# APR 2015 Training Logs



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I am taking a Focus Games class online at FDSA (bronze level). There will be puppy games plus Brady needs to relax more in the ring while Towhee can always use Focus !! Faelan is focused in the ring and training but he loves playing so….

I used a jute ball and pull which Faelan loves, Towhee has never seen before but was able to tug, Brady has never seen before; his play response was weak and Aedan – well, he hasn’t met a toy that wasn’t a friend waiting to happen.


Here are some videos from the sessions  Excuse the pant leg – it is snowing and I had just come inside from potty breaking the crew and did not check the pants …



Faelan: 



 Towhee: 



 Brady: 



 Aedan:


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I saw some red-winged blackbirds (better sign of spring than robins) today... even though some areas of MI got hit with snow, I'm believing those blackbirds.  

We have mostly training plans this month - though I may enter something in obedience at the end of the month or early May. All training is getting us to that goal!

Big focus this month is getting heeling in order. It really improved the last couple months, but I still want to work on focus and drive + effective warm ups. By the end of the month, I'll reevaluate whether we are ready to show in novice, and I have a particular idea of what I want to see before I send those entries in.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Showing in Novice A this weekend (April 4th and 5th), and probably April 24th, 25th, & 26th. I'm seriously considering wrapping up Bella's Novice career at that point, since I'm determined to be ready for Open by Fall. I also plan to work more on Utility in the coming months. Not having a trial to prepare for over the summer will help speed things along, I think.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I need to take Penny to busy hiking trails this month and work on focusing during distractions for the Rally trial in May. I need to work on straightening her sits and downs too. 

There's a club that has a fun match the week before the real trial. I'm planning on using it to see what last minute tuneups need to be done. It was my introduction to Rally last year...I had no clue what I was doing. The judge was nice, told me what to do at each sign and let me use treats since it was the first time I had even heard of it. It will be interesting to see if there's more dogs entered in it this year.


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

Started the FDSA Heeling Games class; got treated to an early lecture so off we went. Worked on Thru and a little interspersed heeling (which is what is it is) in our enclosed patio. Did not fall on my face during the weaving which is the highlight of the session seeing that I am sooo coordinated.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Not happy with our training yesterday both Nugget and I making MAJOR mistakes that were either heavy point loss's or NQ type. Nugget was not up and didn't work well at all being SLOOOW on go outs and blowing the glove exercise and just generally sloppy. My footwork was terrible and along with Nugget just didn't have my act together . Hombre still is favoring his right front leg .


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Brrr its cold outside and we have a fresh covering of snow but its APRIL and time to start training outdoors!!

Faelan, Towhee and Brady all got refreshers in Pocket Hand, Flys and left spins while working a combination of Precision Heeling and being outside  

Faelan was forgey but his games were nice and his signals were perfect!

Towhee was an adorable little girlie with nice heeling, fun flys (thrus I did not do) and very nice stand/drop/sit combinations.

Brady was up & beautifully heeling, his spins were fast and his signals were perfect! His flys were a bit hesitant but I used a few things none of the dogs are used to

> Clothesline pipe (actually large diameter conduit) that they frequently pee on
> A largish tree trunk which is also a pee spot

Aedan got to work some sits, downs and name games as well as baby Flys.

Now to warm up, take a shower and head to work


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Lexx and I went to our line manners class last night (for field work). He was probably the least experienced dog there but he certainly didn't look out of place. He needs to be a bit more controlled when moving from blind to blind and to the line but considering it was his first time out this year and his first time really doing this, I was very proud of him. His retrieves were nicely done even with other dogs, people and dead ducks being used as distractions. It was a beautiful evening (in the 70s) so it made for an enjoyable night.

Today we start FSDA Bridging the Gap class. I'm taking it at the bronze level. Looking forward to getting started!!!


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

This month will be more training on Nose Works and Agility for my pups. Rusty has his first ORT in Nose Works on April 12th, and I'm looking forward to that. Also, Rusty just started agility class again last night!

Rusty was unfocused, because he wanted to play with all the other dogs! But once I got his attn, Rusty did well on the jumps and A Frame. He started to remember all the training right away. It's been like 5 months since Rusty was in agility class.

April should be a good month of training for my team I'm thinking. Later this year, I hope to compete in some Nose Works and Agility trials with my pups.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Grins, I just checked my dog events spreadsheet since I could not remember what was happening for us in April. Answer is : not much! Rentals twice a week. Classes for all 4 and Aedan will be at the vets for the first time on the 18th.

I need to decide if I think Brady will be ready for Novice, he has the skills but I am unsure about his attitude .... He stresses down which I need to adjust for.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> I need to decide if I think Brady will be ready for Novice, he has the skills but I am unsure about his attitude .... He stresses down which I need to adjust for.


Well, Lexx stresses up so if we could combine Lexx and Brady we should have the perfect obedience dog! :dblthumb2


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Sunrise said:


> Grins, I just checked my dog events spreadsheet since I could not remember what was happening for us in April. Answer is : not much! Rentals twice a week. Classes for all 4 and Aedan will be at the vets for the first time on the 18th.
> 
> I need to decide if I think Brady will be ready for Novice, he has the skills but I am unsure about his attitude .... He stresses down which I need to adjust for.


You've been doing this a lot longer than me, and you know your dogs, but why not try Beginner Novice or Pre-Novice to get him the ring experience? It sure helped me and my dog, and a lot of the top trainers around here are even doing that to get their dogs accustomed to the ring and show atmosphere.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I thought he would stress UP, given his personlity  so I based training of ring procedures on that which worked for his Rally Novice trials, but when we headed to New Hampshire for Rally Advanced he stressed down after the 1st trial. I am eying Beginner Novice and Graduate Novice though while I work on his confidence, these classes tend to be more available to me.

Never boring, working with our dogs is it?


Thanks


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums...0-382F-49EE-95EE-B823F92AF958_zpst3a8etay.jpg

The boys fighting over the dumbbell----- Hombre won!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Spent a couple minutes on the various crosses with Penny and then I worked on touch targeting. I took the lid off the dog biscuit jar and used it for her target. She naturally wanted to sniff the jar since it had yummy smells on it. That helped me get her into the groove until she decided to start staring at my hands in hopes of getting free treats. I started Penny on touch targeting at a distance to see if that would draw focus off my hands. It worked, and she's doing pretty well for starting out on targeting at a distance.


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## Door (Apr 2, 2010)

Rusty was fascinated at watching his mother.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Open class tonight. Bella did a great job...particularly on the BJ and ROHJ-I threw a couple way, way off line....in the corner on the opposite side of the ring, and she surprisingly took the jump. I was totally expecting her to go around it.

We'll take it easy the next couple days before the trial.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

LOL - mama Towhee loves working & playing 



Door said:


> Rusty was fascinated at watching his mother.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

We worked inside this morning, mostly because I did not plan their sessions and so went with fun foundational games 

For Faelan, Towhee & Brady: Touch Review, Tippy Plank with 2o2o as I was stopping short, running past and going wide.

With Aedan: Its Yer Choice with the food bowl uncovered ( he currently thinks rolling around adorably in my lap while making eye contact is his path to reward -- time to up criteria LOL), Pot work with the small pot, he did start rear end movement this morning 

2nd session since he was being so vocal about being crated with the big dogs had their sessions: Tippy plank where getting on at one end and running the whole plank was the 1st criteria and then we built to no pausing at the tipping point; that is run through the tipping point. Then we practiced some touches.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Something I'm learning training for Open, which totally goes against my previous mindset...seems as though the objective is to try to get the dog to make mistakes (walk through BJ, go around HJ, etc.) so that you have the opportunity to reinforce the correct way to perform the exercise. People are telling me that they actually want their dogs to break an exercise. Bella's episode of walking through the BJ last week is probably the best thing that could have happened in retrospect. Those of you who have been doing this for a while already know this, but it took a while for this to sink in. Last night I was told that if your dog never breaks an exercise, we'll find a way.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Very true .. each exercise will be broken in many ways  Its just a matter of when and where.

I tend to allow experimentation while teaching each bit of an exercise so my dogs can learn what does and what does not work; others train an exercise so their dogs cannot make a mistake and then once learned will try to break it so they can correct mistakes. 2 sides of the same coin, really. Building fluency in behaviors.

As someone has said (sorry forget who) there are 2 types of dogs:
Those who have broken a stay and those who will 




Nairb said:


> Something I'm learning training for Open, which totally goes against my previous mindset...seems as though the objective is to try to get the dog to make mistakes (walk through BJ, go around HJ, etc.) so that you have the opportunity to reinforce the correct way to perform the exercise. People are telling me that they actually want their dogs to break an exercise. Bella's episode of walking through the BJ last week is probably the best thing that could have happened in retrospect. Those of you who have been doing this for a while already know this, but it took a while for this to sink in. Last night I was told that if your dog never breaks an exercise, we'll find a way.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

That's where having good instructors to help get through it is so important, IMO. I suspect a lot of people get discouraged when their dogs breaks an exercise, and eventually give up. After a year and a half of Bella enthusiastically sailing over the BJ, she decided she didn't want to do it that day, and it really bothered me. If not for people being around that know what they're doing, I wouldn't have known how to handle it. As a result of working on it every day for a week, she's so much better at all facets of the exercise than she was only a week ago. I have, however, been told she'll probably break the exercise again. At least I'll be more ready for it when it happens.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I don't know what is going on with Nugget. We did articles this morning 2 x each which he got correctly BUT on his first two sends he was slow going out to the pile and when he found the correct metal article he picked it up and dropped it and then picked it up again and returned to me then repeated the very same thing on the leather . The drops would be 2 points apiece in a trial . We then did the next two articles which he went out briskly for and correctly found each and returned with them without dropping either. He did the same thing at Tues.training. Hombre still has slight limp but he has been wild most of the morning wrestling with Nugget. Later today we go to SCKC training but I'm hoping if it quits raining to do some training with each one before we go .


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

I had intended to take Lexx training at the building last night but when we got there, the owner had an obedience class in progress (thought it was done for this session) so we had to come back home. Lexx seemed "up" to train so we did articles in the front yard. He was a little distracted with all the spring smells but I reminded him to "find it" and he did so correctly with both metal and leather. We did some signals and heeling as well and even with my other guys barking at him from the backyard, he performed really well.

We did articles when we came in side and again, metal and wood found quickly and correctly. 

I then did some fun proofing with him by giving him fake commands. When he was sitting I said random words to see if he would move because he's used to doing it but he didn't budge until the words "down" and "front" were given.

I was hoping to do some dead duck work with him today but it's kind of miserable outside we will postpone that until tomorrow.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I had hoped to enter Phoenix in beginner novice at a show next month, but we haven't gotten to do as much training as I'd like this past month to feel confident about being prepared, so I've decided to hold off until June. Plan is, if that goes well we will finish the BN title early summer and then try prenovice later summer. And I'm hoping to do preopen in the fall. Aiming for novice in early 2016 still, but that will depend on how the showing in the other classes goes this year.

This weekend is a field weekend, then I'm off next week for spring break so hopefully the weather will be nice enough to get in obedience training while I'm off.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Between the raindrops Hombre and I did some heeling on the street and considering how little we've done he did a very good job with only a couple lags and that was taking off doing the fast. We also did the fig8 which he stayed in heel very well other than the second time around when he was on the outside where he lagged. We then went in the yard for off leash recalls which were not well done because he kept breaking the stay all but two times and the two he stayed in place the fronts were way way off. A work in progress. Next we all went out in the yard to poop scoop and while Sadie and Hombre were on the far side Nugget and I did two un baited go outs which were PERFECT!!! They were fast straight right to the stanchion and I hope I didn't use his good ones up before Sunday's trial.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Decided to do a run through tonight, and she was pretty wound up. Probably 2-3 crooked sits, but otherwise OK. I want energy, but it needs to be a little more toned down than it was tonight, I think. Felt like we were on the edge throughout the entire run. She really wanted the Milk Bone.


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## SwimDog (Sep 28, 2014)

Nairb said:


> Something I'm learning training for Open, which totally goes against my previous mindset...seems as though the objective is to try to get the dog to make mistakes


We do this at all levels - and at one point my dog was doing so well the instructor was giving rewards (for humans) to any of the classmates who could find ways to make my dog make an error. It was hilarious - I was crying with the silly things they came up with.

That said, if my dog normally does something well and outside of the proofing context he is making errors - I stop that exercise for the day (but do note it). I don't want to risk pushing him when he may be feeling physically unwell.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I didn't get to spend a lot of time with Penny before Rally since I had a paper to work on and a professor to talk to. I did get to work on touch targeting and the crosses beforehand. 

Penny wanted to watch every dog do the course today and greet every dog that passed by her. She usually doesn't care that much, so I think it may have to do with cone-induced boredom she had to deal with for the past two weeks. Penny didn't want to focus at all for the first two signs. She was sniffing the floor vigorously, then pulled me over to the nearby jump, and then the fence. I only managed to get her back by shoving a treat under her nose. She ignored me up until then. Our mats haven't been cleaned in almost a year, so I think it was too tempting for her tonight. 

Penny's attention wandered at during group practice and she jumped in front of me a few times when she got annoyed that I wasn't looking at her. 

We ended on a good note with great focus on our second run through. I'm happy with how we ended the night. I didn't have time to prepare a high-value reward tonight, so all the issues I had might stem from that.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

SwimDog said:


> We do this at all levels - and at one point my dog was doing so well the instructor was giving rewards (for humans) to any of the classmates who could find ways to make my dog make an error. It was hilarious - I was crying with the silly things they came up with.
> 
> That said, if my dog normally does something well and outside of the proofing context he is making errors - I stop that exercise for the day (but do note it). I don't want to risk pushing him when he may be feeling physically unwell.


In this case, Failing to do the BJ 3 times in a row without working through it would make her more likely to do the same thing next time....."all I have to do is walk through it, and I can go relax." If they're sick or injured, that's one thing, but I'm not going to assume that every time something breaks. Just before that incident she was going full speed several times over the HJ and wanted to do more. She may have just been tired, and the BJ isn't nearly as much fun as ROHJ. We ended the session after 2 successful attempts to have her jump with me standing on the other side of the jump with cheese balls in my hand, and it wasn't easy to get her to even do that.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

>Nairb. When I brought Nugget out for Open B he blew the first 4 shows in a row refusing the BJ . Up till then he hadn't missed the BJ in months since then he has not refused it you just never know what causes them to do something for a long time then refuse it.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Last night it went well Nugget did the stand on signal exercise and gloves which he had all of a sudden started to make major mistakes on both exercises and his heeling was good but he did a slow sit on the fig8!which wound up crooked also. Hombre was getting the dumbbell nicely each time he was sent and coming to me ( he had no choice being on a flexi ) but his fronts were non existent but he released the dumbbell better not putting a jaw lock on it but this isn't where it must be yet so we will continue with " out " and then a reward. He did the long S+D 3 and 5minutes with me on the other end of the flexi. His SFE was very nice not a muscle twitched while the instructor went over him .


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Hombre is 6 months old today!!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Happy 6 months Hombre 




Nuggetsdad said:


> Hombre is 6 months old today!!!


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Spent about 15 minutes in the tennis court heeling, emphasizing halts and pace changes. Back in the house and 5 minutes of fronts and finishes before she got her breakfast. We'll probably do more of the same tonight before her dinner. She has a tendency for halts and finishes to be very slightly forged, and it's probably enough for 1/2 point, unless the judge doesn't look close enough. Some days she does it more than others. Unless she does something totally out of character in the trial, that will determine the difference between a good score and a great score.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

I took a few months off training Tugg in obedience, I had some health issues, he had some poor impulse control issues, which only created frustration for me, and he needed time to mature. Plus the training facility where I had been training had raised their rates, which seemed to me with my frustration and not feeling well was just throwing money out the window. Weather is getting better here so I took him out for some training, thought we would be starting at square one. The little stinker's heeling was lovely, he did 5 beautiful retrieve on flats, 3 lovely drops on recall, and even did some glove work. I think it's time I dusted off the rest of my equipment and get back to work with this guy. And the local club where I get half off class cost cause I am a member is hiring an instructor I really like so I will be enrolling in classes there.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

my4goldens said:


> I took a few months off training Tugg in obedience, I had some health issues, he had some poor impulse control issues, which only created frustration for me, and he needed time to mature. Plus the training facility where I had been training had raised their rates, which seemed to me with my frustration and not feeling well was just throwing money out the window. Weather is getting better here so I took him out for some training, thought we would be starting at square one. The little stinker's heeling was lovely, he did 5 beautiful retrieve on flats, 3 lovely drops on recall, and even did some glove work. I think it's time I dusted off the rest of my equipment and get back to work with this guy. And the local club where I get half off class cost cause I am a member is hiring an instructor I really like so I will be enrolling in classes there.


I couldn't help notice the name of one of your dogs.. Topbrass Miss Liberty Belle. I promise I didn't copy that. LOL. In fact, I didn't even come up with it. Great name though.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Nairb said:


> I couldn't help notice the name of one of your dogs.. Topbrass Miss Liberty Belle. I promise I didn't copy that. LOL. In fact, I didn't even come up with it. Great name though.


I agree, great name.  Libby was born in November 2001, and I wanted to give her a patriotic name.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Fun sessions today at rental. I decided to combine a lot of elements from FDSA while I work towards increasing Brady's drive & confidence. So I set out the High and Bar jumps and a cone at the Go Out spot.

I planned to work some transitions between exercises and taking most exercises somewhat out of context. Oh, I also scattered a few tugs around the ring.

Heeling / signals were combined with Flys out and around the cone. With some drops, some recalls, some distance na-na-na ala Susan Garrett - Aedan did the na-na-na and flys up close with no heeling. Rewards were personal play and send to a tug to bring back and tug with.

Aedan did some hand touches in the first round.

Then I worked send aways with my running and sending to the cone as a fly, and then my running backwards signalling one of the jumps or drops (with my running backwards - tough for the dogs),

Aedan did a few na-na-na followed by some left and right side walking/jogging.

Then we worked ROF with transitions to ROHJ ; Faelan spins & high touches, Towhee high touches and Brady spins and high touches. Fonts and finishes were included which is somewhat rare for these sessions 

I then set Faelan, Towhee and Brady on a sit stay at one end of the ring while I played the Name Game with Aedan on the other side of the ring - food tosses and running backwards included; they did very well as did Aedan.

I then set up a tire jump and worked straight jumps, backside jumps, sends and lateral sends, FC, RC and flat out running. The adults all did surprisingly well since they haven't seen a tire jump since last fall 

Then I took Aedan on a walk about through the store before putting him in the Xterra. I loaded the adults and gear and then took Brady back out for walk abouts throughout the store included crowded aisles.

Overall a very fun session


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Worked on touch targeting, both at a distance and on the stairs. I practiced separation too and called it a day.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Bella's new heeling trick. I saw this on Facebook a week ago, and thought I'd give it a try. I had seen it before, but didn't think I'd be able to get her to do it at the time. We've been working on it a few minutes a day since last Friday.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Out on the street this morning Hombre did a very very nice heeling session with great attention and nice abouts R+L turns and circle L+R. The automatic sits coming along very nicely not always straight but noticeably improving. We also did the fig8 which was good other than a lag on the outside turn but attention was good here also and his slow and fast the best to date with his staying in heel position.
In the yard Nugget and I did everything in both Open and Utility exercises with articles being done twice and all three gloves being done. If he does this tomorrow as well as he did this morning I will be a happy camper but again his fronts are our biggest point loser. Oh well!!


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

198 and 1st place in Nov A today. Lost 1 point on on-leash/figure 8, 1/2 point on off-leash, and 1/2 point for the front. I'm just glad she was focused and worked for me. Back tomorrow. I didn't know it was Easter when I entered. Lol. Wife not happy about that.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Nairb. Nice job congrats


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations!! That is awesome 




Nairb said:


> 198 and 1st place in Nov A today. Lost 1 point on on-leash/figure 8, 1/2 point on off-leash, and 1/2 point for the front. I'm just glad she was focused and worked for me. Back tomorrow. I didn't know it was Easter when I entered. Lol. Wife not happy about that.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

We had a rental today where the focus was ring entrances, setups and transitions. No food in the ring (adult dogs)

Each session started with a warm up (with food) in the small area outside the ring. 
> Ring entrance
> Taking the lead off (had to remember to put it on first)
> Heading to set up spot.
-- 2 exercises with transitions between exercises and to the waiting tug toy

1st set: Heeling (Signals) and Figure 8s with a stool and a pylon
2nd set: Drop on Recall and Retrieve on the Flat

Tug was with a triple cow udder with a fleece knot on one end.

I remembered to tell the dogs what was up next (ie; want to Heel?)

They did well, because I wanted to focus on warm ups, entrances, and transitions we kept it to about an hour.

Aedan worked the name game, touches and Flys

Aedan then went on walk abouts, I put him in the Xterra, loaded the adults into the Xterra, went back an loaded crates & gear, took Brady back out for walk abouts and at one point he FREAKED!! Guy seemed nice enough but Brady was having no part of him, no way, uh uh. Exit stage left to the security of the ring! We met a few other people who he was more comfortable with but they did bend over and reach out to touch him so he relaxed. 

So total 'training time' was almost 2 hours. Aedan will approach people (not sure I really like this but am not discouraging it given what is up with Brady), and is fascinated with people and small animals -- he was also greeted and loved on by a gentleman with a hook for one hand -- no issues at all. Little kids, loves, adults loves. He was snarked at (he was not bothering but was getting attention from what might have been the dogs person) by an Greyhound 0 they were having a rescue event on the outside sidewalk.

No hike today since I need to figure out the pepper spray thingee and honestly would rather hit that freaky man I encountered yesterday than take action towards the poor dog responsible for my broken hand -- those on FB 'heard' my rant and I just don't want a beautiful day ruined by sir nasty -- and now I'm off to a bit of a party so will have me some beer(s)  Don't drink all that often but a cold, carbonated beverage sounds like just the thing on a beautiful, breezy spring day like today.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Practiced separation, touch targeting, and played around with the skateboard.  I didn't have the board out for long since Penny was more interested in grabbing at the leash.

Penny saw our neighbor walking her dachshund and pug around the block while I was working on walking in the driveway. I had to let her calm down a little before continuing since she was overly happy to see them.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

Fabulous! Tell the wife that holidays are the best day for dog shows. It's a great excuse to skip the holiday dinner with the relatives. On second thought, don't say that. Might not be so good for marital accord.



Nairb said:


> 198 and 1st place in Nov A today. Lost 1 point on on-leash/figure 8, 1/2 point on off-leash, and 1/2 point for the front. I'm just glad she was focused and worked for me. Back tomorrow. I didn't know it was Easter when I entered. Lol. Wife not happy about that.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Another 198 this morning. 1 point on heel on leash/figure 8, 1/2 point on off leash and 1/2 point on stand for exam. Very tricky heeling pattern for such a small ring. Perfect front and finish, which makes a couple of heeling bobbles more palatable. Apparently, on the SFE, I walk out after giving the stay command, turn around, and then back up a little to get to my estimate of 6 feet. I found out today that you're not supposed to do that. 1/2 point is worth the lesson learned. We have a 3 day show in 3 weeks, which will conclude Bella's Novice A career.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

UDX leg #3 was earned by Nugget. Utility was scored very tough but fair with 188 but 7 pts. Lost on go,outs with Nugget looking for his treat on the stanchion and then sitting slowly , but he went ALL THE WAYOUT . The second go out he forgot to sit , now I can't say that never happened before. I'm still VERY PLEASED and for some crazy reason he nailed the fronts in utility. He did however forge on the MSFE on the stand part and a couple not straight finish's . Open B he scored a 197 and won third place not a real large class only 10 competing but he did beat out some good teams as I know the people. Funny thing I thought his fronts sucked in open but fortunately the judge disagreed with me. He has worked cleaner like yesterday in our back yard where he was up and accurate but this trial was held in conjunction with a all breed confirmation show and there were multitudes of distractions. A good day and tomorrow it's practice practice practice another show next Sunday.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations !!!! Team Nugget & Team Bella !!


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

Congrats to Nugget and Bella!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Congrats Nairb and Nuggetsdad! Great job!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training at club tonight went reasonably well Nugget did all of utility a little sloppy and his go outs again off center a never ending thing with my inconsistent boy. Open work tonight well done including fronts. Hombre did some heeling which is steadily getting cleaner fig 8 very nice. Recalls fast but the fronts he just isn't getting it. Again he did a few retrieves of the dumbbell but after the third he wouldn't get it which I was waiting for and ear pinched him to let him know he was going to get it and after that he did two more times but the little stinker then was difficult to get him to let go of it. S+D well done by Hombre without a leash on the full 3and5 but I remained in the ring.overall a pretty good night of training and tomorrow I am subbing for the instructor at SCKC.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Dusted off the articles this morning. She was 5 for 5. Did some signals...go outs...and a few retrieves with a single glove....all in the house, because it was raining.

This afternoon, we did a little heeling, ROHJ and BJ in the park, and called it a day. 

Skipping Open class tonight...will probably go on Wednesday.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I beat the rain this morning and did some work with the broad jumps. Jumping straight down the middle was the focus so I set up a Treat n Train.

Note to self: The sound of the Treat n Train is not enough of a release for the dogs - each dog still wanted to turn to front. Verbally release them with a Get It next time. Towhee ticked the bottom board on 1 attempt but no Treat and she self corrected.

I also introduced Aedan to the Treat n Train - he'll need more sessions to connect funny looking thing with food.

The video is processing but here is the link (hopefully it will work without my being here to click <DONE>). Off to work I go to support my dogs in the manner to which they're accustomed


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

^^That Treat n Train looks interesting.

Here's something I've been looking at which is a somewhat similar concept, but the dog has to bring the bag to you to get the treat, and it can be placed on the ground and used as a distraction. Seems simple, but effective. $10. I think I'm going to go ahead and order it. It's from Janice Gunn. Training Treat Bag - TNT Kennels

EDIT: just ordered the bag, and the shammy tug toy with handle. I'll report back on the bag after we use it a few times.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

My private instructor learned something like that from Bridget Carlson - calls it "lucky dog". 

I was beyond exhausted yesterday, so did not say anything about class.... I've recovered (haha) so here goes!

Jacks came along just for support + I did not have anyone to stay home with him. By and by - I may drop a few bucks in and do open floor with him. But yesterday with me being a zombie all through class - one dog was all I could handle. 

Bertie -

Started class doing *directed jumping*. Was thrilled that while still in pieces (mark + go out + jumps from go-out spot), we do have a pretty decent thingy building up. He has the idea of going across and taking the jump I've drawn attention to (I am going up and touching the jump) and then pointed at when giving the call from where I need to be. And I'm throwing treats between my legs as he returns to me - not worried about the front at this point. 

*Heeling* - functional. Well qualifying heeling, but not as brilliant as I'd like. Bertie dropped his head a few times and I was not as fast in pulling out to start up again and maintain the exact focus and movement I wanted. 

*Figure 8 and SFE* - fine. I did set him up funny on the stands on purpose and he held the positions, which is great. I joked (but meant it seriously) that when we are in the ring and I have to stack my dog, odds are my head is going to be up in the clouds and I'm going to remember to touch the left shoulder to remind him to bring the left leg forward. 

The rest of the class was kinda fun. We had fewer people (6 people) than normal (11-12), so there was a lot of room on the floor and the instructor and assistant split the room to work with individuals. So like 3 on one side and 3 on the other with somebody on both sides giving private one-on-one attention with people. 

So high jumps, once she saw Bertie has a solid (beyond solid) ROH, we started focusing on angled ROH's - which absolutely needs more work. 

Broad jump - I wasn't 100% sure about this one, but she wanted him wrapping more instead of what he does (jumping well over and beyond the boards and going out 3-4 feet before turning around and coming back to front. Something I trained to keep him from cutting corners. But she wants him to jump and wrap around back to front. I'm not sure if I was 100% convinced that's what I want to do, but we'll see....

Recalls and Drops - were terrific. One blown Flat retrieve because of a cute springer puppy dancing on the side that Bertie just couldn't resist stopping and staring at (he didn't go visit). 

Bertie broke the down stay because of some dogs (for the next class) playing on the side. Just too much a distraction - but good to see where he's at and what his "limit" is at this time.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

The two boys and I practiced heeling for the pup and retrieving dumbbell ( which he got another ear pinch for ) . Hombre has a bit of a stubborn streak in him and playing and visiting other dogs and people are more important to him than doing as I ask of him. His SFE was well done as was the fig8 . Recalls not very good other things distracting him. Nugget my inconsistent boy went the Other way today and worked very very nicely in both open and utility , few mistakes made all morning . He could have been faster but he was brisk enough that no judge would have faulted him for being slow. Go outs today 4 in total he was very good straight brisk and sitting on my order without bait but rewarded AFTER he completed the jumps. The next #3 I baited the stanchion and let him go and lick the cheese off of it then I went to him baited the stanchion again making SURE he knew it was there heeled him back to the go out spot and sent him with " go out " and when he got 4-5 feet from the baited stanchion I told him to SIT which to be perfectly honest he surprised me and spun around and sat. Of course this got a lot of GOOD BOYS and I then released him to get his cheese on the stanchion. Because I was filling in for Lynn and I opened the bldg. I had the whole place to myself distraction free and all 3 rings at my disposal . It's amazing how much quality training in a distraction free environment can be achieved in a little over a hours time till other trainers started to arrive .


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@Richard - that's why I like getting to the building early before Monday classes. I'm careful not to barge in the middle when the instructor and assistant are training their own dogs, but it's a good time to work on things you want to....


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Today...heeling in the basement because it was too cold and windy to go out side. Heeling in the basement pretty much consists of heeling in a straight line and practicing halts and about turns, because that's all we have room for. It's a 12 x 24 room. Also worked BJ and figure 8. I can already tell the BJ is going to be the exercise that will require the most work. Today, she cut the corner on the last two jumps, which she hadn't done previously, so I put something there, thinking it would keep her more toward the center. The object is about 2' long, yet she chose to jump over that too, and cut the corner a little. I'm not sure if she was over far enough over for NQ, but close enough. So...a couple weeks ago, she didn't want to jump the boards at all, and now she's willing to jump nearly 6 feet to cut the corner. Go figure. I already hate the BJ. Haha.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Congratulations Nugget and Bella!

I just got home today after being away for a week visiting my parents. Got in at 5am, after a 15 hour drive. I was sooo happy to see Finley and Banshee though! 
This afternoon each of them worked on heeling on the street in front of our house, watches, recalls, and Finley did one broad jump which was good. For Finley I used her ball as a distraction and reward for all exercises. She loves it so much that it works well for both .


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we went for a bit of a hike as dawn was breaking  Pretty! And practiced recalls in the trails.

Then when we got home, we worked in the driveway.

*Brady, Faelan and Towhee:* Heads up starts on heeling, spins, about turns, pop ups in heel position and tossing the treat on about turns to wrap the about and set up for fronts, We ended with a single finish. Focus was precise heeling for very short distances rewarded with motion (spins, pop ups of food tosses) - with Brady I also practiced smooshing.

*Aedan:* Name Game, touches (he is reluctant to jump up still), spins and downs.

They did well and Aedan is now _quiet_ in his crate  so I can get ready for work.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Made it outside this morning for training. Still cold, but not as windy. 

Heeling, focusing on halts, turns and pace changes. My footwork on halts is suddenly starting to feel more instinctive. I had recently changed it, and it has taken some time to get used to. 

ROHJ, throwing way off to the side. 

Broad Jump. I placed my two small cones on the right side to keep her toward the middle, and she jumped right over them. I ended up putting my duffel bag there along with the two cones, which seemed to work. Basically, I have to block off the entire right edge for about 3' to keep her in the middle now.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

FWIW  I find the broad jump to be a forever training skill like fronts, finishes and heeling. They will try cutting the boards so it needs maintenance ... I use variety...will I toss treats, will I turn and run or reach out to treat them as they land, will I fling a treat between my legs after I turn? Will I release to a target? Will I call to front or silently turn to allow them to front, etc?

Some trainers use chicken wire, poles set at a third of the way to the right of the boards, pylons, gating and a few people I know actually kick out from their position by the jump as their dog is going over the jump; each 1st time their dog jumps in training so the dog anticipates that foot coming into their jumping path.

It is really a high maintenance obstacle


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I do a lot of that stuff too. I start with a treat on a small target (that's all we did for a long time). Maybe do that 2 times, throwing a treat between the legs for those first two. Then I might do 1-2 throwing a treat toward the target. Maybe I'll include a front....maybe not. I try to finish with no treat thrown, a front and a finish. He last few times, I've jackpotted the last rep big time, which is probably why she's more excited now, and trying to cut the corner. I guess I'd rather have that problem than the one we had a couple weeks ago. I can get Bella to do pretty much anything with the proper deployment of food rewards.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

With broad jump - I had Jacks focusing too much on me based on how I taught him the broad jump. So when it came to training Bertie (and this was back when we were just doing puppy jumps and I just had 1-2 boards out there), I always did targets, which weaned to "magic ground" (where I'd toss treats when he was in the air and couldn't see me flip the treat from hand). <<<- If throwing treats, make sure the dog doesn't see you throw them. It will be easier to diversify. 

Listening to Adele and Kathy and others.... broad jumps will always be an exercise that might regress even with very finished dogs. Good example was fun match last month where a lady with her UDX poodle had him balking about the broad jump all of a sudden and was brainstorming how to fix that before her next trial. 

My other thing too is I have friends whose dogs suddenly stopped jumping or started having broad jump problems and it was a minor injury and/or their backs needed adjustment. That was on the tip of my tongue when I saw the lady working with the poodle.... 

Different topic but close to what my Monday instructor was working with me on with the high jumps (making me throw only crooked dumbbells now to train him to retrieve from the sides - especially since he can SEE the dumbbell on the outside of the jump).... this is something she sent me this morning and I absolutely get. Applies to more than just high jump too. Like with the broad jump, I'm not always tossing treats or rewarding (though I probably will always mix those in to keep motivation up on this exercise).

Competitive Obedience Training: Perfect Performance on the 1st Attempt


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This evening was about Brady's thresholds and socializing Aedan so we headed to the Truck Stop in the light rain.

*Brady:* We sat in front of the Truck Stop portion between automatic doors and across from the car gas pump area. When he started getting very relaxed, we walked to the side where the trucks were entering, filling with diesel and the drivers were heading in for showers, supplies, laundry etc. We sat there for a few minutes and he indicated he wanted to engage and so we did some short heeling and games and he watched and listened to the drivers some more. His tail was up and he was in a relaxed focus mode so we played a bit on the way back to the Xterra and I put him in.

*Aedan:* We walked to a bench closer to the big automatic doors (he grabbed a cigarette on the way so he learned I can take things out of his mouth) and sat for a few minutes. Then off to the trucker side where he met a few happy, dancing guys  Then we walked to the front, practiced sits and downs, some polite walking and he got to meet more folks - a really thin teenager with a 10 inch or so scraggly beard, a very heavy set black teenager wearing multiple layers on top and shiny shorts (its about 35 degrees so Aedan has not seen many legs yet), and a heavy set white teen ; all the teens were smoking and drinking soda so more exposure for Aedan boy. 

Then a few more people stopped and watched us but did not approach so Aedan is hopefully learning that not all people want to meet him.

I felt we accomplished a lot in the hour or so we were gone.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Open class tonight. Really good heeling figure 8, ROHJ, BJ, drops throwing cheese balls back and forth. Not much to be critical of.

On the BJ, the instructor put down 3 strips of gardening wire (similar to chicken wire, but sturdier) on the right side. Yes, she hit it the first time, and we immediately broke off the exercise and set up again. She successfully jumped right down the middle 3-4 times, and we wrapped it up. I'll be picking up some of that wire, because what I've been using is too visible, which is why she was just jumping over it to cut the corner.

Also....I've now been asked FOUR TIMES in the last two years by the same woman who trains there occasionally if Bella is an "English Cream." This woman and her husband both have Goldens. I tried to explain it to her at least a couple times before, so I didn't even bother trying this time. She seems very nice, but c'mon......


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Tonight I'm subbing for the regular instructor so no training for the boys till late this afternoon. I would have liked to work with Hombre this morning but it's raining to hard so till later.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Lexx and I have been working on our Bridging the Gap exercises through FDSA. He's doing really well. His focus and engagement have improved so much.....could it be that he's finally maturing a bit????

We've also been working regularly on our obedience exercises. I took him to the building last weekend and ran him through utility and open....he did very well. His go outs were beautifully done again with no bait, no markers. I think he's finally getting it! Everything else was well done.....I have no complaints!!

We have our working group class this Saturday. Only 2 more classes and then we're done for the summer. I'm going away for a few days for work next week so he'll get a little break from training.

Our line manners class on Tuesday was cancelled due to the weather (rain/snow).

I've signed up for carting classes again this summer. He was a little nervous about having that "thing" hooked up to him last year but we'll try again.

We aren't going to take any tracking classes this year as he's done all he can through our local classes but will look forward to the tracking seminar in June (in Alberta).

Also looking forward to our retrieving seminar in May.....it's always a fun and enjoyable weekend.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Am skipping private today.... I don't personally feel we've made a huge difference between last time and today. With weather being nicer, I can get outside and work on some things we went over. <<- Would have still gone to class to at least cover some things I had questions about + get practice away from home, but my goodness I feel wiped out. Jacks kept me awake last night because of storms. 

There's a fun match tomorrow morning - debating the value of driving out there (about an hour drive with morning traffic).... Yawn. If tonight's a repeat of last night, probably not.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Worked on Penny's off switch in the driveway before Rally.

In class Penny was barking...a lot. I treated her every time she laid down and stopped barking. By the end of class the barking was almost under control. 

Penny was distracted by the dirty mats again. I'll be glad when they're cleaned. 

At the end of class a lab came in and the owner had no control over it. It made a beeline for Penny, who was chained to the wall, so the dog had her pinned against it. The lab was right up in her face and Penny snapped at his/her muzzle. I think it was just a warning gesture since she didn't grab any skin. Next time I'll have to keep an eye out for the lab so I can tell him to keep his dog away from mine. It happened too fast for me to react, but at least I can prevent it from happening next time. The owner didn't even seem to notice what happened. I'm going to ask my instructor to talk to the owner if it happens again.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Did some heeling in the basement, and introduced the chicken wire on the broad jump. After the first jump, she noticed it, which caused her to balk on the next jump. Set her up again, and she jumped....three more successful jumps followed by a huge jackpot. It's a work in progress.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

Our working spot in the online Bridging the Gap class is keeping me and Kea busy. She had a great night at class last night and we practiced engagement in between heeling setups. I can "feel" us both getting more comfortable with the process of engaged working and playing. 

Today, we practiced at a tennis court near a dog park. Harris had a bit of loose poop this morning, so he did his turn with only personal play and toy play as a reward. He worked just as hard as he would for food, especially with the personal play. I am very excited for his future. He doesn't have the environmental interest issues that Kea has, so time will tell how long it will take before he is ready. I am not yet sure if I will do rally with Harris like I did with Kea. 

I would like to get him into tracking. I am gearing up for a big move this summer, and will be renting a temporary place until my husband moves out and we start looking for land to build a home. I found a rental house with a giant yard and access to a 4 acre field across the street. It was definitely chosen with the dogs in mind.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning is a foggy/rainy type of day so we worked inside with no hike.

*Pot Work:* Faelan is learning to swing fully into heel position/alignment on the pot when I go to the left. Brady is very, very good at heel position swings. Towhee is still working on moving with me - I am also using too much body language on pot work with her -- I am unsure I will continue pot work with her since she really has nice turns without it and the pot just seems to confuse her.

*Heeling (Faelan, Towhee, Brady):* 
> Signals with just the stand, down and sit portions they all did well on (Towhee missed a sit)
> Pop Ups while heeling games combined with spins to the left 
> Slowest, slower, slow, normal heeling with left turns working on precision
> More pop up and spin games to finish

*Aedan:* (from his Aedan's Adventures thread) This morning's games included:

> Tippy plank with the bang game. Aedan will now run the plank from beginning to end without pausing at the pivot point  

> Pot work: I moved back to the larger pot since he still doesn't quite 'get' the small pot. No biggee

> And YAY!!! Its Yer Choice now has an uncovered bowl by my left knee with me sitting on the floor  Eye contact is now the criteria even if just glancing -- he seemed to proud of himself  I think he thinks lying on my lap is included in the game LOL


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training for my boys yesterday wasn't the best. Nugget anticipated the DOR but other than that his work was ok some exercises better than others fronts still a major problem . Hombre was a pain PERIOD !!! This pup has a mind of his own with cooperating the last thing on his agenda whether it's obedience or just being a good boy. He pooped on the carpet again after being let out 10 minutes earlier GRRRR . He also decided he does NOT have to come when called or do much of anything that I ask of him . The boy has a head made of concrete and as stubborn as the day is long. The word NO in his mind must mean hooray I'm getting the old mans goat now too just keep it up!!! I can see a whole lot of e-collar time in his future.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Nuggetsdad said:


> Training for my boys yesterday wasn't the best. Nugget anticipated the DOR but other than that his work was ok some exercises better than others fronts still a major problem . Hombre was a pain PERIOD !!! This pup has a mind of his own with cooperating the last thing on his agenda whether it's obedience or just being a good boy. He pooped on the carpet again after being let out 10 minutes earlier GRRRR . He also decided he does NOT have to come when called or do much of anything that I ask of him . The boy has a head made of concrete and as stubborn as the day is long. The word NO in his mind must mean hooray I'm getting the old mans goat now too just keep it up!!! I can see a whole lot of e-collar time in his future.


I found out yesterday that the breeding between Lexx's dad and a lovely female was done by AI and will be repeated tomorrow. I know I DON'T need a puppy and the timing is all wrong but I would SO love a puppy from this breeding. But, then I read stuff about Hombre and think maybe I really don't need a puppy.:no:


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Broad Jump session this morning. was probably the best to date. The chicken wire is working wonders, and she hasn't even hit it yet. And BTW, I accidentally stepped on it with my bare feet yesterday, and did not like it! LOL. I've come to grips with the fact that we'll have to work the BJ pretty much every day, just like we do with front, finishes, and halts. 

Run through tonight at the location of our next trial in 2 weeks.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Today we worked on generalization. We went to a park where we've been maybe 3 or 4 times, but not at all since fall. Finley was very interested in the environment so we spent about the first twenty minutes or so just walking around and letting her inspect all the grass, bushes, ect, She was very interested in sniffing under some bushes, and just about crawled under them, then I noticed the rabbit dirt under them :bowl:. I think she would have been totally happy to just keep walking and sniffing around, but after a while I sat on a bench, gave her a drink, and took out the tug toy and dumbbell. 

We went over to a grassy area about 100 feet away from a playground where kids were playing and I asked her to come to heel and watch. Well, she watched for a second or two, then turned to look around. Soooo she was put in a down stay while I walked around playing with the tug toy. Maybe a minute or two, then back to her and we tried the heel position and watch again. Better this time. I had her attention for just a short bout of straight heeling and a halt. On the halt, she started looking around again, so we did a repeat of the down stay and I played tug. This time after we started heeling again, she maintained position and attention (to the degree I expect it) through some halts and about-turns. This was rewarded with tug between her and I, and high touches. 

Then we did about 3 retrieves on flat. Our back was to the playground. The first time she went to the dumbbell but thought she'd like to sniff some more around it rather than pick it up. So a repeat command to take it, and she did. Her front was off though and the dumbbell was half hardily held in her mouth. She was reminded to "Hold it pretty" while I walked around her before I would take it. The next 2 retrieves were faster with a tight hold. Then we did a straight recall, and 2 drops on recall. The first drop she didn't travel much after the signal, but was slow to go down and stopped with her elbows about an inch off the ground. On the verbal reminder to "DOWN" they went down. The 2cd drop was better. Tug in between exercises. After this we grabbed our stuff and she wadded in the water for the boat launches before we left for home and also met a nice family with kids who wanted to pet her. That I think was the highlight of her day .

Tomorrow Banshee will go to a show n go in the morning.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

The boys got yesterday off to just relax and do their own thing ( within reason ) and so being well rested we went out in the street this morning and with Hombre did some very nice heeling . His auto sits coming along very nicely and about all that he did wrong was go a little wide and give me two butt out sits. The fasts slow about turns all well done. We also did several F+F which are also coming on well. His fig8 this morning was flawless even the outside turns he did without a lag. After the street work we went in the back yard being fenced it's far safer to do recalls of which 3 were done and he was fast coming in and his fronts on 2 with me holding a treat between my legs were straight which he is learning that if he isn't straight there aren't any treats. We then did 3 ROF which is still a work in progress , he will definatly get it but he doesn't always want to come back to a front but when he does he will give it up now. After the pup Nugget did articles 2x each and no mistakes not even a crooked front but one and it was just a tad off . After articles we went out in the yard and did all 3 gloves with only one reset on a turn in place his getting them correctly and fronting straight were very nice all correct and the one finish I did was also straight. Then the signal exercise and it was well done by Nugget his owner- trainer still has trouble walking straight and making a clean about turn in the grass but Nugget made up for me. His stand - down - sit - recall all very nice and brisk. After this our problem area came the GO OUTS ? This in our yard without any distractions 3 in a row were PERFECT . He was fast going out straight going right to the stanchion sitting on my order could not have been better. After each one I went to him and rewarded him and heeled him back to to send spot at the opposite end of the ring. Then the fourth go out he was not as fast or straight sitting about 2 feet off center so no treat and he was brought back reset sent again but this time to a baited stanchion which he was fast straight and right to it allowed time to lick his geese off and then told to sit which he did. I then re baited the stanchion and sent him which this time as he got close I gave him a SIT order which he did ( good boy) then allowed to get the treat. No jumps were done because of the dew on the grass. We did a MSFE which a good lockup was done and a very brisk return to heel and it was straight. Utility today was awesome. We then did a DOR and a couple straight recalls and 3 ROF all thrown in different directions. Today was a five star training day for me and the boys.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Training this morning in the park...heeling, broad jump retrieve over high jump, figure 8. Everything very good....straight sits, great focus, etc. Please, Bella, give me that level of focus in two weeks.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

We went to a fairly local park today and worked a few things. This park has duck ponds with ducks; a lot of little kids, people fishing, bread on the ground for the ducks etc.

*Aedan* went first and just got to stroll around taking in the sights!
*
Brady* went next and I worked on letting him acclimate and when he signaled he was more relaxed and maybe ready to work, I offered him that opportunity. Sometimes he took it, sometimes he did not. But I'll tell you when he did work it was at awesome levels of focus and drive. He had concerns about some of the yelling and stomping/slapping feet of kids running hither & yonder. He was not concerned about most people or their dogs, just the yelling and feet sounds, so not so bad.

*Faelan* came out next and we strolled for about 1/2 way around the pond and then worked signals (he missing a drop signal when a goose started honking behind him - he sat instead), heeling, send aways and drop on recalls.

*Towhee* was last dog out and honestly? she blew me away!! We strolled some but she wanted to work!! Kids, adults inviting her to be pet, ducks, fisherman -- nope, she wanted to work  Even a 3 year old (or so) girl running up to her with a mama right behind yelling 'you need to ASK' would not deter my Towhee from her heeling! We worked heeling, recalls, fronts and finishes with various trees acting as posts for figure 8s.

A few pictures of the ground being visible  from my phone so quality is not the greatest but it is GROUND


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## Lucky Penny (Nov 13, 2011)

A little brag! Luna and I got our first leg towards our CDX today with a 188! Not bad! Will go again tomorrow and see how we do. Also, last weekend we had our first CPE agility trial. Got 2 Q's and 2 first places! All of this training in paying off, love my girl!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations 




Lucky Penny said:


> A little brag! Luna and I got our first leg towards our CDX today with a 188! Not bad! Will go again tomorrow and see how we do. Also, last weekend we had our first CPE agility trial. Got 2 Q's and 2 first places! All of this training in paying off, love my girl!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I recorded a video of Phoenix doing an open run through today. Quality of the video didn't turn out great, but I was pretty happy with his training. 

When I left I realized I had done all that open and utility training, but forgot to train for novice :doh:. I'm debating bringing him to a dinner gathering we're going to so I can get some exams done on him. That's one thing that's pretty impossible to train on your own!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Congrats Lucky Penny! 

I've been working on loose leash walking in the driveway the past couple days. I've noticed a lot of improvement, though her leash grabbing has been worse than usual. Touch targeting is coming along fairly well. 

I started assisting with a TDI class today. It's cool to see how well behaved these dogs are in comparison with the beginning classes...maybe that will be Penny and me one day.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Nice  

I have to admit, I kept getting distracted by his plume of a tail !! He has his mama's tail when she's in full coat - and what a beautiful sight a full golden tail is 



Loisiana said:


> I recorded a video of Phoenix doing an open run through today. Quality of the video didn't turn out great, but I was pretty happy with his training.
> 
> When I left I realized I had done all that open and utility training, but forgot to train for novice :doh:. I'm debating bringing him to a dinner gathering we're going to so I can get some exams done on him. That's one thing that's pretty impossible to train on your own!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Lucky Penny said:


> A little brag! Luna and I got our first leg towards our CDX today with a 188! Not bad! Will go again tomorrow and see how we do. Also, last weekend we had our first CPE agility trial. Got 2 Q's and 2 first places! All of this training in paying off, love my girl!



Congratulations good job!!


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Borrowed Sunrise's idea and heeled for 5 minutes next to a playground with screaming kids. Bella didn't look away once! Proud of her.....


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> Nice
> 
> I have to admit, I kept getting distracted by his plume of a tail !! He has his mama's tail when she's in full coat - and what a beautiful sight a full golden tail is


I love looking at his tail. His whole coat is so nice, I'm always having non golden people asking why I don't show him in conformation, at least in UKC or Int. or something. So far it's been fairly easy upkeep on the coat too!

I did bring him along tonight and got some stand for exams in. At this point that is his weakest novice exercise, just because we don't get to practice it nearly enough.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

so many choices - so little time  I'll be thinking of places to go today with the dogs - mid 60s and sunny is the forecast so the choices are many 

Probably will not make it to my classes (Aedan - Puppy; Brady - Adv Rally; Towhee - CDSP) as I take advantage of this day after my chores are done... won't be covering much in the way of training other than new places with focus and drive and puppy socialization this afternoon so I may make up for it tonight ...


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I am just in from a first round of out-and-abouts  A beautiful sunny day in the mid 50's so far!

We headed to Panthorn Park in Southington which has a bunch of things - we stayed near the children's playground which was active with kids & parents - this is the park with the musical attractions so kids screaming & running, playing musical things. A group of men were playing ball on the fields next to where we stayed, there were ducks & fishing going on and the tennis courts were full.

*Aedan* went first with some strolling around the children's area and he seemed fascinated. He kept sitting watch and take it all in  We walked grass, mud & pavement and he bypassed a pizza someone left near a trash can (seriously?? I saw this yesterday too - seems an invitation for 1) wild animals and 2) dogs or kids to snatch)

*Brady* came out next and we strolled for a bit (near the playground and on the edge of the field with baseball being played) but he was anxious to work; so we worked some heeling & I told him to take a break; he came back so we worked a full set of signals which he did very nicely so I again told him to take a break. He came back stronger again so we practiced a few recalls some with drops some without. Some fronts, some food tosses through the legs. Oh, while heeling I'd spin him or release him up - both games he enjoys.

*Faelan* was next and we worked in the same area for strolling and some heads up heeling starts, as well as a break followed by signals. Then we walked to the other side of the playground by the road and duck pond and worked signals, drop on recalls (100 feet so he missed the first drop). After a short 'take a break' we walked over to the tennis courts and worked some heeling, MSFEs and straight recalls with some front, some food tosses between the legs. While heeling he was released with spins, pop up, catch him ups and general rough & tumble games which he enjoys.

*Towhee* came out last and she needed acclimation today. So she was worked, released with pop ups or catch her ups often. The ice cream man came while she was out do the playground emptied a bit allowing her to better focus. We worked some short heeling, signals (she had some issues with down), and some recalls.

Overall it was a fun set of sessions


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## Lucky Penny (Nov 13, 2011)

Okay, day two of the shows and we Qed again! First place in Open A with a 191 1/2! Off to the beach to celebrate with a swim!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Nugget was awesome today earning his 4 th UDX LEG and a second place in both utility and open with a 1941/2 in utility ( I cost him a point and a half on the abouts judge said I stood on them ) and then he gave me 198 in open . Neither class had big entries and half of each class failed so I pretty happy with his performance today. Only six more to go.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> lucky Penny congrats you guys are on a roll keep it going!!!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Congrats Lucky Penny and Nuggetsdad! Everyone's been doing so well!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations  !!



Lucky Penny said:


> Okay, day two of the shows and we Qed again! First place in Open A with a 191 1/2! Off to the beach to celebrate with a swim!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Go Team Nugget 



Nuggetsdad said:


> Nugget was awesome today earning his 4 th UDX LEG and a second place in both utility and open with a 1941/2 in utility ( I cost him a point and a half on the abouts judge said I stood on them ) and then he gave me 198 in open . Neither class had big entries and half of each class failed so I pretty happy with his performance today. Only six more to go.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Worked on loose-leash walking a couple times before class. There was a noticeable improvement today and there was also less leash-grabbing and biting. Reviewed touch-targeting to warm up for today's class.

I got to class a half hour early. The gate was locked so I had to go in by a side road and no one else showed up until ten minutes before class started. Being inside the car for awhile seemed to help Penny calm down, so I don't mind that the building was unlocked late today. 

Our instructor had us practice the on/off switch after warming up. I also learned a weird turn today that uses the outside arm to signal the dog. I think it was called the outside turn? We practice first with a human partner and then got our dogs out to practice it. 

Penny was very ready to do the catwalk today. She took off on it before I even got a treat out and I had to catch up with her. Then I finally got her to slow down with a treat. She didn't fall off even though she was going fast. The second time around I was more prepared and had her under control better. 

We did the chute by ourselves and without holding the end up for the first time. Penny only hesitated for a second before going through and the second time she went right in. 

Penny also got introduced to the big A-frame. The first two times she bailed after she got all four paws on it. I handed her leash to the instructor the third time and she went up and over with no problems! She got to go a second time and went over it with no problems. The A-frame seems to be her favorite piece of Agility equipment so far.


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## Lucky Penny (Nov 13, 2011)

Congrats to Team Nugget! He is on a roll!


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

We trained outside this morning. Heeling was good, but on the broad jump, she jumped over the chicken wire to cut the corner twice. I had the jump set at 48," which is 4" more than her jump distance and the chicken wire is 18" long. I immediately stopped the exercise, moved the chicken wire out further, set her up again, and she jumped right down the middle. I thought the whole idea of using the chicken wire is that they don't know it's there. Lol at that. Not only does she know it's there, but she knows how far she needs to jump to clear it.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Big congratulations Nuggets Dad and Lucky Penny!!!

Today (well Sunday) I was running out of time due to going to work, so I thought I'd try working short spurts with both dogs. I brought them both out together, and started with Finley in a sit on our deck while Banshee did heeling and a recall. Then my idea was to switch dogs, and put Banshee in a sit while Finley worked. That was a no-go. Too much for Banshee, who couldn't stay on the deck and wanted to be in the mix. Anyhow, she went back in the house and Finley did retrieves, broad jump, drop on recall and straight recalls followed by off leash heeling on our street. I don't think I'll be able to make class tomorrow, but I hope Tuesday I can go out and train somewhere other than home.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we took a hike where hunt tests took place this weekend so we. by default, worked quite a bit on recalls 

Once home we worked just a few minutes on Heeling, about turns and signals. A few front and finishes but the hike did take longer than I planned for so the more formal sessions were short


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Rusty and I passed our ORT test yesterday! He aced the test, and I'm so proud of my pup! He has progressed so much in his nose work training! Soon we will be entering trials I hope!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Melfice said:


> Rusty and I passed our ORT test yesterday! He aced the test, and I'm so proud of my pup! He has progressed so much in his nose work training! Soon we will be entering trials I hope!


Congratulations


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Broad Jump training today. 

Threw a cheese ball on the first one...fronts only on the next two...fronts and finishes on the last two. I had the jump set at 48" (her jump distance is 44"), and set her up 10' from the jump. I'm happy with how it went today. 






Other than that, all we did was 2-3 minutes of heeling.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Wow you have a very well trained dog! Great video


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Had a good class with Bertie - even though there wasn't enough time for jumps (boo!). Focused on heeling, attention, figure 8's, stands, retrieves (working on control and direction with the dogs - 2 people working retrieves together, 1 dog waiting while the other retrieved directly. Dog going first had to retrieve his own dumbbell vs the one just thrown by the other person, dog going last had to remember/follow direction to his own dumbbell), recalls, drops, and stays. 

Was very happy with heeling - lots of attention and kept him right where I wanted him.

Recalls were great until last one when I asked the instructor to work with me and stand closer than the judge would ever - caused Bertie to break, which was what I was hoping for. Gave me a chance to reinforce (reward) solid waits. 

Stays - since there was no line-up (everyone working open stays) - there was no point in me standing in novice position. I did walk around and sit on the other end of the room (he could still see me, I could see him, etc). He was wiggly on the down (I gave him hand-signals which did the job), but otherwise really good.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I'm spending this week focusing on finishes (with some front work thrown in). I pulled out the pvc front/finish boxes and am going to try to instill some muscle memory this week for correct position.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Guess I'm lucky getting the UDX leg yesterday because today Nugget balked at taking the bar jump several times at club tonight. He finally did but now another thing to cause me concern . Hombre did fair and if his work were a trial tonight he would have qualified but only in the 180s so not bad for his age but a long way from what I want.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Melfice said:


> Rusty and I passed our ORT test yesterday! He aced the test, and I'm so proud of my pup! He has progressed so much in his nose work training! Soon we will be entering trials I hope!


That' awesome, congratulations!!


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Tonight Finley worked on maintaining focus while heeling past toys on the ground, esp. that ball! Very good session, followed by recalls and the high jump! Banshee worked on heeling, stands, backing, and recalls. This was mixed up between our back yard and the street in front of the house. Both girls did great tonight!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning the dogs got to run around the yard and explore the agility shed while I moved my high jump and 10 sections of gating with stanchions down to the yard 

Then with an unpainted wooden dumbbell :
*Faelan:* 3 ROHJs which were perfect once he found the dumbbell - 1 front was off a bit and we did not practice finishes but did practice quiet holds.

*Brady:* Anticipated the 1st send (dumbbell chattered on the sidewalk and was visible to the left of the jump). So I moved out of position turning my back so he was not allowed to deliver to front. The second 2 were very very nice  He too had to search a bit and his fronts were nice - no finishes.

*Towhee:* had hesitation jumping so I moved ran beside her, and then stood behind the jump twice while tapping on her return. I lowered the jump for her third try and she sailed over in both directions. I think she needs to see the chiro...

*Aedan:* being noisy about being left out of the fun, we went outside and practiced recalls with my tossing treats to send him away from me - started 'fronting' if you will -- no sits yet but nose lined up to the center of my legs.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

After watching my broad jump video, and freezing some of the landings....wow does that exercise look hard on a dog. I've done the same with videos of other dogs doing the broad jump, and see the same thing. Landing partially sideways can't be good. One thing about Bella, is that if she's really committed to the jump, she goes very hard. Will mix in throwing cheese balls more at random, to try to keep her landing a little straighter.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Broad Jumps are definitely one of the toughest exercises. High jumps can be tough as well if the dog does not have enough room to hit full stride- just one of those areas where small dogs have an advantage, especially if your dog jumps head up while carrying the dumbbell-try to teach head down landings....


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## Lucky Penny (Nov 13, 2011)

I have spent a lot of time playing games with the high jump and broad jump. When I pull them out to practice I very rarely do more then 1 regular jump. I may jump her 4 different times on the the jump and 3 out of the 4 are not formal. This has helped so much.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I did a few more formal fronts yesterday than I would normally do, but I wanted to get a good look at what's going on with the video. Until a couple months ago, there was a treat on a target 100% of the time, and we didn't jump more than about 10 times over the previous year. Still a work in progress, and the focus is going to be straighter landings right down the middle.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Sunrise said:


> Broad Jumps are definitely one of the toughest exercises. High jumps can be tough as well if the dog does not have enough room to hit full stride- just one of those areas where small dogs have an advantage, especially if your dog jumps head up while carrying the dumbbell-try to teach head down landings....


I guess I'll need to video the high jump, and see if she's head down or head up.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Nairb said:


> I guess I'll need to video the high jump, and see if she's head down or head up.


It's the agility side of me  many of us spend a lot of time training and maintaining jumping ... The dogs are usually able to hit stride quickly but there are easily hundreds of jumps taken over the course of a month between training and trialing and classes.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

MaureenM said:


> That' awesome, congratulations!!


Thank you


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I think I've figured out why Nugget refused the bar jump last night at club. The wind coming from the west was really blowing and rattling the steel overhead door and this must have spooked him. This morning we set the bar on the side of the ring like it was last night and there was NO problem with it or anything else in fact he did utility with Lynn running me thru with only a poor finish 2x and a turn in place for #3 glove ( my sloppy footwork again) he killed all but one front and his go outs were to die for absolutely beautiful . ( hope his work Sun. Will emulate today ) . Open work was also pretty nice. Tomorrow Nugget gets the day to kick back and just be a dog but not his nephew Hombre who has to earn his keep . His novice work today not bad but still a work in progress and the first stand for exam with a stranger going over him he moved a paw the second one after a correction very solid. He lagged on the outside turn of fig8 so a repeat was neccessary. His go outs 3x at home with bait good but sitting after he has gotten the cheese is still a work in progress. His taking and retrieving the dumbbell getting much better but the fronts are rarely there if he comes back at all but the release has become a lot better.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny did excellent with loose leash walking today aside from being a little jumpy. I couple times she wanted to go after a robin, so I think the amount of distractions need to be increased. I'll take her to a hiking trail in the next couple days and see how she does with bikes, joggers, ect.

She also worked on her focus, crosses, touch targeting, inside turns, and outside turns on the left and right side. She wants to spin away from me (more like leap), so I need to lure her with a treat slowly until she understands that I don't want her to spin.

I sent in Penny's entry for the May Rally trial today. I forgot to circle that her registration number is with the AKC, so I hope that won't be an issue.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I feel silly celebrating this, but yeah! Just came back inside after a training session where Bertie held his wait without me holding his collar while I throw the dumbbell. That a corner turned....


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

We did about 10 minutes of heeling, fronts, finishes and recalls in the tennis court, with people playing basketball right next to us. After that she retrieved a tennis ball 20-30 times in the field, and she's toast. Day off from jumping today.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Well, my plans for the evening went awry!

Came home to a truly smelly Aedan, so after washing down his crate, feeding & exercising the dogs I tackled Mr Stink Butt.

Oh Aedan, If you mess your crate, you really don't need to play & roll in your mess ... bleck.

So now that he is clean, I am soaked and will be changing into my jammies before wiping down the kitchen from water, water everywhere.

Good thing he's so freaking cute!! Probably drank a ton of water at lunch when the dog walker was up since he rarely messes.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

We did no training today outside of the sit for your supper, ect type stuff. But, at least my taxes are done.... Rained all day anyway, raining still, so if I have to do paperwork this was a good day to do it. One thing though, I will be paying attention the next time Finley does her high jump as to how she holds her head. I am pretty confident in saying she turns to the left when retrieving, so now I'll
watch how she holds her head.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we worked outdoors 

A combination of impulse control, building drive and distraction work was provided by using a Squishy Face flirt pole before we began, as a reward and a reset and as a distraction to the side for recalls.

*Aedan:* We played with the squishy face tug, smack da baby and combined this with sits, downs, short recalls and chase da mama around on both the left & right sides.

Then the older dogs were done with their twizzles so Aedan was crated while we worked:

*Faelan:* Tug & chase the squishy face, heeling with signals and my holding the pole on my right side (he did need an initial reset since he wrapped to get the pole), followed by more tugging and a drop on recall with the squishy pole about 4 feet to his left slightly behind the drop point. He did glance at the toy on his way by but that was it 

*Brady:* doesn't really tug but he will chase and catch the toy  So we played a bit with some smack da baby mixed in, then worked heeling with my carrying the poles - he was amazing!! dream heeling today. Then more chase the toy followed by signals and a drop on recall. Very nice!

*Towhee:* Ha, little Towhee loves that toy and the fact she can tug so far away LOL We worked heeling with my holding the pole on my right and well, she needed a few resets and then the lightbulb went off and she was awesome to earn herself some serious tugging  Then we were going to work the full signal sequence but I ended up leaving her in the stand, turning and facing and going back to either reward or reset since she was having anticipation fun ... we finished with a straight recall and more tug !


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Took the video of retrieve over high jump this morning. Set at 22", and starting from 10' from the jump. The first one was a fun one...the last two with fronts. 

Looks like head up. What do you think, Sunrise? It seems she's looking ahead to see where I am to line up for the front. And on the way out, she's looking for the dumbbell on the landing. I'm not sure how one would change that.






Oops I forgot to publish it the first time. It should work now.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Might be okay. For jump training we hold or drop treats close to the ground so the dog looks down for landing. This requires a lot of training / repetition and may not be worth the time given how relatively few jumps an obedience dog takes... My preference is heads down but I also won't jump them on thinly covered cement or wet grass. Leaves a lot of venues out for me. Chiropractic appointments can help tremendously if your dog starts feeling effect from heads up jumping too


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Mmmmmm, could be interesting. Thinking of maybe bringing Aedan to a field training session with ducks.... He doesn't have hold or give yet though. I know Faelan would adore working in field. Would probably need to cancel my rental and possibly skip my classes but it may be worth it. See what teacher has to say, I guess.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Rusty ran a few obstacle courses off leash last night! He has a huge drive to run them, and we are having a blast in class! I'm very happy with Rusty's progression, and the next 6 months should be classes without any distractions.

I need to start buying some agility equipment so I can train at home with the dogs. If anyone has any recommendations for websites, that sell agility equipment please let me know 

Tomorrow I have agility class with Kerrie Ann. We have missed the last two weeks, so it will be nice to get back into class again


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Nugget today has been allowed to just " goof off " and be a treat moocher but Hombre and I did the fig8 2x which is coming along and a little heeling doing a R+L circle several halts and sits which about half were straight and a couple fast and slows which surprisingly he stayed in " heel" very nicely. Then it was out in the yard for a few ROF which today he didn't have much enthusiasm to do but I made sure he did them but we quit as he didn't seem into it today. We then got the cheese in the can and put it on a stanchion 3x and he was sent to " go out" which he did from mid ring straight too the stanchion and licked his treat off of it. His sit after the go outs are to slow for my liking and I must run out behind him to get them and tell him to sit or he just forgets the original order but we have lots of time for this to be absorbed into his puppy brain . We also did a few F+F which are still and will be a work in progress but it's improving . Tomorrow at SCKC .


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Went for a walk, and spent about 5 minutes heeling near a fenced yard with a non-stop barking lab (there are lots of those in my neighborhood). This is a part of the park we haven't been at for a while, so she was tempted to check things out, but we got that squared away quick. 

Skipping classes this week. At times, I feel like I can be more productive doing this stuff at home, without the class structure. Furthermore, there's a certain individual who trains there who is really getting on my nerves. Need the week off. We'll do a run through on Friday.


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Mighty and I had our debut last weekend and it went pretty well. To be fair I have not really spent the time working with Mighty that I had with Titan.. have been kinda burned out for the last year or so. He is not relaxed yet on the downs so I spent the previous couple weeks working the down stay... Sunday..Mighty thought he would show me how relaxed he could be... during the sit stay.duh.... I know better than to just work on a couple things instead of the entire picture.. lesson learned.. I was very pleased with his ring work and he was very consistent with his work. Now if I can get my act together ...lol I had two tough judges so I know we earned our scores..was pleased overall..


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

On our walk she was great with staying at my side. There was a pair of mallard ducks across from my house and Penny kept barking at them. Ruff up, skittered to the side when we passed them. Pretty sure a Golden isn't supposed to be scared of ducks. The problem is that she has started barking at humans, birds, ect. when she sees them, even if they're a block away. It's not like her to act like that and I don't know what's changed to make her start doing this.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Tonight we started in front of our house to do some heeling. The house across the street is for sale and people were looking at it. The realtor wanted to ask me a question and the lady looking had three kids who wanted to see Finley. Since we had not yet started "working" we walked over and said hello. The kids were great, and asked a lot of questions about her. The older girl (15ish) told me she wanted a golden, but her Mom said they were too big. Anyway, she wanted to know all about the kennel clubs and obedience trials ect near us. And asked a lot about training. She told her little sister the next dog she gets WILL be a golden. (I hope they buy the house ). After Finley was done with her greetings she, on her own, came back to heel position and sat while we talked. She did good! 
After a bit, we left and started practicing. Heeling all off leash on the street and recalls in the front yard. Her drops and heeling were very nice tonight. 
Then to the back yard. I brought her in and she did a sit stay while I went into the house for her dumbbell and ball. She did a beautiful retrieve over the high jump with the dumbbell thrown off center to the far left. 
Then we did a retrieve on flat adjacent to the high jump. She took the jump on the way back, so we worked on that quite a bit. I think she was anticipating playing with her ball (which was on the ground next to my right leg,) it really effected her focus. I ended up putting the ball on the deck, and then she was able to do what she had to do. We ended the session after a very good retrieve on flat with a finish.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Titan1 said:


> Mighty and I had our debut last weekend and it went pretty well. To be fair I have not really spent the time working with Mighty that I had with Titan.. have been kinda burned out for the last year or so. He is not relaxed yet on the downs so I spent the previous couple weeks working the down stay... Sunday..Mighty thought he would show me how relaxed he could be... during the sit stay.duh.... I know better than to just work on a couple things instead of the entire picture.. lesson learned.. I was very pleased with his ring work and he was very consistent with his work. Now if I can get my act together ...lol I had two tough judges so I know we earned our scores..was pleased overall..


She didn't mention her great scores of 198 and 197.5!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Grins !! Congratulations again. Mighty and you did awesome 




Titan1 said:


> Mighty and I had our debut last weekend and it went pretty well. To be fair I have not really spent the time working with Mighty that I had with Titan.. have been kinda burned out for the last year or so. He is not relaxed yet on the downs so I spent the previous couple weeks working the down stay... Sunday..Mighty thought he would show me how relaxed he could be... during the sit stay.duh.... I know better than to just work on a couple things instead of the entire picture.. lesson learned.. I was very pleased with his ring work and he was very consistent with his work. Now if I can get my act together ...lol I had two tough judges so I know we earned our scores..was pleased overall..


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning is crisp - about 35 degrees but the sun is shining and the winds are calm, so we worked a bit in the backyard.

I set up the Alley-Oop on the landing for Aedan and stayed very close
*Aedan*: We worked (mixed up)

> Introduction to the Alley-Oop fo nose targeting (barely aware it exists)
> Sits
> Downs
> Name Game
> Introduction to Gee (spin right) and Haw (spin left)

*Faelan:* I set the Alley Oop the length of the back sidewalk away (about 50 feet) and we worked Marks and sends, combined with sits after a nose touch. The 3rd send he anticipated the turn & sit so we practiced 2 more (click on touch, sit cue & my running out to reward). We then practiced heeling with fast starts heading up the incline and slow starts heading down the incline - he needed to think about heel position 

*Brady:* Alley Oop marks and sends were first. He was hesitant on the 1st send (never saw he alley oop outside before and sending along the sidewalk was new too) but gained momentum and confidence after the 1st reward. I heeled fast starts up the incline next with slow starts along the level - he did well.

*Towhee:* We failed the first mark to the Alley Oop so I reset at 10 feet where she succeeded, then 15 feet and 20 feet. We'll work up the full distance - I guess I have spent too much time with gating and stanchions for her. The we worked heeling with normal paced starts going up the incline and slow paced starts going down the incline she did well 

For the heeling I was using left spins and pop ups every few steps to help release the precision tension.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Again my plans for this morning went by the wayside. Mother Nature drowned my outside plans for doing any jumping with Nugget. At least we got articles done correctly twice with only one reset for the turn in place. We also did a shortened in the house signal exercise that was well done at least Nuggets part in it not so sure about mine. I'll work the pup tonight at SCKC and try to get Directed Jumping in for our 5 minutes of ring time with Nugget. We are entered Sun. In a trial and I'm hoping the weather gives me a little more training time with Nugget .


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Today we went to Lowes garden section. We worked on "watching" while numerous people walked around us, and heeling. We also did short recalls, (from one end if an isle to the other) and finishes. Recalls were fast and straight. Her finishes, not so much. The slower you "finish" the longer you can glance around :doh:. This after Finley got to smell all sorts of flowers, ect, meet some people, and I tried to decide what I want to plant this year.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Snuck out this evening for a quick training session with Bertie - very upbeat, kept onleash and offleash heeling very short (basic L patterns), f8 (mostly motivation - he's very straight coming around the inside circle so I need to think about that) 1 straight recall, couple DOR, SFE, sit stay (me jogging around), and retrieves (dumbbell and building lucky dog).

Happy to say the dumbbell retrieve breakthrough of the other day is sticking around - he's holding his waits. Today there was one toss where he absolutely jolted as he saw the dumbbell drop and you could see him absolutely hunched forward and tense - but he held his wait and I was able to get him to look up for praise (I added a treat because I was impressed with the control from him). 

Total session was about 10-15 minutes. 

Hope to get more training in tomorrow, same thing. Have fun match on Sunday.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I took Penny to a hiking trail today and she did really well. She did want to see the few people that weren't scared off by this morning's rain, but other than that it was good. We only practiced there for a half hour since Penny got rowdy and wouldn't stop playing with the leash no matter how long I tried to wait her out.

Rally tonight was also good. I got good feedback on what I need to work on for the trial. I need to give Penny a voice command for her fronts and finishes. I also need to keep my feet together after finishes and when there is a halt sign. Penny needs more work (exposure) to people too, since she kept wanting to fly at the evaluator tonight. Overall she was much calmer than usual. 

On her second run through I withheld treats until we finished, but I did have cheese in my hand the whole time. I'll see if I can go the last half with no treats at all next week.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

An unplanned proofing opportunity at class last night - one of the figure 8 post people was wearing a bait bag. I'm really happy with how I handled this by letting Harris figure it out. He was so proud of himself when he got it  

I have also been pulling him back a bit to channel opposition reflex to get him to launch forward on the 'strut' cue. That seems to be having its desired effect. Today we tried a little heeling outside without the opposition reflex and he sprang into action. 

I took Kea to Lowe's today and practiced engagement and focus with some heeling, one recall, and a drop on recall. I'm getting a lot of help in our online class to create a plan to get her ring ready. Meanwhile, lots of generalization and working in different places is on the menu for her. She hasn't trained in Lowe's for awhile, but did really well after a few minutes of acclimation time.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Tonight Kerrie Ann did very well in agility class (after missing three weeks)! We ran jumps side-to-side which was something new, and it was a lot of fun!

At first, Kerrie Ann was a little rusty, but she started to get everything down after a few tries 

Good class and training tonight that's for sure.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I guess I just wasn't supposed to train my boys yesterday because of rain and then at SCKC last night I just finished my 5 minutes of ring time in utility ring with Nugget and started to work with Hombre doing a running backwards recall with him I tripped fell backwards smacking my head on the concrete floor and breaking my glass's which pretty much ended my night.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Richard - ouch. Glad it was just glasses! Be careful over there!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

@Richard, be careful! Glad it was only your glasses which broke.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Last night....heeled for a few minutes in an area of two guys playing disc golf in the park. Great distraction. I get some interesting reactions from people when I do this. It's not something people see every day. 

This week has been all about cleaning up a few things...broad jump, dumbbell holds in the living room and a couple other minor things. The holds have come a long way recently. Now, I can concentrate on dumbbell fronts. Since we have a 3 day trial in a week, I need to start focusing on fronts and finishes a little more for the next several days. Still trying to decide whether to do a run-through tonight or a fun match tomorrow morning....both at the location of the trial.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Nairb For what it's worth i have found my dogs work better in the morning rather than after a full day so I would elect for tomorrow morning


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny did very well again on her walks. The distractions were the only problem again. 

We had a trainer come out for an evaluation with her. It's undecided for now if she's going to work with Penny or not, but I hope we end up doing it because I think it will help a lot with her anxiety. The trainer said to stop taking her to agility until she doesn't bark when she's tied up since it isn't good for her to get away with it...those aren't the exact words she used, but it was along those lines.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Novice run through tonight. Two crooked sits and a crooked finish. At least one of the crooked sits was due to my poor footwork. Other than that, pretty good.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Undecided on what I'll do today - I may opt to bring Faelan to an Open/Utility drop in if I make it home in time.

I have a drive down to the coast for a food pick up for 9 (about 75 minutes each way), followed by a vet appointment with Aedan at 11 - I'll probably go directly from the food pick up to the vet since the vet is 30-40 minutes away. Then a bit of grocery shopping and put everything away (125 pounds of raw food + groceries), eat some lunch and see where I'm at time wise.

I know I won't make the noon (rally) drop in, but perhaps the 1 o'clock class. This facility is not a heavy use one so it should be safer than the high volume training facilities I go to.

Then a run to Home Depot to pick up more cinder blocks to line the dog yard fencing - I'll be trying Aedan outside while I'm at work and my brother is not home ... hopefully it will all go well  

I gave the adults their Heartworm prevention pills this morning so we'll see how Faelan feels. Sometimes they are a bit 'off' after their pills.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I have a slightly stiff neck from falling Thurs. but Nugget an d I worked in our yard yesterday doing all exercise's in both utility and open. He has done better but he certainly would have qualified in both class's with decent scores but not the kind that get in the ribbons. Fronts and finish's again not there and go outs a little off not terrible but depending on the judge scoreable. When it's light enough we will train a little more hoping to clean our act up some for the trial tomorrow, although this particular facility I've never done very well at but again main thing is I hope to Q and get a UDX leg. Hombre yesterday would NOT cooperate at all and very very quickly exhausted my patience and I quit working with him. The only good thing with Hombre to say this morning is that he wasn't crated overnight for the first time and he didn't have a accident which is a big thing for my little one who now weighs 53 1/2 lbs. and is just 4 lbs short of uncle Nugget. This boy has a head of solid concrete at times he can be very sweet but you can't let the guard down or Mr. Hyde comes out.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Got our training in for the day...fronts and finishes...heeling-breaking by throwing a cheeseball behind her, and calling her back to heel as I keep walking - She loves this.....figure 8....ROHJ...ROF....BJ....drops throwing cheeseballs back and forth.

As always, our success next weekend will depend on how well she pays attention. This is never a given with Bella. Sometimes, it looks like she's watching me to a casual observer, but her eyes are still wandering with her head up. I can tell. I've heard it described as "the lights are on, but nobody's home." It's the difference between a good score and a great score.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Hombre heeling and fig8 pretty nice this morning with auto sits a little faster and straighter. His fasts and slow very good today as he stayed in heel position. Only did a short signal exercise just to make sure Nugget would stand on signal which he did BUT doing go outs and asking for the bar jump to be taken he balked 3 times before he would go over it. Nugget I think loves giving me something to worry about rarely the same thing but he just keeps me guessing WHAT NEXT?


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

No place to go with training today, and my yard is flooded (a common theme here lately), so I took Phoenix down to the high school and used their covered drop off area to do a little training. We did heeling, figure 8's, articles, and sit stays. 

He wants to sit too far back on halts on the figure 8, not sure why since he doesn't do that on normal halts, maybe he is anticipating going back into the inside turn. But I've been trying to do lots of fig 8 halts with a treat ready to deliver in heel position to encourage a correct sit. 

Articles he did the first metal and first leather fine, but I when I did an extra metal he started trying to be leather grabby. So after two leather grabs (first one I was late to react so he brought it to me, but the second one I gave a "nope" and he dropped it in the pile) he stopped grabbing and found the metal. I repeated and he did fine, including not taking the leathers he had just previously grabbed that still had his scent on it.

Sit stays went very well, first I left him in a sit while I walked out to my car to get some stuff out so he could get used to seeing me walk a long distance away. The second time I went to my car to put the stuff back, but I also walked around the car so we could get in a few seconds of out of sight. And finally I did just a standard novice sit, me standing directly across from him. Conner and Flip both had problems with pitter patter feet, so it is nice to see Phoenix with a nice solid hold on his feet - very rarely he will adjust a foot but not often and none of that constant foot movement


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

So far the crew has only had the (re) start of jump grid practice. Lessons learned by handler is never ever assume you know what a higher motivator is LOL This simple 'grid' is really not even a grid but a stride regulator jump bump set (3 feet for Aedan, 5.5 feet for adults) a short distance from a low jump (3 inches for Aedan, 8 inches for the adults) with a focus/target a few feet in front of the jump.

For Aedan I stood with him and sent when his eyes focused on a tennis ball (he LOVES). He caught onto this game after 1 try and would happily retrieve back to me, I would toss the ball, he would retrieve back to me, I would toss and he would go happily running after it, take it and look at me <sigh>

For the older dogs I stood level with the target facing away from them, look over my shoulder and release. They know this game so it was fun!

So what assumption did I make?
That Faelan would prefer his leather/fleece tug over the tennis ball (I was wrong LOL)

Brady doesn't really tug so I started with a tennis ball and he came alive!! I don't think I've ever tried tennis balls with him since they can wear down teeth but I will use more with him for sure!

Towhee of course, being the tugging maniac she is, loved the tug.

BTW; I brought Aedan for the food pickup since he had a vet appt and he was tugging away at the Weigh Station  And was totally relaxed and 'controlled' or 'mellow' according to who mentioned it  LOL I was like, mellow? controlled? And they mentioned all my dogs are under control unlike most goldens or labs they see. I'll admit they tend to stick close to me and I keep them busy but it was still nice to hear !


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Just have to say that I really like it when clubs have their own secretary managing entries as opposed to dealing with the big supers (even though I've had positive dealings with the supers as well - including them quickly communicating with me and working issues out). 

Have been communicating back and forth with a local club person - was waffling about sending entries in for a show coming up (I wanted to charge it as opposed to writing a check because I'm giving my checking account TLC until I can feed it again after paying taxes this week). The club person was really nice and basically assured me that they wouldn't cash the check until X day, etc. 

Then she contacted me a day or two after the closing date to figure out where my entries were (because she didn't receive them). And while she didn't immediately have them on hand, she took my information to make sure I was entered and basically told me to send the replacement check next week. 

Turns out that they did have the check - it just was buried in their PO box or something, and all that is sorted out - but the delay in them finding my entry form and so forth did not cancel my entries - which I really appreciated. The lady (who I think I know or remember from when her husband trained at the same location as me like 20 years ago - though I didn't bring any of that up and wouldn't expect that she remember me????) was really nice and welcoming and helpful. 

I would gather entries are down and they aren't about to nitpick about small details as far as getting people to their shows, but she did not have to go the extra step as far ensuring I was entered. 

So really positive.

And hey - I hope everyone else is having a gorgeous day like we are!!! *thumbsup* My guys are recovering from a quick hiking-swim-hiking trip and I'm going to pull out the jumps and work with them in a couple hours (after hockey game is over). It's really nice having windows open and fresh air in the house!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums...1-9DCF-4A4D-A00E-B1DE5FA90D51_zpscwyqwvo0.jpg

Nuggets 3 years old 4/19/15


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums...4-6456-480D-A4A8-6330527FB73D_zpsllmo2hav.jpg

Whoops above picture is Hombre this one is Nugget . Just love this touch pad NOT


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> Brady doesn't really tug so I started with a tennis ball and he came alive!! I don't think I've ever tried tennis balls with him since they can wear down teeth but I will use more with him for sure!


I've read that the ones made specifically for dogs are okay for their teeth. My dogs love the squeaky kong ones.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Happy birthday Nugget. They are so cute.

Ugh working 10-12 hour days, weekends, nightmares and pressure. Not much time for dog training. Went field training once; it is so time consuming as we all know, but have continued to take Dee Dee to classes. 

She passed her CGC test Tuesday, now she can be my friendly strange dog for CGC testing since Gladys is only a marginal citizen 

I took Dee Dee to her Rally class yesterday, it was a welcome break from work and we had so much fun. Love Love Love Rally-O. Dee Dee does advance signs easily and we started working without food until end of exercise.

Haven't done Rally since before the big changes of 2012 and the instructor pointed out we can't go around with our hands in a pincer shape or we can be DQ for luring by some judges. That is a habit I never had to pay attention to before so I started keeping my hands flat or spread apart, like those spreaders they give you for painting your nails, and just trying to be aware not to make the pincers. Dee Dee transitioned just fine! She is so so so smart and fun and easy to work with!

The instructor told us to teach a call front with no halt by moving back and clapping to get them in front of us so they can figure out how to turn into that position. I tried it with Dee Dee while we were doing our course run through, and she did the kangaroo and popped up and poked me in the eye with her nose! Fortunately it didn't hurt and I was laughing so hard I could not move.

I don't have sufficient words to express how happy I am to have someone who wants to do Rally with me again <3 
Gladys loves her field work and we will get back to that too <3


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Sounds like a really fun class!! Congratulations again on the CGC - that is huge  Dee Dee is such a sweetie and loves to work with you!!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Really positive fun match today - despite me only getting an hour sleep or less last night...  

Used the novice run through as a warm up - which worked out really well when we got to the Open ring. Was very happy with everything in general - though it was WIP in most areas. 

Solid high jump/retrieve (I did a warm up with treats to get him ready before the formal dumbbell toss). 

Drop on recall, we repeated because while he dropped - felt he travelled a step too far past the command. 

ROF - I was really happy. No grabbing the collar - he held his wait (I did remind him to wait and rewarded him, but not anticipating that I could see). 

Heeling - we were fine with regular heeling, but a couple repeat starts with f8 to make sure he kept his head and moving with me instead of dropping his head wandering on me. This was very minor and he did basically a great job at his figure (offleash). 

Broad Jump - first one was perfect. She asked if I wanted to repeat just for extra practice and darn we should have stopped with the first one! Took a couple tries and I just switched in motivation-mode on the third and got close to want I wanted to stop on. 

Stays were solid. We stayed next to a young performance line golden who was very angsty-up and his owner (big guy - very loud voice) went in a couple times to correct. Wasn't a problem with Bertie, but I still went in to reward him for staying after those corrections. The owner did tone down the corrections after and I was really pleased with how Bertie stayed on the down even with the dog wiggling all over and leaning over to sniff him (my worst nightmare LOL - I had to force myself to hold still at the other end of the ring and verbal reminder/praise).

Funny-funny thing was a lady (very sweet lady) came up to fuss over Bertie - referring to him as an English Golden because of his head and expression. I didn't say anything... haha. I really do wonder sometimes if the English golden fad is just based on misconceptions...


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

It may be Nuggets birthday but I got the present today with Nugget earning UDX leg #5. Very nice entry of 36 in open and 32 in utility. He did commit a major mistake of sniffing on the ROF by the dumbbell along with 2 others who also sniffed at the same spot but it still cost 2 points so we wound up with a 197 which was out of the ribbons but his fronts and finish' s were very nice it was a very nice clean piece of work other than the )$&@// sniff which would have given us a tie for 1st. Utility it's seems you aren't supposed to " tick " the HJ which it too was point costly but it was getting late in the day and he was getting tired so a couple finish' s although straight were SLOOOW but he still got a respectable score of 194 1/2 . Very pleased with my boy today and he earned 2 Mc Donald's burgers and a fry.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Boomers Dawn congrats on getting the CGC good job.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny was a horror today on her dog walk...I guess her perfect manners haven't stuck just yet. We'll get there though. 

She was fairly wound up in agility too. We did the catwalk raised slightly off the ground and Penny did excellent on it both times. The A-frame was easy for her again this week. We raised the jumps to 12 inches today and she knocked some bars down if I had cheese in my hand, but was fine without cheese. My agility instructor said she does training at people's homes too, so hopefully she'll be affordable and can help Penny with separation and other things. The only thing I didn't agree with her was continuing agility classes. I don't see how she'll stop barking when I tie her up if I don't fix it first.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations on UDX #5 Team Nugget  Happy birthday Nugget!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

My crew had the day off -- it ended up being a day where sudden movements were not a good idea for me -- hopefully this is the last of the bad reaction to the staining fumes and such going on at work - last week a few days of real dizziness & headaches, and today -- well lets just say digestive issues shall we?

But the dogs did get to enjoy time outside in the dog yard.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Just some fronts, finishes and dumbbell holds in the living room. Crappy out side, and just didn't feel like doing more than that.


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## Lucky Penny (Nov 13, 2011)

Congrats to Nugget!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I wanted to bring Phoenix somewhere to train again today. Way too muddy to train in the yard. I'm very picky about what surfaces I ask him to heel on. So I drove around town pulling into various empty parking lots and feeling the concrete. If it's rough on my hand, I move on. So after 15 minutes I ended up at the same place I was at yesterday. Should have just gone there to start with.

All his novice work is good except we're still working on the stand. He wants to move his front right paw when I'm returning to him, and occasionally he'll move more than that.

In addition to novice work, we did drop on recall, and signals. He did all the signals strung together, from the stand all the way through to the finish. I think it's the first time he's done it all the way through, I mostly train signals in pieces. I was very pleased with his drop on recall also.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Took Bella for a walk and ended up doing some heeling after all....by the playground with a couple of screaming toddlers nearby. Then a few more fronts and finishes.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we played inside:

*Aedan:*

> Its Yer choice with the food bowl about a foot off my knee while I was sitting on the floor  He did so well I progressed to tossing treats to reset him and calling him back (Name Game). He cam straight in and not to the food bowl 

> Tippy Plank work - fun game

> Pot work: We have progressed to where he 'demands' his place on the pot (still the larger planter bottom) and some rear feet movement

> Introduction to running between 1 set of 2x2 weaves set horizontal to his position 

*Faelan, Towhee, Brady:
*
> Scent Discrimination: Metal followed by leather. They each did very, very well  I need to set up their fronting platform so I don't need to worry about their fronts - each dog was slightly too far - probably 6 inches from my legs, not enough to be scorable but since they tend to front further away during trials I like then very close during training. I never do more than 1 set at a time, and have always wondered why other people do? Curious I guess

> Pot Work (small pot): Faelan is really starting to 'get' find heel on the pot, Brady is very good at finding heel and Towhee is getting better - Towhee is definitely a right sided girl so left pivots are a challenge to her.

> Heeling followed by moving stands - mostly returning to reward the stand, occasional down signals. Faelan did awesome  Towhee sat the first stand signal but then did awesome. Brady sat the first down signal but then did great. Their heeling was pretty good as well 

Nice sessions -


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Sharon. The reason I do 2 sets of articles is so I can put them in different places because I know Nugget doesn't always want to go to the 12 o'clock position so it is one spot that is always used but I feel he must search all over so I just keep changing article locations.

Club today and I'm planning working the pup more than Nugget as he has not been getting his share of training with the effort for the most part on Nugget trialing every weekend.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Had a really good class. 

Got there early to work *directed jumping*. Actual go-outs and directed jumping = good. Waits were problematic. He kept popping up like a toast. Unsure if just him building up anxiety with each broken wait (which happens with him and why I have to be very careful about getting too grumpy with him out there) or if my own handling was at fault (hurried "wait" signals and letting him fail too many times before I switched gears and helped him out a little more). Focused on waits more during class (reminders when leaving, random rewards/praise, etc) and it did improve. 

*Watches/focus* at start of class - first time EVER that I've been able to hold his watch with somebody walking up around us, making quacking sounds, touching his back, etc. Which was really cool - but could be he was tired out from directed jumping practice before... I noticed he had a kinda "I'm tired" glaze in his eyes. 

*Heeling* - Instructor wanted everyone to focus on handling vs leash handling. So she had other people tuck the leash into belt loops and focus on other forms of communication with the dogs to keep them in tight heel. I just took the leash off and worked off leash (which is easier anyway). He got tired out towards the end - but focused really nicely the entire time. Very smooth and "up" heeling most of the time. 

*Figure 8* - Was awesome. Only "eh" part was my gracefulness or lack thereof. Instructor grilled me about rolling back on my feet (I step off via my heels vs my toes) before moving. Very small thing but could lead to anticipation at start of heeling. I had very nice smooth loose leash, tight, heads up, no bumping heeling throughout though.

*SFE* - Fine. I got the usual lecture about having him step into the stand vs kickback stands. He stacked perfect and stayed perfect though so it's tough for me to really change what I'm doing.

*Broad Jump* - worked with instructor on problem solving a couple things. Discussed where to set up (me standing in line with the right side of the jump to put him more on the center/right side of jump) and where to set up at the jump (me standing either in the middle or towards the bottom of the jump so he has more room to come up straight in front. We did about 4-5 jumps, two were perfect, two misses, and one really motivating type jump (treats flying). 

*High Jump* - Really PLEASED with this.  I focused on throwing dumbbell off to one side or the other and did not have him skipping the jump once. I did really focus on staying in training mode and helped him out (me giving him a collar tug to the jump, me raising my arm to guide him back to the jump + second call reminding him to jump), but was all good. 

*Recalls/DOR* - Great. Reminder to myself to drill finishes this week because they're getting sloppy with double commands (hand and verbal).

*ROF* - Great. Awesome not having to hold his collar. We also did training games like putting him in a wait and heading out to a recall position on the other side of the room with the dumbbell placed halfway for him to pick up on his way in. Have not done these in a while and was really pleased to see very clean retrieves, pickups, and fronts with these. No confusion. 

*Stays* - Sit was perfect. Down had a break at like 1:25. He was fine after I quietly put him back and he stayed the rest of the way with me half distance from him. I wasn't too worried about this, but like I told my instructor - I'm not going to enter him in regular novice until we have a longer winning streak with these downs. Because he's really solid, she's been pushing me to get out there. But yeah - once they break in trial, it's a pain fixing that.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

ETA - Guess I should also say this. We talked about the fun match this past week and it went through my brain that since I'm starting to get really nice directed jumping (albeit with broken waits) - I need to pull out the articles again and refresh where we are with that. I haven't pulled them out in a couple months. Instructor asked me why I'm not touching Utility in fun matches and pretty much directed jumping and articles were why. Gloves too. >.< I need to get myself into gear and order a set to practice with. 

Bertie's fairly good with signals and moving stands + my private instructor always does the utility exam on him (Bertie also is a conformation dog so the utility exam actually is less invasive than the conformation exam). 

I also need to take time to watch at fun matches and trials because I admittedly do not pay a lot of attention to the ring routine with utility. I could do the Open stuff in my sleep based on how much I've sat there and watched at matches and trials.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Soggy, foggy morning so we worked inside.

*Aedan: *has a very large stuffed golden that he loves to dognap and carry around, climb over and bring to different areas of the house.

So, this morning we started our session with sir doggy in the middle of the training room  Aedan was highly rewarded for doing his sits (verbal) and his downs (still using hand motion) near his stuffie 

Then we worked

> some running by my side
> touch a 'button' (think Staples 'That was easy' but barnyard noises)
> Take and then the beginning of hold a metal article

Wish I had this session on video - he was adorable! Absolutely no hesitation taking metal into his mouth and a good (albeit very short) hold.

*Faelan, Towhee & Brady:

*> Cow button nose touches. Faelan owns this!! in fact he is now boinking it through its packaging and trying to take it LOL Towhee will tap it readily, not hard enough to make it moo but readily tapping. Brady will indicate but not (yet) tap.

> Heeling with stopped positioning say halfway through abouts or right turns - they all did very, very well even when I patterned then to a right turn and then cued a left about 

> Stands in multiple variations - calling to heel, drops, walking around, walking to them and rewarding/releasing. Faelan did very well  Towhee wants to sit when I walk away, turn around and watch her for more than a few seconds - something we're working on. Brady has the stand down but will sometimes 'stick' the stand after he has been rewarded for holding the stand and not released.

Faelan is now boinking the barnyard animals button again LOL


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Nugget at club last night balked at taking the bar the first time because the wind was blowing very hard against the metal overhead door and making a racket but the second one because he knew I wasn't happy with his refusal and I got closer to the jump and very firmly with a stern "over" he took it then I just heaped tons of praise on him him reset did the high with him then sent him out and ordered the bar to be taken and this time no hesitation he flew over it. The rest of the time spent with Nugget was a little open work ROF 3x - ROHJ 2x and 2 DOR all very nice. Then Hombre whose goal in life is to try my patience which he does a great job at. Last night it earned him 3 ear pinches for the ROF he is stubborn and a slow learner. We did 3 go outs from 10 feet with a baited stanchion that I showed him the bait and he still went way off. Recalls on a flexi comes in alright but won't front not even crooked and to top off an already poor training session he broke the 3 minute long sit as I was returning with the other handlers which that earned him a good correction and he got to do a 5 minute long sit instead of a nice restful down.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Today at SCKC training did NOT go well with either dog. Nugget again refused the jumps in the DJ exercise plus his go outs stunk . Then he took a extra step on the MSFE. SIGNALS DONE WELL but our heeling was sloppy. The DR and SD done fairly well but the fronts ( 2 ) weren't straight. Open work much better. Hombre heeling not terrible but not a pic of perfection. He did 3 short baited go outs that were definatly better than last nights but his sits not fast enough nor did he turn enough to face me. SFE attempted 4 times not once was it good as he moved on every one as the " judge " went over him , after the fourth one my patience with him was exhausted and in the crate he went. On the long S+D I did the reverse with the long down being done first while every one else did the long sit this Nugget did well . I'm told the judge I'm showing too is big on using this exercise so a little practice was in order. If weather permits I'll have two more opps to work Nugget before the trial Fri. In Muncie.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

I worked on fronts with Harris tonight. He comes in and sits there starting hard GRINNING at me with his mouth closed and front teeth showing. It is all I can do to not giggle.  

Kea had two good sessions today - one at a local park where we practiced engagement between exercises and one this evening in our parking area where we practiced heeling and recalls with food off my body (she was working for her dinner in a bowl that I had sitting on top of the car). She has started to skip the front and go straight to the finish to speed things along. She learned tonight that this doesn't work and I asked her to repeat the exercise until she got it right. Silly girl!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Just finished working with Hombre and for a change he cooperated. He may be a little smarter than I gave him credit for because he has been refusing to " come" when called and also refusing to retrieve the dumbbell but this morning before we started to train I put his e-collar on and he retrieved the dumbbell 4x and brought it back even giving 1 straight front although 1 release needed a little persuasion then 3x the recall all done quickly with sits in front of me but not straight. The retrieves and recalls done without ever using the e- collar maybe he is starting to understand doing what I ask of him gets him a lot of praise and TREATS. After our work in the yard we went out to the street and he did some very nice heeling that included abouts r+ l turns circle r+l fast and slows all very well done especially for a 6 1/2 month old pup. Then the fig8 on my drive using my coffee can stewards which he is almost a master at this changing his pace on the inside and outside turns and staying in heel position all the time. When the dew dries up later this morning it will be Nuggets turn which he has already done his articles very well 2x each correctly with good turns in place going to the pile directly finding the right article and return ing with 3 of 4 fronts and all straight finish's. I must make sure he will take the DJ exercise the first time he is sent " over" and also practice the stand hand signal at the end of heeling on the signal exercise. After today's training only one more opportunity weather permitting tomorrow before leaving for the Muncie trial.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Rusty had a great night of agility yesterday, running with speed and drive. He did go wide out of the tunnel, and missed the teeter, but we are working on that tho 

Still very happy with his progress so far. Good times


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I wasn't intending to go to Open class tonight, but decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to go do a set of group stays before this weekend. We hadn't gone for 2 weeks. Everything went great. She's come a long, long way in a short amount of time on the open exercises. The only thing we haven't done yet is to put the drop in the recall. I throw the cheeseballs back and forth, and randomly drop her. She loves this, of course. After this weekend, we'll be done with Novice, so the drop will be put in to the recall next week. We may be ready for Open much sooner than I had thought, but we need to start doing open run-throughs.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I'm really seeing improvement in Hombre , this morning his heeling was quite good and he watched well along with right and left turns about turns fast and slow we did circle right and left and only once did he get behind and I think I spun too quickly on a about turn . His fig8 again very nice . Out in the yard 3 ROF Were done the first after the throw he was gone not waiting for my " take it " order so the next two I held his collar then sent him which he got it the first time and the second he was momentarily distracted by a Kong toy in the grass but then without a second order did get it and returned to me and now because I'm holding his treat in front of me and saying " sit" when he is in front of me he is doing it and has to open his mouth to get the treat and I tell hi "OUT" which his release is immeadiate. It coming together. We did SFE and 3 go outs to the stanchion which is baited from half the ring distance which he goes straight too but the sits after eating his cheese are not turning all the way around to face me or they are non- existent but lots of time for this. Later when the dew is gone the DJ exercise with Nugget as he has started refusing the bar the first time so hopefully we can get past this today.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we worked outside. Chilly but fairly dry 

Aedan had 'can you sit when' games. When you tug, when I move (video in his thread). We also played can you come when energized by tug toy and can you cone back to me with tug toy? He did well.

Then Faelan, Brady and Towhee came out in turn (i need to reset the jumps for Towhee so she goes first or last).

Broad Jumps with the fleece/leather toy had all 3 dogs sailing straight and low over the broad jumps  I alternating releasing them to the tug, tugging with them and having them front with the tug. 

Then we played randomized drops versus recalls versus thrown toy or treat combined with a low 'fly' object. The lowness of the cone seemed to throw each of them (8 inch and Orange versus 2-3 footers) but they got it and did well. I have not watched or processed their videos yet.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Very happy with Bertie @ private lesson today. 

Heeling was ON. In fact we pretty much spent very little time on heeling because he was so solid. Discussed ring entries. 

We then skipped to DOR and recalls - brainstorming what's going on with his waits. I am pretty sure I'm stepping out before completing the "wait" command because he holds his wait when I'm more deliberate with the verbal and signal. 

Directed jumping - I showed her where we are at and I'm relieved that we are doing what she'd recommend. Discussed steps between where I'm at now (tapping the jump on my way back) and how to get to a more formal directed jump. 

Go-outs - she was really happy to see his mark. He does the whole dropping his head and shoulders to point where he's going to go (where my hand is pointing) and he runs a straight fast line. 

Broad Jumps - discussed props to get him to jump straight up the middle vs cutting towards the corners. Got really gorgeous jumps.

ROF and ROH - worked on control (making him wait without me holding the collar) which he did well. We were cracking up because while I was TRYING to throw an offside dumbbell, the dumbbell kept bouncing back to a dead straight line. If I were trying to throw straight, that'd never happen.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Kerrie Ann and I had a great night of agility class. She ran well, and we started to run without saying a word to our dogs. It was cool, and all the dogs did well tonight.

Something was in a tree next to us, because Kerrie Ann kept trying to it lol instead of focusing on training 

Other than that, we had a good time and did very well tonight


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

From yesterday - Faelan, Brady & Towhee practicing their broad jump. Focus was on jumping down the middle. Note to self: Use a tennis ball for Brady although he seemed to find the cheese placed on the tug toy interesting 

We are starting to see the grass turn GREEN!! many trees have buds 

The crew will have today off from training since the weekend is almost here and they should receive plenty of training time







PS: the white blob to the left of center? Stick a pickup cap on stilts, wrap the stilts with plastic and call it a shed ... at least that's what the neighbors think <sigh> Every town needs at least one such family right? Junk vehicles, torn tarps, rotting sheds etc and I cannot put up a fence high enough to completely block their trashy ways


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

199 in Novice A. Tied for HIT, but lost the runoff to one of my instructors and her OTCH dog, who had 199 in both Utility B and Open B. Bella did great in the runoff. I'm not aware of any scorable mistakes, but the other dog didn't make any either. I needed the experience of a runoff and so did Bella. Very pleased.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

After only getting 21/2 hours sleep and driving 474 miles round trip I have only one green ribbon for the effort. Nugget had a nice run going till the ROHJ which he took the jump got the dumbbell came back giving me a straight front and then after I got the dumbbell from him and BEFORE THE JUDGE SAID FINISH HE DID. A 3 pt.substantial and we wound up with a 1941/2 first place was a runoff with 2 teams getting a1971/2 . Hum 1941/2 plus 3 pt substantial equals? Then utility he was on a roll till the final exercise the DJ . His first go out " perfect" fast straight and an immediate sit then what we did several times yesterday at home he was sent over the bar. Not happening- big fat NQ then we set up for the second go out and the judge quietly said " send him over the jump of your choice" which was very nice of him but Nugget looked at my face and he knew I was NOT happy with him and on my go out order went about 6 ft. And turned and just looked at me so I called him in. That's two trials in a row he should have gotten the blue thingy but not to be today. Upon getting home with the ritual Mc Donald's burgers and fries we went in the yard to do the bar and the first 4 times he balked then took it twice. Don't know what has gotten into him lately with the bar jump but we will work thru it. His breeder was at this trial as she belongs to the club and was happy to see both boys.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Nairb that's one heck of a score great job and aren't run offs fun?


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations  

Winning the Nov A class and going into a runoff for HIT is awesome! 

And much better than hanging around for hours with a nice score from Novice and having an Open B person beat you by 1/2 point LOL

My original trainer instilled in me to always be prepared for a run off! For your class and if you win the class, then for a HIT run off. Hard sometimes with the adrenaline pumping though



Nairb said:


> 199 in Novice A. Tied for HIT, but lost the runoff to one of my instructors and her OTCH dog, who had 199 in both Utility B and Open B. Bella did great in the runoff. I'm not aware of any scorable mistakes, but the other dog didn't make any either. I needed the experience of a runoff and so did Bella. Very pleased.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Nuggetsdad said:


> > Nairb that's one heck of a score great job and aren't run offs fun?


Yeah, runoffs require a whole different level of perfection beyond the rule book. Lots of tough competition at this trial.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Congrats Nairb and Nuggetsdad!

I'm nervous about having my agility instructor train Penny now. She told my mom over the phone that Penny's a mixed breed and her breeder must not be reputable...that's completely wrong on both accounts, but she can think whatever she wants. I'm surprised at how she responded since no one's questioned the white markings before once they were explained. My mom also said she was short with her over the phone in general, so I get the feeling this isn't going to be Penny's trainer. I'll just have to see how it goes when we do our first session.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Trust you instincts. If she was short with your mom, she may have just been having a really bad day but it could be more than that and your Penny is too important to take chances with.

It is really not her place to make comments about your Penny like that either - Penny and you deserve a professional and friendly trainer.



Eclipse said:


> I'm nervous about having my agility instructor train Penny now. She told my mom over the phone that Penny's a mixed breed and her breeder must not be reputable...that's completely wrong on both accounts, but she can think whatever she wants. I'm surprised at how she responded since no one's questioned the white markings before once they were explained. My mom also said she was short with her over the phone in general, so I get the feeling this isn't going to be Penny's trainer. I'll just have to see how it goes when we do our first session.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Sunrise said:


> Trust you instincts. If she was short with your mom, she may have just been having a really bad day but it could be more than that and your Penny is too important to take chances with.
> 
> It is really not her place to make comments about your Penny like that either - Penny and you deserve a professional and friendly trainer.


 I'll definitely keep that in mind. We've already contacted another trainer in case we decide not to go with this one.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@Eclipse - I would find time to talk privately with the instructor before class - feel it out and see if this is somebody you can get along with. If this were a private lesson type of instructor - I'd skip. Group class, probably worth the exploration simply because you don't have as much one-on-one time.... I'd show up early and talk though. 

My Monday class instructor loses some people (I'm pretty sure) because she can be rough around the edges. I grew up with somebody like that (my barn lady - who was sort of like another grandmother to me, very close) so it doesn't bother me. This lady is somebody who I swear whether I'm at obedience trials or conformation trials, she's there with her own dogs and makes time to come talk. And I can think of at least 2 novice A people who have CD's now because of this lady actually taking the time to teach them. So under the rough edges, she's pretty nice. <= Not everyone is worth the extra effort. So talk before class and see if this is somebody you can get along with.

*** I found time at the show this morning to claim the middle and back aisles in the grooming section to do a on-leash heeling pattern with Bertie. At first was pretty self-conscious because his breeder was there and has discouraged practicing heeling anywhere connected to conformation (I did switch to his buckle collar and leash). But after the first 2 strides and first sit, I pretty much decided to show him off to anyone who was watching - because he was that good.  

Other thing to note - for conformation the judges were all asking people to show bites (even though they still have to get their hands on the dogs). I pottied Bertie well-away from the "common area". We did not visit other dogs - even his relatives (he had a couple half sisters there). And when I got home, I washed his feet off with soap. 

I still don't believe in the hype around the Chicago flu, but just in case.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Day 2 of the 3 day trial didn't go as well. She labored through for a 195.5 and 1st place in Nov A, making mistakes that she just doesn't make. I suspected she may not feel well, because even her warm up was way off. As soon as we got our scores, we packed up and left. Within minutes of getting home...a huge pile of very loose stool. I guess we won't be going tomorrow, so her novice career is now finished. For our 8 novice trials, we scored 198.5, 197.5, 199.5, 195.5 (3 misc. point deduction), 198, 198, 199, and the 195.5 today. Many of these scores were under some very tough judges...particularly yesterday. Overall, I'm very pleased, and can't wait to get started in Open.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Almost time to leave for the trial today. Didn't get to train much yesterday with the weather only 1 go out and 1 jump over the bar which he did. Not feeling very confident but this trial is much much closer than the one in Muncie on Friday and hopefully a better result will come from it. Hombre this morning woke me up barfing and then had a loose stool on the bedroom floor so the day isn't starting out too good. I sure wish everything Hombre sees didn't go in his mouth and NO has zero effect on him he is in love with sticks rocks paper whatever , he has plenty of safe toys BUT. He is laying at my feet now sleeping after eating his breakfast like he was in a race to see who could eat the fastest Nugget or him.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Yesterday I guess you could say was mostly about relationships 

I spent all day with the dogs and did end up working on Go Outs with directed retrieves but really mostly just 'being'

We went for hikes (2 dogs at a time), Aedan went to the Gun Club, they ran around and 'helped' me taking out obedience & ring equipment and putting together gating, they ran around and I just watched their joy, they ran around and played while I did some yard work, they ran around .. well you get the idea.

They worked some of the PT stuff in the morning including Aedan having his first peanut exposure, and his first swimming adventure with papa Faelan showing him the proper way to get on and off the dock, when to shake off etc

Today may or may not be similar; I have Faelan entered in a trial coming up so I suppose I should spend more time on skills training. And I need to get Brady (Novice) and Towhee (Open) ready. Towhee's lonely Open leg was a 195 1/2 so the skills are there but need to be polished up and made ring ready - hopefully before she goes into season again. If I get cracking about her trialing she may fly through Open and Utility both but she also needs conditioning and still needs to lose a few pounds.

ETA: We also 'worked' playing with the tennis balls  Aedan will usually return WITH the tennis ball now(he will occasionally drop it to come flying back to me), Brady is blossoming in his love of retrieving tennis balls and Towhee & Faelan already love tennis balls


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Good luck Team Nugget 




Nuggetsdad said:


> Almost time to leave for the trial today. Didn't get to train much yesterday with the weather only 1 go out and 1 jump over the bar which he did. Not feeling very confident but this trial is much much closer than the one in Muncie on Friday and hopefully a better result will come from it. Hombre this morning woke me up barfing and then had a loose stool on the bedroom floor so the day isn't starting out too good. I sure wish everything Hombre sees didn't go in his mouth and NO has zero effect on him he is in love with sticks rocks paper whatever , he has plenty of safe toys BUT. He is laying at my feet now sleeping after eating his breakfast like he was in a race to see who could eat the fastest Nugget or him.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I set up a partial ring this afternoon (a big U basically with 20 foot sides and a 40 foot bottom) and worked the following within the ring area.

*Faelan:* (Signals and MSFE earlier at the market). Heeling, Gloves #1 & #3 (down in depressions) he had a few missteps for glove #1 since it was not visible and #2 was  We worked it out. Scent articles. Broad Jump. ROF, ROHJ. Very few finishes, mostly just getting him happy and moving.

*Towhee:* Heeling, she was so antsy she was forgey so we spent some time on that. ROF, Scent articles (she has a hard time with metal but got it), ROHJ with me being right by the jump cuing her (set at 24"), DOR, straight recalls and several broad jumps. The scent article bad was hanging from the high jump post for Towhee & Brady.

*Brady:* Heeling games, ROF, ROHJ (starting angled tosses and he went around the jump the 1st time he could clearly see the dumbbell), straight recall, scent articles and generally working on his confidence.

*Aedan:* Name games, sits & downs - he did well 

Then all 4 dogs got to run around the yard while I put equipment away, took down the ring and put that away. Now they are all asleep in a circle around me 

Aedan is being crated less and less as his 'I need to go out' signals are becoming clearer. He was not crated while I worked the older dogs partially because my brother is home and partially because he is just becoming more reliable and needs to start taking some responsibility for his house breaking progress 

I used a variety of treats, sometimes on me, sometimes not. Sometimes after each exercise, sometimes after 2 or 3 exercises. We did some personal play but I did not bring tug or balls out with me. Good sessions


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

When Penny was tied up at agility today, I noticed she only barked half the time instead of the whole time, which is a huge improvement. 

After warm ups we did the tunnel and then the A-frame, followed by a triple jump. Penny took me by surprise and came out of the tunnel at full speed and shot up the A-frame, leaving me behind since I didn't grab her leash in time. She definitely loves agility!

At the end of class we ran the outside of the course off leash. It was a little hard to get Penny to stop sniffing the ground at first. When we got going I got a little overexcited since I was really eager to try it off leash and tried running too fast, so Penny kept shooting past things. Halfway through I figured out using her tug toy as a reward to keep her focus from obstacle to obstacle. She did really well for her first off leash "course", which was a tire jump, tunnel, A-frame, triple jump, tunnel, shoot, and another jump..


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I just hate these days of qualifying in only one class. Nugget really cut his go out SHORT stopping between the jumps and just looking at me. I now have a problem with the Directed jumping exercise. Don't know why or what has gotten into him but that's two shows in a row he has screwed up this exercise either not taking the jump or not going out far enough. When we got home he did 3 go outs and the first two were good the third he went off to the side but he took the bar then the high and the bar again. Something else to work on , he is driving me crazy with these problems I get one fixed and right away something else. The rest of utility he did pretty well. Open he scored a 1961/2 and I thought he did better but the judge didn't. I didn't stay for the breakdown but I was happy with his work in open other than a definite lag on an about turn I don't know what this judges problem was as he was fronting very nicely and the only the finishs were left to fault and every one I looked at looked good to me. Oh well I really only was trying for UDX leg #6 but still decent scores are nice to get . I've showed to this judge before and wasn't all that happy with her but this trial was only 45 minutes from home , maybe the next one in a couple weeks I'll get the kinks out. ( I hope)


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Well, she must have totally emptied herself out, because no BM in about a day and a half. Just a couple of half hearted attempts. She's been on a chicken and rice diet. We've been through this before. 

I'm a little bummed out that we didn't compete today, but the good news is she seems to be feeling much better today, and her digestive system is obviously keeping the food in. 

Anyway...I decided to grab a bunch of pieces of her chicken and introduced the drop on recall. She's done a lot of recalls and a lot of drops, but never formally combined. To my astonishment, she dropped the first time I tried it. She probably took a couple too many steps, but I fixed that by putting a jump bar down and dropping her behind it. We've used that before, and she gets it. I also mixed in some straight recalls. 'Competition Obedience Balancing Act' book is basically what I'm following, but we're able to skip the first few steps, because we've done all of that. I really thought this might take days or weeks of work to get to the point we are at after one 15 minute session. This dog continues to blow my mind with how quickly she learns.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I never regret pulling my dog for potentially not feeling well  And very much resent people who bring sick dogs to trials as well so IMHO you did the absolutely right thing!



Nairb said:


> Well, she must have totally emptied herself out, because no BM in about a day and a half. Just a couple of half hearted attempts. She's been on a chicken and rice diet. We've been through this before.
> 
> I'm a little bummed out that we didn't compete today, but the good news is she seems to be feeling much better today, and her digestive system is obviously keeping the food in.
> 
> .


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Club tonight and a class to instruct but before that starts I'll work both boys Hombre with all that I can as far as novice and the ROF plus some go outs . Nugget open and utility especially about turns and that DIRECTED JUMPING problem that has surfaced.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Faelan, Towhee, Brady and Aedan went for a hike this morning. All training was in the form of recalls, in other words, they had the morning off from training


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Sunrise said:


> I never regret pulling my dog for potentially not feeling well  And very much resent people who bring sick dogs to trials as well so IMHO you did the absolutely right thing!


Yeah...I don't have regrets about pulling her....just disappointment, since this was our last shot at Novice, and the weekend started out so well. I just wish I would have known she wasn't feeling well before we went on Saturday.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Brought the boys to a show and go yesterday. I ran Flip in utility and open. He started to walk in on signals, so I corrected him for that and then he did beautiful work the rest of the time there. 

I put Phoenix in everything - Beginner Novice all the way through Utility. I was very pleased with everything he did, and especially his great attitude. In utility he did regular articles but all the other exercises were broken down into pieces he's comfortable with. All the other classes he did all the exercises except I haven't started letting him do the turn off the broad jump yet and we only did novice stays. Out of all those classes he only did two things that would have been NQ's - he mixed up his drop signal for his back up signal, and when I first threw the dumbbell he got a little too excited and tried to take off before I sent him. Very pleased with everything he did, especially considering he's just 18 months


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

We had an impromptu "run-through" class since only 3 of us showed up for class. So one instructor ran us through Novice while the other ran us through Open. Difference between this and match obvious was the instructors teaching and working through problem areas.

Would not say Bertie was brilliant - but was a fairly upbeat session with him. I ran through both novice and open first so was done before everyone else - so I got extra time to do heeling on my own. 

Stays were perfect - including a portion of sit stay where I stepped out of sight. We're not there with the down yet, but he did a good job with the down. Sniffing was an issue slightly - he's discovered his nose in the past 6 months or so.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Nugget is broke, not only would he not do the bar jump or go outs he wouldn't leave my side to get the glove. It has been a long time since he has pulled this . This morning we will go training at SCKC and see if a more comfortable place that he is familiar with helps. His inconsistency is and has been a problem from day one but if dog training was easy everybody would get a 200 every time they showed and like people they are all different. Hombre last night had fun getting his dumbbell and returning to me ( fronts crooked) but he had enthusiasm . Heeling steadily improving and his baited go outs fast .


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we had our hike followed by:

*Aedan: *ladder work, start of chin rest, Name Game, his chasing me for the beginnings of Choose to Heel

Then the adult dogs each payed a combination of fronting and distance drop games using food tosses (feeling too lazy to get cones out of the shed LOL)

*Faelan:* fronts were decent, and drops were beautiful.

*Brady:* fronts were good, drops were good with verbals, poor with just signals.

*Towhee:* oddly her fronts were poor, but her drops were good.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Nuggetsdad said:


> Nugget is broke, not only would he not do the bar jump or go outs he wouldn't leave my side to get the glove. It has been a long time since he has pulled this . This morning we will go training at SCKC and see if a more comfortable place that he is familiar with helps. His inconsistency is and has been a problem from day one but if dog training was easy everybody would get a 200 every time they showed and like people they are all different. Hombre last night had fun getting his dumbbell and returning to me ( fronts crooked) but he had enthusiasm . Heeling steadily improving and his baited go outs fast .


Is it possible that Nugget isn't feeling well? Sometimes I wish they could tell us what's up with them. I guess all we can do is learn to read them as best we can.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> The Zs Nugget not feeling well was the first thing I thought of also BUT the way he runs around playing with Hombre says he feels fine. It's been my experience that all exercises can and will break but with Nugget it just happens too frequently and its usually something he has been doing well for awhile. I just can't figure out why they break in the first place once it's been learned.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Some improvement on Nuggets " problems " . He made a mistake this morning getting the wrong glove BUT he went and got one. After resetting he did all 3 gloves correctly and each time praise and treats were showered on him, I think this may be well on its way out as a problem. Directed Jumping he still balked the first time and today he even refused the high jump so I tried giving him help both by lowering the jumps and with softer orders of " over" because he is a soft dog and it was suggested to try a happy almost silly way of talking to him. I did have some success with the lower jumps and the voice changes, although I'm not naive enough to,think it's fixed it was better as there was some successful jumps done.im going to keep the jumps at 16 inches instead of 22 till his confidence is restored before I try 22 again.
Hombre got his dumbbell 5-6 times but needed a correction to come back to me on half of them as he wanted to go visiting and did go out of the ring. His heeling with me was distracted and he didn't do as well as he can . The instructor gave a SFE which he did move a front paw on. S+D well done both 3 and 5 minute stays. Recall too he got distracted and when he got close to me wanted to visit other dogs- people that were in the ring. Got a lot of extra time training in today which I think helped some. Tomorrow the boys may get the day off because the grass needs to be cut and trimmed which I HATE doing and I need to go grocery shopping another " Fun " thing.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Very good class of agility for Rusty and I tonight. He did great, minus losing focus but Rusty is getting better every week


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

So far I have worked the adults in Go Outs and Directed Jumping with 20 feet of gating (3 stanchions) set up and using winged agility jumps.

*Go Outs*:
> Faelan Very nice 
> Brady Very nice marking and sends - started between the jumps and worked back
> Towhee 1st mark & send were very nice  2nd one not so much. I need to revisit her marking skills.

*Directed Jumping*:
> Faelan (24 in): Perfect! Combined with his Go Outs
> Brady (24 in): Nice, I am almost to center
> Towhee (16 in): Very nice, she did anticipate a finish on the 2nd one

And from Aedan's Adventure thread:
I started *Crate Games* this morning with Aedan. And in less than 10 minutes we progressed through the following steps.

> In the crate
> Hand on latch does not mean he comes forward
> Hand on latch and open door does not mean come forward
> Hand on latch does mean go toward the back of the crate and sit for treat delivery
> Hand on latch and open door does not mean move forward; door closes & latches
> Hand on latch and open open does not mean head coming forward earns a reward
> Hand on latch then open door does not mean foot movement is a rewardable event
> Open door and my taking a step away DOES mean if you stay right where you are you get a jackpot !!

Clever boy


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Grass is cut groceries are bought and the important stuff ( training the boys) is also done. Happy to say Nugget this morning did his directed retrieve exercise and got all3 gloves correctly albeit with sloppy turns in place but that is minor in comparison of refusing to get one or leave my side like he did on Mon. We also got success doing the Directed Jumping exercise at least what we did was successful. I baited the stanchion and lowered only the bar to 16 inches and his first go out because he knew there was cheese on it was fast and straight and after he licked his cheese off he sat on my order then he was sent over the HJ which he took easily . The second go out was also good only this time he was sent over the bar jump whose location was switched when I cut the grass and because it was made easier only16 inches he went over without any hesitation and recieved lots and lots of praise and a treat too. Finish's were not asked of him for any jumps today but the last one he did which was the second one over the lowered bar after two more good go outs the fourth being baited again his second jump over the HJ was also a success. Hombre who was in the run was next and he has already learned where the treat is and ran to the stanchion licking off whatever Nugget may have not gotten. I then just to see what would happen baited the stanchion and brought the puppy the full ring length back and told him to " go out " and boy did he full speed straight to it . This was repeated 2 more times but only the last one did he respond to " sit " when I ran up behind him the other 2 sit orders were ignored. Both dogs did what I wanted so this small amount of " work " was also a reward and their now able to do what they want to do for the rest of the day which right now is to sleep.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Tugg is three. For the last few months or so we have been on hiatus with training. But with spring and good weather here, decided it's time to get moving again with his training. The hiatus due to his immaturity, and my chronic bad back/sciatica. Have him enrolled in a new obedience class on Friday, a Rally class starting next week and even a Nosework class. We are going to be busy. Hope my back holds out. Had him outside today, beautiful day out. Did heeling, some drops on recall, retrieves on flat. Even did some utility work, go outs and scent discrimination. Think it's time to get out the jumps. He has plenty of drive, hope I'm up to the challenge.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Fun match was really a boost I needed. 

Bertie really is almost ready for novice. He had a lot of people stopping and taking notice while he heeled his happy little heart out. 

A friend of mine "judged" us - and this was really the first time she's seen him working in about 3-4 months, so she was blown away. Same thing with another lady who saw him last when he was about 7-8 months old. He's grown up a TON since then and become a lot more reliable (he still has some room for maturing though).


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Our hike too a bit longer than I expected this morning so rather than the jump work I had planned I concentrated on front work for Faelan, Towhee & Brady in the training room (no setup required LOL)

For Aedan (also in the training room) we worked

> Choose to heel
> Sits while I am in motion (in front of him)
> Sits at front, downs from the front of me
> Sits at my side
> Get It, Get It, Get It, Come
> Get Backs (my version of setups)

They did well


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Just came home from my vet for routine preventative shots and she weighed my " puppy " who is now at 58 lbs. the same as his uncle Nugget weighs. We then went in the yard for go outs and jumps for Nugget who did very well making fast straight go outs the first a baited one then going over the bar at its 16 inch setting then the HJ and a third go out which he was rewarded for after it was done. There wasn't any refusal to jump or even hesitation but it was lower than required . Tonight I'm the substitute instructor but I will get to work the boys and this evening the bar will be up to 20 inches. Hombre also did 3 very nice go outs all of which were baited and like yesterday only the last one that I ran up behind him did he sit on my order but the go outs to the stanchion were at full run and straight he's starting to get it.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Last night Nosework class for Raider. We did exteriors, pretty hard finds as the wind was blowing and plenty of distractions. He found them all, good boy, Raider. He loves this sport, and it still astounds me how dogs learn to focus on the particular scents in Nosework and ignore all others. Had Tugg out this morning, did some heeling, dumb bell retrieves. He gets a little impatient and needs to relearn what wait means, but I love the enthusiasm he is showing for retrieving the dumbbell. Did some drops on recall, trying to get a faster drop. I think we made some headway.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Been working Open exercises this week, but not overdoing it. 

In particular, we're doing a lot with drop on recall. Good news is, she's not anticipating and always drops. My only issue is that she seems to take more steps than what I would like. Her recalls have always been very fast, so I suspect it's not so easy to slam on the brakes. Most open dogs I see have relatively slow recalls, so I assume they learn to back off on the speed eventually. I'm dropping her behind a jump bar, but it's tough to get the timing right to call the drop at the exact time to get the drop right at the bar. I assume it will take time, but she will need to slow down. I've always liked her fast recall, and it bums me out that her speed is now a potential liability.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

for fast recalls, what can often work is teaching your dog to stop, then fold into a drop  It takes longer to type than it does to do. 

By teaching your dog to stop on cue, forward momentum stops so the dogs does not travel, slide or bounce into the drop (ask me how I know this LOL)


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Sunrise said:


> for fast recalls, what can often work is teaching your dog to stop, then fold into a drop  It takes longer to type than it does to do.
> 
> By teaching your dog to stop on cue, forward momentum stops so the dogs does not travel, slide or bounce into the drop (ask me how I know this LOL)


Thanks. Maybe I'll try that. She does have a nice fold back down. I actually changed the command from down to drop almost two years ago to achieve that, since I didn't teach the down properly as a puppy. I like to try to work on things on my own through trial and error, which inevitably means we'll run in to a snag or two. At that point, I ask about it in class. The instructor always has the answer, and we get it ironed out quick.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

With both Flip and Phoenix, in the middle of the recall I would tell them to back up instead of drop. This taught them how to slam on the brakes and shift their weight back. Once they had that down it was much easier to get them drop immediately, even when they are coming in quickly. 
With Flip, I maintain that by saying his name and then throwing a toy behind him. So when he hears his name he slams on the brakes (like what Sunrise said above) and then I say drop and he can drop. So in training I will either say just "Flip" and he'll stop and I'll throw a toy (or treat) behind him, or I will say "Flip drop"

Here is an old video of Flip doing a drop on recall. If the mats don't have a lot of traction he will slide going into it, but that doesn't bother me.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

^^Looks good. Thanks.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Tonight I did the rally course without treats. I fed cheese right outside the ring and practiced beforehand to get her focused. Her attention was fairly good and she came back to me when her mind wandered for the first two run throughs. She got big cheese jackpots at the end. I think she did really well for not having treats. We definitely need to work on that since our trial is next Friday. It was a mistake to take the extra run through we were offered, since Penny was all over the place. She was tired and not in the mood to do it again, so I know to limit her to two times now.

A different trainer came over to see Penny. I like her a lot more and I hope she ends up working with her, but it’s not up to me. She also wants to come watch Penny at one of her agility classes.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I was going to work fronts and stands tonight, but instead the night was spent with a back end bath and combing out. I am soooooooo tired of mud! Usually mud on my dogs just dries up and falls out, but it's so bad now mats were trying to form.


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

Still working our Heeling Games class. She is crowding and crabbing a bit because I had high value treats to teach the spin and wrap. Overall I don't know if our heeling is improving but she looks like she is more in the game and that is a big thing for us.


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## goodog (May 6, 2013)

*Kai's first training post-3 day Bill Hillmann Water Seminar*

After a long winter, Kai is finally out in the field and showing himself to be a great water dog.
We are off to Nashville for a 3 day water fundamentals seminar that Bill Hillmann is giving at Bear Country Retrievers. Beautiful 4 acre technical pond. 
This is going to be an interesting weekend. 

He is running in the PVGRC WC in late May. He should go fine but as we all know--anything can happen. 
Lots of back-story on why he is showing up for the first time now but more to come.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

After working both boys setting up 2 rings with jumps moving gates and calling commands for 15 trainers and dogs then giving 6 open and novice run-thrus I came home pretty tired last night and today I have to see the eye specialist for another shot in the eye ( lots of fun ) so the boys get a day off today. Nugget and I did almost all utility exercises 2x and the bar was raised to 20 inches which he took upon my orders but refused the HJ the first time I sent him. I think the problem is my voice which I'm sure may sound harsh and angry to Nugget. I softened the "over" order the first time for the bar jump and he went right over . Nugget can take a leash correction but he is a very soft dog and if he looks at my face and thinks I'm not happy with him or the sound of my voice tells him I'm upset with him he will shut down and I think this was the problem Mon.when he wouldn't leave my side to get the glove which was after he blew the jump and admittedly I was not happy with is work and my voice probably told him so. I must watch what I do with Nugget. Hombre on the other hand could care less what I say or do or what the tone of my voice is he for the most part simply does his " own thing ". Hombre is a challenge but yesterday with baited stanchions he did 3 very nice fast go outs and actually sat on order for one of them . Heeling wasn't fabulous but not terrible either with a pretty nice fig8 . Three retrieves of the dumbbell were decent but I must keep saying come and sometimes if he is in the mood will like I said he is a challenge not stupid just marches to a different drummer. Recalls (3) much the same as ROF and he did do a solid SFE with me going over him. Tomorrow we are going to my friends facility for a eating and training afternoon 6 of us run each other thru and help each other with problems and have a fun day. I've been asked to bring my e-collar for to hopefully get a Lab to not lay down on the long sit as she has NQ 17 trials on this exercise and still needs 1 leg for her CDX. We have tried several different fixes none which have worked so the e-collar is kind of a last resort.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Nuggets Dad, when I read your posts about Nugget and your tone of voice I always think of a golden in our class. Her owner can sound very "rough" for lack of a better word. Actually, angry sounding sometimes and his dog definitely shuts down depending on his tone. He's working really hard to change how he sounds..Not the easiest thing for him but definitely improving her attitude and performance.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Last night Kerrie Ann and I ran a 12 obstacle course, and did awesome too! She was unfocused at first, because something was in the tree next to the courses, but after some treats she was ready to go.

I'm very happy on how much Kerrie Ann has progressed in her agility training! I think I mess up more than she does these days haha.

Sometime this year I really want to give a try at a trial. We will see what happens over the rest of spring, and the summer months.


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

Edited out because ... ooops I posted in the wrong month; will repost in the appropriate place.


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