# Apr 2018 Training logs



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I have to sit down and plan some things 

Its not often I feel a tad ... well ... overwhelmed, but here I am LOL

Brady & Towhee are heading into the Utility ring and I need to proof a whole lot (time consuming but really fun).

Aedan & Faelan need to learn the command discrimination -- not a huge big deal, but time consuming and well, kind of boring.

Aedan also needs to learn the complete scent discrimination -- another exercise that results in some fun stuff but getting there takes... time ...

Finch needs to learn so much ... that ... takes ... time

Oh plus agility basics ... more foundation stuff ... that guess what? takes time and is less than thrilling.

Okay, need to plan out what to balance time consuming blecky type things with moving and fun things


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Planning to work on people distractions with the weaves and Penny's intermittent stress (maybe taking Ring Confidence at Bronze). Also have my second Loretta Mueller seminar to attend in a couple weeks. I have a Masters working spot and I'm excited to see her again.

Hoping to get Penny's AX this month. If by some miracle we were perfect in the two trials we're going to, we would get our first MACH points and QQ, but that's a bit unrealistic. I'm glad to finally be out of Open jumpers. I think the Excellent courses will be easier since I hate how Open courses consistent of speed lines that always end up being a race to the next front/blind/ect.

Also impatiently waiting for weather to improve so I can have a good backyard for proofing exercises again. Will go to run-throughs and LOWES for some proofing in the meantime.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Last night and this morning were pretty similar in training. We had a snowstorm so all training was inside.

Faelan had signals, MSFE and up close stands from a sit.

Towhee had signals (she still tends to stick on the heel signal unless I say Ready first, after 1st signal she is fine) and MSFE

Brady had signals and MSFE

Aedan had heeling, stand with slight distance on drop signal, close up on sit signal with verbal and really close up on sit to stand from the front.

Finch had heeling, increasing distance and / or duration (up to 5 seconds) on sit stays then this morning morning work on gaining distance (up to 3 steps away) while focuss forward rewards as I walk away and step back to reward. Still using active rewards with her since it is hard on her (like her mama but without the foot tapping her mama needs) and she will do better with stress releases


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

This is my first post on the training logs, but I like following along with everyone's training adventures! Here's our plans for this month:

We are going to restart the Rally class we took in Jan/Feb in a couple of weeks. It was an awesome class and helped Rocket get his Rally Intermediate title at the big Ft. Worth shows last month! Now we are hoping to continue on to Advanced and get that within the next few months. I am building an adjustable jump out of PVC to start working on that at home and gradually build up the the height to 16" for Rally. We will also continue working on off-leash heeling in distracting places and building drive and focus. If we end up competing anytime soon, I am just going to pray it's not a broad jump. LOL One thing at a time. Do y'all use the same commands for bar jump/high jump and broad jump?


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I do  I use OVER. 

In rally I also make sure to have my dog focus forward before a jump since they normally focus on me while heeling. I simply remove my hand from my heel position and point to the upcoming jump a step or 2 before cuing the jump.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I use the same word for the bar jump and broad jump for agility. 

I don't know if you have spare pieces of 2x4 laying around or blocks of wood that resemble the broad jump panels, but I just laid leftover 2x4 pieces down like a broad jump in my backyard to get in that muscle memory for taking the broad jump and it translated well to trials.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This next month I need to focus mostly on Towhee & Brady for Utility, while stepping up the training for Finch, Aedan and possibly Faelan (new open exercise and/or the excellent & masters rally classes)

That said, I scheduled several rentals at 2 different places for all the dogs.

Dave's on the 8th, 15th and 29th sundays midday
ODTCW on the 7th, 21st and 28th saturday evenings

I plan on heading to Albany on the 14th with Towhee & Brady for Utility run thrus. Entry is not yet open.

I scheduled run thrus on the 22nd for Towhee & Brady at ODTCW 

I am entered but at this point won't be going to an UDX attempt on the 7th (waitlisted for a trial on the 20th so unless I hear I got in I won't head up on the 7th since Faelan needs 2 legs and I prefer not to jump my dogs on mat covered concrete)

The local drop in classes on Saturday resume this weekend and I will be rotating dogs for the 11 & 12 classes. The 1:00 class will be Finch as of right now

11:00 is Open/Utility
12:00 is rally
1:00 is Novice


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

A double trial that I entered Brady & Towhee in is outdoors. Here in New England we tend to get a lot of rain at times and although the trials are in May it can also be very hot.

So...
Yesterday it snowed and melted, today it is raining hard at times, but it is also foggy. I turned on the lights in the side yard (where they do not spend much time) and we worked among about 150' of spread out hoses (to uncrink it) and a few fallen branches from today's winds -- on the wet grass with the shadows from the overhead lighting (that blue LED lighting).

We did signals (Towhee stuck on the sit portion) and scent articles. I was also wearing a parka style coat with the a fuzzy hood up so I probably presented a picture they are not used to seeing but the rain drops were at times hard enough to hurt! So up went the hood, the parka style coat is a deep red, my home is green so I am also unsure how clearly they could see me other than my hand -- I am light skinned so I am pretty sure that is what they key off of most of the time anyway.

Good proofing session I think LOL


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Well I built a jump out of PVC tonight, so here goes nothing on jump training! Picture will come tomorrow, it's not uploading on my Mac for some reason. 

Also, here's a little more info about us: Rocket is 2.5 and has gotten both RN and RI in three trials at clusters with no NQs. We improved greatly from RN to RI because we started training with Judy Ramsey and Tracie Kolnsberg (whose dog is on the cover of Front and Finish this month) and they are awesome! We were the only RNs in a big group of RAEs and RMs and they were very patient and taught me so much on how to teach him and properly correct him when he is a turd. Haha! We have caught the Rally bug and we love it! It's so much fun! After we get done with Advanced and Excellent we may try for BN and CD. I want to get RA and RE first though, so that we can stay in the A classes. I don't think Rocket will ever be a true obedience dog, because I'm a newbie and he didn't get a typical competition obedience foundation, but he seems to love Rally. Several people have told me that I should try agility with him because he has so much spunk, so I am considering that for next year.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Here's the jump as promised! The tension in the bars on the slip tees hold them in place until you move them, which is pretty cool. I felt like a kid playing with Tinker Toys! It only cost about $30 total and took about 30 minutes to put together. Rocket just kind of instinctively stepped over it a couple times, but we are going to have a real training session with it tonight after I get home from work.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Very nice


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

hmmm, so Faelan has an issue when the Broad Jump is the first exercise in the B order. 2 of the 6 orders have the broad jump first.

I know this but accepted this. My reasoning was that at 10 years old, he might just not be warmed up enough to safely jump this with virtually no running start (2 strides does not count). 

Why am I saying this?

Because in one of my online courses, a lecture had a defining moment for me. I do not punish or train with compulsion. I build desire and love of working with me. That is how I roll. My courses are predominately at Fenzi or agility courses where relationship based training rules. Where our dogs always have a choice and we build confidence and reliability. 

One lecture in a Reliable Stays course has me in a light bulb moment!! It started speaking to the different emotional states of the stays/waits. And, a HOLE -- it highlighted an absolute HOLE in my training.

I have taken for granted the emotional response of a Stay/Wait either with or without a 'mark'. I have allowed the context to dictate the CER of the STAY/WAIT -- agility will result in an explosive release. Field work resulted in an explosive release. The dumbbell results in an explosive release. The recall will result in an explosive release. But I have never trained the explosive release in front of the broad jump - never seemed to be necessary but this could be the missing piece for my Faelan and if I choose to enter Aedan in the B classes I had best train him in the explosive release as well.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Nice jump. =) Looks like a good height for teaching it. Your dog is gorgeous, too.

I got to run another sheltie last week - another one with some contact issues. I had to pick her up when she stopped on the dog walk and put her on the ground since she will jump off. Then I ran the first sheltie again in my usual class. I feel like I have to look so much further down for a 16" dog than a 20" dog. Plus shelties have smaller eyes, which makes it harder for me to tell if we're connecting.

I worked on people proofing with multiple volunteer ring crew and attempted to place people in positions relative to the weaves that would tempt Penny to pop out. She passed the people test every time. I may need to bring a chair out and see if people sitting will get her distracted.

Trial this weekend - will be happy if Penny continues to do well in her weaves. Decompression walk planned for tomorrow to help prepare for it. It will be either muddy, soggy, icy, snowy, or a combination of those.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Eclipse said:


> Nice jump. =) Looks like a good height for teaching it. Your dog is gorgeous, too.


Thank you! :smile2:We didn't do the jump training last night, but we did it tonight and he did wonderfully! He loved it! We started with it on the bottom at around 5", then went up to approximately 9", and ended at 12". It was probably a little fast, but he seemed to just know what I wanted and do it. We did "Send to Jump, Handler Passes By" drills, recall over jump drills, and just a few reps of me throwing a treat over it and making him wait, then sending him without me moving my feet. I snuck in some regular heeling and other Rally drills while walking around the jump to kinda break up the session a bit and to let him know that he didn't know to jump over it every time we get close.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

So I bit the bullet and entered Sona into a couple of obedience shows in June. However I may just do them as training rounds and/or not complete the stays. Depends on how things go. They are all less than an hour away which is why I decided to try it again. I should be stewarding at a fun Ob show in early May so I will use the opportunity to get there early get some fun ring practice in with Sona. 
In training stays are going well, Sona managed a long stay with out of site portions in class with other dogs and no stressing/barking/breaking position. It has taken many baby steps and months to get back to this stage. The other training we have been working on over the last couple of months has been play. Sona has always loved to play with togs and play tuggy etc but since around November when I went to touch the toy she would drop it like a hot potato. We have been playing lots of games with easy wins for Sona and just before Easter she engaged in her first proper game of tuggy in months at agility ?. As one of my friends commented ‘Sona has got her mojo back’.

I’m now trying to work on some arousal up, arousal down games right now although I’m currently visiting family and have a horrible cold so not much happening beyond the minimal right now lol.

I also need to decide if I drop one agility class and go back to rally. The instructor at that class has an injury so we had a new very experienced instructor for a couple of weeks. However Sona really did not like this man and then she panicked when he went to restrain her by the collar at the start line (my fault I should have not let him). Our class has a different instructor this term who seems nice but part of me is worried about risking another new instructor.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny earned Novice FAST leg #2, second place. First time in Excellent Jumpers we Qed with a first place. We did a "speed loop" of jumps in Standard, then she saw something outside the ring at the top of the A-frame that made her 100% different for the rest of the course - I should have pulled her. She disconnected completely and just seemed out of it. I don't know if a dog gave her a hard stare or she saw someone eating really good food? I am really perplexed by it, and the ring wall is solid white, so I'll never know what happened. For a second I was worried she was going to jump off the apex. She did get her weaves in Standard, and LOTS of dogs kept stopping in them to sniff at the ground, so I'm happy she wasn't affected by that. 

I saw the amazing Border Collie P!nk run too. She won Westminster and the AKC Nationals this year in her height class and she's only 2 or 3. She's quite a speed demon.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congrats!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

So far today we had 3 classes

Towhee had Utility where she had mucho difficulty
Faelan had Rally where he had fun and did well
Aedan had Novice with some Open & Utility where he did well.

A dog went after Aedan and he handled that well, the lady was wicked upset with my reaction I suppose (her dog was way over threshold and still she gave the dog an entire leash length to come after Aedan who was minding his own business -- seriously) she wouldn't need to worry about her dog, she'd need to be worrying about me!! Oh yeah, this was after she said those words 'hes never done that before' -- LADY, now he has and now you know he has a problem if it happens again, you'll have ME to deal with and that will not be pretty' And then I just stayed in my spot to let Aedan know he could rely on me to step between him and trouble and I stayed there until Aedan was relaxed and focused again, feeding as he relaxed. Then we calmly left the spot and the building. Yeah the GSD probably was getting upset but he was not my focus, Aedan was and Aedan needed to know I had his back and leaving the building before he calmed down may have re-enforced the possibility that there was cause for concern

But I am hopeful Aedan will not have bad repercussions since I focused on him relaxing before passing the dog again.

Anyway, tonight I have a rental and will be starting some away from home agility with him, Towhee & Faelan. I have not decided about Brady or Finch yet although they can both do obedience there 

Tomorrow I have an extended rental where I can spend more time on agility basic basics with Finch (Brady has a new hot spot; I have to figure out what caused it -- I ma leaning towards the replacement pan in the crate (aluminum) since Ms Finch broke and started eating the plastic pan!!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny's good runs. I don't know if I still need to collect her before the weaves for her entries, I guess I'll see. She was like "I can find the entry myself, thanks" on the jumpers run. Was happy that she didn't pop out of the weaves, especially considering the judge and a bar setter were in the corner. After our jumpers run, I told my instructor that it would be nice if we got a third place, since there were six dogs entered. Then she dragged me over to the ribbons table afterward, telling me she needed to show me something and picked out my first place sticker. I thought maybe I did the course wrong and didn't realize it, lol.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Nice Runs


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Something I heard today and forgot to mention - a lady with a 5yo Weimaraner was one FAST Q away from her Grand Championship, I don't know what the formal term is, I just know it takes 10x as much work as a MACH. They took the dog to the agility trial Friday, then it chased a squirrel at home and it dropped dead. I don't know details beyond that, but it must have had an unknown heart problem. I was really shocked to hear that.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Hombre today earned his second leg toward his UDX and also got his first OTCH point out of open b with a second place and a 1971/2


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## LynnC (Nov 14, 2015)

Hombrespop said:


> Hombre today earned his second leg toward his UDX and also got his first OTCH point out of open b with a second place and a 1971/2


I sent you a PM


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Woot Woot  WTG Richard & Hombre    

I studiously did not go to Faelan's trial 1) I have a cold and 2) It would really suck to earn his 9th UDX leg and then know I did not make the cut off for his final trial  

Now I get to decide if I teach the Command Discrimination or just move him over to Rally -- but boy was he one excited doggie running agility for the first time in years tonight LOL 

Each dog ran the following practice courses from Clean Run Magazine (well Finch jump had basic, you jump, come to heel, come to side type things since she is only beginning to learn about jumps) 



Hombrespop said:


> Hombre today earned his second leg toward his UDX and also got his first OTCH point out of open b with a second place and a 1971/2


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

>Sharon hope you feel better!!


Sorry computer problems prevented me from getting on the forum———wish i was a little more knowledgable. 

Another show this coming weekend hopeing for a third UDX leg. The new command - signals arent far away from being put in play and so far Hombre is not having any problem with them BUT you never know when its for real.


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

Been working on directed jumping with Blitz and Tink and ordering their articles. Doing heeling and motivated recalls since both for some reason are not showing their normal power drive to me. Trying to get ready for the new changes and gain some distance in the command discrimination. Blitz is moving up to Rally advanced and I am trying to decide if I want to continue doing the RAE with Tink or just try masters. My old job of 10 years ended in January company closed and I just got offered a job its retail though, its supposed to by part time but I am worried it will eat up all my weekends and I won't be able to get to the shows like I wanted. Will see if they are really as flexible as they implied on getting weekends off or the job search might need to continue sigh


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Today Finch & Faelan got to play hookey from training and go on an extended hike instead 

At the rental. Towhee & Brady had Utility run throughs while Aedan had some Utility and some Open.

And then we played more agility  more variations on yesterday's setup from Clean Run


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Congrats! 



Hombrespop said:


> Hombre today earned his second leg toward his UDX and also got his first OTCH point out of open b with a second place and a 1971/2


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Today Penny was still stressing in Standard, but a lot less than yesterday. She missed some weave poles, but not due to the smell that stopped some dogs (again). They moved the weave poles forward only a couple dogs in. I didn't stick around after Penny's run to see if it was a permanent fix. She had a strange moment with the table where she stopped in front of it and just barked at me - she never does that. She got on after a couple seconds and she stayed for the count. I think the new higher table height might be throwing her off. I have plans to build a table to work on that.

In Jumpers the course was really hard for Penny. It was an ugly course with lots of lead changes and bars came down in several places on the course by many dogs. There was also the strange triple jump to nowhere right before the weaves. Penny didn't drop any bars, but she had a hard time keeping focused on me with this type of course. She had a weird moment where she drifted out of the weaves since she started focusing on me, then I just skipped the rest of them.

For jumpers, I just FCed everything since dogs that went fast knocked bars. I crossed between 3-4, 5-6, 6-7, 9-10, 12-13, and was going to at 18-19 too, but I messed up her line and made Penny miss jump 18.

EDIT: I had my instructor review my runs and she said the table is illegal for use since it isn't colored correctly - that could explain why she had trouble with the table both days. The club didn't listen to the judge or competitors...go figure. I wouldn't go here again unless they changed the table.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Last night, for the first time in a long time! , Faelan and I had a shaping session with the clicker 

He seems to be catching on a bit quicker and happier to the stand from a sit with me in front of him with this approach. Of course the meatball tidbits were probably helping a great deal 

Aedan had stands from both the sit and the down since I have no doubts in his being non-creaky. I do not have reason to believe Faelan might be creaky, but at almost 10.5, I want to make very sure he knows a remote stand before trying it from a down. All stands were from very close

Still will most likely be showing him in Rally but I also do not want to feel I gave up on my boy before he was ready to no longer show so we shall see how it goes.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This evening I set up 3 jumps about 15' apart with a Klimb about 10' after the final jump.

Finch had some target training and Ready Steady GO from 1 jump away from the KLIMB

Faelan, Brady, Towhee & Aedan all had full length sends (that is all 3 jumps to the treat on the KLIMB). I don't remember doing this with Aedan but other than the collar grap Reaaady Steeeeeeeeeeeeady GO! portin I think he just did like a utility Go Out -- all dogs had fun.

Then 1 jump was left out and Faelan, Towhee, Brady & Aedan each had
2 calls to heel, 2 calls to side over the jump. 
They did well 

Then they got to come in and eat supper which I will also be doing very soon


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Class at my club only 4 teams showed up but i have a lady with a little cocker whose doing very nicely. 

Hombre today worked very well in both open and utility with only f+f the ongoing wistakes but i think getting better. Used e- collar to get a faster return on the MSFE IN THE TONE MODE worked well. Tomorrow training at the new place 2 blocks from home which is really nice.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Yesterday we had some fun heeling on the beach ? need to work on that sit position lol!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Very pleased with todays training session , MSFE done beautifully with a STRAIGHT sit . Actually every exercise in both utility and open were very well done. It was crowded as a heartworm clinic was also going on. The only real mistake made today was Hombre missing a stand signal on the new order of exercises that AKC has put out to take the s+d place. F+F really improving, now if onlyicould get him to show like he trains . After training today i mulched leaves and cut the grass for the first time this year. My back yard needs a bit of work as the dogs have torn it up since the fall. Thursday Im going to set my ring and jumps up because its supposed to hit 71 degrees.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Got in some nice distance practice for our first course, then made a couple silly mistakes in class. I used my outside arm for a tunnel/a-frame discrimination when I needed to use my left arm to tell Penny to take the tunnel. So I ended up with a confused dog that squeezed past me to get on the a-frame, doing what I told her to do, and my instructor had to point out I was doing the wrong thing entirely. I also ran the sheltie again. I will miss running her when her owner's arm is better, she's a fun dog. I'm working on her start line stay per the owner's request and she does pretty good. It helps that she responds well to resetting a broken stay.

No training planned for this week. I'm taking it easy until the Loretta seminar.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Rocket is up to the full 16” for Rally jumping now! We had our third jump training session tonight with some other exercises and lots of off-leash heeling in the driveway. I like to train there because it’s a very short driveway and there are lots of distractions: people walking/running, cyclists, cars, other dogs, leaves blowing in the wind (gets him every time), etc. 

He makes training new things easy, because once he gets it, he gets it. I can start randomizing rewards pretty quickly and then start generalizing. I dropped a large chunk of the string cheese I was using, so he ended up getting a jackpot at the end. We did a good 3 minutes or so of heeling, position changes, stays, and at least 3 jumps with no rewards until the end. I was very pleased considering we had already been out there for 20 minutes or so. He forged a bit after one of the jumps to stare at a spiderweb, but hopefully that is a ring condition we never encounter. ? and he recovered pretty quickly. 

There is a trial coming up in about a month that will be at our training facility and I think I’m going to go for the advanced title. We get three trials in two days, thankfully. Rocket tends to check out on the third day, but still Qs, just not in the 90s like I would prefer.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

no training for me last night. It was a savor the dogs kind of night 

A cute picture popped up in my FB memories -- a picture of Ms Finch with her first rosette from a field event. And it reminded me that Mike & Barb field train with her and now that the snow (hopefully) is gone for the upcoming seasons, they are training again -- actually it was cancelled due to snow yesterday and a funeral this past weekend.

Anyway, so I asked Barb if they were wanting Finch back for training and she suggested the week after next. Well she is due to go into season next month so would have been heading over soon anyway, but it made me sad and just want hanging out time  

Her first choice of a beau had to be declined -- she tested as a carrier for ICH and first choice is also a carrier, so no rush on getting her hip & elbow clearances. We were concerned she would turn 2 and immediately go into season which loosens the joints, so now we will probably wait several months for clearances while I continue going to trials and we all (Barb, Mike & I) look for potential mates for her ...


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

So decided to stop my Thursday night agility class this term and take a hoopers class instead. It starts tomorrow! Feeling excited!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Apparently, my current books on teaching agility jumping & handling are out of date 

Makes sense in a way since the agility world has taken a turn towards the technical. 

So I ordered a new (i thought expensive! ) book along with a self study course. I can justify the expense I guess 

1) Aedan & Finch will have a foundation geared towards today's courses

2) Faelan & Towhee can use the exercises for conditioning

3) Brady could probably use a refresher which includes the bending etc work

Anyway, this is the plan  I will need to adapt things so they don't confuse the dogs between obedience & agility but movement should help the dogs understand.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Worked today as the fill in instructor at SCKC and was somewhat disappointed with Hombre because he did not work as well today as yesterday in fact he was sloppy . Fronts were poor , pickup on the ROF poor sliding the db several inchs heeling wide . Nothing that would have NQd us but not a clean accurate performance either. Tomorrow after i getthe ring and jumps set up hopefully we can get a little practice in as we have a trial Sat.looking for his #3 leg towards the UDX.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Last night we worked on collected jump training.

Faelan, Towhee, Brady & Aedan were all absolutely delighted to play this game again. We worked from 14 to 16 inches in the training room. Each dog had 16 treats so 16 successful jumps.

Finch has never played this game before and so started at 10 inches and luring... then 12 then 14 inches. She started understanding and offering the jump fairly quickly. I didn't count out her treats but probably close to 20. She delights in figuring out how to open that treat hand


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I got the gates and jumps put in place measured to AKC specs. Also got my lawn roller out filled with water and flattened the yard as much as I could. The dogsreally tore the yard up over the winter so ive purchased seed but now need dirt . Its a beautiful day sunny and close to 70 the dogs are loving it and dont want to come indoors. I was going to train Hombre but Im wore out so tomorrow !


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

We NQ'd 2 weeks ago. After the last article, when I gave Finley the signal to finish, she went around behind me and promptly went to visit the steward who was holding gloves at the ring entrance. She grabbed hold of the gloves and the steward was holding on, so Finley had herself a nice game of tug and to make matters worse wouldn't come when I called her....prior to that she had already NQ'd on the signals (2 days in a row..). Suffice it to say class has been a bit rough the past 2 weeks as we are proofing hard for distractions, waving gloves, waving article bags, happy people telling her how wonderful she is a foot a way from her as we set up for exercises ect. An NQ is one thing, but blowing me off and embarrassing me in the ring is not something I'm going to put up with. She does know better :frown2:. 
I brought Banshee with us to class this week. First time ever, for the 2 of them at the same time. Instructor thought it would be good for Finley to see me working with anther dog, not to mention Banshee has been put on the back burner (class wise) long enough. Long night for us, but doable, and I intend to continue on with that.

Yesterday I took the ring gates and bar jump to a park. Finley did well on everything, BUT there was no one there. Even so, the distraction of equipment in a new location was good and she had a great time. 

Today everything in the house. "Taking" a glove for Banshee, short dumbbell retrieves also for Banshee. Emphasis on a quick pickup without playing with it first. Articles for Finley, and signals for each. Finley has a "show N Go" Saturday. I haven't decided exactly what I want to do. Might do full runs, but I think I need to take advantage of having a "judge" and happy stewards to visit.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I feel your pain.

With my dogs, if the nose goes down and they blow me off.....game over! That is one way of NQing that is unacceptable to me.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I did end up buying a Bronze spot for Ring Confidence. I had a short session introducing Penny to squishing. I'm not sure how well I will be able to train a relaxed response for her squish because she naturally does a "reverse squish" where her butt is facing forward for scratching. She does a strange jumping motion with just her back legs when she's in that position and she's excited. It started with towel drying her as a puppy after a bath and it's evolved from there, lol.

It is 73 here today so we had a nice long hike afterwards. I even found a decorated rock that people like to hide around trails locally for others to hunt down on hikes.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

OI actually don't use a squish. My pre ring routine varies by dog, but none of them likes the squish 

Aedan needs to be able to look around & acclimate and does this most comfortably when I am sitting and he is standing with his front feet on my lap while I slowly/gently kind of scratch down his length (sides, back etc)

Faelan is best getting slightly revved before we go into the ring altho generally he is on a settle for the time it takes for the previous dog to exit the ring and for us to be called in and then he explodes into his setup.

Towhee needs to be kept very very calm and focused only on me so she does best with heeling and quick spins 

Brady I honestly have not settled on anything yet. He dislikes the squish and is not really comfortable being revved or played with although pushing him back by the chest tends to draw him into focus nicely.

Finch I don't know but she might well fall asleep in a squish LOL not that she is low energy but she gets very contented (almost purrs) when being held close 

It really depends on your dog. I have tried the squish repeatedly and train it, but it just doesn't offer my dogs the quiet focus they need.

The rest of the Ring Confidence class is full of great things though


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Back from Hoopers and really enjoyed it. We were just doing hoops and tunnels in a straight line (approx 7 obstacles) and it was all stuff Sona could do quite easily - with the exception of a stressy start line. Easy wins are good for her sometimes and I think this class will be really good for her as it is a very calm environment. I brought her raised bed and after the first 10 min she relaxed nicely on it. Looking forward to next week now!


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## KKaren (Oct 29, 2014)

We are starting to fit in at the Border Collie training center where Glimmer and I move to for Agility. Much of class is focused on lines for the course, crosses and for Glimmer, trying to keep her engaged. She's not quite comfortable there yet -- neither am I but our instructor is starting to know us. It was nice that one of the other students came up after class and said "don't be discouraged" and I feel that this week (and some of last week) my teacher is customizing our runs to fit our level. We are working on wraps at home.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

I’ve been reviewing Sona balance and body awareness exercises. I bought an exercise ball before Christmas so I think I might introduce that this weekend


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

Had class the other night and Blitz was back to laying down in the sit he just kinda nods off when I am across the ring. We have been doing lots of command discrimination so not sure if that is muckin with him. Tink I keep eye contact with she likes it but it makes Blitz think he is supposed to to do something else so I don't try and hold him with my eyes or he starts offering odd behaviors. So we have been doing all kinds of Sit stays in weird spots like the couch the bed the recliner the open car door top of stairs with me at the bottom or vice versa. This morning working motivated recalls my trainer has me occasionally step out and throw a treat back between my feet so they run thru. Tink ended up on my feet pretty much crashed into me as for some reason she thought I might be planning to toss the treat back I was sure I did not move or offer any hint. Then Blitz tried it too even though my feet were together so need to not do too many of those or one of them is going to knock me off my feet lol. 

Later today I have plans for body awareness and focused heeling and some games for fun. I do start that new job Sunday so its going to be a big adjustment for the dogs with my not being home all day hopefully it won't stress them to much.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

The “Challenge”also known as Hombre was a good boy today earning his 3rd UDX LEG scoring a 195 in utility and then coming back in open b with a 198 1/2 getting second place and his second OTCH point.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Awesome  Congratulations!



Hombrespop said:


> The “Challenge”also known as Hombre was a good boy today earning his 3rd UDX LEG scoring a 195 in utility and then coming back in open b with a 198 1/2 getting second place and his second OTCH point.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

Hombrespop said:


> The “Challenge”also known as Hombre was a good boy today earning his 3rd UDX LEG scoring a 195 in utility and then coming back in open b with a 198 1/2 getting second place and his second OTCH point.


Congratulations!

*****Would you please contact me or any member of the Mod Team. We have sent you several Private Messages, we are trying to straighten out your acct. for you.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I headed up & over to Albany NY today (~ 2.25 hours ea way) with Towhee & Brady for Run Thrus. They each had 2 Utility runs.

Mistakes were made but I am super proud of how calm and focused Brady was!! Towhee needed settling time but no visiting for her today 


So, I declare today a good day!! 2 runs each in a different environment and their attitudes were great, there were moments of brilliance and a few areas to work on.




Got home and it's almost 70 here .. and all the way home I was seeing the highway signs flashing ice storm/icy mix warnings for Sat/Sun ..... hmmm hope I can make my rental tomorrow in the Agawam MA area!

Brady definitely needs work on his finishes and his handler needs to keep her body still!! Towhee had some issues with articles; interesting and the only thing I noted was the stewards were NOT touching/handling the bits -- they were gingerly holding each bell. I learned no more dumping the articles since apparently some folks don't clean their bags and all manner of stuff sometimes falls out (heard a filled POOP BAG fell out somewhere ewwwww )

Brady and Towhee start showing in Utility next month and many of the trials will kind of be training since we tend not to have many matches. I have them entered in a few more matches and actually am kind of impressed that there seem to be more matches ... plus if I want those UDs I have to ask myself 'how bad do I want them?'

Today was long .. getting up at 3:30 taking care of the dogs etc and getting out of the house by 6:00a. Was there from about 8:20 to 1:15. Got home about 3:30 and let all he dogs out. And my day is only half over  But it was fun and what I am trying is letting each dog spend a lot of the time outside the ring taking in the atmosphere ...


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Hombrespop said:


> The “Challenge”also known as Hombre was a good boy today earning his 3rd UDX LEG scoring a 195 in utility and then coming back in open b with a 198 1/2 getting second place and his second OTCH point.


Yay Hombre, congrats!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

The Masters level Loretta Mueller seminar was great, I think she's a dog (and people) whisperer. She only has to watch each person run one time to completely dissect what is going wrong with a person's handling and the mental issues a dog has. 

She said we've made a lot of progress in the past year. I'm glad she thinks so, and another person that was in the Novice seminar with me last year made the same comment. 

We did two different courses with a lot of time spent talking about handling choices, ect. Some dogs worked on a mix of emotional/behavior/proofing and handling, but Loretta just had us work on handling. Penny didn't care about the 12 people sitting ringside or Loretta walking around. That's better than the BDA seminar we did in November. She had people in the ring for some teams but I chose not to request people for our runs since I've extensively proofed it a lot lately.

Loretta's comments were that I was late with cues, connected too much at some points then didn't connect at other times and didn't give Penny a line to follow in a couple places for our first run - she calls it a "litmus test" so she can make initial observations without influencing our handling choices. The traps were subtle yet you could see clearly where they would cause issues and we did a good job of running into them - oops. I made a lot of connection/line mistakes. We had one beautiful clean run but my old 4GB memory camera ran out of room right before this run since I chose to film Penny's runs + my old instructor's runs. I will just make a note on her video so I can remember I had one good run.

One important thing I learned is that I need to have more than one type of treat on my person. I take Penny's "OMG what is that I need to eat it" Golden personality for granted. I fed string cheese to her until she started to get tired and lose motivation. Loretta asked me to try new treats. Someone handed me some pepperoni slices and I also got duck treats. Penny perked up and got a second wind from changing treats.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Miserable cold rainey day with high wind that has blown over all my ring gates. Hombre gets the day off as do I . Tomorrow is club day so Ill get to train and teach class plus with the drop in part of the day do run thrus .


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I canceled my rental given the icy weather forecast and decided to give the dogs their Heartworm preventive this morning rather than this evening.... so they have had the day off (I do not train for 24-36 hours after giving these ). But I have caught up on some things and the dogs like just hanging around sometimes, Towhee wanted to do something so she took a ride while I did errands.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Congrats to Hombre! 

Finley did pretty well at the Show N Go Saturday. We would NOT have qualified, but overall I was so happy with her. On the first run threw she stood and started to walk towards me on the sit signal. She had that, "I've never seen that signal before" look on her face...Then on the gloves, after the pivot she didn't sit, and just went and got the glove with no direction from me. The Go-outs and sit were probably the best we've done in a unique environment. I also think we had an automatic finish after one of the jumps. That is something that happens when she's over the top, but it's happening less and less. The 2cd run threw I decided not to do articles, since they were correct the first time. I used our minutes instead to do all 3 gloves, which she did without issue. I also did signals and go outs again. Oh, and the moving stand. Which I think she took too many steps so I gave her anther "stay!". No movement during the exam itself, which has been a project in and of itself :smile2:. I did nothing with either dog yesterday (besides give them there flea meds also). Tonight the three of us will head for class in about an hour.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

At club my main focus was on go outs as Hombres Sat were poor so we did 10 in a row with the collar in place. Of course his first 7 were PERFECT but his eighth i finally got to make a correction for his wanting to cut it short then two more perfect ones. All were straight and fast. His f+f were alittle off and he needed help on a couple and on the bj exercise we needed to repeat because the front was well off of being straight. Heeling and fig8 were nice as were gloves articles ROF and MSFE. Being in a familiar place does make a difference with Hombre and without distractions a good place to teach him things but doesnt provide the trial atmosphere to get his head screwed on straight unless he can get a correction or two he still wants to act like a puppy even though he is now 31/2 .


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

After getting Hombre his lepto and flu shot this morning we went to the new place and again worked go outs with the collar on but today it only took two go outs to get a cerrection in. After this we did the new command signals which he blew the sit from the down position 3 times , its always three steps forward and two back another exercise he was doing great and now is messed up. BJ had to be repeated poor front but his heeling although limited was nice as was the DOR ROF ROHJ gloves and articles both done correctly. Spent a bit of time running thru a friend in open whose golden is giving her problems and she got to give a really good correction as her dog messed up just as it does in a trial but today unlike a trial she got a long way into fixing it.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Trained at SCKC this morning and all i can say was Hombre in utility was EXCELLENT with 2 fronts that were straight but a little to my right side and a finish that was not straight. Open a little more problematic with some fronts that werent great and his BJ needed repeating. The new signal command exercises were done correctly if not as fast as would like but so much better than yesterday. Snow coming tonight so probaly no training but no trial this weekend either so not a big deal.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Stays and OSS were good at club yesterday. Unfortunately a dog that Sona worries about came over to interfere and she ended up breaking. However she was able to cope quite well. 
Got to do some distraction work this evening out on the field. At one end there was a football match and at the other end some people had a really loud petrol remote controlled car down there. Sona was awesome both on and off lead. I was sooo proud.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I did some people proofing in class. It was light since I forgot about it until our last course and I didn't think to place people in spots that would challenge Penny's focus. She had zero focus issues so I will raise the difficulty level next week. We went over flip turns - Penny got it after a slight hesitation and the sheltie refused to spin since spinning isn't something she was taught. She didn't want to spin even with me using a treat.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Towhee went wandering this morning. I was was running around looking for her I glanced at the road and there she was. I called her and she started to run towards me as a car came ... They slowed down but still hit her. Yelp, and tossed my girl.

My precious girl yelped and rolled and became still roadside. 

I screamed and went running & she RESPONDED! OMG my girl responded! 

At the emergency vets (yep flashers & horn going) and she is under treatment..

Their first concerns are her shock & the possibility of internal bleeding. 1st ultrasound is clear of fluids. They are giving fluids and she is all snuggled up in the treatment area with blankets. Responsive & calm....too calm right now.

She could use good thoughts.... it's been a few hours and her vet is optimistic but cautious.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Oh Sharon im so sorry this happened to Towhee prayer has been said on her behalf hopeing everything will be ok.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

Oh my goodness! I hope she is ok! Will be praying for you both!!!


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## ceegee (Mar 26, 2015)

Oh, I hope she's ok. What a terrible thing for both of you! Kind thoughts coming your way.


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## KKaren (Oct 29, 2014)

Thinking of Miss Towhee and you this morning. Many are with you here. All prayers and positive thoughts to your sweet girl.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

0Thanks all 

Latest update has the vet optimistic  She dropped the cautiously but Towhee is responding to treatment for shock, her urinary output seems normal so far (bladder is a concern), her pelvic XRays look good although she has some pain reaction whenever they work back there (Hopefully just bruising / trauma type pain)

While they are still concerned about a slow bleed happening, her neurological function is good. 

She does have 4-5 fractured ribs but is breathing easily, her heart and lungs seem okay -- nothing showing on either XRays or Ultrasound.

They have started her on pain & anti-inflammatory meds and will continue with the IV fluid. 

But the latest update had them say
> She is such a sweet little trooper
> She is one very luck girl

I feel like I can start breathing again. The driver did not stop, although that is probably just as well (he did slow down, speed up, slow down again at take off) since he would have just delayed her getting the medical treatment she needed to getting her shock under treatment.


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

Oh Wow I was horrified to read what happened but so happy for the update showing some improvement. Can't believe the driver did not stop probably did not want to get hit up for vet bills or something. So terrifying to read especially as I was coming here to comment that Tink decided to take off out of the blue onto the neighbors property which is heavily wooded Less of a wander and more of a bolt when my back was turned, it took me 15 minutes to find her hard to search that particular area. I am freaked out that she may have gotten into something she should not have and I have to go to work I went up toward the front of both properties to make sure she had not doubled back and she came out of the neighbors boat shelter. She got time out and Blitz got a ton of attention and treats with her watching from the house. He had excellent and attentive healing.

Will keep Ms Towhee in my prayers and thank you for taking the time to update us.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Oh my goodness Towhee! So pleased to hear things are doing ok. I will be praying for her that it all continues x


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Barb called to suggest I bring Towhee to her place for recovery. Towhee would be able to just hang out without expectation of exciting things, she is more used to being in a crate there and Barb & Mike would be able to watch and monitor her better since i work.

That is so beyond thoughtful & caring! I may well take them up on that offer..Towhee would not need to do stairs either!

They are around for basically the next 4 weeks which should see Towhee through the most important stage of healing.

ETA: Radiologist spotted mild pulmonary contusions, so she will be sent home with sedation and will be spending much of her recovery time with her terrific breeders so she can be watched closely. Vet said this is not uncommon with this type of impact but is a concern.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Oh no, I'm sending Towhee healing thoughts. I'm glad that she is on the road to recovery - praying that the worst of it is over.

Please keep us updated as she heals.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny earned Excellent Jumpers leg #2 with a first place though we barely Qed with a time of 44.45. Standard course time was 45 seconds. 

This is her second trip here - the first time I wrote that she seemed stressed. This time I saw none of that behavior. Would have Qed in Novice FAST for her title, but she dropped a bar on the send. Tried jump layering in Standard for the first time at a trial, Penny did awesome. We've only practiced layering a couple times period and we last practiced it six months ago. NQ in Standard since she bypassed the weave entrance (got the entrance and the weaves when I called her back) and I also pulled her off a jump at the end due to rushing/not connecting. I also did my first start line stay with a small one jump lead out in Jumpers and her focus was beautiful. The last time I tried a start line was at her first trial when she grabbed her leash. I don't think we would have made course time without that lead out.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Kind of cold this morning and overcast but i wanted to train with Hombre so out we went and Hombre was wound up, he did all of open and all of utility including his weakest part go outs which werent too bad . All go outs were fast and straight although he still was turning and sitting in anticipation of my sit order except the one that was baited with his favorite treat ( cheese in the can ) if i call sit a little quicker none of todays go outs were scoreable but im working to get the challenge to go to the ring stanchion and not cut them short which has been a bit of a problem. Fronts today were sloppy as my boy was wound tight with the cold air and just to fast to be accurate.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

This is what happens when you get too dominant


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

http://www.goldenretrieverforum.com/picture.php?albumid=12233&pictureid=82161


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

a dog who popped off on Aedan needed one of muzzles today!! Poor Aedan was totally focused on front games and a schutzhund wanna be trainer let her dog 'get overstimulated' and he seriously came after Aedan. She actually said that to one of my friends and my friend said 'over stimulated my a$$, that was an all out attack'. Then she had the nerve to start telling me (after I told her the attack was not okay and I was not going to tell her it was okay-- this was after she repeatedly said that was the first time her dog ever did that -- that silent and swift attack was not a first case scenario! ) that I had a friendly dog and I was going to ruin him with my attitude -- after a few such yelled statements, I confess I totally lost it and got into her face and with a quiet but serious rage deliberately started telling her 'she could not ____ing tell me how I should act when I was handling MY DOG after her Cujo ____ing attacked with no provocation' with handler backing up for every step I took forward -- at that point people started getting between us and then instructor apologized, saying she keeps thinking she gets a good class going and someone else comes along who doesn't have a clue. Now mind you with the handler's previous attitude I have always thought she knew her GSD, could read her dog and knew where the thresholds were. Then a friend tells me she used to demand a 10 foot bubble around a previous dog so I guess she is a wanna be who should not be playing games with protection work. After the confrontation I stayed a bit practicing more front games until Aedan was happy again. Another friend suggested I walk Aedan around but I felt since it was the critical recall, I needed to spend time getting that happy again rather than changing the subject, so to speak.

I need to get my dogs to classes but I don't know if I can continue with these particular classes. I need to say that wanna be protection trainers are either not studying under people like my first trainer who knows his stuff and knows dogs, or they just ignore the body language of their dogs or possibly have so over-corrected their dogs that the dogs no longer display the warning behavior.

Other students were horrified her dog attacked like that (it was an all out charge with her dog knocking Aedan down flat without a sound and even Aedan was caught unprepared (my back was to the dog since it must have been 15-20 feet away) before I stepped between them at which point the instructor and handler were trying to wrestle that maniac off my Aedan and I had my foot raised and aimed at his head before I realized) and then she, the handler, had the audacity to start yelling at me GRRRRR

Anyway, I went to 1 class with Brady, came home and checked Towhee, headed out again with Aedan and then came back home for Towhee again. Right now Faelan, Aedan & Finch are playing and running around -- Towhee is once again resting and Brady is also chillaxing.

I did not need more drama, I'll tell you that! Handler stormed to a few people and said we had seen the last of her at that class - GOOD RIDDANCE! Hopefully that is what the instructor was saying to her when everyone was separated -- when I was repeatedly practicing fronts to get Aedan back into his happy place.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I hate dealing with dog people who are like that - I admire you for standing your ground, I know I would be too scared to confront the owner. I'm glad Aedan did not get hurt in that encounter.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny earned her Novice FAST title today with a third place. I did the distance send on the Open line. If I didn't have experience with how difficult ASCA distance challenges are, I couldn't have done that.

I don't know if this makes sense, but I think *I* caused Penny to stress in Standard and Jumpers today. She couldn't find the weave entry in either class, but got the weaves when I had her try again. I gave her a nasty line to the teeter, so much that she had to clamber on halfway up the obstacle - bad handler. She wandered away from me a couple times after that, came back, and didn't want to get on the table again. If me re-training the table doesn't fix her new hesitation, I need to have the local dog sports rehab clinic check her for injuries. I also might have ruined her table since I mistakenly told her to "down" before she even got on a table at a trial last month and it made her come to a complete stop before she got on.

Then in Jumpers I somehow lost my place after a blind and only realized I took a off-course jump after the fact, then had to get back on track. It's a good thing Penny can't fire me as her handler.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations on the title !!

About the errors you feel you made -- our dogs are so very forgiving and up for just about anything as long as you make light of errors  And agility handlers are good (sometimes perhaps too good ? ) at looking at the human side of the problem  But our dogs love it and can actually spring back pretty quickly ... 

I don't know if this will help you or not, but I work the line -- not the obstacles since that is my dog's job once trained -- but the line / white space between the obstacles. Does that make sense?



Eclipse said:


> Penny earned her Novice FAST title today with a third place. I did the distance send on the Open line. If I didn't have experience with how difficult ASCA distance challenges are, I couldn't have done that.
> 
> I don't know if this makes sense, but I think *I* caused Penny to stress in Standard and Jumpers today. She couldn't find the weave entry in either class, but got the weaves when I had her try again. I gave her a nasty line to the teeter, so much that she had to clamber on halfway up the obstacle - bad handler. She wandered away from me a couple times after that, came back, and didn't want to get on the table again. If me re-training the table doesn't fix her new hesitation, I need to have the local dog sports rehab clinic check her for injuries. I also might have ruined her table since I mistakenly told her to "down" before she even got on a table at a trial last month and it made her come to a complete stop before she got on.
> 
> Then in Jumpers I somehow lost my place after a blind and only realized I took a off-course jump after the fact, then had to get back on track. It's a good thing Penny can't fire me as her handler.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Yes, that makes sense. Thanks, Sunrise, I forget about the line a lot. I think viewing it the way you explained helps. I do get worried that I will somehow "ruin" her. I guess as long as I keep it positive it will be okay.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I worked weave entries today with just one angled 2x2 now that the yard is finally dry enough for practice. I did a lot of straight on entries since she struggled so much with finding the entry at the trial. Hotdogs and swiss cheese chunks for rewards. She only messed up the entries twice in the beginning, then did perfect even with hard entries.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Trained Hombre at home just Open where he did everything but could NOT get a straight front on the BJ even after 6 tries. He was a little wild and his mind was on a Kong bone but not nearly as wild or distracted as a friend with a Towhee pup who came over for a run thru and a couple suggestions. It was fun to have a friend over . We also practicedthe newcommand signal which were done nicely.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Congratulations Eclipse!!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

> ..... He was a little wild and his mind was on a Kong bone but not nearly as wild or distracted as a friend with a Towhee pup who came over for a run thru and a couple suggestions. It was fun to have a friend over . We also practicedthe newcommand signal which were done nicely.


Well we tried, Towhee went down the dog ramp nicely at Barb & Mike's, but then went racing up the side of the deck with a lot of stairs to greet Barb 

It's genetic  I think most of the Towhee kids just have a whole lot of energy, love & curiosity and have a hard time ... well . .. containing themselves


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

@Sunrise glad to hear she's doing well with her recovery! Hope she continues on the good path! 
Also, I think I would have had my foot aimed at that dog's head too... Hopefully they actually don't come back. d

Congrats on your new title @Eclipse!!! 

I have only been lurking for the last week or two because I honestly haven't had much time for training. We do little heeling drills around the house sometimes before he gets his dinner, but the jump training has been on hold for a bit. My work/life balance is a little out of whack right now because we are on mandatory overtime for awhile. BUT we are going back to our Rally class on Wednesday and I cannot wait! I also sent in the entries in Advanced A for a trial in May that's at our training facility. I hope that works to our advantage. He's familiar with the place, knows he has to behave there, and knows he isn't allowed out of the ring unless he's leashed. I'm a little nervous about heeling fast off-leash, because he tends to not just forge, but leap and bound forward like a bunny when I run and judges just LOVE to put that sign directly in line with the ring entrance/exit. We will definitely be working on proofing that in distracting places over the next few weeks.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I worked weaves after work since it's supposed to rain the next few days. Got to enjoy a dry yard while I can. Started with just one open 2x2 then went to two open sets. No problems with entries, nice speed on straight entries. I'm going to try to get her to build speed and dig into the harder entries before closing the poles.

After I took Penny inside, I looked into the yard just a couple minutes later and someone's black lab loped past. I grabbed a leash and a handful of dog food, but by the time I got outside I saw the owner going after their dog. I hope they caught up to him/her.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Hombre last night would not have qualified if it had been a trial. He took the wrong jump. Go outs were well done ( 6 ) as were the rest of utility exercises. F+F still his worst mistakes and again it took several jumps over the Broadjump to get a perfect one. Class was busy with new people and im sure a couple wont return after finding out what THEY need to do . PEOPLE !


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning I set up a few gates and the older dogs practised signals, go outs & DJ

Aedan had heeling, go outs & DJ 

Finch had heeling and Stays (up to 6 steps away with me backing up facing her, 1 step away walking away from her) for sits. A few downs & stands.

Last night the older dogs had signals in the house with their good on the counter. Some attempts were more successful than others while Finch had heeling.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training at the new place was some good some not so good. Utility I was asked if ic like a run thru which i dont usually accept but today i did and Hombre was doing very well till the Directed Retrieve where he got the wrong glove but i think it was as much my fault as his because his signal was poorly executed by me and today a seminar on the new orders wasgoing to be held alot of extra people and dogs were there and he was some what distracted but still not an excuse. Open today f+f were better he did everything and gave a good performance . Sat we have a trial that has a pretty good entry and im thinking people are trying to get the titles on there dogs BEFORE the rules are changed.


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Sunrise said:


> Well we tried, Towhee went down the dog ramp nicely at Barb & Mike's, but then went racing up the side of the deck with a lot of stairs to greet Barb
> 
> It's genetic  I think most of the Towhee kids just have a whole lot of energy, love & curiosity and have a hard time ... well . .. containing themselves


I know a certain little Towhee boy who sure is sure curious... to the point of ..ooops.. were we doing something???
.. remind me to send you the video.. we were training last night and big sister Rosie was in a crate and he just knew she was there... he was great up until then.. little things but he is getting there for sure..


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

LOL sounds about right

Oooooh look! Shiny object, were we doing something?






Titan1 said:


> I know a certain little Towhee boy who sure is sure curious... to the point of ..ooops.. were we doing something???
> .. remind me to send you the video.. we were training last night and big sister Rosie was in a crate and he just knew she was there... he was great up until then.. little things but he is getting there for sure..


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Towhee is running (kind of). Towhee is doing her spinning when she wants to come back inside to eat. Towhee spins to the right when she is excited...the same side that has 5 fractured ribs.

Part of the daily update from Barb.

Towhee loves applesauce. Towhee loves peanut butter. Towhee love dog food. Towhee loves biscuits.

 that's my girl! 

Apple sauce was suggested to help her elimination so I bought some.

Peanut butter she is used to since that is my preferred method of giving pills so I brought some up for her.

Dog food & biscuits....check

This is a girlie who eats cauliflower with all appearances that ist is the most deliscous food she has ever eaten (this is a dog who eats raw! )

I think the vet will be happy with her progress when she sees her on Saturday.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Towhee must tell me the secret to liking cauliflower, I've never had much interest in it.

In class I did light people distraction on our first course and intense people distraction on the second course. It was either 5 or 6, I had them stand right next to jumps, right next to the A-frame, ect. Only lost focus twice, she did really good. I need to go to a run-through this week to practice lines and connecting, that was off a bit in class. Thinking about making the people even more distracting by giving them props to shake/move to make them more challenging. She isn't having problems with wanting to people visit recently, but I know if I start going easy with proofing she will revert to old ways.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I think for Towhee it comes under the category of 'If they eat it, it must taste good' -- I rarely eat it unless I need a stand in for rice, but Paul eats it and always makes sure she gets a few pieces.





Eclipse said:


> Towhee must tell me the secret to liking cauliflower, I've never had much interest in it.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Today training went well in utility but open was a different story , when we went to do s+d for the last time on the return of the oss i got to about 5 ft. from Hombre and he went down . He has NEVER done this left the ring followed me out yes but never just laid down. He then did a 5 minute sit. We have a trial Sat. My friend with the Towhee puppy came for a run thru this afternoon at my place and he was better than last time but still a ways to go my friend had worked him at another training center earlier in the morning and he was still.really full of energy and a bit of naughtyness.


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## KKaren (Oct 29, 2014)

Happy agility training day for Glimmer and me. It started out kind of iffy... we got caught in traffic and had to txt my instructor that we would be late, and as I was sitting there I also realized that my shirt was on backwards ... ugh. But we arrived and I gave Glim some time to settle before we went in. We were practicing rear crosses and choice of obstacle. All of our courses have alternative tunnels, jumps, or something that could be selected if your dog is not with you. We did the first set of jumps 3 and reward, then added the 4th with tunnel, two rear crosses between jumps 2/3 and then 3/4. Better engagement than last week... and a zoomie, which while not desirable, made me smile. Our next course was longer, 15 or so obstacles and lots of choices. We work with 2 smaller dogs and it's interesting to see what line different handlers select. Also back in Rally on Monday (start of new session) so nice to spend time and focus on my sweet girl.


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## ArkansasGold (Dec 7, 2017)

On Monday Rocket and I got back to our regularly scheduled jump training in the driveway, and also did some heeling drills and some random other Rally exercises like pivots, sit-down-stand, sit-down-sit, etc. He was pretty jazzed up because we started right after I got home from work, but he settled down and started focusing after about 5 minutes. The jump training is going pretty well! He can do the Advanced, Excellent, and Master versions with intermittent rewards now. I also slipped in the beginning stages of go outs at the end by putting treats on tiles and sending him to different ones then having him turn and sit for a second reward. Eventually I'll add a cone to the mix and start lengthening the distance, then remove the treat and tile, etc. I think I'm going to separate out the turn and sit as it's own exercise until he understands to turn and sit immediately without stepping forward, and then try to combine them at very short distances. I think this is going to be one of the hardest things for me to train. 

We also got back in our Rally class last night and it was great! We worked on building/maintaining drive, proofing, and trial conditions (boring, no treats) for several different exercises or components of exercises. We will be working on sideways movement from front position for a couple of Master signs even though we aren't up to that level of competition yet. Rocket's hind-end awareness has improved leaps and bounds for short finishes, pivots, and backing up from heel position, but sideways movement seems to be escaping him for the moment. It's easier for him from heel position than front, but still not great from either. I'm trying to train all the way up to Master well before we get there so that the Advanced and Excellent titles go smoothly and we will be completely ready for Master when the time comes. If all goes well, we will get Advanced next month, Excellent in July, and start getting Master legs in the fall, maybe at the National if we get to go. 

Do any of y'all ever go to the National? It would be cool to meet you in real life, and that is usually the only place for people from different parts of the country to meet.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I do want to take Penny to the National at some point. The one in St. Louis I would go to if Penny was a rock solid agility dog since it's only an 8 hour drive, but she isn't there yet. Last year I was told my GR club is supposed to be hosting it again in I think 3 years in my state, Ohio, so I will be going to that National if it does really end up being held here again. It was held in Ohio in 2015 and Penny had just started agility classes.


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

Adapting to my new and every changing working schedule has been a pain but so far the dogs are Okay with it. My daughters work schedule is allowing her to fill in for the walks I can't do, both dogs are very used to a three times a day 30min hike around the woods/property on my walking path. Been working on heeling working on engagement with less reward so hard for Tink, she wants cookies. Lots of rally turns back in heel position and directed jumping. Have a show next month and want to finish off their BN titles and see if I can finish off Novice titles bummed I could not get to that last show so I could do it under the old rules. Now deciding if I want to do masters with Tink at that show or just keeping working on her RAE. Blitz is moving up to Rally Advanced if all goes well he can finish that one off that weekend its a four day show I entered in for three days all I could get off. Plan is to try and hit the local parks for some drills and to get out to the dog barn for some complete run thru's. Class has been on hold for a couple weeks due to my trainers schedule but is supposed to start up next month so hopefully I will get some feedback on my footwork been doing the footwork drills again as I felt my turns were getting sloppy and not giving my dogs proper feedback to make crisp turns.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Other t.han some f+f todays training session was very good. Scent Discrimination in freshly cut grass I thought would be a challenge but not so Hombre found both m+ l articles quickly. BJ today he nailed both the f+f so no repetitions . Our usual ROHJ with a throw right a throw left and one straight pretty good other than fronts on 2 and 1 finish. Very pleased with new signal commands for Open as he nailed the signals at 50feet. All other exercises were also done with usual success.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning was all about Brady 

Not completely planned but he needed a lot of resets.

We were working on signals with varying amounts of pressure to his sides - I was using things like evergreen trees, a teeter, a spot where Finch had peed (okay different type of pressure LOL). Stuff like that.

Interesting. Oh plus me standing funny, waiting between signals, giving the signals where he was literally on higher ground so he had to be looking DOWN at me.


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## Wicky (Aug 27, 2015)

Ob class Tuesday and OSS sit stay broken - my fault as one of the dogs at the other end of the room was having a bit of a melt down and I should have returned. However Sona did a lovely in sight stand stay with another dog (that she really likes lol!) doing heelwork around her so that was good. It seems we are being tested for object discrimination next class for the clubs black opal award. We haven’t worked on it much recently so will have to see how it goes. It has been the hardest exercise to teach Sona mainly I think because she lacks steadiness and patience. 
Beginner hoopers is going well. We were doing an almost full circle (with tunnels, hoops and barrels) approx 10foot diameter. I could pretty much send Sona into the tunnel and send her around without moving beyond the tunnel. The instructors said something along the lines of ‘see you don’t need a collie to be able to do that’ I pointed out Sona loves to work at distance/independently but that has its drawbacks in many settings ???


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Pleasantly surprised at the trial today. The back wall was tarped that we had to do our go outs too and I thought we were finished before we begin. But hombre only lost one point on the go out and finished with a 194 and open the Front and finishs were kinda poor and so he only scored a 197. He held sit and downs together which were the last time he will have too. We garnered 18 OM points and he earned his 4th leg toward his UDX so no a bad day at all. All the HEAVY HITTERS were in attendance with first place in each class was a 199 1/2.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congrats!!!!!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Nice, congrats!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I missed my classes today (spent hours driving Ms Towhee) but had a rental this evening.

I got grossed out when I noticed I had put Brady in a dirty crate -- okay I am tired would be my only excuse!! But I did not wash down the crates I was using before putting my dogs in them and Brady's was ... well let's just say I couldn't concentrate on training after I cleaned that crate out, looked like someone should have been wearing panties.

But we worked Utility (no scent articles though - I did not want to put my articles on that floor)

Aedan also had some Open as did Faelan & Brady (DOR, ROF, ROHJ)

Finch had heeling, stays (up to 6 steps away - backing away from her, walking away from her, doing weird things to start her proofing -- crouching, stalky walking etc ), recalls, food tosses, stands, downs, more heeling, restrained ROF. For her I did not do any jumping.

Towhee had a really good vet visit but the vet wants her kept quiet and away from other dogs for at least another 3-4 weeks to really set the healing; so she is back on Sunfire Mountain.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Today has been raining and we may get wet snow overnight <bleh>

But I gas a rental scheduled  3 hours and we played for about 2.5 hours.

First a lot of Utility work with the older boys and Brady did the cutest thing!! On articles he knocked 2 of the articles together including the correct one. He looked and sniffed and looked and sniffed and then pushed the incorrect articles out of the way to come back with the correct article! He would not have qualified on other things (for instance he would not take the bar for DJ which had a lot of clutter around it) but overall happy especially given my lack of training him lately! Finch had heeling, stays, and some recall games.

And then we worked some agility. I pulled out a Backyard Dogs from 2007 and what FUN!! seriously more flowing than the courses nowadays. For building understanding and joy, I think I may be using these older style exercises -- Aedan btw seems to read these handling moves readily and naturally - rear crosses, threadles, pinwheels etc even simple sends. Finch doesn't quite understand the whole jumping thing but she will. Faelan & Brady did phenomenal !!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning I spent all my available training time with Brady....happy happy training.

He started not sitting Sat and I checked him for hot spots. Yep, he has one in the groin area. He seems to be more prone to them since he was castrated but his coat is also changing...depth of color and texture so he is blowing coat. So that may be a factor.

Anyway he is entered in a trial on Sunday and I am trying to decide if we will be heading up. Towhee was also entered and between her injuries and my lost desire for AKC obedience, i just haven't been training him enough. Right now i think i'll just be staying home or doing roundabouts... beautiful facility but parking & crating are limited enough that I like getting there before 7am which means out of my house before 5am. And Utility doesn't start until 'to follow' I just need to decide what my issue really is LOL he really does deserve a handler who will do him proud and is not feeling this at sea about things.


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