# May 2018 logs



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

May 2018 logs.

Plans, goals, accomplishments and challenges anyone?


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training at my club last night went very very well. Hombre was on top of his game few mistakes either class were made. I can’t say the same for my students wow what a night. This morning I am off to training at the new place.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Anyone entered in Novice or Open this month? Are you ready for the new rules?

I'm entered in Nov B next week, so we'll see how the new stays are. Last trial Riot laid down on the sit stay! Ugh I couldn't believe it. We've been working hard on Open signals. I do think signals are a good thing for all dogs to learn anyway. The only one we have problem with is down to stand, and that's only because I haven't figured out a good hand signal to be consistent. What all are you using for a hand signal for down to stand?

Our first outdoor trial of the year is later this month. The field for our first trial is also a duck herding field. That's going to be a challenge. I swore off obedience trials with Lucy on that field. But Riot has much better attention. So we'll give it a shot. I'm going to pull some ducks out of the freezer and have him heel past and see how he does. He does well heeling past ducks at field events. But when live ducks have been herded all over a field, I think the scent will be different. I just hope it snows and we have to move the trial indoors, which isn't the first time we've had to move that trial indoors for that reason in May. You just never know what the weather will be in Alaska in May.

I'd love to hear everyone's experiences on competing under the new rules!


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

Lots of challenges. I have a show in two weeks and had so much personal upheaval in my life that I am spinning add the new rules in Novice and well not sure I can get both dogs ready in time. I had planned three days at the show with goal of finishing their BN titles they only need one leg Getting Blitz RA title and to possibly finish their Novice titles. I need to get a plan and to get my focus back. I need to break down what I need to accomplish and start working. Ugh I thought last year was tuff emotionally


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Entered in UA on Sunday with Brady but his sit appears broken so may just schedule a rental. Towhee was also entered but has another 3 to 4 weeks at Barb's and then weight loss, conditioning and training will be needed. That is if she comes back fully from her injuries.

Brady has several Utility entries coming up.

Faelan and Aedan are both on training leave from trials... command discrimination ...although I still haven't decided if Faelan will be retired from obedience.

About the signal for the distant stand what I have started (mostly because Faelan seems to read it and it is similar to my other stand signals) is with my right arm staying low swinging my hand from right to left ending my sweep in front of my left leg keeping my palm about level with midthigh. This keeps my hand low enough so it does not appear to be the start of the recall signal and keeps my hand from showing on my left side which might look too much like the start of my sit signal. Although the sit signal starts with my left hand I honestly don't know if he/they key off the start of the movement, the hand used or the hand coming out on the left side of my body.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

<Alaska>. I use my right arm and bring it to 90 degrees at my side. I taught a Hombre with him laying in a down position on my bed and a treat between my fingers telling him to “stand” and when he did rewarded the action some dogs im sure may need extra help like making a suitcase out of them with a leash and pulling them into a stand while your saying stand with the treat.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Another very very good training day today only today there was several dogs and people around but his mind was on me. GO OUTS WERE GREAT!!.!


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Last night I put a towel over our homemade jump to simulate a high jump and help generalize the "over" command. We had a couple of bloopers that were my fault, but Rocket figured it out pretty quick and we were able to do Advanced, Excellent, and Master jumps before the end of the training session. We also worked on sideways movement from front position, and he did much better than he did at training last week. It only took a few guiding taps for him to realize that he needed to move his butt too. lol We have class again on Wednesday, and hopefully we will work on more Master level stuff. I skipped the go-out training yesterday, but will probably add it back in on another day this week. We are a long way from actually trialing in Master, so I'm not too worried about it right now. I'm more focused on good off-leash heeling and generalizing the jump before our trial on Mother's Day weekend in Advanced. He heeled wonderfully on-leash in Intermediate, but we'll see how it goes off-leash in Advanced. I might take him to a new location one day this week and work just on off-leash heeling and see how he does. I'm beginning to think that he needs a decent warm up time to get all of his wiggles out and then he will focus better in training. I gave him good warm ups at the Intermediate trial and he did really well, but I haven't been giving him warm ups for our home training sessions and it takes him a bit to get focused sometimes. And by warm ups, I mean a combination of drills, play, and random treats before we really get into long (ish) durations without treats/rewards. 

Good luck with all of your upcoming trials everyone!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Class was only me and one other person tonight, it was nice to have a smaller class. Plus we're the same jump height, so no bar setting for a change. I had Penny do the table before class started, she was fine, and she was fine with every time it was done in a sequence, proving my instructor right that an all-yellow table just does not let Penny know that there's even a surface she needs to be jumping onto. I'm glad that there's no need to investigate potential injuries. Also worked on by-pass command for the tunnels, which I need to add to my list of backyard homework activities.

I had someone stand next to the table as a pretend judge, but that's all I did for people proofing this week since our class was so empty.

For the past week or so, I've been making sure to get Penny used to exercise in warm (70's) temps since our trial this weekend is indoors, but it doesn't have air conditioning.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

So Sona can discriminate objects perfectly if they are being held but not if they are on the ground. If they are on ground I think she does it as a scent search. Going to try putting the objects on small boxes and see how that works. Class was also marred by Sona barking a lot during stays which she really hasn’t been doing in the last few weeks. Maybe because of what happened last week - I don’t know. Anyway she doesn’t like this other dog in class having a meltdown, which I think makes her more anxious so I’m going to pull her from Ob class as I don’t think it is fair on her or other dogs in class. Some are going for their gold kc GCDS in June (Sona already has this) so I don’t want her potentially adding to disruption.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning Faelan, Brady & Aedan worked:
> heeling 
>Go Outs & Directed Jumping
> MSFE
> Rear crosses into the poles (12)

Finch worked:
> Heeling
>Stays (sit) to 8 feet and my turning to face
> Downs from a stand (fold back)
> Stands from a sit

Perfect weather


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Wicky said:


> So Sona can discriminate objects perfectly if they are being held but not if they are on the ground. If they are on ground I think she does it as a scent search. Going to try putting the objects on small boxes and see how that works. Class was also marred by Sona barking a lot during stays which she really hasn’t been doing in the last few weeks. Maybe because of what happened last week - I don’t know. Anyway she doesn’t like this other dog in class having a meltdown, which I think makes her more anxious so I’m going to pull her from Ob class as I don’t think it is fair on her or other dogs in class. Some are going for their gold kc GCDS in June (Sona already has this) so I don’t want her potentially adding to disruption.


I was in a Connie Cleveland seminar this winter. She used Christmas tins with the articles inside. Same idea I think that you are referring to. She liked the tins because her scent hung onto the exterior metal easy. I have a video of the exercise if you are interested. Also Connie has a long article she wrote step by step of how to do it.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Alaska7133 said:


> I was in a Connie Cleveland seminar this winter. She used Christmas tins with the articles inside. Same idea I think that you are referring to. She liked the tins because her scent hung onto the exterior metal easy. I have a video of the exercise if you are interested. Also Connie has a long article she wrote step by step of how to do it.


I would love to see that! Thanks!


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Wicky said:


> I would love to see that! Thanks!


I'll send you a PM with the link to the video.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Alaska7133 said:


> I'll send you a PM with the link to the video.


Brilliant thanks


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Just returned from training at Stone city where Hombre did a really good utility exercise but today in Open he reverted back to being sloppy on the BJ and most f+f werent straight. Later the instructor who is a AKC judge gave us the new signal commands and of course Hombre (THE CHALLENGE ) failed to stand at the very start of exercise 1 . He has only done them a couple hundred times GRRR


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Just set up a jump bar against a smallish box in the kitchen and did some work (very very close) on the sit to stand .... with liverwurst  Aedan likes very much. 

Faelan loves the liverwurst but not unexpectedly just does not get the sit to stand with me in front of him (yet)

Brady & Finch were jealous !! They all had training this morning and 1) I certainly do not want Brady experiencing cross over confusion and 2) Finch already had a lot of position changing this morning. 

I had previously started sit to stand work but was letting them move as they needed to get that part on the way to understanding, now I am looking for minimal to no forward motion so brought out the bar -- I am actually using a weave post/bar, but pretty much the same thing as an agility jump bar. I may need to move to the bar jump bar for Faelan since he is more familiar with that ad there is no need to have a box in front of it to prevent the bar from rolling...


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning

Brady: directed retrieve up the slope with glove #3 at the base of a tree, glove #1 at the base of the clothesline pols, glove #2 free and clear. Send to glove #2 and he gets 3/4 of the way and spots then veers to #3 ... no no him off. Resend to glove #2 for success. Articles were great.

Faelan and Aedan had more sit to stand work with the same setup as last night. Aedan.mifht be ready for either a bit of distance or distractions. Haven't decided 

Finch was upset I ran out of time.

The training treats I am using for the command discrimination training lo


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Worked Hombre in our yard this morning not a great session but a couple things i liked . Go outs today he corrected himself as he realized he was off center 3-4 feet , this has taken awhile but this is a big deal to me. Gloves he gave to me without holding on and wouldnt have cost a point like the trial this past weekend. BJ had to be done 3x because of poor fronts but a couple cones placed in front of board 4 forced himto jump straight and go over far enough so as to give enough room to fron straight. DOR 3x nice. Some fronts not totally straight. MSFE perfect. Signal exercise well done 2x and just to make it interesting i did command signals as in open new rules 2of4 ways that are now in place and he did a good job with zero mistakes.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Class on Monday was a bit rough. We're still doing lots of distraction through the exercises and Finley is having a hard time with it. Articles fell apart with her ball set about 5 feet to the side of the pile. She went directly to the ball the first time, and then the consecutive times she went to "snatch and grab" mode, and then simply looking at the pile without picking anything up, and then back to just taking anything again until there really wasn't a pile to go threw any more. Maybe 2 articles left, one being the correct one which she brought to me by luck alone. I have reservations about this, but I'm not the expert here, having never trained a dog to do anything but play dead and roll over until Finley. I tried this again at home yesterday and we were getting ready to have a repeat performance. So, I picked the ball up and put it on an end table near the articles. Got it right off the floor, and I know my instructor wouldn't have been happy with that. This helped, and though everything was sloppy from the hold, to the front, to the finish, she was able to find the correct one. I'm not sure how far I'm going to go with this because articles are generally not a problem and I don't want to create one now. I feel like leaving well enough alone. Honestly, I feel like some of these extreme distractions are going into over kill and when I left class Monday I thought I may not be going back next Monday. (and if I do, the articles may well be left at home). As luck would have it, work is in desperate need of a nurse on Monday so I will be working. We are scheduled for two show n goes the last two weeks of the month. One of which is at the trial location for June.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Took Penny dock diving today. She was not sure about the clear water at first. I don't know why the lady did this, but she took treats out and introduced her to the dock that way. She would only swim out for a floating treat once, and I had to take her off the dock to do a reset and play with her bumper since usually when I train with a toy, she will refuse it if treats are present. If I had realized that was why she was offering treats to Penny before we started, I would have said something then, my bad.

She actually did end up switching from food to toy motivator, which surprised me. Got her popping off the exit ramp consistently by the end of the session for her bumper and beat a nasty rain/wind storm by a couple hours to boot. I looked up entry fees for dock diving competitions out of curiosity, and they're twice as much as agility - yikes. I look forward to building her confidence over the summer, but I don't think I would compete in it until she's retired from agility.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Today was drop in classes 

Brady did Utility and did all exercises well  Some arcing on glove returns but I'll take the point hits since while moving slowly, he is building confidence. This with the instructor who he would not go near several months ago -- he showed minimal reaction to her, even on the MSFE.

Faelan had advanced rally and had a great time -- he loves heeling  and doodling!

Aedan had novice & some open -- and the MSFE. He did very well, his handler not so much -- seems I am entering his lane of travel and if my feet are straight my body is leaning into his lane!! He did react to 2 huge stuffies that were the Figure 8 posts so we worked some acclimation on that. 

The Open stays are pathetic. Absolutely pathetic as are both the get your leash exercises. Well the novice stays are a disgrace but the open stays ? pathetic. The AKC should be ashamed of themselves. Maybe all dogs should just start getting participation ribbons if the step into the ring.

A friend asked me when I have my dogs completely weaned off of treats and was very surprised when I said 'never'. I explained that perhaps 10% of the time I train without treats or toys on me, the other 90% of the time is roughly divided in half where the food might be in my mouth or in my hand; if using toys they might be acting as distractions or tucked into my waistband). She just seemed very surprised that a fully trained dog (in this case Faelan) still get treats LOL I know I love my job most days, but would rapidly find something else to do if I did not get paid !!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Finch is a good girl!!!

We had our walk early this morning (she was paired with Brady) and she has started going to the side of the trail when another dog is approaching!!

After walks, I ran errands and then Faelan, Brady and Aedan all headed out with me for the drop in classes leaving Finch crated at home. When we returned home from classes Finch was gone, as was Paul.

I headed out for a fitness appointment and and Paul was home when I returned. So I asked where they (Finch & he) went and he said the walking trail where they took the entire 5 mile loop. So I asked how she did and he was puzzled as he said, she goes to the side of the trail when she sees another dog approaching    Good girl Finch!!!! I explained that while she can play with all the dogs she knows and released to play, she is being trained to go trailside when in public since she cannot play with every dog she sees when in a competition environment  or I get to kiss 30-35 dollars good bye.

Good girl Finch!!!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny did pretty good today at the ASCA trial. NQed one gamblers run because I haven't worked on her turning away from me to take a jump - she did turn away, but she didn't have enough speed and turned back to look at me instead of taking the jump. Got our first Open Gamblers Q in the next round on a nice straight gamble. Ran into problems in regular/standard, yet had some lovely weaves despite that. I had to stop in the middle of a run and pet her since she was just not all there. Luckily, ASCA lets you keep running after touching your dog, you just NQ. Ended with two Elite Jumpers Qs back to back with one nice baby start line stay/lead out. She has her Elite Jumpers title if we made course time; I didn't stay today for the Q sheet to be finished.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Short session this morning consisting of go-outs2x ROF2x Fig8 utility signals and command signals which he blew from down to sit and MSFE. MY NEW 18 inch high yellow cones were used for fig8 - no distraction from them but neighbor behind me came out to get his mower out of his shed and my watch dog sounded off.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

Had an interesting discussion at field training yesterday about Novice stays. Having dogs back to back, no matter if they are 6’ apart is very awkward for the dogs. We’re getting a group together tomorrow to see how they will do. I’ve never had stays quite like this. In any normal situation like honor in field work or general stays in life, dogs are not back to back. Plus with the owner standing in front with the dogs on leash. How weird is this? There is no real life application in my eyes.

Open stays are dumb. Sit and go get your leash. Wow! How sad....


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny picked up her first ATCH points today with an Elite jumpers Q. I made her drop a bar in the second round, so we got 10 points instead of 20. Very nice weaves in the regular classes with me going ahead of her, but NQs. Super nice Open Gamble run, NQ because she didn't hit the yellow on the A-frame. I didn't ask for a stopped contact since if she stops, she comes to me instead of taking the rest of the gamble line.

While I was leash running for Elite gamblers, I heard someone say "Penny" and thought to myself, "Oh, someone else here has a Penny. I thought she was the only one." Five seconds later a yellow dog sprinted into the ring and right up to the small Aussie running their course. I didn't realize it was MY dog until she flew onto a bar setter's lap. All of this happened in five seconds and I ran up to get Penny as soon as it clicked. I had to take Penny out by her scruff since ASCA runs dogs without collars. I figured out that she unzipped the side of the soft crate with her nose. From now on she's going in a wire crate.

The person got to re-start the course, Qed (on a really tough gamble to boot), and neither dog snarled or snapped. I apologized profusely and the man was very nice about it.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning was heeling in the house (all 4 dogs currently home) and signals for Faelan, Brady & Aedan (who is fairly solid on stand to down, down to sit is difficult for him yet even with me being right there)

Finch had some sit stays & waits. She is relaxing into the stays and I can increase distances fairly rapidly now. This morning I was going the length of the kitchen - about 14/16 feet and turning to face and walking back and swinging into heel position. The current thoughts are Barb will bring her to the Nationals or whatever is held in the fall, that is if she does not go into season until June which will leave the fall shows good for her. I still need to introduce more serious distractions, not for the stays but for the recall.

Faelan really enjoyed his rally class and is stressed learning the stand from the sit with me in front. I haven't even started the stand from the down. So I am still thinking of retiring him from obedience. He has given me his all through so many sports (okay plus I am still very very angry at the AKC and their ridiculous changes with no grand fathering or giving an option), I just am still struggling with stressing him at this point in his life. 

Tonight I am hoping to be able to set up gating and do DJ and DR .


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Bought some new treats for training, pre-cooked frozen meatballs. Hombre must have really like them because he really worked well. Utility very nicely done as well as all exercises in open. The new signals were done immeadiately after utility signal exercise all 4 different ways of doing them . No mistakes were made . We also practiced front exercises seperatly which are our biggest point loser. I too think the new regulations are DUMB and most every one agrees with me other than some new to the sport people that think teaching signals is difficult. Only 4 teams showed up for class last night so i had them do a short heeling practice then gave each a FORMAL novice run thru. Drop in was very poorly attended in the afternoon as was rally. Weather was very nice so people must be getting their yards cleaned up after the winter.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Trained at the new place and my dog worked quite well in utility open not so much. We practiced the command signals and he missed the Stan signal twice. In defense people were opening the door bringing in their dogs and gear and Hombre got distracted. Fronts also were a problem today even in the front only exercises. MSFE given byinstructor his lockup was GREAT but the return to heel position his butt was out . All in all a good session .


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Sunrise said:


> Faelan really enjoyed his rally class and is stressed learning the stand from the sit with me in front.


That stressed Rocket out too at first. He much prefers to do the stand from heel position, whether it's from a sit or a down. 

Class went pretty well last week for most things, although I learned that the reason he has been sitting crooked the last week or two is my fault. He started anticipating treats coming from my mouth and was sitting just a tad crooked so he could see my face better. His off leash heeling also wasn't that great and he forged a lot, which was also my fault due to placement of reinforcement. Apparently my entry didn't go through for the trial this weekend, which is fine with me because now we have more time to go back and fix my mistakes! Also, there's a big family thing out of state this weekend that I would be in trouble for missing, so it's kinda good that my entry didn't go through. 

I haven't had the time for a good long training session since class last week, so I've just been doing short little heeling exercises around the house before I let him eat his meals. It's amazing how focused he can be when there's food in his bowl just waiting for him! It's also a good distraction because he tries to anticipate when I will release him, so if he drifts toward his food, he gets to do more heeling until he focuses. 

I also took Rocket with me to a happy hour last week at a very busy bar, and he behaved wonderfully. I brought some cheese with me in case I needed to get his attention, but he did really well. He LOVES people so I was afraid he would be really wild around that many people at once, but he just ate up all of the attention and didn't try to pull too far away at all. He did try to lick some faces, but that's not something that I really care to train out of him. lol He did pull toward another Golden once, but he got back under control pretty quickly.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning was a simple setup. Just a high jump behind the house. Oh Brady had DJ last night too.

Faelan: signals with perhaps 75 feet on the side yard. ROF & ROHJ in the back yard. All done well 

Brady: had trouble with the signals at 75 feet so I simplified and he was successful. ROF & ROHJ were good!

Aedan: simplified signals (drop perhaps 20 feet with verbal and sit perhaps 5 feet) on the side yard done well. ROHJ & ROF done well. DOR drop & both portions of recall really nice, front was off.

Finch: Heeling nice. Stays - her first time outside and with dewy grass were a learning experience and while not thrilled to learn eating grass on a sit stay and getting up did not meet criteria she was thrilled when she won  a few downs & stands as well as a few food toss recalls.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Trained at SCKC today utility went well BUT open again gave us problems. ROHJ took 6 repeats to get a front that was straight. We were also given a formal command signal exercise and Hombre AGAIN blew stand from the sit at 30 ft. Everything wasnt poor his heeling and fig8. Flawless good ROF and very nice DOR. we are going to a trial Sat. Thats over a 150 miles oneway away so im hoping he gets his act together by tomorrows finish of training for this week.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Took Penny dock diving again. Warmed her up on the exit ramp, then we moved to the dock. Penny jumped from it at least 10-12 times. Still need to work on getting her to be more confident and comfortable with jumping off the dock. Right now she crouches down and lets her front feet slip down the lip of the dock before jumping and has to think about it.

For agility, I'm working on six open 2x2s to work on hard entries and digging in with speed for entries. Also working her 2o2o with stairs and her contact board since she decided to ignore her contact criteria for the A-frame completely in class last night. Possibly a ramification from not asking for her 2o2o for the gamble run. Now I know I can't make any exceptions for her desired contact behavior.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

This afternoon, in the house, Finley did articles and Banshee did a few retrieves on flat. Articles were done well, with one anticipation, going before I sent her. No ball out today, but she was very happy and quick to find the right article. Treats are off me for this, and after we're done I make a big deal about getting a reward from the table. The dog in a down while the other works always gets a treat too. We followed up with signals for each. This evening each had time in the front yard individually with me, and heeling on the street. Also did signals, and drop on recall (Banshee). I was very happy with both of them. While just walking down the street Finley put herself in heel position, and started "prancing" without being asked. That stuff just makes my day :smile2:. Banshee did the DOR great tonight, and a straight recall with NO anticipation of a drop, good girl! Her signals were very good, just open A, but with utility distance. She did get a "hey!" from me for looking to the right instead of at me...can't see the signal if you're looking elsewhere...


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Trained at home but just our”problem “areas . Go outs 3x , each glove once front exercises several of these and command signals and yes he missed the stand from a sit again!!!


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

Good class last night practiced all kinds of stays new and old including the back to back stays so to hopefully make it more relaxing if it happens in the ring. Moving stands, stands for exam and the new signals Blitz is not doing well with the change to sit from a distance Tink is a little better. figure 8 with games both dogs being about serious then my trainer would like that's me with all that's going on right now its coming thru to them but still practicing. I was told my foot work and body were much better and so were my turns as I am telegraphing them more clearly.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Last night in class we focused on the recalls/fronts for Master signs 317 and 318. We built drive for quick recalls, built drive for a quick sit in front, and worked on proofing straight fronts from angles and distances. The trainers set up little "chutes" with bars and panels from the bar jumps and broad jumps. The object was to mark the moment the dog chose to realign themselves to be straight with a verbal reinforcer ("Yes!") and then reward heavily when they got to the handlers. We did that drill for several minutes and slowly increased the offset to the left and right and the distance. Rocket only went around the "chute" twice and he has never done that drill before, so I was very happy with his performance. I think I can take apart our homemade jump to simulate a chute at home and keep working on it. It was really a fun drill!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Super proud of Brady!! He did not Q but in the 1s trial (we arrived around 7:40 am and his class started probably 9:30/10:00) 

> Signals: a little wide at points but signals were great!
> Scent articles -- Brady is the ONLY dog who had a bunch of AF Jets take off & fly over head for the entire duration -- judge had to really yell and HE DID IT!!! HE DID IT!! With fighter jets rumbling the ground and making all kinds of noise
> Glove #3 -- he did it -- poor front but he did the primary
> MSFE perfect!
> Go Out #1 --- oops a dead & white dandelion along the path did him in - he veered to check it out and forgot what he was doing.
> Go Out #2 --- He did it -- straight & full with a really nice turn & sit, perfect jump.

His attitude was confident and he really seemed to enjoy himself. It was brisk and there was a fairly stiff wind, along with really lusg grass that was wet from last night's rain.
---------------------------
Trial #2 started after 2 - his class started after 3pm so he had been there over 8 hours, the sun was out and bright. 

The same ring, different judge. Heeling was distracted but signals were fine.

Scent articles in trial 1 were between the jumps, in trial #2 along the front. He went to the middle of the jumps, didn't see his articles and circled the jumps and just was confused. Called him in. #2 - he divided the difference and just did not know how to self correct and was getting concerned, so I excused us to help him maintain attitude. I learned 2 (maybe 3) of the UB dogs did the same thing but they had enough experience / confidence to check out where their handlers were focusing and were able to correct their path -- not sure if any of them qualified though.

In both trials there were 6 UB dogs (3 and 4 qualifiers) and 3 UA (no qualifiers).

But even though we did not earn a ribbon, Brady was awesome!! No one could believe how an inexperienced dog went out to the pile and worked his articles with those jets so close and taking off. The dandelion? Well we live in a cooler area and our grass is just starting to come in and we do not have dandelions -- at least not yet and definitely no dandelions which have gone to seed making a nice white powderpuff -= I will try to replicate with cotton balls.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

The articles from yesterday - you can see the noise & vibration did throw him but HE DID IT    And yes, I just kept focusing on the pile


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

And his weakest glove (#3)





My friend did not get his signals etc and I'll spare you the dandelion LOL


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Today was drop in classes. I do need to bring pepper spray!

Today a young Mal went after Brady -- luckily an inexperienced dog who was both slow to the attack and mindful on leash pressure. We were probably 8 feet out of the ring when I felt a tug -- not usual for Brady so I looked back and the Mal had broken his stay and exitted the ring to come after Brady, I saw the 2nd lunge and kicked HARD connecting with the lower jaw and then he came again, growling this time! Grabbed a bunch of Brady's fur in the back and out came mouthfuls of fluff! At this point I stepped on the leash and yanked back while telling the owner to grab Brady's leash and get him away. The owner is an elderly woman who simply did not have the strength or speed needed to stop the dog but my controlling the dog and her leading Brady away worked out fine especially since the instructor had caught up by this point and led the Mal away ; I was turning back to care for Brady but am sure the instructor had a few 'discussions' with the Mal ... now this is a very experienced, very responsible owner and the Mal is going to the co-owner to live his life out -- probably in a crate but nowhere near other dogs. She (the owner in class) had been planning on a big show in Syracuse but when she saw the attack (unprovoked again) she told us she was done, the dog would no longer be living with her and no longer welcome in her life. Now I do not know if the Mal will be put down or allowed to live out its life but I feel this is the right choice to be made -- and this is what we will be seeing more and more of as the new rules make it seem as though unstable dogs can be around other dogs since Hey, they don't have to do groups anymore. 

I did ask the instructor if goldens seem to set off other dogs since I have had another golden who was attacked in very weird circumstances (on a dog walk, while on my lap waiting for my turn with his back to the attacker, while walking into an arena from a dog well behind us who was on a flexi, while sitting at heel while I talked with an (ex) instructor whose dog decided to take offense at Casey -- like I said weird) but that was agility -- never obedience until very recently.

Anyway Brady is okay, we continued with the class. Faelan had rally and Aedan had obedience with a lot of heeling and some more advanced work -- Aedan is now starting to anticipate the drop == an important part of the learning curve.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

A string of 5 UDX LEGS came to a end today as Hombre blew a article in the second trial of the day but not a terrible day other than weather cool and HEAVY storms. First trial a 1971/2 which was good for second place in Open B and 1 OTCH point which brings him to 3 all second placesplus 15 OM points. Utility a 1951/2 no OTCH POINTS but 12 OM points. Second trial 1951/2 in open and 12 more OM POINTS. HE WAS SLOPPY and fronts and finishs POOR but all the points werent lost by Hombre as yours truly on command signals went an additional 10 feet or so to about 40ft.away eventhough the judge told me of the tape on the gates as markers but somebody just wasnt thinking.long drive 331 miles round trip.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Happy Brady is OK


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

3 day trial this weekend. We have Friday night novice and below classes trial with no rally. They are really nice on Friday nights after work. Riot took HIT Friday, then NQ on Saturday. NQ for sitting down during stand for exam. That’s what we’ll be working on this morning for the last day of the trial. His probable auto finish in the recall, will probably bring our score down too much to get first place in the class today if he doesn’t sit on the stand for exam again.

As I watch obedience trials, it’s always sad when you see a dog NQ on the littlest of details. Friday night I watch a dog on the sit stay misunderstand the handler’s step away as meant to be a heel. Dog took one tiny step and NQ. Darn, they were doing so well.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Brady went to a Match today all by himself. Since Mama Towhee could not go, Brady had 4 runs (his 2 plus Towhee's 2) all in Utility -- every other dog LOL First run was at 10:10 and we were done by 11:30 

He held up very well although the confusion about locating the article pile carried over -- by the 3rd set of scent discrimination he was trotting out to the pile. He really did nicely although on the 4th run through you could tell he was tiring so a LOT of crazy handler stuff going on -- high stepping on heeling, multiple spins etc. The 4th SD was very poor but I think it was a matter of his not drinking any of his water -- he drank when we got there and he drank after the first run but nothing after that. He was almost always out of his crate and taking in the environment from his safe spot near me.

I checked our orders for his next double trial and uh-oh ; Same ring for both trials again so I hope the articles are in similar places since he just does not yet have the experience to know I pivot to a location in line with the article pile or to really mark where the pile is -- it just has not translated yet. But we shall see, perhaps he will figure it out and not get confused like on Friday.

We will also need to leave wicked early (I like getting there an hour ahead and it is a 2.5 hour drive). So yep, early departure 

BTW: He seems to remain unscathed by the events of yesterday --- he was calm and focused at the Run Throughs with no apparent concerns except when the 'judge' was applying pressure (he needs some pressure applied now) or the first exam. His only signs of concern were the size of his pupils and his non wagging tail, but he took food so he was not too stressed.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I'm glad Brady is okay.

I squeezed in our last weave training for the week right as the rain approached us. I set up the jump and six straight weave poles, went inside for breakfast, then went outside when I noticed all the sunlight rapidly fading. We finished just as the first few drops started to fall. 

Set up was send to jump to find the independent entry on both sides, starting close to the entry at first and then pulling the jump to the midsection and after that, to the end of the poles. She only missed the entry a couple times, did fantastic both on side and off side all other times. Pepperoni slices were the reward.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we briefly worked and I had meatball thievery going on! Good thing she's so cute: )

Brady had signals, MSFE and tight finishes

Faelan & Aedan had sit to stand (close up with an emphasis on short latency)

Finch had heeling with no lure, an actual full recall, sit stays, downs & stands


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

And I visited Towhee at lunch  She was running so fast to come see me it was a wonderful thing!! She has her joy back in full display and I didn't actually notice a weird tail set or side wind - of course that could be wistful thinking but boy did she look good!! And then she was circling the Xterra like 'let me in, let me in'.

Not quite yet, beautiful one, not quite yet. Another week (I have to check but I think it is only one more week) and she can come home


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training at club in FAMILIAR SURRONDINGS Hombre nailed his go outs , sure wish he could carry over to different places. Again his only real mistakes were f+f other than the second repeat of articles where he again made a mistake getting the wrong one with his snatch and grab ill get a reward quicker attitude. In open fronts were his only faults. New signal commands well done. Drop in attendance was terrible for both obedience and rally as the rain was horrendous with hail.


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## KKaren (Oct 29, 2014)

Rally class last night... our focus for this next week is back up. My instructor came back from the AKC Rally Nationals with a boat load of ribbons so everyone was excited to see her results and congratulations.

Sunrise- nice to hear that Towhee is feeling better and that Brady is ok after the attack. I'm surprised that this is happening in a class


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Haven’t really done anything with Sona for the last two weeks due to a family emergency which took us away from home. Heading home tomorrow so need to try and get motivated, although not really feeling it. We have hoopers on thursday so that might kick me into gear lol! I did order some light weaves to work on weave entry - they should be easy to transport if/when we go travelling again.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Thought I would take Banshee to the broadwalk this morning. When I saw she was the only dog there I checked the rule board and realized we have to wait now until fall to be allowed. (It was too hot anyway..). So we took a side street, stayed under some canopy's and just did short heeling patterns. Also took the opportunity to practice lots of siting in heel position with your eyes on me, when people pass by. This afternoon Finley and I went to Lowes. We did lots of heeling, and some signals both in the store and in the garden center. Garden center had a nice breeze, and wasn't bad temperature wise. We stayed near the back which is covered from the sun. This presented a problem, and had Finley worried about the trucks just beyond the gating making deliveries. It sounded like air brakes to me, but whatever, quite loud and a noise she hasn't come across before. After some time to smell around and hear the noise, we did heeling towards the gating followed by signals. She did well, although not comfortable with the setting. The "down" was SLOW but steady...with no forward movement. Sit was faster and she held position. Recall was FAST, (she was happy to see that one). We didn't stay too long at either place, but I think it was time well spent.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

We had some wicked storms roll through last night with several possible tornados. I am fortunate in that there is no damage to my home or property and my dogs were safely inside. 

That said, the air is still humid and the rain was falling at a rate of 17 inches per hour (it only fell at that rate for maybe 15 minutes) so no training this morning. The ground will hopefully become drier before the weekend as I do want to practice a few things (Go outs with white things off the line, starting position for articles in the same place but piles in different locations).

More rain is predicted for tonight so I need to decide what, where & when to train this evening.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Yesterday at the new place and today at SCKC Hombre did everything and certainly would qualifiy in the mid 190s but his work seemed sloppy at least the fronts were. He was a little wound up at todays training but once he settled down things were better. Heeling was very nice and articles done 2x were all correctly gotten albeit with a little mouthing. His BJ took 3 trys to finally get the front STRAIGHT. The new command signals were well done as was the MSFE. We have a trial on Sat. In Indiana so i cut the grass this morning before going to SCKC and will practice again tomorrow.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Had a great class with Penny last night. Perfect every time, which was nice since we've been a mess the past couple classes. Nice speed in the weaves except for the last set when she got tired, hopefully a result of our re-training. On the downside, I could feel myself grow sick over the hour we were there and running made my stomach feel worse. I thought it was just a side effect of having my eye dilated for an exam earlier in the day. Feeling better now, not sure that I will be well enough by Friday to drive 5 hours (2.5 one way) for one day of agility.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Outside in the rain 

Faelan: Signals and sit to stand command disc, MSFE.
Aedan: Signals (baby steps for sit, he has the down now) , command disc & MSFE
Brady: Signal & MSFE in various configurations
Finch: Heeling, sit stay/wait (not so good in the wet grass) with recalls, some stands

Now we are all wet LOL


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I am always unwell after a dilated pupil exam --I schedule for as late as possible and then just go to sleep. By the time I wake up, my stomach has mostly settled and sometimes the headache is gone.

With me, I think it is the disorientation I feel that makes me feel poorly -- halos everywhere and everything is so right it hurts


Eclipse said:


> Had a great class with Penny last night. Perfect every time, which was nice since we've been a mess the past couple classes. Nice speed in the weaves except for the last set when she got tired, hopefully a result of our re-training. On the downside, I could feel myself grow sick over the hour we were there and running made my stomach feel worse. I thought it was just a side effect of having my eye dilated for an exam earlier in the day. Feeling better now, not sure that I will be well enough by Friday to drive 5 hours (2.5 one way) for one day of agility.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Worked Hombre at home this morning but had to wait for dew to dry. Nothing really done super nice but nothing really poorly done either. The worst thing done was a couple poor turns in place and his dropping the CORRECT ARTICLE and sniffing the whole pile circling twice but he then decided he was correct the first time and picking it up again and bringing it to me. Fronts ( with help ) seemed better. It was warmer today with full sun and he did work slower including his go outs but not so slowbas to be scorable. Day off tomorrow.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Last night in Rally class, we worked 180-degree pivots to the right, sit-stays, and the Master signs with both the dog and the handler turning in circles parallel to each other. You would be surprised how many dogs (including Rocket) broke their sit-stays, especially when we got to proofing. Some of these dogs have won multiple HC or HTQ and have multiple RAE titles or RMs. The trainers told us that we had all been taking the sit-stay for granted, which was true. It's not something that I drill very often at all. For the parallel circle to the right, Rocket did not like turning toward me, so I had to get him to do several spins in a row before he would do one with me going in a circle at the same time. The parallel circles to the left went pretty well as did the 180-degree pivot to the right. We focused on that particular pivot because a lot of dogs lag on it. As with every week during this 6-week session, we did drive building for each exercise, "trial conditions" (AKA no treats), and proofing. Rocket did surprisingly well on the pivot proofing even though I put treats on the ground and his tug toy. We heeled right past them with barely a glance from him. I did have treats in my hand/mouth since we were proofing, but it's hard for him not to pick stuff up and he's still pretty young, so I was proud. 

Someone in class had a story relating to proofing from this past weekend: a bird flew into the ring and landed on the ground during a German Short-haired Pointer's off leash run (not sure what class it was)... Needless to say, that exercise was an IP for them. I realize that it would be really hard to practice proofing for that exact situation, but it was a reminder of how important proofing is, even for stuff that seems like a gimme.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I hope it wasn't a reaction to the dilation because that was not a fun 24 hours. I did feel well enough to attend the trial and despite being strangely located inside a neighborhood, it is just as lovely as people told me. There's really nice turf, two large rings and a three acre meadow for the dogs with a river running alongside it. 


If Penny hadn't gotten sidetracked by the leash runner right before the weaves, we would have Qed in Standard. The same can't be said for our NQ in Jumpers. The courses were what I love: a couple challenges, yet still nicely flowing. I am happy to see her brain turning back on in the Standard ring. On top of that, I asked for two start-line stays that consisted of two jump lead outs and she nailed both of them. I am proud of her for doing so well with her start-line stays in a new environment. They're also the most difficult start-lines that I've asked for in a competition so far. She also had a perfect table stay even when I walked behind her to lead out by one jump. At that point we had already NQed, so I wanted to see if she would stay.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

For the forth trial in a row we got second place in Open B with 15 teams showing . At this rate only 96 more trials and we will have all the points necessary for the OTCH requirement but no wins. Hombre tried to please and his front exercises are starting to pay off. He also Qd in Utility withav1941/2/and was told he looked cute and i asked if i gotnpoints for being “cute”—- no answer . On a less smarty pants attitude he did a nice job here to and got UDX leg #6. Open score was a 198


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

first day of a three day show, was supposed to be four but life happens and not in a good way. Tink and Blitz finished their BN titles with first and second and Blitz earned a leg in rally advanced and third place. I blew Blitz's novice go round on the very last thing, the down stay. I gave him Tinks stay command which to him looks like the stand command I now use with him and since we are working on command discrimination he popped right up darn it. So hopefully won't do that tomorrow I thought I had entered in for an extra day just in case I blew one of the two legs I needed but nope forgot to add him on Monday. Tomorrow its RAE for Tink and novice and rally advanced for Blitz hopefully I won't do anything else stupid but no promises! Way to little sleep the last couple weeks and I am running on fumes.


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

Day two at the show sigh~ Okay not bad but not good either. I started with RE with Tink and she took second with a nice score she felt flat and I really had to work her around the ring then the headache started. Rally ran really slow and the obedience ring was right on time. I barely got to walk the course for rally advanced before I had to get Blitz in the novice ring, then to avoid conflicts with sits and down I went straight back into the rally ring and then misread a sign still qualified came out and then were not quite ready for sits and downs so they wanted me to run Tink in RA so I ran and got her and took her in cold bad idea she lagged and was a totally brat I then did the same sign wrong cause I had not realized I had done it wrong the first time. We barely qualified but got her second RAE leg. I then had to run back put Tink away and get Blitz on the way by the rally ring I got handed my toys and ribbons and Blitz totally lost his mind over everyone squeaking those darn toys. Straight in for sits and down and someone was playing with a toy outside the ring. Thankfully he held and I did not give him the wrong signal and we got his leg and a first place.

Way to much stress! Tomorrow only RAE for Tink and Rally Advanced for Blitz hopefully I can remember the sign right tomorrow!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

Day three a much more relaxing day. I decided Tink was bored of the cheese her normal fav snack at a show and brought some left over philly steak pieces with me. Huge hit and she moved much nicer around the ring and I did all the signs the way I was supposed to Lol. She took second in her RE class and took Third in RA and earned another leg for RAE. Blitz took second in RA lost on time for first and earned his third leg so he got two of the three titles I hoped to get this weekend and Tink got one new title and two more RAE legs so not bad!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Tonight I set up gating with 2 agility jumps in place of HJ & bar in the back yard. Each dog was worked before supper and fresh in from the outdoor dogyard or out of the indoor crates depending on where they were.

*Faelan* Heeling & signals on the side yard -- some forging coming out of the fast but signals were gorgeous, as were the Go-Outs & DJ once we moved to the back yard. Sits to stands were not good.

*Aedan* Heeling with 1/2 distance down signal were really nice, I moved closer for the sit signal but with no extra body motion & he did it!! Paaaaarrrrrrty!! Then Go Outs & Directed jumping -- he knocked the first bar due to over exuberance, reset & repeat from the go-out spot, Aedan has really really nice Go Outs.

*Brady* signals and heeling on the side yard and he was dancey prancey! Signals were good as was the heeling other than a bit wide on the 1st about turn. Go Outs were meh -- I want faster sits so we will work on those separately. Bars!! Today he was knocking bars -- at this rate he will have incorrectly performed all his exercises by wekk's end and will be good to go for trials 

*Finch* had heeling where she was quite bouncy, waits in a different location which required a few reset, gorgeous recalls & front and a few nice stands.

Nice sessions 

The plan is to swap Finch & Towhee on Saturday at a match. Towhee was looking great today while Finch is not only due to go into season, she has an appt for her clearance XRays on Tuesday.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training at my club yesterday was less than awesome. Hombre was not in pleasing or training mode. Fronts again practically non existent and he was slower and just not in it. My class was bigger and it went well. But our drop in attendence was down. We are going to the new place this morning hopefully a better day as ive entered him in a trial on Thurs.in Michigan looking for another UDX leg and whatever may come along.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Ah today at the new training place the dog i had yesterday was no where to be found instead a wound up wanting to work one had replaced him. It was fun today with Hombre wanting to work and doing a very nice job with great attitude really good. Nice work today and hopefully it carries over tomorrow at SCKC and especially Thurs trial.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Finley was acting odd in the car last night on the way to class. Alternating between sitting and laying, occasional panting, and then started retching about a mile from the class. She got out of the car, shook her head, and a whole lot of foamy saliva spilled out. Then she ran over to great our instructor who happened to be outside. Said her hello, and turned around making a bee line for the car. So, we left. She couldn't have said it any clearer that she wasn't feeling right and did not want to be there. She had chicken and rice for dinner, which she ate with gusto. Seemed fine the rest of the night. This morning I took her over to MIL, with the jumps and gating. Not good at all. First had issues with finding the correct stanchion, then refusing the high jump, followed by jumping over the bar jump on the way to the stanchion for the go out. We did do one set of heeling with signals in the middle of this mess, and that she did beautifully. After trying to take that bar jump on the way out and doing what I could think of to work through it, (to no avail) I was getting so frustrated that we left. Maybe she's not feeling well, although there has been no more visible signs of possible stomach issues since yesterday. I will probably take her to the training building tomorrow and see what happens. We're scheduled for a show n go Sunday.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Today training again went the other direction just plain sloppy. He did everything in both class’s and would have Qd but scorewise just a green ribbon performance. Tomorrow is the trial im hoping he goes the other way as he did at the last show.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny was a hot mess in class last night. I can say she had some dynamite weaves though. I took her dock diving today. Her confidence level didn't improve any over last time, so I am going to try a different toy or two for next time. I'm also going to jump in with her. She shakes so much water off over the course of a half hour that there won't be any difference in how dry I am, lol.

Going slightly off topic, my club asked me to be a GR News guest columnist for an indefinite period of time. I haven't thought of topics quite as interesting as the first article I submitted, but I'll do my best.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Good luck to Hombre at the trial today!


Renting the training room yesterday was so worth the ride. There was a mix up and someone else showed up at the same time, so we used the room together. Enough distraction, but not over the top. Banshee did really good on all the open exercises. She did anticipate the retrieve over the high jump the first time. And couldn't maintain her stay outside of the ring while Finley was sent on a go out. She thought she could join her which ended up with Banshee in a crate..


Finley: Back to her normal sleeping self in the car :smile2:. 1st glove was wrong. I sent her to #2, but she brought #3. We did each glove one more time, and all 3 were correct. Articles were beautiful with the person acting as judge, placing them, following her, ect. Signals: Very happy with her heeling. The down had a step or two, as well as the first sit which had me reset her. 2cd time perfect. (Can we please have a 2cd chance at a trial?!lol) Moving stand, so glad we someone there to practice with..not a lock-up, but I think she would have qualified. And those Go-outs... Still a problem. For some reason, she again tried to take the bar jump on the way out. And it was on my right, so she had to cross over in front of me to do it:frown2:. Since we were in the training building I had access to a PVC box that I put out at the stanchion. This solved the problem..I took the box away and we tried going the other direction. I sent her, and she promptly turned around and touched the stanchion behind us...TWICE. This is crazy to me, because she has been doing this exercise correctly for a long time. Worked through that issue, and she went to the opposite end of the ring as she was supposed to, but then began anticipating the sit...Stopping short of the stanchion before I told her, turning and sitting...Oh my.. We're signed up (go figure) for a trial June 9th and 10th. We may scratch it..


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Hombre was not very good today at the trial. Utility was SLOPPY scoring a 1931/2. Open was far worse missing the first exercise which was command signals down- stand-sit and he blew the stand from down so Nq. No placements no otch points no UDX leg not much of anything but a 316 mile ride with every goofy semi-driver on the road going around the lake to Kalamzoo. A first happened though the lady judge hit me my hand not tight against my body making the about turn , she thought it to be an aid to the dog. Hombre might need an aid for go outs or fronts but his heeling is excellent but he screwed uo enough it didnt matter anyway.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Wonder if it was the same judge who deducted 1/2 point for my feet not being together/touching for the DOR .... I think she did reduce the hit when she saw the expression (disbelief) on my face and I looked down at my feet LOL


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

7:45 already hot and humid so limited training this morning. Be.c,ause of POOR performance yesterday i put his collar on today — amazing the difference in attitude faster recalls and 4 really nice go outs . We also worked the command signal exercise several times only had to push the button once to get the message across to him. Wish his collar would be useful for f+f but he just doesnt get “it”. I had string cheese treats for him which Hombre normally likes but today i also brought out a bumper for a reward and he actually turned down the cheese in preference for the bumper.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Weave practice today with fronts, blinds, rears and handler motions. She did a super job with rears, which completely threw her for a loop in the past.

I looked at Penny's k9data today to see if I updated her titles and noticed her picture magically reappeared. Does anyone know if that Photobucket mess got sorted out?


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

1st go-out this morning (in our back yard) and Finley headed out past the jumps, took a quick turn to the right and proceeded to ZOOM around both jumps ect as if there was freshly fallen snow on the ground...Not at all what I expected, but THAT seems to be the theme these days. At least when she came to halt she ended up at the correct stanchion, in a nice sit, looking expectantly at me... A reminder of how to go straight to the stanchion and the rest of the go-outs were correct. Until the sit. Which she just didn't do. Soooo, we went back to directly in front of the stanchion, as if we are just starting out, with markers for the sit after acknowledging the stanchion. All the jumps and fronts were very nice. Finishes were sloppy because that's what happens with her when she's higher than a kite.. She got cheese and when all was said and done several retrieves with her ball. Banshee did heeling with focus on left turns. Followed by DOR and straight recalls. She did a good job, all in the front yard. Show N Go tomorrow with Finley at a location we haven't been to in over 2 years. I've cleared most of the pictures off my phone so I can hopefully get someone to tape it.. If nothing else it will be interesting to see how she handles the directed jumping....


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Hoopers class is now on a different day, and location. Not only did she do the exercises well, it was the first time Sona was able to go from reasonably relaxed to focused working when needed. 
We are back in Dublin this weekend so my new practice weaves came along on our travels ? . Yesterday we focused on entries, today on drive and exits. I’m very very pleased with Sona.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

The sun is up high and the humidity is way up there ( very uncomfortable ) but at 6:55 am this morning we are done training for the day. Fair session with the usual mistakes f+f but he did miss the first send on articles ( metal ) so a couple resets. The gnats were terrible swarming all over my face and because of dew no jumps were done. Commands signals done three ways and of course since it didnt cost an entry fee they were done beautifully as was utility signal exercise. DR MSFE nicely done as were 3 of 4 go outs one about 2-3 feet off center. Go outs were done faster than i thoughT HE would run due to heat and humidity so a plus there.heeling was dead on so because tomorrow is a holiday with another really uncomfortable days weather forecast and my club is shut down for the holiday the dogs and i are just going to relax in the AC.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Yay for Towhee being home.

It is in the 90's today and I didn't wake up early enough to take Penny swimming at a local pond, so I will be doing balance pod work with her instead. I took her to a dog friendly flower/garden store and noticed a service dog enter when we were ready to check out, so I took her outside instead of letting her greet the clerk. She likes to make happy noises when people pet her and I didn't want her to cause a distraction. I think it may have been in training still since it acted like it wanted to see Penny.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

So the show n go with Finley Saturday...The gloves were done correctly:smile2:. Had it been a show that would have the only exercise to Q on. Heeling was ok. She had some lagging, but caught up and fixed it on her own. The down signal, she went half way down, slowly, and stopped so I signaled again. I think she walked forward on the sit, and that I gave her a verbal and signal. Articles: 1st article was set in the center of a perfect circle of articles. She went quickly to the pile, and worked the circle of articles, probably 3 times, smelling each one, all the while standing over top of the correct article. Ultimately she picked up an incorrect and brought it to me. (My instructor would have told me to not let her bring it to me, but I have learned that all that does is put her in a grab and snatch mode.) I took it from her, told her "thank you", and sent her back out. This time she found it quickly. The leather article was next, and that was very nice. Moving stand: I had to give a second command to stay as I walked away. The exam itself, was solid. (Good thing she doesn't have to keep that tail still, it was wagging away). Go-outs. Ugh. I'm not even going to go over them except to say at least the jumps themselves are done correctly. The video I have starts at gloves. Not that this will at all solve our current go out issue, but in the video, I was able to see that I should NOT have sent her the 1st time. I had given her a mark, but her head was turned to the left. I stood up, and sent her. Dumb. 

Last night she did Go-outs in the rain, in our yard, with marks for a quick sit. No jumps due to the rain. This morning I moved the gating and jumps around, and we practiced the go outs with jumps, and then did signals. Banshee and I went to Lowes. She did heeling, and short signals. She is really coming along. We were checking out, and I had her in a sit at heel when some little dog about three feet from us started barking and lunging toward us. The woman who owned the dog picked it up and her husband apologized. Banshee got lots of treats and praise for maintaining her sit. Someone walked up closely behind us and then next to us trying to get past the registers (Store was packed today), He had a cane, was quite big, and again she held her sit. He kept saying that wasn't the dobie I heard carrying on :smile2:. 


I signed up for the next show n go which isn't until June 24th. And, I'm getting out of my comfort zone because I will be bringing them both. I think Banshee is just about ready for open. (There was a time I never thought I'd be able to say that). So, she needs to get out, and I can't wait until Finley gets her UD. Finley certainly needs the show n goes. I have 3 kennel clubs all between an hour to two hours from me. Later I'm going to email each about drop in classes or ring rentals. Tomorrow I rented our class building for training but I don't think anyone else will be joining us. Happy Memorial day everyone!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training at the new place went fairly well. Utility other than articles went extremely well, he actually gave me fronts And he did four go outs that were perfect Very fast very straight taking the jumps on command and beautiful sits When told to do so. Open to went well he actually gave me a front on the Broad-jump. We practice the same command signal that he blew at the trail Thursday and he blew it again after several resets he got it right. Not a bad day of training we’ve definitely had worse and we also had better and in this heat I’ll take it.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Sharon hope all goes well with the boys.

Trained at SCKC this morning utility and open all done well. Five go outs were done with only one a tad off . The baited one was the third one . Articles much better than yesterday but he didnt have the distractions he had yesterday . We did a couple fronting exercises and he did these with mediocre success but the actual open and utility exercises where front had to be done he was nailing them . Go figure ! Open was especially nice other than his not getting the front straight as he did yesterday on the first BJ one. His fronts on the ROHJ nice as i pURPOSELY throw the DB once right once left one ( hopefully straight ) and his fronts were straight on all. Again command - signals done well ( no entry fee ) LOL . i also ran a couple people thru utility and open . Good session today even though I forgot Hombres meatball treat rewards.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Last night was our last Rally class at our training facility. We are relocating to Ohio this summer. I'm still what most would call a "newbie" to the dog training world, but I learned so much from our trainers that I hope I'm on the way to not being a newbie anymore. When we went to our first class there back in January, Rocket was so wild that he wouldn't even sit on command and I was mortified. Judy and Tracie were very patient with us, and by the time we got to last night, they didn't have to focus more on us than the other much more experienced teams. The light bulbs really started to come on for both of us. 

For our last class, they set up two Master level courses for run-throughs. Re-dos were encouraged for class even though they are not allowed at the Master level. I was very pleased with our performance considering that we are only titled through Intermediate and have never even run an Excellent course for practice. On the first go-out, I thought "what the hell? I'll just try to send him even though we haven't trained this" and to my shock he went right to the cone, turned around and sat right on cue. He didn't do it as well on the second course because there was a small tuft of dog hair with skin attached on the floor and that was MUCH more interesting than paying attention to me... We had to try the bar jump a second time on the second course, but that was my fault. I normally say "come" and then "over" right before he gets to the jump and I didn't give the "over" command. We also haven't practiced jumps in a long while, which is also my fault. He was kinda hit or miss on his hindquarter rotation - particularly on the 270-left - which apparently needs a lot of maintenance because he was doing it beautifully a couple of months ago. I was super proud of his performance on sign 209: Stand, Leave, Down, Call front, finish, sit. I was worried that he would take a step or two forward on the down from stand, but he just laid right down. 

He's still young (not even 3 yet), but I think if we keep working hard and he matures a little more that we can hit a really good stride by the time he is 4 or 5 and then maybe even try to get a couple of obedience titles. We can definitely title through Rally Master based on our performance on the two courses last night, so we might go for RACH spread out over a few years since that is such an expensive title to get... I hope they revise the rules a bit to make it less expensive. 20 triple Q's could be $70-$80/trial depending on the club.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Hoopers last night was quite good, considering we had been travelling for about 10 hours earlier in the day it was good going for both of us lol! we were focusing on getting more distance. 
We are booked into an Ob competition on Saturday but not sure if I feel like going, between everything going on and lots of travelling I really should catch up on things st home. Its only 45 min away at most so I will see when I wake up Saturday I think.


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