# July 2016 Training Logs



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Plans, accomplishments, fails, brags and other?

Happy July


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I have signed Brady back up for agility classes - did not make last night's class due to tire pressure issues (apparently the 'beading' sprung a serious leak). So I took care of that today, taking a vacation day.

I am hoping to get some training in today, but it is very humid so perhaps I will just review lessons plans and such for the weekend.

I renewed a few memberships (Bad Dog Agility, One Mind Dogs) in addition to my online classes so I should have lots to choose from


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

We just worked a few agility concepts.

First with just 1 wing set up
> Back side (short) sends with wraps

The I added another wing with the bar at a low height (14 inch) since it is humid and these are concept drills as I ramp up agility training once again
> Back side (short) sends with wraps
> Deceleration straight to sliced jumps with wraps
> Acceleration straight to slice jumps with come to laser finger 

Guess I am kind of bored with obedience for today  I like doing back to back drills with what is different with this picture so my dogs learn 1) not to anticipate 2) not get bored and 3) learn to recognize the differences between similar setups but different handling.

Yikes!! Thought the air felt ominous ! Tornado watchs are in effect until 10pm...


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Somewhat neurotic at the moment about whether Bertie is still "off" (needed a chiro session + we've been discussing a possible tweaked muscle, the vet did not find any swelling or response to tests which would have apparently caused spasms if there was a soreness or pain)... 

Am tentatively lining up a training schedule that's getting as many objective eyes on Bertie's movement as possible. Including scheduling open floor training tomorrow and bringing my sister to film heeling so I can see what he looks like on smooth/level surface where we have room to move out. He looks FINE to me looking down at him and even pushing him out and gaiting him a little on both left and right sides of me so I can see his gait....? But I'm worried that I'm not seeing something that's off. Fool me once, color me neurotic. 

I'm also planning to find different people to watch us warm up at trial next weekend and tell me if they see anything before we go into the ring. <= I'm OK with "eating" the cost of the entries and not going, but want to give it a try if he's as sound as I think he is. 

Otherwise another chiropractor visit in 2 weeks - and another one (with our regular rehab vet) in 3 weeks.... 

We are "Grounded" in the meantime. No jumps right now until I hear different from our regular rehab vet. Mainly focusing on everything else. Heeling, recalls (proofing "wait" and front position), stays (positive energy), drops (am happy with the drops at home - want to get those elsewhere). 

If we do jumps at all (and I'm not planning on it, but I do have a private coming up), we'll keep the jumps like yorkie low and basically working on directed jumps and "bad throw" retrieves over the high.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

*Auto correct not correct*

Nugget last started out not wanting to work but a verbal correction and a slap on the butt and he knew I wasn't having any of it and then he got his act together doing very nice go outs and turning and sitting on a dime . Everything was pretty clean from that point on. We also did the BJ 3x because it took three tries to get the front. DOR very nice and so was heeling. 

This morning worked fig8 and heeling in the street with Hombre and the wild child is doing a very nice job at this. Yesterday I bumped him up to open b at his next trial but still don't know if it will be allowed .


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

@Megora,

Have you considered starting scent training during his down time? I find they take quite a bit of time to teach and might be a wonderful fill in while you're not jumping him.



Megora said:


> Somewhat neurotic at the moment about whether Bertie is still "off" (needed a chiro session + we've been discussing a possible tweaked muscle, the vet did not find any swelling or response to tests which would have apparently caused spasms if there was a soreness or pain)...
> 
> Am tentatively lining up a training schedule that's getting as many objective eyes on Bertie's movement as possible. Including scheduling open floor training tomorrow and bringing my sister to film heeling so I can see what he looks like on smooth/level surface where we have room to move out. He looks FINE to me looking down at him and even pushing him out and gaiting him a little on both left and right sides of me so I can see his gait....? But I'm worried that I'm not seeing something that's off. Fool me once, color me neurotic.
> 
> ...


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Articles with both boys done correctly doing two metal and two leather each . Turns in place done well both boys leaving briskly done all four times by Hombre but Nugget was slow going the first send so he got a tap on the butt then they were fine. Fronts pretty good but again Nugget touched me on the front twice even though we work on this a lot but Hombre had 3-4 straight fronts and is getting there. Nugget and I went in the yard and did all exercises in open and utility with the exception of heelin - fig8 and gloves all other exercises were done at least two times and he did very well . About 90% of fronts were straight and surprisingly the pickups out of grass were nice. He definetly can do it but he does get a little lazy at times.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Sunrise said:


> @Megora,
> 
> Have you considered starting scent training during his down time? I find they take quite a bit of time to teach and might be a wonderful fill in while you're not jumping him.


I started articles back when he was a puppy.....  But yes, that's the kind of stuff I'm focusing on while waiting until I get definite assurances from the chiros that his adjustments are holding and he's good to jump.

Kinda funny but up your alley a little... we did rent floor space this morning/afternoon. I primarily wanted to see what his heeling looked like via video and had my sister follow us around for a few minutes. He wanted to forge and the "contained" heel had him doing slight leaps forward from his rear - I don't see that as limping as much as a little skip in his gait because he was holding back so much to stay in position. There's a couple points where I sent him after a treat and he moved out freely and you can see his gait open up a little versus the cramped racking in heel position. 

The part that's up your alley though, Sharon - I had rented the floor for an hour - but only needed about 30-40 minutes for training. I had the whole building to myself - so went over to the agility side to play with non jumping stuff over there. Taught Bertie the initial part of tunnel (tunnel squished up) and then after a few reps with me unsquishing the tunnel expanded on that to him doing a "go tunnel" with the full length tunnel with a little gradual distance (I think the go-crate stuff and go outs helped here because we got a little bit of distance pretty quickly despite him never being near a tunnel before today). Also did a few weaves - had to figure out my handling there since it's been years since I taught my Danny, but after 2-3 times with just the first 3 weave poles - I had to smile to see something click in his head as he started turning his head and taking on the weaves on command with the reps after that. I didn't do more than 6 poles (or however many were on the first set), but it was kinda cool teaching something different and seeing how fast he picked it up. We also did a couple shoot reps - which were easy after the tunnel (I did have my sister hold the canvas up at the end so he knew to push through there). And we did a couple baby teeters with my sister hanging on the sides at the end to gently guide it down while I focused on having him stop and wait for it to go down with me doing nonstop treating there. He did a "what the heck" the first time he felt the movement going down, but the treats kept him steady after that... ha. <= So that was me doing something "Different" today. 

I had Jacks with too - and it was kinda funny to see the difference between the two dogs. Jacks is more cautious than Bertie and that was quite clear when my sister and I worked the tunnel with him. I didn't do anything else with him - the brain breaking over the tunnel was enough. LOL. 

We did do baby jumps in obedience with Jacks though. It was eye-opening to see how weak he's gotten as far as jumping. And/or I'm comparing him to Bertie now. Bertie would just walk right over an 8" jump board. Jacks was even stutter stepping and tightening up about going over that. I think a good chunk of that is mental, but I'm sure the muscles back there are not as strong as they were when I was having him do jumps every couple days each week....


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Bet he loved the change  

Happy boy!


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

LOL I so enjoyed Megora's post & video I got distracted from posting my session 

Faelan, Brady, Aedan and I worked heeling, go outs, directed jumping (Aedan cut 1 jump short), recalls with Faelan and Brady also doing signals and DOR pieces. They loved it - I had planned on going to a park or something but then got involved with something else so we worked in the yard.

ETA: And also did not mention teeter to weave work -- Aedan mounted the full height teeter LOL He seemed surprised when he realized what he had done so I'll start raising the low teeter for him


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@Sharon - bet you never thought you'd see me saying I played in agility today or any day. LOL.  

You didn't see anything that would be seen by a judge to be limping though - right? 

I think we'd lose big chunk points for him forging and my elbow sticking out - but that's all different.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

No, I saw no lameness or limping - just excitement and a drive to work that he was unable to control  

Have I ever mentioned that I even use agility obstacles for directed 'jumping'? LOL AFrame, tunnel, jumps even the pause table. All is good and helps them in drive


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Hombre and I went heeling in the street and did the fig8 on my drive very very nice with only a forge on a turn to be faulted and there was a lot more heeling done than a normal pattern. After this recall in my yard 3x which he came in fast ALL THE WAY EACH TIME but all three fronts were off. Next we did gloves all three and he took direction perfectly with fast leaving me excellent pickups and two of three fronts straight. Then it was Directed jumping great go outs and both jumps taken correctly on my signal plus his sits on my order are almost as good as Nuggets are. Then we did the BJ 3x which he has more trouble getting the fronts but the last one was straight. Not a long session but a good one. Tomorrow both boys at SCKC.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Took a break then got Nugget for some heeling and the fig8 and he did well. Nugget isn't as showy as Hombre is but he is accurate . After that it was the back yard for the Directed Retrieve which is one of Nuggets best exercises, no surprises here it was very well done. We then did signals and this too,was well done. After signals we did Directed Jumping , the go outs -sit on command and actual jumping all nice front on both could have been cleaner. Finally 1 BJ which could not have been done better so no need for a repeat . Short workout but also like Hombres a good session.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

So far the dogs have all had a short hike with me (Brady & Aedan together followed by just Faelan and I) , then Brady and Aedan headed out for one of the long (3+ hour) hikes with my brother, BIL and his dog. So Faelan and I hung a little bit on the deck, then worked:

> Heeling & signals
> ROF
> ROHJ
>BJ

with a lot of play and laughter.

Followed by Faelan being allowed into the living room to hang with me while I got in my biceps/triceps workout (shoulders/back/chest were this morning at the gym). The dogs are not generally allowed in the living room and thanks to a certain youngsters' (ahem AEDAN) liking for chewing on the coffee table, there is a gate up now so doubly special for Faelaney.

We rotate which dogs go on the extended hikes and Faelan and Aedan went last time so Faelan got to stay with me - he probably would have preferred the hiking but he already got to go swimming on our shorter hike.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Scent Discrimination done with both boys just 1metal and 1 leather done with each because my back had me to bent over for me to be even close to being smooth and I just didn't want to mess either of them up.They each got the correct one on both sends and each got 1 front crooked but I'll attribute that to my bent form . It will take awhile to straighten out as I just slept wrong but we're going to SCKC for special day of drop in training which is great because my club is shut down this whole month and the boys are entered in a trial Sat. This is the last one till Sept. At Pottstown.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Taking advantage of the long weekend I had planned out and abouts.

But, honestly, I am also just enjoying 'being' and playing with my boys ... counting the days at this point until my Towhee is home. Perhaps that will re-ignite my drive to train


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

This mornings training went very well, although Nugget only did the Open exercises they were ALL done well including fronts for the most part. Hombre would have qualified in utility had it been a trial with really fast straight go outs but I've got to start treating AFTER he has sat otherwise he just keeps licking the wall or stanchion. The open exercises he did everything and his pickups were better but still not quite there yet. Front on BJ all 3x was off but he charges the jumps and clear by a bunch. Recalls were straight all 3 but fronts were off but at least he came all the way into me. After this Sat. The straight recalls for the most part will be just a memory. Good session with both boys today and looking forward till tomorrow back at SCKC.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Yesterday evening I took advantage of horrid neighbors and their flaming fire pit (flames literally flying 10 feet or more in the air) and their uber annoying radio to work the dogs  

I set up my stereo (portable) with a dog show noise CD and worked each of the boys.So they had dog show sounds, tinny music and flames in the line of sight as well as the smoke & stench

> Heeling & signals with Faelan & Brady
> Heeling with Aedan
> Recalls
> teeter & bang work
> A lot of fasts - from halts, to halts, etc with a focus on head position

Aedan then had some stand and down work

Lots of cheering , clapping and play as well as the occasional treat


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning I set up gating and 2 agility bar jumps and DJ spacing.

> Heeling with left spin setups and occasional over (my) head food drops for great focus.
> Heeling with fasts & slows
> Go Outs with food drops
> Directed Jumping (left jump) with my taking off once they cleared the bar to play front games
> More heeling but with sends to a jumps and tuck back into heel as I ran in the opposite direction
> Go Out with jump (right jump) with my breaking into a run to set up for a 180 mini agility sequence

It was fun


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I started training with a go out with Nugget and it was slow as molasses even though it was straight and the jump was taken but the second one he got a butt slap and now it was very nice . He always has to try me though. From here on his work was pretty nice in both utility and open exercises other than a couple fronts. He did make me happy as I needed him to demonstrate how a dog should do a go out and "SIT" when told too. He was perfect as I hoped he would be with a lightning fast sit on my order no embarrassment here.
The " Challenge " on the other hand blew the MSFE he did stop on a dime remained motionless and came back on my order but STOOD at my side instead of sitting, my instructor gave me a big smile after the exam but that was because I yelled sit and surprised all of us as it came out louder than I wanted. Other than the stand his open work was fair f+f a constant battle but recalls were nice as he did come all the way and his taking the jumps at full height very nice.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

*Fun Day*

Spa day all three received zero training BUT they are clean pretty and smell good.


----------



## Vhuynh2 (Feb 13, 2012)

Molly is no longer anticipating the DOR but is just blowing past them even though I've been dropping her and dropping her (well, attempting to drop her -- I've been walking in every single time to stop her forward movement). My instructor gave us several suggestions but none of them have worked, but I think today we found one that might. When I give the drop signal, whether or not she drops, I throw several cookies behind her from the signal hand and allow her to get them. Sounds like bad advice but after a few times she became very responsive to the drop signal and she successfully did a short distance DOR. I think she may not have been even looking at my signal before, but now that the signal makes treats rain down from the sky, she is paying more attention.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

No training this morning - the humidity reading is 96% and it is already in the 70s so best to just let the crew hang out.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

This morning articles with both boys. Each boy did 2metal and 2 leather all were correctly gotten. Fronts this morning with Nugget 3 out 4 Hombre 2 of 4. Turns in place both got 3 of 4 straight but Nugget needed a butt slap to go to the pile the second send as his first send was slow going. Hombre and I will do the Nvoice exercises this morning and some open work. This evening Nugget and I will go to SCKC for his 15 minute ring time in preparation for Sat.trial


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

A nice job was done by Nugget last night in both open and utility. For some reason he was nailing the fronts very well and he did everything. The only part I wasn't happy with was his lockup on the MSFE which he needed a couple resets. It rained very hard and only 2 other people showed up and that was after I was done so there were zero distractions which is good and bad. Today both boys rest tomorrow is the trial.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

no training again this morning -- humidity levels are way too high for any of us to enjoy, so we just hung out


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

This came today


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I brought my hoodie with to the trial this morning - had I been waiting there as long as I normally do, I probably would have put it on and pulled that hood up over my ears to stay warm in the Floridaesque AC conditions at the trial today.... LOL. It's disgustingly hot outside, but the AC doesn't need to be piped up that much! 

Bertie got his second PCD leg. 195 score. Score doesn't tell you this but was very happy with the run. We had mild forging on the offleash (he was a step ahead of me during the slow primarily and actually turned LEFT on the judge's command - I had to scurry to catch up!) and bumping/crowding on the figure 8 and 1/2 points taken off on slightly crooked front and Bertie sitting a step behind on the finish.... but overall was a very nice run. Nice heeling overall, nice effort and focus from him. And solid sits - EACH sit. 

Was good enough for first place... really had to bite my tongue to keep from rushing up and giving un-requested advice to the other chick. She qualified, but did several things which unfairly or fairly knocked her score down quite a bit. An example was when the dog came to front - the owner moved her hands in front, like literally putting both hands together in front as a target for the dog. 

Must add as well - he won a toy as a price for first place... got home and Jacks HAPPILY shredded said toy.  Bertie was very happy playing with the squeaker pulled out from sad remains...


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Kate.....good job and congrats on the placement.


----------



## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

Entered what felt like my first grown-up obedience trial this past weekend (as compared to RN, BN) & being the over eager newbie entered 2 shows a day (rally advanced & novice) for all 3 days with my girl. Our class the day before we left was a disaster & really rocked my confidence, I wasn't focusing & my girl on the verge of coming in season just wanted to stare at herself in the mirror & make faces which she's never done in the year we've been training at that club. We ended up titling in both Novice w/ all first places and a second in large rally classes--we missed out on ribbons solely for the 10pt deduction of the 2 missed jumps. My girl loved prancing around in the ring & thought it was great fun--when I watched my first obedience match before Teagan ever came into my life, I thought this is boring, but seeing my girl looking up at me, smiling & just enjoying it all, has me hooked! We're going to hang out in our novice class for another month before moving up as I'm still learning the basics.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

@Megora - congratulations


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Brought Brady to drop in rally and Faelan to drop in obedience/utility.

They both had really great things and things that need work  

It was fun and wonderful seeing the people again - last time I signed in was mid February ... guess its been awhile 

Puppy party tomorrow,


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Got some good news and some bad . Starting with the bad Hombre blew his class which he would have scored a 1981/2 by following me in on the recall this score would have been a tie for HIT . Oh well experience and maturity will fix the little stuff. Now for the good. Nugget earned second place in open with a 198 and garnished 2 OTCH points and 15 OM POINTS then in utility he got 3rd with a 1951/2 getting 2 more OTCH POINTS and 12 OM points plus he earned his 19 th UDX leg . One more to go for his UDX2 . He now has either 28 or 29 OTCH POINTS . There were 19 dogs showing in Open B and 17 that showed in utility. A pretty good day and some of the big guns were in attendance which makes it even more satisfying.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Pretty happy getting PCD leg #3...  So we currently can start really cleaning up DOR stuff and hopefully go for the PCDX in a couple months....  

We lost 6 points thanks to two no sits. Which were handler errors. I stopped on a dime when you have a couple steps allowance. 

Good news is other than those 6 points - we would have had a 199 score. With one misc point lost on a forge on the offleash and that was it. Which would have been a first for me - as my highest prior qualifying score with any dog would have been a 198.5.  

We did get a 193 with the judge raving about him. Which was nice. 

We had a regular novice entry as well - except I decided I wasn't eager to test the stays today. I'd rather wait until fall. We have plenty of time. Considered going home after the PCD run, except - I really wanted to make sure we got our sits. So I went into the regular novice ring to work it.  

Good news - we nailed ALL THE SITS.

Bad news - we had distracted recall with him apparently seeing a golden on the other side of the gate behind me. He would have qualified because stopped right next to me - while looking at the other dog. <= Because I'd already decided that we were not going in for stays, I pivoted and gave a second front command and got the front. <= Interesting thing is that the judge had said "Exercise finished" before I did that, but she still came up and told me she was taking off 3 extra points for training in the ring. Which I honestly haven't had a judge do that before. I didn't have a problem because I wasn't planning on qualifying anyway, but gosh.

We again lost about 2 points on various forges during heeling. Then 6 points for the recall (3 for no-sit front and 3 for non-finish) and then the 3 extra for training. <= The funny thing is it really bothers me losing that many points. EVEN with me not planning on qualifying. *smacks forehead*


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Getting hot and HUMID so I only worked " THE CHALLENGE " ( Nugget deserved a free day ) we did a few ROF which his pickups are getting better especially out of the grass then 2 ROHJ same better pickups but fronts were not good. We then did the DR for all three gloves , this was well done good turns in place including for the #3 glove that we turn to the left and his fronts weren't too bad either. After this signals and MSFE here he was getting sloppy I think it was getting too warm for him then we finished with DJ with good go outs at least they were fast and straight and he took the correct jumps but he was getting tired and slowed down. It is forecast to be even warmer tomorrow so we will see what can be done.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning is wonderfully cool, but the grass is wet so no jumping.

Each boy (Towhee will stay at Sunfire for another week (ish) )
> Heads Up heeling starts
> Short distance fronts
> Go Outs

They did well and it was fun 

Oh a few finishes too - with Aedan I had food in my right hand while sending him on a right finish - we needed to work on that LOL


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Articles with both boys started the morning and " The Challenge " did a better job of it than did Nugget. Each had 2 turns for metal and leather but Nugget on the second setup got a wrong article probably because he got a butt slap to go out to the pile faster but upon my saying " find it" he then got the correct one . Because it's going to hit 90 degrees today we just did one each open and utility exercise unless a mistake was made . Nugget did all open exercises but the DOR and all utility exercises just once . A lovely job. Hombre on the other hand needed to repeat signals - gloves - BJ and ROHJ as he wasn't in work mode and didn't try so he is finding out if at first you don't succeed you will do it over till you do. He is a young dog and I do cut him some slack but he can do it all and I know it so when he is just being a little on the lazy side I try to make him understand we all have a job to perform and when we don't do it correctly our boss will make us repeat it showing us our error or get fired there just isn't any free lunch.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This evening I set up the high jump and the broad jump.

We worked:

> Heads up heeling starts and short heeling legs; with food coming from the sky dropping down my side 
> Recalls, drop on recalls (Faelan & Brady), recalls with food tosses between my legs
> Fronts
> Broad jump straight then with my running behind them to rear cross/tandem turn them into the weave poles
> ROF with several tosses, sometimes in front of the jump or straight; good choices were followed by my running away as they came back to me
> more recall games
> ROHJ with my running away once they cleared the jump on their return

Just bits and pieces of precision work with a lot of motion for the fun bits


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning I had a lot of those minutia of life things to do, and did not have time to both train the dogs and get us all some exercise so....

I set up a jump grid with a pause table and for each of the boys we worked acceleration versus deceleration; each drill was done on both sides with 2 successful reps

2 jumps to table with acceleration (each side)
2 jumps / deceleration / auto wrap (Aedan charged forward at first so needed his name) each side
2 jumps to table with acceleration (each side)

Aedan loves his table now, as do all my dogs
Brady was surpringly velcro - perhaps because he is still working out the physical cues? Whatever, I was beating him to the table the first few times
Faelan was a rock star

Since these were repetitive drills, the jumps were set at 16


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Trained at SCKC this morning and Nugget only worked Open exercises which he did very well. He also did the long s+d along side Hombre and both were successful . Hombre is improving in the open exercises but this morning in the utility ring he wasn't very good AT ALL. Attention was missing on the signals and he missed the sit signal . Articles were absolutely terrible getting the incorrect article 3 times. Heeling wasn't great either and his second go out was slower than his normal one because there wasn't any bait on the post . I wasn't very happy with him in utility but a couple other people weren't happy with their dogs either. Open improvements included better DB pickups and he fronted better not all were the picture of perfection by any means but improved. The best thing was he would have qualified in a trial in low to mid 190s but this has to get better.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning was all about precision drills - inside on the matting

Faelan, Brady & Aedan all worked:

> Pivot work with left and right pivots -- Aedan now does the small pivot disk  All dogs did well 
> Heeling with focus on about turns and heads up
> Finish drills - all were around finishes

Nice sessions


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Heeling with both boys and fig8 only flaw a bump on inside turn by Nugget . All turns abouts fast and slows very very nice. I then Hombre out in the yard and practiced the DR which he screwed up again just as he did yesterday. His attention has been misplaced . We then did 2 BJ which he did well and really tried to front straight but it's getting better all the time. Started raining so that was the end of outside work later on both boys have a date with Scent Discrimination articles.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Very happy with stay practice at class... This would be the third week in a row that I've gotten perfect sits/downs. 

Now we just need to start getting fun matches and "away from home" classes under our belt before I feel comfy about finishing our CD. There are 2-3 matches this month that I really want to do! 

Other stuff today - heeling was very awesome considering it was hot. Heads up and prancing. Focused. Snap sits. My footwork was cwappy, but did not affect him.  

DOR too - we did several rounds and was very happy to have him dropping on verbal only.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

articles FINALLY DONE 2 times by Hombre correctly this morning . Nugget also did them correctly twice but the first send I needed to repeat " find it " but this was my fault as it was said too softly. Fronts from both steadily improving . Tonight training at SCKC for utility ring use.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

my crew had the morning off -- it is crazy humid and even if they would be willing to work, me, not so much


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Sharon ...humidity is ski-hi here also but fortunately articles in the house done this morning and tonight we're going tomSCKC which is air conditioned.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I only took Hombre training last night and we did all utility exercises except articles which we had already done at home. Signal exercise his heeling was good and the stand was very good but he was a little slow in reacting to the rest of the signals. Gloves were really sloppy with poor turns in place and hesitant going to gloves but he did get all 3 right . Got to clean this up. MSFE excellent. The DJ exercise decent go outs and correct jumps taken but the third go out needed bait as slowEd up . Open work pickups on the DB SLOOPY each lone he did lost points but he took jumps beautifully. DOR with verbal or signal OK but would like faster reaction.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

The dogs all had the morning off. 

Towhee is back home and so they were all beyond their abilities to focus  well, plus it just felt great to watch them all tearing around with each other!

Sleep was interrupted frequently since Brady especially seems to feel his levels of excitement are best shared by Yipping.....


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Worked Nugget this morning doing the open and utility exercise and other than a couple F+F he did a fine job. He really has caught on to doing STRAIGHT GO OUTS and his fronts are also much improved. Tried a MSFE with only a verbal order of " STAND " and he locked up straight which is what I want . Some judges will score the stand if it's not straight and I think this will be the way we do it from now on because when I use my hand the signal seems to throw him off. Short session but productive.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

the trend continues  Exercise takes precedence over training - always my rule but especially on hot days in the cooler parts of the day.

Perhaps it will be cool enough to train the crew tonight - I have no social type things planned


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Late afternoon I worked a few things  Just quick and upbeat and 

    Towhee too    

Take It (Dumbbell), wait, I crossed the yard and called to front
ROF
ROHJ

They all did great


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning's setup was the Broad Jump (set for 48 all dogs) and 2 cones set about 40 feet apart.

> Heads up heeling starts with focus on tight about turns  Followed by signals for Faelan, Towhee & Brady-- really nice !! 

> Flies from left and right sides using the cones with my running/staying/ giving the drop cue -- Aedan is being introduced to the drop signal from very close, the older dogs random distances. Fun 

> Broad Jumps with my alternating rewards for waiting, kind of bunny hopping from their side to setup position, setups from left & right sides and each dog had 2 actual jumps -- they really did well.

I am super impressed with Towhee's working  almost 6 months without training and she is coming right back and jumping the boys height!


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Yesterday and last night it rained so my yard is too wet to work the boys in so we did some heeling on the street which both did a very good job doing plus after the heeling we did the fig8 which also was well done. After work outside we did articles inside twice every send with each dog was accurate and correct plus both got the fronts (75%) straight . Limited training session but a good one.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@Sharon and Richard - random question.... how have your dogs done while being shown to somebody who they "know"??? And or how did you handle differently? 

I was just looking at the show premium for one of "home trials" I'm definitely planning on doing... and had a pause when I saw the judge is somebody who is a golden person + she's "judged" at fun matches before + she's somebody I'll sit down next to at trials to chat with, so Bertie knows her and likes her. At fun matches he doesn't necessarily get silly or out of control, however he DOES flirt and lose focus at the beginning of the heel pattern when the judge stands next to him.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

@Megora

With Ms Towhee I go on a Impulse Control mode! Heeling and maintaining (hopefully) focus - Towhee is truly a social butterfly.

With Brady, I play games between exetcises since he can become concerned with people crowd him.

With Faelan, I don't much worry - silly l talk and quick games ... He doesn't respond that much to people while he has my focus.

To date, Aedan couldn't care less about other people if he has my attention.

With prior dogs, it depended on their motivation and focus : King was compulsion based trained so would do the sneaky eyed thing if he was interested and would be verbally cued to pay attention, Rowdy was kept upbeat while with Casey i kind of hung on for the ride to see who came out to play .... 



Megora said:


> @Sharon and Richard - random question.... how have your dogs done while being shown to somebody who they "know"??? And or how did you handle differently?
> 
> I was just looking at the show premium for one of "home trials" I'm definitely planning on doing... and had a pause when I saw the judge is somebody who is a golden person + she's "judged" at fun matches before + she's somebody I'll sit down next to at trials to chat with, so Bertie knows her and likes her. At fun matches he doesn't necessarily get silly or out of control, however he DOES flirt and lose focus at the beginning of the heel pattern when the judge stands next to him.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I guess you could sum all of the above up by saying

- depends on the dog
- I find the handling between exercises/transitions require the most attention from me since that sets the stage (good or bad) for what follows.

I have also learned that if I lose my dog in the ring, my best course of action is to ask to be excused...rather than allowing my dog to self reward.


----------



## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Yep... Bertie (knock on wood) hasn't done anything objectionable in actual trials. He really liked a judge at the last trial who was chirping at him and kinda jumped on her during awards (!)..... but his focus has been very good. But that's with judges we don't really train with or rub elbows with too much. 

Because he knows this woman, I'm worried that I'm going to go into the ring and he's going to go "OH HI!!!!!!" when we get out there. >.<


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning was more of a testing set of sessions than a training set -- after review of the videos I will plan what will be a focus for the upcoming week.

Wearing yoga pants so my attire does not get in the way of review  I also need to remember to set the tripod level rather than trying to level the ground appearance since we look crooked LOL 

Here is Ms Towhee's Heeling and a Go Out/Directed Jump -- I need to focus on her marking since she always wants to veer left -- her head position on heeling I was happy with while working  I have not studied this video or the other dogs videos but hope to review her video at lunch - thus posting it here 

Quick review shows her a little wider than usual but overall not bad for a 5+ month break from training and a mama belly still drying out and tightening up


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

>Kate. Only had one dog decide he wanted to say " hi " to the judge and that was Nugget and the judge who I had shown too several times laughed and told me that my dog liked him better than he liked me. No points were lost and a stern " heel " got him back to paying attention to me. This isn't to say other of my dogs haven't been distracted by other things like a loud noise or kids leaning on gates. A little advice don't worry so much show your dogs enjoy and learn from the various experiences they make up the memories.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training at SCKC went very well especially with Nugget who did mostly open exercises but he was awesome . He was hitting the f+f amazing well. We also did the articles there , which he nailed a very good session with Nugget today wish it had been a show. Hombre too did pretty good. His fronts are coming along and he was a " little " better on DB pickups . He did everything in open and it was acceptable. Then came utility which wasn't as well done . First go out = great but the second because of no bait slow and off center so several repeats were necessary. He thinks he should be rewarded every time but that is not going to happen. Then we tried articles which his first " find it " he thought he was doing a go out and then after a second order of " find it " he got his act together. Repeats were necessary as they were last week in the formal ring. Both boys are doing the MSFE on just a verbal," STAND " command and locking up beautifully. We also did group s+d both boys along side each other - well done.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Still in testing mode this evening, but I went to a school parking lot for a better feel for where we are at  Me being kind of (okay -- really) boring to help simulate a trial type atmosphere. There were skateboarders, joggers and walkers out of camera range.

Brady had very little acclimation and his sits showed it so we need to work on them -- no biggee it is a forever training item with him.

Aedan: hmm. time to haul out the mirrors! I was fairly happy with his heeling while working him but the video shows more jaywalking than I felt - so I need to be more aware of when he needs pocket hand support!


Towhee: 





Faelan:


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning was all about rear ends and where they should be while heeling  I chose cones for this morning. I almost NEVER heel this long with any of the dogs but the entire sessions were heelwork this morning. Time to get ready for work so I will review Towhee & Faelan's videos later ...

Aedan: 





Brady:


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Very hot and humid and going to get much worse so only worked with Hombre trying to improve DB pickups by throwing the DB as far as I could telling him again to " take it " when he got close to it. The first 5-6 throws he still went out to it very fast and overran it or just knocked it all over but as he tired I could yell " take it " and the last 3-4 pickups were clean and he was heavily rewarded. I'm hoping he relates a clean pickup with the reward but if it doesn't I have a few other ideas to get better pickups.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Beautiful morning!! But, no training.

We had a freezer mishap that resulted in a few hundred pounds of meat & soups etc melting - so I needed to finish cleaning the mess -- sigh, guess who just bought 90 pounds of dog food on Sunday? I also need to walk the dogs individually on leash until all the food is gone; takes awhile to walk 4 dogs individually LOL

I ordered Fromm dog food from Amazon Jul 1st, it was delivered yesterday!! Yeah, seriously -- but the food I had intended to last several months of twice weekly feeding will now fill in until I can restock on raw food; I have my next order in for the close delivery but that is not for a month -- hopefully I can get another delivery sooner from one of my other suppliers...


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Last night Brady & I headed off to agility class! Long time and Brady's first time ever going solo 

Fun courses and a few challenges. Brady did a really nice job!

Things of note:

Strengths : He seems to understand deceleration  A section of the course that had a long lead out to a partial pinwheel had him reading the deceleration beautifully to enter the pinwheel (I chose to run with a minimal lead out so I could use deceleration - the teams where the handler did not chose to run could not make that pinwheel -- go me!! I was the first to run and Brady did a great job). Flips (back sided jumps) were also fairly strong as were his sends on the 'pedal to the metal' portions. Teeter and AFrame NICE! Poles all right - he needed support.

Weaknesses: Aframe to a push into the tunnel (against the fencing) to my far side. I am sure there is a name for it but -- coming into a Flip from a straight-away with my doing a tight landing side rear cross to wrap him to a jump with a tunnel inviting him  He went wide on what should have been a wrap to a jump teeter

He was calm and focused, jumping easily and confidently even heading unto a wall of unknown dogs


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we worked:

> Heeling
> Go Outs with and without directed jumping (Towhee from between the jumps for Go Outs)
> Signals in pieces - Aedan was introduced to the Stand Signal out of motion
> More heeling 
> A few finishes and fronts with 'close' as criteria

They did well - short sessions as the humidity is rapidly building and the temps are already 70F at 6am


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Yesterday Brady went to Rally drop in and did well  Towhee went to obedience drop in and did a mixture of Open & Utility - she did awesome.

Today I have a rental with a friend joining me - due to the heat (while not long it takes time to get the crates & gear into the store for 4 dogs 00 even with a grocery cart -- probably upwards to 5 minutes) I will most likely only be bring Towhee & Faelan since they are entered in trials  Brady & Aedan can stay home in the A/C.


----------



## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Not a whole lot of training going on here. I've brought Flip to a couple of show n go's. I'm experimenting putting him in a thunder shirt for group stays. I also traded out his leather articles for wood. Leather is just so tasty that after all these years sometimes it's still tempting to just grab one. But mostly we are just hanging out. My heart is still broken in a million pieces.


----------



## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

Well, I had decided Maple would be retired from OB when she finished her UDX last May, but after a month off, and her wanting to be a part of yard training, here I am, packing this weekend for a show next weekend. I have been working on cleaning up some of the persistent point-loss issues: killing the glove, crooked stands on MSFE, sniffing around the article pile before getting to business, and wide turns on heeling. I've also been working to make my signal on DJ cleaner: no pause, less turning my head.

For the glove, I've been doing a lot of retrieves with a flexi to get a faster return. Since she rarely shakes it in training, it's hard to know if I'm getting any improvement that will transfer to a trial.

For the crooked stands, I've switched to a left hand instead of a right hand signal, to keep me from moving my shoulder and causing a partial turn on her part. She seems to have no trouble adapting. 

For the sniffing during articles, I've been having friends rub scent on the ground a few feet to the sides of the pile with liver or hot dogs, and setting out only a couple of unscented articles. If she does the ground sniffing, I go out, interrupt her, bring her back and resend. It seems to be helping in training. We'll see about the trial.

For the sloppy heeling, we've gone back to almost exclusively heeling on leash. We're doing a lot of 360s, 270s, change of paces, etc. I hold the leash in my right hand with almost no slack so she has to work harder to keep up on turns and pay attention. 

We're only entered in Utility, now just trying to pick up OTCH points. I don't care about getting more than one UDX. She still needs an Open win, but I'm trying to reduce her show stress by reducing the amount of time she has to sit at the show in a crate. For the time being, I only plan to enter Open at shows likely to have at least 6 dogs, but less than 10, where we are most likely to pick up a win. 

Megora, if you are concerned about showing to people your dog knows, train more often with friends playing judge.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Oyyyy - methinks I broke Towhee's broad jump ......................................


----------



## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

All we've been doing with the dogs is Nosework. My husband got the bright idea that we need to get Tugg back in agility, our last experience doing it several years was a disaster, he was too impulsive, jumped the ring into another class during training, embarrassed me and I didn't have the patience to deal with it so that was that. So today we had our first class, he was terrific. Took a little bit of time, but at the end he was barreling thru the tunnels, jumping like a gazelle and even did the dog walk like a pro. And best of all, he listened to me when I called him and came back immediately. I am exhausted, too old for a dog with this much energy, but we did have fun. My husband and I even dug out our weave poles from the barn, the heat is disgusting here, we thought we were going to die finding them, but if it cools off this week will give those a go too. Yayy, Tugg.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I've been having problems with the forums soft ware just keeps sayin problem occurred reloading page and I loose everything I've written.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I've been working the boys when I could but weather has been an issue. Thurs. Nugget was again awesome as he did everything and did it well but this morning he blew articles . We don't normally do them in the grass but I tried this morning and he got the second one wrong. He has done them in grass before so it was one of those things. Hombre worked on pickups which are getting better but a little way still to go as are f+ f. Tomorrow at the AC facility YES YES YES


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Yay!! Towhee is doing her broad jump  I stepped back several steps and quickly brought her through the complete progression -- heavy duty rewards

This morning is kind of nasty so quick session:

Heeling, signals (just the stand signal for Aedan), broad jump, moving stand (more pop up stands for Aedan)

Apparently the skies wee purple last night with a massive rainbow spreading over my town - I am seeing pictures but personally was not outside at the time -- but the humidity & heat continues so perhaps tonight?


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we worked:

> Heeling
> Signals for Faelan, Towhee & Brady
> Go Outs (Brady needed assist on 2nd one so we moved up to between the jumps & he did well)
> Directed Jumping - all dogs did great
> and finished with more heeling

Good sessions


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Both boys worked well yesterday in the AC. Nugget did open beautifully and Hombre did a decent job with pickups improving as well as fronts. Utility he made two major mistakes that would NQ him but we will fix them. Forum software still messing me up


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Boys get today off I've too many errands and chores to take care of but tomorrow at SCKC is on the agenda.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

It was still in the mid 80s last night close to 8pm so the dogs had the evening off.

This morning, no particular reason other than I wanted to try a yoga DVD out, they had off as well  well that and Brady was wet and stinky from being hosed down after his finding and rolling in bear scat or whatever it was he enjoyed this morning! Traffic permitting, Brady has agility class --


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Hombre worked a mix of open and utility exercises some he did very well like the MSFE and Directed jumping but signals were terrible and pickups on the DB still poor. DOR was done but not fast enough to suit me. Lots of work ahead with the " Challenge " . Nugget goes to SCKC tonight.


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Last night in the AC facility we had the bldg to ourselves and Nugget was AWESOME working the #3 utility exercise to almost perfection . Very pleased with his work and open was also very well done but utility was just done especially well by him. Hombre at home earlier was ok but still a lot of things need to be better.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

The crew had today off - it is finally raining so we just listened to the rain and took a short excursion into the woods 

Now I need to decide a few things:
Drop in for 2 of the dogs tomorrow or work all 4 somewhere before it gets too hot

Which dogs for which classes at an indoor match on Sunday. I am thinking Faelan & Towhee for Open & Utility, Brady for Open and Aedan for ?? I haven't trained his stand yet so I may actually enter him in Open.

I can also do an ACT event tomorrow (entry level agility) with Brady & Aedan since they have no agility titles ...


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Articles done with both boys and well done by each . Both had two turns at each article with no mistakes . Fronts were straight on all but one with Hombre but Nugget DID touch me 3 of 4 returns with article and Hombre dropped the metal one twice. Turns were very nice. Later today heeling out front


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Yesterday time kind of slipped away from me, so the dogs were trained in the heat of the early afternoon (they had their hikes in the cool of morning, I went to the gym, ran errands etc)

I basically set up a Utility ring in the yard since I had decided not to have a rental and missed the drop class time. The older dogs all had basic Utility run throughs except Aedan who did the pieces he knows/is being trained for. Brady balked at one point wanting to go inside but since they were indeed in a longer session than usual but still under 10 minutes we got to have a 'no you will do this' moment and he was fine.

Then after each dog was worked I went back inside to cool down, so each dog probably had an hour of A/C time and water before we went back outside (one at a time) to do som DOR, ROF and ROHJ work.

Today is a run through - altho it is raining out, I may leave Brady and Aedan home so they can go on a long hike with Paul when it stops and head on up to Tails with Faelan and Towhee,


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Long day 

I took Faelan & Towhee for an obedience match and they ran all competitive classes, Novice A then B, Open A then B, Utility A then b. Then they ram non competitive classes in the same order.

So it was a long day.

Towhee went Non Comp in Open A then Util A: Open A was really nice but a dog went into her rolling and wagging on the down so she broke - hopefully not an issue 0 I mentioned to the owner that she really shouldn't sit and lie on the floor with her dog after the 2nd break. Utility she would have passed several of the exercises - signals, 1st article (metal), Go Outs, DJ, MSFE and gloves (#1). Adorable and happy!

Faelan rocked both Open & Utility  

Of course I was in training mode and an excited WooHoo or 2 may have been uttered from my mouth LOL

A dog in the next ring did try to latch onto Faelan's dumbbell that that just stirred him into rocket mode to beat her to the dumbbell LOL

Overall a good day except that I came home to Aedan's pants having tons of burrs and mats - since I didn't get to it right away (he probably got back from his hike about 1 o'clock), I had to cut a lot of the mats out -- so he looks much less fuzzy and waggy down below now


----------



## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Nuggets turn today and he did everything asked of him but he was sluggish and less accurate than his last couple sessions. Hombre did articles and the DOR which still could be faster and the ROF which was poorly done as his pickups out of the grass were definetly lacking being " clean " . Weather is getting hot and humid again can't wait till Tues to go to the AC facility. Aug 14 both boys entered in a trial and it will be Hombres first attempt to get an Open leg.


----------



## my4goldens (Jan 21, 2009)

second agility class today. The A-frame was out, Tugg had no problem with it. He is so fast, blasts thru the tunnel, chute. I think I am too old to run this dog. Best part was even as fast as he runs, I had him under control. And it's kind of funny, he loves the table, so his default when he gets wound up and feeling a little out of control seems to be to run to the table. Which gives us both a break. My husband after two lessons has decided he can't keep up with this dog, so I guess I will be his handler in agility and he will be his handler in Nosework. Hard to believe that a dog that is calm, quiet, focused and accurate in Nosework runs like a border collie in agility.


----------



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

A picture of Towhee and me at the SBGRC match today - she really looks great and did a wonderful job; her pregnancy & nursing curls are already straightening out too


----------

