# May 2015 Training Logs



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Received my confirmation for Faelan's UDX entry next week. Guess I know what we'll be working on  it is outdoors in the early morning so hopefully it will be dry, if not we'll be sleeping in.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Upcoming things for us:

Golden Retriever fun match this Sunday. Rally will be outside in the grass and there will be plenty of dogs there, so this is good practice for the real thing.

Next Friday is the trial. The best part of that trial is that the matts will finally be clean. I think the club needs to clean them more often than they do, which is once a year.

Penny will stay in agility for now since I noticed improvement with her anxiety over the last couple sessions. If it gets worse I can pull her from class.

I also really want to get Penny involved in dock diving this month.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

May is tentatively going to be a busy month...

I'm cooling my heels re entering a late-may show until after this weekend to see if I'm going to keep entering Beginner Novice or switch gears to Pre-Novice with Bertie. Doesn't matter if he Q's or not, if I don't like his heeling or he blows waits/stays, we're going to stay in BN level. Also hand position for the off leash heel is not where I want it to be for my comfort level. I'd probably get points off for having my hand more to the left than it should. When I put more towards the middle, pulls Bertie forward. <= If I enter pre-novice, it would be towards the end of the month. There's a trial in June that I kinda want to enter him in pre-novice (at least). If not regular novice.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

We start Tugg's new obedience class tonight, his Rally class next Tuesday, continue on next Wednesday with Raider's Nosework class, and Tugg starts that class too, with my husband as his handler. Will be interesting to see how that works out. Beautiful day out today so I put two hides out on our camper which is sitting in the driveway and one hide in a crack in the driveway. Both boys found the ones on the camper within seconds, had a little difficulty with the one in the driveway.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

This month will be more agility and nosework training. Since both my dogs passed their birch ORT's...I'm going to enter a NW1 trial sign up at the end of the month. I'm hoping at least one of my dogs will get in, for the Santa Paula NW1 trials in Sept.

My agility training is going very well, and I really want to get ready for trials later in the year. Maybe this fall or winter I can enter a trial, but we will see how well my dogs and I progress in the coming months.

Starting this month, I am going to train my Pomeranian in noseworks and get him up to speed with my other dogs. I want all three in noseworks, and in trials one day.

May should be a good month of classes and progression in agility and noseworks for my pups


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Melfice said:


> This month will be more agility and nosework training. Since both my dogs passed their birch ORT's...I'm going to enter a NW1 trial sign up at the end of the month. I'm hoping at least one of my dogs will get in, for the Santa Paula NW1 trials in Sept.
> 
> My agility training is going very well, and I really want to get ready for trials later in the year. Maybe this fall or winter I can enter a trial, but we will see how well my dogs and I progress in the coming months.
> 
> ...


I love Nosework. The only problem I see is there aren't a whole lot of Nosework Trials and if you find one within driving distance here in the Midwest there are no guarantees in getting in a trial. I tried a couple months ago to get Raider in an element trial, it was local, we were 94th on the wait list.  I think though because it is getting so popular more trials will be opening up.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Today's training had both Finley and Banshee in the backyard doing stays while I cleaned up the yard from them, and purposely went in and out of the house. Finley did great, and Banshee was doing great. And just as I was thinking I should go back and treat them she broke her sit. Sooo Finley got a lot of treats and then a down stay while Banshee had to sit some more. We did recalls, but they were more for just coming to me, since they were both out together I didn't want to use "come" and have to worry about position, ect. I can trust Finley to stay while I call Banshee, but Banshee not so much. So we practiced "Let's Go!" (Which basically is what I say when I want them to come and/or stay with me) Ha, which almost landed me on my butt....I had them in a sit-stay and walked 3/4's of the way away from them and then called and they came running! My back was to them, so I don't know which one or maybe both, but someone hit me in the back of my knees and I almost went down. Finley stayed "with me" the whole time, ready to play the game. Banshee left a couple times to look out the fence, ect. So when she did that, Finley did a jump here and there. Tried directed jumping between the high jump and the broad jump. Directing her to go over the high, but instead she went over the broad...no biggie, we have a lot of time to worry about that. Not to mention I haven't tried her between two jumps like that in forever. I did do the down signal from a long distance while they were both in a sit stay next to each other. Banshee does that beautifully. Finley stood, took, one or two steps, and then went down. The difference between the two was really obvious since they were sitting next to each other. I never asked either to heel, but I did a lot of walking in the yard, without asking for anything, and funny how they both wanted "heel" position. Best part, they both seemed to like it and have fun. It was a nice change and I think it's something I'll do more of.
As far as this month is concerned. Finley has a Show n Go on the 16th (I think, have to recheck dates). That's it. Besides really making an effort to get them both out and about & training away from home.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I've just sent another entry in which makes 5 between now and July which if he would Q in each he would have his UDX but you never know at least I don't what my boy is going to do. I've looked over the AKC events and there are several future shows I'm going to enter but it's just too early yet. This morning on our poop scooping patrol Nugget did 2 beautiful go outs and got his " cookies" and was praised using my squeaky happy voice both sending him and rewarding him . It seems he likes it. This afternoon we go to a friends place , both boys and train and have fun a great way to spend the day with friends and my dogs.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Today the adult dogs go in for their semi-annual exams and TBD panel blood draws. So they were groomed early (I usually do grooming on Sunday) and I even remembered to clean ears!! Oops, should have been paying more attention to Ms Towhee's ears since she was on antibiotics for so long!! Perhaps a reason for hesitation on jumping? Although my brother reported she sailed over a huge fallen log (with a step built in mind you) that she didn't want to take the time walk up LOL

I hope to get some training in but we'll see how soon I get my errands done - their appointment is for 2 and it takes about 45 minutes to get there ..


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Class went well last night. Worked on heeling, recalls. And how to regain trust in my dog so that I won't always worry he will get the zoomies.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

my4goldens said:


> I love Nosework. The only problem I see is there aren't a whole lot of Nosework Trials and if you find one within driving distance here in the Midwest there are no guarantees in getting in a trial. I tried a couple months ago to get Raider in an element trial, it was local, we were 94th on the wait list.  I think though because it is getting so popular more trials will be opening up.


Yes it's tough here to get into trials too I hear (feed back from my trainer, and classmates), and I know they are working on getting more trials going forward. I might need to travel to Oregon for NW3 (even NW2) trials on day, but we are worrying about getting into NW1 trials now.

Good luck getting into trials btw! I hope they have a lot more in the coming months/years 

And I love Nose Works, and so do my pups


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

So far today we have

*Broad Jump*: I set up the broad jump and brought sir Fluffy as a distraction since Aedan so kindly brought it out of hiding. I used a tug toy for Faelan & Towhee and a tennis ball for Brady to act as further distractions since I made sure they could see their toys in my hand LOL

*Aedan:* got to play 'Can you tug?, 'Can you retrieve?' with the distraction of Sir Fluffy (he could but gave a few longing glances)

*Brady:* Got to go on errands and we did some acclimation, some heeling and then he freaked with one woman and so he had a brief time out to chill in the truck. He came out again and we set up in that same location, acclimated and he worked much faster.

*Faelan, Towhee & Brady* then went to the vet where they were very good in the waiting room and in the exam rooms. Towhee does have an ear infection (sigh). I really should have started her on something beyond yogurt with all those antibiotics, but I didn't and so I learn....

*Aedan* and I then went to a local bike path where he got to see people riding bikes, roller bladers, walkers, joggers, runners, kids, a few dogs, a wooden bridge that goes over a busy road, motorcyclists, sounds of fireworks, smells from restaurants and belly rubs from a lady and her son. Bright paint on asphalt, manhole covers and more.

I am heading out soon for an evening out so that is probably it for training today.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Had one of those days where I had several things to note:

1. I love 2 trial days and being entered in both trials. Because it means if anything messes up in the first trial, you can fix before your run in the next trial. 

- Bertie had a 197 score going on in BN, but blew it on the sit-for-exam, because his butt popped up and he did a stand for exam instead. The judge is a long time golden trainer and he really loved Bertie and was really disappointed that we blew it on probably the easiest exercise out there.  

Now he DID have a couple points taken away for bumping on the heeling portion and a little wide step or two on figure 8. But not bad. 

2. Be aware of what is going on even when you THINK you know what's going on. We almost got NQ'd right from the start for trial #1 because I looked at the board and saw the person before me was checked off and was sitting back going lalalalala and not planning to warm up until the person before me was in the ring. <= Next thing I know, I realized they were calling my number. Apparently somebody had been over zealous in scratching numbers and the number before mine did not actually show up. Eeek. 

3. Even if you are panicked and not ready to go out there, make sure you warm up a little AND empty your pockets. <= I panicked and went rushing out there and the bumping points I lost happened in that first few steps. 

4. I realized before setting up that I had a treat in my pocket and freaked out. Told the judge and made a big deal and was ready to throw the treat out of the ring or something (hahaha). I think legitimately, I should have been Nq'd right there. Because the rule is very firm that you should not bring food into the ring. Then again, the judge underlined the unheard rule that if you accidentally bring treats into the ring - pretend they're not there if you can. Which the judge was nice enough to tell me to just get set up and don't draw attention to the treats. I didn't ask, but gathered he had not NQ'd me for the treats.

5. The more that you hear people complaining about judges out there, the more I'm appreciative of down-to-earth and NICE judges. Which today's judges were. Very relaxed, keeping people in a good mood around them. 

6. Bertie's second run - he lost most of his points on 2 sits. I made sure I mark-praised when he actually sat at the end of the figure 8! If he had those 2 sits back, we would have gotten a 199 score. 

7. Jacks would have hated it there. Not so much about the "big" earthquake hitting Michigan, but the trial was near an airport and there were a couple times the building rumbled as a plane went over. Jacks would have died. 

8. Oh, yep - I'm blaming the failed sit-for-exam and no-sits on the earthquake. :wavey:


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I put treats in a red solo cup to bring with for warming up. No chance of leaving treats in my pockets doing that. I also put her jackpot treat in the cup (large Milk Bone). If the crate is close to the ring, I leave the cup on top of the crate. Otherwise, I find a safe place for it closer to the ring. At first, I almost forgot to take treats out of my pocket too a couple times.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

The talk about good judges reminded me of my very first time in the ring with my Novice A dog, Tess. She was a pretty good little dog. But I was terrified. Went in the ring, large class. I made it to the start place, she was a little crooked. So stupid me, I reached down and straightened her. The judge, a lovely older woman, looked at me and said, I could really mark you for that, but I won't, if you promise me you will never ever do that again. We ended up with first place. I will never forget how kind she was. I still don't like to show, I have terrible ring nerves, but because of my first judge's kindness managed to get some titles on my dogs.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@My4Goldens - that was a very huge thing for me, looking out there and seeing how supportive and kind both judges were to the A people. A friend of mine got her CD (first CD ever) with her dog today. First trial, she NQ'd - I was talking to her later, but really there had been some kind of misconnect right from the start and she did not have any connection with her dog. It was really tough watching as a friend - but the same time, I loved how kind the judge was and helping my friend calm her nerves. Right down to having her repeat the recall to get it right out there after the dog broke the wait on the first try. 

It made a huge difference for my friend who went into the next trial and qualified there - with a really good performance from her dog. I told her between trials that her dog is solid and as long as she "has her" going into the ring and to her starting spot, that she'll do well. But I think it made a huge difference having sympathetic judges.

There's judges out there who look and act like they ate lemons before going out there, and they do/can affect the handlers to the extent that going out there, you feel like you're walking on thin ice out there. 

When you have really sympathetic judges who they DO ALL THIS OBEDIENCE TRIAL STUFF themselves and/or have for years, you have a different feeling from them when you go out there, as far as the judges at least seeing the humor in what happens out there and not holding everything against the teams that enter their rings. 

And there was some funny stuff that happened - best one was a novice B (I think?) team where it was a woman and a little dog (I think Papillion or similar breed - I wasn't wearing my glasses and was watching from the other side of the building). The woman did her off leash heeling and at some point realized the dog wasn't with her. She turned and looked behind her (as did all of us) - and dog wasn't there. Turns out that she did a whole upside down L pattern, and lost the dog before she made the left turn down the long side. She realized the dog wasn't with her when she made the about turn at the bottom of that L. 

She looked up/back at the judge, and the judge was holding a laugh back and pointing at the dog who was still hanging out at that corner of the ring where the owner left it. 

It was one of those things where the judge's reaction helped lighten up what would have otherwise been an embarrassing moment for the handler. Instead of a "your dog did THAT", it was more of a "we've all had something like that happen before" type of chuckle.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

congrats on Bertie's first leg . Entered tomorrow?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Thanks Jodie.  

Next show isn't until the end of the month.... I went ahead and entered another 2 trial day (also a conformation entry which should probably complicate my day beyond belief) so he'll have 2 chances at it (best since I can't remember what obedience is like at this location - beyond vaguely remembering it's indoors vs outdoors with the conformation stuff). Even if gets his BN title at that show - I'm still not sure if he's ready for off-leash heeling in novice yet. It's weird though - if I compare to Jacks though, I think he's more ready than Jacks ever was even when Jacks was getting his CD legs. It makes a huge difference having a dog who doesn't have anxiety issues....


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Last nights training didn't go as well as I hoped. Nugget was higher than a kite and the DR was the first exercise he was supposed to get # 3 but got #2 and we had to reset and try to settle him down. Next we did the DJ EXERCISE and his go outs very nice the first two and he took the HJ like he was supposed to but again he refused the bar so another reset and the third go out was done and it was fast straight dead center in the ring BUT he walked back a few steps which of course more points would have been lost but this time he went over the bar. His open exercise was decent and would have been in the high 190s but the fronts on a couple things left a little to be desired. Hombre in my opinion was terrible my friends said he is only a puppy but he is well behind any of my other goldens at this same age . This morning because I had to visit my wife in the hospital and later this morning watch my grandson recieve his first communion training was short but Nugget did three very nice go outs and took the bar twice and the high jump once. His signal exercise with a very short heeling part was well done as was his MSFE. DR this morning all three gloves correctly gotten but 2of 3 fronts off . We also did ROHJ 3 x all fronts poor and his ROF same story along with finish having his butt out on 2of 3. Hombre only took a VERY VERY short time to exhaust my patience as he was only wanting to eat grass and screw around the only thing he did half way right was full ring length go outs to a baited stanchion but he had to be told many many times to WAIT which he only did when held but he did sit 2x when I ran up behind him and told him too. I sometimes wonder why did I want a puppy the war of the wills is being won by this little guy.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congrats on Bertie's first leg!!!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Kate congratulations to you and Bertie!!!


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Congrats on Bertie's first leg !


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Congratulations Kate and Bertie!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Set up a partial rope ring in the side yard  Interesting sight lines for Directed Jumping what with the trees and such LOL

Now, it actually needs to cool down a bit before I work the dogs in the sun. Plus they are all asleep ... Brady got to do round abouts - went to a bike trail and walked with him and then stopped at a store - a man was up on an adjacent rood working some repairs with an awesome collection of old style rock n roll booming out of his boombox so we walked around there as well for interesting sound effects and echoing in an alleyway.

It is also too warm/sunny to load the dogs up for an adventure where one dog works while the others wait in the Xterra.

Towhee also ran into a hammer I was holding and conked herself somewhere in the head area - I was walking into the house and she came up behind me at a run, probably looking back at whoever was chasing her at the moment - she shook her head a few times but seems fine now - I will need to watch her ...

ETA:
Faelan ran through all of the Utility exercises with Glove #3, and articles at 11 o'clock outside and 4 o'clock inside. He did very well (no finishes other than the MSFE)

Brady worked Go Outs, Directed Jumping, Signals (complete) and glove #3. He wanted glove #2 in the worst way so we had some repeats/

Towhee worked Go Outs, Go Outs with a ball being tossed over her head (all dogs had this), Directed Jumping about every 3rd send away, signals, MSFE and glove #3 - she did well. Her jumps are still lowered as I rebuild her confidence on DJ.


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Congrats on Bertie's 1st leg! Whohoo! Go team!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

A little utility training from today






We did some glove work too but it was later after I'd put up the camera.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we worked in the new roped ring area - an area the dogs are not usually in so they were very up & antsy LOL A new neighbor apparently thinks honking their horn at 6:30 in the morning is quite acceptable ( 8 separate times in the 15 minutes or so I was out there) so there was that distraction as well.

*Faelan:* Signals (very nice!!). ROHJ - front was off a bit but other than than very nice. ROF - beautiful 

*Brady:* Heeling (very nice) - I also started bringing my right hand over my head to reward from above; he seemed to really like this  ROHJ: The DB rolled to the left and he started to go around the jump - reset and he did very well  ROF: Very nice, he front was very slightly off but his finish was perfect.

*Towhee:* Heeling was very very nice. I lowered the jump to 16 inches and we did the ROHJ which she did really really nicely and the a perfect ROF  

*Aedan:* we practiced Get It, Get It, Get It Come games, setups and some fronts

Nice sessions !!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I have an unplanned PTO day (highway closure due to a very bad accident requiring extrication & LifeStar: ETA 52 year old driver has since died). So after over 2 hours of just sitting on the highway less than 5 miles from my home, when I had the chance I turned around and went home -- some folks were driving over the median but traffic was heavy on the other side as well so I did not want to try that. I just made it onto the highway apparently when they closed it down behind me - traffic was being routed off at the exit where I got onto the highway and alerts were not posted yet.

Anyway, so I came home and set up my new channel weaves  And just ran all the dogs through with the channels wide open, working on head down drive with Brady, and my veering away or towards Faelan and Towhee -- they did well!!

Aedan also go to go through 3 then 5 poles with treats every other pole - all the dogs can run straight down but especially Aedan - for now I just would like him to get acclimated to the aluminum base and the poles on either side of him. He won't actually weave for at least another 15 months or so.

For Brady, it was his longest ever set - he has done 6 but never 12 so I will leave the channels open a few days and then gradually start randomizing which poles are open and by how much - I need to work wide open entries as well as completely closed entries and a host of other things before I consider entering him in agility matches and trials but he has a nice foundation courtesy of Julie Daniels and FDSA.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Sunrise said:


> I have an unplanned PTO day (highway closure due to a very bad accident requiring extrication & LifeStar: ETA 52 year old driver has since died). *So after over 2 hours of just sitting on the highway less than 5 miles from my home*, when I had the chance I turned around and went home -- some folks were driving over the median but traffic was heavy on the other side as well so I did not want to try that. I just made it onto the highway apparently when they closed it down behind me - traffic was being routed off at the exit where I got onto the highway and alerts were not posted yet.


Sounds like normal traffic here in Los Angeles to me! haha


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Beautiful beautiful weather today, I did just a quick go out, directed jumping, and a few drops (he had trouble with drops last night, acted like he had never seen such a thing before) with Phoenix and then just sat on the back patio enjoying watching the dogs romp around in the backyard.

Making plans for a summer Minnesota-Wisconsin-Michigan road trip with Phoenix with lots of training planned. Can't wait!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Before going to club I had Nugget do 6 go outs at home which were flawless and when sent over each jump he did them without hesitation . Great I thought we are fixed then at club I wanted to do go outs to a wall well he went around 10 feet turned around and stood looking at me like he didn't know what he was supposed to do. He finally after resetting did a go out but you only get one shot in a trial. Open work went much better doing all exercises and nailing the fronts very nicely heeling he still will,lag on an about as he did tonight but overall his open work was well done. Hombre did a few recalls and ROF not nearly a picture of perfection on either but better than the last session his go outs coming along but I must hold his collar before sending or he is gone . Likes that cheese . The long S+D very nice and maybe in a couple weeks of more success in this exercise I'll start going out of sight. SFE good job tonight. My class is starting to have noticeable improvement especially a young lady with a 90 lb. bulldog that's really getting very good. Seven came tonight and between bouncing a ball and putting treats on the floor 2 ft. In front of them on s+d I managed to get some to break but overall the group did well. The recalls for this group still need work and finish's almost non-existent . All but one have never trained a dog before so it's a slower process getting then to do some things like working the front when their dog is on its way to them or working it correctly but a couple are really trying and it shows.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we went for a quick hike followed by fronts and finish work with ROF. Aedan very much distracted Faelan by examining his DB each time it was tossed (good waits) and then dropped his rawhide twizzle. Faelan's retrieves were very good, fronts not so much.

Towhee came out next (and Aedan went in). Her retrieves and finishes were very good, while her fronts were slightly off but she totally ignored the twizzle.

Brady then worked very well for 2 retrieves (nice waits, retrieves and fronts) and on the 3rd his nose hooked on the twizzle while returning and he dropped the dumbbell - he was assisted in what to do  Kindly and gently but still, you go for a dumbbell you return with the dumbbell. He was then sent back for the twizzle and enjoyed it.

ETA: I was planning on working weave poles and serpentines this evening, but it is too hot. The dogs and pup are panting just laying around and these exercises need (or I want  ) my working dog to be in drive. So they get the evening off.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Feeling the need to share  genetics have not been studied yet so this is still in the early planning stages, but I was asked by a highly respected small breeder in my area about my Faelan. She personally knows Faelan, in the field, in obedience and a little of his agility work. The girl in consideration is so stunningly gorgeous she almost takes your breath away. Oh, I do hope the genetics look good (she is also clear on the PRA and ICH front). Stunning in a beautifully balanced, not overly coated way so physically she and Faelan share much in the looks department, and as a young girl (3) she already has nice obedience work.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Admittedly patience is not my strong suit and the last couple weeks of poor training and blowing 2 trials in a row and after last nights very very poor go outs and refusal to go over the bar this morning session started out with his refusing to go out . Walking about 10 feet and looking back like I don't know what you want . I had it. I YELLED GO OUT several times and just chased him out to the stanchion then giving him a sit order went back to the opposite end of the ring and in no uncertain terms and verbally commanded him OVER with the hand signal and he knew I meant business and he flew over the jump this whole scenario was repeated several times my YELLING GO OUT GO OUT and chasing him till he did what I wanted which wasn't anything he hadn't done many times except this lazy crap of his was going to end. Finally we then did go outs and jumps both bar and high the way they are to be done in a trial . An hour or so later my instructor asked if I would like a utility run thru which I took her up on and guess who did a fabulous job which would easily have scored a 198-199. He worked clean and it was in a different ring smooth fast pickups good returns correct gloves and articles gotten and a perfect heeling and signal exercise. We are showing on Sun.and I sure hope it carries over but doing everything short of picking up his tail and kissing his butt has been done and going the " nice " way just didn't get the job done but losing my patience and temper worked which I don't like doing . We have one more time to practice indoors and possibly one outdoors weather dependent. His open work very nice today great drops and f+ f only missed one front.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

good luck at your trial, NuggetsDad!


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Sunrise said:


> Feeling the need to share  genetics have not been studied yet so this is still in the early planning stages, but I was asked by a highly respected small breeder in my area about my Faelan. She personally knows Faelan, in the field, in obedience and a little of his agility work. The girl in consideration is so stunningly gorgeous she almost takes your breath away. Oh, I do hope the genetics look good (she is also clear on the PRA and ICH front). Stunning in a beautifully balanced, not overly coated way so physically she and Faelan share much in the looks department, and as a young girl (3) she already has nice obedience work.


That's exciting as I tell myself..."don't even think about it"....No puppies, and NO Puppy fever....


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

http://i1158.photobucket.com/albums...2-BB43-4D60-8F5F-60577D9CB087_zpsuqcq31js.jpg


Got the boys to sit long enough to get a picture before going to the groomers this morning. Progress this morning Hombre FINALLY went down with only a VERBAL order up till now it has taken both a signal and a verbal. Little thing but encouraging with my " challenge " puppy.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we worked weave poles. I used the channel poles and closed the right side about an inch, so still wide open.


Brady working driving to the remote treat machine with my varying motion, sides and/or speed. He did well.

Faelan worked entries and driving down the line regardless of what I was doing.. he also did very well. A few mistakes but that's a good thing.

Towhee, I need to back chain channels for her. Or perhaps just use straight poles and/or 2x2 poles which she just totally rocks. Channels may not be a good choice for her.

Aedan back chaining 2, 4 and 6 poles on my left with my treating at each pole where he comes in to me. He was going out the off pole by himself to come back in for his treat. Good boy


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Good training and class for agility last night. Rusty does very well, but after we are done with a course...he wants to go run and play with the other dogs. I need to work on this with him. It's like Rusty forgot all his training, and won't even listen to me. 

Besides that, Rusty did the dog walk for the first time last night. Rusty did ok, but he stops in the middle of the dog walk, and a bit scared and takes a while to finish it. I'm sure he will be much better after a while tho.

I just need to get Rusty to stop his lack of focus, and not listening that well to me.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I was going to give the dogs the morning off but it is a stunningly beautiful day! So I hung out a load of wash which acted as a distraction and 

*Faelan:* Heeling with signals - beautifully done. Followed by 3 broad jumps - 1st with food toss straight out, 2nd with food 'luring' from landing position (which involves me in motion forward as he is over the boards - another distraction) and feeding at front, and the 3rd a straight formal broad jump.

*Towhee:* Heeling followed by a few drops and a sit & down signal. Broad Jumps the same as Faelan - she also did well although the movement on my part caught her by surprise and her rear foot came down early - part of the reason I use that as a proof 

*Brady:* Small bursts of heeling with left spins and pop ups - nice! Followed by broad jumps as above which he also did very well.

*Aedan:* left and right spins with some name games - he is a quick, quick learner LOL

An instructor I have trained with is back from Florida and I am setting up a few privates with her for
> Brady to help with his confidence
> Aedan to help with things like restrained recalls and other things which require a trusted person to hold him etc. I hope to set up sessions with a few other people as well

Nice sessions!


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Friday night we had our first class in a new obedience class, with a new instructor. Her philosophy seems to be one of positivity, toys, no treats and no prong collar. No problem with that. But it was a little strange because some of the things she said had shades of Cesar Milan, calm and assertive, plenty of exercise for the dog, and she even mentioned getting a back pack for the dog to wear him out. On the whole, a good session, with good suggestions. Then Tuesday night we had our first class in our Rally class, different instructor, she had good ideas too, but with toys and treat training. Gonna be interesting to see how I am able to meld the two methods of training for Tugg. And then last night, Tugg's first night of Nosework training with my husband as his handler. I was very proud of my boy. The instructor I think wasn't sure if he would be able to play with the big dogs in this class, she asked me if he had any training and was on odor. I assured her he was on odor, and darn if he didn't find all the hides, and my husband did a good job too. Tugg has a cute alert signal, he sits when he finds the hide, which the instructor found very cute. So all in all, a good start to our new classes. And I have even practiced daily for each sport.

ETA: This mornings training, first C-Wags Scent work is becoming popular here with more opportunities to get in trials, they have cyprus as one of their scents so
ordered some cyprus oil. Then went and did a combination interior/vehicle search in the garage with four hides, with a combination of Birch, Anise and Clove, both dogs nailed their finds within 45 seconds. Then took Tugg out for a little Rally/Obedience work in the driveway. Worked on his leave it, at rally class instructor put out toys instead of cones for the serpentine, difficult for a toy obsessed dog. I brought out his favorite tug toy, of course a dog named Tugg loves the tug game, he learned very quickly if I tossed a toy, said leave it, and he did, he got the wonderful reward of playing the tug game. Then did some heeling, with about turns, 360's, and pivots. And practiced his Rally come front, he is a quick learner. Still impulsive at times, but we will get there.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Most of our classes are finished now until the fall. 

We are half way through our Bridging the Gap course through FSDA. With the warmer temperatures, we've been taking our training outside and save inside training for the weekend where we can work on the equipment. We've been focusing more on engagement and reducing motivators with extended periods of work. Lexx loves his food so wasn't sure how this was going to work but he has done remarkably well!! When we first started, acclimation to engagement (in a novel environment) would take a while, but now he's engaging almost immediately and is wanting to go right into work. He can still get distracted but he is returning to focus much quicker. I'm very pleased with his progress!!!!

He's doing very well in all exercises from novice to utility. His signals are still a work in progress. He knows how to execute them but our distance (in some cases) causes us grief. When training at the building he hesitates (especially on the down....he sits). Outside he seems to be fine. For example...after he is done pottying in the morning, he runs to the door to be let in. I stand back (maybe 30 feet) and give him the sit and down signal and he nails it every time. Go figure!!

We signed up again for tracking classes even though he's already completed all levels. We do it just for fun. Last week was our first class and he completed a 2 km track in a residential area. He got confused at one area but figured it out and completed it successfully. 

We have our tracking seminar coming up in June in Alberta. 

At the end of this month is our retrieving seminar.

Off topic....I found out the other day that the breeding between Lexx's dad and the pretty Doc-Mar girl resulted in only 1 puppy according to the ultrasound. Kind of relieved because I was really wanting a puppy from that breeding but don't have to worry about it now. The breeder said she would probably do a repeat breeding down the road so maybe I'll be ready for another puppy by then.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

It took three separate sessions today to get Nugget to do two good go outs and then take the jump. The first session we did all utility exercises with the DJ being last first go out good and he took the bar on my order second go out good and he refuses the HJ. Reset for DJ again good go outs and second refusal on the first order to jump. Quit !! After 20-30 minutes brought him out again and just had him sit in front of stanchion no go outs thought I'd try the HJ first this time , no go again. Waited for a couple hours set him up for a go out which again was good sent him over the bar which he took then his second go out was not straight but arched to the right unusual for Nugget but he straightened out and came back to the stanchion on his own and this would have had points off but taking the jump was where it was at right now and THIS time we had success two go outs two separate jumps all done on the FIRST order. Going to SCKC later and I'll only work Nugget on open exercises and try to get the pup to take a broadjump board and practice cleaning up some of his skills which aren't many but some of this is my fault neglecting him trying to get Nugget his UDX title but it time for Hombre to get a little more attention.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

To fulfill my requirement for volunteer hours at PCOTC, I did some stewarding at their agility trial today. It afforded a good opportunity to see a variety of competitors. Wow those border collies, when they're good, they're very good. Saw a couple of Goldens that were looking good. Would have liked to take Gracie for exposure to the trial environment but she's been in season and it was quite hot and sunny.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Had a good private today.... spent a good 30-40 minutes upfront talking through what I experienced at the last trial etc... 

Part of what the no-sits came down to is me doing something klutzy on my halts. I'm giving different signals each time + something I'm doing is sometimes pulling him crooked. It may be that when I actually went into the ring, I suddenly was not doing all of the extra stuff and Bertie was caught standing instead of sitting on those halts. 

So I need to do sit drills to adjust both my body language + get him cleaned up. 

Other than that - was really happy with all the jumps, retrieves, go-outs, and directed jumping even.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Last night training for both boys went well. Nugget only was worked in the open exercises and he worked clean in all exercises with only a front or two just a fudge off. We did the ROF 3x and twice the dumbbell landed on its end but Nuggets first pickup this way was super just turning his head and picking it up clean the second was nice also but it fell as his nose touched it but he picked it up also without any sliding or mouthing to get control of it. Hombre did some heeling which is coming along well especially the auto sits and his fig8 was very nice. Three recalls on the flexi not bad but fronts are still a work in progress. ROF 3x he really likes this and he was fast going and coming in and one front was straight, we also did 3 baited go outs which I got him to sit on my order 2 x not exactly turning around facing me but improving and he also did the SFE very solid with me going over him . Lastly after a few run bys then calling him over 1 board of the broadjump he successfully jumped it 3 x the beginning of open jumps has started but this I must take time with because of growth plates far from being closed yet. 

This morning Nugget did 2 lovely go outs and DRUM ROLL PLEASE took each jump on the first order YES!!! We quit with a jackpot and tons of praise.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Faelan just won his Utility B class  multiple distractions with green lush dewey grass, the black flies distracted some awesome dogs ... Not bad for his 1st time in Utility B, first trial in many months and we don't yet have grass around my home


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Sharon just AWESOME!!!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Congrats to Faelan! Being a Papa suits him


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Good work Faelan!


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> Faelan just won his Utility B class  multiple distractions with green lush dewey grass, the black flies distracted some awesome dogs ... Not bad for his 1st time in Utility B, first trial in many months and we don't yet have grass around my home


Congratulations to you and Faelan!!!:woot2:


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Kerrie Ann and I had a great agility class last night! Ran everything pretty well, and I keep making mistakes tho haha Agility is a challenge, and I hope one day to be trial ready with my dogs.

It will take time, but it's a lot of fun in the meantime


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Faelan ended up winning both Utility B and Open B  For High Combined. He missed HIT by a point but what a beautiful job he did - a few oopsies but he did not once go directly to heel  

There were wooden stakes with orange surveyors tape about every 10 feet - not in alignment with the gating - oops -- not many dogs (including Faelan to the tune of 5 1/2 points between the 2 Go Outs ) managed straight go outs. He snatched a few random sniffs on finishes. A few fronts were off, he had a bump on a left turn etc. 

But!! he did really nicely overall  Even the ROF where we set up about 5 feet to the right of the high jump to avoid a fouled area of the ring -- straight out & back.

Beautiful energy, happy tail and his smile never stopped and he looked like there was nowhere in the world he'd rather be. 

A picture that I posted in his Faelan's UDX adventure thread ...


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

*Congrats Recap for April*

Since early April, I've been so busy going to obedience trials, chairing an obedience trial, and catching up on weekends when I didn’t have an obedience trial, that I hadn’t checked this list in a month. I finally had time to check in. I’ve spent many enjoyable breaks at work the past couple of days reading the April and May training notes. 

Belated congratulations to:

Nugget, for his 4th and 5th UDX legs. Halfway there!
Faelan, for his Utility B win. OTCH points!
“Lucky Penny” (Lauren and Luna?) for a second Q in Open A with a score in the 190s. Awesome!
Rusty, who passed his ORT
Mighty, for 2 high Novice scores
Bella, for a 199 from Novice A and a tie for HIT. From Novice A!!
Bertie, for his first BN leg

All Goldens demonstrating why Goldens are the number 1 obedience trial breed.
Hope I didn’t miss anyone.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Congrats Sharon and Faelan !!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

LOL - he may have thought his reward would match his last reward for doing well in Utility :bowl::bowl::bowl:



Loisiana said:


> Congrats to Faelan! Being a Papa suits him


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Haven't been on here much (decompressing after finishing Novice), so I just saw this. congrats to Sharon and Faelan! That's awesome!


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Awesome news Sharon! Huge congrats to you and Faelan!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Go Faelan!! =)

I'm glad I took Penny on a two mile walk early in the morning since it got up to 88 degrees today. I took her on another fifteen minute walk before the Rally trial since she was feeling a little frisky. I gave Penny plenty of access to water at the trial since my club building doesn't have air conditioning. I'm really glad I had a final that prevented me from entering the trial that started at noon. Going at 5 pm was hot enough! 

Penny was very calm at the trial (compared to her usual self). She had a couple hours to chill and try to get people to pet her and I think that helped her relax. She did softly growl at two dogs, so that is a little concerning. Thankfully, a trainer is finally coming to work with her next week. She did great other than that. 

I hooked Penny to the wall and had a classmate from Rally feed her hotdogs. I was really worried the judge would ask me to leave if she barked, and I was very sure she would bark. She didn't bark even ONCE! I'm so proud of her. It was worth it to enter the trial just to have her finally be calm and not bark when I left her.

Our time to go came up really fast once we got to the Novice classes. I wasn't very prepared, so I slipped Penny a couple hot dog chunks and went. Five or six times she wanted to go see people and the leash went tight before I got her back. But she had really good focus the rest of the time! Her circles were perfect and she nailed the left finish. I thought she might lose focus at the finish. The only mistake I made was that I forgot to go slow after a sign because I was getting her attention back.

Penny knew her job was done when we finished the course and I let her tug on the leash outside to get the crazies out. 

Penny got a 74 and third place out of four dogs. =) I didn't think we would qualify, but we did it! 

It was really great to have my club members' support at my first trial and to be able to take Penny somewhere familiar for her first time.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations  

Today was hot for sure -- I think around 90 in my area.



Eclipse said:


> Go Faelan!! =)
> 
> I'm glad I took Penny on a two mile walk early in the morning since it got up to 88 degrees today. I took her on another fifteen minute walk before the Rally trial since she was feeling a little frisky. I gave Penny plenty of access to water at the trial since my club building doesn't have air conditioning. I'm really glad I had a final that prevented me from entering the trial that started at noon. Going at 5 pm was hot enough!
> 
> ...


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Just got home from Tugg's class. It's supposed to be a group class, but because the instructor has just started at our club, we are the only one in the class, so it is basically a private one hour lesson. I am exhausted but exhilarated. First few minutes were crazy, Tugg had one of his "moments" and ran out of the ring to greet the instructors husband. I thought, here we go, but after a couple minutes of ignoring his idiocy, got him back under control, did a couple corrections and from then on, he was terrific. We did some basic heeling, on and off leash, doodling, recalls, formal and fun. I got some good tips to keep his attention and keep it fun, can't wait to try them out. Then she asked if we had done any open work. So on to drops on recall, retrieve on flat and broad jump. By this time some of his high octane energy had worn down and he did beautiful work. First drop he went down so fast he actually slid. I am a very happy lady tonight and Tugg is a very tired out dog.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

Good job, Penny! She sure is a cute girlie.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

*Alder's April shows*

The April shows resulted in a few ribbons. Alder, the poodle boy, finished his RAE. On his ninth and tenth legs, he had 3 first places and 1 second place and a couple of ceramic plates for the 1st places:











I had also entered a trial for his 11th leg, in case I flubbed the ninth or tenth leg. (I say “I” because Alder always passes unless I miss a sign or something else stupid.) On his eleventh leg, the club was giving Rally High Combined, which he won, along with a gigantic ribbon.

I’m more or less finished with Rally with Alder, except for shows without the Pre-classes. It’s such a hassle showing in Rally with one dog and Obedience with another. For an RAE run, you have to go in the ring 6 times (2 walk-through, 2 runs, 2 awards). I sure wish that, for RAE, they’d just require 1 run, either more difficult than the RE runs or maybe require a 90+ score or something. It’s silly to go in after a qualifying RE score and do a simpler RA run. Some judges hardly bother to change the signs. So, although I swore I’d never show Alder in Utility again, he’s entered in Pre-Open and Pre-Utility in a couple of weeks. He’s fun to show, now that the pressure’s off. for a Utility Q. I don’t really care if he ever gets a Pre-Utility Q. He loves going to shows and everyone comments on happy and attentive he usually is in the ring. He’s an uncoordinated dufus, but he’s a happy, uncoordinated dufus.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

*Maple's April Shows*

And, now, the BIG news for the April shows. After 21 NQs in Utility A (19 last year and 2 in the first 2 shows this year), Maple got 2 Q’s in a row. Going for her 3rd Q, she turned on the sit on DJ and headed for the jumps on both go-outs. I’m glad to be entering Utility B from now on; she’s too familiar with the Ut A exercise order and getting in too much of a hurry for the jackpot afterward.










The (sort of) downside was that her Utility A scores were 190.5 and 187.5. Okay, except that my ultimate goal is an OTCH. Not good enough to get us in the blue very often in the B classes. Maple is a fabulous dog at home, but she gets so stressed about traveling and shows, she is rarely anywhere close to her potential in real trials. I’m running out of ideas to battle the problem. 

There are rare show days when she’s really ON and she could easily beat almost any dog in our area, but those days are super-rare and when she’s in one of those manic happy moods, she’s more likely to make a mistake. So incredibly frustrating.

I’m planning to make a run for OTCH points (assuming we get our last Utility Q soon) through spring of next year and then reassess where we are. I may be looking for a puppy next summer, instead of waiting until 2017 or 2018.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Very disappointing practice this morning as I just wanted to do do 2 go outs and the jumps 1 each BUT Nugget refused to " go out " again on the first send so we tried once more same result so I got tough baiting the stanchion and this time using the e collar after several tries he FINALLY GOT THE MESSAGE AND WENT OUT . After a couple successful go outs I put together the go outs and the jumps which now he flew over the jumps. He knew I was serious today but why do I have to go to extreme measures to get this exercise done . There isn't anything physically wrong with him and he gets lots of praise and treats for doing as I ask of him. He has been doing go outs for a very very long time what goes on in his head . I have zero confidence going to the trial tomorrow of him earning another UDX leg. It's seems every few months something breaks articles gloves directed jumping after he has been doing it well for awhile. This drives me nuts and it's getting to be a short trip.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Woohoo on the Q's !! Congratulations 

About the scores -- as she relaxes in the ring her scores may well improve! 
But 2 Q's in a row is very, very nice


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Good luck at your trial NuggetsDad.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning I set up a few sections of gating with white cones offset to the center for a little go out practice. The reward was some sort of pre-packaged mac 'n cheese with a small clear acrylic target.

*Faelan: *Full distance Marks followed by Go Outs. First to the target with a release and then with a Sit followed by a release. He did very very well.

*Brady:* Full distance Marks followed by Go Outs fully to the target with a release as he arrived, followed by a Sit. Nice!

*Towhee:* Working the mark with my little Towhee -- she tends to mark & arc to the left so we worked 10 feet, 15 feet and then 20 feet marks & sends.

*Aedan:* Beginning of Impulse Control with the mac 'n cheese being put on the target, with collar/chest restraint followed by explosive release to the target (arm distance away). Followed by some eat the mac 'n cheese but the target really doesn;t belong in your mouth little one.

*Faelan*: went to a rally class so we could work with other dogs and heeling skill building as well as some fronts and finishes. He did well although he was somewhat distracted by a cute little golden girlie LOL There was a singing husky there as well and he paid absolutely no mind to him.

*Towhee:* went to an obedience class where we worked heeling, leaving our dogs, fronts, finishes, recalls where I dropped her the 1st time and did a strainght recall the 2nd time, broad jumps, ROF, ROHJ and a 1 minute OOS Down followed by a 3 minute OOS Sit. She stuck on the 1st ROHJ but it was a thoughtful 'stick' since I purposely threw it off the the right - she did go for it and returned over the jump really nicely - the 2nd time she went with no hesitation. She broke her sit - twice! Not a biggee really since she has to make these mistakes to learn what does not work. Other than those 2 mistakes (or 3 depending on how you count the double break), she did a really, really nice job. Here heeling, fronts and finishes were wonderful 

I may go out a bit later and work some more.

ETA: I closed the weave poles an inch or so on the left side and ran all 4 dogs through  Working entries and head down focus using a Treat n Train with the older dogs. With Aedan its still about the base under his feet and the poles by his sides - still plenty of room for him to run straight through and he is starting to 'get' the remote treater 

Later I set Faelan, Towhee and Brady against the gating and they got to do a 3 minute OOS Sit  They did well!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

It's always something , I didn't expect to qualify in utility today but we did with a very poor score of 185 but his go outs were decent and he obviously took both jumps. In light of what he has been doing and that yesterday I got tough with him I'm pretty pleased with him today because the truth is I screwed up with my handling and lost several points with my unconsciously moving my shoulders working the fronts ( which I've been told of before ) earning handler errors. Nugget was sloppy in his heeling in both class's we are a team so WE weren't good today. In open he started with poor heeling ( I thought slow in almost everything ) because I think he was afraid of making a mistake and he blew the DOR which was a NQ but I didn't give a very good signal either so no UDX leg but he did get thru utility and I will have to let him regain confidence. The utility judge suggested I have someone video tape me so I can see the error of my ways which sounds like a good idea to me. One very good thing today one of my fellow club members who shows a Lab and has NQ In over 20 something trials trying to get the third leg I offered a suggestion of not looking at his dog when returning from the out of sight long sit as I think the dog was reading his face and so today he didn't look at her returning and he now has his CDX it worked. This dog always went down with just seconds to go but today it didn't see Jim scowling and just sat there till it was "exercise finished."


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congrats on the Q


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Warning --- long 

I brought the younger dogs to a trainer that I used to train with all the time, but she is now a snow bird and a serious agility competitor when up north. But, her MACH 2 boy is semi retired and she has 2 youngsters so she is available for sessions again.

The goals for the session were all met and exceeded expectations !

We started outside with Aedan and Brady just meeting and greeting, Aedan had absolutely no hesitation (as expected). Brady was aloof but not stressed. So as we chatted he approached Cheryl on his terms and she calmly greeted him and then started loving on him once he relaxed into her.

We then went inside and put Brady in my Rowdy's old crate while we 'worked' Aedan. Inside being a barn with a matted wooden floor and agility equipment around the perimeter.

We started with tug, then restrained recalls, Get-It, Get-It, Get-It Come games, some retrieving, some wobble board work and having Cheryl love on him and get her hands all over him; ears, tail, paws, tummy etc Toys and leash were scattered around the floor as he 'worked' in a new environment with a new person there. He did very very well!

Then Aedan went into the crate and Brady came out. We played some Get-It, Get-It, Get-It Come games, some tennis ball tosses, a few MSFE with me examining him and then Aedan had to go outside. When I came back inside Brady had retreated to the crate (his safe zone) since Cheryl had been moving about ... but once I came back in and was chatting with Cheryl Brady emerged and came on over for his attention from Cheryl again  I know I can train him to focus exclusively on me for the Stands, but honestly that is not good enough for me - I want to rebuild Brady's confidence back to where he is comfortable and secure in his surroundings and around all types of people. 

We then took an off lead walk in her back woods; feeding the dogs whenever they checked in with us.

Overall, it was a perfect session for what we set out to do -- yes, Brady did seek a safe zone but he approached Cheryl several times on his own. She agreed this is a good approach since I still do not know what scared him so at that trial, but he is willing to approach strangers in his own time, in his own way. But he does need a safe zone - for now at least.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@Sharon - compared to my posts (LOL) - that's not long at all.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Tonight I moved Phoenix up to 20" high and bar jumps, and full length broad jump (44"). That's only for outside jumping on soft ground, indoors he's jumping (depending on the flooring) 12-16". And I'm not having him turn on the broad jump yet. It's been a long time since I had a 22" dog, I forgot just how much space is between those boards on the broad jump!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning is cooler but a bit muggy so no hike. We worked some obedience though.

*Faelan:* in the side yard with the rope partial ring we worked heeling, signals, fronts, a straight recall followed by a DOR - he did well  Then to the backyard with ring gating to practice some Go Outs which he nailed! I walked in to reward the Go Outs.

*Towhee:* in the side yard (roped) we practiced some heeling - she forged on the first about turn so reset, repeat. She then did great  We worked drop signals, sit signals and recall signals with a food toss between my leg, my walking in to reward her beautiful drop & sits! Her stand was really nice as well. Then we worked the DOR (once) with the set up, 1st portion and drop which she nailed! Over to the back yard for some marking and Go Out practice which showed a LOT of improvement!

*Brady:* in the side yard we practiced short burts (from 3 to 8 steps) of heeling and he did great!! Then on to signals with my walking in to reward - he really did a nice job here too!! A few recalls (one front was slightly far - his feet were perhaps 3 inches from my feet) and into the back yard for mark & Go Out practice. Again very nice. He then had a (all by himself to help confidence building) OOS 1.5 minute sit stay.

*Aedan:* in the roped area we practiced name game, left and right spins and a few sits where I started taking one step forward - he's cute!! Then to the backyard where we practiced baby marks and a few stands to downs. We finished with Get-It, Get-It, Get-It, come games


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Rusty and Kerrie Ann had a great Nose Work class yesterday, and it's the end of that session too. In three weeks we start a new one, and I love the progress they are making.

I'm going to try and enter my pups into a trial in Sept. I really hope for the best.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

It rained most of yesterday, I did get a little bit of training in. Rained today, but it seems to have stopped so went out and did some training with Tugg. Got the jumps out, they are pretty beat up, I think I might have to invest in some new ones. Did mostly open work, threw in a couple rally exercises. Tugg did good. He temporarily forgot what drop on recall meant, after a couple reminders he seemed to get his brain back. I am very pleased with his retrieve on flat, goes out fast, picks up clean and sometimes even manages to give a pretty good front. Good job, Tuggy.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I found the perfect place to practice Rally with Penny. I took Penny on a hiking trail and followed an offshoot to where some baseball fields are. I hit the jackpot! There was one baseball game, two soccer games, and two soccer practices going on right next to each other. I will stop by every day this week to see if it is in use any day other than Monday. I tried to find baseball games to bring Penny to last year but I could never find any. Looks like I got lucky this year.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Had a conflict-y kind of class. Low attendance probably because of storms and or whatever... so we did get to work on some other things outside of the norm for this class. 

So I got to work on directed jumping before class.... really got frustrated because of an overzealous person (not the instructor) jumping in and giving me kinda mixed messages. She wanted me to just work on sending the dog out to the go-out spot and got hyper when I wanted a sit too. Told me to work on the pieces separately. And then after establishing that, started jumping in to teach me how to get the sits on command. And tried handling Bertie herself - and made him pee. *pulls hair out*

Bertie knows his go-outs. What I'm working on is getting away from showing him where to go and having him go without the need to treat him every step of the way. His sits are actually pretty good generally. 

Directed jumping after I moved on to practicing that part was much better. He's getting the idea to take the jumps when set up a certain way. Which is what I was hoping I'd start to see. 

We did practice gloves and gosh darn it - after I explained how I have problems getting Bertie to actually retrieve and carry gloves without dropping them or picking at the fingertips of them, we got an incredibly enthusiastic display of retrieving from him. He was happy and just retrieving the gloves like he was born to retrieve gloves (lol). The instructor said something to the effect that with a lot of these retrievers like him - they don't need too much fuss with training the retrieve portions because they were born to do it, etc. And right to her telling me not to reward the retrieves because with retrievers like him the retrieve itself is a reward. LOL. I don't think Bertie was born to retrieve and I think I'd see a difference if I drop rewards completely from retrieving stuff, but he showed off in class at least. 

Heeling was terrible. I think his brain was fried and he was warm. I pulled out early - should have pulled out even earlier though. 

Figure 8 - after he rested quite a bit - was great. He maneuvering himself well on the circles (tucking his rear in, etc). 

Recalls - were great.

Retrieves - crooked fronts. He's fronting to my right pocket again. Which means more practice fronts this week.

Jumps were solid. Broad jump with the exception of the measuring stick blocking the right side of the jump to prevent him from cutting, was basically formal quality. High jump, instructor got after me again to stop rewarding every good jump. 

I do agree I want to fade the treats as much as possible. Though more like in matches as opposed to class. Class is so hard on the dogs since they are working for 1.5 hours - you have to work harder to motivate them and you have to use some treats....


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning is very muggy and already in the 70's; we have the remnants of a tropical storm moving up the coast so a low energy training morning.

I used the show sets of scent articles and Towhee & Brady used theirs for the first time outside in the muggy air and damp grass - Faelan also worked but he is used to his scent articles. They did well.

Their fronts need work but that is a separate issue for different sessions. Here is a video of Ms Towhee (excuse my attire - it really is miserable outside, humidity is 93%). Towhee had an issue with WAIT this morning LOL

I do not think I like the fit of her articles. I will try her other set which is smaller and has extras to see which fit better. She normally does not mouth or reposition but in reviewing this video these articles look too large for her.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

A very strong storm came at club last night and the humidity was way up causing the floor ( concrete ) to sweat and the bldg roof leaked so no jumping of my dog was done. Nugget did his utility and open exercises but he really didn't work as well as he can. After this weekends trial I'm going to give him a week or so off and just work with Hombre this may benefit both. My class is coming along well but weather kept a few home. Sarge the bulldog in particular is well on his way to being ready to go for his CD. Hombre ' s heeling about the same and his ROF enthusiastic although pickups he sometimes overruns the dumbbell. Recalls he comes but he is having a tough time catching on to fronting. Baited go outs full ring distance getting better but the sits after eating the cheese are hit and miss . We also started to learn to " back up " which his first lesson doing this went well. This morning we are going to SCKC and try to get Nugget better prepared for the weekend but mostly try to get my act together and eliminate the HANDLER ERRORS that are very costly as last weekends trial proved.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

The trainer came to work with Penny at my home today. I loved having her work with my dog and I think she did an awesome job just with one session. The words used to describe Penny were "rude," "testy," "smart," and "service dog quality." 

The trainer worked with her on her own in the neighborhood to get a feel for her first and then showed us what to do. We let a twenty foot leash trail on the ground and stepped on it if she got farther away than we wanted. The jumping issue was worked on, which I'm really happy about. We also worked on distance stays and a couple other things before throwing the ball for Penny at the end. Penny never took off even though the leash was on the ground. She stayed in the yard perfectly too! I haven't been able to let her out in the yard without a leash, but I think I can train Penny to stay in the yard with this trainer.

This trainer uses a lot of praise for good behavior (clapping, high-pitched voice, petting). Penny did so well with her today and I can't wait to work with the trainer again. I'm so glad I didn't go with my agility instructor now.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

This morning in the training bldg.all by ourselves with zero distractions Nugget and Hombre did quite nicely. With Nugget we started with the DR which this exercise was the only real mistake Nugget did not going on my order of " take it " the first time because he wasn't paying attention but it was too early to get upset and we reset and did each glove in the 1-2-3 order all successful with 2 of 3 turns in place straight. Next came signals and the heeling for a change was brisk and right with me and the signals well done. Then bug a boo time but not today he was sent twice to the wall and twice to the gates all four go outs very nice brisk straight and he sat on order . So much better than what has been then each jump was also taken on the first " over ". Is it possible Saturday's session with the e-collar fixed this exercise ? MSFE as usual perfect. Finally articles done correctly and with a little help f+ f good. All of the utility was repeated a second time and it too was well done. Next it was the open ring and he did a stellar job. The only thing in open Nugget didn't do were the s+ d but the pup took his place later with 14 other dogs but on a flexi and my staying in the ring with him but soon I'm going to go out of sight as it's the next step and he is getting very solid with his sit and down stays.Hombres turn consisted of heeling which wasn't perfect but not shabby either and the fig8 done twice very nice no mistakes at all.recalls on a flexi pretty good and with help his fronts are definatly getting better . SFE the first time of three stands he moved 2 feet the next 2 stands solid as good as one can be done. ROF 3x on flexi good fast going with 2 of 3 good pickups and his returns good with his TRYING to sit straight but his holding the dumbbell till I say out still a little to be desired and a work in progress. His learning " BACK " showing improvement as long as a treat is accompanying his scooting back a couple feet. Finally on the flexi we did the broadjump with 2 boards just calling him over to me and without hesitation or trying to go around it the pup flew over it . It's not like he is really jumping he is now bigger than Nugget and he can literally walk over 2 boards but he is charging them and clearing easily. I'm pretty sure he will be required to jump 4 boards eventually but for now I'm not pushing this jumping stuff or the turn to the handler but maybe next week I will introduce the HJ and maybe even the bar but we will see how it goes. Training both boys today went well even Mr. Inconsistent worked well and it got him a lot of praise and Dingo treats and his cheese in the can. Good day tomorrow both boys get a day off.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

LOL. I received my appointment times for Brady's hips and elbows XRays this Sunday. Sedation at 8:15 with XRays at 8:30. The clinic is probably an hour and a half from home. Looks like an early day again.....and no training for Brady all day most likely.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Knock on wood and fingers crossed, Sharon.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Not really training related but I just wanted to wish my baby boy Lexx a very happy 3rd birthday today!!!! Seems like yesterday we were making the 8 hour trek home with him from the breeder.

He is so much fun and I love working with him!!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Laurie said:


> Not really training related but I just wanted to wish my baby boy Lexx a very happy 3rd birthday today!!!! Seems like yesterday we were making the 8 hour trek home with him from the breeder.
> 
> He is so much fun and I love working with him!!!


Happy birthday Lexx


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Happy Birthday Lexx! =)

I let Penny explore the yard this morning with the twenty foot leash trailing. She only got near the edges three times and moved away when I stepped on the leash. She saw two birds, was interested in them, and chose not to chase them. I threw the ball for her afterwards and she was happy.

I'm looking at other places for agility now since I feel uncomfortable with my current instructor. The location that is known for having good agility classes is asking $90 for a three week class...way too pricey. At least I have plenty of time to find a new place.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Happy Birthday, Lexx!

Last night Rusty and I had a great agility class! He has mastered the dog walk (took a while for Rusty to relax on it), and we were doing front turns and running good jumps. It's a challenge, but a lot of fun. 

I wonder if we will ever be ready for trials one day haha but I'll keep training with Rusty, and we should get there in the future


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Happy Birthday Day Lexx and many more!!!


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

nice day, so decided to work in the garden. now my back hurts, bad, so no training today. Hopefully tomorrow we will be back to work.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

feel better



my4goldens said:


> nice day, so decided to work in the garden. now my back hurts, bad, so no training today. Hopefully tomorrow we will be back to work.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Today we worked on random sits while Phoenix ran around the backyard, making sure he gets that butt on the ground quickly.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

After work and before feeding the dogs we worked a bit outside - it is a stunning day 
I set the Directed Jumping Jumps about 60 feet apart to 'test' understanding and used Whipped Creme in a can for the Go Out Spot
*
Faelan:* Go Outs very nice, fast, straight, accurate. Square sits. Beautiful Directed jumping and all right fronts - probably not scorable but I am trying to get him closer. 

*Brady:* Go Outs very nice! fast and straight. The sits were slightly angled but prompt on cue. His Directed Jumps were very nice and I tossed cheese between my legs rather than front him.

*Towhee:* her Go Outs were to about 3 feet from the stanchion - she is auto stopping so we need to work on that. Her Directed Jumps were very nice and she too had food tosses rather than fronts.

*Towhee:* Heeling and Figure 8 - she was amped up and cute! She forged on the 1st halt, reset and she did well. She also forged on her about turns (minor) but not bad for a hungry girlie on a crisp day!

*Faelan:* Heeling and Figure 8 were pretty darn nice! A minor forge or 2 but nice!

*Brady:* I can barely fault him on his heeling other than a set up that had to be reset and 1 slightly crabbed sit on a halt.

*Aedan:* ha, he is funny when he is hungry and has heard the other dogs being worked - a bit mouthy too! We worked spins to the left and right, sits, downs, Name Game and shadow handling with me jogging in circles with him on the outside - first on my left and then on my right. We are increasing the distance from me for the sits and downs - still close but perhaps 3 feet away.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Hombre this morning did the " sit" with a hand signal then the " down " and finally the " come " none were accompanied with the verbal order . Over the next few weeks the distance will be increased and the frequency just so he doesn't get bored with the novice exercises , he really did these signals fairly well . We also went out in the yard and did 3 jumps over 2 boards of the broadjump with about 6-8 inches separating them and my holding bait in my hand in front of them calling him over them. He did NOT try to go around just a nice straight jump each time right for the bait in my hand. Finally for this morning I introduced the BAR JUMP at 12 inches this took a little more coaxing but when he got the idea of what I wanted him to do he quit running around it but came over it for which he was promptly praised and rewarded . This afternoon both boys and I will go to SCKC and Nugget will get what will likely be his last workout before this Sunday's trial unless the weather prediction is wrong . I gave both boys the day off yesterday so I'll see if it helps Nugget having extra rest although I don't think training 5-6 days a week for 20-30 minutes each time is too much to ask of a dog especially when they are given top of the line food and treats , toys , vet care , an air conditioned and or heated place to live dependent on season and a trip to the groomer once a month which I know they LOVE going for and can sleep in the big bed if they so desire. ( NOT THAT THEY ARE SPOILED )


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

Had a vet visit with both dogs Monday for a check-up and lepto vax. All blood work, etc normal. Down-side: Maple has gained 3 pounds. She's a little under 20 inches tall and weighs 67.5 pounds. (She is stout and short-legged, and wider than most goldens, and built like a moderate lab, but she should really be in the low 60s.) Sigh. It is so hard to keep the weight off her. She is an expert at getting dog biscuits from George and I'm not much better at resisting those big brown eyes when it comes to treats. 

I gave George a stern limit of no more than one biscuit a day per dog when I'm at work, I'm bagging a certain amount of treats before each training session and not allowing myself to go over, and I'm cutting back on the breakfast and dinner dog food portions. I may have to ease up a bit. By last night, Maple was clearly very hungry. 

In training, I've been working on better attention during heeling and on rewards for staying with me and setting up promptly for the next exercise. On the Facebook OB list, someone suggested NOT giving obvious body cues on heeling to get the dog to pay more attention. I've been working on that, in a positive way: making abrupt halts and click/treat for the right position, abruptly changing position with a click/treat if she stays with me, etc. Generally trying to work faster. We have a trial this weekend and will be in both Ut and Open B both days. The first time she'll be in both classes the same day. We'll see how that goes.

No pre-classes at this show, so I entered Alder in Veterans on Saturday. Other than that, he's just along for the ride.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Went to class last night for the first time in 3 weeks. Considering we haven't trained a lot in the past couple weeks, I was very pleased. Probably nothing scorable (at least as far as I could tell) through 5-10 minutes of heeling and figure 8. Great job on broad jump. Nice skidding stop on DOR going her normal full speed. Skipped retrieves because I want to focus on DOR and ask questions that I had. Raining today, so we just did about 10 minutes of DOR and signals in the house. DOR is becoming one of her favorite things to do. I mix things up quite a bit to keep her guessing and paying attention. Have to start doing some Open run throughs soon.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

My dogs had the day off - I received some news that threw me quite a bit this morning (Towhee's sire died), then a horrible commute in both directions and then the adult dogs working my nerves.

So, no training tonight either or I may be the trainer I no longer want to be.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Sharon - sorry to see the news about Tank.  He must have lived a long and full life though. I can only imagine seeing the pictures and seeing how old he was! 

And totally hear you on the bad day - basically my whole week has been like that. I've been meaning to go out and train outside with Bertie every day since Monday - and one reason or other, it hasn't worked out. This whole week just zipped by like nothing! 

Tomorrow is going to be insane - I have a bunch of stuff already lining up and keeping me busy until the afternoon and then I have some pre-show grooming to do. And showing on Saturday... <= Which I DO plan on doing some obedience training there, but yeah. 

We have a fun match on Sunday - which I'm squeamy about because I ambitiously entered Bertie in open under somebody who is a judge and assisted by his wife who's known for a lot of seminars she did (does?) and watched by my private instructor. <= I was meaning to totally drill sits and DOR's all this week before that fun match just so I don't look too dumb! Nuts.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Sunrise said:


> Faelan ended up winning both Utility B and Open B  For High Combined. He missed HIT by a point but what a beautiful job he did - a few oopsies but he did not once go directly to heel
> 
> There were wooden stakes with orange surveyors tape about every 10 feet - not in alignment with the gating - oops -- not many dogs (including Faelan to the tune of 5 1/2 points between the 2 Go Outs ) managed straight go outs. He snatched a few random sniffs on finishes. A few fronts were off, he had a bump on a left turn etc.
> 
> ...


Big congratulations to you and Faelan!!!!


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Eclipse said:


> Penny knew her job was done when we finished the course and I let her tug on the leash outside to get the crazies out.
> 
> Penny got a 74 and third place out of four dogs. =) I didn't think we would qualify, but we did it!
> 
> It was really great to have my club members' support at my first trial and to be able to take Penny somewhere familiar for her first time.


Big congratulations to you and Penny!!


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Great job Alder!! Really great picture too !


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Good luck at the show & match 

I have a food run tomorrow followed by a vet appt with Aedan to get his final DHLPP shot and possibly rabies shot as well - so he probably will not be worked tomorrow.

Sunday Brady has hips and elbows bright and early so he probably will have Sunday off.

The dogs had this morning off because 1) Brady is not moving as beautifully as he normally does and 2) my day started with mixing the food all up (raw meat, pureed greens/veggies with yogurt and then ground flax seed) and having the oldest dog, who should way know better, FAELAN jump up and knock Aedan's bowl over while I was carrying it to the crate - it landed open side down (amazing how fast Aedan can chow down!! ) so I had an plush carpet runner that needed to be cleaned of nice green food with meat, yogurt & such ... grrrr .... this week can only get better, right?

I gave Brady some Metacam since he was moving normally for first outing but seemed stiff coming out of the woods so I am hopeful he only tweaked something.




Megora said:


> Sharon - sorry to see the news about Tank.  He must have lived a long and full life though. I can only imagine seeing the pictures and seeing how old he was!
> 
> And totally hear you on the bad day - basically my whole week has been like that. I've been meaning to go out and train outside with Bertie every day since Monday - and one reason or other, it hasn't worked out. This whole week just zipped by like nothing!
> 
> ...


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Looks like the weatherman is right RAIN last night rain later today and scattered showers over the weekend but training last night went exceptionally well with Nugget at least. He did utility very very well of course there was zero distractions and in a familiar place. Of late my biggest concerns have been go outs and taking the jumps mostly the bar but yesterday both go outs and jumps flawless with no hesitation or refusals. He was really trying to please and even the fronts he worked hard to get straight. Open was also well done now if only I don't make my DUMB handler errors Sunday. Hombre was in the 2 steps forward 3 backwards mood yesterday refusing the 12 inch HJ accompanied with bumping on fig8 almost non- existent fronts poor pickups on the dumbbell just being a puppy with zero regard to what I wanted. Fortunately he is a puppy even though he is now bigger than Nugget and there is lots of time to get his act together . Two things he did well though was a very well done SFE not a muscle moved when the instructor went over him and the 3 and 5 minute stays which he held ( much better than some much older dogs that were there ) . The s+d were done on a long line with me in the ring .


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Did an Open run through in the park, focusing on transitions. Other than a couple fronts slightly off, and maybe one finish....very pleased. Her heeling, figure 8 and DOR were perfect. Need to work on more fronts with the dumbbell in her mouth. At this point, she's very focused on not mouthing, which is great, but I need more attention to the front too. Not way off, but still 1/2 point off on at least 1/2 of her dumbbell fronts. To be fair, we haven't worked on it much.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Nairb. The name of the game in Open is FRONTS AND FINISH's those people who have the really good f+ f dogs are usually the better trainers and know the game. The vast majority of the dogs do the principal parts of each exercise but those nailing the f+ f are the ones that get the ribbons practice practice practice those f+f.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Aww, I had a whole big resonse Nairb but lost it.

Front, finishes and the fine nuances of heeling are very important if your goal is an OTCh. They are way less important if you want nice to good scores  only you can decide how much time and effort you want to/can put into these details.

I need to disagree with NuggetsDad a bit, in many cases other exhibitors simply do not have the time or inclination to persue that fine level of perfection and attention to detail.

I will use myself as an example. When I worked shorter hours with a shorter commute, had 1 dog I trained in obedience only, he routinely scored 197 level average. Now I work long & hard, commute long, have 4 dogs in multiple sports, take care of my home and just do not care enough about scores in that range. It is not that I'm not in the know, but rather that mid to low 190s make me happy now. Training my dogs and playing with my dogs makes me happy.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Nuggetsdad said:


> > Nairb. The name of the game in Open is FRONTS AND FINISH's those people who have the really good f+ f dogs are usually the better trainers and know the game. The vast majority of the dogs do the principal parts of each exercise but those nailing the f+ f are the ones that get the ribbons practice practice practice those f+f.


We do work on them a lot. Just not much with a dumbbell in her mouth yet. Thinking back, I think she only missed one front through Beg Nov, Pre-Nov and Nov. and maybe two finishes. I realize Open is a whole new ball game though, so we'll still need to improve. 

Sunrise, I hear ya. In my case, I only have one dog and participate in obedience only, so I can always find the time to work fronts and finishes, and Bella actually likes the drilling, because of FOOD.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

It stopped raining for a few hours today, so trained Tugg today. It is now turning hot and muggy, so didn't do a lot, but tonight is our Friday night class so will do more then in an air conditioned facility. He did well today. Good job, Tugg. As with my Tess and Raider, he has far more talent than I do as a trainer. And as with them, he could be an Otch dog with another handler. But he has me. I love to see the top handlers and dogs compete, they can take your breath away in their precision. But to be quite honest, I don't have the health, stamina or desire to put into training and trialing to that level. We will get to where we can get, and do what we can do, as long as it is fun for both of us. And as long as my back holds out.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

The trainer came to work with Penny for the third time this week. We worked on jogging without biting me, the leash, or growling, paying attention, voice control (Penny excels at this), and down stays. A lab charged at us from its yard (electric fence) and I saw Penny start to take off. I stepped on her leash so she would check herself and after my reflex response I saw that she wanted to go after a squirrel across the street instead of the dog. We went to Home Depot afterwards and worked on loose leash and focusing in the garden section. She was perfect for the whole training session except for the squirrel - though I'm impressed that she ignored the aggressive dog. I'm going to work on the things I've done with the trainer and in a few weeks have her come back to work on some other skills. My trainer feels very confident that Penny has the ability to become a therapy dog.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Class tonight was awesome. I am starting to really feel comfortable with this instructor and Tugg is really starting to show he is maturing into a real thinking dog. We did a novice run thru, she said we would have had maybe 4 or 5 points off for a little crowding and crabbing, hey, I'll take it. Then we moved onto open work, did retrieve over high, retrieve on flat and drops on recall. I was thrilled with his work, she is showing me how to train lots of tricks too to keep him motivated and to keep it fun. I love it. Can't wait for tomorrow so I can start practicing these tricks. When I got my first obedience dog I learned under instructors who taught the old methods, it is wonderful to have somebody who believes in keeping it fun. The best part about tonight was my wild child was not distracted at all by the instructors own dogs in crates in the corner of the open ring, and when the next person walked in with his dog, another golden, he never even gave the dog a glance. Good boy, Tuggy.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Today Faelan and Aedan joined me on my food run down to the coast. It was raining. So why do I mention it was raining? Well since I do not show in the rain, I usually do not train in the rain LOL

Guess who missed his down signal? It was not the short one!! Okay, my hood was up and I was wearing a big floppy rain coat, but he still has no excuse other than I haven't trained it!! Well, now I have ... We also worked heeling and MSFE.

A few hours after it stopped raining, I set up the broad jump and high jump.

*Faelan:* Heeling was very nice. DOR very nice. Broad Jump perfect! ROF he was a bit over enthusiastic and did not have a clean pick up. ROHJ - toss to the extreme right of the jump and other than a slightly crooked front, he was flawless  No finishes were practiced

*Brady:* Heeling very nice with one slight butt out halt. Broad Jump was perfect! ROF was very nice, front was slightly off center. ROHJ- uh oh!! Toss to the extreme left had an attempted go around on the send - reset was fine 

*Towhee:* Heeling was very nice! She sits so fast you can hear her butt hitting - even on the grass! Drop on recall - wow, just wow! Everything you want to see with attitude and exuberance as well  Broad Jump was perfect! ROF - first one she returned over the high jump so I walked away from my spot and she had to deliver the dumbbell while I was moving, so of course she knows she goofed. 2nd time very nice. But then uh-oh!! For the ROHJ she went flying over and then got to the jump and stopped to think about it - she did jump but was not clean so she startled herself when she tapped the jump. A few motivational resets and she did well; proofing for angled throws and having them learn to watch where you are looking; gotta love it, right?

Aedan had a rabies shot and so did not work other than at the vets and at the food pickup.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

We went to a fun match yesterday for a progress check. Kea did pretty well! She got a little thrown off by the dirt surface - it was mostly compacted, but the heeling pattern took us into a softer area and she did not like that. She started high-stepping, got out of heel position, and began sniffing. I am not sure if it's worth it for me to address it in training because I anticipate that trials will be mostly indoors, and if outdoors, on grass. I typically train on pavement (parking lots), soft flooring (training facility), grass, or occasionally gravel or compacted dirt. She was also distracted by eating horse poo, but only got distracted between exercises and even then, it only happened about 50% of the time. The rest of the time between exercises, she was engaged and dialed in to see what would happen next. The judge was very complimentary of us, and wanted to know if I was a professional trainer. She said we could expect very high scores when we start competing, so I must be doing something right here. My in person trainer and our online classes have really helped me with having high criteria and helping the dogs understand how they can "win" at the training challenges. 

The only thing Harris did was a Figure 8. I had the inside post hold his bag of treats and jiggle it around, for proofing, just like we do in class, and it went well. 

Later, I did some training with Kea off to the side of the ring when I was in a better state of mind and not a hot nervous mess. We alternated with treats on my body and off my body, did some heeling, some retrieves, some drop on recall and some heeling games using my husband as a fly pole, all off leash with people and dogs in the vicinity. Overall, I'm really happy with the improvements I'm seeing in her focus and her enthusiasm/drive for working. 

I REALLY need to do something about the ring nerves. It's bad. I don't have that much experience trialing, but I feel just as nervous at fun matches as I do at trials! I get major stage fright. Sweaty palms, shaky. The dogs obviously notice too, and it affects them. It's really interesting because I have a ton of public speaking experience and even experience performing (past theatre and band in college and high school). I'm at a loss for how to handle it, and I wish AKC allowed a little pre-trial glass or wine or something. I'm going to try this online class that starts in June. 

Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE190: It's All In Your Head -- Developing Your Mental Game for Competition and Training


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

so far no training today. Brady went for his hips & elbows XRays directly to the eVet for a hot spot that bloomed overnight. First hotspot fr any of my dogs since Rowdy was a youngster.

While the hotspot (groin area and is also on his penis and gonads) is quite serious, not as serious as the dog hit by a car or 2 dogs very very sick -- Brady is on antibiotics, pain killers, cortisone spray and a cone. After over 3 hours of standing and watching me, I could not let him continue to not lie down so the cone is off while I can watch him. 

So although it is a beautiful day, the other dogs may not get trained either so he can rest up -- poor boy was sedated, woken up, and is now on pain killers - he vet did say it might be a good thing he was under sedation since it probably helped him out from tearing himself up 'down there'. Her exact words were ' He's such a handsome dog and I'm so happy his hips and elbows look great, but I've got to tell you the looks of his groin suck!' Poor boy!

And then Aedan starts swatting his cone and wants to tug the ties, no wonder Brady won't lie down. And I still need to clean the house ...


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@KeaColorado - do every fun match you can and continue to train in group classes - it will do wonders for you as far as being able to block out the nerves. Everyone gets nervous.

*****

We had a fun match this morning/afternoon. 

Coming right after the 8 hour day we did at the dog show yesterday, Bertie was not that great. Meaning he was a little more laidback and lazy than normal. This showed with the heeling - though to his credit, he did heel just fine. Just not as fine tuned as I'd like. 

DOR was an issue in the open run, so I took advantage of a lull between groups to pop into the ring for some practice. And did get some really nice drops on hand-signal alone.

Everything else was perfect. 

Watching various runs + the bigger trainers especially shaping young dogs through problem areas, came up with ideas on how to work through stuck spots.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

Kea, I had my share of nerves at first, but eventually figured out that the best way to block it out is to go in to the ring with extreme confidence in my dog's ability to perform the exercises correctly. I go in expecting a perfect run every single time. Obviously, that will rarely happen, but I always go in thinking, "this is the one." If you go in worrying about what can go wrong, it's a self fulfilling prophecy. I learned the same techniques competing in sports growing up, and you've probably done the same thing before your public speaking experiences. 

One thing I do is close my eyes and replay in my mind, over and over, a perfect run, and me calmly guiding my dog through the exercises. I do this for days before competition. Whether your goal is a 200, a blue ribbon or just a qualifying score, I truly believe it helps. 

I recently saw a quote that I think is awesome...."Train like you've never won. Compete like you've never lost."


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Nugget NQ utility refused bar AGAIN-----GRRRR
OPEN B 196 
I'm totally frustrated with him!!!


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

Nairb said:


> I recently saw a quote that I think is awesome...."Train like you've never won. Compete like you've never lost."


Oooh, that's good.  We are training for HITs. That is why it has taken me so long to enter her. I'm not going to enter her until I think we can make a good run for it, or at least be more competitive. I also want her to be engaged between exercises and not check out. Because if she checks out, it's over. And finally, I don't want her to rehearse bad behaviors in the ring, when my ability to back up and fix it on the spot goes away. So right now, my strategy is, as Megora suggested, go to as many fun matches as possible and continue with my in person class and to train in as many different environments as possible. This dog is in the car and out on the road for training in new locations at least 4-5 days/week! 

Here is a little before and after video I made last night - there are about two years in between. The "before" was shortly after Kea finished her RN. This is when I decided I needed to get really serious about skills training with high criteria and ring preparation training to get the two of us to where I felt we needed to be really ready to make a solid run for the CD. At the first match, I was bribing her with a treat in my left hand and she was also wearing a training collar and dragging her leash because I didn't trust her off leash. Second clip - I don't train with a training collar at all anymore, so that's gone, and the treats were on the judge's table. We are getting there, veeeeerrrrrry slowly but surely. Dealing with my ring nerves is the final piece. I like the visualizing idea and copious amounts of practice.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

At agility tonight Penny kept grabbing the leash. I took her outside at the beginning and had her do a five minute down stay to calm down. It worked a little bit, but she still grabbed the leash. 

My instructor said I have "to give her something to do"...right after she grabbed the leash mid-jump...the excitement is making her grab the leash, not lack of activity. She grabbed the leash every time we went over a jump. Hopefully I can find a better agility instructor that can help me fix the problem.

I need to look up videos on teaching weaves. We were introduced to weaves today, but were given no instructions on how to teach it other than having the dog's shoulder on the left for the entry. I have a set of weave poles sitting in my closet, so I can work on this at home.

We were also introduced to the teeter-totter. First time we stopped halfway, creeping forward the whole time. The second time I didn't get Penny's attention and she trotted onto it eagerly without waiting for me. I got scolded by the instructor for not having a treat out, but the teeter's movement didn't faze Penny at all. She's a very confident dog and the instructor's teaching style is very cautious, which contrasts with how Penny is on the equipment. I guess I don't want her to charge recklessly onto everything though.

Penny went up the A-frame after the tunnel without waiting for me to tell her to again. I love seeing how eager she is to do agility.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Sorry to hear about the NQ - did he place in Open?



Nuggetsdad said:


> Nugget NQ utility refused bar AGAIN-----GRRRR
> OPEN B 196
> I'm totally frustrated with him!!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Ring Nerves -

What works for me is probably counter intuitive. I let go of the score and am there for my dog.

I do not aim to win or get HIT; although I can win and now have a High Combined and have had a run off for HIT with Faelan (have had HIT in the past with King). 

But, while I can visualize how I want my team to look and how we feel and communicate with each other, I have no control over whether the judge's idea of perfection has anything in common with mine - well the 1st time I show to that judge at least 

Aiming to win can suck the joy out for me - I can still remember being disappointed in my dog when he 'only' got a 198 and did not place -- that is not where I want to be with my relationship with my dogs -- or perhaps even worse, feeling like 'darn' that team beat us rather than enjoying the teamwork and movement I am watching.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Sharon. No placement in open a197 got fourth 1981/2 took first. He just has me dumbfounded because we have been working hard on go outs and the jumps and just yesterday he did them very well. This was the last exercise and he had a 196 going into it. Sixteen teams in utility b seven qualified.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I hope I wasn't misunderstood. When I say I visualize a perfect run, it has nothing to do with winning. Because you're right. I have no control over the judging, and I don't want to be disappointed by the score if my dog gives her best effort. Visualizing a perfect run helps me to block out the nerves, because I can trick my mind into believing it's going to be a perfect run. That's why I said it can work regardless of what your goals are. I don't have a lot of experience training and showing dogs, but it's just another sport. A lot of principles are interchangeable. I ran a few marathons, and had ZERO chance of winning, but I was still able to visualize a perfect race.....for me. In other words...perfect doesn't have to mean a 200, depending on what your goals are. I hope that makes sense. Typing this quick on my phone.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I look at ring nerves a little differently. You will likely always have at least some nerves when you trial. So if you get nervous in matches, view it as a good thing, because you can teach your dogs to be able to work through your nerves rather than only have them show up during scary trial time.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Tiny admission....  

When I go to trials, I will sit there and watch what other dogs do. If every single dog were perfect (including those dogs actively going for OTCH points), then I would be in big trouble.  

Generally what happens is I see other dogs making mistakes and losing points. Whole utility and open classes NQ'ing. And the thought that goes through my head is that whatever happens with my dog, he won't be the only dog to have messed up that day. 

I DO go into the ring hoping for the best score possible and am disappointed as I mentally subtract points with each mistake... or as the case may be, hear the judge writing on his pad during exercises. I think that natural - and it does depend on your dog. 

@Nairb - I DO think that what you are confident in doing out there (nearly perfect run) says a lot about your dog. And you know she has shown that she's nearly perfect out there, absolutely.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I had to start with focusing on attention and transitions, because at first, those were weaknesses. So...going into a run through or trial, I figured that if she paid attention and moved smoothly through transitions, that was "perfect" enough for me. It's a lot easier to have confidence going into the ring when those two things are fixed. 

I had a runoff for HiT a few weeks ago against a dog and handler that hardly ever lose in those situations. I had a lot of time to sit and think about it, and I honestly went in expecting a perfect run-off. I wasn't certain we would win, but I believed we could. Ultimately, we did not, but it was as close to perfect as we're capable of at this point. I was not disappointed in the least, but rather proud of Bella for stepping up in an unfamiliar situation. There was literally nothing we could have done differently to win that runoff, which made it pretty easy to accept. 

It's pretty easy to let negative thoughts creep in to your head, and it's happened to me plenty of times too. That's why I have to play the mind tricks on myself. Lol.


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

I watch certain friends that I know will ask questions later on.. otherwise I do not want to watch.. What my dog and I do in the ring needs to be for us..not for any score . It is about the teamwork.. I am trying very hard to not let Titan's performances color on how I view my ring work with Mighty but I think it may have.. not for what you think.. When Titan and I were starting everything was new and after 8 years I can only remember how he feels beside me now and in the last few years.. maybe if it was not so many years between them I would remember.. I know it took Jodie to make me really look at the early years with Titan and give Mighty a break. I was extremely disappointed in my training with Mighty as I believe it was totally me trying to take a shortcut that caused his NQ on his sit.. His scores would have been 198 198 & 197 1/2 under some pretty tough judges. Until the sit fiasco I was thrilled with his ring work. That has not changed.. It has always been about the teamwork for me.. just need to give the new teammate that same chance and not feel guilty that it is not Titan there with me..


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

I don't want to watch the other dogs either while I'm waiting. I may watch one to see the heeling pattern, but after that, I try to stay focused on what we need to do. I basically just sit in a chair and don't say much to anyone until we're done.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I pace :


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I like to watch at the trial to see how the different teams work together. I'm trying to soak it all in since I'm really new to competing.


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## Nairb (Feb 25, 2012)

One of the reasons I don't watch much is my extremely short attention span. I saw a quote on Facebook that said not to worry about what others think, because nobody is watching anyway! That's probably accurate.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

This weekend, my main goal (hope, prayer, desperate dream, whatever) was to get that last Q in utility. I entered Ut B and Op B both days. Thought I might be able to pick up a UDX leg if we got a Q in Ut B, but mostly, I was entered in Open B because we haven't been in Open in over a year and I needed to get Maple used to the different exercise sequences in Open B and used to showing in two classes in one day. 

Alas, we did not get that third Ut B leg. On Saturday, she had a really good run, but instead of taking the bar jump, came straight back to me. I don't know why. I think maybe I was staring at her (instead of the jump) when I gave the command. Other than the bar jump, her most serious error was that she did not sit after the pivot to the number 3 glove. I think I was tensed and leaning forward. I was really happy with everything else. Go-outs were straight and all the way out. Articles were very nice. Heeling was not perfect, but better than most of the rest of the class. Signals were great. 

The BIG surprise was in Open B, where she took 1st place with a score of 197 and HIT. My very first HIT! And at a show that has one of the bigger OB turnouts for our location out in the hinterlands. (13 entries in Utility B and 11 in Open B)

On Sunday, she NQ'd on the very first exercise, the articles. She went to the pile with her usual jaunty directness...and stuck her nose in a spot in the grass and kept it there for an eternity, totally absorbed. Just before I was sure the judge would say to call her in, she remembered she was supposed to do something, so she grabbed a nearby article (the wrong one) and brought it back. She also came straight back on the bar jump again, probably figuring that if it was okay the day before, it would be okay on Sunday. 

The Sunday Ut B class was nearly as much of a blood bath as a typical Ut A class. Only 2 Qs of the 11 dogs entered. In Open B, in contrast, all 9 dogs Q'd. Maple was far more droopy than the day before. She only got a 193 and a 4th place. Still, it got her high-scoring Golden and Sporting dog. About an hour after Open, I took her for a walk and she was having diarrhea. Her usual travel anxiety. I think her upset stomach probably affected her performance that day. 

I think the biggest take-home from the weekend was that I could show in the B classes and feel like we could be competitive. I confess, I've been a bit intimidated at the thought of moving to the B classes, but Maple was, overall, better than the average dog in B. If we could only get that third Q in Utility and, of course, get more consistent in Utility...

Alder was entered in Veteran's on Saturday. He was sooo happy and had a great time. He was first (of 2 entries) with a score of 194, which I think was higher than the uncoordianted goofball ever got when he was in regular novice, many many years ago.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congrats on the Open B win & 4th  And the Veterans class win !!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning is another muggy start.

*Faelan:* Go Outs with the dowel -- cheater!! snatched the dowel after I signaled the jump I wanted him to take. LOL So reset - 2 more Go Outs (nice) with each jump taken once. The a Go Out with a send back to his dowel with a few tosses. Then we worked DOR which I quickly changed to straight recalls and even a reminder when I set him at the GOS and he wanted to take the solid. Interesting session LOL Front & finishes were good.

*Towhee:* Go Outs with directed jumping _ very very nice. For her, I used food. She tends to arc left and them straighten herself out - possible point(s) off but I'll let it go. Drop on Recalls very nice with a good understanding of straight recalls versus drops. Fronts were great as were her finishes.

*Aedan:* introduction to the dowel - he's not (yet) a fan. Then some Get-It, Get-It, Get-It, Come games and in introduction to food tosses between my legs upon return.

*Brady:* had and will have today off.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

http://youtu.be/zBB5A6sZqJQ

Video of yesterday's signal exercise


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

http://youtu.be/w60hs57jC2E

Here is the other part of yesterday's utility b run including the part where we NQ again. This morning we tried the directed jumping exercise again with same result. It's BROKE


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Thanks for sharing the videos NuggetsDad.

FWIW, I watched that bar jump several times and wish the camera angle showed your left side upper body movement.

What I think I saw was Nugget taking a very nice line to the bar, UNTIL you brought your right arm down and straightened your upper body, pulling your left shoulder down and back...for a dog sensitive to body movement, like an agility dog and perhaps Nugget, this would be a strong enough cue to pull off their current line and reorient to front.

Again, I wish the video angle was just slightly different.

The second GoOut I read as a loss of confidence, he probably knew you were, umm, less than happy?


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

>Sharon I don't know about the shoulder movement but you are 100% correct with your evaluation of the second go out , he knew as you put it I was less than happy. He is just so darn sensitive to my gestures and especially facial expressions a very soft boy!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Do you have a camcorder you could set up and watch your body movement and Nugget's? See if there is a pattern to when he pulls off his line?


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

I love reading everyone's ring nerve strategies. We are all different in how we approach things, and you all have good suggestions. I should clarify what I said before about training and competing for HIT, because honestly, that doesn't matter to me nearly as much as having a happy dog in the ring who can stay engaged and focused between exercises and show me that she wants to work. I truly believe that if those things are in place, the high scores will come. And if they don't - it is easier for me to fix things like a crooked front or a paw moved on the SFE in training than it is to fix her working attitude. Believe me, I've spent the last two years on the latter, and it has been HARD!

I too think it's good that I get so nervous at the fun matches - there is no difference for me between match and show, and when we actually start showing, Kea won't know the difference either. I wish I had access to more matches, and I'm not sure how to replicate that nervousness in training, beyond finding a random audience of strangers to watch us train. My husband has city league softball practice tonight, so I'll load up the dogs and see if I can recruit some assistants. 

Nuggetsdad, are you allowed to keep your arm extended as the dog goes over the jump? We aren't working on directed jumping yet, but we are starting to work on directed movement around a cone. If I drop my arm, even if I'm sending a dog straight for the cone, the dog will turn early and miss. It has been hard to train myself to keep my arm out, but it has really helped.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

No, the signal shouldn't be held. Now that Phoenix is getting reliable on jumping when I hold the signal, I am working on weaning him off that


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Both Conner and Flip went through a similar phase. One of the things that helped them get past it was to pull the jumps farther apart. I would work up to getting them 100 ft apart. Once they learned how to commit to that, committing to jumps 20 feet apart was easy. Also with Flip I did things make the jumps looks different. Something as simple as draping a toy on the top, or having a person hold the upright, initially caused him to bail on the jump. He had to learn to really dig in and go for the jump even if it looked a little intimidating.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Kea Colorado. No you can't hold the signal but in training you do what it takes. All exercises will break but some more so than others and the the DJ exercise is one that keeps rearing it s ugly head up for me it's broken before but I got it back now it has broken again.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Tiny bit of training this evening (temps finally dropped after 8:30PM). I worked leashwork and hand position (over my middle) - up to the point that Jacks came bursting out of the house like a bat out of hell and began heeling right next to Bertie because that's HIS JOB. *shakes head* 

New work schedule will push me to begin training more in the morning - which is probably good. Not too many trials in the evening...


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

I feel your pain with Nugget. I was really surprised when Maple didn't take the bar jump two days in a row. When I got home Sunday, I set the jumps up and experimented with putting the ring gates far back, then closer, then back again, and with putting a 4 foot wide agility bar jump in place of the bigger Utility bar. She never once missed the bar, and she always went all the way to the gates, even when they were about 50 ft beyond the jump. (She anticipated the turn and sit on both go-outs on Sunday. She was about 5 ft from the gates both times.) 

Today, it occurred to me to spread the jumps further apart, as Jodie suggests. I set out the entire ring in the yard. Just like the location of last weekend's trial, I have bright white ring gates on green grass. I wondered if she had failed to recognize the bar jump at the trial (wihich has narrower stanchions and bar than my usual home jump) against the white ring gates. In my yard, I put the agility jump, which has a narrow PVC bar and red metal stanchions, right next to the white ring gates. I also set the high jump on the opposite side so it was against the side gate. The jumps were about 30 feet apart instead of 20. I set the heights at 12 inches so they would be easy to jump. 

And... she did not take the bar jump. I showed her where it was and had her jump it and tried the go out again. This time, she veered toward it, but then turned and came to me again. I showed her where it was, had her jump it, let her play with a toy a minute or two and put her back on the deck without her treats and brought Alder off the deck. The deck is a few feet from the ring. She can watch what's going on. (So can Alder, but he always naps while I'm training Maple.)

Alder, who is not the brightest dog on the planet, nor the most eagle-eyed, had NO trouble with the jumps. (That was unexpected!) However, he did go wandering off into the corner on the first go-out. Once he knew where the correct go-out location was, he was great. I did a little bit of heeling and the number 1 glove. He did very well. I gave him his little bowl of hot dog pieces at the deck next to where Maple was waiting and brought her out again. This time, she had no trouble at all with the bar. It was still at 12", so I worked on repeated go-outs and jumps, asking for a turn and sit many times in a row about 10 feet from the gates and then switching to letting her go all the way to the gates. I was trying to get her to anticipate the turn, but she never did. 

Tomorrow, I will try moving the sides of the ring further apart and putting the jumps 40 or 50 feet apart. I have a 3 ft portable bar jump that I will also substitute for the regular jump. Last year, I went through a period of switching jumps out, wrapping stanchions in orange tape, hanging towels from the stanchions, etc. to get her used to different looking jumps, but I haven't done any of that in months and I think it's coming back to haunt me. 

Our next trial is in a week, so I will soon know whether any of this helped.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

With Directed Jumping, here are some of the proofs I have used:

> Jumps up to 70 feet apart
> Jumps 15 to 50 feet back from the Go Out spot
> Things on the jumps (scarecrows, flower pots, coats, dumbbells etc)
> Replacing jumps with agility jumps. broad jumps, AFrames, tunnels
> 3 foot, 4 foot and 5 foot jumps
> having toys, tugs and treats slightly off the jumping path

and more.

ETA: I know people who will turn their backs to their dog and signal the jump (they use mirrors to watch the dog). This would be an excellent proof if where your eyes are looking is not part of your cue (it is part of my cue since the eyes can look at the jump longer than you can hold the signal if your dog is moving slower than normal towards the jump).

Also you can throw in extra movement - like signal and as the dog is lining up to jump, twirl around, skip etc. As the dog is landing, take off running for a game of catch up, or fall to the ground for a rolling game etc


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

It is lightly raining so no jumping. Brady again has the day off. His nether regions look much better and I believe it was a hike last week that scratched his privates, thus causing the hot spots - darn pricker type things! Faelan is also among the injured (seriously?? what is going on here?) but I am hopeful it is 'just' a sting or bite near his eye - I gave him benadryl and he seems okay but I'll keep an eye on it - it could also be a bump since I cannot see any bites or scrapes. But he can work 

*Faelan:* Go Outs with not jumps set up, focus on marking and speed going out to the stanchion and speed of sit; he did well. Heeling and signals were next (NICE!) followed by 2 straight recalls (monkey downed on the 1st one) and then with a drop with my walking in to reward and release him in place.

*Towhee:* Go Outs focusing on marks, turns and sits. She marked well, went out with nice speed (albeit arcing to the left and then right), nice turns but apparently does not much care to get her cute little butt wet. Heeling went well as did her signals other than she decided her elbows shouldn't touch wet grass - same with her drop on recalls so we had some repeats on drops.

*Aedan:* had circle lefts and rights, laser pointer finger while I was jogging - first on my left then on my right. The jogging at heel and side morphed into baby front crosses. A few Come Fore type setups where he'd be jogging at my side and I would switch to moving backwards offering my hands for a chin rest or tossing a treat between my legs and having him go get it. It was fun and he did well.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

Thanks for proofing ideas, Sunrise!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Nugget as my posts have indicated has a problem with the directed jumping exercise either doing a super short go out or refusing usually the bar but not always sometimes he won't take the HJ but NQ either way and normally in training I do everything in utility twice as we did this morning but this morning we did it all twice but started with the #1 exercise and his go outs for the first set were great and putting a strong verbal " sit " he spun facing me and parked his butt right now, this was done on both sends and he could see the cheese on the stanchion but chose to sit . Good boy? when I sent him over the jumps he took both on my order the first time. The second set of go outs and jumps he did the go out part well but refused the jump. This morning was a definite improvement and everything as far as my talking to him was done in the nicest most confidence building voice I could muster. Open work decent f+f still the main point losers.

Hombres turn I am very pleased with him today. Heeling pretty nice as was fig8 and we did a repeat OFF leash which was as well done as the on leash was. Hombres about turns are really nice as he stays right with me actually better than Nugget who will lag occasionally. Four full ring length go outs to baited stanchion very fast very straight the only fault was on two he didn't wait for the " go out " order ( he likes the cheese ). Three recalls were done and two ( with my help) got straight fronts a nice improvement here. SFE by my instructor couldn't have been better on Hombres part his handler a former AKC judge who knows better didn't return all the way up to "heel position " and got called on it. We also did three each being called to go over the BJ with 3 boards tight together and the HJ and the Bar Jump set at 12 inches. All were successfully done on my first order of " over" ?. Sits and downs both done on a flexi with me in the ring well done. Hombre had his act together this morning and I'm really very happy with both boys work today especially the pup who is coming on strong lately he may just turn out to be a good obedience dog.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Just came in from my yard with Nugget where he did two go outs and took each jump on the first " over " both go outs were fast straight and with quick sits. I hope I can get this at the next trial.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

My dogs had the morning off. And will probably have tonight off as well.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

I hope poor Brady is feeling better.

Last night, I pulled the side ring gate back to 60 feet apart and set the agility bar jump and my regular practice jump near the gates. That threw both dogs for a loop until I showed them where the jumps were. Then I replaced those jumps with my 3-foot practice jumps, a little closer in, about 40 feet apart. Neither dog had any problem with those. 

Then did all the gloves with Maple. She did great. Did the #1 glove with Alder. He got #2 on the first try. (Sigh) We worked on it. He did a great job on signals.

This morning, Maple had to do a go-out and bar jump before she got her breakfast, using the 3-ft jumps in the same arrangement as last night. I planned to have her do both jumps, but she did such an outstanding go-out, jumps, and straight F&F, that I called it good and gave her breakfast.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

So I've given the dogs some time off, but was thinking I was making excuses for not training them since there is stuff they can do  So this morning:

*Aedan: *
> Nose touches to a Alley Oop - he still doesn't 'get it' but he's getting closer
> The pivot plank where I am starting to introduce 2o2o
> Fronts with a chin rest

*Faelan:* 
> Nose Touches to the Alley Oop (he did great)
> Scent articles - his nose still works on doxie  His fronts were good.
> Heeling with signals - very nice

*Towhee:
*> Scent articles: she needed encouragement to come in with metal altho she was holding it in her mouth. Leather she wanted the metal again. Fronts were good. Doxie may be affected her scenting ability
> Heeling with signals - very, very nice 
> Alley Oop - very nice

*Brady:* with cone on 
> Alley Oop nose touches: very nice
> Heeling with signals: very very nice

This was inside in the training room; mostly because I decided to train too late to allow enough time for switching dogs going inside & outside

They were ramped up and dancing with excitement to get into the training room


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

It's cold and rainy outside but fortunately I'm subbing for the regular instructor so I'll get to to work both boys inside this afternoon.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

the sun is shining. yippee!!!!!!!! we went outside, practiced heeling, retrieve on flat, Tugg loves loves loves his dumbbell. I am thrilled with his pickup, hold and fronts and finishes


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

A beautiful morning in CT 

I am hoping to go to a match tomorrow, but either way I plan a busy training weekend  So, this morning is a planned morning off.

I postponed my private session since I think shorter sessions are called for with all that is going on with the dogs - Faelan was off his food this morning; I was kind of hoping the doxie would not affect him that way for this round ... but his eye is almost back to normal. Brady has broken 3 cones so far - his current one has safety tape holding it closed - I tried letting him go coneless but heard him snorfling himself so on the cone went. Towhee & Aedan are fine though! Towhee actually went running into the bathroom and would not be shooed out when I went to put Faelan's eye cream in - so she got her ear drops and then happily trotted on out of the bathroom


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Last night training with Nugget was a disaster he wouldn't cooperate with me at all as far as the DJ exercise was concerned. He refused the bar SEVERAL TIMES and I finally lowered it to 14 inches and set him up almost directly in front of it and then he finally jumped it. We after a few more from this spot moved over 7-8 feet and he refused again then finally did take the jump . After probably a total of 20 or more of these low jumps and steadily moving to the center of the ring and all the way back to the stanchion he finally did what needed to be done and we quit. Before the disaster of the DJ exercise we did all the other utility exercises which he performed well. I just don't know what gets in to him. Because I wanted to work Hombre some Nugget didn't do anything in open. The pup is coming along heeling and his going over the jumps when called about 50/50 on the first attempt even the bar but I'm just trying to get him used to its look as this is along long way from now. SFE solidly done but the fronts again all over the place on recalls.ROF his pickups are terrible as he pushes it a couple of feet almost ever time but his speed going for it is wonderful.

Mr. Inconsistent this morning at home was walked to the stanchion and I lowered the jump to 14 inches and he took it first time when I gave the " over " order . We did a couple more and I thought his confidence was back so the jump was set to 22 inches and he was again walked to the stanchion and sent over and over he went. Then after the party I sent him on a go out which was very good and now he was sent over the high jump which he flew over. One more go out which again was very good then I sent him back over the bar jump and he took it YEAH!!! We quit then. All of the times he was sent to jump my voice was as pleasant ( not threatining) but firm and I HELD the signal till he was committed to the jump.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I got into the FDSA Clarity and Calm class  at Gold

Teeter as a silver 
Distance training at bronze

Grins, Brady, you will be a busy boy


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I am heading out to a match. Faelan & Towhee will be so disappointed since they saw me loading their stuff but I have decided just Brady & Aedan. 

Reasons:
> Brady needs a baseline video plus I may not even enter him but work him around the rings and people. This is where he needs confidence, not in the ring per se
> Aedan will need my focus when he is out & about
> I reread the flyer and it is a Sanctioned B/OB match; last year they allowed corrections in the ring but I was yelled at for offering my Faelan a treat in the ring after a successful SD exercise
> This is the match (different judge) where the 'judge' kneed my Towhee girl after taunting her with the dumbbell at the broad jump. While the judge is different it may have left the same bad taste in her mouth as it did in mine (note; SHE has probably forgiven that person, I have not!! still gets my Irish up )


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

WOW two days in a row Nugget did the #1 utility exercise doing a good job and taking the jumps on the first order of " over ". His only mistakes were crooked fronts or finish's. Open we did everything but heeling and fig8 also just fronts and finish' s the only mistakes. His work today more like what we were doing a couple months ago before the DJ exercise broke.

Hombre heeling on the street not bad but not perfect either. Jumping the broad jump with3 boards tight to each other 3x with me calling him over pretty nice , he's getting what I want. I set the bar jump at 16 inches this morning but the first two times he ran around it when called over so I held the cheese can right in front of me ( he LOVES cheese in the can ) and now he took the jump two times because he has figured out there is NO free lunch he has to earn it. ROF enthusiastic but fronts if I get one holding the cheese can in front he will drop the bell so tapping under the chin and saying hold hold hold is a regular part. Recalls 3x fast but the f+ f similar to the ROF. A 3 minute sit stay and a 5 minute down stay other than sniffing the grass 2x which got him a verbal NO SNIFF well done and the last thing this morning was a very nice SFE which he nailed. A pretty nice training session with both boys so tomorrow they get the day off.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

Sunrise said:


> I got into the FDSA Clarity and Calm class  at Gold
> 
> Teeter as a silver
> Distance training at bronze
> ...


Congrats! I am debating whether to do Advanced Heeling at bronze. I'm going to miss two weeks of this term because of some travel (work related or else I would bring the dogs and train on the road!)

I have the second half of bridging the gap and we have a gold spot in that, which is keeping me busy. And I'm definitely going to do a bronze spot in the 'it's all in your head' class. 

Kea and Harris have been learning the beginning stages of articles. We're using the round mason jar lids, and I'm up to 3 lids. Click and treat when they sniff the correct one. Harris seems to be getting it, and is showing more confidence. We've been at it for about a week now, with a very short session each day. This morning, he walked over the correct one, sniffed a different one, and went back to the right one and then looked at me. Kea is struggling and still thinks she's supposed to nose target any lid. She'll go for the first one, sniff, look at me and sit there. When she gets stuck, I toss a low value release cookie and encourage her to try again. She is very sensitive and doesn't like to be wrong. I'm not sure how to encourage her to work the whole pile instead of going to the very first one. 

Go outs are about the same - I have them nose targeting a masking tape "X" on the wall. If I cue them, they will go, but sitting next to me waiting to be sent, they will not look at the X and both remain focused on me. I've been waiting for them to look toward it to send them, but it's counter to the work I've been doing to keep them focused on me. 

Kea had a really good day in class last week, and her heeling is coming along. We've spent most of our heeling practice during the last few weeks working on minor precision exercises like backing up, slight movements to the left or right, and me working on my footwork. It was great to see that it is all paying off in overall higher quality heeling.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I am beyond thrilled with how well Brady did at the match  Please note I did not go for the actual run through but rather for the whole Ring & world confidence thing. I caught a lot on tape for my Clarity & Calm baseline video.

- He acclimated well when the rings were inactive

- It took longer for him to acclimate and the heeling did not last as long when the rings were active but HE DID IT 

- He initiated attention from several people that he does not know - he may or may not have seen them in classes but many were in class with the older dogs so he does not know them

My baseline video which deliberately shows issues and oops moments. This is the first time Brady has ever been to the UCONN Agricultural Center I believe, and definitely his first time on such lush grass for the year.

Aedan accompanied us and did very well - his notes are in his thread 

ETA: Instructor feedback was very interesting!! I might be able to not only help Brady become the superbly confident dog he deserves to be but also unravel some of the mysteries of my Casey boy. Fooling Around, like sniffing, zooming and jumping can also be signaling a stress behavior - one of the 5 F's of Reactions to stress (Fooling Around is added to the 4 F's of Stress/Fear Response ; Fight, Flight, Freeze, Fainting). I wish I could kick whoever frightened my Brady so much at that stupid show!! May whatever he/she did to my Brady be returned Ten-fold to him/her!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

It just dawned on me that I don't have a class on Monday as the club isn't having training - what will I do with myself?


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

So Bertie is now a BN. We got a 194 score - which doesn't really tell you how good he was. We lost 3 points on a missed sit, and then the other sits we lost 2 points on slightly crooked sits (I didn't notice - so I'm going to guess it was a VERY slight butt in or out). And we had a slight forge for the other point. But the rest of the time, we had really nice work. Focused heads up heeling on the f8, perfect straight front (which had the judge raving because as I can tell crooked sits are a pet bugaboo for him), and just solid everywhere else. 

I have him entered in BN a couple more times this summer, but I may be jumping him into preferred novice at an upcoming show that I have to enter. Probably will be a nervous wreck anyway, but we'll see. 

Really cool thing though is that a lot of big names from out of state showed up for the trials yesterday - like your Fred Hulmes, Bridget Carlsen (who stepped in to judge because of a sick judge and totally had me confused LOL - I actually turned around and asked somebody what was going on in the ring), etc.... I didn't take notes, but one that really stood out was Sandy Ladwig and her border collie. It wasn't just what happened in the ring, but when I was leaving, she was practicing OOS with her dog. And probably this shows how much trust she had in her dog since she put it right in front of the doors going outside - with people going past and in and out. She was there, but half a hallway away and right around the corner.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congrats again  Nice score too !

I love Bridget Carlsen, went to a seminar and have her DVDs- jealous!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I have heard of Sandra Ludwig but who is Fred Hulmes?

They allow dogs off lead while not in the ring at shows where you are? or was someone holding Sandra Ludwig's BC? Honestly, I don't like that; why would she need to practice OOSs at a show ? Shouldn't her dog know the OOS exercises already?



Megora said:


> Really cool thing though is that a lot of big names from out of state showed up for the trials yesterday - like your Fred Hulmes, Bridget Carlsen (who stepped in to judge because of a sick judge and totally had me confused LOL - I actually turned around and asked somebody what was going on in the ring), etc.... I didn't take notes, but one that really stood out was Sandy Ladwig and her border collie. It wasn't just what happened in the ring, but when I was leaving, she was practicing OOS with her dog. And probably this shows how much trust she had in her dog since she put it right in front of the doors going outside - with people going past and in and out. She was there, but half a hallway away and right around the corner.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Sunrise said:


> I have heard of Sandra Ludwig but who is Fred Hulmes?
> 
> They allow dogs off lead while not in the ring at shows where you are? or was someone holding Sandra Ludwig's BC? Honestly, I don't like that; why would she need to practice OOSs at a show ? Shouldn't her dog know the OOS exercises already?


Pedigree: OTCH Trifecta's Super Cooper UDX11 OGM OBHF

^ I added an S to his name. Oops. 

I kinda agree. I was surprised to see a dog off leash period with no owner in sight. Especially since I go hiding to practice recalls at shows - because you can get in trouble. Wasn't sure what to think there - but her dog was really good.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Megora said:


> Pedigree: OTCH Trifecta's Super Cooper UDX11 OGM OBHF
> 
> ^ I added an S to his name. Oops.
> 
> I kinda agree. I was surprised to see a dog off leash period with no owner in sight. Especially since I go hiding to practice recalls at shows - because you can get in trouble. Wasn't sure what to think there - but her dog was really good.


Congrats to you and Bertie.

Love the look of this dog (Cooper) and what he's accomplished. Impressive and interesting pedigree. I noticed that his mother only lived to 5 yrs. old but there's no COD. Really wish more people would provide that info even though it can be painful to do.

Agree about the off leash dog. Top level competitors should set an example by abiding by all the rules. Isn't it an AKC rule that dogs are to be leashed outside the ring?


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I'm going to see Sandy next weekend, she's going to be in Dallas for a seminar.

Was Fred's puppy there? A Hideaway dog, I've been watching the videos of him training on facebook, pretty freaking amazing for a young pup.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Loisiana said:


> Was Fred's puppy there? A Hideaway dog, I've been watching the videos of him training on facebook, pretty freaking amazing for a young pup.


I'm pretty sure - yes? He had a young dog with him that Bertie wanted to play with in the worst way. Between Fred's puppy and Jeanne's puppy in front, I was doing a little arm-wrestling to keep Bertie in order (I brought only my 1-dog-crate because I didn't anticipate the obedience set up area to be so tight). 

I have to get back with my one trainer because she has Fred coming for a seminar at her building and was supposed to email info (I don't know if I missed the deadline or not). I wish I could come to audit, but wasn't sure if it would conflict with showing (it probably would since I show every weekend starting yesterday through July 4.... ).


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I signed up for a 1 year subscription type thing with Sandra Ludwig. I no longer log on, her constant references and calling her dog 'it' distracted me from what she was trying to actually say


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Sunrise said:


> I signed up for a 1 year subscription type thing with Sandra Ludwig. I no longer log on, her constant references and calling her dog 'it' distracted me from what she was trying to actually say


Sharon I would think it would be hard doing seminars and constantly getting corrected for him or her.. I believe Sandy refers to the dog as "it" because if she refers to her dog as a he there will always be somebody then saying their dog doesn't do it because it is not a he-she..Sandy has always been nice to me and really likes Titan....
I don't know that for sure but even just instructing I am constantly getting corrected myself so I can only imagine..


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## Thalie (Jan 20, 2008)

Col got her Novice Dog Tricks title on May 11. Below is our video submission. We should get the Intermediate Level one within a few weeks.






As far as classes, we are in the Fenzi online ones for : 
Advanced Heeling (not that we are advanced any but this is the end of a trilogy and the other two were great and we did progress) at Bronze
Shaping for Agility and Obedience Foundation - at Bronze, might upgrade to Gold.

I considered jumping in the Bridge the Gap one and try to catch up with part one but we are not ready for that. I need to take her out and about with full support before I can think about reducing the gap (or the chasm).
I am eyeing one more class because this is the time of year when I have enough free time to devote to what I want to do.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Grins - I am sure she has huge amounts of knowledge and experience to share, but 'it' was too much of a distraction to me. Maybe I need a focus class LOL

I will say that she seemed to have a lot of fun ideas. 



Titan1 said:


> Sharon I would think it would be hard doing seminars and constantly getting corrected for him or her.. I believe Sandy refers to the dog as "it" because if she refers to her dog as a he there will always be somebody then saying their dog doesn't do it because it is not a he-she..Sandy has always been nice to me and really likes Titan....
> I don't know that for sure but even just instructing I am constantly getting corrected myself so I can only imagine..


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

What I was going to do today has been solved as friends of mine invited me and the boys out to their place for training and run thrus then Shish-Ka-Bobs and conversation . Another friend of ours will also be there and I know a good time will be had by all of us.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Have fun 

My dogs have all gone for hikes, the house is almost cleaned, then some training and possibly heading up to play with a couple of litters of puppies  with a barbecue. I say possibly because it will take several hours I might decide to do round abouts with the dogs.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I am just in from training Faelan and Towhee with a Run Thru style of Utility; I rarely train all exercises and even more rarely do it in a semi-formal manner with exercise following exercise with transitions between exercises. 'They' recommend perhaps 10% of your sessions be trained in this style - I doubt I do it that often LOL but I should!

It is sunny and in the 80's, I had an Obedience Trial sound effects DVD going on in the background and video taped. Paul was mowing, motorcycles are out, Aedan was singing the blues at being crated so I was expecting to work through some issues. With a back end of ring gating set up. Pretty formal for me LOL

Faelan did very well - a few oops like a bump on a left turn, not so good fronts, and some mouthing on a scent article but I had some oops too - fumbling on a give it cue, not deciding before hand where I was going to set up exercises, changing my mind of where to stop him for the signals etc

Towhee, oh baby girl!! She has the pieces, but when I do things like combine her signal spot with her Go Out spot, she wants to take the jump when signaling the recall - hey the arm goes out right? which I had to praise since we are working so hard at her jumping skills - so I moved between the jumps to give her signals. And then she wanted glove #2 (I was sending to glove #3) because HEY, she just did Go Outs and before that she had her stand for signals where glove #2 is. Her heeling was good! He metal article -- perfect!! Her leather article not so much - she grabbed the article I had just touches by the bell rather than checking the bars -- green dog error  A new set of articles for her as well - I think these fit much better and the metal seems more comfortable to her as well; no chattering or hesitation picking it up.

Now off for casual round abouts with Brady and then Aedan. Just kind of exposure more than training.

Hopefully I will get to work Towhee and Faelan through their Open exercises later when it cools down a bit.

ETA: Faelan's video






The parks are wicked busy so Brady will not be heading out to them. Aedan spent over an hour at one of the parks and even he was a bit in need of sitting there and taking it all in there was so much chaos


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Well, to be perfectly honest, Lexx and I haven't been doing a whole of training lately. It has been quite warm here and he is not a hot weather dog!! I do try to get him to do a little training each day but he gets bored quite easily with what we can do indoors.

Our last indoor training session was last Sunday. We worked on some heeling, which has been very good. Also did some ROHJ and ROF, both of which he does very well. We've gone away from the DOR for a bit because when I do a straight recall he anticipates the drop and starts hitting the floor. His go outs and directed jumping are wonderful.....no issues there. Articles....I wish he was more enthusiastic about heading to the pile but he's very accurate once he gets there so perhaps it's best not to change it. 

We are in our 2nd half of Bridging the Gap class but on a bit of break for another week I believe. It has helped immensely with Lexx's engagement and focus. I took him yesterday to a park where he's never been and his acclimation time was a couple of minutes before he engaged and then was quite happy going into some work before he got too hot and decided to find some shade. 

I've also signed up for the Shoot the Dog class at bronze....that should be fun!!

We also had tracking yesterday. Again it was hot so we kept the track to a shorter one through a residential neighbourhood and a little vegetation. He completed it with no issues. He's a pretty focused boy when he's tracking!!

This weekend we're doing a retriever seminar. The forecast is for hot temps again so I hope we get to do water both days or he might not be too cooperative.

On a side note, Lexx's dad completed his CD in Canada a few weeks ago and then completed his American CD this past weekend in Spokane. I also saw that he got his Am. WCX. He's a pretty versatile boy. I think Lexx needs to hang out with for awhile!!! Mind you, it's not Lexx.....it's his trainer!!!:doh:


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

The good time was had today . Both boys did well , Nugget would have scored a 197 in open but better than that he did utility and did everything including taking the jumps on the first " over " and he would have scored a 196 . I'm very pleased with him today because he tried and his open run was right out of the crate without any warm up. Nugget will probably never get an OTCH but he will get his UDX .

Hombre wasn't scored today but he did all of novice with decent heeling both on and off leash a beautiful SFE that could not have been better an almost flawless fig8 and a fast recall albeit with a very crooked front but a dead on finish plus the S+D were done out of sight and for 3and 5 minutes and he never moved a muscle. Quite pleased with him also but it takes a little more to settle the " WILD CHILD" down than Nugget.
After we finished out training grilled Shish - Ka - Bob delicious with a cauliflower salad baked beans an mashed potatoes . It was delicious and a cold beer. Desert of brownies chocolate chips or cream cheese cake don't get much better than this . Dawn sure can cook and it certainly turned out to be a wonderful day . Good food friends training your dogs just special !!!!☺☺☺


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@Richard - seriously, if Nugget doesn't get his OTCH, there's no hope for the rest of us. He sounds a lot more solid than a lot of dogs I've seen.  

Like it or not, I've been making a point to get out and train heeling with Bertie every day. Not just motivation "play" heeling, but building that reliability as far as him knowing heel means heel means sit when I stop means turn when I turn means stay close. And all that with me putting my left hand where it belongs.

I watched my one instructor and some other people at the last fun match - and noted what they do with young dogs when introducing or reinforcing position when "off leash". And I've been working on that. Have been putting a very loose and light lead on and holding with my right hand and putting my left hand where it belongs for off leash work. Ideally, what I hope to really encourage and solid up is being able to put my left hand over my middle without pulling him forward. 

He's doing great. 

I'm also cleaning up drops which have fallen along the wayside a little. A lot of short distance (6-10 feet) drops with just one command (signal or verbal). Big thing for me is not rewarding him for less than what I want. <= I got into the habit of rewarding drops where he was taking 2-4 extra steps after the command. Dummy me. Was told to go in and back him up into a down and ONLY PRAISE (no treats) and do it again.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Sharon enjoyed the video Faelan looked to be doing a pretty decent job!!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Kate Im pretty sure you have been to the Kalamazoo shows have you seen the scores coming out of the " b " class' s the competition is really really good here in the midwest. In the past I've had 198 in open more than once and wound up with Butkus . The last show I had my old OTCH dog in open he scored a 199 and I had a 3 way run off for SECOND with a little poodle getting a 1991/2 beating the 3 goldens I tied with. Nugget when he has his act together is a 198 dog tops but more of a very consistent 197 dog he is a good dog but not quite good enough to get an otch unless he improves a bunch or gets very lucky and I don't think that will happen. 

A little tip for your hand placement wear jeans or pants that you can put a belt on them and place your thumb UNDER the buckle of the belt your hand will be centered on your body and you can't be hit for hand placement . It works!!!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Oh anywhere in Michigan you are going to have to get higher scores just to place in B classes. Very different from other places around the country. It's the negative effect of having a really active training community here.  

I still think Nugget has a better chance than many.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

We worked on more beginning scent article stuff with the mason jar lids this morning - Harris is up to four lids now and Kea is still on 3 but is starting to really work them and will sniff more than one lid at a time. We also worked on some things outside today while I had my husband to help me - heeling for Kea with him calling out a pattern and her being heavily rewarded for staying focused after he said "are you ready?" and "forward!" and stand for exam for Harris. Harris also worked on sit stays and down stays with me about 30 feet away. Then I went to a graduation party at a breeder friend's house and got to cuddle some six week old golden retrievers. (OMG can we say puppy fever???)


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning the older dogs had all the Open individual exercises, while Aedan played the Collar Grab game and Get-It Get-It Get-It Come games.

This, like yesterday these sessions were without warmups. Partially to see where warmup effort should be given.

*Faelan* did well on all exercises other than his drop was a little slow.

*Towhee* did well other than a missed 1st sit (she will definitely need a quick warm up before an actual ring event) and a few fronts were slightly off. Her handler (ahem ) needs to pay attention to her back end as well as her front end while setting up - luckily she is good at straightening herself out! She did tick the HJ but while I rebuild her conditioning, I will do nothing to let her know it is incorrect.

*Brady* did well although I need to build his stamina more slowly for multiple exercises

*Aedan* had a great time and does not seem to mind the collar grabs - he does need to learn excitement from my grabbing his collar does not mean it is okay to jump up on me for his treat LOL
Here is Towhee's video


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training at SCKC this morning which I'll be leaving to go to in 15 minutes. This morning I will spend more time with Hombre trying to get fronts straighter and cleaner heeling.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Megora said:


> Oh anywhere in Michigan you are going to have to get higher scores just to place in B classes. Very different from other places around the country. It's the negative effect of having a really active training community here.
> 
> I still think Nugget has a better chance than many.


I think part of that is, I am in awe at the facilities I see on videos. Quiet, beautiful matting, nice size rings etc. 

That said, my King had trials where a 197, 198 would not be in the ribbons.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I don't know if I will train my boys today as they both did OK yesterday other than Nuggets 3 rd send over the HJ in utility when he just sat there looking at me but he did go over on the first order the first two times once over each jump. He wasn't really up at all and when he is like this he isn't a lot of fun to work with slow and not very enthusiastic but he did do better with the fronts and would have qualified in utility if only the first two jumps are considered. Open he was better as is his norm with more enthusiasm and with my giving him less pressure he seems to do better. Hombre did 3 baited go outs from 60 ft. To die for fast straight right to the stanchion AND he turned ( after eating his cheese ) and sat on my " sit " order progress small but still a step forward the rest of his work pretty much status quo.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

After cutting the grass I decided to work with the boys a little and even though we didn't do a lot what was done was worth my effort. Hombre did 2 ROF and his pickups were better even though he left like a rocket he made a much improved pickup each time and his fronts were close to being straight ( still a little way to go ) but he didn't mouth the bell or drop it. Recalls (3) also fast and like the ROF fronts were better but still improvement must be made. The we did a couple jumps over the bar at 16 inches the first he ran around it but when he found out there wasn't any cheese for a reward the next few attempts were a success. Then the broad jump twice. Which the boards were spread out to 36 inches with me calling him over both attempts a success. Finally we did go outs at well over 60 ft. Because I moved the fence back several feet to save the grass from their footprint like wise the jumps both high and bar are now at 40 feet apart with a baited stanchion all three go outs were done super fast very straight and 2 of the 3 he sat when I yelled sit . This is coming along very well. Nugget was then brought out and with a baited stanchion the first time he did what for Nugget is fast a straight go out licking his cheese then sitting on my order. I reversed the jumps so the bar is now on his left when sitting at the stanchion and holding the signal a little and looking at the bar jump he was successful taking it when sent. The second go out and jump a success also we did a third go out with bait this time but no jump and this also was good. A pretty short work session but almost mistake free so it was a success in my mind today.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Had a quick fun match tonight.... actually wasn't sure if I'd go or not due to car related intrigues (my gas gauge decided to scare the heck out of me after I filled the tank and it kept telling me I had only a quarter tank in there - it went back to normal, but probably is something that needs a quick dx double check at the repair shop before I head way north in a couple weeks). Because we did not go to class last week and I felt heeling could have been so much better at the show last weekend, I decided to go tonight. 

We were very rushed when we got to the facility and Bertie was hot and panting all over (they didn't have the air on so it was pretty warm). So not the best quality novice and open runs as far as heeling goes. I do think the novice run would have been qualifying though. Probably low 190's. Open was slightly better because less heeling, of course. Open exercises were well done probably with the exception of sloppy finishes and then I rewarded him for the drop and skipped the front part of the DOR. 

For a dog that was just panting and drooling from being HOT during the heeling - he jumped really nicely. No complaints about either jump.  

We did OOS stays with everyone else. I stayed in sight, but left the ring with everyone else. Figured with him being such a slug by that point, he would hold his stays well. Which he did. 

Before heading home, we snuck into the utility ring to practice a little directed jumping and go-outs. Was very happy about not having to repeat anything. He did the go-out very cleanly (people say he marks like a border collie - with him hunching down and STARING at his target - which cracks me up). And he did the directed jumps. I'm not finishing them by bring him in to front... I think we're still a long way from that point and it's something I have to talk about to the lady I do privates with.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

We worked fronts yesterday 

Today is another 3H day, already close to 70 degrees with 85% humidity and just laying around the dogs are panting so no training or hiking this morning.

Instead, I ordered a few things I might very much regret!! A small (3 foot round) kiddie pool and 100 3" soft balls; oh the messes I see coming LOL but it could provide fun diving for treat games for the crew.

ETA: I decided to have Ms Towhee practice a 3 minute OOS sit all by herself. She broke the 1st time. The 2nd time she was unsure but maintained her sit position. I usually practice groups - hey - in a group!! but she may be in groups all by herself next week ..


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Tonight I'm the substitute instructor so no training for the boys till later this afternoon when I go to "work" LOL


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Just came from the butchers and bought 3 lg. femur bones for the dogs. They have been busy gnawing on them for 1 hour with no sigh of quitting. Nugget finally put Hombre in his place when the obnoxious pup tried to take Nuggets bone. First time ever he snarled and showed teeth I think Hombre got the message.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Congratulations to Bertie and Col!

I'm playing catch up on all the posts....

I'm planning to sign up for Advanced heeling at Bronze on the 1st. I haven't taken the prerequisites but won't need it at bronze. Training for us lately has been trips here and there. Last week we met up with two of our classmates to do open exercises. It was in a state wildlife area used for retriever training. It was hot, muggy, bugs just biting and ticks everywhere. Although Finley trains in grass all the time, she had a hard time focusing when it was our turn. Once she started to focus, (toward the end of the heeling pattern) she did well with the rest of the other exercises. Until it came to the OOS stays. A classmates husband watched the dogs while we walked out of sight. Not even a minute into the down stay she sat up. This seems to be becoming a habit since she did it at the show, the last show n go, and once while in a park and I went behind a bulletin board. At the show N go she did good on the first set of stays, and the second one decided to sit. Anyhow, I bought a 30 foot lead (the longest I could find locally) so that we can practice this in many more places than around the house or yard. 

We had no class Monday because of the holiday, but the week before we went early and did run-threws. She did quite well. I need to work on my footwork on the about turn.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Just in from a quick session 

*Towhee:* Some heeling with left turns, fasts into slows and halts very nice. Full height ROHJ - sweet!!! No hesitation just beautiful jumping going & coming - I used a fairly small dumbbell. Her front was probably a full point but no fussing since that is not the principal portion of the exercise.

*Faelan:* Heeling with right turns slamming into a slow pace - I did not catch him in a forge  Fasts starts into normal and left turns - very nice. ROHJ Beautiful!!

*Brady:* Heeling with fast starts and double about turns to keep him up and in drive  Then ROHJ - perfect!! beautiful arc over the jump (he jumps agility style) both directions, clean pickup and solid hold coming into a perfect front.

*Aedan:* well the pup seemed to want to play with the dumbbell - I hesitated since I had one of the good wooden show dumbbells out, but what a star!! He took the dumbbell 3 times, held it nicely without even my hand supported him and gave the dumbbell on cue - he did not pull his head back but did open his mouth to release - he must have been talking to the older dogs LOL Huge, huge party!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Mediocre training with Hombre didn't get much done as the club had work being done and Nugget was poor sloppy in open exercises and a failing NQ with the Directed Jumping AGAIN . Not much fun or feeling of accomplishment tonight I'm really getting frustrated with Nugget and his inconsistent work . If it don't rain me out we will work that exercise a few times tomorrow along with f+ f .


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

*Maple Cassidy UD*

Finally getting around to posting our big news: Maple finally got her 3rd Utility Q for her title at the Coeur d'Alene show on Tuesday. Score was not great, only a 192, mostly for 2 poor go-outs, which lost us a whopping 6 points. Both times, she barely went out far enough before turning. She has also taken to killing the glove when she's returning to me, which lost us another point. The score wasn't good enough for a placement. She was 5th among 7 qualifiers out of a field of about 12 dogs that ran.

She also Q'd in Open for our first UDX leg. The Open Q wasn't pretty. Her travel diarrhea got worse as the day wore on. She wasn't feeling very good during Open and lagged through most of the heeling. 

We had missed a Q the day before on what would have been a much better Utility run. Beautiful heeling, with no points lost at all on the signal exercise. Beautiful, straight go-outs all the way. Unfortunately, she anticipated the second jump on the go outs. She knew which one was coming! Why wait for a command? 

I feel like a huge weight is off my chest. It took us 28 runs over the space of about 14 months to get those 3 Qs. I read somewhere that the average Utility dog takes 29 runs for the title. I don't know if that's really true, but I am happy I got it in less than 29 tries (barely!).


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations!!! That is wonderful!!

arty2:arty2:arty2:arty2:arty2:arty2:arty2:

My King earned his UD in 4 tries, and I _think_ it took Faelan and I maybe 8 or 9?? I did not keep track but it felt like every trial something else would just not go right (signals once, Directed Jumping, scent articles, that darn glove #2 a few times; if I remember right). 

Its a tough class! But you did it  Congratulations!



PalouseDogs said:


> Finally getting around to posting our big news: Maple finally got her 3rd Utility Q for her title at the Coeur d'Alene show on Tuesday. Score was not great, only a 192, mostly for 2 poor go-outs, which lost us a whopping 6 points. Both times, she barely went out far enough before turning. She has also taken to killing the glove when she's returning to me, which lost us another point. The score wasn't good enough for a placement. She was 5th among 7 qualifiers out of a field of about 12 dogs that ran.
> 
> She also Q'd in Open for our first UDX leg. The Open Q wasn't pretty. Her travel diarrhea got worse as the day wore on. She wasn't feeling very good during Open and lagged through most of the heeling.
> 
> ...


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I have some home and agility equipment repairs and maintenance starting on Monday so this morning's session was a bit quick  I needed to take out a dogwalk and teeter that will be repaired and move some other equipment so the work trailers have room to be parked, it had to be this morning since I have a busy weekend coming up. Bike rides, training, puppy party, social events with friends, private lessons and I need to find time to groom all the dogs plus bathe & blow dry at least Faelan & Towhee, clean the house and move things off the deck for that cleaning & refinishing work. Pick out the color for the deck, stain color for the free standing garage and sundry other things.

I worked signals with all 3 of the older dogs and I tried something new with Ms Towhee -- glancing down at her as I come into a halt -- PERFECT!! Even the first halt ; again none of the dogs had warm ups just out of the house and into signal exercises.

*Faelan:* very, very nice!! He was surely not ready for his session to be over 

*Towhee:* I walked in to reward each individual part and walked in twice to reward her stand. Full distance and her heeling was nice as were her signals.

*Brady:* Heeling and signals were very nice - I used thrown treats for each individual portion and gave the signals as he was turning to face me and I was walking backwards - nice!

*Aedan:* left side walking (I would not call it heeling yet since he is still short and his head position is not where it will be), sits, fold back downs and a few stands  Very nice overall; he is rewarded immediately for everything but other than the stand, he is not lured at all 

As usual, no leashes were involved.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Congratulations to Palouse Dogs . Getting your UD regardless of how many trials it took is quite the accomplishment, with past dogs it took me 14 attempts with my Sam and the day he got it he was retired and my Quest took 6 and my Nova took 4 but every dog is different from the others. Nugget is a good example he too has his UD and 5 UDX legs and is falling apart now most go thru these stages of ups and downs but I hope you and your dog skip this part cause it's very very frustrating.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Its getting very humid and hot but I'm finished working with Mr. Inconsistent only need to work with my wild child Hombre. We didn't do anything different or out of the ordinary but Nugget did very very well in both class's . His go outs ( no bait on stanchion ) were straight and brisk ( not fast ) but not scoreable either and he took both jumps on the first order. MSFE very nice beautiful lockup. DR and Articles done well with only a front being a tad off . His heeling not perfect but only a lag on a about turn so he had it together today but he wasn't very up but it is so humid . All exercise in open pretty nice his drop on recall could have been a little quicker but it certainly wasn't scoreable either I just like instantaneous drops. This morning much better than yesterday at SCKC . A little later after I cool off and quit sweating I'll go out with Hombre and see what we can accomplish today.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I'm about to head out to the Sandy Ladwig seminar. I'm getting nervous, it's a six hour drive through Texas, and I don't know if I'll be encountering any flooded areas.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Loisiana said:


> I'm about to head out to the Sandy Ladwig seminar. I'm getting nervous, it's a six hour drive through Texas, and I don't know if I'll be encountering any flooded areas.


Drive safe! Have fun  you are one serious lady driving that far


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Three ROF all gotten quickly with improving pickups but fronts not so much a lot of work to go. Recalls same as far as doing them but he did anticipate one even though I said wait many times walking away from him. SFE very very nice. Jump over the bar 3 times with me calling him over at 16 inches he went around it the first time but no reward so he figured that out quickly no free lunch. Broad jump at 44 inches first attempt he cleared it with me calling him over showing him the cheese can second try he ran thru boards no reward 3 rd attempt showing the can and calling him with a short run back from me a success. It is getting very humid and the pup was panting pretty hard so we quit for today and probably tomorrow also with rain forecast for this afternoon and tomorrow.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Jodi drive carefully a seminar isn't worth it.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Congratulations to team Maple!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Calm in a chaotic world game tonight 

Push : Okay that was plain fun!!

I took their evening meal which tonight was kibble and put it in their bowl; one dog at a time. I then put 4 3" balls onto top of the kibble and brought the dogs outside one at a time (I do not have large containers or large balls yet, well I have their physio balls but those have a special meaning to my older dogs as in conditioning work)

*Brady:* Pushed/nudged 3 balls out of the bowl so they were close to the bowl and worked around the 4th ball to get the food. Once the bowl was empty, he showed no interest in the balls although he loves tennis balls 0 these balls were 3 inch soft & flexible rubbery type balls.

*Aedan*: whomped those balls scooping up with his snout and tossing them into the air and to a distance, kibble also went flying. He then went into a low bodied stance to get his food - Aedan usually eats in a crate so this was 3 differences: free, outside and with something besides food in his bowl. He seemed quite excited to search out the kibble that flew out of the bowl once the bowl itself was empty.

*Faelan*: Tossed 2 of the balls out immediately, ate around the other 2 balls and then grabbed the 2 balls in the bowl and set off to have a game with them.

*Towhee*: also nosed 2 balls out of the bowl and ate around the remaining 2 until there was very little kibble left. She then picked up the 3rd ball and dropped it on the ground and ate the remainder of the kibble around the remaining ball. She simply walked away from the ball & bowl when the food was gone.

I think each of the dogs loved the game but I was a bit surprised how they each solved the issue of balls in their way separately.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Sharon guess it just shows that your dogs are all Sunfire dogs and their the same that way but each dog is different in their actions and are individuals which is to me a good thing.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Big congratulations PalouseDogs and Maple!!!


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

Tugg's class last night went well. did a novice run thru, followed by a little utility work. He temporarily lost his mind when someone walked in to the club, but quickly recovered and from then on, did his best to be compliant. And I am finding myself, rather than getting frustrated by his antics, laughing out loud at him. He tries very hard to be a good boy, and who can argue with that. At the end we brought out his articles. Had a little trouble, but he was tired by then, and I had a bit of a epiphany on the way home. We also do Nosework, and it occurred to me that I use the same command for Nosework and Scent discrimination. I wonder if he is looking for the Nosework scent on the articles. Will have to run this one by our obedience instructor. Oh, and at the end of our session, the instructor was giving me some pointers on the articles and Tuggy went over and sat on his article mat. Made me laugh at him again. He is a lot of fun, and I think the smartest dog I have ever had.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

You have a good attitude. I need more of that. Lately, I'm thinking I am way too serious when I train outside my yard. When I train in the yard, I thow in a lot of motivational exercises. When I go offsite to a park to practice or to a show venue, I tend to get a lot more serious about doing exercise sequences. 

Someone on another list said they went to a seminar in which the presenter said to do 4 or 5 motivational exercises for every show-style exercise. That's my goal for the next month before the next show.



my4goldens said:


> Tugg's class last night went well. did a novice run thru, followed by a little utility work. He temporarily lost his mind when someone walked in to the club, but quickly recovered and from then on, did his best to be compliant. And I am finding myself, rather than getting frustrated by his antics, laughing out loud at him. He tries very hard to be a good boy, and who can argue with that. At the end we brought out his articles. Had a little trouble, but he was tired by then, and I had a bit of a epiphany on the way home. We also do Nosework, and it occurred to me that I use the same command for Nosework and Scent discrimination. I wonder if he is looking for the Nosework scent on the articles. Will have to run this one by our obedience instructor. Oh, and at the end of our session, the instructor was giving me some pointers on the articles and Tuggy went over and sat on his article mat. Made me laugh at him again. He is a lot of fun, and I think the smartest dog I have ever had.


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## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

PalouseDogs said:


> You have a good attitude. .


Thanks. With a dog like Tugg, you either laugh or you cry. And life is too short to cry over things like my failures in dog obedience training.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

my4goldens said:


> Thanks. With a dog like Tugg, you either laugh or you cry. And life is too short to cry over things like my failures in dog obedience training.


It sounds like you're enjoying the journey with Tugg and appreciating his unique character. At the end of the day isn't that what's most important.

I think you do want separate ques for nosework and obedience so as too avoid confusion.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Faelan, Towhee, Brady, Aedan and I all headed to a puppy party with a LOT of goldens at all stages of life, puppies and a lot of people on a glorious (if a bit warm) day in a park. None of my dogs have ever been to this park before.

Distractions galore.

Faelan did some really nice heeling and signal work, an all right drop on recall and was happy happy. Front & Finishes perfect!

Towhee not only had the distraction of a lot of people she knows & loves, but the grilling of hot dogs trying to grab her nose  She did very nice heeling and recall - her fronts & finishes were awesome!

Brady met & greeted a lot of people and dogs and was confident and out going -- WIN!!

Aedan was also very prancy and happy, meeting & greeting and generally well behaved - we discovered he has a deep AROOO bark when unhappy about something (either a puppy pen full of puppies that at his angle were weird looking or possibly a big stuffed bunny rabbit by the pen). He was fine when I approached from a different direction


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Forgot to update here... we did BN again today. Since Bertie has his title, this is just basically training/proofing now. I'm working on my confidence level before I enter him in anything that requires I take the leash off. I'm about there - even though we NQ'd today. 

He did absolutely wonderful heeling, his "exam" stay was perfect, with him absolutely planting himself into place during the exam. Stay - he didn't even turn his head to watch me when I walked around him. 

It came down to the recall exercise and yep - I must have gotten a little hyper about finishing up and rushing over to the conformation ring in time, because I just did a quick hand wave "wait" signal and started heading out. 

When I am more deliberate and firm with the signal and command, he usually waits. I did not do that that - so my fault. 

The judge was nicely disappointed for us and groaned about how he had been doing so great up to that point. I admittedly was disappointed because I thought we were likely going to get a REALLY NICE SCORE, but that said - it wasn't a huge deal since we already have all 3 legs. I got what I wanted out of the entry, which was seeing that heeling coming along. 

There was somebody there who showed her dog in novice, graduate novice, and I guess she was showing a different dog in beginner novice. The dog was 15 months old and not quite ready for either novice or any open exercises.... and it had me fidgeting about entering a dog that early unless he's really good. But before going out there for GN, she was telling me about how many ways this dog messes up his open jumps and there was other stuff. She was putting the dog down for having blonde moments in the ring, but geez. I hemmed and hawed about not entering a dog for something until he's ready. Which she said you have to get out there and use the shows as fun matches because... I guess where she lives, they don't have fun matches. *scratches head*


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

No training today for either boy, it's been raining since I got up at 4:00 am and is still raining now at 5:30 pm but I guess a break is a good thing now and then. Hope we can do some training tomorrow.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

^^^ Thought I'd share.  

Apparently Jacks' t'storm phobia is mellowed enough that he was able to temporarily come out of panic mode to emphatically come running when he heard me training his brother. 

Since I was working "waits" with Bertie, had both dogs doing regular recalls with me running away, skipping away, etc.... I put both dogs into a side-by-side wait and both dogs held their waits and did perfect (not centered obviously) fronts when they got to me. 

Also did the best drops I've seen both of them do in a long time. Probably benefit of Bertie copying his brother who had very solid drops and still does. 

But anyway - getting Jacks to train with me while it's stormy-rainy-gross outside? I win.


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