended up having to wait for a couple days, but we went every day after, took her for walks and started to bond. Asha’s physical recovery took months, her shyness especially with men, years. She is not the same dog today that she was when we got her. She’s the most happy-go-lucky dog in our household, she’s played agility (with titles), received her CGC (which made me cry), and has played Rally-O. She started it all.

Our next foster came from the NHS also, at it wasn’t really a MAS, it was a MAS/JRT cross. She was only 6 months old, and a ton of fun. We named her Gypsy. Gypsy went all the way to Virginia, and we had a difficult time saying our Good Byes. She was our first, it was difficult. But, it was so rewarding! We ended up volunteering for Mini-Aussie Rescue and Support, or MARS (www.miniaussierescue.org) and 25+dogs later…we’re still making history.

When you think about what we have to offer as dog trainers – our understanding, our expertise and our roof. What really do foster dogs need to thrive? No matter how tragic the case, we’ve found that our number one priority for these dogs is to stop the chaos. Give them a very predictable schedule, a warm and comfy place to rest their head, safety and food/water. Within a few days, or even sometimes one day, they start to relax and their “self” comes out. They get silly, or they play, or they do something to try to get YOU to smile. Then you know you got ‘em – they will be ok. Work begins to find them their next home.

The most common response I get when I say I rescue is, “OH I would NEVER be able to give THEM up!” Which is, on the one hand, sort of a humorous response to me because if you lived in our household of 4 resident dogs, all playing dog sports, 3 resident cats, and us on the go nearly every weekend – fosters headed to their new home is…well, a relief. It simplifies things quite a bit. So, there is that to look forward to, if nothing else. Then there’s the heartwarming knowledge that you just gave a second lease on life to a creature who really had no one in their corner. Nobody. The family or person who they had counted on for everything, bonded to, loved has just perpetrated the ultimate betrayal. But, they were not left to suffer as so many are, they somehow won the life-lottery and found us. We give them hope, a reason to be silly, someone to pat them on the head and in one phrase tell them it’s not their fault, “You are a good dog.” That phrase to a dog, especially a dog in rescue, means everything. I watch them leave our house knowing that I’ve already provided for them the ultimate gift and it’s not continuing to live here, it’s the renewed hope that they can have everything that matters, now and for the rest of their lives.

My other reaction to “OH I would NEVER be able to give THEM up!” is actually that this belief is a red flag. It’s probably the most selfish response someone could utter – let me explain. Ever watch the shows regarding animal hoarders? Those people actually have convinced themselves that they are the only people who can take care for these animals. That they can’t give them up for that reason or any reason because nobody will love those creatures like they do. So, as a result, the animal population in their house grows, and grows and grows. It’s also an arrogant response as well. The belief that you are the only person on the planet who can care for an animal is ridiculous. Of course others can care for an animal. So, you can give them up if you have the right mindset that your job is not to keep any or all the animals, but your job is to provide them with some stability, safety and care until they find their next home.

Taking in dogs as fosters does have some fallout in our household. Right now the dog/human ration is 2:1. So, in the time that is allotted for doggie time, it’s already divided by 2 dogs. When you bring a third and sometimes a fourth into the pack, there is challenges that come along with it. Plus, when you have dogs like my Treo, who isn’t too fond of other dogs outside our household, we have an added pressure to make sure everyone is happy and safe. For the most part, we’ve arrived at some solutions that work for us on that front. First, as I said before, Fosters need, above all, stability. The way we provide that right off the bat is create a regimented schedule for them, that within 48 hours, becomes predictable and within that predictability comes comfort. So, no doggies meet other doggies for at least 48 hours. Sometimes longer depending on many factors. But, at least for the first 48 the foster’s schedule may look like this: AM potty-AM Breakfast-mid AM potty-chill in kennel for a few hours-afternoon potty-hang out loose with someone for a couple hours-potty-dinner-pm potty-hang out for an hour or so-potty-bedtime. Anytime they are not hanging out with one of us, they are in a kennel – usually with a TV or music on and sometimes with a kong or something to do, but all they do is hang out. We have found that many of them are exhausted, anyway, from the stress of however they got to us and that time is a great time for them to sleep it off, get acclimated and get to know that we are here for them and nothing bad is going to happen. Then based on many factors, we may start to introduce them to the pack. They may never meet Treo the entire time they are with us. Treo is absolutely cool with that. But, I do have to say that out of the 25+ we’ve had, Treo’s made friends with at least 50% or more. I have a video of a “beach party” that we had with the dogs one time where you can see 2 of our fosters – Gus and Kate, having fun with the entire pack, plus a dog we were petsitting. It can be done with Treo, it just takes knowing the fosters very well, and setting everyone up for success. I don’t ask more from Treo than he’s ever been able to show me. It wouldn’t be fair to him.

There are times when I have wanted to stop. That the toll I felt it was taking on the household had to stop. That it takes too much time, too much energy; I just don’t have in me to continue. Then, I get the call, I hear the story, and I arrange a pick up. They need me – us – all of us, and for all the right reasons. It could be “we don’t have time” or “he nips my kids” or “we’re moving” or “my other dogs don’t like him” or “more work than I expected” or just a stray found with no one claiming her. At the end of the day, I have a dog that is unwanted. If I don’t take it, it will continue to suffer - not understanding what it did wrong to deserve the punishment it will be getting. And believe me, make no mistake, an unwanted dog will be punished daily until something changes. I listen to other rescuers talk about the stories of people giving up their animals and no matter the story, no matter the background; I’ve found that it’s always the right solution. When a dog is unwanted, rescue is the best option. Even the weakest story doesn’t frustrate me, because giving up the dog is actually the former owner finally acting in the dog’s best interest. Period.

So, the whole goal of writing this post is to inspire, encourage, and call you to action. What have you done lately for the breed or the species that you adore so much? Helping out comes in many forms. Money is always good, and always welcome. Time is definitely appreciated – time training or walking dogs at your local shelter would, for that brief hour or so, give a dog some people time and undivided attention, plus a much needed break from the kennel. Fostering a dog is where all rescues need help – and even if you try it once – it doesn’t mean you are locked in now for life. You can’t know the rewards of helping a rescue until you try it yourself. If it’s not your cup of tea, so be it. Just helping one dog for a rescue organization could mean saving that dog’s life - especially if all their foster homes are full. So, set an intention, and give it a shot.

Not pictured is Bear and Scribble

To all the dogs we’ve rescued since 2004, we bless you on your journey. I know we helped change your life for the better. I know each of you have changed ours in return. We remember each of you as though you were our own. You will always be with us in our hearts, and in the eyes of those who are yet to come.

Lessons Learned at CPE Nationals 2011

2011-06-27T22:40:00.000-05:00

I didn't realize how much time has gone by since I posted last. I've been busy with local trials, and prepping myself mentally and literally for CPE Nationals in June. At the same time, the job suddenly got really exciting where I was asked to be part of a project that is headquartered out of Chicago, IL - so, it's been traveling 3 days a week to Chicago. Unfortunately, that's the priority that pays the bills - so, blogging has been put on hold until after CPE Nationals, and until after I had an opportunity to think about my experience there.

Picture Proof that we competed at CPE Nationals!

CPE Nationals was a long term goal I made for myself that fed directly into the weight loss goals. I wanted to walk into that competition with a more mobile body. The old issue of not being able to "get there" for front crosses or driving lines, to be off the table. I am happy to report, that I achieved my goal. I walked into that competition nearly 50lbs lighter, and in addition to that, just by not giving up or giving in regarding the physical limitations of my knees, I was minus one of my two knee braces - my knees actually are more stable than ever.

At the same time, I observed in myself another limitation that needed to be addressed and it wasn't something I could get out of my weekly agility classes, or even from talking to my fellow agility competitors. I had (have?) some significant difficulties when it comes to my mental game. So, to get help with that, I solicited help from John Cullen. Cognitive Edge - Unlock Your Mental Game He was mentioned last year by Susan Garrett in her blog as a sports coach that helped her, and the Canada world team, with their mental game. Sounded right up my alley, so I popped him an email and set up some time for he and I to talk. The timing of this also coincided with my diet program and he was the one who helped me get clear on some long term goals - of which, a decent showing at CPE Nationals was one of them. To go through all the areas that John has influenced would be a whole other blog post - or maybe several blogs, but what I will say is that if you feel you are suffering from a mental game perspective, he'd be a great place to start getting clarity on tools and resources to help you do what you need to do in order to gain the confidence necessary where and when it counts. At any rate, developing a "lessons learned" journal entry was a piece of homework for me - so, that's the point of all this set up!

CPE Nationals, in my mind, was a decent way to get Nationals experience without Nationals pressure. CPE promotes having fun with your dog above all, so while I knew the courses would be a tad more challenging than what we typically see on a Saturday morning, it wouldn't be so over the top that Treo nor I would go bananas. And we didn't. We kept it together even when things went awry.

This is not perfect position for really any handlng move I know...
but I am definitely cuing "something"...front cross push-through?
I hope not...Serp?..gawd I hope not...I plead the 5th.

Day 1 was all about getting used to the program. The game plan was that you are assigned to a group and you walk courses with that group, you run with that group, and you volunteer with that group. In each rotation, you are rotating with 3 other groups, so while one group walks, another group is getting their dogs and getting ready to run. Between running groups, your group may get to walk, for 8 min max, and the whole thing runs like clockwork. Kinda. The only issue is that no one ring can jam past the other rings, so sometimes the timing between walking a course and running might be up to a couple hours. From what I understand, that's way better than say USDAA nationals where you might walk course in the AM and not run it until several hours later and even into the evening. So, from a "dipping my toe in" standpoint - I'm grateful that I tried CPE first. I learned a lot about my ability to have these large gaps between walking and running. I learned that I can remember the course - I never found myself lost on course, and for those of you who know me personally, that used to be a huge issue. Even if I had walked it minutes before, rather than hours, I could get lost. So, on the "up" side - I didn't forget the course. Nice! What I didn't estimate is that I would forget where I needed to be to give Treo the right information. So, by the time I'd run, I'd be in the general proximity of where I needed to be, but not perfect position - so, I need to remember that when I walk courses, I need to identify the perfect place I need to be - almost there will not cut it.

Treo is too over-stimmed to sit at the startline, so we're discussing it.

Because they couldn't go past other rings, I would go to get my dog at the proper time, but come back to find out that we were put on hold until another ring caught up resulting on Treo being out and about much too early. Now, for some people, this isn't a factor in their dog's performance. (I'd beg to differ, but they don't seem to care, so why should I?) Treo, on the other hand, it's definitely a factor. Not only is he warming up, stretching, but he's also watching EVERYTHING around us - other dogs, kids, people and I'm trying to keep him engaged with me by doing tricks, shadow handling, sitting in my chair and getting reward for not reacting...to..well anything. After one such occurrence, we had a decent run, and headed back to the crating area. He had a little sore on one of his pack pads, and I put him on his back in my lap and was checking it out to see how it looked. It looked fine. Then, I was telling the group about our long wait before our run, and as I'm talking, one of my friends says, "Does he normally do that??" He was still cradled in my arms, and was actually falling asleep. The answer was, "Hells no, he never does this?!?!" Treo? Fall asleep, on his back, cradled in my arms? No...somethings up. It's called "over stimulation". That experience of being out nearly an entire hour before we ran, having to be "on" that whole time, wore his red butt out. That's good information.

Other lessons, and more positive ones, were that rather than find this type of venue nerve racking - I found it crazy fun. CPE Nationals was like a really, really big trial. People were having fun regardless of outcome. People were so kind to their dogs. I loved it. Part of that was my now practiced ability to relax in that environment, calm my nerves, and really focus on what I needed to focus on. And it was because I prepared mentally and physically for that experience.

Every day I watched people in my group - Nebraska/Iowa - place individually in their height classes. I was very proud of us. Treo and I even placed 2nd in 16" Snooker. The irony of that is that in November I stated to John Cullen that I "hated snooker". Through working with him, I learned how to reframe that belief into goals, plans, and specific tactics that I took which lead me to achieve High in Trial at the last local trial on "Snooker day" where we had 2 rounds of snooker mixed in with a couple other games and standard. I got two 51 pointers. Then, at Nationals, taking 2nd, with another 51 pointer! Very exciting stuff!!

At long last, a debate between my traveling companion and myself was whether we should wait for awards, or hit the road. I was headed to Chicago the next day for work...could I deal with arriving at 2AM or later, unpack, repack and head to Chicago with my sanity if we wait around? We decided to wait for nothing else but to pick up awards that our NE/IA teammates might have earned. Was I ever surprised to hear Treo's and my name when they called High Reserve Standard for Level 5 16". Meaning we got 2nd place in Standard over the whole weekend in our height division! How exciting!

Realizing Agility Nirvana

One thing that John Cullen helped me get very clear on is this: If you do all the right things to prepare yourself, focusing on the specific areas you need to prepare yourself, then you will achieve the types of runs that you envisioned. The awards...well, those are outcomes you can't strategize for, but are just the icing on the cake.

On another note, I got a recognition today that was most unexpected. Red Dogs Rule was named one of the top 50 Dog Agility Blogs by VetTechSchools.org. Wow! Such an honor to be named with my Mentors such as Susan Garrett, among many others! Check it out, there is some really good blogs on here that I had not yet discovered.

VetTechSchools.org

My dog can do that....

2011-04-26T14:58:00.001-05:00

What attracts us initially to playing Agility? Is it different reasons from one person to another? Or, do we all basically start out with the same attraction to the sport - the "my dog can do that" syndrome? At my dog club, I often speak to many people interested in Agility, and often times, it's skills that people list like, their dog is really fast, or my dog can really jump and they akin that to having some skills for playing the sport. For those of you who play agility, I think we can all agree that those are not necessarily indicators for a good agility dog or a good agility team. It's all nurture over nature and really what makes a good agility dog is the drive and motivation to play as an equal partner on the team, and the ability to find the game more rewarding that anything else...well, on the planet...basically. So, those people who think, "My dog can do that..." and/or "My dog is fast, so she'd be good at agility..." or "My dog can jump so he'd make a great agility dog..." find out quickly that it's a wee bit more than that to play the sport, and it's a whole bunch more than that to actually have a decent run.

I watched a couple Level 1green agility dogs this weekend at a CPE trial, and saw a some really fast agility dogs. So fast that their owners couldn't catch, corral, or apprehend them once the leash came off. The word "Zoomies" comes to mind, or in my mind, the word is "bummer" - as what a complete waste of time and money. The dogs (plural) didn't have value on the game, on the obstacles (seriously, how can you take like 9 laps around a course and not take at least one tunnel or one jump?? ie. no value), nor value on the owner...nada. So, the dogs did what they found most impulsive and reinforcing - zoomed around at Mach 2 with the owner yelling it's name, "come", "treats", "cookies", "Frisbee", to no avail. How did I feel about it? It kind of reminded me of the Ballerina who's come forward to state that she did most of the dance scenes in Black Swan, and Natalie Portman only did the close ups, and she's coming forward because she wants the world to know that you can't just practice Ballet for a few months and pull of performances like that, it takes significant training and by the Studio going around and saying Natalie did most of the dancing demeans the art form and yadda, yadda, yadda...it's kind of like that. Everyone has that realization at one point or another - the realization that it's not quite as easy as we originally thought. So, then the motivation to train it morphs and that's where we all become very different animals. Some of us still just want an easy out to intense training...some of us want to create the best agility dogs on the planet - but most of us are somewhere in between the two extremes.

My Asha

When I got my rescue dog, Asha, I believed in my heart that she could "do agility" and I thought it would be the cherry on the top of our journey together. If I could take this dog...who was battered, busted, and bruised by life's hard knocks, and turn her into an agility dog, than I would experience dog training nirvana. What I mean by that, is that I had summed up the sport as the dog conquers each obstacle, and I tell her which one, and we're good to go. I was so wrong about that! And there were tears...lots of them. We all know that we wrap a lot of who we are, as dog trainers, as guardians, in our Agility abilities. The dogs are a reflection of our training, yes, but also it's a reflexion on our personal relationship with our dogs, and our athletic ability as well. So, when we fail, on whatever level or in whatever skill it's gone way, way, way beyond just a "training opportunity." All those itty bitty failures end up in big huge sign over our head's that say, "Agility FAIL!" blinking for the whole world to see, and maybe it's got a couple neon letters broken and only fizzing...and there you are.

So, how I felt whenever I trained in a forum where there were spectators with my beautiful, sweet, loving dog, Asha, was a crap ton of pressure. Poor dear, she could feel it all, and as a result, our agility performances - whether it was class, seminar, fun run, or trial were struggles to say the very least. She would leave the ring, or the startline, she would shake, she would sniff, or she would just walk. I struggled to make it fun for her because it had ceased to be about fun. It was about pride, and ego, and showmanship. Everyone had an opinion about her abilities, about my abilities and just so much judgement going on. I look back and I can't believe I bought into all that pressure, allowed it to impact my confidence because when you really look at it all - it wasn't fair to her. She had grown and blossomed and was awesome - and she is who she is without even bringing the excuses or rationalizations that she's a "rescue" and with "baggage" - she's really great for so many reasons. That being said, I did dream of a dog who wants to play this game with the level of enthusiasm that I had for it and I dreamt of a dog who knew his job and would be drooling at the startline to do it. That's all well and good, and I did get that, but that's not what this story is about. It's about looking at the dog you have with crystal clear glasses on that are untainted by everyone else's expectations of what an "agility dog" is and doing what is right for her.

Initially, what was right for Asha, was to remove all the pressure. Poof...gone. She can be our family's cheer leader. So, for that past 3 years that is what she was. And when we'd be training in the backyard, don't forget that there is a little red girl out there who also knows how to do this stuff, and make sure she gets a turn. That if you are working the AFrame, you let her run over it too. And if you are playing in the weaves, maybe go grab a couple cookies and let her have a go. Without expectations other than she does it safely and correctly and when she does, she gets big praise, big rewards and lots of hugs and kisses. Then, while training, if Treo needs a brain break, take the red girl out and run her through the drill. Reward the good stuff, reward the stuff that seems particularly hard for her, and make that booty wiggle that it shakes her whole body. So, here's a video of Asha filling in for Treo over a year ago in one of our solo training times.

Then, I thought, how much fun would it be to just take a class again and see if she could handle that much pressure. And she did pretty well. Lots of rewards, lots of praise and breaking behaviors way down. She seemed to have a 3-4 run threshold and rather than get frustrated by those limitations like I used to, I respected them and kept her training sessions short and sweet. Then we went to yet another location and played in that building. Goals and expectations were again, geared towards what she showed me she could do, and not the epitome of what everyone else wanted her to be.

After having those successes in 2010-2011, it's kind of hard not to think about...what ifs. What if she did a show? What if it was a super small show, and what could I do differently this time to manage the pressure on her so that she could do her little heart's best? Well, first of all, I had to know that she could do her job. I felt her performance in classes and our training sessions proved that she could do it. I know that the things that stressed her out are people, too much time allowed to think, strange noises and wind/storms. Too much or the appearance of any of those elements would be deal breakers. I also had to be completely void of nerves. So, I had to mentally manage my level of expectations, and by doing that, I was able to let go of having too high of expectations of Asha over and above what I've ever witnessed her give me in class. And based on that, evaluated, is she ready for a trial situation. I concluded that yes she was. I felt that if I was calm, and maybe even approaching it from a amused (because she's so dang cute!) standpoint, that she also would feed off of that and it was less likely that she'd leave me in the dust and head for the hills. She had not offered that in the classes in a very, very long time - and the more I was goofy and fun with her, the more she seemed to like the experience. So...I entered her. We did not have zoomies, we did not have a dog who was running out of the ring to get away, and we did not have a dog who didn't know what her role was in this whole experience. She actually "got it."

So, my message to the world is first and foremost, you have to respect the sport. This isn't a dog conducting a series of tricks at your direction in 60 sec or less. There is more to agility than just learning the obstacles and running a sequence. AND your dog is telling you every day whether s/he is ready for this sort of experience or not. Both the zoomie dogs at the CPE trial this weekend got away from their owners at the trial outside the ring too. They are very skilled at not coming when called. Not only are they not ready for an agility competition, they aren't really ready to be out of their owner's back yards. Should they quit? Absolutely not. They should, however, get serious. No business being in an agility trial until your dog can be under your verbal control no matter what. Ultimately, though, the lesson is not to give up on your dog because you are selling her and yourself short. Look, it's not the successes that define who you are, is the obstacles and how you handled them. (agility pun intended) If you hit an obstacle and quit, you are a quitter. If you allow that obstacle define you, you are give your personal power away. If you try, and even fail sometimes, you are simply learning. Asha's taught me so much about dog training. I keep learning more from her every day.

Here's our first Agility Level 1 Standard Q, CPE Star City Agility Team - Wahoo, NE 4/10/11. She's 8 years old and has been training in agility since she was around 2.

The Multi-Venue Dog

2011-03-24T13:24:00.000-05:00

Have you often wondered if doing multiple dog sports will interrupt your ability to be successful in all venues? I used to be on my High School team's Pom Pom squad, or drill team, or dance team...all the same type of deal. We used to say, that if you wanted to be good, to excel, that you had to have focus. You could be average and also play sports, but if you wanted to be good, really good, you had to focus. I firmly believed that at the time, and I severely came down hard on girls who, in addition to our dance team, also played volley ball or basket ball. Problem is, I was making a generalization, when in fact, it probably was more of a personal issue of the individuals on the dance team. Maybe, they can't do anything really well, but hid behind their multi-venues to prove it. Still, being in a sport, didn't impact their ability to dance. Doing sports and dance team only limited their time to practice at both. Definitely one thing to consider when deciding to train more than one venue.

Similarly, I do not believe that competing in agility interferes with your ability to play flyball. Nor do I believe that rally interferes with your ability to compete in Obedience...and so on. What conflicts, really, is what, when and how you train each of them. Plus, having enough understanding of the venue you are training, so you can understand what to train when. Given all that, maybe training venues simultaneously is not the most ideal scenario for you. Possibly training one venue to a level of understanding is required before tackling an additional venue. I focused on agility with Treo for nearly 2 years before I added Flyball. He learned the ins and outs of Flyball in 6 months, and then we went into a test the understanding phase for a few months and ultimately he was running full time on a team in less than a year. I lost nothing by waiting to add Flyball to his repertoire.

That being said, I trained Treo in Agility and basic Obedience simultaneously. Rationale was, he needs first to become the best family pet he can be. Luckily, the skills needed to be a great family pet, also coincides with the foundation for a great agility dog, as well as, a great obedience dog. In the training program at our club, dogs learn motivation, shaping, self-control, body awareness, amazing recalls and focus in agility the first few sessions. So, we're not exactly diving into obstacle understanding or sequencing for literally months when you start our program. So, from 13 weeks to about 10 months, he was learning all those things above simultaneously. As a result, Treo can do some really basic things that make our lives together really easy. First, he's got an incredible recall. Second, not only can he walk nicely on a leash, he can eliminate (pee/poop) on a leash. Sounds simple until you are at a competition, it's raining, and you are incessantly begging your dog to go potty. THEN, finally you give up, take them off leash, and your dog who has a crappy recall is running amok and still not pottying. Believe me...the basics really, really pay off. Treo also has really great crate behaviors (he's got some really not so great ones too, like guarding this lair that I've put so much value on, but I digress). So, I can put him in a crate and he can hang there or sleep there or just wait here. He doesn't bark incessantly for my attention or cry. He is motion sensitive, so I do have to cover him when there's action around, but other than that - a kennel is a happy place. He can go to the groomers (which he HATES), but he can tolerate nicely being brushed, ears trimmed, feet trimmed, booty trimmed all without a fuss. I can do his nails. These are skills for life, that he needs, because he's going to be doing all of these things for so much longer than playing a dog sport.

When we did get into the more hard Agility training, that was my focus. During the phase where we were fine tuning contact criteria, learning to weave, getting up on the equipment, and sequencing - Agility was my priority. Once that phase was wrapping up, I started Rally-O and dabbled in herding. Rally-O was a great companion to Agility training because it's high reward, and it's focus on the momma. I believe competition obedience class would also have been a great companion to agility. It's the herding that I look back on and thing...nope...not the right timing for what we want to accomplish long term. Treo likes to herd, but with the herding dogs, one has to be careful with what you introduce. Outrunning is very reinforcing, and in agility, it's a killer. So, herding has to be at minimum balanced with so much reward, close in, at your side to compensate for allowing outrunning. At maximum, herding has to be put on hold until you have that value in place first. I see many dogs default to outrunning when the going gets tough. Treo outruns when I have a high value reward in my hand...so, luckily it's not reared it ugly head on course. I also bailed on herding because I fear the unpredictability of livestock. I don't want to be ran over, nor Treo ran over...so, herding was kicked to the curb. In Rally, we earned our Level 1 easily, squeaked by to hear Level 2, but stopped there. Why? Because of the time/focus conflict. I had added Flyball, and was "all in" training Flyball by that point, and did not have the time to start the really hard stuff to train for Level 3. So, I've tabled Rally for now, and we might pick that one up again when he's starting to slow down and we need to change the pace.

Flyball is a little more tricky. Flyball foundation is about drive and motivation, and less on the thinking and self control scale. NOT absent of thinking and self-control, but definitely different than what is required for Agility. Agility is about drive, motivation PLUS thinking and self control. So, I chose to wait until I had a thinking dog. I also had to have a physically ready dog, so, he had to be at least a year, anyway. Still, I waited until we were trialing in agility and then caved to the sport that I know he'd love. I can honestly say that Flyball has been a very positive influence on our overall training plan. He's got nice drive for his ball balanced with really nice drive for his Momma. Both critical for flyball. Dogs out of balance will have either a slow go out, or a slow return...depending on where the issues are. OR, worse case, they are easily distracted from their "job" by other dogs, motion, other balls and off they go, leaving you trying to chase them down. Early on, the thought of putting my young, immature, aggressive, motion sensitive, non-toy motivated dog in Flyball seemed like the most counter-intuitive things I could ever imagine. BUT, once I saw his ability to focus on the Agility course, and ignore many of those distractions around him, I knew it was time to test the waters. Long story short, we were successful - but not without a lot of work with is motion sensitivity, dealing with other dogs in close proximity, and me constantly working towards being the valued one over and above all.

Bringing me to my point...I believe I read an article in Clean Run interviewing the top agility teams at the time, and asking them what phase they wish they had focused on more when they were bringing up their young dogs. All of them, without exception, said that they wish they would have hung out in the Foundations phase longer to drive more understanding of the basics. Luckily, I am one of the foundations instructors at my club, so we practice those foundational skills weekly. We practice all those baby games that continue to add value to me and our relationship, self control, body awareness and the like. Flyball awards us the opportunity to practice crazy recalls under extreme distractions for an entire weekend. Pllus, I see pay off in agility resulting from our involvement in Flyball - squirrel speed drive is definitely there when he's released at the startline. But, he's also a thinker and the couple times he fumbled his ball, he rushed back, and found his jumps every time. I'm so grateful that I did take the time to focus on those basic skills that make a great family dog that I plan to enjoy for every year of his life, an accomplished agility dog, a confident obedience dog, and a successful Flyball dog.

Now...if he would just quit being so pissy with other dogs...

Agility Girl - Growing Up

2011-03-08T16:27:00.000-06:00

Treo and I are coming off of a really fun Agility weekend at the Quad City Dog Center where RACE was holding a USDAA trial. If you've not experienced QCDC, I definitely think you should check it out. They are having all sorts of upcoming venues from NAFA Flyball, to NADAC to CPE...all this spring. I loved the footing, only saw a teesy bit of slippage from the dogs and I'm curious for the Flyball weekend in a couple weeks to see how that sport handles the footing. At any rate, my knees loved it. Treo ran very fast on it. I'll be there 2 more times in the next 2 months and I'm really looking forward to it.

Treo and I had a lot of fun this weekend. Fun to me is fast motivating runs where no matter what happens, I do my best to keep it light hearted and in his mind, we always 'win' and celebrate with a game of Frisbee after - there is always something to celebrate. I was able to run better than I have in a very long time thanks to the weightloss so far. (40lbs today!) I also am able to walk today, and I am not experiencing the usual knee crippling agility hangover that I usually experience.

We be runnin'

I would usually have moments in every run where Treo would have to circle back to me lagging behind. Those are now becoming a handful of moments the whole weekend. I can really only think of maybe 2 times where he got ahead of me where I couldn't help and out of 10 runs...that's pretty good. Would like to continue to see that improve. Lesson - take responsibility for yourself and do something about your athletic short comings. Agility is a sport, make no mistake. It's your responsibility to be in good enough shape (or good shape, or great shape) to give your personal best performance. It's also your responsibility to make sure your dogs is likewise fit to perform, of course.

The courses were...difficult. More than once, I looked at a course map and thought..."I have no idea what to do here." I took notes on my options, I visualized my options, I took input from others. When I walked the course, I made decisions. I made decisions based on what I know about myself, what I know about Treo's ability and where we're at in our training. I found rather quickly that by the time I am walking the course, it's "go time" and it's very difficult at that point for me to handle input from the outside. My cohorts would be walking together, discussion, sometimes debating and I found rather quickly that I can't do that. It rattles me, and I need that time to make definitive decisions, and memorize. Interruptions by my friends derails the concentration that I need the most. After all, Treo is a 22 lb mini-aussie and a thinker. He's not his 50lb standard like his brother, nor is he a savvy BC or savvy MAS who's been playing agility for 6 years or more. So, what's going to work for them most likely isn't going to work for us. In other words - I'm growing up. By growing up I mean, I am less reliant on what others are doing and trusting my instincts more. By the bye...I'm not always right, either. But what does that matter if I learned something in the process - all the better! I had some big learnings this weekend...most of them very affirming to our abilities.

Treo had a couple naughty moments on the start line. For some reason, it makes me laugh...I know it shouldn't. But, clearly we need some reminder training in that area.

I don't know why I'm standing here, but I know I'm not supposed to take this jump.

Treo breaks his startline to peek at me past the wing...

In Gamblers (above), as I led out, he turned away from me to scratch his ear, and got up for a shake after wards and then, it was as though he forgot what was going on...where he was...and he started to wander around looking for me. Needless to say, the bulk of the run was kinda like that too - couldn't find his line of jumps, weird stuff. Then the buzzer went off and we headed towards the gamble. It was slightly difficult...we're in Masters now...big boy stuff. He read me like a champ and we had a big finish to an otherwise meandering run. Lesson of the story...don't give up on each other. I didn't and ultimately he got his head back in the game and we overcame together. Sit stay at the start line ended up on the training list...no biggie...nothing to get all hyper over. Obviously I need to reward it more, and test it some and then see where we're at next competition.

I had another run (I could be blending 2 runs together here, but it's the same issue) where I experience the same la la land, or so I thought. We were driving to a jump, straight line to a teeter - Treo was ahead of me - and I'm verbally cuing "Teeter!" and he veers off to the right. What the heck?? Then we had a cluster at the next 2 obstacles where he was so confused as to what I wanted - tunnel under the DW, out of tunnel take DW - and still after that skids to as top at the closing jump...literally nose to the bar and eventually ran past that jump and back jumped it. To the naked eye, observers and myself alike, we thought..he was just not feelin' the groove. Not himself...what's wrong with HIM? What do I need to be doing differently to get HIM enaged in the run? I was baffled...he was tugging with me before we went in. In my mind...he's a "go!" But the performance...appeared very spacey. Then I watched the video. The Teeter incident...oh look...Melissa is in rear cross position, for a nano second, but that's all it took for Treo to get the wrong cue. Tunnel/DW issue...Treo needed an serp arm to get him on his line to the tunnel, he didn't get what he needed, so he started guessing..aka...appears to be in la la land. At the closing...I ran it like it was a straight line, he got ahead of me...it wasn't a straight line and the finish jump was not in his path. I wasn't there to give him the right cue, so he stopped. What do I read into all this now? People...I think we're a team! And the onus is on both of us to do our jobs and if one of us (me) gives the wrong info, the other half will certainly respond accordingly even if it means not taking the obstacle right in front of a red dog's face. Seriously, how cool is that?!

We are demonstrating 'teamwork' in this pic.

The flip side of that experience is what I see many people do. Blame the dog. I feel immediate victim to that when I exited the ring. 'What's wrong with him?' The answer is, nothing but that he's a reflection of your training (yay!)...and of your crappy handling. (boo!)

Let me recap:

1. Keep on setting goals to get me in the best agility shape I can be in.

2. Follow my instincts as I walk courses and do what is right for my team. If there something that I could/should do, but I don't think we can do it - put it on the training list and do what you know.

3. Don't give up on your dog, keep faithful that you can pull it together on course and then CELEBRATE anyway.

4. Don't blame your dog...for anything. Video your runs and the WATCH them immediately after you are done celebrating with your dog. Find where there's gray areas in your dog's understanding, because that ultimately come back to you to train. Find areas where you need to improve in your handling...also your responsible for that as well.

Lastly, it was a year ago this week that Treo exhibited the tipping point of his aggression - bit my face 2x in 2 weeks and bit a lady on our walk a day later. I could have blamed him...that chalked it up to he's mean, crazy...but he's none of those things. What he needed was me. Me to look into both the physical AND the behavioral that could be impacting him. I implemented a plan for both and, a year later, and we're incident free both because we changed his diet and added some supplements and also because I manage him very closely. I love my boy as you all love your little furry kids, and his success and/or failure I 100% own.

Treo and I cuddle at the hotel after a long day of USDAA Agility in Davenport 2011

INFORMATION is POWER

2011-02-09T11:53:00.001-06:00

We learned a phrase/concept a few years back from Tracy Sklenar called "Information"...you and your dog aren't screwing up a course, your dog is giving you information. OR your dog isn't wrong, he's giving you information about is knowledge of a particular skill. What a superior way of looking at things, honestly. I saw some behaviors this weekend that I would constitute as punishment by some owners that obviously believe that they've taught their dogs to a 100% understanding and that failure to execute means they were being naughty. Knocked bars constituted a "Lay down!!!!" and carried off. A missed contact, same thing. Really?? How arrogant on the handler's part and a missed opportunity to look at a situation and see what the training solutions might be. Blaming the dog is such an easy out from having to own up to your own training opportunities. Plus, information is power and I got a lot of information this weekend and that makes me POWERFUL.

So, we're coming off of Casa De Canine's USDAA weekend in Lawrence, KS where I signed up to "do it all". I participated on a team with Cheryl Morris and her wee BC Karma and we were called Coyote Karma. We bought ourselves commemorative T-Shirts. It was Cheryl's first time participating in team with an actual team member, and it was my second time. We pulled it out as a team and received a team Q and 4th overall. Not until the end was I aware that Cheryl was just as nervous as I was about the whole thing. Not so much on the outcome, but just the responsibility of having a partner dependant on your results. Overall, I was pleased with our performance, but not satisfied. Let's just say I received a lot of information on each run, some grand and some noted for future trainings yet to come. What I can boast about is that Treo and I gave it our 100% focus and 100% effort. What more can we ask of each other? Nothing. Not a gosh darn thing. There was a whole bunch more good out there than I can even list. Such a great foundation to work from, I am very fortunate.

Note his "running contacts"...ummm...we are supposed to have stopped contacts. Loved his speed.

Snooker, he got away from me and hit a wrong entrance to the tunnel. I hate snooker.

Yeah…that jump I did, third from the last…I wasn’t supposed to do that one…love this run!!!

Team Jumpers - when supporting a jump goes horribly wrong and other suckage from a handling perspective. We redeemed ourselves in Pairs, but since I'm not staring solo in that one, we'll keep that one to ourselves.

Treo is not thrilled with being pictured in pink with hearts 'n stuff. Not very macho.

I learned that I can operate under a some pressure and stress. I think going in, I was more nervous that nerves would get the best of me, than of how we would do as a team. There was one moment where it did mess with my game, however, and rocked my focus a little where I ended up taking an extra off-course jump in the 2nd to the last obstacle of my Team Standard run. Good news was Treo had no idea, because honestly, it was the best run of our history together and I would be devastated if I had reacted to that off-course and given him the impression in any way that he wasn't brilliant. I've been re-living that moment over and over again in my head...why did I choke? In the moment, I didn't see that we were almost done, I saw us driving for a line and it "felt" right to take that jump for some reason rather than wrap the one we were supposed to wrap and I guess that's that. Why didn't I call him hard off that off-course when I realized it was wrong? Because we had a flow, and I didn't want him to get the impression that he was "wrong" when I was telling him to take it with my feet, shoulders and pace. Not fair. I've netted with the conclusion that it was the right thing to do - take the off-course, go celebrate and call it good. Wrong thing for the run, right thing for our teamwork. The information was that I have more work to do in the concentration vs. focus vs. confidence arena. I did better than I thought I would that day, but I have more work to do.

I also learned that after a full day of 5 runs, the next day I need to make some choices. I thought I could do it all: gamblers, snooker, Perf Speed Jumping, Grand Prix, Standard and jumpers. I can't. Mentally I was so exhausted from the day before and I also was feeling it in the knees. So, next time I might just swap out when I add PSJ and PGP with 2 other runs. It will improve our overall execution and it only makes sense. Treo can do all of them, but we're a team and I need to be there for him.

There were some basic informational moments where he told me he needs some extra training time. He struggled with a leadout to the weaves where I had to pull away to get into serp position. He couldn't find his entrance, nor could he stay in when I peeled away. That surprised me, but ok...on the list. CPE has ruined our table. In Standard on Saturday, Ami ran him, and he blew right over the table. On Sunday, he stayed on when I ran him, but it was a struggle, and then he laid down but facing me. Weird...but he was a good boy and held it until we took off again. On the up side, I saw several things we'd been working on come out in our runs successfully. Broad jump was managed nicely and a RC to the AF was executed without a hesitation. We managed a pairs run with a unknown partner and that was our ticket to PIII in everything. Treo's a masters dog. Whooo!

Then..there's..me...30+ lbs lighter and I can get places which is so nice. I think it helped Treo drive his lines; however, it's time to add some finesse. My transitions are very weak and as a result I get wider turns than I'd like, I get second guessing on where we're headed, so I just need to step it up. I just don't know the right way to do that. Conceptually I know the moves: Rear Cross - decel, set your RC diagonal, and drive the line; Front Cross - drive/fight for position, decel, turn on commitment and drive the line; Driving straight - crouch into runner position and pump your arms. So, before my mantra was to keep my feet moving (no spectating), and keep connected to Treo. Now, I need to finesse that to...what? How do I incorporate the finesse? Do I just try to execute the moves better? or, Do I over-exaggerate the decels, acels and lines until they are second nature? I'm thinking it's the latter. To obtain what I really want, I have to leave Treo to manage some things on his own. For example, get commitment on a tunnel, leave him to drive to my next position. Or send to a chute, and he has to find his line. And then there's those pesky weaves - can you find your entrance with me moving laterally? Can you bypass me and complete the obstacle before driving back?

I think I have my plan, training goals and 4 weeks. There's a USDAA in Davenport, IA. That'll be our next opportunity to test for improvement. Information is power, power is having a plan, power is controlling your own destiny.

Mini-Aussies...Gasp!

2011-01-18T14:44:00.001-06:00

Treo was a midget among giants this past weekend at the Greater St. Louis Agility Club's CPE trial this weekend. There were a lot of Australian Shepherds in general, but specifically there were a lot of red dogs. LAST GSLAC CPE Treo had a couple mini-aussie pals running with him in 16", but this time we had all big dogs...big red dogs. In fact, one time I was waiting to run and there were 6 red dogs in the warm up area...5 giants and one midget...Treo. :) Now, I'm size-blind. Aussies are aussies to me...some are mammoth and some are wee...but all beautiful to me. I love the breed...I don't think about the size. But, did you know that some do? Like a lot. Like enough to be rude to those who have the wee-aussies? We had such a confrontation in the little room I was kenneled in, and it was as mortifying as it was hilarious. I was dumbfounded, but my Mom was quick to step up and represent! Yay, Mom! The topic was aussie hair and I commented that we had a mini at home who had hair like one of their big dogs and was met with a snide comment that their dogs were real aussies and had real aussie hair...or something silly like that. My Mom quickly stepped up and said our aussies were true to their breed also, to which the woman, who was an older woman, gave my mom a raspberry. You know what a raspberry is don't you? It's when someone puts their tongue between their lips and blows. It's defined as, "any sign or expression of dislike or derision" or "a loud, abrasive, spluttering noise made with the lips and tongue to express contempt" by dictionary.com. Again...me...speechless...Mom...not so much. "Contempt" is the perfect word, though, and it's usually what I get from people who feel this way, comment on my MAS (Miniature Australian Shepherd). "Contempt" is what I feel when said people ask me what Treo was bred with for his size...papillion? Nothing against Papillions...totally love them. But, clearly if Treo was a mix - it's Coyote. I mean...Hellooooooo??!!

So, where does this breed snobbery come from? Well, if you look at the history of the Australian Shepherd breed, you can clearly see that there were many, many branches in history where there was breed snobbery afoot. Firstly, the breed standard was established in 1976, not that long ago if you are as old as I am. Secondly, there were not even a recognized breed by the AKC (gag...sorry, dislike that corporation, but that's another blog post sometime when I'm fired up) until 1992. 1992 was just 19 years ago. That's not that long ago. AND, the Aussie community was split regarding registering with AKC anyway. Some thought that the AKC focuses too much on breed standard, versus stockdog talent, and so the group split as a result. And even before that, there were faction split regarding breed lines and if there was other breeds mixed in and where...blah, blah, blah...argue, argue, argue...debate, debate, debate. Many of those people are alive and well today...many of them are very active in this contempt for the MAS. History repeating itself? No, it's the same players fighting the same fight who I would say need a hobby, but actually...I guess this is their hobby.

Tazer - a Giant amongst Midgets in our household...hey, is he looking at them with contempt?

Mini-aussies were already being produced prior to the time that the Australian Shepherd were finalizing the breed standard. There are records dating back to 1968 of mini-aussie blood lines. While the debate continues, the Australian Shepherd Club of America has declared that Mini-Aussies are not the Aussie breed standard (and I agree, they are not as they are wee) and will not be recognized by them as such. Ok...fine. Whatever. So, it's a different breed. There is a group out there fighting for recognition from the AKC. I could care less one way or the other except that I do Mini-Aussie Rescue, and I really don't want more attention to the breed than what we've already got because people will see them, think they are cute, get them and then give them up because they are too much. We all know the pattern.

After all that history, what I still can't understand is the attitudes. Would a Border Collie person snub and raspberry at a Poodle person? Certainly not...well, not to their face. Yet, it's completely appropriate for the big aussie people to step all over the wee-aussie people. About 6 years ago, the AKC sent out a letter as a direct result of pressure from ASCA to all who had ILP'd their wee-aussies for AKC agility and it pretty much said that if your ILP'd aussie is registered with mini-aussie breed club that they are not welcomed to compete at the AKC events and that any titles earned would be revoked. Whaaaaa??!! Holy Moly! What was the result of that? Well, the person in my household pulled her mini from AKC...permanently. Another friend continues to run it, but both of them now have standards. Whether they think they did or not, they caved with their next dogs and decided to go big. No more dealing with the comments, no more dealing with the pressure. Not judging, it's their choice, but it's fall out regardless.

Not me, though. This is my breed. No differently than your breed is your breed. Don't really care if it gets recognized by the AKC, ASCA or Your Momma...these are the pups I prefer. I like their size. I like a dog I can pull into my lap comfortably and can snuggle up. I'm a smaller dog person and have been all my life. And as Treo and I stood with the 5 other big red dogs this weekend at the trial, I held my head high. He's everything they are, he's everything he could be, everything I want him to be, and he's all mine.

Beginning 2011 - Just Keep Moving

2011-01-07T14:41:00.000-06:00

Treo is workin' his core!

I think I am doing some things right. Maybe I might be on track to having a really good year. I started a hard core diet via Physicians Weight Loss Center right before the holidays (Thanksgiving...WHAT was I thinking??) and so far have lost between 20-25 lbs. That's already made a difference in my agility ability in just 30ish days.

Running overweight, is...well...a burden! 25lbs heavier, I feel like I was weighted down to the earth by magnetic forces and struggled to lift my feet off the ground. Compared to now, I felt like I had ankle weights on my legs (and I did...it's called fat)...and I just couldn't get to where I need to be. I felt like I was running in slow motion. By looking at the videos, I kinda was running in slow motion. In 2010, I kept getting hurt, dangit. Pulled muscle here, pulled muscle there. My body was saying, "I can not continue to do this!" So, I finally listened.

When you see women or men out there running with their dogs, and they are 50, 100 or more pounds overweight, let me tell you...it's an effort! If you want to put some pocket change in your good karma bucket, next time you are at a trial and you see someone like me running a dog; HECK, running at all, make sure you stop them and toss them a compliment. "Hey, nice run!" or just a "Nice job!" You can never know what that might mean to someone like me, especially me with a fast dog, and double knee braces. Well, I'll tell you what it would mean. It would mean motivation.

There was a row of women older than me (I will not call them older women! haha!) at the last trial I was in November. I was a couple weeks into the diet, lost 10lbs so far, and one of them said something that has really stuck with me regarding my knee issues. She said, "No matter what you do, Melissa, just keep moving." I thought about that, because there are so many women who are significantly older than me, and I'm no spring chicken, who run agility. Kudos to them! That can't be easy either. But, whether it's your age, your knees, your weight or whatever...what a great lesson for life. Just keep moving. When you don't, that when things stagnate, freeze, stop, fail, break...end.

Just keep moving when you hit a training challenge that seems endless - keep trying, keep thinking, keep moving. Just keep moving when you find adversity, poor luck, or one of those life interruptus things - keep moving.

What a great mantra for 2011. Just keep moving!

Foster Dog Videos

2010-12-16T13:49:00.000-06:00

Putting a couple videos of our past foster dogs out for some happy memories of 2009!

Made it through the Marathon!!

2010-12-09T10:55:00.000-06:00

I made it through the Oct/Dec marathon of competitions and came out...sick. That's to be expected when you burn the candle at both ends in my world. That being said, I don't think that I've had a more fun and enlightening 6 weeks ever in my history of running Treo. And it was such a great way to close the year out.

I attended the Touch 'n Go Flyball Seminar. I've never attended a Flyball Seminar before, and I had really no expectations. I was AMAZED by the end of it. That team...well...they definitely got it going on. Common goals, purpose and everyone plays a role. They started with foundations and worked their way through common performance issues and really - I have never seen such a top notch presentation. Made me wish I had a working spot just to hear their observations on Treo and where he needs to work to shave time here or there. The OSR team is still assimilating all the information we received, and decided where and when to make small changes to what we're currently doing. Overall, I think we're doing just dandy for the type of team that we are, but the seminar made us think, consider, and re-consider some things and ALL of that is positive and good.

Following that weekend was the UFLI Tournament of Champions where Treo had the honor and pleasure of serving on an all Mini-Aussie Dream Team. In the entire year of Flyball, this was a stand out pleasure. I had a blast watching these little dudes play their hearts out, having never played together before, and ended up landing 2nd in our division. That's the icing on the cake. Here's our video of that really great day.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWBwyoiB4pI

UFLI Mini-Aussie Dream Team

Trained Treo to "Hug" me for treats to keep him from fixating on other dogs running.

After 2 weekends of Flyball, we switched gears and headed to Lawrence, KS for a USDAA trial. Not played USDAA since February and I was a little nervous going into it. We're in PIII now for Jumpers and Standard. No playing around, it's quite a challenge. Overall, we did have some fun runs and some great moments but just one tweak here or there...you know how it goes. I'm training now for a Feb USDAA and am hopefully going to take things up a notch.

To regain my confidence and sense of humor, we followed the with a 3 day CPE trial in Wahoo, NE. haha. Nice to have a home game. As usual, it was a blast. Very laid back, fun courses with just the right amount of challenges to them and LOTS of information from Treo on where we need to focus our next couple months of training. Unlike past years, I've actually put together a training plan that will deliver some much needed results by February. Specifically, taking verbal directionals to a new and improved understanding. More on that later.

Lastly we had a home game for Flyball too, here in Omaha. That's when I started to get sick. Treo, who loves the game, had a really fun weekend. He enjoyed running on the team we put together with Vital, Kayte, Gossip, and Schemer.

Facing us in 2011 is actually finding a Versatility Pairs Partner in Cheryl Morris and Karma for the Feb USDAA trial, and seeing how we perform under those pressures...oh dear...he'll be fine...I'll be a wreck. Preparing for CPE Nationals in MN in June. Figuring where Flyball is going to fit into all of this.

Treo heads into 2011 with tons of hope...and speed.

October

2010-10-29T13:39:00.000-05:00

I, for one, can't believe October winds to a close this week. It's been a busy month, and so you have not heard from me. I started the month with the news that there was a puppy mill dog auction going on and that there were mini's on the list. Oh dear....what to do. What a quandry. Buy the dogs, and pay into the evil machine or leave them to a life of tiny chicken-coop like kennels to breed until they die. Awesome. I ended up walking away from it because they went for a ton of money, but also because I'd never pay "them" that kind of money. A week later someone turned over a Mini puppy that they bought at a pet store for a couple thousand. Are you absolutely kidding me? And so the evil machine continues to run. Please, any Missouri voters, please vote Yes to Prop B and at least ensure these dogs that are treated like chickens in a chicken coop - help ensure them that they will get decent medical care, exercise, food, water, and shelter from the elements. I'm glad I went. I forever will remember the six Mini's that I met there. 4 that were to afraid to come greet me and two that wiggled and had kisses for me. So far, I've thought of them every day since.

On a happier note, we had an absolute blast at the Greater St. Louis Agility CPE trial. It was a smallish trial, and those usually are great fun and very laid back. We even had a bit of an audience that would gasp if we had an off-course, which made me laugh but feel grateful that there were a bunch of strangers who were rooting for us. Nice feeling! I had high hopes that since it was on astro-turf, my knees were safe. Unfortunately, it wasn't as up to par as I had hoped, and I did stress something in my knee and was unable to walk without a limp on Sunday. So, let's hear it for Treo's ability to perform independent obstacles and forgive me for not being able to be with him every step of the way. On Saturday, our runs were everything I could hope for. He ran so motivated, and confident. I think we got 3 out of 5 Q's and one Q we missed was a great run, nevertheless. I think that was the "aaaaah!" inspiring off couse that I was referring to before, and honestly, it was a great run and we finished very strong and un-rattled. The next day, after standard, we played a lot of games. So, I was able to make courses that were knee friendly and set us up for success. Or they were the games where there were only 7 or so obstacles, so it was fast and fun. I can tell you with confidence that he had a blast. We met some great people too - shout out to the other Mini-Aussie there, Piper! Very cute (and fast!) Red-Merle who ran after us every run. Red Dogs Rule!

Watched a bunch of USDAA Cynosports world games. So cool to know so many competitors and have them be so successful! Wow! Very inspiring. Lastly, went on my own little vacation with my family this past weekend to see the fall colors in the Ozarks. We "hiked" on some trails (I'm recovering from an injury...so, the "hiking" was relative). And we toured Bridal Cave. It was a fun get-a-way to just enjoy nature and get into the feel of the season.

This weekend...NOTHING!! What's that like? I don't know, but I'm going to enjoy it. November is packed with a dog event every single weekend and the first weekend in December too. Touch 'n Go Flyball seminar, UFLI Nationals, USDAA, CPE and an Omaha Flyball tournament. Just what was I thinking??!! Should be fun. Heal knee...you are going to be busy!!!

Who trained you??!!

2010-10-14T14:13:00.000-05:00

Ever had that thought cross your mind when your dog does something completely brilliant? I do, often. We've been trialing now for 2 years this month, and I had that thought often when we first started. Little things, but mostly lateral distance related. How did he find that pinwheel? How did he find that jump? How can he be so angry at other dogs that so much as look in our direction, but when we're on the agility course, he's happy, focused and always ready to party with me?

Well, obviously I trained him, along with our excellent instructor staff at Go Dogs (www.godogsomaha.org) and our coach from NY, Tracy Sklenar. That being said, it's amazing how much the foundation work plays into the thought process for the dog when you are in the ring. People say it all the time, "Foundation, foundation, foundation." But, when you are in that stage of training - many say to heck with the foundation, I want to get ON with it. I wasn't one of those people. I enjoyed every stage of Treo's development and training and I can only think of one time where I said, "I'm over it, get on with it." and when you do that, there certainly will always be some sort of fall out.

I'm not sure why I embraced the foundation so wholeheartedly, but it led me to do some things that really impacted that foundational stage, like attending Susan Garrett's Skills class when Treo was 11 mo old. In fact, I never dismissed or passed by a seminar that I thought could help us if I could help it. Smart move on my part. I brought home bucket loads of information from shaping skills, to contact games, to jumping skills and on and on. All were things that led to our success today in both Agility and Flyball. (I define success by his ability to have a motivated, fast, happy run where he upholds his criteria - Q or NQ) But, I think there's a lot of people who buy in and embrace the foundation stage, yet something is lacking. Having been an Agility Foundations instructor at Go Dogs now for 4 or so years, I've honed in on exactly what it is. Engagement.

Treo plays "It's Yer Choice" at 10wks old

Embracing the Foundational stage means to receive eagerly. In other words, you are passive and the information is brought to you. How nice. "I don't have to DO anything, I just have to sit there and take it all in. AND, I don't even have to take notes because Melissa takes GREAT notes and she'll give them to me anyway, which I won't read, but at least I'll have them tucked away for a rainy day." Ok, I'm being very sarcastic, but it does happen to be my observation, and has now become a pet peeve.

Engagement means to become involved, to assume an obligation. That's active vs. passive...about as active as it comes. So many people believe in our foundations program and think it's the best in town...or state or tri-state area. I tend to agree. Yet, when they get puppies or new dogs, they come to class and they struggle - even more than some of the newbies off the street! Several have been to all the same seminars I've been to over the past 4 years, watched others bring their dogs up in our program successfully, but when they get their own dogs...struggle. Why is that? I think it's because there's been this safety zone of "someday" that they've been living under and now that someday is here - well, it's more work than what they thought and a true lack of engagement on their part.

There's also this thing called "learned helplessness". Learned helplessness is a term used in animal training, but it's when a dog (or a person) learns to react helplessly in order to avoid being wrong. I think we definitely have some folks our there who have such a defense up about doing something wrong, or being wrong so they do nothing. Our new students don't know what's right or wrong, so they try to do the best they can. Our more educated students have an idea of what's wrong, and they are scared of failure, so they do nothing until someone tells them to and are being passed up by the newbies. Hopefully, just being showed up by a 12 year old with a mix that they got as an adult, untrained dog from the pound will help some of these more educated individuals get the kick in the can that they need to get ENGAGED in their dog's development. Here's a newsflash, you aren't going to wake up some day soon and your dog suddenly know this stuff. We all had to work at it. And we had to TRY, and we all FAILED sometimes, and we all were scared because we were the spotlight too. But, what we did that you aren't doing, we took an active role in our dog's progression. So, to quote Nike, "JUST DO IT!"

As I head to the Greater St. Louis CPE trial this weekend, I'm very grateful for Treo's foundation. Excellent Restrained Recalls, superb Crate Games, decent shadow handling, good jumping fundamentals and balanced value on obstacles AND the Momma. We may not be 100% perfect on everything, but dang it, we're pretty darn good and all of it is because of everything we worked on when he was under 15 months. And you know what, it wasn't "work" actually - it was so much fun teaching him to think, reason and develop. When we're out there on the AstroTurf, we're two brains working this puzzle out, and having a great time doing it.

So, good luck to all our fellow "Say Yes" crew at USDAA Cynosports World Games. So far, you are kicking some serious ass, here's to keeping it going! Whoooo!

Dog Lady

2010-10-01T15:02:00.001-05:00

I'd bet many of you have reached this esteemed title at work or in your neighborhood. Dog Lady. I think I'm the resident Dog Lady on my floor at my place of work. Sometimes it's a simple question and other times I'm astounded how little people know about these fur beasts who co-habitate with them. Also, being a rescuer, I take each question with the up most seriousness and never give a pat answer because one never knows what might propel another to toss their inconvenience into the pound. Still, I am amazed at how little people know about dog training OR how little they were prepared when they brought said fur beast home and are bewildered at the chaos which in evidently ensues.

I do think that in dog training, there's the pieces which can be taught and there's also just plain common sense and the part that I just can't seem to swallow is that common sense just isn't as common as I hoped it could be. I don't believe that anyone who owns a fur beast needs to go to 1,034 dog training classes and seminars like I do. I do believe, however, that you should get the basics down. I find many people will sign up for classes, go to a few and then drop out. Why is that? Then said fur beast grows up a bit more, and they are looking for answers for their problem child that probably could have been avoided if the family would have stayed with the classes in the first place.

I don't think that if you told me 5 years ago that I'd be the resident dog lady today that I would have believed you. I'm grateful on many levels that it has because had it not, there would be a handful of dogs who would have been given up most likely as a result. So, don't underestimate your role, power and influence being the resident dog expert in your social circle. The smallest pieces of advice could end up making or breaking a relationship that's supposed to last a lifetime; whereas often, it's just frustration resulting from not knowing what other options out there that they can try.

A Few Steps Back...

2010-09-17T16:49:00.001-05:00

Yet another flyball weekend under my belt and Treo had a lot to tell me this weekend that really makes me think. What goes on when you think you certainly have trained something to fluency, and your dog suddenly regresses?

I could tell this weekend was not like the past several weekends we'd had. He was very interested in his surroundings (versus me) than the prior Flyball tournament that was just a couple weeks ago. He was fixating on particular dogs, and I had to work harder than normal to get his focus on me and on the game. One of my other team mates noticed he was really struggling with passing one of her dogs, so we ended up putting him at the end where he wouldn't have to pass that particular border collie anymore, and felt we had that piece licked. Still, the focus on dogs in the other lane was still there. It all came to a head in the second to the last race where he was really, really targeting a little, squiggly Jack Russel terrier. Our boxloader noticed his fixation too, and tried to get his attention forward. Unfortunately, he and the JRT were head to head, and when the JRT bobbled his ball, Treo decided it was "Go Time"...and swerved off his line to...do what?...I don't know...chase the JRT...pick a fight...steal a ball...? God knows. What I do know is that thanks to a really, really solid recall on Treo (Thank you Tracy Sklenar and Susan Garrett) - I was able to get him to continue is U-turn from the box, drive back to me, and re-run to get his ball.

Still, this is behavior that I expected to deal with a year ago September and certainly not after an entire year of playing Flyball...which, as of last week, I was absolutely sure had more value in the game itself, than any reward I was giving him when he drove back to me. Oh...so...no. So, question remains - what gives? Flyball training issue? After hundreds of rehearsals of run down the jumps, get your ball, run back and one mistake where he thought for a nano-second, "no ball, get JRT!!!" undo all the rehearsals of success? Or, is it not about Flyball at all, and it's just the continued issue of dog-dog aggression or his motion sensitivity rearing it's ugly head? Or, something else distracting him like pain? Does he need an adjustment?

Unfortunately, as a dog trainer, you don't get to choose just one course of action. A comprehensive and accountable dog trainer has to assume all are possibilities and address all of them. So, off to the chiro we go...as well as setting him up in our team practices...as well as figuring out how to up the ante in the lanes where driving for his ball and driving back has something fabulous waiting for him. Oh Treo, Treo, Treo...you sure do keep me on my toes.

This week...Tracy Sklenar Seminar! Here's to hoping the knees old up!

Behind the Scenes of a Flyball Tourny and Agility Trial

2010-09-02T11:15:00.003-05:00

It's been a really busy past couple weeks! The 2nd weekend of August, the Omaha Speedracers (http://www.omahaspeedracers.com/), my Flyball team, hosted a tournament for the first time solo. Quite a bit of planning and organization to put a quality event on. We tried to make it as special and memorable as possible in hopes that it would create a buzz next year and our entries increase even more; although, this year it was pretty darn big for a first attempt! We had great prizes for Friday night participants - a metal water bucket! Saturday everyone got metal dog bowls and a large sticker that says, "Go Flyball". Sunday we gave out cloth shopping bags that said, "Omaha Speedracers End of Summer Bash 2010". In addition, we held a OSR Top Boxloader contest and any winning team with the slowest time won little stuffed turtles. Very cute ideas and quite fun. I think we will be racking our brains next year to figure out how to top what we did this year. I was proud of my team's tireless working and teamwork. You realize very quickly the lengths we all go to in order to play with our dogs. Ultimately, that's what it is all about, right?

Treo at the OSR End of Summer Bash Aug 2010

Reeeeeaaadddyyy - Seeeeettttt - GOOOO!

Following the OSR End of Summer Bash, I also am on the Trial Committee for my Dog Club's (http://www.godogsomaha.org/) annual USDAA trial. So, for the past several months, I've been hustling volunteers and we ended up with way too many! Good problem to have! I also got to learn the score table with the new USDAA scoring program. That was really, really fun!

Me and my favorite score sheet runner, Addison.

The trial was small but we saw some things that were so amazing. First of all, I witnessed a couple of our greener dogs demonstrate some really great behaviors on couse. For one team, it was their first trial ever and she nailed both of the jumpers courses she lined up with very minimal glitches in understanding. The second day, they nailed the novice jumpers course that ate up every single team in the entire class. As an instructor of this team back in the foundations days, to say that I was proud is an understatement. As we instructors at Go Dogs watch each team debute, we hold in them the same hopes, desires and dreams that the people themselves walk to the startline with. We want them to have a successful, fun, and motivating run at the course and when they nail it...well...that puts us over the moon! So, a huge congrats to Amanda and Onyx. Your debute was inspiring.

Of course, right-wrong-or indifferent, the converse is true. I also witnessed a couple teams that have been through or program that quit on us and went elsewhere. Those teams struggled in areas that I know we would have worked through prior to them competing - but, there it is. Not everyone's goals are the same. I know when I had this little red wiggly puppy in my lap that my goals were very simple. I wanted a dog that wanted to play with me, even under the stress of a trial. (check) I wanted a dog who understood his job on course and had to focus to get the job done. (check) I wanted us to grow as a team, together, ever improving. (on-going) I wanted to have fun. (check) Any behaviors that interrupted those goals, had to be addressed directly both at home and in class. I tried to be absolute and tenatious with that, and while it sucks sometimes, and is hard other times, it's the end result that matters. Facts are that even if you are one who "just wants to have fun with my dog" there are many, many behaviors that make this silly game SO not fun. (1) not able to hold a sit; (2) leaving the ring; (3) distracted by the environment; (4) gray contact criteria; (5) ambiguous handling; (6) lack of value on the obstacles; (7) not enough value on you; (8) too much value on the obstacles or certain ones; (9) disruptive behaviors like spinning, biting the handler, jumping up, chasing bugs..insert annoying behavior here; (10) too much punishment on the dog.

So, this is turning into an advertisement for Go Dogs, or Say Yes, or Greg Derret, or Tracy Sklenar - but I'm nust saying that when you say you "just want to have fun" - sometimes those goals are not so far off from "I want to compete at a Nationals competition." Just sayin'.

Had "A Moment"

2010-08-16T13:47:00.002-05:00

A few years back I found myself listening hard to Tracy Sklenar's start line routine. Having never competed before, this was an area of total white slate blankness. As she went through her steps, there was a moment she described that stuck with me, and impressed upon me of what all this crazy agility stuff is really about. She said something to the effect, and I'll never articulate it as well as she does (Sorry Tracy!), that she puts her dog in it's start line position (I think for her it's a stand, but at that time it was a sit maybe), and she leads out keeping connection with her dog, and as she gets to her position and takes a deep breath, to calm whatever nerves happen to be there, but also to get some much needed oxygen to her muscles that she is most definitely going to need to keep up with this white blur that we call Export. Then she does a very simple thing, that means a whole heck of a lot. She tells Export that he's a Good Boy. She went on to say that when you find yourself in that moment, of just getting ready to release your agility partner for a run, there's a moment where you can just reflect on all the time and training you've put into each other, and you just feel grateful. So, of course, he's a good boy for staying put while you lead out, but there's a whole lot more in that affirmation back to your pal than just that.

So, of course, being the good student that I am, I incorporated the Good Boy into my startline routine. Well, saying it anyway and taking the deep breath. For me the deep breath is to calm nerves. So, every time I lead out, I keep connection, deep breath, Good boy and raise my arm for focus forward and off we go. This weekend, though, I had a different moment. We were having a really good success rate and most of that was despite my handling, not because of my handling. I was second guessing stuff, pulling him off his line and then having to put him back again and then we had this really amazing standard run where it all came together. We ended up taking first out of several dogs in 16" - like somewhere between 8-10 others. And we flowed, and it felt so good. That was our CPE level 3 title for Standard. So, after an internal debate with myself, I put us on the move up list for level 4 the next day.

Walking the level 4,5,C course was a mixture of emotions. First of all, it's quite a jump from level 3 which is novice to level 4 which is advanced/excellent. So, where we had a little bit of handling in level 3, we had a significant change in level 4. So, as I figured out what was the "right" way to handle it that he should understand (no upper classmen to ask questions to either, on my own), and pin-pointed where our potential issues might be, I started to get myself worried that I had made a HUGE mistake. So, I walked the course until they kicked me off and here we go. I left thinking, man, if I could just walk this piece or that piece one more time...

So, I get Treo to the start line, put him in a sit, lead out (to give myself a head start, really) and as I kept connected with him, I reflected for a nano-second. The past 3 trials he's hit every weave entry, held his contacts, held all his startlines, sucked it up on his teeters...the list is long, actually, he's such a really good boy and we have come so far in the 3 years I've had him and he's everything I wanted him to be. Sound, fast, eager, fun, silly, focused and more than anything, wants to play this silly game with me. So, I looked at him with renewed eyes and renewed faith. We'll figure it out...this standard course, and the rest of our trials and tribulations. I know in my soul that we will figure it all out together.

So, I glanced at the judge and got a big smile on my face and looked back at Treo and said, "You are such a GOOD BOY!" Raised my arm, and his muscles twitched in anticipation, and we were off. I wasn't perfect handling and he tried his hardest throughout the whole course and we did very, very well. It was fast, and it was fun, and he was stoked beyond believe at the finish line knowing that I was about to tell him how brilliant he is and then....we played frizzers.

Treo's Victorious New Level 3 Standard Title

Aggression Analysis

2010-08-05T14:31:00.001-05:00

Aggression - Aggression is defined as behavior aimed at causing harm or pain, psychological harm, or personal injury or physical distraction. An important aspect of aggressive behavior is the intention underlying the actor's behavior. Not all behaviors resulting in harm are considered aggression.

One of the worst actions an owner can take when their dog is demonstrating any signs of aggression is to ignore it, hope it will go away or that they will outgrow it, or deny it. It's dangerous to ignore it and it could be very costly financially and emotionally. I haven't ignored it, and it's been exhausting.

Treo started to show signs of aggression at a very, very young age. He would guard his kennel, covet a chewy and growl, and growl if you got near his food. So, early on I knew I had somethings to address and I did address them. I was able to conquer his aggression regarding his food bowl and his chewies, but still am working hard on his crate crabbiness although the incident trend is positive we often have set backs. So, to say that I don't know I have an aggressive, protective, reactive dog...well, I can't say that. I can say that the signs presented very early in his little life, and at least I knew it was part of his make up and I knew that I was going to be battling genetic disposition first and behavior second.

Facts are, there's not a bunch of literature on aggression. Therefore, everyone is an expert. From my friends at the dog club, behaviorists, certified dog trainers, my friend's mom's hairdresser...freaking everyone has an opinion on what needs to be done. What surprised me was the number of my peers (not behaviorists) who believe that aggression is met with physical correction. So, when it comes to working through an aggression problem, the first thing you must do is analyze yourself. What do I believe in? What do I think will be most impactful? Where do I draw the line? So, knowing myself, I had to draw the line there. I can't physically correct him. Now, I'm no saint. I've had my moments with Treo where I all but towed his red ass into his kennel in frustration or even anger. I can tell you that it was not intended as a training technique, it was to keep me from doing anything that I would most certainly regret later, if not immediately. So, in looking at this little 4 month old puppy guarding his pigs ear, I knew in my soul that I could not physically correct him. So, I got a book called "Mine!" by Jean Donaldson. That book helped me quite a bit with his food guarding. So, working on his resource guarding commenced. We played games like trading chewies for better chewies, or bones for cheese or toys for treats etc. He loved it. We also played games with his food bowl, moving it all over the house for his dinners, I would drive by and toss cookies in is bowl and worked up to taking it away completely for a reward. It's all such distant past behavior that I almost forgot about it. Almost like a bad phase...almost. What I believe now is that signs of aggression here means signs of aggression there - so, even though we mastered the food possessiveness, there was more to look forward to as he matured. Puppy playtime eventually had to cease as he started to guard me or toys. Eventually, no dog could be in our proximity.

Signs of aggression are pretty darn obvious; however, what's aggression and what's communication? To me, the signs below are communication tools used by all dogs. Aggression is dependant on circumstances, intent and result. Remember when I told you that everyone's an expert? Well, you can take my opinions for what they are worth, but this is my opinion.
Below is from: http://www.unclematty.com/training/aboutaggression.htm I don't know anything about these folks, but I thought they did a decent job categorizing aggression.

Growling
Snarling
Curling lips
Mounting people - so loving that I don't have do deal with this!
Lunging
Snapping
Blocking your path - we curtailed any herding behaviors on people when he was a baby
Barking aggressively
Biting (even if it does not break the skin)

So, what are the day to day circumstances that trigger aggression in dogs?
Food Areas - resource guarding
Bedrooms - guarding the bed
Strange dogs - defending territory
Kennels/Crates - defending territory
Cars - guarding car or alarm barking
Other: sleeping dog, giving meds, grooming, when getting a correction, sudden movements

What are the biological circumstances that trigger aggression in dogs? http://www.k9aggression.com/ (no particular order):

Genetic predisposition or brain chemistry
Hypo-thyroidism
Sickness: Encephalitis, Distemper
Epilepsy
Brain disorders: tumor, injury, seizures, Hydrocephalus

I felt pretty certain that Treo didn't have #3, 4 or 5 at his young age, focused more on number 1 for the first couple years of his life. Counter condition a pre-disposition to match some circumstances with aggression. I mean, he's an Australian Shepherd - a wee one, but territoriality is likely in his make up. For most of the Aussies I know, this protectiveness is there, but at a more reasonable level. In Treo, it's at a level that has to be counter conditioned and managed.

On walks, we take special precautions: a backpack to give him a job
other than stalking cars and being leash aggressive and a gentle leader for
better control by the Momma

I saw other Aussie behaviors come out in him in extreme levels too, like motion sensitivity. Dogs running agility, cars, bikes and the like, all have had to be counter conditioned and even today can rear their ugly heads. Dogs running agility in of itself doesn't trigger him now so much as the sound of a dog tearing it up through a tunnel, or scrambling on an A-Frame. Those noises still get him going, but we continue to work on that. There was a time that we couldn't be within 20' of an agility ring when another dog was running, and now we've really come past that thanks to some flooding techniques I used at flyball tournaments. He can comfortably relax ringside in a camping chair and hang out - so long as no dog walking by trips over Treo's personal bubble - so, again, I have to manage that. A long journey to get us to this point. If he gets activated at a dog or handler on course, I just excuse him to his kennel and sometimes he excuses himself.

Treo also is not a big lover of our cats. He's not mean to them, but he's activated by them. He used to guard the bed and not like when a cat would come into the bedroom jumping over the baby gate, or up on the bed. He'd guard the bed by chasing them out, and sometimes he's growl and bark. We started to condition him that if he reacted in any way like that, he automatically won his kennel. So, now he's condition to when a cat jumps in the room, he jumps off the bed and if it's to go to the cat, the just heads for his kennel before we have to say anything. There are times when he doesn't offer that behavior at all, and there's times when he does. Either way, he gets the consequences and usually excuses himself before we have to say anything. I've never observed him biting a cat, yet I have seen him to that aussie nose bumping thing, so again...herding.

Skirmishes between Treo and the other dogs in the household presented themselves early on too. He had a lot of issues with Neelah, the oldest toughest broad in the house. Much of it was over dominance. Neelah is a pushy beotch and would attempt to do stupid things like take stuff away from Treo (or even Asha our other mini) and generally that would erupt. Over time, they worked it out. And Treo doesn't have any more or less issues with Neelah than does any other dog in our household. With Tazer, there was a lot of playing that would escalate to telling off, but even this past year both have calmed down quite a bit and those instances have disappeared. So, we have a household that lives mostly in harmony, but not without some internal issues that are present for most multi-dog households. Again, there are consequences for the one causing the ruckus.

Today, we bring foster dogs in and out of the home. We've had several black-tris over the past several months and 1/2 were amiable with Treo and 1/2 were not. I've noticed that it has a lot to do with the foster dogs themselves, than it does Treo. If Treo had issues with every foster, then that would be a trend you can't ignore, but that's just not the case. In the past year, of all the fosters we've had, only 25% has Treo not been able to tolerate. So, 3/4 of the dogs that have come to spend time with us for a while, he's been able to accept. So, in the past I have labeled him as dog aggressive, and I'm not saying he's not - it's probably the best way to set him up for success. But, in his day to day life, it's seems to be less true. What I have found is that outbursts are very circumstantial and usually guarding me, his kennel or motion triggered. The motion sensitivity is really the easiest to work with so far. Working on his guarding tendencies is really, really difficult. So, when he attacked my face it was easy for myself and others to jump to that he was guarding the bed. Both instances happened on the bed within days of each other.

The first instance was when I was leaving for work, pitch dark room, and I leaned down to pet him and say bye (an act that I do every morning), and he launched up and bit my face...pretty deeply. My response was shock and back away. I did not retaliate back at him. And he acted as though he did nothing...laid back down and that was that. Outburst and then nothing. Guarding the bed? Psycho? I ended up chalking it up to waking him up maybe, and he freaked? It was dark, I couldn't see. Bewildering, upsetting, devastating...all of the above. It wasn't until the second instance until I got majorly freaked out that something was up with his nugget.

I was lying in bed with him, and he was curled up at my knees. I was stroking his face lightly, and he was closing his eyes enjoying it. Suddenly, he launched on my face again. There was definitely no trigger, no sudden movement from me, no cat in the room, no other dog roaming around, completely unprovoked. Again, my reaction was the same. I got up and went to the bathroom to assess damage, he stayed curled up on the bed. He got me good that time too, across my face and my mouth. Now I looked like a true battered woman. I went into shock, crying hysterically and mourning over the strides we had made, and how in a couple days I felt it all had come tumbling down. Extreme thoughts like whether I would have to put him down, to something has to be seriously wrong with him? Until these two instances, Treo had never exhibited aggression directed at me. Nothing but snuggles, kisses and cuddling. And from that standpoint, I was officially traumatized. Not only did I have to figure out what was wrong with him, but I had to rebuild our relationship and trust. I had to get over my shame, embarrassment and most devastating, I did not trust him.

Bring on the web research, the blood tests, the consults, the opinions, the judgements, the accusations and assumptions. Not to mention the defensiveness, the shame, the embarrassment, the frustration and the complex emotions that get wrapped up in your intimate tie you have with your baby, your buddy, the one who is supposed to love you most. Wow...looking back now, it is such a journey. Must treat the behavioral side - can't ignore that at all. So, no more sleeping on the bed with me. He sleeps in a kennel. Other than EVERYTHING else I have always been doing, this was one action I took to address the theory that he was simply guarding the bed. Then, in parallel research the biological/medical causes with my vet.

What did I find out? Well, I found that there are ties to borderline low thyroid levels and aggression. Treo's levels were not considered low or borderline low by the experts - however I calculated the mid and he was below the mid levels and trending to the low end of the ranges on everything. I had several experts look at the results, and didn't receive recommendations to supplement his thyroid. They felt he was healthy. Ok, so no hypothyroidism, but results still noted on my mental checklist.

I did have a vet tell me that she saw a lot of aggression issues in March - like a noticeable upswing. She had a couple theories about it - one was that it was a very long winter and even in March there still was significant snow on the ground. And that dogs have pent up anxiety. The other theory was that even though dogs are spayed and neutered, this is typical breeding season and their biorhythms may be taking them there and creating this aggressive behavior. While it's all interesting, it's not helping me come up with a solution so I put it on my mental checklist and moved on.

In researching aggression, I also found a study conducted regarding protein levels and aggression and using tryptophan as a treatment along with lowering protein levels. (J Am Vet Med Assoc. Aug 15;217(4):504-8)Big trend right now in dog food to up the protein content in foods, feed raw and the like, so it did catch my attention. We feed raw - all kinds of raw foods. So, protein content probably varies but being a non-scientist I would guess that it's on the high side. He was eating chicken wings, legs, necks, organs, turkey, beef, tripe, lamb - whatever we could get our hands on. Protein theory is one of two things. Either excessive protein that his body can't metabolize turns into ammonia and that ammonia may trigger an aggressive section in his brain. Or, the excessive protein creates too much energy to burn, and all that pent up energy makes him nutty...meaning aggressive outbursts like an over-stimmed child.

Anyway, the study showed that dogs who had aggression issues (primarily territorial), who had a lowered protein diet supplemented with tryptophan had a decrease in aggressive episodes. Ok, I'm game. (aka...desperate) At the same time that I found this study, a well known canine endocrinologist recommended Treo go on a diet that was not only low protein, but stays away from "hot" meats (Chinese medicine). So, white fish is ok, beef is not ok. Found a Wellness brand that is pretty bland, made with white fish and sweet potato. Protein content is no less than 22% which is mid-level, not really low per se. Still, lower than what he was getting.

Additionally, she recommended daily doses of melatonin. Tryptophan and Melatonin...natural doggie feel good stuff. Tryptophan is one of the 10 essential amino acids that the body uses to synthesize the proteins it needs. It's well-known for its role in the production of nervous system messengers, especially those related to relaxation, restfulness, and sleep. Secondly, tryptophan serves as a precursor for serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps the body regulate appetite, sleep patterns, and mood. Because of its ability to raise serotonin levels, tryptophan has been used therapeutically in the treatment of a variety of conditions, most notably insomnia, depression, and anxiety. So, in addition to Treo's new lower protein contented doggie kibble he's on 2 daily does of tryptophan. I'm all bought in to the treatment, know why? Because it's better than doing nothing and tossing him off as just an aggressive dog. Now, Melatonin - It acts as a sedative and calms, and is used to treat stress issues such as accident trauma and anxiety. It’s also used to alleviate the fear of loud booming noises such as thunder or fireworks and in the treatment of conditions such as epilepsy.

I can honestly say, even though Treo is taking both tryptophan and melatonin, it's not affected his energy level AT ALL. He's just as eager to play, and run, and chase Frisbee and balls. He's just as active as always. It's certainly not a behavioral cure all; however, I have seen some subtle signs that there is improvement in his reactions to circumstances that normally would trigger an aggressive outburst. He seems, more tolerant. He has demonstrated an increased desire to cuddle and we're building back that trust that was lost slowly but surely. It's not cured anything, we're still and always will be, working on his aggression; however, I feel like we've come a long way from where we were even as early as March. At least in this moment, I believe that I've helped him.

Thanksgiving

2009-11-24T08:33:00.001-06:00

I can feel it. The year is starting to wind down, Treo's 3rd birthday is on December 14th and I'm starting to get reflective and resolved. It's been a year of learning, certainly.

From the time we started trialing in September 08, Treo and I have earned well over 40 qualifying runs in 3 venues - USDAA, CPE and NADAC. When I think of those three venues and what they've taught me (or what they've taught Treo), I'm forced to make some decisions. NADAC used to be a very fun venue to compete in, but lately there are some things that I'm finding don't fit into what I want long term with Treo. I had early warnings from those who know better than I that Treo didn't need to learn running in full extension and so forward on his shoulders as a result. But, sometimes when I get feedback like that, I don't "get it" right off until I experience it. That's what's happened here. Treo was learning this running style and also crazy lateral distance because I could never keep up. Then, we'd try to do a USDAA trial and it'd be a complete cluster. Treo making up his own courses while he waited for me. So, this year, I've decided to nix NADAC and focus on USDAA and CPE. Unfortunately, that will mean a lot of travel - but if I selectively pick and choose, I can handle it. Luckily, CPE is really starting to break through and I may have more choices in the tri-state area this year than last.

So, at the same time, I'm also thinking priorities. This past year, in addition to Agility, we also were taking and competing in Rally and Flyball. Rally for Treo is basically needles in the eyes for him. While he likes practicing it from time to time, it's definitely not the love of his life that agility is and so I've decided to simplify and put Rally on the shelf until Treo is an old man or retired from agility - which ever comes first. We earned our Lvl1 and Lvl2 titles in APDT Rally and I think that's good enough of a foundation that we can pick it up later.

Then, there is Flyball. He really does like it...I mean, who wouldn't? It's racing and there's a BALL! Plus, some of his favorite people are on his team to boot. Now that he's learned the sport, he doesn't have to take classes anymore. He's learned a lot of self control in Flyball around other dogs. It's helped him with his motion sensitivity and it's a great venue to work on his proximity sensitivity. Not that I would recommend Flyball if you have a dog that's motion sensitive or proximity sensitive, I don't, especially if you are a first time dog trainer. For Treo and I, though, it's been a good opportunity to work on self-control and counter-conditioning. This year...heck just in the past few months, Treo earned his Flyball titles up to Flyball Dog Champion - Gold. He's got just over 2,500 points. He's got another 2,500 to earn til his next title, Flyball Dog Master. I can see where this can get addicting. For 2010, there is team practices and traveling to tournaments on the docket and I have to decide how to balance that with Agility. The scales have always been tipped towards Agility, but are they tipped enough?

Ultimately, where I wanted to be by Treo's 3rd birthday and where we've landed in some ways surpassed my expectations and in some ways have not. What I love is his drive on course when we're connected and both confident in what we're attempting. What I don't like is how easily it crumbles when there's a goof. The teeter is still on the docket as one of our most difficult obstacles and it's still a cross your fingers moment to see if he'll do it or not. We've worked lately on positional cues and I could feel the pay off this past weekend at our USDAA trial in Lawrence. Our off courses have minimized, and errors fall more into my grey handling, than anything else. He did show me this weekend that have have work to do in just about every aspect of the sport. With my weekly schedule, as it is now, there's just not enough hours to do what I want to do and I'm going to have to make some tough choices to simplify so that I can get us where I wanted us to be by now. Once I make some goals, and action plan how we'll get there, I'll write again. Stay tuned...In the meantime, I obviously have a lot to be Thankful for and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

A lot in a month!

2009-08-25T09:01:00.011-05:00

Well...not really, but kinda. I was *supposed* to audit the Tracy Sklenar Seminar in MN in August (per my doctor). Didn't. I was supposed to change my working spots to audits, I was supposed to not run. On top of that, Treo was giving me his poo-poo face about running in a new barn and there's only one remedy for poo-poo face...which involves running. So, on Saturday, the non-running seminar topics: "Nothing but Net" and "Jumping Foundations"...well, ended up being running for me. Running amok trying to get Treo's to put on his happy, ready to work face rather than poo-poo face. So, I was worried about my knee for Saturday, which was handling day. I iced it Sat night and took a hot shower and iced it again. Sunday came and guess what? No issue. In fact, I felt pretty darn good. So, "Fancy Footwork" and "Driving lines and turn cues" was no issue for me....well, from a knee standpoint.

Like any seminar, I get a ton of info and I walk away with a keener awareness of what we need to be working on. I got great ideas and info on what to do with the classes I teach. In addition, working with Treo, I got a lot of info on what he and I need to continue to tune up. Look, the fact of the matter is, he's got a lot of value for this game. He loves to run and so he does. Most of the time, he's running past me and on - sometimes we get it right, and sometimes we don't. My job is to give him information, though, and that's difficult when I'm behind him. So, Tracy helped me see that it's difficult, but not impossible. There are a few key things I need to do that I'm not doing. These keys are not just for me, but for everyone. I need to watch where he commits to jumps so I can cue him at the appropriate time for turns - easy turns or tight. She showed me the difference and we use Treo's hearing and my deceleration to help him distinguish between the two. Also, positional cues. Me standing still seeems to have very little meaning to Treo. He needs to about turn when I am standing still. Also, he's not even reading my rear crosses very well, and overshooting on my front crosses (again, back to position cues...dude, I'm standing still...a turn is coming up.) So, I've decided to ease my way out of the upper level handing class I'm in, and go into the beginner handling class so I can work on these very important skills.

I also participated in a local CPE trial were we, again, I got lots of great information. Still not understanding positional cues...like, "Hey, she's standing still next to the weaves...maybe I shouldn't shoot on past her to take just one more jump?" Or...maybe so? D'oh. We did have a couple really nice runs, though. Plus the common comment, that he's one fast little dude. Yes, he is. He did decent contact performance, but right off the bat he flew straight off the teeter - I could have caught him in my arms, and in retrospect, I wish I would have. Teeters for the rest of the weekend, got slower and slower until our last standard run, where he flat out refused it. OH, HERE WE ARE AGAIN! And, then in class that same week, not excited for teeters. Took major bribes. So, took him to the Chiro on Friday and sure enough...ouchies galore. Got him all fixed up for his Flyball debut that weekend. He got adjusted on Friday midday, so I held him back until the afternoon on Saturday and only put him in part time. Then, Sunday he shared a spot and was only in part time as well. Never did feel like he was in pain, and I warmed him up really well each and every time he was to run. Anyway, back to the teeter - we've tossed the ram-shackle one we had in our back yard and have created a new and improved one this weekend. I'm going to really put some value on this bad boy, and vary the weight of it too, so he gets used to riding it at all different decent rates. Wish me luck. Everyone must have an obstacle that is their annoyance...and this one is ours, I guess. I'll take teeter game ideas if you have them??? So, at the CPE, we got a couple jumers Q's and a couple standard and one gamblers, I think. Our Q's weren't necessarily our best runs and vice verse. Overall, it's a really fun, small trial. I really, really like CPE.
On to FLYBALL!! Woot! Woot! We had a great weekend in Amana, IA. Like I said, he shared a spot, so he was out there maybe 3x per day. His box criteria held up lovely, he didn't choose to chase any dogs, and he earned his FD, FDX, and his FDCh titles. WAY beyond my expectations. Here's a little video of one of his races, a couple heats, that my coach and teamie, Lyndsy made. The first run is a practice run, then you see where the ball is loaded on the wrong side for him, and he still figures out how to get it and find his jumps. Good boy!

Then, this weekend. On Saturday, he did try to chase a dog in our first race of the day. He was scooped up by me, and off to his kennel to think about what he did. Normally, after a successful race or agility class - we're off to play Frisbee; but, this was uber-naughty, so he got a time out. The rest of the day, he was a good boy until the last heat of the last class where he also decided to race an opposing dog...in the other lane...again, he was off to his kennel for a time out. I think the message go through, because on Sunday he made no such decision. He had a really nice day, overall. After it was all said and done, he added FDCh-S to his Flyball titles. Here's some video of this weekend's races.

Catch Up

2009-08-19T10:56:00.013-05:00

Well! I've not posted anything for a while...I'm not sure why that is? Nothing happening? Well, no...there's been a lot happening. So, where to begin? I think I'll start with the info I recently received that is on my brain at the moment. I had some significant knee pain, so I went to the Ortho doc to see what's up. What's up is that I don't have any cartiledge left on the inside of my right knee. Bone on Bone...with spurs...YIKES. The left pic is a healthy knee the right pic, not so healthy. So, prognosis is that I'm too young for a knee replacement and I get to look forward to ever increasing pain to the point of not being able to sleep or walk and THEN I can have my surgery. Dumb. Stupid diagnosis. Not the doc for me. Still, I know there are things I can be doing and I've met with my Chiro to figure that out. He thinks he can help me stabilize my knee with some exercises and stretches and with adjustments, he might be able to slow down the progression of the condition. Hey! It's a plan, I'm in!

Treo and I ended up earning our APDT Rally Level 2 title in Omaha last weekend. By the skin of our teeth. We sorta suck. Well, I suck - I'm the trainer...he's just the doer and the doer doesn't love this game and we need to work on that. We squeaked our way through Level 2 and it's not pretty. So, between now and the next trial...which I don't even know when that is, we're going to polish some things up and make it look fun. Sounds like a good winter activity!

<--Appears to be having fun...don't be fooled. I also realized I totally skipped talking about our U2KANDU Agility Trial over July 4th weekend. Indoor...soccer turf...my fav!!! We did rather well, and earned our Open Jumpers title; as well as, our Open Standard title. We're in Elite...YIKES! We did do our first elite jumpers run on the last day...last run...after a 4 day trial. I was fatigued...Treo was not. We did a WICKED hard lead out pivot, that he read perfectly if I do say so myself, and into a serp, then the rest was running..HELLO NADAC! We were totally there, but at the closing, last 3 jumps...straight line, to an off center 4th jump. Treo was on FIRE, I was getting further and further behind. I couldn't give him any info that there was one more jump to take, and he blew past it. In NADAC, if you cross the plane of the last jump...yer done. D'oh. Needless to say, we're working on some verbals - Switch for turn away, and Check for turn towards. Check would have helped us in this course. My only regret? The whole crowd, including me, went "OOOOOOOh!" and I added a "OOOOH! HONEY!" and he looked at me like, "WHAT?! What did I do???" It broke my heart. It was a superior run, it was a great run, he was a good boy. So, we went out and played Frisbee and all was forgiven, but I wish I had that moment back. This weekend, we're headed to a Tracy Sklenar Seminar in Minn. If you EVER get her close by, GO. She's close enough, and I'm there. My knee is still injured and unstable, but I'm going to do my best. This weekend is a series of mini-seminars. The ones I'm actually working in are "Nothing but Net" - and it's about proofing performance and kicking it up a notch. I'm auditing the Jumping skills seminar (I take better notes when I audit). Then on Sunday is "Fancy Footwork" which is an Open level handling and lastly "Finding lines and turn cues" which is more masters handling. I'm all in, but my knee...my knee....we'll see. More to come on our MN seminar! September...Our first FLYBALL tourny!

Priorities and Goals

2009-07-07T12:28:00.011-05:00

“I thank God I live in a country where dreams can come true, where failure is sometimes the first step to success, and where success is only another form of failure if we forget where our priorities should be.” ~ Harry Lloyd

There's something in the universe that continues to bring the concept of priorities and goals and sets them gently on my lap. I've had issues and successes due to my priorities in the last couple weeks, and I've also watch others struggle with the same.

But...first some brags.

Treo and I headed to the Paws and Effect APDT Rally O trial in Des Moines, IA on June 26th. My goal was simply to earn his RL1 title, and we had one leg to go - but it needed to be a new judge. So, right off the bat, we did earn it on the first round; however, it was a rocky round for us and the score, while it added up to a Q, was not reflective of what I believe we are really capable of when we're "ON". But, it was a Q nonetheless. So, some Omaha friends talked me into moving up to Level 2. So, I did. Then, I looked at the signs and realized there's just a couple commands we haven't trained yet: a stand, a stand with a stay leave your dog and really any sign that had us back up in one form or another was executed with a some sloppiness. Oh and one more tiny, tidbit...Level 2 is off leash. We've not done that before.

Our first Level 2 sequence had food bowls in it that must be ignored, but nobody told Treo that, so he mildly checked them out, and I didn't know what was allowed or not allowed - I do not like it when people "EH! EH!" their dogs, or say "leave it!" or whatever because usually by that point the choice was already made and your commands are juuuust a little late by that time. What I wanted to do was put my foot over the bowl and control the reinforcement, and not my dog. For Treo, that's the universal sign, "None your business." Not knowing what was allowed, or not, and being flustered, I just did it and he immediately looked at me and we continued on our weave and all was good. Except...that little bauble on sign number one got me flustered and I missed sign number to which was simply a U-turn and so we were NQ'd at that point. OH well, we finished the course and found out that we skipped the 2nd sign - which made me laugh. Rookie error.

The next trial was on Sunday and by then we had a kinda stand at that point, enough to get a way with it in a sequence, anyway. Again, much of our heeling was wide on turns and he continued to be a little spacey, as was I. We muddled our way through, though, and Q'd with a 2nd place out of 10 dogs. That's pretty darn good, but in my mind, I didn't like our performance...and I know what we CAN do...it still didn't feel good. The last trial, the bonus was a Stand, Leave your dog, the dog stands for exam (by the judge) then you return to your talk, walking around him into heel position. I thought, "we're screwed"...and we NEED the bonus because our sequence performance is so sloppy...those 10 extra bonus points really matter! Well, on our way to the start line, I'm having him stand, and wait while I walk away - like 3x. Then, took a deep breath and headed in. The sequence was much better than our last 2 performances, I felt (we can do better, but this was OK) and much to my surprise, he stood for the bonus, held it while I walked a way, wiggled when the Judge touched him and I think he moved 2 feet, maybe 3 (that's a 3 point off), still held his position until I returned and off we went to exit the course. HOLY MOLY! He's amazing, sometimes! We not only Q'd but too first place! Whaaaa???!!!

Moral of the story: Look, we weren't ready for level 2. And while the Q's were nice, I wasn't proud of our performance overall. I know we can do better. So, my new priority is to train ourselves out of the guesswork and hoping we do ok, and into confidence and knowing we can nail it. We've got about a month until the next APDT trial, and I can only do one day, not both days. My new goal is to redo those Q's and do them right. I want 210s. Some of the gals at the club are going to put together some courses of Friday evenings so we can train and I plan on being there and working those level 2 signs!

ACT USDAA Burnsville, MN - Teeter Success!!

2009-06-23T19:32:00.003-05:00

I do want to say that the ACT trial was very well run, it was fun and people were so nice! I went with Ami, and no other friends from Omaha - and I met some really nice folks. The drive was not that bad, really, only about 5 hours. Unfortunately, on the ride home, we hit a deer in Nebraska. That was sad. Anyway, if you are considering an ACT trial - do it.

Well, we've had the teeter saga going on now since Februrary. We worked hard on value on the end behavior and worked our way up to major successes at home, at our dog training club, and at my friends agility barn. I also took him to his first chiropractice appt where they found his pelvis has a tendency to slip out of position. Took him to Tops Vetinary Rehab, and they also agreed. He's been on an adjustment regime ever since. We tried teeter skills in Chicago in April and found that there was still some teeter issues lingering. What to do...what to do...? This is very much a time where it's easy for some of us to become obsessive. So easy to do! I could have had Treo on teeters all the time, for his dinner, yadda yadda yadda. I actually did the opposite. When we did teeters, I made sure it was with some pressure. A strange guy act like a judge and be right on top of him. When he did have teeters in class, the gave him HUGE value rewards. When he was successful, we quit. Number of teeters that Treo performed between April and June? Probably less than 10.
So finally, we had success this weekend. He did refuse a teeter in a gamble, but other than that he executed with confidence. Boy did we party and I sure did praise him on course too. Treo really responds to that - his whole face lights up just when you say, "Good Boy!!" I was so pleased, and a photographer got a pic of him on his teeter and also one of him nose touching a the end. It was beautiful. Here's a video of some of our runs. We missed some due to conflicts between the rings. Oh well! These are good ones.

Canine Performance Events - CPE

2009-06-09T08:42:00.004-05:00

We went to our first CPE trial this past weekend, and I was plesantly surprised! The courses (I started in Level 1 because I didn't know what to expect) were very flowing and sort of similar to USDAA - only no teeter or weaves in level one. We entered a standard class, jackpot (sort of like gamblers) and snooker. It was a hot day by the afternoon and this was an outdoor trial, but we got both our standards in and Q'd to earn our Level 1 title - whoo! We got our Q in jackpot too. By the afternoon, however, I was sweating up a storm, it was really humid and my knee braces were sucking the life out of me - so, I ended up scratching round to Jackpot and snooker. I just couldn't deal. Once I take the braces off, though, I can think again - so, it's this weird catch 22. I'll have to figure out how to keep myself sane at ourdoor trials and those knee braces. I didn't take them off all day because to do so, I would have to go into an outhouse and that's a tricky trick all in of itself - so, I let them suck the life out of me all day and by 3pm, I was quite over it.

The next day we planned on moving up to Level 2, but it rained early that AM and the field and the indoor barn were saturated and muddy. So, they decided to hold jumpers and games in a different field that was still pretty darn soppy. So, we ended up scratching the entire day - no need to risk me twisting a knee or Treo planting a shoulder for a Q in a venue that comes to town 1-2x per year. Gave us the whole AM to get caught up on some housecleaning and then crash for the rest of the day. Treo crashed with me, so I think he was A-OK with not running that day.

All in all, it was a really great time with our local agility friends and it made me wish there were more CPE in our area!! Videos to come (maybe) - I need to watch them first. ;)

NADAC Trial May 2009

2009-06-01T09:50:00.008-05:00

Every game is an opportunity to measure yourself against your own potential.-- Bud Wilkinson

I found this quote today and I really liked it. It sums up how I've approached my last two trials and how I'm measuring success. Where are we now? Where could we be? Then, after a trial, how do I get there?

This weekend was FUN! Treo had a ton of fun. The things I was looking closely at was:

1. Focus: Outdoor trial - typically have been hard for him and distracting.

2. Motivation: Run fast, run fun, run with confidence (that goes for both of us)

3. Teamwork: Respond to my cues - leadouts, FC (if I can execute one in a NADAC course!), RC, threadles or serps.

Day One: Open Regular Round 1 & 2; Open Jumpers; Novice Chances; Novice Touch 'n Go; Novice Tunnelers (scratched)

Day Two: Open Regular Round 1 & 2; Open Jumpers; Novice Chances; Novice Weavers; Novice Touch 'n Go (scratched)

Right off the bat, I scratched Tunnelers because it's just pure running in extension and I don't need that skill reinforced at this time. I scratched Touch 'n Go day 2 because I was tired, it was nearly 90 degrees at the time of the run (last run of the day), and I was fried. Amazingly though, after I scratched and took off my knee braces, I fell mucho better. So, I think the knee braces were making me overheated maybe...?

Treo's leadouts were good, and his focus on me was better than it's been in the past at outdoor trials. He tried very hard to be a cheater on his dogwalks, self-releasing and wanting to move on. So, we need to really proof that puppy. All his AFrames were good, however. He always redeemed himself on is AFrames! He read one really hard leadout in jumpers, and I was so excited about it that I forgot a loopty loop before I sent him out for the finish! The run looked solid and confident though.

So...the new list:

1. Proof Dogwalk contact performance....

2. Work discriminations

3. Work weaves where he's running in extension - out of a tunnel or rounding a series of jumps.

4. Lose 100 lbs because keeping up with the rocket is really hard! Many of our redirects was because he confidently blew ahead and then turned into me to see where we're headed next.

tOy pLaY

2009-05-27T20:12:00.012-05:00

I've been wanting to write a post about the toy play struggles I have, what I do about it and hopefully inspire people to play with their dogs more and have fun. I just started a new session of our Agility Foundations students and my usual expectations were met. 1/2 the dogs are show interest in toys and the other half are like my Treo - somewhat interested trending towards no interest at all. This post is dedicated to Treo's sister Ice - his little red dog twin in many ways, including toy play.

Toy play is so important to the sport of agility. Agility is a team sport, and that relationship, that teamwork, is so critical. Toy play is the beginning of that relationship and ultimately is its foundation. Now, can teams be successful with zero toy drive....yes...but having some toy drive and building on that toy drive is so very much fun that I encourage every handler to continue to work on it and strive for it. Even striving for it, whether you achieve it or not, strengthens your relationship with you dog.

Toy play is something I've have to continually foster with Treo. Playing with toys, or playing with me sometimes does not override the reinforcement he gets from watching other dogs, wanting to greet other people, or when he's in a mode of general avoidance - usually when he's failing at a particular skill is when he gives me the "Eh." to what ever toy comes out as a reward.

So, I have to work our toy play as a separate exercise, always. I grow value in toys, they raise in the hierarchy of reinforcers for him....but....overtime they slip. Here's what the top ten looks like:

1. Tennis ball

2. Frisbee

3. Udder tug (http://www.helpingudders.com/)

4. Ultimate Tug 'n Treat (http://www.genuinedoggear.com/dog_food_toys.html) - sold also at Go Dogs Omaha (http://www.godogsomaha.org/)

5. Toss 'n treat (http://www.genuinedoggear.com/dog_food_toys.html) - sold also at Go Dogs Omaha (http://www.godogsomaha.org/)

6. Wubba - the floaty one

7. A normal Wubba

8. A tug toy with sheep fur on it

9. Any sort of squeaky toy

10. A normal fleece tug or the chuck it trainer or the *new* toy, Chuck it's hair ball (that's what I call it)

So, in class, when a toy receives an "eh." I have to make a mental note that I need to do a play session just with that toy to remind him that it's fun, that he should see it as fun next time he sees it. At home, he's much more likely to play - hard core - like any self-respecting border collie wanna be - so, he rarely gets rewarded with the top 5. I tend to play at home with the lower value toys, to build value. His favorite game is for me to use the chuck it launcher and throw tennis balls as far as I can so he can chase them. So, to build value in the wubba, I used the chuck it launch to launch wubbas for him to chase.

When I introduce a new toy, that he's never seen before, I never just pull it out during a training session and try to reward with it. In the little video below, you'll see why - he would reject it. What I do, is I just have "get to know you" session with the toy and teach him how to play with it, basically.

I start off with allowing him to check it out, praising for any interaction. He loves things that "fly" so, I show him that it can fly. All toys can fly. If he'll chooses to tug during this session, then I'll do some "contingent tugging" meaning he performs a skills (something fast and fun: nose touch, fast sits or down) and I'll reward that with tugging. Tracy Sklenar says that when dogs perform a skill and get rewarded for it, dopamine is released and they are feelin' groovy. Groovy enough to keep playing. So, if he tugs, we'll play some tug games. Whether he tugs or not, I'll typically play a "find it" game with him too. I hide the toy, on my body or in the room, he finds it and brings it to me for celebration. I like hiding it on my body since that's an interactive game with the Momma. And, it's a game we play while waiting our turn at the start line. But, playing "find it" in the house can get pretty elaborate and really fun. Fun game for a rainy day and he just is SO PROUD when he brings a toy to me that he finds - charges down the stairs with it and slams it into my body as if to say, "Take THAT! I am da MAN!"

Below is a little video I made tonight showing what a mini-toy value training session looks like. The keys are to have no expectations, but praise his attempts and encourage. Short session is key (this one was actually a little on the long side - ideally it would be 1/2 this time), and stop before he wants to stop - leave him wanting more.

End of May nears...my how time flies...

2009-05-27T15:44:00.005-05:00

Mid-May I had 2 recent agility trials under my belt (one that I was in, and one that was AKC) and so disappointed at how people treated their dogs. Piggybacked on that with a Flyball tourny, where I saw more dog berating...then, I was kinda depressed...so no blogging...because it would have been just more of what I already wrote about. So, I've kissed my doggies and asked them to forgive me for any and all exasperations they may have overheard. The dogs kissed back - always forgiving...always wanting you to just throw the friggin ball and don't sweat the small stuff. They are right. So...moving on.

This weekend is a NADAC trial. I've done some stats on our 9 months of trialing so far...and we are 75% more likely to Q in NADAC (OH BIG SURPRISE! I know, I know...) - but, it's not about the Q. It's about the feeling, that I've decided. I'm now chasing a feeling that I get when Treo and I have a nice run together. Doesn't need to be perfect - just needs to be fast and fun. Tracy helped me realize that it's a super duper high to drive the course with your dog, rather than babysit your dog around the course - so, now...big girl panties...driving courses - taking this little mini-cooper out for a spin and see what he's got. NADAC likes fast, run, get-er-done courses. So, I'm going to try lateral distance, leaving dude in tunnels, weaves, pinwheels to get to my next positional cue...should be crazy fun. No teeter...crazy fun. The following weekend is CPE, which I've never done before. I heard the courses are more USDAA-isque. THAT should be interesting...also...no teeter in the novice class. Oh goodie!

Not that we've been slacking on the teeter training...no..no...no. Last Friday there was a fun run, and I had one of the men put a lot of pressure on Mr. Dude as he flew across his the teeter, not a hesitant bone in this red little body, stuck his landing, stuck his widdle nose touch - got mucho, mucho grande doggie sausage - yep, the whole thing. Done and done. Then, on Memorial Day, hopped over to a friend's house who has a strange (aka new to us), foreign teeter in her basement and again...no hesitation, pumped to get on it - stuck the landing beautifully - handful of obscure, stinky meats. Did a round 2, just with my friend putting some pressure on him - pretending she's a "judge" and he basically said, "Shhhooooottt...gimme something hard! This is cake." Ok dude..we'll see...we'll see in June. Mid-June headed to MN for a USDAA. Can he do it? I have no freakin' idea. What I do know is that I've put him in some different scenarios that he's not experienced before and have had successes. I've not shied away from the teeter, nor have I over-trained it - tried to keep it cool, calm and in perspective. So, maybe it'll pay off. Only June will tell me....what will you tell me, Treo? "Throw the frisbeeeeeee....throw the frisbeeeeee..." That's what he usually tells me.

Sobering Trial Observations

2009-05-11T12:37:00.004-05:00

So, we treked to Chicago for USDAA (a huge trial) and then my club hosted an AKC trial this past weekend (me = not entered b/c I don't "do" AKC) and I watched sometimes quite disturbing behavior from some of the handlers at the trials. Dogs getting yelled at, berated, belittled, scruffed, yanked - oh yes, my friends, feel free go gasp in horror. I even saw a dog get nagged and yelled at to the point of him leaving the ring, just to get away from HER. I would say, probably 2x each day this weekend the judge had to say something to a handler to get them to ease up on their dogs. Each time the owner denied that they were being horrible to their dog. No self-awareness..none..zilch...

I think one of the worse ideas in AKC agility is not allowing unrecongnized breeds play in their venue - IDIOTS! BUT, following at a very close 2nd is the fact that they allow collars to be worn into the ring. Every other venue has dogs run naked - but not the AKC...no...they definitely WANT to give their handlers something that they can hang onto and yank, pull, and punish their dogs - right there for everyone to observe. I saw scruffing, yanking, dragging, pinching in the past couple trials that really, really broke my heart. That's just the physical stuff. I also saw (heard) yelling...oh, lots of yelling, exasperated comments and overly dramatic disappointment when their dog did so much as an off course all the way up to running out of the ring. There was a part of me that wanted to yell, "Keep running...run away!!!!!" or "Bite her (him)!!!"

Now...none of us are saints. I've had my moments of frustration with Mr. Distraction - believe you me. I've made mistakes - often. I do believe that I learn from them. I believe that I try to be a humane, self-aware trainer. Even a week ago, at the Tracy Sklenar seminar, I escorted Treo off to his kennel for being a poop (probably left me - can't remember), and I was crabby faced, exasperated and very deliberate with my actions - and almost as soon as I did it, I felt bad. I felt terrible and afterwards, I vowed that I can and will ease up on him physically and mentally. I don't need to do that (be exasperated or physical) to send him a message. All I need to do is remove the opportunity for reinforcement. That could be picking him up and unceremoniously escorting him to his kennel. Or, the person he goes to visit escort him to his kennel. Whatever it is, it's taking away his opportunity for reinforcement and by that sending a message.

According to Susan Garrett, Tracy and probably countless dog behaviorists, the way a dog is wired is to constantly seek reinforcement. So, if he sniffs and futzes at his startline, it's some sort of self-reinforcing behavior that I've chained and reinforced. If he goes to visit, instead of work, it's because what we're doing isn't reinforcing enough to override his desire to go visit. If he takes an off-course obstacles it's only because he either (1) didn't understand the cues I'm sending him or, (2) found the off-course was more reinforcing than the on-course - note to me that I need to retrain that - but, never...ever...is the failures a deliberate attempt to tick me off, flick me off or otherwise be completely disrespectful of what we're trying to accomplish together. If all dogs do is continually seek reinforcement, always...without exception...than, every mistake they made is a complete and only reflection on us as trainers. (Also a Susan Garrett quote) They certainly aren't taking an off-course because they understand that the repercussions will be a scruff-drag to their kennel. No...they take the off-course because they think they are right.

For example, Treo is refusing the teeter because there's a hole in my training with him: be it value, timing or placement of reward, over-training, under-training, distraction training - whatever it is it's my training hole, not him being naughty and requiring a physical or verbal correction. I think Tracy said, that it's not a personality thing, or a physical thing - we've ruled all that out with him - it's just science...it's just animal training. So, when he popped off the teeter in our Standard run in Chicago, I just stopped the game and we unceremoniously went to his kennel...he got a drink of water and then went inside for a break. I didn't say anything to him, I didn't yank him off the floor - no, no, no. I just went to his leash, put it on and we soberly walked to our kennel. Stark contrast to being able to finish the course (another opportunity for reinforcement) and then a snoopy dance party at the end (reinforcement) and then off to play Frisbee on the grounds (BIG reinforcement). Oh, believe me, he knows the diff. And for me, it was a mental note that we have more work to do there, and on our last run (thanks to Tracy's brilliant perspective) we decided to front cross past the teeter and just have a fabulous run we could celebrate - reward the drive and work on the teeter later.

So, for all you who get ticked off on course - welcome to the club - we're all in the same boat and we support you - because, after all, it's our fault. But, DO NOT take it out on your dog. Your dog loves you and only wants to please you. And in the meantime - take some moments to work those weaves, contacts, shadow handing and make expectations clearer to your dog. Oh, and the blind crosses out of the tunnel, stupid. Also, calling your dog too soon on a turn out of the chute...stop it. Random, meaningless front crosses - cut it out. And lastly...teach your dog to sit at the startline so you don't have to manhandle it for 30 seconds just to get it to break it's sit the second you let go - very, very unprofessional. I'm glad I got all this off my chest...I feel better. ;)

Chicago - Teeter Struggles Continue

2009-05-05T16:56:00.005-05:00

Overall, our runs were fast and fun and without distractions. It was like running in a bubble at the indoor soccer arena. That being said, we bombed on the teeters. I sent him back over in Gamblers, where I could. However, standard - no dice. I carried his sad butt off the first refusal, but then after some superior coaching from Tracy Sklenar - decided to avoid the teeter, and just have a fast and fun run so we could end the weekend on the high note. So, we need more teeter value, evidently, and multiple teeters? I'll be headed to YOUR house soon to try Treo on your teeter!

Here's a video montage of our weekend - I took out the teeter walk of shame. ;)

Chicago Bound...Ready or Not?

2009-04-23T10:48:00.007-05:00

Headed to Chicago today for a USDAA trial, and our first trial since the teeter incident(s). I think we're in a good position - we've put a lot of value on it, he's not refused it in weeks and weeks. But, how do you know until you get to a trial? You don't...so here we go. Here's a mini-training session of Treo and his teeter. I cut out all the toy play inbetween and breaks - I didn't run him over the teeter over and over and over again. ;)

And while we're at it. Here's Treo at Rally class this past week. He's such a good boy!

Flyball Action

2009-04-08T15:03:00.004-05:00

Below is a video of my Flyball team that I'm very proud of, and also Treo's first time at a tournament getting his sea legs with all the distractions. Treo's video was taken on Saturday and by Sunday he was able to run to get his ball and back to give it to me rather consitently. Unfortunately, not a lot of footage of Mr. T since I was the videographer...but on 4/18 we'll be in KC at another tourney and I'll make sure I get someone to video us. It's all coming together and I'm very excited to see him in action very soon.

On the teeter front...no issues! Been putting a lot of value on that end position and last night he scored a beautiful teeter end position that we goose bumpy and was paid handsomely for it, I might add. Will this all hold up in a competition ring, I'm curious. How do I train for that? Any ideas??

March - out like a lamb...?

2009-03-30T12:32:00.008-05:00

Out like a lamb my @ss...calling for snow and ice this week. Yuk. But, Spring is here and the spring flowers are up and we've been able to play sometimes outside and that's wonderful. Lots to look forward to this spring - our A-Frame arrived today, which adds to the collection of table, Dog Walk, over 10 jumps, a borrowed Teeter (hindsight...should have ordered my own teeter as well!), weaves of all kinds (2 sets of 6, and 2x2s galore!) and a tunnel that has seen better days. Heck, we could host our own fun run with the set up we have in the soccer field behind the house...actually, that's not really a bad idea. I wonder how we reserve that sucker...

Teeter training has gone swimmingly. More and more I'm thinking it was his hitched up pelvis because he's driving nicely to it every time. Not that a little value wasn't needed, because it sure was considering *this* was the obstacle he choose to show me that he was hurting. I certainly can think of some others where I would have thought it pinched him more to do, and maybe the value overrode the issue. I'm not relaxing on the training plan, however. We're working at it weekly, and the payoffs have been big for good performance. Before our big post-teeter drama USDAA trial in Chicago, we'll be visiting some friend's teeters and a couple privates to see if we can really test the value. He's a funny little monkey, but as we get to know each other, it becomes easier and easier to figure out what's up in that little red brain of his.

Flyball has progressed as well, and Treo was able to deal with some passing this weekend without so much of a reaction other than arching around the dog running. He drives nicely to his Momma for a jackpot and a party. We did have one experience that was good to know...if there's a dog who is willing to engage him, he's more than happy to comply - so, we really need to work on that. No chasing, no engaging, this is us playing and having a good time. He's all good of all the dogs are focused on what they are supposed to be doing, then he can focus on his job. Dogs running in other lanes trip him up a bit too, but that I think will easily be overcome with experience. We were able to switch from his more squishy "sponge bob" tennis balls (available at Walmart and Target) over to real tennis balls - so, that was nice to see also.

This week Rally starts up again, and we'll be working towards an APDT trial in June. He's got 2 legs going for him, and it'd be nice to get a novice title in Rally.

April we've got 3 Flyball commitments. 1 Agility commitment in Chicago (and a visit to Tops Vet Rehab, http://www.tops-vet-rehab.com/index.asp since Treo had that pelvis issue, thought it'd be a good time for some baselines, evals and chiro advice) Also, the last week of April, Tracy Sklenar (http://www.lotp.com/) is coming for her Omaha Spring 4 day seminar - which will be SO much fun. I literally took the entire week off so I could attend all days, even though my working spot isn't until Thursday. Busy, busy April with lots to talk about!!

The Adventures of Jan, Feb and now March

2009-03-18T08:24:00.006-05:00

The NADAC Trial in Bennington went ok, we're now titled in Novice Jumpers and Novice Standard. I've realized that if I have just one more thing to think about, I'm just useless at remembering my course. So, in Bennington, the footing was terrible. In was an indoor horse arena, the ground was frozen solid and there were grooves in it from horse hooves. They never raked it - so, I was scared to death to step into one of those grooves and wreck myself. So, that concern led to me forgetting my new "Open" courses. On top of that, Treo felt it was pretty cool to give me my obligatory nose touch at the end of each contact, but then release himself before I got the "K" out of "OK" - with that information - I started a new training plan with his to work on his self releasing. At the beginning of Feb, we had an USDAA trial to test out his hopefully improved contact skills. Low and behold, he was able to hold his contacts beautifully on the AF and DW...however...and this is a big however...he refused every single teeter. Wha?????????

So, after banging my head against the wall wondering what is up with the little dude...and also so, so, so bummed that he had the opportunity to rehearse refusing the teeter 5x per day all weekend...I pulled him from the next trial in MN - no need to rehearse refusals for yet another weekend. I got my poop together and started to sketch out the Teeter Recovery Plan. First I had to rule out physical, so I had his thyroid level checked. Came back normal. In the meantime, I started WAY back at the basics. Can you play on a wobble board, I shaped him to get on a skate board...high rewards for anything moving under his feet. He was very tentative at first, but warmed up to the games. I also put tons and tons of value on our teeter end behavior games - bang game, elevator game. I put the teeter between 2 tables, and got a shock - he wouldn't even get on it. It was like he was 6 mo old again and had never seen a teeter. I really was scratching my head over this one. I had to shape one paw...then another paw....and so on. I did have some successes with him on my friend Christy's teeter (dirt floor), and he offered to take it himself. But with the teeter at home, no dice.

I took him to a Vet Chiropractor and he found Treo was very hitched up in his pelvis. In fact, Dr. Pat had a really hard time adjusting his pelvis to get him out of it. Treo got lots of peanut butter while he was getting adjusted, so even though he had a couple muffled whines, he was more than happy with his little peanut butter face. I had to let him be chill for 48 hrs, but after that - in the back yard, he offered to do the teeter after a few end behavior games and scared the beejesus out of me by charging right into the yellow and riding that badboy down. He bounced the teeter off our grass and flew off like a teacup poodle, I was so shocked I didn't even know what to do. I looked at Ami and said, "was that on purpose?!" So, we tugged and did it again...ran right into the yellow, road it down, got bounced off - but he could care less - he ran around looking for his reward! I rewarded him again, but the bouncing off crap must end. He needs to weight shift and nail it. So, played a couple more elevator games to remind him, "Dude...you need to get to a 2 on 2 off and hold it." Then, I tugged him around and he nailed it. Good Boy!!! In class last week, more of the same...nailed every teeter. So much value on the teeter, in fact, that he would leave a straight line of jumps to seek out the teeter! So...was it his pelvis?? Maybe...I'm sure all the re-training didn't hurt a darn thing either. Our next trial is not until April 25th, so I still have plenty of run way to get him on Christy's teeter, the club's teeter and more backyard teeters that I can find. I wish I could find more...might have to give a couple other clubs a call and see if I can pay for some training time.

On the Flyball front, things are progressing swimmingly. We've joined the local team, the Omaha Speedracers and I am very proud to have been recruited by them so early and to be on that team because they are the coolest group to watch compete. (http://flyballdogs.com/speedracers/index.html)

We keep turning up the heat on Treo - he's practiced a couple times with the team and it's pretty intense. We are now challenging him to get his ball with another dog racing him, or dogs on the sidelines etc. So far, he's made a few mistakes but his successes far outweigh his mistakes. Below is a video of his box turn. Since this video, we've been able to drop the fences. I don't think he ever needed them, he understand running a line very well.

Did someone say BALL?!

2009-01-14T08:31:00.006-06:00

Already some new happenings for 2009. I broke down and started Flyball classes with Treo. I say "broke down" because I wasn't too enthused to feed his ball fetish when I was trying so hard to build his toy drive. Also, I was concerned about him freaking out when other dogs run. I do have to say that all the hind end awareness paid off nearly immediately. He took rather quickly to the swim lane box turn. He's getting his ball from the box more often than not and he's improved week to week in keeping the ball in his mouth once he gets it. His restrained recalls are lightening fast. New things to conquer are restrained recalls with another dog racing in the lane next to him. That could prove to be a challenge - or really rev him up and make him even faster. I'm thinking it'll be the latter. What is needed now is putting it all together. I have been working with him during class with keeping his cool when other dogs run - and that's showing improvement also.

Unfortunately, this week, we are headed to a NADAC trial in Granger, IA. I say unfortunately because it's our first trial of the year, and I'm not overly excited that it's a NADAC one. I just hope he's learned a little between the last NADAC one and this one with a couple USDAAs in-between to watch me a little more and not run in full extension, but keep his eyes on his Momma. We'll see. He's signed up for the full day - standards, jumpers, tunnelers, weavers, gamblers...all of the above. Will his stamina hold out? Will he watch his Momma? Will his criteria hold out all day and for two days? Lots of questions only he can answer on Saturday. I'll be looking forward to his answers.

2008 Reflection

2008-12-30T09:33:00.004-06:00

It only just occurred to me that it was exactly 1 year earlier that I was at Susan Garrett's skills camp with Treo, and one year later blogging about our first out of town, on dirt, USDAA trial and how great it went. Wow...dedication and planning really do pay off.

I remember when I came back from Skills camp, my goals weren't to work really hard on Treo's nose touches, or his 2x2 training, or his teeter games - I schucked it all to the side to work on our relationship and made goals to shape silly stuff, play more, and had faith that the rest would fall into place. I still consider that one of the most profound decisions I've made so far in Treo's training. When we went to camp, he would hardly engage in his toys - focus was a struggle. Part of that was the fact that he was an intact male, but part of it was that I needed to foster his relationship with me more, and foster his toy play more. Even now, if I take a toy out (last week it was the Wubba) and he gives me a lukewarm response to it during some weave drills, so I make a mental note that Treo and I need 5 minutes for me to show him how fun Wubbas are. This week, I took Wubba out and he was all about it. Wubbas ARE fun, he said.

Did he eventually ace his weave drills...yes. That's a given. What's not a given is that had I not taken the time to just play with the Wubba, it gradually would have lost value and we'd be down a game, lost a tool in our motivation toolbox. I need all those tools - tugs, balls, udders, frisbees - all so very important. Treo's toy play continues to need fostering. The fact that I can randomly pick a toy out of our chest at home and have him immediately play with me is due to the time I've deposited into that bank. He's just not one of those dogs who came out of the womb tugging. Such is life, it's the cards we were delt, but rather than lament about it - I just make a mental note that brings me back to simple play sessions with him that pay off BIG when we're "working."

Another thing I did after skills camp was ignore the teeter for like 10 weeks. Treo really disliked the game. I disliked that he disliked it. We had plenty of other things to work on, so we blew it off. Then, when I introduced it again, I decided to pull out the big guns. If it was food, it was a handful; if it was a toy, it was a frisbee. We'd do one round, big reward and off to something else. It wasn't until my instructor said, "He's on the full teeter by next week" that I decided it was time to put on the big girls panties and run him across and see what we got. I look at his teeter now, and there is still motivation issues there - the value hasn't transferred. Better than it ever was? Yes. Still could be better? Yes. Is it weird that when he flew off the teeter at the last trial I sorta smile to myself and said, "Yay!!!" Yes, it's weird. BUT, it told me that he drove to the yellow, didn't quite feel the decent and decided to bail...but he drove to the yellow....Good Boy!!! Sometimes it's ok to put something away, allow brains to grow, confidence to build in other ways and come back sometime later and try again.

Recently, Susan Garrett released her new DVD Weaving 2x2. It's brilliant. (http://www.clickerdogs.com/) I highly recommend it. Treo weaves like his butt is on fire and it's due to the 2x2 method. He loves the games, he loves the challenges and even when he fails (and I try to screw him up...alot!), he comes back with drive and motivation to "win" his toy. The way I trained him, thinking it was the 'right' way, was a little off from what she has in the DVD. Mainly off due to my interpretation of the progression - but, whatever. All I did, was go back to one gate and reworked entrances. In Treo's brain, it was just a new silly game Mommy came up with. We did a training session one day of just working "the arc" - and once he got it...man, he just is on fire. The next day we took out 12 and a jump, and he just couldn't miss. Well...I eventually got him to miss, but it took me practically swinging the Wubba in his face. At any rate, the lesson is that there's not a thing wrong with going back to the basics. Back to the beginning, reinforce behavior, retrain if necessary. He thinks it's fun and it WILL pay off in 2009. Also, that's the beauty of the 2x2 method - back to the basics is so easy!

So, my lessons for 2008 and good to remember for 2009:

Always take time out and just play

Don't be frustrated about going back to the basics or the beginning.

It's ok to prioritize and put somethings at the bottom of the list - no obsessing (that's a biggie for me)

There's a buddist prayer I have taped to my work computer...for good reason:

Just put thoughts to rest;

Don't seek outwardly anymore.

When things come up,

Then give them your attention;

Just trust what is functional

In you at present,

And you have nothing

To be concerned about.

-Linji (d.867)

USDAA Casa De Canine Lawrence, KS

2008-11-23T20:34:00.006-06:00

We had a very successful weekend at the USDAA trial in Lawrence, KS this weekend. First Dana/Mavrick & Ami/Neelah took first in the Performance Versatility Pairs Tournament. What a huge high and fabulous accomplishment for them!! Very inspiring! Saturday I entered Treo and I in Gamblers (a first) and Regular. Then on Sunday it was Jumpers and Regular.
All I cared about in Gamblers was an opportunity to see how Treo was on a teeter new to him, and secondly to do a combo that would come later in Regular - a Tire, weaves, tunnel sequence that he boffed the last time we were trialing. I put together a nice flowing course and ended up only completing 1/2 of it before the buzzer went off - it surprised us both. He nailed both the teeter and the tire-weaves-tunnel sequence and I was so thrilled that when he got the gamble I almost fell over!

Last class of the day was Performance Regular, and again - goal was hit the weaves and nail that teeter (among 10,000 other goals). Still, he did just dandy. There was some information for me in there also. I still...still...still...need to proof our contacts. There were a couple very close to self-releasing on a "Good Boy!" rather than waiting for a OK. Also, how interesting is it that after playing on the table for 2 years, that in a trial he was like, "uh...what? OH! Yeah!" Dork.

I think we got first place as well as a Q.

Sunday Reg was a little bit of a different story. I thought he was 4th dog in, and he was more like 6th. Plus it took them a little bit to get going, so I got him out way too early. After I realized this, it was too late to put him back away and we just had to wait our turn at that point. True to form, he started to obsess about the dogs around us. Fixate and overall be naughty. When I put in at the start line, he cased the joint and fixated on Ami filming almost right away. Sure that I could snap him into the game, I got his attention and got us going. He did ok on the first three obstacles, jump-AF-Table. Had to remind him his job on the table...again...wow, you know that this is a difficult obstacle, but I still under-estimated it! Then it was table-teeter and a pinwheel. He actually drove all the way to the end of the teeter like a champ, but I think that sorta surprised him and he flew off. D'oh. In the video, which you will not see, he takes the next jump and then turns around to look at the teeter like, "What the F*#@!?!" Which is funny...then he had to finish the pinwheel into 12 weaves. I had to resend him, he missed his entrance and then he nailed them. I had to use a threadle arm so he'd enter the correct side of a tunnel (MANY people missed that nuance out of the weaves and their dog took the other side), Ami saved my butt on that one and showed me how Treo would be finishing the weaves and said that it totally put the other entrance right into his picture. Out of the tunnel he went to the DW and totally demo'ed a very pretty running contact to which he received an, "OH MY!" Which totally bummed him out and he decided to run past the chute. I resent him through the chute after a lot of discussion and then he fixated at a dog hanging out about 3' from the finish line and missed the finish jump. To which he got a, "YA KNOW WHAT?! YOU ARE DONE, DUDE!" And he was escorted to his kennel. He was bummed - walked very regrefully into his kennel. Funny enough, I noticed on the score table that if I would have popped him over the finish jump we would have Q's, but it would have been a sad Q and I don't want those. I got enough of those already!

Did it make an impression? Well, I think so...actually. His next run rocked. He was focused, he had excellent distance where I need him to and he read all my handling brilliantly. Well, this video doesn't show any handling, just Treo rockin' the course, but oh well...I could watch him all day. :D We took first...by a lot...and quite a bit of handling required - 2 FC and a RC plus distance because Momma is SLOW!!!

Treo's Top Ten Update - A week later

2008-11-10T21:52:00.009-06:00

1. “Go See” on cue – no cue, no go see. Had trouble balancing his adoring fans - felt obligated to sign autographs, say hello, and basically ignore his Momma. NAUGHTY!!

This is going pretty well. He still struggles with it because I've caught him turning into a bowlful of jello when someone he loves even looks at him. It's cute puppy wiggles...but NAUGHTY!! I can't help but laugh when he does it, though...!
2. Proof sit stay – was a big squirrel at the seminar

Also going really well. We had a little "Come to Rover" discussion (Rover = Dog God) at Agility class last week. He had developed a pattern where if I reward him for holding his sit, he needed to sniff around him to make sure I didn't drop something. So, after lifting his chin about 4x in a row, I took is precious litte cheeks in my hands and told him that he was really, really getting on my nerves in my best Mom tone. Then, I gave him another shot and he was successful - then was successful everytime after that and was handsomely rewarded for it. We'll see how tomorrow goes - that class is on dirt, which I believe is where our troubles emerged.
3. More pressure during classes – talking, laughing, noise, movement behind him, clapping, squeaky toys and dogs tugging.

Also going particularly well. I put him in his sit-stay and say, "Cue chaos" and my good "friends" in class start all sorts of distractions - from talking, to squeaking toys, to having his FAVORITE people make kissy noises at him....very good stuff. He's getting really good at it. I think the only time he broke is when one of his favorite people reached over and stole his fox tug toy...that was a deal breaker and I couldn't really blame him, actually - but he still got busted and escorted back to position...but, I was laughing.
4. Retrieve – race back to momma, jump up and put toy in my hand.

Much improved in our training sessions at home...still struggling in classes. Either he runs wide and eventually comes back to me, or I have to meet him at the toy and encourage him to put it in my hand, or he bypasses it altogether and doesn't want it. So...any suggestions would be helpful on this one. At home, I have bruises on my legs from him driving to bring it back to me. I just can't crack this nut.
5. Weaves – keep it together while I drive ahead (left weaker than right)
Still working entrances, but they are really hard entrances. Hoping for some warm days this weekend so we can get outside and play!

6. Double box, double box, double box…did I mention double box?

We've worked front crosses a few times, threadles...none as much as I would like. I certainly will be kicking this training up during our class break between Nov & Dec.
7. Shadow handling – discourage flanking and flicking (into nearby obstacles)

This is hard and it was something we were good at when he was a puppy, I didn't keep it up, and we've got flanking and flicking...! So...still reinforcing....
8. Value on the teeter – dizzying value. Mix up teeter b/t 2 tables, bang game and elevator game/advanced elevator game. Figure out what the mind blowing reinforcer is and reward one and no repeats. Cat food? Liverwurst?

I've placed some advanced elevator games with big rewards...I do not have too hard of a time at the club or the other place we train...so, I still need to put value on it. Also a big opportunity for "on break" training.
9. Contact Criteria a. Nose touch – all one movement, nose and front feet. b. AF – drive over the apex and stride down into nose touch. Not even started working on this yet other than holding onto criteria (what criteria we have) in classes and sequences.
10. Drive across DW – so back to restrained recalls with plank b/t two tables. Or this, but i have a private lesson lined up on Saturday where this is the one and only focus.

Treo's Top Ten

2008-11-03T20:57:00.003-06:00

Tracy Sklenar came to Omaha a couple weeks ago - lucky us! Treo told me a LOT that weekend. I immediately went on a weekend bender to Sonoma, CA to recover. It's restructured everything...and now I've got it narrowed down.

Here's Treo's top ten training priorities - feedback he gave me from our Tracy Sklenar seminar.

“Go See” on cue – no cue, no go see. Had trouble balancing his adoring fans - felt obligated to sign autographs, say hello, and basically ignore his Momma. NAUGHTY!!
Proof sit stay – was a big squirrel at the seminar
More pressure during classes – talking, laughing, noise, movement behind him, clapping, squeaky toys and dogs tugging.
Retrieve – race back to momma, jump up and put toy in my hand.
Weaves – keep it together while I drive ahead (left weaker than right)
Double box, double box, double box…did I mention double box?
Shadow handling – discourage flanking and flicking (into nearby obstacles)
Value on the teeter – dizzying value. Mix up teeter b/t 2 tables, bang game and elevator game/advanced elevator game. Figure out what the mind blowing reinforcer is and reward one and no repeats. Cat food? Liverwurst?
Contact Criteria a. Nose touch – all one movement, nose and front feet. b. AF – drive over the apex and stride down into nose touch.
Drive across DW – so back to restrained recalls with plank b/t two tables.

Can I get all this before the USDAA trial in KS on 11/21? Ummm...heh, heh...well...we're a work in progress.

Treo's 2nd Trial

2008-10-02T20:59:00.005-05:00

Lot's of new stuff to learn in this trial. We learned how to do contacts where there is rubber matts. Weird. We learned that it's harder to work in a trial situation and when there's a lot of spectators. We also learned that the "other momma" just might be ringside video taping...and even if I go across the course to say, "HI" I can still make time and Q in NADAC. We also qualified in jumpers - but not without a lot of effort on both our parts. Oh dear. So much to work on, so much confidence to gain - but overall - still finding it fun and that's all that is important.

Treo's A-Frame Analysis

2008-09-23T22:37:00.005-05:00

Today in class at Fairacres Agility (i.e. Christy's) we ran a few of Treo's A-Frames to observe a couple things:
(1) His A-Frame "handstands"
(2) His overally body position - is he landing square on his shoulders or does he have the nice bend and give in his shoulders and elbows that the nose touch is supposed to provide.

For number one - I just see him starting to already shift back after the apex of the Aframe and then he's anticipating the nose touch and offering an extra hop into positions.

For number two - not too shabby actually. I think if I can hold on to the nose touch, I'm fairly satisified with his body postion.

Other things I'm not to impressed with: his "checking in" with me on the down side and him looking at me during nose touches, as if to say, "Throw the toy, THROW IT!" Not cool. I hung back too often also - almost encouraging his look.

I did like his drive to the AF and up it. That was cool. So....lots to talk to Tracy about when she comes next month.

Treo's Jumpers Run

2008-09-07T21:25:00.004-05:00

Oh yes, and we Q'd in Novice Jumpers and took first out of 9 dogs. Fast little sucker isn't he?! Don't blink, or you'll miss it!

Where most people have to rev their dogs up before they run, I was doing controlled healing, tricks and obedience to calm the boy down. He acted completely mellow...he fooled me. I put him in his sit, and when I released him....OH MY...he flew over the first 3 jumps before I even knew it! Thus the turn and looking at the Momma like, "Hey...commin'???" I'm in BIG, BIG trouble!

MM

Treo's first trial!

2008-09-07T21:04:00.008-05:00

Treo had his first trial this weekend and while we Q'd just once out of 6 tries he showed me some brilliant moments and also gave me a lot of information on what we need to focus on in our upcoming training sessions. Below is our first run EVER. We did pretty darn well, but I was eliminated before I even started because I led out, went back and reset him when he got up from his sit and led out again. That's considered "training at the start line" and an automatic "E". Nice of the judge not to tell me until after our run, but by then I was so thrilled with our run that I didn't care. Pretty nose touches, lovely rear crosses....just a good boy...such a good boy. I'm so lucky!

I also attached is my classmate's video, Steve with is equally brilliant pup, Sunny. And also, Cheryl and her pup, Karma. Such great runs - Look out Agility world, here we come!!

MM

Summer Fun!

2008-07-07T22:22:00.005-05:00

It's been nearly a month since our last post. Since then we've ran a full teeter and full dogwalk. What a super star! In the next few weeks we'll be tackling a full height AFrame.
We also learned some very special tricks that I'll have to put to video also...shake, play dead, roll over, bow and howl. He's working on crawl...we just started that tonight.
In the meantime, here's some summer fun with the entire crew: Tazer, Treo, Asha, Rage (token ornamental pommie), and Norah (my Mom's mini-aussie and Neelah's sister)! Sorry about the quality, I video taped it with a super old sony cybershot camera, so it looks all old timey...which also gives it a kinda cool look to it also.

MM & Treo

Teeter Fun

2008-06-14T00:16:00.004-05:00

Treo did his first Teeter last night! Our mentor/instructor ask us to have his teeter by next class, which would have been Wednesday. I think she was somewhat kidding, but in the vein of moving on - I went ahead and decided to see what I got. I did a round of the elevator game - he was mediocre about it. I put one end on the patio and let him drive to a nose touch a couple times, he was good. So...sometimes you have to say, "What the F*ck!?" and see what you got. So, I did. By the end of our session on Thurs night, I was satisfied. He liked the new game, and his mad skills he learned on the bang game and elevator game are starting to kick in.

Of course the very next day, we had to somewhat start over and see build up enthusiasm, but by the end of the session...not too shabby for his first full 24 hrs of full teeter. He's a crack up, and the video will prove how testing he can be! Enjoy!

Fun Run - it's supposed to be fun, right?

2008-06-02T19:59:00.004-05:00

We attended our first fun run this past weekend. I think that it wasn't as fun as it could have been. First of all it was 88 degrees or there in the neighborhood. Secondly, I decided to break up the course into 3-4 obstacle sequences - which sounds good in theory for a baby dog, but for Treo, not so good. Every time I rewarded with the toy, he took off to play with it in the shade. Or, he just randomly took any obstacles obsessively within a 360 degree radius. Once he even took off to go play in a nearby kiddie pools...but he did come back...to do his weaves....I'm trying to focus on the positive! So, lots of double box work for us in our future; as well as, impulse control. Can you weave while there's a filled kiddie pool right next to you? We'll find out.

On a positive note, my co-student Steve and his pup Sunny had a stellar first fun run and it led to a stellar weekend of jumpers and tunnelers at their premier agility trial. I caught the magic fun run that started it all on video and have attached for your enjoyment. (note: Treo's fun run is not attached...maybe someday it'll be a bloopers video!)

Treo Jumping

2008-05-25T14:03:00.005-05:00

I'm evaluating Treo's jumping. We've been working Susan Salo's jump grids since he was a baby. So, the question of the day is 16", 20" or 22"? Treo is about 16 3/4" at the shoulders.

The set up in the yard is NOT a Susan Salo grid. It's just five jumps spread apart - very unscientific.

By the looks of these videos, I'd say 16" looks the most reliable. At 20" he seems like he's reaching, over-compensating and he knocked a bar at 20".

Foolin' Around

2008-05-24T21:14:00.001-05:00

I never have just played toss 'n fetch with Treo. Even as puppy I would have him shadow handle with me, or give me a hand touch to earn a toss of his frisbee, ball or toy. Attached is a session tonight where he was weaving and giving me nose touches on his contact trainer to earn his toys. Things are coming along nicely!

Treo - 18 Months

2008-05-22T22:54:00.001-05:00

I got this really encouraging post from an Agility handler in Australia and it inspired me to make another post. It's been since December since I've posted an update. So, what have we added to our agility list?

- Contacts: We've transitioned to backchaining on the AFrame. Teeter bang game is going well, but when we change environment, it's hard to get that same enthusiasm. He's been on the dog walk and loved it.

- Weaves: Just this past class session, Treo learned to weave 6 poles. Not all at once, of course! We trained Susan Garrett's 2x2 method and to Treo, it was just a fancy toss and fetch game with the toy. I say Thank the Agility Gods I waited to train them because contact training can be so tedious, and then comes training weaves which is so fun!

- Jumps: Lots and Lots and Lots of Susan Salo jump grids. All looks pretty good. He appears to be a 16" jumper, which make sense for his height - a whooping 16 3/4"! This weekend I'm headed to my local Agility mentor's place to video tape him jumping and see how it's going.

- Handling: We're just learning more complex handling and we really need to work hard on his understanding of rear crosses. Right now, it's sketchy. Time to watch Susan's One Jump DVD yet again!

- Relationship/Connection: Definite progress here. I think one of the key factors was him getting neutered in Feb. He's a little more interested in da Momma now. But, he still absolutely loves all his "Other Mamma's" at the dog club too! So...we'll keep working on it.

Happy New Year 2008!

2007-12-31T11:01:00.001-06:00

I can't believe a month has gone by since Skills Camp! I've been busy working on skills with Treo. I promised myself that I would put *agility* on hold, and work purely on relationship deposits and "it's your choice." The results of that have been interesting...and I'll share that in a minute. I feel like since I went to Canada, the learning hasn't stopped. I'm more aware of what is happening between Treo and I during our work sessions and I think he's more aware of me and what I want. I can see him start to lose steam after 45 min of training - no matter whether he was out the entire 45, or whether he was out 1/3 of that time actually working. Bottom line is that his little brain is always running - and a good 1/2 hour is all he can handle with enthusiasm. After that, the toys aren't as fun, the momma isn't as fun...he may still work - but do I want to work him in that state of mind and rehearse lax behavior? Not really. Again, it's just information.

Silly things that I have shaped that will either pay off relationship wise or pay off body-wise:

All four feet on the dyna disc - holding position
All four feet on two dyna discs stacked on top of each other - holding position
Backing up continuously (versus 4 steps and stopping or lying down)
Backing up through the ladder
Backing up the stairs
Perch work with jump bumps
Front paws on my arm, head through the paws for an upper shoulder/neck stretch
Standing on his back feet and holding position
All four feet in a basket
Roll over - this is appearing to be particularly hard for him - not sure why??
Crate games - Mega it's your choice challenges including relaxing with door open while I work another dog.
Directionals - we're in the middle of this training, I wouldn't say we HAVE directionals right now. It sure is freaking fun to train, though.

Wow...that's a lot of stuff when I list it out like that. I got two books that I think will help me continue to come up with weird and wacky things to work on. One is called Pilates for Pooches - which works a lot with the dyna discs and the other is dog yoga. Before we're done, Treo will be a Dogi.

On 1/6, Treo and I are hosting a "What we learned at Skills Camp" train the trainers at our dog club. That will be fun and hopefully informative. If NOTHING else, I hope I convey the sense of community I had at camp and the willingness to have "it's your choice" play out however it may. In other words, I hope people understand that it's OK if a dog has ADD, parades with a toy etc. The time and place for that to happen is in CLASS! Everyone plays a role when that happens, and it has to be addressed in Agility Foundation classes and resolved, or you'll be dealing with it in the competition ring. Who wants that?? I don't. I know we have some dogs that have made it all the way to handling class and were sent back to Foundations for "attention" issues. Well, they aren't getting any better in Foundations because they aren't allowing choices there either. So, I PRAY that I get this right when I talk to everyone on Sunday. This has to change in our training facility. Oh yeah, I almost forgot. The notes from skills camp ended up being 18 pages long and over 5,000 words!!! Wow! That's about 5+ pages per day. That's about right.

Wish me luck on 1/6. I'll let you know how it goes!

Niagara Falls

2007-11-28T19:52:00.002-06:00

We stopped by Niagara Falls on the way back today. It was COLD and WET! The mist was like rain and since it was so cold, there was ice everywhere. Still, it's an amazing sight.

Treo was very curious about what it was. He wasn't scared though, except for all the people with hats on. He thought that was frightening. To be honest, it kinda of was. There was a lot of men around with those wintery fur hats on like in Russia and most of them weren't speaking English, so not only did they look weird to him, they sounded weird.

I thought of a regret that I have - I didn't get pic of me and Treo with Susan Garrett!!! Or, Lynda and Tracy! So bummed! Nobody had cameras out - so, I guess I just didn't think about it. When camp was over, I just wanted to go! 5 days, 7 hours a day is quite intense - and I know Treo and I both were strung out. Oh well. I'm a good note taker, but not a good picture taker. I need to start typing up all my notes before I forget the details. I'm putting it off.