# I'm in Dallas



## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Well not actually _in_ Dallas, but outside of it in Cedar Hills for my Linda Koutsky seminar.

Everyone else going to the seminar is from the Dallas area, so I'm the only one at the hotel. Which is kind of strange, because when you go to a dog show you always see people you know at the hotel. Apparently Cedar Hills is kind of an upscale place because while I could find loads of steak and seafood restaurants, I didn't see a single fast food place. And I'm not the type to want to go eat alone in a nicer restaurant. I finally decided surely I could find _something_ to eat in the Super Target down the road. And that turned out to be a good decision, because I got to eat chicken alfredo from their snack area, and then I picked up a pack of chicken thighs for Flip to eat over the weekend.

The hotel is really nice and the best part about it is there's a huge field behind it, so I can let Flip run loose. That's one good thing about there not being any other dog people here, I don't have to worry about other people walking their dogs if I let him loose. Before we go home I'll get some bumpers out of my car and let him get into the unmown part for some practice.

This is my first trip alone with Flip. Conner has always been my seminar dog in the past but I guess it's time to pass the torch. Kind of makes me sad but that's silly, it's not like he's an old dog in retirement limping around - he's six and still competing and hopefully healthy. He and the other dogs are getting totally spoiled by my dad this weekend, he is staying at my house to take care of them. When I told my parents how much to feed the dogs they just laughed and said I can expect my dogs to put on weight while I'm gone. They went to the grocery store for them before my dad came over. I don't know if I want to know what they bought.

I guess there's really no point to this post, I'm just bored and sharing my day.


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## Penny & Maggie's Mom (Oct 4, 2007)

There are some nice areas down there but also some really rough not so desirable areas between there and downtown. Please be careful.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Have a great weekend and some nice alone time with your boy!

We usually do grocery store eating when traveling with the dogs....ends up being cheaper (...'cause after spending $$$ on a seminar or trial or event.... obviously saving $2 on dinner is important....).


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> There are some nice areas down there but also some really rough not so desirable areas between there and downtown. Please be careful.


You know, I was just thinking about how I don't feel nearly as safe walking Flip as I do walking Conner. Conner is so big and he has such a scary sounding bark that most people steer clear of us. Flip doesn't make nearly the same impression. Of course Conner is nothing but a Teddy bear once he gets his initial bark out, but most people don't stick around long enough to find that out. 

So yeah, I stuck to the lighted areas while walking him tonight.


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## Titan1 (Jan 19, 2010)

Have fun at your seminar.. let us know how it goes.
Michelle


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

I feel the same way with Barley, he is still competing, halfway to MACH2, but the focus is now mostly on Mira. Barley is a steady eddy, he really does not need the practice and the work that she does, plus we are training a little bit of field and rally/obedience. I still hate leaving him! I give him stuffed toys when I leave, we cannot have them out anymore because Mira shreds them, at least he likes that!


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

Oh yeah, be safe and have fun tomorrow! Awesome that you have a field to train in!


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## Jazz & Jules (Feb 25, 2007)

Penny & Maggie's Mom said:


> There are some nice areas down there but also some really rough not so desirable areas between there and downtown. Please be careful.


Man I was thinking the same thing, the Cedar Hills I use to know was not so nice.


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

When I think of Cedar Hill, I think of Country on the Square - their big event. 
We have good friends who live there, so we've seen all of the stores and restaurants being built - and the schools.
Upscale is not the word that comes to mind when I think of Cedar Hill.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Have fun and learn a lot at the seminar 

You are better than I am, I take all the dogs on any overnight since I can't bear to leave any behind - although that may change since my brother will now actually take Casey and Towhee for hikes so might be open to feeding them? If its kibble? hmm maybe.

Anyway, stay safe and enjoy your seminar - Flip will probably be loving the alone time with you.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Oooh have fun and come back and share with us 

In regards to Flip not being as big and 'scary'--my friend from the Houston area was telling me about a family that was confronted in the parking lot of their home and the man was pistol whipped. When the burglar went to go in the home he heard a dog barking and it scared him so he ran off. That dog was a pomeranian. I also had a boss once who used to be a police officer in a k9 unit. He told me he would much rather have the dog over the gun any day. People are afraid of dogs!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Well it sounds like I need to be glad I didn't go exploring Cedar Hills, LOL! The La Quinta I'm staying at is fairly new, and it's right on the edge of town, like a few hundred yards from Duncanville (where the seminar is). I only went a little ways down 67 and back and this part seems nice.

The seminar is great. Linda is actually staying two doors down from me at the hotel and we went to dinner together (see my "I am such a geek" thread to see how I feel about this 

Flip has become a true male and is currently in love with licking his special anatomy. And he gets really into it so it's noisy. Tonight I will be wearing earplugs instead of spending the whole night trying to get him to knock it off.

First seminar I've ever been to where I didn't go through a massive amount of treats.


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## hotel4dogs (Sep 29, 2008)

Hope you have a great time, and bring back lots of ideas for all of us


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

It was so totally amazingly awesome. We started early, she went two hours over, and never stopped with the exception of a half hour lunch break and a 10 minute afternoon break. Then we ran back to the hotel, dropped off our dogs, and met up with a small group for dinner and stayed at the restaurant talking dog training until nearly 10. The club is looking at having her back in May. And some of us were even talking about getting together and going up to Vermont to train with her some this summer.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Okay, now that I'm back home I can give some more details of how the seminar went.

For some of the people attending the seminar, Linda's training techniques were totally foreign, but a lot of what she does is things I already do, so it was a matter of taking what I'm doing currently and taking it even farther.

Linda is all about using yourself and your relationship with your dog as the reward and motivator for the dog to work. While she does use some food in training (like using it in the initial luring to teach an exercise or in proofing), she does not continue to use it to tell the dog that it was right. She wants herself to be the one doing it, not the food, so she never uses the food for that purpose. (an exception being the occasional toy or bite of food when working fronts because of how tedious the repeated drilling can get).

She also gave a lot of little tips for training specific exercises. One of my favorites is when she is doing an about turn, she'll kick her right foot behind her to pop the dog in the butt, causing him to pop his rear out instead of keeping it wrapped behind the handler.

She spent part of the time working on individual problems. I wanted some tips to work on Flip's forging (he has come along way but I know he's just waiting for the opportunity to get back out front). So she had us come out and in 5 minutes time she had my dog thinking so hard about not forging he actually went into a lag! (I don't think this dog has ever lagged one moment in his life before). She said not to worry about that, the lag would not be permanent and it was a great sign that he was making such an effort not to forge.

She said several times that Flip is a great dog and I took it as a great compliment for him when she said that I better learn as many training techniques as I can now because chances are the next dog to come along might not come out naturally as nice a dog as him and I'll want to have enough tools to make him that way.

Unless you are completely strictly scientifically driven in your training philosophies, I would recommend Linda's seminars to everyone. I think no matter what training background one comes from, there is a lot to her training that anyone could appreciate and use.


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## sammydog (Aug 23, 2008)

I love the tap in the butt thing for about turns! Do you think that is something I could incorporate with Mira in the teaching phase?

Sounds simply fantastic! I have never been to any seminar before, something I always want to do, but the cost always keeps me from signing up...


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

sammydog said:


> I love the tap in the butt thing for about turns! Do you think that is something I could incorporate with Mira in the teaching phase?


Sure! Best to teach her from the beginning the way you want it done.

I love seminars. Sometimes I just can't afford to get to one that's in my area, but there's some people that I know if they are ever within driving distance I will do whatever it takes to get the money to get there, and Linda was one of those. I've picked up something beneficial from every seminar I've ever been to.


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## RedDogs (Jan 30, 2010)

Loisiana said:


> Unless you are completely strictly scientifically driven in your training philosophies, I would recommend Linda's seminars to everyone. .


How did you know I was intending to PM/post and ask you about this when I got home? Is there any presenter you would recommend to me despite my enthusiasm for sciency-training-stuff?

You did have me look up this seminar... closest one I found would be in a couple months in TN.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

you know, I think that you would still find some things you'd like about her and her training, as long as you were okay going in knowing there would be some things you'd disagree about. She is very up front about the fact that she does not and will not use a clicker any more. Although she doesn't follow the "sciency" stuff, I can't imagine anyone actually being offended by any of her training techniques. She is all about making it clear to the dog that it has a job to do, but going about it in a way that is very exciting and motivating to the dog.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

oh and when she says she's against the clicker, it's the fact that it's one more thing between the handler and dog that she's against, not the use of a marker that she's against. She says she believes strongly in markers and bridges, but that she does want to be able to put emotion into it instead of the neutrality that a clicker brings.


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## GoldenSail (Dec 30, 2008)

Loisiana said:


> One of my favorites is when she is doing an about turn, she'll kick her right foot behind her to pop the dog in the butt, causing him to pop his rear out instead of keeping it wrapped behind the handler.


Did you ask her if she got this from anyone? I have seen this done in an old black and white video with Blanche Saunders. 

On another note she sounds like a fantastic trainer! I think I would LOVE her philosophy because the less I can use food/toys but still be motivating the better I think training is.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

she didn't say. She did give credit often when she got something from someone else - mostly Sylvia Bishop (she is a HUGE Sylvia fan).


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