Course Analysis - Exc. Std, Columbus, OH

Did I mention how much fun OH was?  Oh, of course I did!

Any way, here is the Excellent Std course from Saturday, February 28th.

There were actually two areas that caused some problems and both of them were from handlers assuming their dogs would take the jump and didn't support it.

The first was between #12 & #13 - several dogs curled in as the handler moved forward to #14 before the dog was committed to #13.  Mainly, handlers turned and dogs came with them.  It surprised me and several of the teams out there - many asked me about it on Sunday and I happily answered what I had observed.

I really do like good questions and am happy to help out - when I remember that is

The second portion was after the #16 weaves, the angle to the #17 jump.  Many folks thought the #17 jump was an easy obstacle for the dog and moved on to #18.  However, the poles made a rounded angle to the #17 jump and unless handlers held their position, the dog came off of #17.  Also, I have no doubt that the depressed angle of the #17 jump meant a longer commitment time by the handler was needed.

If handlers turned their shoulders toward the #18 jump before dogs took the #17 jump, the chances of them coming off the #17 jump increased significantly.  Sometimes patience is key and that seems to be one of the hardest things to do when you're used to continuously moving on a course.

Consider this

Simple and concise you gotta love it. I bring you a short educational video I really enjoyed watching today. It is the top 3 important things people should know who live with and train dogs. I hope people find it helpful or at least thought provoking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTkYvn1HjrI

It is 6 minutes in duration from YouTube. (Sorry I couldn't get it to embed for some reason.)Originally posted at http://www.dogstardaily.com/ on the blog. Go check out the site for some fabulous free training advice and a great blog with multiple contributors. At the risk of looking like a complete suck up, another one of the reasons Dr. Ian Dunbar is one of my favorites is his choice in dogs. He and his wife Kelly currently share their lives with a frenchie (Hugo) AND a pitbull (Dune) in the immediate family. Seriously, how can I resist that? They obviously have great taste.

On another note: Tomorrow I am headed to Massachusetts with my sister and her boyfriend to look at the bulldog puppies we found. I am VERY excited! I'm sure I will take many photos and have some to share later. Wish us luck in picking the right match.

Emotions & Training

Emotions - we all have 'em and sometimes they're a blessing and sometimes a curse.  

I'm mentoring someone who, during the course of training their dog, is experiencing a range of emotions. I'll bet you can relate - they started off with their dog acting brilliantly.  Each week the brilliance increased and the dog & handler were having a great time.  Now as the handler experiences success, they expect their young dog to act brilliantly all of the time and at a moment's notice. They've now gone from a euphoric high to a ground-slamming low of disappointment as their expectations have surpassed the dog's ability.

Rather than go into the "Why's" of the situation, I thought it would be good to address the one thing nobody talks about - Training & the accompanying EMOTIONS!

It's natural for our emotions to take over at times. Like when you've just had an incredible agility run with your dog and you're certain you just conquered the world...or there was that equally frustrating run where you were less than pleased with either yourself or your dog....I'll bet you can immediatly blurt out how you felt in those moments.

The first thing I want to say is that emotions are NATURAL!  Like it or not, we live with them in every waking & non-waking moment.  Some of us are more prone to embrace (or be overtaken by) them and some are in denial that their parents passed on the emotion gene (I hate to tell you, but it's there).

Whatever type you are, I suggest preparing for "emotions" to sneak up on you at some point while training your dog.  It's going to happen. 

Unfortunately most coaches don't talk about this side of Agility and who could blame them? Emotions can be sticky, icky, uncomfortable, personal and honestly, not many agility coaches have a degree in Wading Through Emotional Sludge.

Let me say upfront that I've experienced both euphoric and just plain ugly emotions during my 13 year dog career and I'll bet you have too.  Some lessons I've learned the hard way and some lessons I did just right - life is about learning and you'll find yourself learning as you go too. Any way, since many of us commit ourselves to our dogs & to our training financially, physically and with our souls it's natural - and to be expected - that our commitment level comes out in emotions every once in awhile. 

Some handlers try to pretend that they're always positive and this is simply being untrue, unfair and undermining to themselves.  I say recognize & embrace your emotions because it is a part of who you are.  NOW, with that said, that doesn't mean emotions should necessarily run the show and run your behavior - especially if it highlights the inside ugly monster you swore you'd never let out of it's cage!

Seriously, be aware of how you're feeling (happy or not) and if you're not feeling "balanced", are overwhelmed, irratated, disappointed, etc. then stop, chose not to train, don't continue with what was eliciting the negative emotion, concentrate on breathing and resist the urge to replay the bad in your mind and instead chose to focus on things that went well.

Emotions are going to happen and it's our job to recognize them as they occur and if appropriate, immediately move toward an action that relieves any negative feelings - BEFORE we act upon them.

I share all of this because emotions and training do not necessarily go hand in hand.  Training is about our dog, is more factual based and focuses on a goal.  On the other hand, emotions are about US and they are sporadic and often can be unfair and illogical. 

So the next time you go to train your dog, check your emotions at the door (ok, just the negative ones!) and be prepared to focus on your dog and not your emotions.

As always, have fun and enjoy the training!  Oh wait, those are emotions....

Why & What Foundation Work?

Today I turn 40, so I might be a bit nostalgic - but I realized that I've been training/competing/teaching in agility for 13 years now!

Last year I got my 5th dog, a Dalmatian I named Rouge (or Ru for short). Since she is now 13 months old it's time to start thinking of agility training beyond puppy concepts. With that in mind, I attended a Foundation Seminar given by my favorite instructor, Stacy Peardot-Goudy. I've been working with Stacy for 12 years now and it's great that she is still my "go to" person.

Why go to a Foundation Seminar:

As I mentioned, I've been in Agility for 13 years, am on my 5th dog and I paid to go to a Foundation Seminar.  Some might ask why?  Well first, no matter how many times I may have heard something, it's always good to be reminded of it again - especially in Foundation work when most of us want to skip on off to the end result. Next, I might learn a great exercise, learn a new tip, be reminded of something I'd forgotten, learn by watching the other young dogs or have a chance to ask a knowledgeable person a question or two and to see their view point on various topics.

But the biggest reason is that no matter how much I've learned or how much I know, it's fun to be the student again!  There is so little pressure. I mean I don't have to prove myself, all I have to do is LISTEN and WATCH (the 2 best ways to learn) and it gives me an opportunity to work & focus on only my young dog.

History of Foundation Training for Me:

When I think back on the 5 dogs I've owned and the journey we've had together, I can see how things -including me - have changed.  My first dog was my FIRST dog ever.  With her, Agility was just coming into the main stream and training was a wing on a prayer (Foundation was never a thought).  

With my second & third dogs, training was better, but both dogs were rescues and there was a ton of "other" baggage that had to be worked through before I could even think about Agility (Foundation Training was called "Obedience").  This is when I also became more interested in behavioral shaping and decided to greatly expanded my training skills beyond the basics and even beyond Agility. 

My 4th dog was brilliant and I could experiment on his agility training and behavioral shaping as much as I'd like because he loved to work and was very high drive. Unfortunately he knew how to push my buttons so the unexpected lessons learned (via the school of Fort Knox!) was to stay calm (even when he was a whirling dervish) and break the training steps down into TINY pieces and TINY time frames so that both of us could be successful. 

This is when I first heard the term "Foundation Training" as it relates to Agility.  A "well known" seminar person said "you need to work on Basic Skills," but when I asked for specifics, they couldn't define them!  I love their theory, but I work much better in reality and so I've since been on a mission to better define all of the skills I've acquired and taught dogs so that I could come up with a definable and relevant Foundation Skill Set & Plan for myself.

Foundation Training Today:

I'm happy to say that before the seminar, I had about 80% of my Foundation Plan formulated in my head and had been actively doing it with Ru over the last year.  After the seminar, I feel I'm 99% there.

After 13 years and 5 dogs, this is the first time I really know EXACTLY what outcome I want when it comes to her agility related performance and I have the hands-on experience to know exactly how to train it.  Maybe I'm a slow learner, but more than likely it's because I've been growing and learning during the last 13 years and now have a solid definition, skill set and a plan for Foundation Training.

What is Foundation Training To Me:

My definition of foundation training is the general & "every day" skills that I teach my dog that can easily be translated into basic agility skills. While these are the ones that are important to ME and since each dog is different, plans may need to be adjusted to take that into account.  

I should note that thanks to Stacy's Seminar, her influence and smart training over the years, there is no doubt she is the master behind this list.  Especially since she is the creator of the Contact Training Method 2-on-2-off, which I have spent a lot of my time playing with and having fun shaping.

My Basic Foundation Skills Plan:

• Attention - okay, this is Stacy's word.  Mine would have been the sentence "ensuring the dog doesn't zoom around the ring, race off to another county or leave you frantically yelling "come" as you chase the dog down"  However, the point is still the same.  Without you and the dog working together, there is no team work - only frustration and conflicting agendas.
• Name Recognition - ah, it's so basic and yet there are still dogs out there who don't know their name or more importantly, don't care about their name when there are other exciting things happening!  When naming my current Pup, I knew it had to be a short, fun name. While Rouge is her formal name, it was automatically shortened to Ru and when I call her, it's a fun "Ru-Ru!".  That name gives a positive feeling for both of us since I keep it light and up beat.
  
• Play Drive - this is definitely Stacy's word!  Each dog is different and my Dals love their toys, but not in the ring.  I'm sure it's something that I've done (or not done) and this is an unfinished item for me in the plan. Food has been a great motivator for the Dals, but toys were easily used with my Border Collies. Note to self: I need to experiment in make toys a higher paycheck for my Dals in the ring if at all possible.  Second note: Play doesn't have to be about toys - it can be a game of chase, etc. Now that I'm good at!
• Eye Contact - I just love this one and work hard to share with my students the impact and information eye contact can have on a course.  I encourage my dogs to make eye contact at a start line when appropriate, when I need to be very specific about something (collection, come into my hand to go between obstacles, etc.). It's a powerful tool that most people don't think about.
• Hand Touch/Lead Hand - Stacy uses Hand Touch, which is the first step to teaching my favorite term, Lead Hand.  The end result is to teach the dog the importance of following your hand cue - a must if you want to make it around an agility course or snake your dog through a crowd.
• Parallel Path Work (Stacy's name) - Heel & Side (the terms I use).  It's interesting that I learned this skill set wwwaaaayyyy back when after having done quite a bit of obedience work with Pinky (this would have been 12+ years ago). I don't remember what led up to it, but I got the idea that Pinky should learn to work not just on the "heel" but also on the other "side" as well.  I'm not terribly creative with names and "side" stuck.  I worked it various ways and played lots of games with it.  The one detail part that Stacy's seminar definition added (& that I will be incorporating) is that the dog must be parallel to you and not kind of parallel or sitting crooked.  I know I had that with Pinky because of Obedience, but not so sure I would have been that much of a stickler in detail with my new pup - it was a great point to relearn.
  
• Verbal Release - Ah, the age old proofing of not moving and using a single word to release the dog from a position.  It's been around for a long time and yet it seems to be one of the hardest to maintain, especially as we begin to compete and potentially forgo the release word in our excitement to be on course.  Yes, I found myself doing this with dog #4 in our very first run.  That was a HUGE mistake and I'm going to have to work HARD at not doing that again .
• Directional Commands - Some folks can use Right & Left (refers to the dog's right and left), but I am NOT that talented so I tend to focus on relative directional commands such as "Get Out" (means move away from me), "Here" (means move into me), and "Back" (means 180 degree turn).  Other commands you may have heard are Switch, etc.
• Rear & Front Cross Hand Signals - Defining what your Front & Rear cross signals are is the first step in this process.  After all, if you don't know what you're trying to teach, it won't get taught very clearly to your dog. Details are important on this one and should be done on the flat first.
• Reinforcement/Shaping - It's important that trainers/handlers know and understand what actions or steps they want and are actually shaping or reinforcing. We may have an idea in our head, but the reality of the situation may not match what's happening. This piece of Foundation Work is for the handler/trainer as it will help in communicating your expectations to your dog.

So even after the hands-on experiences, training, seminars and other education I've received, a Foundation Seminar is still relevant.  I would suggest everyone go with their new dog, even if you know the content it's GREAT to be a student and have fun with your dog.

Feeding Rituals and Funny Moments

I wasn't planning to post again so soon, but grabbed my camera when I saw a potential story. Such are the pressures when you keep a blog. As usual, I just click away as these things unfold - nothing is staged; why would I stage anything, this place is funny enough!

In fact, I was downloading photos thinking I had the whole story and was laughing at River's face in one of the photos. I called her but she didn't show up. When I got up to see what she was doing, I saw this sight - two sets of ears in my little kitchen that overlooks the living room (it used to be the Minister's pulpit in this old, renovated church, so is up on a stage!) - -

- - and I HAD to quickly grab the memory card from my computer to take a few more pictures. The dogs were saying "This story is not finished until we get our cookies!"

Ever since River was a puppy, she has been rewarded with a cookie for finishing her dinner because she is often a picky eater. It is now part of the household culture, and tonight I laughed because clearly Caden is in on it. I took this picture tonight. You can see that she is very serious about this step in the feeding process. She just finishes eating, and heads over for the next phase.

The above photo is a flashback to Caden's predecessor, Thorn (top left), Shaman, River, Ted and Jet in my old kitchen (in Thunder Bay). Funny how dogs pass on traditions too! This photo was taken in November, 2007, a month before Thorn died from Cancer.

And by the way, Jet and Ted eat in crates, but I always "deliver" cookies to them too, guilted into it by their glares as the others chew joyfully.

So here is where our story really begins. On the weekend at the herding lesson with Scott Glen, people were mentioning chicken hearts and gizzards as great additions to kibble. I picked some up today and lightly heated them. The dogs gathered around, so I took out a heart and offered it to Caden. He had no idea what to make of it! He gingerly carried it to the rug and studied it from several angles.

Shaman couldn't stand it! He might be 11 years old, but he has never been a shrinking violet. He decided he would simply walk in and take it.


This shows how sweet natured Caden is. His face was all wrinkled as he watched Shaman eat it. Often Caden "muzzle licks" Shaman, crouching down and licking Shaman's face. Shaman has always been a "top dog" - very sure of himself. He has his ups and downs now with age and because of cancerous lesions that cause him trouble from time to time, so I love to see him have these moments -- he is my "bad boy." Below it is like Caden is saying "wow, my hero!"


On to feeding. Every night I feed the dogs in the exact same order. Ted (because he can't wait); Jet (because her crate is beside Ted's); River; Shaman and finally Caden. I used to feed Caden first but now that he is a year old, we are using feeding time for a bit of training.

We work on Platz! That is what "we Schutzhund trainers" say instead of "down." Caden always hits the floor very quickly tail wagging. I don't say "stay" because telling him to Platz means stay put until you get another command. It is very similar to telling my Border Collies to "Lie Down" - you don't say stay. Lie Down means lie down! (Please refer to my post last weekend where I swore this lesson about lie down has finally sunk in...) At least, at this stage in our practice it means lie down, but I digress...


By the way, this is the photo that made me crack up - look at River's face! I think she is laughing... (see the very bottom of this post for my evidence...)

This is funny too - Caden's eyes are closed. I don't know if he is pretending there are no chicken hearts in there, or if it means he likes it! In the photo below, he does look a little doubtful from how he is carrying his ears. Usually I add ground beef to their food (half cooked) so I guess this was something different!

The other thing we work on when he is lying down is "quiet..." Because Caden is verrrrry vocal. He used to lie down and bark at me. I have to have patience and wait him out, so that he doesn't get what he wants until he is quiet. Now he knows and he waits eagerly. I always make him wait for a moment, and then put his dish down - trying very hard not to have a pattern or give him any cues.



I thought that was the end of the story but of course, I forgot cookie-time. Caden backed up for the second photo to look at the camera.


And Shaman doesn't miss cookie time either. I love River's ear at attention in the foreground!

You'll have to trust me that Jet and Ted got their cookies too!

PS

River's "laughing" face...

As soon as I saw the above photo and the look on River's face I knew it was her laughing face. All night tonight River has been in a very social, silly mood. I have no idea why. I have been home sick with the flu and maybe she likes the company! Right away I remembered this photo (below) taken last month. I have one of those screen savers that shows a slideshow of my pictures - and every time this photo appears on the screen I catch myself smiling. Aren't dogs great?

She is VERY pleased with the spider toy and gave me a big smile for the camera...

The Truman Report

A good news update.

Some of my regular readers may recognise this handsome boy as Truman, the shelter dog that was trained to compete in the Maine Boatyard Dog Trials. It is a fun contest put on by Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors annual trade show in Rockland Maine with a limited entry accepted. The contest is based on 3 simple rules: either the dog or handler has to finish completely soaked; cheating is not only tolerated it is encouraged; and there are no other rules! Fun!!!

The contest itself is comprised of an obstacle course, a tippy dingy challenge (dog and handler has to jump in and out of the dingy - this is the part one of them usually gets wet) and a freestyle portion. For our freestyle we did a secret agent routine because when they entered, we had no idea what we would have for a dog to work with at the time of the contest. It depended upon what we had for dogs at the shelter to chose from when the course started. Here is the repost of that story.

http://k-9solutionsdogtraininginc.blogspot.com/2008/08/we-are-champions.html#links

It was a blast to work with Truman and all the kids. We also had a back up dog in training (an understudy double agent if you will) who looked like he was Trumans brother in case of injury or adoption that could put a crimp in our progress. This meant they were training two dogs at the same time. My job was to teach the kids what they needed to know to be able to train the dogs. In the mornings we watched the video "The Language of Dogs" by Sarah Kalnajs together so I could also help them learn as much about reading dogs as possible as a two week course allows. Then the afternoons we spent working on skills with each dog. The kids made up the routine and chose the tricks based on the skills we taught.

While two weeks isn't going to give anyone a fully trained dog, we were able to put a few tricks under his belt that worked great during the competition. (Held on a floating dock in the harbor in front of a HUGE crowd of onlookers on the docks and in surrounding boats.) The best part was it showed that adult shelter dogs CAN learn new skills. Adding to that was the fact Truman was a hound, a breed some think can't be trained at all. Well we not only proved them wrong we proved he was a real winner and he (and his trainers) walked away with the coveted Pup Cup Trophy. I am very proud of all of them and the work they did.

Of course he still needed a new home to go to afterwards. One family took him on a trial but he was returned for being to rough with their other resident small dog. Then the new issue of Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors came out with a feature of the World Champion Boatyard Dog in need of his new home. This became the rest of his story. See Truman with his new dad in the following story with video clip:

http://www.soundingsonline.com/news/home-waters/100-long-island/230742-from-shelter-dog-to-boatyard-dog.html

(Thanks Amie for the update.)


Our freestyle secret agent routine included: jumping over and though obstacles, responding to commands in 3 other languages, chasing down the bad guys (& pushing them off the dock!) kissing the rescued femme fetale and going back undercover as an average family dog. (it was very cool and set to the pink panther and mission impossible theme songs) Not to shabby for a bunch of kids and someones idea of a cast off. I am SO happy to see Truman got such a great forever home out of the deal. That is the win we were really all looking for after all.

Understanding Dog Attacks and Dog Bites

Very frequently I do come across people looking for large or medium dogs as family pets. Since most of my peeps know me as a German Shepherd Dog keeper, almost every weekend I receive loads of phone calls from people wanting to adopt German Shepherd Dogs, but they are worried about the nature of the breed. The first question I am usually hit with is "How can I make sure that my puppy will grow up to a safe member for my family?" People express their love for large dogs, but at the same seem to be too confused with the stories of dog attacks and dog bites. So today I planned to blog on understanding the dog attacks and how to prevent them.
Well, although in fact dog aggression depends on breeds and even on bloodlines , but it depends mainly on your way of up keeping your puppy. All you need is to understand why actually dogs attack and what causes them behave in the way they do at times. Its only after you get a sound understanding of these whys and whats, you can prevent dog attacks.

Selective Breeding: My first suggestion is to look for a responsible breeder, if you are planning to buy a dog. Dog breeding is a scientific art! A knowledgeable dog breeder puts special emphasize on temperament of the dam and sire while picking specimens for breeding program. Remember, structurally sound dogs do not necessarily make good pets. Steer clear of the breeders who deliberately combines over-tempered specimens.

Instincts: Most of the dog attacks are instinctive. Be it a stray dog or a pure breed, under a given circumstance a dog reacts according to what his instincts make him behave the way he does. Two most effective ways to override this basic problem are to start socializing him at the very early age - about 8 weeks or so, and then putting him into a consistent training session to teach him what are goods and what are bads. CHECK OUT WHY DOGS BECOME AGGRESSIVE!

Provocation: This is one major reason for dog bites and dog attacks, although a not a huge number of dog bites has been reported due to provocation. Provocation in this case is defined as instigating the dog to lose cool on you. Its pretty hard to understand how actually you provoke your dog to get aggravated. Let me try to make things easier for you to understand the dog bites and dog attacks due to provocation. If you are a dog lover or if your child loves dogs too, you both might want to approach him to give him a pat. The dog may not like to be patted or be approached. He will express his displeasure with a slight growl, which most children overlook. If don't hold your child back, s/he would be provoking the dog to bite. Certain expressions of displeasure are so subtle that they usually go unnoticed, making the dog behave in the way he should not. These expressions are some forms of warnings. When you approach a stranger dog with love, he may stiffen up himself, which is an indication that he doesn't want to mingle with a stranger like you. When you stretch out your hand towards a dog, and if he constantly notices at your hand with his body slightly stiffened, instead of at your face with his tail wagging, it's also a kind of warning. Overlooking this dog behavior means provoking the dog to bite you.

Growling is not the only one signal that a dog may warn you with. Growls are usually delivered when these subtle strokes of warning are not heeded carefully. But even if a dog delivers slight growls, a child may not understand what it was meant (lack of ability to recognize the warning) for and he keeps trying to grab the dog which makes the child a victim of fatal dog attacks. Sometimes dogs just walk away when you approach him. Remember, when a dog walks away without responding to your actions, it's a kind of warning that you must be aware of. If you make a second trial to approach him you will provoke him to behave in a way that's not expected.

Cynophobia: Cynophobia is the clinical name for an abnormal fear of dogs, which is again another reason that makes a dog attack. Wondering how? when a Cynophobic patient faces a dog s/he behaves irrationally and screams loud, which irritates most of the cool tempered dogs too. This makes the dog pounce on the person, which can end up with unexpectedly unpleasant incidence. Read HOW TO ELIMINATE CYNOPHOBIA.

So how can you prevent dog attacks? Simple! Don't provoke him; don't make a dog attack you. Understanding the dog attacks and dog bites finds its importance here. The owners' responsibilities can't be denied hereby. If you are a dog owner, train you dog by a professional dog trainer. Socialize your dog at the the early age. You can also consult a canine behaviorist about how to become an alpha member. Make your dog realize that you are the boss and he has to obey your command. If you are a dog owner, please read HOW TO DEAL WITH DIFFICULT DOGS.

The girls - artistic portraits

This is a watercolour of River standing on the Lake Superior beach last summer, while visiting Grand Marais Minnesota. I love this photo of River so felt inspired to do something artsy with it. River looks so feminine, yet is a very imposing looking German Shepherd. One corner of her mouth is curled up in a mischevious smile.

And this is my other girl, Jet, retrieving a stick from the cold waters of Lake Superior. I love this photo of Jet because it captures everything about her - her determination and the effort she puts into her work. See how her eyes are squinted shut as she hauls this big stick out of the water! She thinks she is much bigger than her 35 pounds.

Another lesson with Scott Glen

Jet and Ted curled up together last night on the couch. They were feeling pretty happy after a day spent driving to Nanton (south of Calgary) for our monthly lesson with Scott Glen. Louanne Twa sets these up for everyone, and brings the sheep.

It takes a Village to train a stockdog. That is what came to mind when I was driving home last night from my monthly lesson with Scott Glen. Since I don't have my own sheep anymore, I am depending on the generosity of people who set up opportunities to train. It is a great, supportive network of like-minded people.

I feel very lucky to be able to train with Scott so often now. For the last two years, I would drive for two days (13 hours) to a place down near Chicago to get some lessons with Scott. Now, I am two hours from Nanton - thanks to Louanne Twa's efforts at setting up these lessons. Since Jet and Ted are from Scott and Jenny, Scott knows them. He has trained them both, so always has good observations and advice to help me along.

This is Ted in Michigan the weekend I brought him home. I used to drive for 2 days to get to the closest clinic with Scott - now I drive for 2 hours!

Every time I watch Scott work the dogs I see the importance of getting your timing just right on your commands. I know this comes with practice, but it also helps to see Scott's timing in order to emulate it the next time I train on my own. Ted is still learning a lot and apparently I could demand a bit more from him. For example, when I say lie down - he should actually lie down!

I am sure there are times when Scott must feel like he should just record himself telling me this, and give it to me to play in my car - "When you say lie down, make sure he takes it!" But I think that 20 times is going to be the charm and it will stick!

Jet in her spot on the couch last night (after booting Ted off...)

At our last lesson in January we saw Jet suddenly leap ahead in her progress. Maybe it is her maturity, but suddenly she is trying so hard that it is nearly laughable to see her being harder on herself than I could be. She lies herself down, paces herself and is extra careful to give the sheep breathing room. Scott has put a lot of groundwork into training Jet and it is very rewarding to see this training shine. Of course, I am probably jinxing myself by writing it down! It is my responsibility to keep it going and hopefully, not mess her up.

Jenny sent me this photo of Jet in training at Alta-Pete Farm last winter.

I am really enjoying all of the opportunities to work Jet and Ted here in Alberta. But I really miss having my own sheep! I am on the lookout for a good piece of land and - happily for me, but not for others - prices are coming down drastically making this dream seem achievable.

In the meantime, I will keep moving around like a gypsy with my dogs in tow, working sheep here and there and appreciating all the help.

What not to do at the vet

The new job is going fabulous. I am so happy to have found something more my speed than the dispatching. The worst day there doesn't come close to the stress of the other job at it's best which also helps. Of course there are some things that could be better which has prompted this specific post. This is stuff that can make you very unpopular at your vets office. Read and heed!

1) Do not bring an extra pet along for treatment to your scheduled visit. "Oh can we do Fluffys nail trim while I am here too?" A specific amount of time is set aside for your pet's visit and adding to that can throw off a vets rest of the day schedule and cause other clients to have to wait. This does not garner points with the receptionists in charge of the schedule.

2) Please do not yell at your pet to SIT, SIT, SIT! when clearly they have never practiced this outside the home before. Adding to your pets stress of being at the vet by commanding them to do something they do not understand helps no one and irritates others watching. Note: They do not have to sit on the scale for it to be accurate, they merely have to physically stay on it for a few seconds.

3) When you see the Dr. at the front desk while you are there picking up food do not assume they have 30 minutes to answer your "By the way Doc..." questions. They may not even have 5 minutes available then. Instead feel free to request a phone call at the doctors convience or schedule an appointment. This can also cut into the doctors already scheduled client time. The doctors may feel uncomfortable saying they can't speak with you now which again garners you no points with the staff dealing with the rest of the waiting and sometimes then angry clients.

4) Do not be late to your appointments. If you are running late call to let us know. This can help us rearrange the schedule as needed. If you are late expect to wait patiently for your new turn in the rotation.

5) Expect to wait. There may have been an emergency we had to fit in and it has thrown our schedule off. We are doing everything possible to keep appointments running on time and dislike keeping people waiting as much as you dislike waiting. Trust me on this.

6) Bring your pet on a leash or in a carrier. Just because your cat is well behaved doesn't mean the dog in the waiting area also is. We have carriers and leashes for you to borrow if needed. We are happy to provide them.

7) A waiting area of a vets office isn't the best place to socialize your new pet. There may be other animals waiting that are sick and contagious, or unfriendly due to stress. Never let your pet approach another without asking the owner if it is ok is a good rule no matter where you are.

8) If you need to reschedule an appointment please do. Do not think just not showing up is ok. The time has been held for you and we can use that for emergencies if we know it is available.

9) Know that it is never a good idea to make the staff angry by mistreating us. Yelling at us doesn't help anything. We are the first line you have to the Doctor after all. We do not make the hospital policies, nor set the prices, merely enforce them and process the payments. Treat us as you want to be treated and everything will be fine.

I also have a small brag that I have been added as a featured blogger at the following site: http://mainepets.mainetoday.com/ I am very excited to have been considered worthy along side my fellow trainer and blogger Nancy Freedman-Smith. (She writes Dog's Life blog, be sure to check it out)

P.S. The photo is not waiting area of the vet hospital I work at.

1st Annual Doggie Street Festival- Freestyle Performance March 1st

Come by and check out Splash's new routine!

Pam with her talented Border Collie Bandit will also be performing amazing tricks! 

vistit this site for more details!:  doggiestreetfestival.org

Just a walk

Today it is snowing and raining and overall yucky outside. You would never know that yesterday was such a beautiful almost spring day out there. I am so glad I took advantage of it while it was here. After lunch in town Jack and I went for a nice long walk. This is him being all photogenic by the water.



Of course we ended up at The loyal Biscuit. Here he is making sure Lauren doesn't drop any of her sandwich. (I am in lust with that crate cover in the background btw.)



While there we got to meet this adorable little piglet named Wilbur. How perfect is that name?! He was even more snugglicious in person. The ears just kill me! He was a brave little guy and played abit with uncle Jack. (Jack is uncle to ALL puppies.) He had the cutest voice and knew how to use it too.

Meeting this sweet guy after the previous post makes my heart hurt just that much more. Some things are just so amazingly wrong on so many levels.

The trinity of tracking

This is a long post. It started out being about tracking this weekend, and ended up being about how my philosophy about tracking continues to evolve and grow. So as I finished typing, I decided to add this 'conclusion' at the beginning of the post, instead of at the end. Tracking is one of those 'sports' that becomes a passion. And the longer I am at it, and the more dogs I train, the more I learn. I have now been tracking since 1990, and have trained nine of my own dogs, plus coached countless students over the years. The one thing I can tell people for sure, is never believe you know everything there is to know about tracking!

I hope you enjoy these ramblings. I used subtitles to try to break this up a bit. Watch for some photos and maps to be added over the next few days.

Back to tracking, and evaluating where I am at

I was out twice with Caden and River this week. I can't believe the temperatures - hovering between minus 10 and plus 1 C (0 Celsius = 32 F). I had a heads'up that I might meet a local Schutzhund trainer (and a very good one at that) for some tracking on Monday. So I decided I should go out to see if Caden remember his early SCH tracking lessons.

I am a fanatic about planning and goal setting, so as I was out on the weekend, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I got to where I am - and where am I going? To know how to train my dogs I need to have clear goals and timeframes.

Caden was 6 months old last July when I had the privelege of attending a Wallace Payne SCH seminar hosted by the Thunder Bay Schutzhund Club in northwestern Ontario. Check for the links to this club, and to Wallace Payne's website in the sidebar menu under 'Handy Links.'

I found Wallace Payne to be one of the best tracking clinicians I have ever worked with. To be honest, it was a very pleasant surprise to find out similar our view of tracking are.

I think that we are all guilty of become narrow-minded about our sport. I confess to spending many years being critical of SCH tracking and viewing it as harsh and 'stylish.' I was a bit of a tracking snob over the idea that CKC (or AKC) style tracking permitted a dog the freedom to explore scent in a more natural way. I also felt my method of training was far more motivational and less compulsion-based (i.e., force training).

Over the years however, I found I wanted a dog that was going to have more working drive. I don't say this in any way to criticize one dog I have worked with. We all know that dogs are a product of our training.




River is so confident on non-veg now! River learned to track the traditional way - on veg only. For her TDX, she learned to cross roads without really tracking on the road. One of the biggest challenges I had in urban tracking was to convince River that when we went from veg to a parking lot, she should not look up and run across. Now I am convinced she likes urban better than field tracking. It's interesting. She whines in parking lots the way my old dogs whined on gravel roads in the country.


My current UTDX-ready German Shepherd River is the best dog I have ever worked with, and that is very likely because I have fine-tuned my training and expectations and she has benefitted from that. She and I are such a team - and I like to use a completely loose line on her. She knows her job and works very hard at finding the track. In urban tracking it is nice to have a dog that will work this way. I am trying to keep River fresh, happy and confident in her tracking, and will be looking for some urban tests for her to try for the final level of tracking in Canada and hopefully a Tracking Championship.

Learning from mistakes

Dogs are our best teachers! I made some errors when I first trained River in urban tracking. I did not set the boundaries very clearly, thinking that in urban tracking a dog will probably go all over hell's half acre to find the scent, and I should let her do that. I accidentally allowed her to follow scent drift and parallel the primary track. She became frantic at times looking for the track. This made me realize I was doing something wrong. I emailed people I respect, to ask for advice. The people who really helped me were people with CT (Champion Tracker) dogs, who had been successful in one or more VST tests (a UTDX is comparable to the AKC VST test). The people who made the most sense to me said that even on a hard surface - keep her close to or on the primary track. Another great piece of advice was to lay tracks in big parking lots where she would not be pulled over to any veg edges.

Sure enough, I began to keep River in check. I worked with a friend and we experimented with putting a lot more articles on the track, to keep our dogs more track-focused. I spent more time laying long legs alternating with complex patterns in industrial parks full of buildings and parking lots. River seemed to be relieved that I was giving her more clarity. And over time, she became more and more confident - finally to the point of cheerful and cocky - on non-veg surfaces. When I saw this happen I gave her back more control and watched her bloom as an advanced tracking dog! Finally, we earned our UTD - and surprise - we were really READY.


The trinity of tracking

Last summer, the universe converged on three key tracking concepts for me.

The first was to read Steve Ripley's book Making Scents of the Urban Jungle where Steve emphasizes that we should NEVER follow our dog unless they are ON the track (in training, when we know where it goes). Steve will allow the dog to explore and think but will not follow unless the dog is right back ON the track. So knowing what your goal is, and training right is the first part of this trinity.

The second thing to happen for me was attending the Wallace Payne Schutzhund clinic, where Wallace showed how to start a dog the SCH way, by ensuring the dog is nose-down on each footstep - using praise and motivation - and building in minor "blocks" where you verbally or physically prevent your dog from every going off the primary track. So proper praise, motivation and correction (!) are also part of the trinity. Certainly there was a day when the word "correction" was never mentioned in the same sentence as 'tracking' but I hope you realize that by correction what we are really doing is SHAPING BEHAVIOUR.

Three is a magical number so I have a lot of faith in this "trinity of tracking." The third thing that happened was Caden. I purposefully chose Caden from his strong herding and working lines because I needed to learn more about working with drive. Jet and Ted have shown me what it is like to have dogs with a strong desire to work work work.

Jet was the first dog I trained by starting her right away on all surfaces. With each new dog, I learn new ideas. In this photo she is on the last leg of her successful TD - the only dog to pass that day in high windgusts, on a track that had aged to just over one hour old.

In addition, I admire my friend Karen Boyes' Aussies Jasper and Penny who are both Tracking Champions - and I love their stick-to-it determination and decided I wanted some of that for my next tracking dog! Jet is much like this when she tracks, but now that we are in Alberta, Jet is a stockdog first. So Caden would be my new tracking dog.

I have found that a dog with such a strong working drive is very different to train and handle. I tried to teach Caden the way I have taught my other dogs to track, and he was pulling me onto my knees and dragging me without mercy. Hence, the Schutzhund Seminar! I went to the Thunder Bay SCH Club for help in handling this ball of wire! It was then that I realized that when you have a dog with so much drive - it is not only possible, but important, to use more control in your training. But, more on drive later.


Caden started as a pup on all surfaces just like Jet did. But, I also make sure to keep him focused on the primary track and don't let him make mistakes in training. I try to keep him calm and focused, so that his confidence and belief in himself will stay strong. Later - much later - he will be introduced to more complex ideas and problem solving.

So what is the third part of the tracking trinity? It is knowing what your own dog is made of - the dog! What are your dog's drives and behaviours and how do you work with them?

Never stop learning!

When you decide to think out of the box, stop being a tracking snob, or to open your mind to new ideas - it is amazing how much more there always it out there to learn.

What I have learned from my SCH friends is that you bring the dog's drive into low gear so they can learn in their "calm" brain. The dog is rewarded by being allowed to go into high gear. In this way, your dog learns to basically control his own drive while he works.

I felt enlightened, and inwardly embarrassed for my previous criticisms of the sport of Schutzhund. That is not to say that it is all roses, because as in any sport - there are people who train in extremes. I have been fortunate to meet people who have been very in tune with a dog's behaviour and who care very much about their own dogs. Observing their dogs, I can see happy, goofy, very bonded dogs who love their masters...a good sign, I think!

Wallace Payne thought Caden showed a lot of early promise for Schutzhund and complimented his tracking at 6 months of age. He said that if I spent every day for three weeks training him to footstep track, he would never forget it. I was not quite that dedicated but I did spent the rest of the summer doing only footstep tracking. My friend Bob told me that I would find that Caden would have his nose down on every surface with this foundation.


In this photo, Caden is dead on his track last month. I can see the benefits of his early SCH foundation paying off in our tracking now.

Last fall and this winter, I have put Caden in harness to play around with CKC style tracking. I am delighted to say he is the most nose down dog I have ever had! Last night I had a wonderful conversation with Erich Kunzel, a well-known CKC tracking judge and a life member of the GSD Dog Club of Calgary. He said that one could take the best of CKC and SCH to train a tracking dog.

Getting back to my weekend tracking training...

I took Caden and River out on Saturday afternoon to lay a footstep track for Caden and see if he would remember his foundations. It was a simple L-track on a snowy parking lot. I put him on a collar rather than on harness, and used the word "Such" (pronounced Sooook" - German for search), rather than my normal "find it!"

For the first few steps, Caden wanted to go to the right, in the direction of the wind. I 'blocked' him with my line and pointed to the track and wieners in the toes of my footsteps. Suddenly, he kicked right into footstep tracking as though he had never stopped tracking that way. At the corner, he did not take one step beyond - he paused, leaned over the corner with his body, turned his head and went down the next leg on rails! There was a jackpot of food and a tug waiting for him at the end. His reward is to tug -- and he always tugs me in any direction AWAY from the car, because he doesn't want things to end!

I left a glove there, and brought River out after taking Jet and Ted for a quick jaunt around some nearby trails (I multi-task when I train!). I wanted to see how she would handle the L compared with Caden. I decided to show her the scent pad and not have her on a line or harness so she would be free to do it her way.

River started off very nose down as well. Along the leg, she veered off with the crosswind, to go about 20 feet to the right of the track. But what I found very interesting, was that RIGHT AT THE CORNER River stopped dead, lifted her head and turned, to run back to the next leg, pick it up, and carry on to the glove. She was beautiful and confident. She did it because she loves to track and she loves to do it with me. She doesn't tug, and she doesn't play at the end. She RUNS for the car because she wants her cookies!

On Monday, I laid a zig-zag track for Caden to show the Schutzhund trainer I am working with how Caden works, and to allow him to critique my handling. Again - I am so humbled because coming from my background remember I always viewed SCH as the "harsher method." The biggest criticism this trainer had was that I DON'T PRAISE MY DOG ENOUGH! Well, hahahaha, shame on me. He also felt that my line handling, and blocking my dog the way I did, was too harsh at his level of training, and that I should try gentler verbal cues like 'no, no - such, such' instead of quietly just preventing Caden from taking a wrong step.

I must say that it was so great to be out and have someone else who is so knowledgeable critique me, because I know I don't get that enough as a tracking instructor. Caden did a good job though, despite his handler's flaws!

What is drive in tracking?

I would like to add a note about drives and tracking here. I have a strong conviction that every dog loves to track and the biggest drive that motivates a dog to track is its bond and relationship with the owner. A dog decides to follow a track FOR YOU - even if you use food or toys in the beginning to train your dog. Caden's additional working drive means he might be more determined and work a bit longer or harder - and this places a lot of responsibility on me as the handler to make sure to watch out for his well-being.

The Border Collies Jet and Ted also have a ton of working drive - and there are many stories out there about Border Collies who will work even if they are suffering from heat exhaustion...without showing a sign until they keel over. It is the owner's responsibility to look out for a dog like this. So with more work drive come different challenges.

And there are different types of drive, too. River has food drive. Ted has play drive! He LOVES to find articles and would rather fling them in the air than have food at the end of a track. In tracking, some dogs have hunting drive and some have prey drive. But in the end, it is still your relationship that makes them want to track when you ask.

I can guarantee that a couple of dogs who I have LOVED beyond words would have definitely shot me a dirty look if I asked them to work in hot weather, and one of them would probably have wandered off to find some shade and a stick. As a hint, his name started with a TH and ended with an ORN. If you can guess who that was - you will know how much I loved him even though he really didn't like tracking that much!

Did Thorn have drive? You bet. He loved me. So when he did track, it was all from his heart. Even though he never excelled at it, whenever he did a nice job I probably loved him more than I could ever describe because I knew he was pulling it out for me.




Here I am hugging Thorn in October 2006. He had just failed an attempt at TDX. Do I look mad or sad? No, I loved that dog. We went back to see where he failed, on our own, and caught a few photos. He had a little play session and made me laugh. We got rid of the bad vibes on that hill and put it behind us! Do I wish he would have passed? Of course! But he did many nice tracks in training, and that time spend together is worth more than anything.

And once tracking gets complex and tough - you can have a dog with all the working drive in the world, but if you have not treated him right, you are not going to have a great tracking dog. Wallace Payne told us this at his fantastic tracking seminar. I saw him nearly choke up when he talked about tracking and he told us it was his favourite of the three phases of the sport of Schutzhund. He did an off-lead track with his greatest competition dog at a SCH championship competition, and scored 99 / 100. And he told us that when his dog did tracked he knew it was for him - (click here for video - from his website http://www.schhcompetition.com/)

I am very excited that Caden is opening doors for me to learn new things in the sport of tracking. I feel funny calling it a sport, because for me, it is a passion and a lifestyle.





Thorn says - wouldn't you rather play with a stick? What did I learn from Thorn? To laugh and enjoy the journey.

Speechless Wednesday

Because there are no limits on the stupidity of some people.

http://badrap-blog.blogspot.com/2009/02/high-cost-of-being-victim.html

Be careful, this is the face of a killer.

Course Analysis - Denver, CO 2-17-09

Ah, sometimes watching a course you designed go to h*ll in a hand basket is really painful to watch.  Unfortunately, that was Monday's course and it didn't leave me feeling so happy or proud to be the author.

I'd like to say that after 4 days of trialing, both dogs and handlers were tired - I know I was! While that may be a part of the reason, it was a course I wish I could take back so that everyone got to end on a happier note.

There were two main problem areas (circled in red).  

The first was the opening sequence with the obstacle discrimination of dog walk & tunnel.  That darn tunnel absorbed more dogs than I can count. Since I had the advantage of watching the dogs, most were locked on to the tunnel the minute they landed from the tire and there was no stopping them.  Some handlers over handled and called the dog off of taking the dog walk (so the dog neither took the tunnel or the walk and incurred a refusal).

The other area that caught handlers off guard was the #11 jump.  Coming from the teeter, several people miscalculated the spacing to this jump and incurred refusals as the dog would pass the run out plane and head straight toward the chute.

In hindsight, this was definitely more of a handling course. I also wish folks could have another chance to run it and earn more Q's!

The Bone Collectors

There is never a dull moment when you live with five dogs. All I need to do sometimes is follow them around with my camera. These events truly happened in this order...I am simply the humble reporter...

Every day when I go out, I dole out bones from the freezer. River, Ted and Shaman are my "in the house" dogs. Every day when I come home, Ted greets me at the door and is all worked up, because River ALWAYS has every bone on the bed - evil woman! I took this picture last week one day when I walked into the bedroom (Ted was telling tales) and saw River looking oh so smug!

So I gave a bone to Shaman, as he is an old guy and deserves special treatment. But look behind him...trouble...and a few minutes later...she had it back. (honestly, I am just the objective photographer here with no undue influence!). She just walks up and takes it, and saunters away. As you can see though, once on the bed, River is more hunkered over the bones, because she was NOT impressed by me giving one away after all her hard work.

So it really did not impress her when I put her in Jet's crate so the other dogs could play with the bones for awhile (because she is the Princess of Bones). Here is what happened...

First of all, Mr. Caden was a shameless showoff, showing how he can chew a bone in many unique poses. Jet had many bones to choose from, but she needed his bone, of course! I love Jet's expressions. She finds it very trying to live with so many "idiots" (that is her not-so-humble opinion, not necessarily true). The thing about a Border Collie is that they know how to STARE. They are "eye dogs" and they work relentlessly on their target by staring... And staring...And if all the staring doesn't work immediately, try a small diversion...Jet takes Ted's bone to see if she can make it appear more appealing! Poor Teddy!

And when that fails, go back to more staring.. (note Ted's bone is discarded beside her).

And within minutes - success! Jet says this is the best bone, ever!

Seriously I just snapped away and this all took about 3 minutes for Caden to let his guard down and Jet to get that bone. And yes, that is a toilet paper roll on my bed - it is a fetish of Jet's and something I have just learned to live with. Sometimes it is pulled off the roll and criss crossed all over the floor from one room to another.

This is another version of my post during Christmas when I said girls rule! Shaman is a very proud dog and quite feisty even at 11 years old. But look at the look on his face when he tried to take a bone off the bed, and River nipped that move in the bud! It is interesting to see the breed differences too - the shepherds are very pushy and in your face, and the Border Collies use their eye and are quick like little striking cobras!

And Caden is a wiley little Coyote himself, but here he is, trying to be cool and pretend the bone is no big deal...while Jet turns her back to the camera.
And the ever-helpful Ted suggests I finish reading my new book - Top Trainers Talk about Starting a Sheepdog. He is hoping that I might find some helpful tips in there that will help me manage the dogs and their bones! I have to explain to Ted that it is not about bones, it is about sheep herding...

But they really do all get along wonderfully...when I take the bones away! Here are the girls and Caden - without bones... taken tonight.