Schutzhund Training 2010 begins...

I went to the club for the first time in months. It was warm in the sun and the snow is melting! For the past two weeks we have been training in a building Dan Waters owns in Red Deer. Here is a shot of Dan with my Caden (I have none of me with Caden, LOL). Dan is demonstrating Fuss position to me. I have this shoulder thing going on, that I have to work on. The building is full of sawdust so sorry about the light spots!

Dan also worked with Pam and Sting using food and a clicker. Today Sting was at the club for the first time and he got to watch the big dogs play. It was great socialization for him. He is growing!

There was not a big turnout today but I actually enjoyed being able to do more in the field. John Krayzel helped me a lot with Caden with some really good ideas that I will practice this week. Then John got out his puppy Aaron. You may remember Aaron from last summer in this post (bottom pic). Look at him now! He is 7 months old and a very good size and really well trained already!

I wish I lived close enough to train like this more often. It was fun. We hung out for four hours!

Four bags full!

Goodbye to four bags full of clothes that are TOO BIG!

Whoo hoo!!!

Great morning so far! Just had oatmeal and did my Yoga. The dogs and I are heading out for the day.

Enjoy YOUR day!

The Long Coat - an Abomination? Really!

I just read a post today from someone on a German Shepherd Genetics chat group. In the post this woman said A LONG COAT IS AN ABOMINATION! I can see that this person has been a show dog breeder since the 1950s and I am sure she is dedicated to the breed, yadda yadda yadda. But when I read such an absolute, it makes me shake my head. The definition of the word abomination is "something vile, loathsome and disgusting..." People really need to be careful when they use these words!

A watercolour I did of River on the shore of Lake Superior, in Grand Marais Minnesota.

River is 8 here.

After becoming more involved with working dogs - Border Collies, and now Working lines GSDs, I can see how easy it is to get caught up in the narrow view of one organization only. Long coats do appear in show lines! If both parents carry the gene, poof! This was the case with River, whose sire is a heavy-hitter American dog (Sel. Ch, ROM, Westminster show dog, specialty type male). When the decision was made to get River, it was because we loved the dogs we'd had over the years from her breeder, but wanted a dog that would not have to go in the show ring. Plus, who could resist her? She was adorable and there was a little competition going on (friendly one but still...)

So as an "abomination" should this dog be euthanized? drowned? Honestly! When people use words like this, what are they thinking? In a day and age of increasing awareness of dog rescue (e.g. Dogtown, Dog Whisperer, Rescue Ink) can someone have such an ego and lack of conscience as to say - this puppy does not deserve to live because of its long coat! Saying something is an abomination opens the door to all kinds of horrible decisions about what dogs are more deserving or entitled to live. I really take exception to that!

I am sickened by this attitude and it has to go the way of the dinosaur, in my not so humble opinion. A long coat poses no health problems, it is a matter of appearance and practicality. I am not saying let's breed for long coats. Breeding should be based on the right things. We want to keep our dogs sound and healthy. We don't breed for any specific colour (like all black dogs) and we do breed for good structure and most importantly we breed for health and temperament. I AM saying, let's not propogate an attitude that a long coat pup is vile and less deserving than other pups in a litter.

So let's look at the working standard for the German Shepherd - here is what the FCI standard for working German Shepherds says about long coats:

c) The long coated German Shepherd Dog

The coat is considerably longer than that of the long-smooth-coat. It is generally very soft and forms a parting along the back. The undercoat will be found in the region of the loins or will not be present at all. A long coat is greatly diminished in weatherproofing and utility and therefore is undesirable.

Faults
Faults include anything that impairs working versatility...

And here is what the CKC and AKC Standards say...
Faults in coat include complete lack of any undercoat, soft, silky or too long outer coat and curly or open coat.

So in dog shows, long coats are not shown (technically!). But of course they are trimmed and shown (!) sometimes. I know one with a Best in Show many years ago. And many are quite beautiful. Look at that top photo of the watercolour I did of River on the shore of Lake Superior. No, her ear did not come up *(whole other issue) but she IS beautiful! And people who meet her on the street always comment on her, and want to touch her.
 
And long coats are used in all kinds of work and service roles. My River is a great tracking dog, but she was also a very helpful dog when I had sheep! Her job was to carry the bucket. However, she did have a passion for herding that I was too inexperienced to channel as she got older.

 
Aside from the notes in the FCI standard about weather proofing I have to agree that if the coat does not impair working ability and poses no health problem, then carry on! I see a lot of long coats in working dogs, and like me, people keep their dogs groomed and trimmed.
 
River does get hot. And her coat gets tangled. But I can live with that. To say she is an abomination - I can't live with it!

I have not even mentioned to River that I read this today. But I am sure she would laugh.

She is beautiful and very clever and I can't imagine the last ten years without her! And I think she is just fine, thanks very much.

San Francisco here I come!

In March, I am treating myself to a trip to San Francisco as a birthday present to ME! I am going to a Writer's Conference for 3 days, and playing tourist for 3 days. There are so many things to do! Alcatraz, Whale Watching, Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Fisherman's Wharf, The Beat Generation (Hippy) tour, Little Italy and on and on!!!

And of course it is the headquarters of Starfleet, so I will be visiting there too!

Then of course, it is the land of Haight Ashbury, the Beat Gen, Marin County - the previous home of Van Morrison...who is a musical genius in my books. Too bad my trip can't coincide with a concert! The album below was recorded at the Masonic Temple in San Francisco. Van still has family there and is there quite often but I promise I won't be a stalker! Mainly because I won't have a car, LOL

If you have any suggestions for me, please let me know. I want to make the best of my trip! The other half of the trip will be with a Publishing Company I want to write for - their CEO and star author are putting on an intensive workshop for budding writers.

And don't worry about the dogs! I have friends lined up for the Shepherds and the Border Collies...it is so neat to have so many good friends here now!

It's My Birthday!!!!

Happppppy Birthday to me!

First, I want to thank www.pinkcakebox.com for letting me use this LOVELY picture of a birthday cake. Isn't it the most dreamy looking thing? Now if it was filled with a delightful white cake with a lemon filling, I would be in heaven!

I love birthdays. As an adult, I've decided to make them my own special day and luckily my friends and family indulge me on this. I started my birthday preparations a few days ago by embracing the "New year, new look!" philosophy. And so in a bold step, I dyed my hair back to it's natural shade of dark brown. Surprised? Well, I think hair should be fun and I love to reinvent myself and this is a great change that shows off how comfortable I am with ME.

So with my new hair, my morning started off with my hubby bringing me coffee in bed. Then I proceeded to spend the next several hours just laying around with my dogs playing and loving on them. What a perfect start to the day!

Next, my girlfriend Jill called to take me to lunch. As I got ready to go, I decided to add a bit of fun self-indulgence and put on shimmery make-up. It is my birthday after all and a bit of glitter before dark is allowed on such special days! So with a bit of sparkle (and perfume, which I rarely wear) we were off to our favorite sushi place. We laughed and giggled so much, the sushi chef commented that we were having way too much fun. That's how a birthday should be!

As I sit here typing, surrounded by all of my wonderful dogs, I've been reading all of the birthday messages from friends and family. Oh my gosh, I've opened each one of them and savored the well-wishes. It really is fun to have birthdays and everyone is adding to my special day.

My hubby will be home soon and while he offered to take me out to dinner, I've instead opted for Filet Mignon here on the grill at home. We have some wonderful wines from our tasting this past weekend and I really want to watch the Time Traveler's Wife.

On Saturday my friend Becky is hosting a birthday game party (I just love the game Apples to Apples) and a small group is getting together to see if they can make me laugh hard enough that I spit wine from my nose. Yes, that is what the birthday invitation said . I just love my friends and family!

Even though my special day isn't over yet, I really wanted to thank everyone for making it so wonderful. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Guess who's turning 10 in TWO weeks!

With Thorn...

With breeder Sigrid Appelt, von Lindau...

Group shot - Back row - Shaman, River Thorn; Shaman and Thorn are 3 years old

Front row - Kate and Robin - both are 9; Kate died later this year, Robin lived to be 15...

Guarding a bone on the bed...

Not much has changed...just MORE bones! I call her The Bone Collector...

Survivor Tracking - River's latest Urban Track

Yesterday I laid a track on my afternoon coffee break when it was sunny and warm. But when I ran it, it was -9 C and my fingers nearly froze off! But I can't waste a track and River did fine. She went off on a long leg on pure ice down the centre of a parking lot but seemed to find the scent in and around cars then got back on. I cheered her on, but I think I was trying to keep myself from getting hypothermia! Rather than post everything here, I narrated while I video-taped. The links to this track are to your left at the top of the sidebar - River's track for February 23. It felt like one of those episodes of Survivor as I start to whine about not feeling my hands! This is what happens when you are addicted to tracking...

PS - added Feb 24. I am sick today, gee what a surprise...

A blind turn for River, short tracks for Caden and Ash and scent pads for baby Sting!

We picked the coldest day of the long weekend to meet, lulled into the weather report that it would be zero or higher! But since we were all there, we went ahead with tracking. WE froze, but the dogs did so well that it was as though it was a nice day. In that kind of cold weather there is no need to age a track tremendously. Cold can kill the bacteria that creates a scent signature, so since it was cold we pretty much laid a track, then ran it. We did scent pads for 13 week old Sting, three straight lines for Ash.

While Michelle laid her tracks, I laid a track for Caden with 3 turns. The last leg went for the parking lot because in between every track we seriously had to sit and warm up in our vehicles. We are crazy!

Sting did two sets of 3 scent pads. The second time out, we added one or two footsteps connected to the scent pad - because Sting is SO food crazy that while I held him he screamed to get to the scent pads! I know you are thinking - he is a German Shepherd, of course he screamed because Mom was a few feet away from him~! But I was holding him and I know he was focusing on those scent pads for the treats. Bless his heart, he loves food and he buckled down every time with great enthusiasm. Sting comes from von den Hoehenluft kennels in Washington State.

Pam intends to do SchH so she is imprinting him right now using SchH tracking methods, with the idea being to build drive and that footstep tracking technique. If you do it now, he will never forget it. So we had to do it in the winter, because we don't want to miss this great age for imprinting.

Ash went next. This was her fourth time out and I am very proud to say Michelle walked in a straight line! Way to go Michelle! She did one leg ending with a jackpot. Went ahead to start a second leg that was a bit longer, then after leaving that jackpot, laid one more leg in the opposite direction. So Ash had one leg in the shelter of a building, one going into the wind and another with her back to the wind. The results were interesting. She did a classic first leg, nice pace and great focus, getting every piece of bait. You can even see her nose down as she approaches the jackpots in these photos! Her second leg was great as well - her head was down even though sometimes going into the wind will bring it up. This was nice to see as it shows that she is 'getting the game.'

Before she did the third leg was when she lifted her head. The wind was bringing a strong scent of cows and horses from the Olds College farm (it is an Agricultural College). I know Ash, being a herding dog was intrigued and distracted by this - she probably thought those cows might need her to show them where to go! This exact thing happened to my Jet once, when we tried to give a demo during the Border Collie Nationals. It was unfair to Jet, she could not focus on tracking because her first love and her main job is herding (so Caden stepped up and did a nice job as a demo dog).

We waited Ash out, rather than put stress on her. Once she was through sniffing those great livestock smells, we could see she was ready to track again. Michelle cued her to get going, and that third leg was so awesome!

I used the opportunity to give Michelle some handling tips, since Ash was out ahead and totally working on her own, which is what we want. She was taking charge! So Michelle worked back on her leash until Ash was working at the end of her line and an arm's length from Michelle. I also had Michelle straighten up. She had been hunched, in case she needed to jump in and help point out a footprint. How nice they looked working together! Michelle felt relaxed and Ash - on only her fourth time out - demonstrated that she knows what the job is and I know it will all start falling together now to reinforce this confidnce in Ash and begin to add in some new things (age and length, falling a bit more behind her).

I always recommend that you alternate easy and hard, to keep a dog's interest and motivation up. The dog has to believe it is infallible to be a good tracking dog. Our job is to design a training plan for that dog - all dogs proceed at different paces. For Ash I would recommend going to two legs or three shorter legs next time, on a day with no wind, and where distractions will be minimal. What we want is a nice flow from one track to the next and then, we put her away to let her think about it and save the play for later!

I ran Caden and Michelle took some great shots. Caden did a beautiful first turn. I (stupidly) tried to pick up bait he skipped and let out too much line. Caden sped up and overshot his next turn, casting with the strong south wind. I made him responsible for finding his turn by saying "NO" and when he found it I praised him! He has so much drive and loves tracking. I always feel exhilarated after tracking with my boy.

Michelle laid a simple L-Track for River. I showed Michelle where to start and where to turn, but said to go left or rignt and not tell me. I need to start doing more of this, to get that "blind track" experience. I don't like introducing blind tracks where there is a possibility of error because you can really mess up your dog if the tracklayer is not quite sure of where they walked.

But if you want to do blind tracks, try it this way - agree on where the track will go and walk the tracklayer through the options. Sometimes I will have a tracklayer do a track I plot, with one wildcard turn as the last turn - as by then my dog will be doing well enough they should be in the zone (and me too). It is good for your dog to follow someone else's scent sometimes, before a test - to ensure they will do it with no issues.

In this case, Michelle chose to go left. River started well but was casting to the right on the first leg because of a strong wind from the south. So as we were trying to stay "on the line" of that first leg, she went more and more to the right. Her head was UP the whole time, except once when she checked the front of a car. Because of that wind, I gave in and looked back for Michelle to give me a yay or nay. If it WAS going to the right, I wanted to give a little to River, but I was hesitating because of her posture and that wind. However, I am not the first tracker to fail because I THOUGHT TOO MUCH AND DIDN'T FOLLOW MY DOG!  I remember Ted's TD attempt, when his turn was on a slight hill. He indicated it, and I thought (in my foolishness) that he was probably just quartering a little on the hill. WE FAILED. I over-thought it, duh.

Part of tracking is remembering to trust your dog. As much as tracking is a science, there is also the art of reading your dog and the conditions, following your gut, letting go - and a bit of luck involved too. So back to River. Once I knew it went left, I stayed facing the right, and let River cast around, giving her a few steps to the right to see what she did. She made a big circle and came back. When she went left, she zeroed in on a garbage can which she sniffed very delicately. Then worked her way along a snowbank, and SUDDENLY she dipped her nose and touched the ground. That is what I am looking for! That little dip. You can see it in the photos above.

It was exhilarating for me and I definitely want more of this. I am telling you, even if you know where the track goes, if you did not lay it you will have those butterflies and hesitations you need to learn to cope with, that are part of the trial experience.

We went to Boston Pizza later and unthawed. It was cold, but so much fun! Every time we track is fun. Michelle has linked Ash's tracking lesson on her website, and updated with some new info! You can check out her blog here.

Zig Zag motivation track for River today

Today I did a simple zig zag track for River at Red Deer College in the parking lot. It consisted of 3 legs, and a left turn, then a right turn, with two articles on the 2nd and 3rd leg. The last time we were out was so cold I wanted to be sure to keep the fun in tracking!

Below is our start. We have worked hard on re-emphasizing scent pads since attending a Joanne Fleming-Plumb seminar last year and it has paid off. You can see a treat in the footstep ahead as well.

She did it so well - very enthusiastic. She did a bobble on the first leg where a student had crossed my track. However, she nailed the first turn and found her first article which was a small Schutzhund article, a piece of carpet. She overshot and did a small circle on the second turn but it was not much of one so I was very happy, considering she used to cast so wide. When she found the leg she shot off and missed a piece of liver.

I must stop being so concerned about picking up missed bait but it is so expensive! I dropped her line, and of course, she did a better job with out her anchor (me) attached and zeroed in on her glove. Not the greatest handling job but it was fun to watch her and I kept filming. In total this track was about 350 meters and it was aged for one hour from 4 to 5 PM, and the temperature was about 0 C.

On our walk back to the car she was just sauntering and still full of energy. She said "that was the track of a simpleton!" I love it when they leave a track feeling SO FULL OF IT. That is the kind of confidence you want them to have all the time, and it will make a difference in how they approach tracking.

Enjoy the little videos!

Start and first turn


First article


Second turn to the end


This final photo was taken for my SchH Tracking friend (guru) Dan waters - Dan, check out my line! I didn't just "toss" it in my car! I LOVE this line, which I got from the Edmonton GSD SchH Club store. I am sure it is from Dog Sport Gear in BC (Ralph Gilby). It is so soft on the hands and does not tangle. And those are my EXPENSIVE tracking treats. That is why I try to pick up missed ones...

In the next few days I have to catch up on my blogging as I have so many pictures to post from last weekend too, with Ash, Michelle's Desert Dog's awesome progress, and Pam's puppy Sting's great start. Stay tuned!

Good bye my friend

Shur Paws Miss America a.k.a "Missy" 04/02/2000 ~ 02/21/2010

Cesar Millan's Pitbull Daddy dies at age 16

I just read on "Chianti's Blog" about the passing of Daddy, one of the greatest ambassador's for pitbulls ever. You can read about it on Cesar's blog here: http://www.cesarsway.com/news/daddy-memoriam

If you ever watched The Dog Whisperer, you could automatically see that this was one of those great dogs that only brought good into people's lives. I am glad that through Cesar he was able to be of service to so many people and dogs.

He reminded me of my sister's Am Staff Willy (above), who is another sweet and gentle dog. These breeds are so maligned and misunderstood and I am grateful to Cesar and everyone who works to reverse this image.

PS I read in a statement on Cesar's blog that Daddy successfully battled Cancer. I had no idea! It makes me think of my Thorn and Shaman and what I went through with them both. Behind the scenes of the show, Cesar was going through the same with his dog. It takes a lot of love and determination to see a dog through something like this and fight alongside them with a will to live. Way to go Cesar and Daddy.

Day 6 - It's Rylee's Turn on the Agility Seminar Circuit

Today was Foundation Day at the agility seminar and it was Rylee's turn to be a part of the working crowd. She was so excited to be chosen to go with this morning and was even more psyched when we arrived at the arena.

Rylee's enthusiasm momentarily worried me, I mean what if she ran off to visit or was distracted by another dog? Yes, even trainers sometimes worry about these things!  However, this is a Foundation Seminar and I quickly realized how fun it was going to be to have a dozen baby dogs with happy wagging tails and owners (like me) eager to soak up foundation knowledge.

I chose Rylee for this seminar because I wanted her first agility seminar experience to be positive. Rylee and I have worked on most of the skills...at home, so this was a great time to test them on the road and proof them in an environment full of distractions. As for my fear that Rylee would run off, let's just say she was a working champ! Her attention was incredible and the efficiency with which she moves her body is absolutely amazing. Just like at home, she was so excited to be working with me. It was a very comfortable, easy connection that allowed both of us to relax and enjoy the experience.

Later I was talking with Nancy and she asked me what Rylee's best attributes were. I had to pause and think because Rylee truly has a nicely put together package! Here's what I've come up with:

• I love the soul-giving attention Rylee shows when we are working together. I can see Rylee is willingly giving me everything she has and it's obvious that she is highly rewarded by our interactions together. It's special for both of us, like your favorite pair of shoes or those perfect fitting jeans.
• Rylee has an amazingly athletic body and she is so comfortable in her own skin. She is graceful in her moves and light on her feet. She is fast, but can collect herself. She is able to use her entire body to efficiently turn and change direction on a dime. She's the perfect combination of gazelle and ballerina all in one.
• Rylee is confident without being pushy. Seriously, this dog strives to be a team player and embraces her part of the program. Another bonus is that she is easy to play and be silly with - which makes training so much more fun!

Over the last several days, I've had a chance to observe some incredible dog & handler teams and my mind has been buzzing with the vision of where I see my dogs going and how I'm going to get them there. I'm leaving the last 6 days with solid plans for each of them. It's interesting because each plan is a little different since each of my dogs are unique. Overall, I'm really excited that the next several days are going to provide nice weather so I can immediately start to work my dogs in the sunshine (doesn't sunshine make everything even more fun!?!?).

As for Stacy, she'll be back in August to check on my progress and to continue to share her infectious love for training.

A Missy Report

I know I haven't been blogging much. I haven't been reading many of my regular blogs either. Missy is on another down slide and I'm not sure there will be an up slide this time. I swear it started as soon as I said she was doing great. It was a jinx. We've had to fiddle abit with her meds and the result isn't what I had hoped. I sometimes feel like she is simply existing these days. Not the life I want for any of my dogs. Between her sleeping and eating (and the much more frequent accidents due to some incontinence) there is falling down, stumbling, whining and moments of complete disorientation. Even eating her favorite treats is done with an automatic response and none of her previous joy. If it weren't for the prednisone I'm not sure she would be eating at all. I am taking it one day at a time for now. It kills me to think I may not have many more left with her.

I am second guessing myself about the looming decision right now too. I don't want to jump the gun but don't want to make her suffer either. I've said for years the worst part of having pets is losing them. I think I want to change that to the worst part is having to make the decision to let them go. Emotion clouds our judgement. Am I really seeing the situation clearly or am I in denial and am hanging on beyond what is fair to her? I'm not sure. My family thinks she is ready to go. I am the last hold out. Are they seeing something I am not? Living with a sick dog and trying to keep life as normal as possible for the rest of us all is also draining me. I feel I am falling short, for everyone. It is truely a no win situation.

I just have no heart for much blogging right now.

April CKC Tracking Seminar

I am so happy to announce that Lynda Caughlin of Fionavar K9s Agility has asked me to give a CKC Tracking Seminar on April 24-25. It will take place near Olds which is conveniently located between Calgary and Edmonton. I offered to mention it to those who have emailed me, and to the two tracking lists as she is not a member. I am sure most you are familiar with Lynda through her Agility classes and accomplishments - http://fioanvark9s.blogspot.com/

The seminar will focus on CKC (and AKC) style tracking and is suitable for beginners wishing to get started in tracking as well as those wishing to progress to urban or brush up on rules and regs governing CKC tests. There will be both field and urban components, including plotting, track laying, article placement, handling, equipment and tips. If you are starting to think about tracking this spring, this seminar can help you get started. For people with some tracking experience, it will provide some tips for training, trial preparation and handling in CKC tests at all levels.

There will be limited working spots and audit spots. The seminar will be a combination of working the dogs, exercises for people such as handling, plotting, mapping and track laying and some theory and info presented in an indoor class-type setting.

For details please contact Lynda at flcaught @ telus.net (please re-type this with no spaces, as I am preventing spam by not typing it in full here).

Guess who's turning 10 in 3 WEEKS!!!

Stay tuned for more ...the countdown is on to March 2 and River's 10th Birthday!

River or as she prefers, The Princess!

I just love her so, she is such a beautiful dog and a blessing in my life.

Rouge - Day 3 of Her Seminar, Finally a Break Through!

Rouge and I participated in the 2-day Excellent Stacy Peardot-Goudy seminar on Saturday & Sunday. The good news is that her contacts are beautiful, the better news is that she successfully exhibited her 'distracted self' which means the bad news was that little 'ole me was left with the exhausting task of cheerleading, begging, pleading and trying to keep her attention. It was a bit of a frustrating place to be and very unexpected.

Stacy and I had a chance to talk about it  at the end of the day (Stacy's been working with us for all of Rouge's agility training) and her guidance and observation has never steered me wrong. To quickly summarize the situation, it was time to expect more from Rouge if she wanted to play the game of agility with me. So the plan started with the simple concept of her lack of attention meant she got to go back to her crate.

Now, it's important to understand that Rouge has been trained and trained via a positive reward based system. However, she's a very smart dog and quickly learned to play me like a violin and that's how I unexpectedly found myself in the cheerleader role. But thanks to Stacy, times are a changing and so are the dynamics of Team Lisa & Rouge.

I started off the morning by working Burton, my husband's Lab. It was fun and he was great, but he's not my dog to run. By the afternoon, I was pining to work Rouge so Stacy and I discussed a plan ahead of time so that I was clear as to what steps I needed to take based on the behaviors she was offering me. Things went pretty well the first time out and it was far better than it had been over the weekend. However the second time out was SPECTACULAR!

The second time out I felt I had her complete attention and she was a working member of Team Lisa & Rouge. What an amazing change and so nice to see the progress! I've worked hard to give her a solid base and by golly, I know this dog is amazingly talented. It turns out that I needed to stop babysitting her and to clarify the teamwork part of the equation - not because it didn't exist, but because I was taking on far too much responsibility.

As always, Stacy's talents never ceases to amaze me. Now I feel on track again and ready to push to the next level.

Zulu's First Agility Seminar - A Success!

Today was Zulu's turn at the seminar experience with Stacy Peardot-Goudy.

Zulu just turned 1 year and I have to admit that I haven't done very much jump work with him (just in the last few weeks), but I have worked his tunnel, chute, table, a-frame and dog walk, which are spectacular, so I felt fairly ready for this seminar. 

As a side note, the reason I haven't bothered very much with jumps is 1) because I wanted him to finish growing and 2) I've had a preview of his natural jumping style when he plays in the yard and I felt confident in his body awareness abilities when it came to jumping.

The terrific part about having Stacy back out here is just watching how she interacts with her dogs. I have to admit that while having Dalmatians has been terrific, Border Collies work differently and it's always nice to observe an alternate way of training. In the past, I hadn't been a big toy person...not because I don't believe in them, but because physically it was painful for me and so I avoided them. Well, thanks to modern medicine, that's not always the case for me now so I'm able to physically interact with my dogs more often and so I've had to learn how!

Zulu learned several of his base behaviors using treats. I'm very comfortable shaping/eliciting behaviors using food, but have decided to break with my own tradition of continuing to use food as a motivator (great with Dals & Labs) and quickly moved Zulu over to toys (balls and best yet, his favorite toy pelt). I started this endeavor a few weeks ago and the first thing I noticed when combining the toy & behavior was that he was CRAZY! Seriously, the behavior went to hell in a hand basket as his love for the toy made him loose his mind.

Two things come to mind. First, I might have introduced the toy to the agility game a little sooner to make a smoother transition and two, I was going to have to give some serious time to helping him understand or remember that he really could control himself, offer the behavior and get his beloved toy simply by doing what he had already been taught to do...after all, it was only the reward that had changed (from food to the toy).

On our first run, I aborted the toy and tried to just use food. It was a disaster and as Stacy said, I was training him like he was Rouge, my young Dalmatian. It was icky, I felt disconnected (handled like a fool) and Zulu was looking at me like I had grown 10 heads and was acting like a crazy person. It was time to collect myself and come up with a new plan or the day was going to be long and painful!

So I pulled the toy back out and with Stacy's guidance, told myself it was okay to embrace Zulu's toy enthusiasm and to go back to basics. In this case, the basic concept was "If you want the toy, then do a jump and earn it!" Sounds simple, but Zulu is an adolescent and as expected, the term "gimme" has started to creep into his aura. That was the case with today and he was outraged when I wouldn't give him the toy "just because" he wanted it. In his attempt to demand the toy he jumped me, pounced on me, zigged when he should have zagged, circled, barked, nipped at my hand (which was holding the toy), and was just plan trying to push me into handing it over.

By the afternoon, he was a rockstar and caught onto the game of jump = toy & play. Seriously, I couldn't have been prouder and left feeling very accomplished as well as having a much clearer game plan on where I want to go with him. Zulu was pretty proud of himself as well. Each time we were done with an exercise, he would jump up onto a chair and I'd tell him how very proud I was of him. He was soaking up the attention and overall, loved the interaction & time spent today.

It was a great day for both of us and I know both Grandma's (Barbara & Felicia) would be very, very proud!

Caden's Track at Olds College yesterday

Yesterday I met my friends Pam and Michelle to track at Olds College. It was SUPPOSED to be around 0 Celsius (32 F) but it was minus 7 with a biting, strong wind and very damp with that lovely hoar frost on all of the trees...pretty but a sign of damp cold! Since we were all there, we tracked anyway. Pam's new puppy did scent pads, Michelle's Canaan Dog Ash did three straight lines, and Caden did a short zig zag track. Michelle did a blind L-track for River as well. I will be putting these all up over the next day or so but wanted to start with Caden. Michelle took these pictures for me. I so rarely have a "photographer" available that I am just thrilled to get these nice side shots of my boy. Thanks Michelle!

Below is Caden's start. He has a rip-roaring start which I need to work on, although he is dead-on which is a positive. His nose was down the entire time which made me very happy. We are getting our technique down!

In the photo below you can see that his tail never stops when he tracks. When he is on track it is high and waves like a plume. I have been working on my own posture while I follow him, trying to stay straight and be more relaxed in my walking (last summer I was always a bit hunched behind him, trying to hang on).

As you can see below, he begins to get into a calmer pace even on his first leg (below). The first leg was about 100 meters and the entire track was about 250 meters. That seemed long enough in that wind!

Here he is having a treat after his first corner. He ate this one, but as he went along the second leg he ignored the dried liver treats.

He was in a strong crosswind on leg two and I was very pleased with how he remained right on track. I wondered if he was focusing so hard he didn't want his treats. At the corner, he had picked up some speed. I need to address this, and in part was trying to collect the dried liver he was skipping - two big pieces, and so I let him speed up and should have been correcting.

At the corner, he overshot and circled around. The wind went west and his turn went east. I said "NOOOO" and let him be responsible for finding the track without pointing it out - which he did! I have to admit, I was glad he did because the snow was fairly frozen in this area outside of the aquatics centre and I could not see my footprints. One thing about snow tracking is that you don't make a visual map in your head the same way, tch tch to me! I am pretty much standing in front of the corner, and Caden is on the other side of it coming around to it (below)...I notice his tail is not as high at this point. Maybe something to watch for.

Here he goes down that next leg. I love how confident he was again once he found his track! And he was very careful to have his nose down again.

I did one more turn right at the join of the mounds of gravel and the snow - in that crease. He found the turn but did a wobble along that leg. His head came up for a minute, then he went straight for his jackpot. I have no idea what caused that. I thought it would be protected from the wind but possibly that mound of gravel and the building across from me caused a swirl of some kind. He did way better out in the open than he did right at this spot...food for thought! But considering the conditons, I was so happy with how he did! And when I got back to a warm truck, my fingers and thumb felt like they were going to fall off, I was so cold.

In the next day watch for more on yesterday's tracking sesson with Pam's very eager pup. Michelle's Ash (who did an awesome job on only her fourth time out) and River's blind corner! It may have been cold but we had FUN and enjoyed some hot food at Boston Pizza later.

*as one after-note, I have now lost over 50 pounds since winter 2008 and when I see these pictures, I feel pretty excited about getting back to my old self, and can see this jacket may be getting a bit loose, LOL!! I just had to add a personal boast, and I know being in shape will have a positive impact on my dog activities...except I was MORE COLD than usual hahahaha!