# Jan 2015: Training logs



## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

A new year 

January 2015 is shaping up to be fairly busy for me. I will be scheduling rentals when I remember when Faelan’s follow up vet appointment is for his tooth extraction too. Towhee is on limited exposure in case she is pregnant.

Jan 1: Faelan is entered in agility Run Thrus (Towhee & Brady will most likely be hiking with my brother)

Jan 25: Faelan has Open & Utility Run Thrus, Brady has Novice & Grad Nov Run Thrus (Tails)

Feb 1: Faelan has Open & Utility run thrus, Brady has 2 Novice Run Thrus (PCOTC)

Jan 18: Brady starts a Rally class in a different facility on Sunday evenings for 6 or 8 weeks at Tails

Jan 6: Faelan starts an Open/Utility class on Tuesday evenings for 6 weeks at Tails

Faelan has agility class on Wednesday evenings (Tails)

Jan 24: drop in Rally and Obedience classes at SmartyDog

Jan 31: drop in Rally & Obedience classes at SmartyDog

I have to look at a few upcoming trials for both Faelan & Brady and will continue to take online classes at FDSA.

ETA: Agility run thrus are not happening today due to a scheduling error: like my trainer really needed that after losing 3 of her dogs to a fire a few weeks ago!! She's still grieving hard, dealing with insurance issues and trying to put her life back together - the cops & firemen held her back (after waking her by pounding on her door at 2am) from saving her dogs and she had to watch as they were consumed by fire.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

2015 will be a year of 2 main goals which are Hombre being housebroken which is a priority and by years end trained thru Novice. Secondly I hope to obtain a UDX with Nugget which is 8 legs away which I think is a feasible goal.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Well, 2014 didn't shape up the way I was hoping for Lexx and I but it certainly wasn't from a lack of trying. We trained a lot and trained hard, attended seminars and workshops and kept very busy. I learned a lot about myself and about Lexx.....essentially, *I *need more training and Lexx, unfortunately, has to put up with me until I figure it out!! Every person I've trained with has told me that so that many people can't be wrong. :no:

I had hoped to get at least his CD, TD and WC and possibly an agility title but instead, came away with his RN title. We tried the CD but we weren't ready for the trial ring and there were no tracking tests anywhere near us. We didn't attempt the WC as Lexx has a thing about picking up dead birds! He will take them from me and deliver them to hand but will not pick them up. As for agility, it continues to be a challenge.

As for 2015, we WILL get that CD and when he does that, I think the CDX is also there for him. I'm sure he would have no trouble with the tracking tests but to date, I don't see any scheduled anywhere close to us in 2015. We will be working on the duck retrieve over the winter so hopefully he'll be ready for the WC come summer. If the duck retrieve works out, we will also attempt the JH. He has his CKC RN title and will work towards the CARO RN title over the next couple of months. We will also go for his CKC RA and RE titles assuming there will be trials closer to us (not 8 hours away). As for agility....I'm not sure. He's good at it when he does it but it's getting him to focus on the whole course that seems to be a challenge. He seems to think that after doing 5 or 6 obstacles, he's done. Our class begins again next week but if I don't start seeing some improvement in him, I think we'll take a break from it. I'm actually going to have DH try running him to see if that makes a difference. 

We have an obedience fun match this Friday night; Saturday he has his advanced obedience working group and the following Friday night, we have a Rally fun match. 

As for training...we've been working on his open and utility exercises. I think we've got the go-outs figured out ....again! He's doing much better. His drop on recall, something which he did very well, now seems to be an issue. I'm using Lori Drouin's method and it seems to be working very well.

Sorry for the novel!!

Happy New Year and Happy Training to everyone!!


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

Happy new year everyone! 

I would love to say that my goal for this year is for Kea to get her CD, but more realistically, my goal is to continue to develop a relationship with her and with Harris that will carry over into the ring. I have seen such progress with her in her ring confidence class through FDSA, so we are going to continue slowly and methodically training ring preparation until I feel we are both ready to knock it out of the park. If it takes us another two years, we will be a stronger team because of it, although I know her breeder would really love to see that title sooner rather than later  She is my Novice A dog, and we finally love playing this game together, which says a lot. 

For Harris, we will continue building a strong foundation for heeling and focus, which have been my main struggles with Kea. I also want to progress in field training with him and will continue working on his bumper retrieves and work our way up to birds.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Today I took the boys to an open training session. We stayed three hours and I had lots of fun. Tomorrow we're heading to a New Year's Day training session/party in Houston. 

My tentative goals for Phoenix this year will start by finishing up his RN (he has one leg, is entered twice in January). Hoping to do Beginner Novice this summer, followed by prenovice. I'm going to try really really really hard to wait until 2016 to show him in novice. It's hard when they know all the exercises, have good focus, but you just want them to mature a little more. By the end of the year I'd also like him to be fully trained through utility.

I also hope to get his WC, but it is only offered once a year around here so if we don't make it in April it will be another year. Would love to enter a tracking test too, but it turns out I'm not a very good tracking handler or trainer, so it will depend on how long it takes us to get all that figured out.

Flip, I don't know, I need to finish up his JH. Don't really know what I'll do with him besides that. He's entered one day in rally and one day in a pre class at the upcoming trial. I did a utility run through with him today, his first one in six months. He was so excited he was shaking.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Our one specific accomplishment for 2014 was Gracie's CGC a week or so ago. It was actually a bit of a surprise and I'm happy about it. I've concluded that to set realistic specific goals you actually need a fair amount of experience and knowledge of all the steps and the time it will take to reach the big goals with the dog you've got. So we're just going to try to keep moving ahead with foundation training in obedience and see how far we can get.

Agility is on hold for now even though Gracie loves it and seems to have a natural aptitude for it. Maybe we'll get back to it when her focus and impulse control have improved.

I'm still hoping that at some stage she'll be able to do therapy work but she's got lots of settling to do. She does love her meet and greets and has been very good with small children. After the CGC test Gracie was mistaken by someone entering the test area for the neutral test dog. So maybe someday. We'll continue with lots of socialization.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Today SCKC had training which I'm pleased to say went very very well. Nugget did all utility exercises twice and he was awesome doing everything nicely with only a front or two which were close but a tad crooked. Go outs very nice quite brisk by Nuggets standards of which I was impressed. Today each run would have been well into the high 190s. Open too very good with a beautiful DOR and the only thing I didn't like was his first front on the BJ and one front on the ROHJ. Nugget had his act together today and because my instructor was sick and really should have been in bed I was asked to play instructor doing about 20 MSFE and several utility run thru which I don't mind doing. There were about 16 people who showed up and most everyone brought a dish because of it being New Years so it was fun and belly filling too! I also had the WHOLE bldg for my use exclusively before any body came which also made it pretty nice because Lynn was so sick she didn't bring her dogs.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Took the boys training today. Flip got in trouble, but Phoenix did well. I asked someone to video our heeling so I could see how he's doing from a perspective besides out of the corner of my eye.


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## K9-Design (Jan 18, 2009)

Cute heeling, Jodie!!  I'm sending you my puppy to train...


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Jodie - he looks perfect<: 

I wish I had a tight clean heel like that with Bertie! He's getting better but still has his "carried away" moments.  

I did not start this year as well as I hoped.... might still sneak out for open floor tomorrow, but stinks I didn't get a chance to go out this week to take advantage of Rally/Open/Utility courses set up for people to use! 

Classes resume this month and things should get busy again -


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we had indoor sessions (cold outside  )

I used my larger pivot for Faelan & Towhee and the small pivot disc for Brady.

- Pivots from the front, to the left & to the right from heel position.
- heeling with my hand in heel position and dropping back to reward at hip level: slow, halts, normal, slow forward from halt and an emphasis on left turns.

Then I brought out the front/finish platform

Faelan: Send aways with a sit on the platform to re-enforce tight turns. Some off center fronting followed by some MSFE with finishes on the platform.

Towhee & Brady: start training the turn & sit on the platform (they know without the platform but can be a bit wider on the turn), followed by a few send aways with a turn & sit. Then front work for both of them followed by MSFE with finishes on the platform.

They each then had quick sessions of the distance drop with an emphasis on fold back with no forward movement. For Brady, the platform did come out again since he has started stepping forward when high value treats are involved.. expected but a definite training point!
Because the concentrations was on precision the rewards were frequent.

I do need to set up my planning grids because I had thought I would train them outside this morning but had to rethink when I decided it was too cold ...


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I need to retract a statement I made about drop in training at SCKC there WILL be training for 3 more weeks only the lady that was doing them on Sat.has quit but after that it's done. No training for me till tomorrow as its cold but I just need to catch up on things that have to be taken care of. I don't think Nugget will forget too much .


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

This week, we went to Rally Drop in - they set up an Excellent course and my dogs could do all the signs! We did it on leash and Novice style however. Attention is our biggest issue. Both dogs did the course twice. It's amazing how much better everyone does on the second run! 

After that Dee Dee went to Novice drop in for dummies where the class worked on heeling footwork. Dee Dee is an amazing happy heeler, focus is lacking at times, we work on that every day. We also worked on stand for exam, Dee Dee picks up quickly, and was able to stand and stay while I took 2 steps forward! Some of the other class peoples are interested in trying competition obedience so I looked up some dog shows in the area having BN, PN, and Rally trials. I don't think she'll be ready for CD but could almost certainly do BN .. we have to work on Stays.
Actually Gladys could probably do BN as well but on second thought, if no food involved, maybe not. Heeling off leash is out of the question at this time.

We practice our Dancing moves and I started looking at choreography for class and possible consideration for trying that venue in the future. There are very few events and from what I gather submissions are videotaped and sent in for scoring.

The basement has gotten a little small for what we want to do because it has too much furniture in it that doesn't get used so I called some movers today, I hope they call me back to get some of that furniture out of there so I can turn the basement into a dog training room for us!


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Tonight we trained individually in our small extra bedroom. Finley and I just started working on marking. Something I learned from the online class we're auditing. We're just using one object for now, 1st it was a treat and tonight I just used a book (only because that's what happened to be handy) and then had her bring it to me. I'm thinking maybe I should pick up some identical cheap gloves and use those. Not sure how to progress since we don't cover this in our regular class yet. I also decided to try to teach her to "touch" something other than my hand. In watching the videos from the online class it seems that when some people teach go-outs they sometimes start by teaching the dog to "touch" tape or something wherever they have been sent to go. So I took a lid from a canning jar, held it in my hand and asked her to touch. No problem with that. The problem comes when I'm not holding it. Then she wants to pick it right up and bring it to me. After a few times of me *very quickly* giving a, "yes!" and treat as soon as the nose touched it, she started to get the idea. Both girls worked on short heeling, pivots, left turns, and figure 8's. Banshee had her 2cd lesson in holding a dumbbell. We also practiced proofing the word Down when mixed with random words and no change of my voice. Class starts back up on Monday and it will be Banshee's turn. Next Sat, the 10th Finley is signed up for 2 open show N go's. I'm thinking about how best to use the time and want a plan for when we go in. Depending on how she does, there is a trial in Feb that I am tempted to enter...


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

In another 1 1/2 hours I'll be going to SCKC for training as the last trial we are signed up for is at the end of this month plus the weather is terrible with rain mixed with snow and its a little slippery but this club is only 15 minutes away . I really dislike this weather as it limits me so much.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Drive safe -- we have weather alerts out for this afternoon into tomorrow so I am hoping to do my errands, hiking & training before it hits and then to safely hunker down working on reviewing & planning some things.

Another storm is predicted (just a clipper though) just in time to interfere with my Faelan's new class (an extra 90 miles of driving).



Nuggetsdad said:


> In another 1 1/2 hours I'll be going to SCKC for training as the last trial we are signed up for is at the end of this month plus the weather is terrible with rain mixed with snow and its a little slippery but this club is only 15 minutes away . I really dislike this weather as it limits me so much.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Brady joined me on a run to the Organic Food Store and after my shopping he got to practice the some heeling and signals in the parking lot (pea gravel on a wire mesh grid with some pavement), and a lot of activity. He had some issues with the sit signal and there was one area of the parking lot where he kept glancing towards a planting area while heeling - we must have had a half dozen resets before we had success 

Then I took Faelan to one of the hunt/shooting clubs and perhaps was less than fair LOL I set up about 75 feet from a skeet range in use and practiced heeling, signals, fronts and finishes. I did need to allow for his hunt training and not signal as the guns were going off--maybe someday but then again maybe not. He grew 8 inches in his sit height when the guns went off and he went to full alert looking for 'his bird'.

Next up was a walk/hike with Faelan, Towhee & Brady where we walked off lead intermixed with my leaving them on a wait and walking a few hundred feet away for a distance release/recall  Fun is!!! Nothing quite like having 3 goldens flying at you just as fast as they can in their rush to be first to me!

As I was taking the dogs out of the truck the snow started and is already started to stick in less than 10 minutes, so I'd say timing was very good


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Mon.is the first night of our clubs new format but I think the weather is going to mess it up big time with single digit temps and snow, I hate winter. Anyway we did go to SCKC drop in this morning and Nugget in utility which he did twice all I can say is I wish it was a trial instead of practice . He was good!! We didn't get much done in open work because only 4 people showed and the lady that was in charge ( treasurer of club ) wanted to go home and cut my time in the ring so sits and downs could be done and she could go home. This lady has Great Danes and isn't into obedience anyway all I got done in open was a fantastic sliding DOR which was really nice and a couple ROHJ and a few ROF. DIdnt have time for heeling fig8 or BJ. I guess I shouldn't moan because I did run thru 2 people in utility so I kinda burned some of my training time. I took Hombre along little monster that he is but did only 2swing finishs and 2stands for exam which he won't hold and a down. More important training is housebreaking which so far is NON-QUALIFYING


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

We missed our obedience fun match last night due to crappy weather. Travel was not recommended on the highways so we ended up staying home which is rather disappointing because we don't have a lot of fun matches to attend.

However, with the weather and highways having improved, we made our advanced obedience working group class today. It started out a little rough as I think Lexx was still sleeping! We started out with the BJ but he kept walking over it. After a few corrections, he started going over it properly. ROHJ....the first time he went around it and came back the same way. One correction and he opted to do it right the next few times.

Group heeling was well done, fronts (with distractions) were well done.

One thing that got me pretty excited (and I'm not overly excitable)....was Lexx' s articles. We've never done them anywhere but at home. So when the instructor told us to pull them out, I told her the same thing. I know how Lexx can be when we train at the building versus training at the club (he acts like he forgets everything). We were using a full set (which is 13). We started with the metal article. Quick to the pile, a couple of sniffs, grabs #1 and quickly back to me with a perfect front and finish. Yes!!! Next was leather.....this time on the way to the pile, he stopped to scratch but finished up and headed to the pile. Grabbed the correct leather article and back to me with perfect front and finish again. 2 for 2!! Next was wood (which we don't do often). Straight to the first wooden article, sniff, grabbed it and came back with another awesome front and finish. 3 for 3!!!!! I was proud of Lexx and I actually think our instructor was impressed! For the first time doing this outside of his home, it was pretty good. He was out-working some more experienced dogs.

We ended our session with a couple of go outs and directed jumping. His go outs are coming along...his last one was awesome. His directed jumping was perfect. 

All in all, I was happy with Lexx's performance at class today. He was a very good boy!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I'm trying to get more serious about Penny's therapy dog training. I've been slacking and pushing it aside when I should have been working on it. There are three things I need to improve on with her: separation from owner, leaving food alone, and polite greetings. I left Penny alone five times in a room with a yummy treat, and I heard no whining each time. This seems like a good number to work with her on each day so I'll keep doing this at random intervals throughout the day. 

Her "leave it" isn't as solid as it used to be, so starting tomorrow I'm going to work on refreshing that with her.

When school break is over, I'll start taking Penny on campus three times a week for half hour intervals so she can get more practice being calm around other people. 

This is the training schedule I've laid out in my head for her. I'll make adjustments as I need to, as long as I remember to stick to it every day.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

boomers_dawn said:


> This week, we went to Rally Drop in - they set up an Excellent course and my dogs could do all the signs! We did it on leash and Novice style however. Attention is our biggest issue. Both dogs did the course twice. It's amazing how much better everyone does on the second run!
> 
> After that Dee Dee went to Novice drop in for dummies where the class worked on heeling footwork. Dee Dee is an amazing happy heeler, focus is lacking at times, we work on that every day. We also worked on stand for exam, Dee Dee picks up quickly, and was able to stand and stay while I took 2 steps forward! Some of the other class peoples are interested in trying competition obedience so I looked up some dog shows in the area having BN, PN, and Rally trials. I don't think she'll be ready for CD but could almost certainly do BN .. we have to work on Stays.
> Actually Gladys could probably do BN as well but on second thought, if no food involved, maybe not. Heeling off leash is out of the question at this time.


I really struggle with focus too, and when reviewing the very long list of FDSA classes starting in February, I have decided I really need the "Get Focused" class. The description describes Kea to a "T"! 

Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE105: Get Focused!

We are at my mom and dad's this week, so Kea and I have gotten in some good heeling training in their yard, with her choosing a few times to overcome her desire to chase the little songbirds my mom likes to feed. We have been practicing "formality" in training and then a surprise unexpected release (e.g., set her up for a recall and instead of calling, toss a toy off to the side for her to chase, or call her front and send her between my legs). 

Harris is doing really well with his precision heeling - today, we had another breakthrough and he figured out how to do a right sidestep and back-up to stay in heel position. We can now combine those two maneuvers with left pivots and right turns and should be able to add front movement soon. He's going a little stir-crazy here because we are doing a lot of sitting around, so I had seen a video on Donna Hill's Facebook page about teaching a dog to fetch a hotdog. We are trying it with string cheese. The cheese is frozen and wrapped in a few layers of saran wrap and I've been slowly removing the layers, practicing take and hold with cut-up cheese rewards. I'm hoping this concept will help us transition him to ducks in field, or at least wings, without munching feathers. It's good for impulse control and soooo hard for him, but he's doing it!


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

Training was a down then up experience.

Had George play judge for a 2-exercise sequence: signals and articles. The signals were the downer. Maple didn't get her elbows completely on the floor. We started over. This time, no drop at all. The third time, she did a very nice full sequence. Kind of a surprise. She's been reliable on signals for a long time.  Maybe having the fake judge after many weeks of working alone threw her off her stride. 

On articles, she was great. She had to take a while to find the metal, but she didn't give up and revert to grabbing. She got the correct one and had no trouble with leather. Her finishes were angled out quite a bit. She made an effort to be straight in front.


Expecting a few inches of snow tomorrow morning and afternoon, changing to rain by evening. The prediction is for possibly an inch of rain. Add all that rain to the melting snow and it's going to be one muddy mess here by Monday.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

KeaColorado said:


> I really struggle with focus too, and when reviewing the very long list of FDSA classes starting in February, I have decided I really need the "Get Focused" class. The description describes Kea to a "T"!
> 
> Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE105: Get Focused!


I did that class as a bronze, I think you'll like it and get a lot out of it.
It's a work in progress for us. 
Have fun training


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny's off switch is making progress. I have plenty of time to practice it with her on walks, since she still jumps up, grabs the leash, and play growls at various times. The last couple days she's started to lose her edge a little when I told her to settle, and once she even stopped completely and sat without any assistance from me. I hope this progress will continue over the next few weeks. 

Penny doesn't mind leaving her kibble alone if I toss it onto the floor, but as soon as I started throwing bread pieces on the ground she wanted to lunge straight for it. At the end of the session she did much better. I'll have to keep using tempting food items in order to test her resolve.

I left Penny alone in a room for minute intervals with a container of frozen peanut butter. It turns out that freezing it doesn't slow down how quickly it is eaten much at all. I'll mix some water into a new batch to freeze and see how it lasts tomorrow. I'll try putting food in a plastic bottle instead for her separation training if this doesn't work well either.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Grins .. well I guess I should buckle down and teach Brady his weave poles (my least favorite training task) .. one of his sisters has started competing and looks great in blue~~


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

It is 0 degrees and my vans windows and doors were frozen shut but a couple pots of hot water got the side doors to open as Nugget and Sadie have a vet appt. this morning plus I am instructing a new class this afternoon at my club and had to get in . It's only early winter and I'm already hating it as problems are already arising because of it. Has anyone ever tried poop scooping when the poop is frozen to the snow and ground? Another reason to hate winter the only one in my household that seems to like it is Hombre and he doesn't have any sense at all. If no other problems arise I will get some training in with Nugget this afternoon before what I hope other crazy dog people come to train at our new early drop in time.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

we have the cold moving in tomorrow .. might get a few things trained today since I took the day off for a midday appointment with the ortho doctor/surgeon...I so hope the cast comes off and I don't need physical therapy.

ETA:
Cast came off  I have a removable splint for the next 4 weeks.

and my hand is strong/flexible enough to handle the clicker or treats on my silly (but potentially useful) trick of shoulder touch !! Future 'correction' for any wide heeling can be a shoulder touch to my left leg,,,,


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Has a very nice afternoon with Finley. We went to Lowes to get metal electrical plates. I think they will be harder for Finley to pick up and are a lot smaller than cookie tins  so maybe I'll stick to working on scent discrimination this time. I also picked up a pair of white utility gloves. Probably not what people use in utility, but it'll work for now since we're just beginning that. She did nice heeling with very good attention up and down different isles. And some signal work with Down from a distance. She heeled from the car all the way to the entrance without being asked. I was extremely happy today with the way she quickly adapted to the new environment, distractions, ect and seemed to want to work . That being said, she did need a reminder to keep her feet on the floor when greeting people. :doh: It's much better than it used to be, but it is apparent it takes every bit her self control not to go over board with her greetings. As long as no one talks to her or reaches out to pet her, we're ok. After Lowes we went to the pet store and practiced heeling with pace changes, turns, and halts. Fronts and finishes too. This time she did a lot of sniffing ect before we started. Nice thing, after a few minutes of this I asked her to work and she happily did. Then it was in the store to stock up on treats, get a new tug toy and a ball. After getting home, we went in the yard so she could try out the ball. Practiced turns and sits from a distance. I act like I've thrown the ball, get her all hyped for it, pull my arm back and swing it forward and off she runs to get it. I let her get out there and say "Finley Sit!". She turns and quickly sits and then the ball goes flying! She loves it and I think this type of play will be a big help for go outs and sits...at least from the videos I've seen the "sit" action from running straight out looks pretty similar. So we spent about 15 minutes out there and I swear in those 15 minutes the temp really dropped and the wind chill is picking up.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

My first day back to work since Dec 24. Me and the dogs were bummed. On the plus side, the temperature rose to the mid-40s today. With the wind howling all day, it was enough to melt the 6 or so inches of snow on the ground. I love to watch snow disappear. 

I got George to play judge for a two-exercise sequence of signals and articles in the loft. Maple was fabulous on signals. I was so happy, I praised very enthusiastically and got her all excited, then we did articles. She rushed through articles, clearly thinking about her big treat coming at the end and went into grabby mode and got a leather instead of the correct metal. I showed her the right article, put her in a down without a treat, let Alder have a shot at the articles and fussed and played with him, then got her out and repeated the sequence. She was again fabulous at heeling and signals. On the article, she was excited, but much more thorough. She got both correct and got her cut-up hotdogs for a big reward. 
I put her up and worked on a few of Alder's Rally exercises. He is getting a little better about heeling closer. Heeling wide is an old habit of his that he easily falls back into. We did a little Rally routine and, while he was snarfing his hot dog rewards, I got Maple out again and did a little pivot and finish work with the remaining treats.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning the session were split between agility/jumping and motivational heeling.

We worked 1 jump Linda Mecklenberg style; Faelan and Towhee were so excited  Brady was hesitant jumping into me standing within 2 feet of the jump with the wall right behind me, All 3 did great with my standing by the stanchion, with wraps and figure 8s and I only remembered with Faelan to do some sends - he did great. Jump height was set at 14 inches since these are also conditioning exercises.

Then we worked 1 minute each dog with right circles in heeling driving and alternating between normal and fast paces. Dogs loved it and did well 

Tonight, weather & road conditions permitting, Faelan and I will be heading out to a new class covering Open & Utility as we begin preparations for his UDX ...


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

It's very cold ( 7degrees ) and the snow has fallen to about 4-5 inches very slick driving , thank goodness SCKC is so close to my home. At my club the drop in early format wasn't as successful as I had hoped it would be , but it was COLD and the snow that came was in the forecast and not as many people showed as I hoped would but we did have 6 and for the new class that I instruct there was also 6 . I got to the bldg. early opened up and got to work Nugget all by myself. We were able to do 2 complete utility exercises which he done very nicely then we worked open which didn't go nearly as well. Started with the BJ which his first 2 jumps he ticked the first board and both fronts were off. The third he finally got it. Heeling wasn't as clean as he can do. The ROF which we did 3times with the dumbbell thrown straight and then right then left the throw to the left he came back over the HJ which at a show would cost pts.also 2 of the 3 fronts weren't straight ( the never ending battle of f+ f ) DOR he did well doing a verbal then hand signal then a straight recall for a treat between my legs which was fast as Nugget knows when a treat is coming his way. Overall not a bad session but not great either but utility is starting to outshine his open work but that's probably because I've been pushing utility more but today we will concentrate on heeling and fig8 which we need a little work on.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

<< Gulp >>

A few firsts for me today 

Sent in my very first UDX entries for any dog: Faelan will debut in Mar
Sent in Brady's first Novice Obedience entries: he will debut in Mar

That is if all the entries make the cut off as this double trial generally fills quickly and I am not sure when the premium was posted .. kind of distracted about that these past few weeks


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Just a enough snow to make it slippery and not good for doing jumps. So inside today. I marked each of the six electrical plates today so each dog has 3 to start. Both of them got pretty quick that touch it with your nose gets you a lot of treats on it. So after a few times I added a second plate. Messy for me, but a good first day of this. I think they're both glad for a new game. Worked on holding the dumbbell again with Banshee. She is getting it, not too thrilled with the idea, but quite happy to take the treats after doing it. Less petting today to keep her mouth closed so progress is being made . I did a mark to one glove with Finley and sent her to "Take it". Happily she did, brought it right back to front and sat without me telling her, but she was mouthing quite a bit. Soooo, I decided the best course of action in teaching this is take it from my hand and hold before I add a retrieve. I think we did that about 5 times and she seems to have the idea. No sense in rushing any of this, so we'll concentrate on a good hold with no mouthing as we did the dumbbell before we move on to anything else. Then we did some short heeling with work on the moving stand. Good fun session for both. Using a zen bowl when working in the spare room rather than treats on me.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Ah my little inconsistent boy, utility today was not as well done as yesterday with several fronts straight but more on one side of me and corrections just got them straight on the other side of me but there were a couple that were just right. Open work on the other hand was better than last nights. He took the BJ cleaner but the first one the front was off but the next two were fine. Heeling and fig8 I was happy with as SCKC has a couple mirrors and I made sure the halts were in front of them and not one crooked sit was done and he didn't lag on any abouts. ROF briskly done with 2 good fronts but then some of the finish's he didn't go behind me far enough on the turn around and wound up butt out. Nugget was a little on the lazy side today not putting everything into it but we all have those kind of days, all in all a decent day of training and he would have qualified in both class's. With good scores just not winning ones. The worst of the training today was several poor go outs which he cut several feet to the left an ongoing problem.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Sunrise said:


> << Gulp >>
> 
> A few firsts for me today
> 
> ...



That's great!! I hope you make the cutoff! I was just reading an email for a local show in March. It falls on my weekend to work.  I'm sitting here trying to decide if I should request it off (which I don't want to do since I just asked and agreed to more time), or wait and see if someone will switch weekends or cover for me.... I smiled at your post. I felt a gulp when I first sent an entry in for Finley's first Novice entry...Took such careful time filling it all out and took her with me to the post office to mail it. Then thought, OMG, what am I thinking???  I suppose it'll be similar when I send an entry out for open.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I felt the same way when I sent in Phoenix's rally novice entry. Along with wondering why I thought it was a good idea to get a puppy with parents with so many titles. Filling out entry forms is a lot more tedious now than it ever was with dogs with untitled parents! :


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Oaklines LOL  Makes entries a breeze after entering the info - I almost forgot to change Faelan's owners to just me though...



Loisiana said:


> I felt the same way when I sent in Phoenix's rally novice entry. Along with wondering why I thought it was a good idea to get a puppy with parents with so many titles. Filling out entry forms is a lot more tedious now than it ever was with dogs with untitled parents! :


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Tonights class was a blast!! A new class with a new group although I knew most of the people from here and there (obedience and agility events).

Faelan was awesome .. mostly. He drew gasps from the other students but even a 'WHOA' and a 'Heavens' from the instructor; I had to ask about the 'Heavens' since it was the MSFE but the instructor was 'he was perfect, immediate lockup into a balanced sand and he had full attention on me, I walked exactly 10 feet away etc. He was a happy happy boy. Having recalls in a line-up kind of blew his mind though, not helped by my calling Faelan, the dog next to him breaking and the lady yelling 'NOOOOOO You STAY' while walking in ... oops, we worked through it.

We worked every exercise (other than OOS sits & downs) in Open & Utility - a few of Faelan's fronts were slightly off a bit but they were close to me, and he did not take the broad jump straight down the middle (ended perhaps 6 inches off center in a 5 foot set) but overall he was very very good .. I think the teacher started using us as her example since we started being 1st for each exercise after the heeling ... LOL .. I was proud of the boy since he was not only waggy waggy but he was accurate in a different environment, without the regular structure (ie; directed gloves had no jumps set up and glove #1 sent him close to an X Pen with 3 dogs in it and things like that).

Good session!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Sounds like a fun class, I so wish there was a class my dogs could go to. I really need to look into moving someday for more training opportunities.

Tuesday is my 12 hour work day, so Tuesday nights are usually just a cuddle night for us.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Yeah, this class is an hour away -- on a day of snow showers and flurries. I went through a half tank of gas between work & class -- especially annoying since the club is close t where I work, 10 minutes without traffic LOL oh well, he needs the exposure to all kinds of elements I can't really provide with most of my training


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

No training today as all three go for their monthly groom. This is Hombre's first time my groomer will have fun with him. ( EVIL GRIN ON MY FACE)


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning we worked inside 

Each dog had 1 session starting with heads up animated heeling for short bursts, followed by (my) knee up jogging. We then did articles with the fronting platform.

*Brady: *very nice overall, I need to work on his setups. Heeling was beautiful as were his articles - nice working the pile clean pickups and nice holds

*Faelan:* beautiful heeling - nice attitude prance and precision. Articles -- he was mouthing slightly and delivered with the metal article not square in his mouth; the articles are a half inch too large but I do need to improve his pickup and delivery.

*Towhee:* she is just adorable!! Seriously I love her heeling!! Her articles (same set so about 1-1 1/2 inches too large) she had beautiful holds and deliveries. The metal article needed work since she missed but her leather was perfect.

I set the articles pile by the radiators and had white dots on the floor.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I just scheduled a few rentals  

This Sunday at least there should be at least 3 others joining me! Cannot wait! 

I do need to schedule more but between the weather and 'things', I just have not wanted to commit --- next week may be the week for Faelan x MaeMae puppies !!!!!!!!


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> I do need to schedule more but between the weather and 'things', I just have not wanted to commit --- next week may be the week for Faelan x MaeMae puppies !!!!!!!!


 
Wow already!?! Can't wait to see what's cookin' !!
I wouldn't schedule too many rentals either ... 
save time to go visit the nursery :smooch:


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Grins - me & my dremel, can't start too young 





boomers_dawn said:


> Wow already!?! Can't wait to see what's cookin' !!
> I wouldn't schedule too many rentals either ...
> save time to go visit the nursery :smooch:


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Got the dogs back from the groomer and they look great and Hombre didn't let me down because my groomer said he was a handful it was awfully peaceful for 3 hours that alone was worth the cost.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

We started a new session of obedience classes today. It went pretty well except for the recall. Our instructor seems anxious that we maintain precision and speed as we train our dogs for the novice exercises. He was showing the other students the treat toss behind the dog and handler run away to build drive as you do the recall. Our turn was last and he commented that he didn't think Gracie would have a problem with speed so he just held her steady till I called her. She shot forward so fast I could hear gasps and comments from the other students. Unfortunately she failed to stop in front and ran right on by. We have a lot of work to do.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

On the bright side, she ran right on by and not into  (Been there, done that it hurts! )



TheZ's said:


> We started a new session of obedience classes today. It went pretty well except for the recall. Our instructor seems anxious that we maintain precision and speed as we train our dogs for the novice exercises. He was showing the other students the treat toss behind the dog and handler run away to build drive as you do the recall. Our turn was last and he commented that he didn't think Gracie would have a problem with speed so he just held her steady till I called her. She shot forward so fast I could hear gasps and comments from the other students. Unfortunately she failed to stop in front and ran right on by. We have a lot of work to do.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

It was -7 degrees when I went to visit my wife this morning and all the electronic read outs speedometer and tire pressure were and are way off telling me I was going 93 mph.the wind chill is -33 so I'm home now and I'm thinking do I really want to go to dog training tonight because the forecast is for 3-4 inches of new snow. I'm thinking of doing articles and f+f and some turns in place with Nugget and try to work with my pup on sit down swing stand and hopefully try to get a short STAY. The last a stay with Hombre will be a challenge as for the most part he is perpetual motion. Last night he got a case of the zoomies which was pretty funny watching him race around withe a stuffie in his mouth.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Lexx and I had our first agility class in a month last night. Agility can be hit or miss with Lexx so wasn't sure what to expect. When I got there, they had the barn divided into 3 sections with us in the middle. I was a little concerned with having dogs on both sides of us as Lexx sometimes likes to wonder.

We started out with some grid work and Lexx could hardly contain himself.....he was raring to go! I set him up and made my way to the end of the jumps and before I got there, he had already completed all of them! He rarely ever breaks his start line stay but he did twice as he was definitely ready to work. 

He had an awesome night....did everything that was asked of him and did very little wondering and when he did, he came back to me quickly. Probably one of his best nights at agility. Perhaps the break did him some good!!!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Nugget did articles twice each without any mistakes and he gave 3 of 4 straight fronts. Turns in place and f+ f also pretty good. We also did a shortened signal exercise with good results. Surprisingly Hombre did stay about 10 seconds on several " stay" commands. His swing finish too is coming along and he is sitting on my order about 90% of the time and the down about 60%. Nugget just made the puppy yipe with a pretty good bite no bleeding but it must have hurt because Hombre is staying away from Nugget. I'm in awe of the patience Nugget had with the pup if I were a adult dog and this pup tormented me as much as Hombre has done to Nugget I'd bit him along time ago.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

I decided to go back to using just one electrical switch plate for Finley instead of two. I hope by just using one it will help her get the idea to use her nose before I introduce 2. I have been only using 1 for Banshee and they both started this on the same day. 3 or 4 days ago. I can see Banshee staying with the one longer than Finley and seems to be using the nose on it. I wasn't going to put a name to this, for a bit and haven't had to with Banshee. I however notice that Finley stops and listens, like a statue and waits for me to say something before she makes a move. Her look is funny, like "I'm sure you must have said something, and I didn't hear it...please repeat". So, I said Find mine. I know she doesn't know what that means at this point, but she will then go to the switch plate. So each dog did 10 reps of this today. Banshee worked on holding the dumbell, heeling, fnding heel, and 2 short recalls. They have to be short because of the size of the room, but it's good practice for fronting. Finley did great with no mouthing on the take it for the glove from my hand. I also did some short dumbbell retrieves, 1 drop on recall, and 2 straight recalls. Then a short heeling session with the bowl of treats on the floor. First time I've tried that, and was very happy. She took a quick short glance at the bowl on the first time. A reset to go past it again, which we did maybe 3 times and she kept her attention on me with no glancing at the bowl.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Yay, I just signed Phoenix up for an open class! It will be his first class ever other than some online classes. It's two and a half hours away, but it will be on Saturdays, so I'll get to go 

ETA: what's a "positive control collar"?


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Do you know the instructor? a Google search shows eCollars coming up - 

I would ask the instructor if you can use the collar Phoenix is used to -- 



Loisiana said:


> Yay, I just signed Phoenix up for an open class! It will be his first class ever other than some online classes. It's two and a half hours away, but it will be on Saturdays, so I'll get to go
> 
> ETA: what's a "positive control collar"?


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

I know it's not an ecollar, I already know those aren't allowed in this building. He usually just wears a flat buckle collar, but I was a little concerned about him slipping the collar if he got too excited about being around the other dogs (not that he's ever done that before, but I know how 15 month old males can be). I have a martingale on order, but I don't think it will be here before tomorrow. I think I'll bring him in a flat collar and bring a slip collar as back up if they are allowed (I'm not crazy about slip collars, but they do give peace of mind of no collar slipping).

ETA: one search result shows it as a prong collar? Weird


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny had her first Rally class in a couple of weeks. I didn't know how well she'd focus since it's been awhile, but she did fantastic! I decided to hand my mom some treats and clip her to a wall ring while I walked the course, which I never do because she gets upset and barks the whole time. She was quiet until the end and she whined a little/greeted me with extreme excitement. I think it's more likely that she didn't run out of treats to eat and it's not my separation training kicking in. That would be happening really fast if it was, so I doubt it. 

Penny got a round of applause for how well she did with the rally course off leash which was pretty cool.

We were told to teach our dogs to touch our hands, and then to hold treats and both hands and teach left touch and right touch. 

Everyone in the class was given a challenge, and that we would be tested next week. I don't know if my instructor was serious or not, but I fully intend to do well. The challenge is to teach our dogs to unroll a rug, and she had her dog demonstrate. This will be fun to at least attempt. She told us how we could teach our dogs, so I don't anticipate any problems with teaching it to Penny.

I thought Penny was going to be evaluated for the beginner's agility class that starts this Sunday, but at the end of the rally class they told me the agility class is full, so they're going to wait until there's a couple more teams on site. I'm disappointed since I called them three weeks ago about taking the class and got tested for distractions during training, so it seemed like I was on the list for the class. Penny passed every part, but I had to wait until a couple teams could come for her to take the last part. I guess they didn't reserve a spot for me in case Penny would fail the last part of the test so they could have as many slots filled as possible. I wish they had told me sooner so I wouldn't have been so excited to start agility for the past couple weeks. I even made Penny's doggy crack for the evaluation. Now I have to wait until February, possibly longer if they don't have enough dogs sign up for the next class. If that happens I'll poke around at other training facilities for agility.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I just (re)started weaves with Brady.. 2 x 2 inside. not bad  A different method on the 2 x 2s but he seemed into it.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

I absolutely won't have any ring conflicts... which means I've lost that ready made excuse. So it's all up to the nerves.... :vomit:


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Worked with Hombre this morning and he is doing better with the " swing finish" as long as I guide him with a treat but he is sitting fairly straight. Stands also coming along with treats and we got up to a 5 count for stay. S+D with hand signal and treats fast and he almost gets it straight on my combining sit with the front. One problem I incur is Nugget wanting to be right on top of the pup and me not that he wants to work but just get treats. Housebreaking still a long long long way from Hombre getting " it " but this morning he pooped outside twice so a good start for today but boy is it cold standing outside with him. I only did a little work with Nugget yesterday as road conditions dictated better safe than sorry so we didn't go training last night.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

My dogs had this morning off -- I left for work about 45 minutes early in the hopes of getting to work on time in the fast moving snowstorm ... well I was 'only' 55 minutes late arriving (40 mile mostly highway commute took from 6:50 to 9:25), but I made it safely through all the accidents & spin outs.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Sharon... Getting to work safe is far more important than getting there on time, glad you made it there without any problem other than the delay.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I decided to go looking for dog boots today because of the salt on the road/snow getting jammed in the paws. I turned it into a training session at Petsmart...it went so so. Half the time Penny just wanted to sniff the shelves and she barked once at a man, I think because he had a hat on. All the boots looked like they wouldn't last long, but I tried a dog backpack out for fun. I'd like to have one this summer so I don't have to carry Penny's water on hikes anymore. While I was fumbling with it, someone stopped in front of my aisle with a puppy/dog. It was straining on the leash towards me and barking nonstop. I stopped playing with the backpack and fed Penny treats to calm her down. She didn't bark, she just wanted to go see the dog. The owner started to walk towards me, and only stopped when I got up. He looked at the backpack that now had twisted around Penny's neck and mumbled "oh, I guess you're doing something". What made you realize that, genius? I think he was going to let his dog go right up to mine since he walked away afterwards. I would have said something if he had gotten any closer, I was just surprised the man would think it was okay to walk up to someone else's dog when theirs was acting up so badly. On the plus side, the people who pet Penny today were surprisingly patient and cautious about waiting for her to be calm before they pet her. Usually I have to back away because they think it's okay for her to get excited again after she started to calm down.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Loisiana said:


> I know it's not an ecollar, I already know those aren't allowed in this building. He usually just wears a flat buckle collar, but I was a little concerned about him slipping the collar if he got too excited about being around the other dogs (not that he's ever done that before, but I know how 15 month old males can be). I have a martingale on order, but I don't think it will be here before tomorrow. I think I'll bring him in a flat collar and bring a slip collar as back up if they are allowed (I'm not crazy about slip collars, but they do give peace of mind of no collar slipping).
> 
> ETA: one search result shows it as a prong collar? Weird



I'm not sure but I think it's something that controls the dog but without negative reinforcement, e.g. a buckle collar or halti or any of the numerous head control collars being marketed .. since you say COLLAR I guess that doesn't include a harness.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

It was really good to be back at the training building today! It's week 6 of our FDSA online classes, and I am very happy with Kea's progress in ring confidence. Today, we practiced entering the ring to work for a few seconds followed by play. I've seen such a change in her during these few weeks. She really seems to enjoy work much more now, and we are both having a lot more fun. We were training on the agility side of the building today, and last time we did that, it was kind of a disaster. Kea totally checked out to go sniff the equipment. Today, she was 100% dialed in and there was no checking out. Yay!! Her breeder is going to start joining me there for training, as I'll need an extra person for the advanced ring confidence lessons next term. 

Harris was practicing some precision heeling maneuvers when a cleaning woman came in. He saw her and of course took off toward her. She was brilliant - looked away from him, stood still, and ignored him. It took him about three seconds to figure out that working with me is way more fun than saying hi to the stranger and he came running back. He got rewarded handsomely for that, and we played some chase the treat games and then did more heeling. We've added forward movement now, so we can do pretty much everything except change of pace. That will be next


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

No classes this weekend, but having fun with our "dancing" moves and practicing bits and pieces of our FDSA Rally skills.
Last night I was downstairs attending to laundry, my "shadow" Dee Dee was with me (Gladys was upstairs sleeping on the bed) so I decided to play with Dee Dee. We started some dance moves.
Well the slumber queen heard us and skated down the stairs to make sure she wasn't missing anything! It was so funny. So the 2 of them were doing the moves side by side. I started singing "Get Down Tonight" moving backwards and forwards and they were both heeling forward and back, side by side. 
I'm so thankful we found this style of training little fun exercises from online and our dance class. We'll play again later.

Oh I forgot to add, our Novice drop in for dummies class is exploring trying BN together. I have been thinking about entering Dee Dee in her first BN trial. I think she could handle it.
Then I have to think about Gladys. I think she likes to do the exercise but on the other hand I think the environment + exercises all together might make her crazy. 
Like being at a trial, in the ring, doing the actual exercises > I'm just picturing that checked-out, ground-sniffing, withdrawal mode.
I asked her if she wanted to be entered in an obedience trial and she made that crazy face with her eyes all big looking around. Maybe not yet.


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## PalouseDogs (Aug 14, 2013)

Almost no training the past few days. Combination of too much going on the first part of the week, then an eopisode of A-fib (atrial fibrillation, a heart condition which is annoying, but luckily not too serious and, for me, generally well-controlled with meds) on Thursday. I drove myself to the hospitla ER. It took a few hours for my heart to convert to a normal rhythm, then as soon as I walked in the door at home, I could tell Alder was not himself. Plodding, head down, tail tucked. He wasn't any better by Friday morning, so I spent the morning at the vet. After an exam and a few tests, they couldn't find anything wrong with him. Decided he most likely had some injury that was not obvious. He was feeling better by Friday evening. He's still not as perky as usual, but his tail was up this morning and he was trotting around the yard. Big relief. 

The day length has, finally, reached the point where I have enough minutes of light when I get home to do a little training outside if the weather cooperates and if I'm ready to jump into training as soon as I get home. We might get a little snow tomorrow, but I think I'll be able to put a couple of agility jumps in the yard for afternoons when it's above freezing when I get gome.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Faelan and I are just returned from the vet for his post tooth extraction exam - everything healed well and man does he have a large gap in his teeth !!

I worked Brady briefly on weaves so far today... I am still in a splint and my hand is wicked weak and uncoordinated, but here is a video






There are 2 classes at FDSA I would really like to get into Gold for
- Weaves with Julie Daniels
- Front & Finishes with Hannah Branigan

_I WILL get motivated to teach Brady his weaves!!
I WILL get motivated to teach Brady his weaves!! (repeat x10 LOL)_


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Kind of a fun morning at the next to last drop in at SCKC with 5 others . Nugget wasn't as perky as I like today BUT he did very well in both utility and open . He was a fronting machine today for the most part not everyone but close. I liked his articles today which were done twice and I made it difficult with each being placed in a different spot but he never quit working not even looking up for a second. His heeling too was pretty good and open was just accurate good training session. Hombre too did well in what he does do surprising or should I say impressing the others. Sits downs and the swing finish really being done nicely and he also gave several STRAIGHT fronts and he held the stand stay for a 7 count which was 2 better than yesterday. Housebreaking still non qualifying 2 out 4 poops outside leaving 4 you know where.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Today was Phoenix's first class! I was so proud of him, he never once tried to run off to see the other dog working in the ring or to grab his dumbbell. I know that should be a no brainer for an obedience dog, but you have to remember he is not used to training around other dogs, not to mention he's a 14 month old boy LOL. I got fussed at continuously for bringing my shoulder back. Which is what I need, I wish I always had someone to watch me and tell me when I'm making mistakes.

After class we went to a health clinic and got a passing heart clearance


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I just joined a dog training club in December and they give discounted prices for classes to those with x number volunteer hours with the club. Saturdays I assist with Obedience 1 for older dogs and a STAR puppy/CGC combined class. Sooo much excited energy in these dogs. It makes me realize Penny isn't as bad as I think she is most of the time. I felt a little weird when I had to offer suggestions to help but this was just my first time, so I think I'll become more confident as I gain experience helping. They told me I can bring Penny to the classes I help with and I'd love to take her since it would be great training, except she doesn't listen well enough to do that right now. I took Penny to the club meeting. She behaved really well with the help of treats....until I ran out of them. I take the blame for this because I thought the meeting was going to be one hour but it ended up being two hours. The last twenty minutes she kept jumping on me so I took her outside and walked her around the parking lot until I lost feeling in my fingers. I sat back down and Penny started jumping on me more. I ended up walking her in the vacant ring until the meeting was over, which worked a little bit of her frustration out. I'm pretty sure my parents kept Penny in her crate while I was assisting with classes. I don't blame her for getting bored and antsy, that was completely my fault for not realizing she hadn't been played with enough today. She actually did pretty well, considering she didn't act up until an hour and forty minutes into it.

I got a definitive date for my new agility evaluation! Febuary 5th, right after my rally class. =) I'm really happy about that. I also know my club is having some kind of agility seminar on February 3rd for anyone who hasn't done any agility with their dogs. That should hold me over until the 22and.

Lastly, Penny is getting weird about her downs and sits. She's known them since she was eight weeks old so this is unusual. She's stared at me instead of sitting a few times the last few days and she sits when I tell her down. I think I may have been relying on hand signals too heavily so I will review her verbal cues.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

No training today, I took both dogs to an eye clinic for their eye clearances. Yay! Kea's eyes have been producing a lot of tears lately, so the ophthalmologist recommended a pressure check in the future. Harris did a sustained chin target during the exam and it worked really well to keep him from wiggling. I had a migraine, so we came home and the three of us holed up in the bedroom with the blinds drawn for a good part of the afternoon. 

Tomorrow is another fun match and our last day of this session of FDSA classes. I have a plan for Kea - four ring entries. One with enter straight to party, then enter and setup followed by party, then another enter straight to party and finally, enter, set up and do a few steps of heeling. Harris will park in a crate again and will come out and do some focus and precision heeling. He's off the disc now and it's looking really good, which has me singing the praises of precision heeling class. We'll be back to our regular obedience class in another few weeks. 

I need to figure out some strengthening exercises for Harris, he has always looked a little down on his pasterns and is easty-westy in the front. I keep hoping it will improve as he matures. I have been giving him a joint supplement with vitamin C and holding his food dish up when he eats to get him to come up on his toes and work his wrist muscles. We also have a fit paws balance disc and have been doing some work on that. I suppose I should get him into a fitness class or do a consult with a sports medicine person. There are just not enough hours in the day.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

We went to the Show N Go today. Lots of fun, Finley and I did two open runs. The first run I asked one of our friends from class to video, We got about half on tape, not sure what happened to the rest. Anyhow, tomorrow I think I'll put it on you tube and post a link. All I can say is videoing is eye-opening as to areas to work on . We have a few . 
Anyhow, the OOS stays were solid with no issues. 
The rest of the stuff, I'll post my thoughts tomorrow. Best part of today, it was fun and Finley was relaxed and happy...sometimes a bit too curious but happy non the less.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Lexx and I went to a CARO rally fun match on Friday night. We did a novice run an advanced run. He was somewhat distracted during the novice run sniffing and watching the other dogs. I find if he sits too long he gets bored and loses interest although I did have him up before our run to play a bit.

He was much better during the advanced run (which is off leash). The only station he would have lost points is the figure 8 with distraction as he sniffed the food dish but then got back on track. 

We were going to stay for the excellent run but it was getting late and the only station they switched up was replacing the high jump with the broad jump.

I was hoping to get Lexx out for some winter tracking today but it's still very cold here. Not a lot of snow but cold!!! Instead, I took him to the building for some training. We worked on a few exercises from each level. Novice was well done. Open......he had some issues (called not focusing) on ROHJ. After a correction, he decided to do it properly. His ROF was a little lack luster as well.....apparently he didn't feel like retrieving today! His go outs and directed jumping were well done as were his signals. We ended our session with a 2 minute heeling pattern which was nicely done. 

We have a fairly busy schedule for the next few weeks with agility, obedience and rally.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning I trimmed nails & feet (and tails) YAY

Then worked Brady on his 2x2 weaves; I have it recorded but have not reviwed of processed the video yet.

Then Faelan, Brady & I headed out to a rental with a friend and her 2 goldens - Towhee was less than thrilled to be left at home but it is a busy place and she will not be going to where dogs congregate for awhile.

My friend and I alternated dogs and exercises and overall it was a great session; lots of fun, laughter and learning. Brady was a bit thrown with the whole idea of someone touching his scent articles and putting them out in the pile but we worked through it without him getting confused or stressed. Faelan was on fire!!

We worked the following - in no particular order:

Heeling, signals, MSFE, regular SFE, recalls, Send Aways, Directed Jumping, Directed Retrieve (Faelan aced #2, Brady retrieved the correct #1 but was gazing longingly at #2 the whole way). ROF, ROHJ. We did not work broad jump or stays but think we touched on everything else.

ETA: Video did not record!! BAH!! card slot door was open


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

We went to a fun match today and Harris practiced some Precision Heeling while we waited for Kea's turn in the ring. I am so pleased with his progress in our six week online class - he had zero heeling training before we started. This was a very distracting environment and we still have work to do, but mostly, I think he did great, and when he did get distracted, he was able to offer focus again pretty quickly


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I went skiing for the first time this winter (short season in Ohio =( ) so I didn't get much training in. Worked on touch and then look with food in both hands, which were stretched out to my sides. I went into the room where my cat was sleeping and practiced having Penny leave it. She kept going over to his chair but came back every time I called her over. 

For fun afterwards I took her to the dog park and let her run around since we finally got some weather that wasn't extremely cold. 

I'm going to have to start managing my training with Penny a little better since twice a week I stay on campus until 7pm....ugh. I do have three days of light class loads, so as soon as I can track down a decent pair of boots for her we can train on campus.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

No formal training this weekend, but we did some stuff and I got some clarity. Gladys went to the vet for her kennel cough vaccine. She was in blast off to space mode - pulling so hard she was scrabbling on the floor, whining, screaming, trying to hop over the reception counter. I got her to a quiet corner and tried to do focus with her but all she would do was hop in a chair and bat me with her paw! She was so noisy people were coming around to see what all the commotion was :uhoh: embarrassing! :hide:

After that we went for an outdoor hike where we did some recalls, sit/stays, and had fun acting like wild doggies. Next they went to my family's where they usually aren't invited in, they behaved well.

Today I had a migraine so we did nothing. But I did have some time to think.
I wanted to get Dee Dee entered in Beginner Novice smaller show is coming up around valentine's day but closes around the end of this month so I need to decide soon. My only concern is long stays with her. 

I wondered if Gladys wanted to do it because I don't want her to feel left out, but after yesterday, I don't expect her to function like that.
We can work on freestyle, where we can compete by video and skip the chaos. If she settles down over time and with training, then we can do actual shows.

So ... we have a lot of club activities coming up, club fun day, run throughs, plus our dancing, rally, and drop ins. They can get some environmental exposure and we can work on focus and the tons of new material we've been learning this year. 

I entered them both in a fun field trial for spring, I know they will both like that no matter what. :--heart::--heart:


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

boomers_dawn said:


> I wanted to get Dee Dee entered in Beginner Novice smaller show is coming up around valentine's day but closes around the end of this month so I need to decide soon. My only concern is long stays with her.


I'm trying to remember about doing Beginner Novice with Zoe. There are no group stays just the sit stay where you have to walk around the ring while the dog sits in the center. I think it's the most challenging exercise in Beginner Novice for many dogs. They tend to break as the handler passes behind them but it just takes some practice. I started with smaller circles and built up the distance. When trialing I cut down the duration of the stay by moving as quickly as I could while still "walking". Good luck.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

KeaColorado said:


> We went to a fun match today and Harris practiced some Precision Heeling while we waited for Kea's turn in the ring. I am so pleased with his progress in our six week online class - he had zero heeling training before we started. This was a very distracting environment and we still have work to do, but mostly, I think he did great, and when he did get distracted, he was able to offer focus again pretty quickly


I love it! Next time that class is offered I'm taking it, probably at bronze but definitely taking it. You guys are doing great!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Club this afternoon for drop in training which I'll get there early to open the bldg. and get the place ready heat - lights - etc. and train both my guys before anyone else gets there. Nugget has been doing pretty well as of late and Hombre is learning . Yesterday housebreaking training was the best to date - 5 poops ALL outside and Hombre only drew blood 1 time . He is STARTING to understand NO-BITE means no bite. So far this morning we are on track for another successful day ( I hope ) . Only two weeks till Nuggets next trial on our quest for UDX legs so still working on cleaning up the little mistakes but are scoreable.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

We did 2 open runs Saturday. Going in I had a plan on how I would handle the drop on recall if Finley didn't go down as fast as I wanted. As things would have it, we only did one drop. That was on our first run. I had a friend taping, and he must have accidentally shut the recorder off in the middle of the first run since the drop and broad jump didn't get filmed. She dropped, but I was just getting ready to go in for a reset when she went down. So, it wasn't immediate, and I don't have it to watch. 

The off leash heeling leaves "some" to be desired. The first halt she almost didn't sit, but caught herself. She wasn't looking up at first either, and in watching the tape I wish I had said something to her. Or better yet reset her. Obviously I didn't have a plan for heeling :uhoh:. As we head toward the first about turn, she sniffs the ground and is way off on the about turn. She seems to get it together as we start to make our right turn and the next about turn was better. Figure eight I think she's lagging. Other thing, I could feel her bump me a lot on that figure eight which is a first for her. Fronts and finishes aren't straight either. Retrieve over the high jump...The dumbbell bounced and rolled off to the left. It doesn't appear too bad on the video, but sure enough you can see her pick it up and come straight to me needing a reminder to take the jump. The broad jump I was very happy with and I'm pretty sure she had a straight front and finish. 

On the second run which I didn't ask to be taped we had issues on the recall. She kept trying to take the high jump on her way to me. I never expected that to be a problem because I never do recalls beside the jump. Just never occurred to me to do that and jumps are put away at class long before we do recalls. Consequently we didn't practice drops because of 3 redoes to keep her away from the jump. She did 2 sets of out of sight stays with no issues. 

I've now moved all the jumps around now in the yard so that recalls can be done between the broad and high jump . Did some yesterday and she did not attempt the jumps. I better practice throwing that dumbbell off center too. I'm generally a lousy throw so that shouldn't be too hard .

On the second heeling pattern Sat the about turn near the gate was worse than the first. Someone was coming in with their dog and she decided to sniff at the gate, which I did reach for her collar and gave a second command to heel. 

I can see I really need to up the distractions on heeling among other things....I'm thinking my MIL who she just looses her mind over needs to be a post.

Here's what video we have. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E--ggb0Dv4U&feature=em-upload_owner


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I love video  

It does a great job of showing weak spots but you know, watching this I saw a happy dog loving being in the ring with you!! Finley lost focus a time of two but quickly regained it. Honestly, to me, it just looked like she needs more ring exposure and training for setups you might encounter in the ring and there is much to be happy about.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Sunrise said:


> I love video
> 
> It does a great job of showing weak spots but you know, watching this I saw a happy dog loving being in the ring with you!! Finley lost focus a time of two but quickly regained it. Honestly, to me, it just looked like she needs more ring exposure and training for setups you might encounter in the ring and there is much to be happy about.


Thank you!!!! That makes me smile !


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

TheZ's said:


> I'm trying to remember about doing Beginner Novice with Zoe. There are no group stays just the sit stay where you have to walk around the ring while the dog sits in the center. I think it's the most challenging exercise in Beginner Novice for many dogs. They tend to break as the handler passes behind them but it just takes some practice. I started with smaller circles and built up the distance. When trialing I cut down the duration of the stay by moving as quickly as I could while still "walking". Good luck.


Great advice, thank you!
I was kind of bummed when I read the part about walking around the ring.
To me that would be harder for them to stay than us standing across from them staring at them like Aunt Esther going "watch it sucka". 
So I will def use your technique for training that exercise AND ask our dog school teacher if we can practice it in class.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Maureen M ... Enjoyed your video you guys are certainly coming along !!!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Snow, sleet and freezing rain had be choosing safety over bravery this morning (the parking lots also don't have the railings replaced from new sidewalks being installed), and so I called in a PTO day. I also have a case of the sniffles so a good day to stay in.

Here is a video of Brady learning his 2x2 weave pole entries around the clock with the added distractions of Paul collecting the garbage and rummaging through the fridge ... pretty distracting for Brady boy but he did come back and work


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Aaargh!

So when someone takes a class, and then refuses to take the instructors suggestions, why waste the money???? A fellow Weaves student insists on speed and excitement through the weaves and seemingly does not understand speed comes with understanding and perhaps over stimulating with a disc being thrown may not be allowing his dog to THINK!!

< vent over >


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Meant to say yesterday (still in a fog between work and flu) - but I absolutely love all the videos people are posting. Thank you! You guys look great - and it's great to see the dogs we know by name only working.  

*** I have class tonight and am pretty excited. I feel like it's been forever since we've been in a group class. I'm a little nervous to see if the improvement I've personally seen with Bertie is real improvement or just lack of distraction. 

Biggest improvement I've seen with Bertie and I'm pretty sure it is "real" - is set ups. I remember last year at this same time, I had the worst time getting him to "scoot in" to heel position and sit. He wanted to go all "show dog" and stack out. 

That said, the biggest thing I'm worried about with the rally trials coming up and a good reason why I will pull my entry on any day is depending on activity in the next ring and whether those setups fall apart because of Bertie getting all "must appease visit" wiggly about the judge looming next to us and forgetting he has to sit and pay attention. 

I entered rally thinking we would be stuck at the end of the day and the only thing going on. But it will be running the same time as other obedience, so there is a chance I might lose him if he sees something thrown in the next ring or another dog moving fast (especially a little dog). I had this happen at a fun match this fall so have been concerned about getting enough proofing in before entering him in novice, forgetting that rally would have the same thing going on.

Which reminds me, I'll ask my instructor and her assistant to stand next to me before class and do setups with me a few times to see if he does the squirrely routine at all and see if we can proof for it.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Something I've started doing with Phoenix to help with "ring next door" distractions is put him in a sit stay in the same ring another dog is working. This has been especially good for teaching him that not all dumbbell tosses are for him.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> Aaargh!
> 
> So when someone takes a class, and then refuses to take the instructors suggestions, why waste the money????
> < vent over >


I know I'm not going to to be doing some things the instructor in my class suggests, I'll listen to the reasoning but in the end I'm going to do what I'm comfortable with and what I like, there's already been a couple of things that I elect slide right out the other ear.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

My morning class was canceled! I got to spend more time with Penny which is awesome. I worked on her recall outside on a twenty foot lead - she was more interested in the snow. Then I worked on touch and look for a couple minutes. I also made sure to get some more training in on getting Penny to unroll the rug for her rally challenge since I hadn't done that the past couple days. I only did this a handful of times because usually she wants to paw the rug or starts nosing my hand for treats. I called it good once I got her to unroll it once with no treats hidden insides. I put a couple muffins on the ground to work on leave it. They must have smelled good to Penny. When we got close she lunged for them and it took several repetitions of her lunging and me waiting for her to come back after saying leave it. Once she started to ignore the food when we had a tight circle on it I switched to a couple soup bones. We had to repeat the cycle of lunging and coming back to my side. Eventually she ignored the bones as well, though tomorrow Penny will probably do the same thing when I bring them out. Before I left I did a little more recall practice outside and it was slightly better. When I get home I might practice unrolling the rug a little more but that will be it for the day.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

MaureenM said:


> I love it! Next time that class is offered I'm taking it, probably at bronze but definitely taking it. You guys are doing great!


Maureen, I actually had planned to take it at gold but ended up with a bronze spot because I mixed up my time zones and it sold out within the first minute. However...if that wouldn't have happened I wouldn't have taken Ring Confidence at gold, which was honestly exactly what Kea needed.  She made huge progress in 6 weeks building a positive association for the competition ring. I'm so proud of her. We still have a long way to go in ring prep, but we'll get there. As for precision heeling, I got a lot out of it at bronze. I picked a few gold teams that looked like they were about where we were and followed them, trying to incorporate the feedback they were getting into my own training sessions. I still video-ed too, which was really helpful, and posted the videos to my FB lurker group for feedback. 

I'm looking forward to heeling games and advanced heeling, which I think will be really helpful for both dogs. I started doing some heeling games with both dogs today - sending Kea to "fly" around a cone, and throwing treats to get Harris out of heel position and then rewarding him for catching up/coming back. Harris also started working on sit-stays today and then we played a game to find front. 

I don't know what to do with myself now that FDSA classes are over AND our local trainer is out of town for a few weeks. Sigh.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Very busy class tonight.... whole lotta dogs. 

*Bertie -*

Worst part - Heeling. Easy excuse is I won't ever need to heel in the obedience ring with a strange dog and handler walking at a varying pace 1-2 feet in front of me (yes it was that tight!), but I wasn't happy with position and attention. This showed a lot in the figure 8 before I switched gears and put my "focus finger" at my hip to get him back in heel and keep him there. 

Best part - everything else. Bertie is the polar opposite of Jacks in that where he lacks as far as heeling, he makes up for it in everything else. He was jumping like a pro with 24" high jumps and 48" broad jumps. Drops were on the dime and sliding even (which I know is not a requirement, but I like to see it anyway). Moving stand was perfect even with this being his first time in a class format that I asked for one. Stays were full distance and me being quiet. Retrieves especially one where the dumbbell landed near the front of a crate where a big dog was sitting there staring him down as he slipped in and cautiously picked up and trotted back... solid. Basically if it were not for the heeling being so weak, I would have been pretty darn happy with the class. 

As it is - I'm debating the amount of crazy that it would take to get up at the crack of dawn to get my work done, bathe and dry Bertie, rush him to an AM drop in obedience class to work on heeling a little more, and then onward to meet up with my grooming mentor to get prepped for show.... I just would feel better getting a little more heeling practice in, even though I don't think it matters at this point for this week. #scratches head. 

*Jacks* -

No bad parts other than him barking.  

Good stuff - OMG. He was awesome. I was basically thinking about how I wished he was entered in Pre-open this week. That's how solid he was. Of course, common sense reminds me he can't handle big noisy shows very well so I wouldn't want to spoil his first outing in open that way....  

Basically since dropping jumps down to what is minimally required for him (12" - he doesn't need to jump higher than that) and completely dropping stays, he is a very happy boy in class. He just does all of his happy things and has no negatives to stress him out. So he was heeling, retrieving, dropping, and "baby jumping" with a relish. Was a very happy thing for me to see and glad I signed him up for this session of classes after all.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Water main broke at the fairgrounds bldg.we rent so no water for dogs at training . No toilet either but the county set a porta potty out for our use like anyone would use at 14 degrees out. Fair turnout for drop in but still need more people to cover cost and my class had three more than last week. Nugget was kinda perky and did a decent utility run other than his second go out which was 5-6 off center and a couple fronts . We did a few go outs from the opposite direction against the gates instead of wall and these were better. Open exercises were fair as he thought about dropping but didn't which was good as I wanted a straight recall but he has as of late started wanting to drop early or when it should be a straight recall.BJ took extra attempts for good front and so did ROF. Both class's were qualifying runs with decent scores but if it were a trial I don't think high enough scores to get in the ribbons with the competition around here. Hombre did a couple straight f+ f which I liked and we practiced STAND but the stay is short lived as is everything at this stage but the REALLY GOOD news he pooped 4 x yesterday all outside no accidents of any kind but he was taken out many many times thru out the day


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning I worked the dogs inside -- and abruptly broke off while Faelan must have swallowed a tossed Goldfish the wrong way, hacking, coughing gagging while I'm pounding his chest and making him get up whenever he lay down and then running out of the room while I'm stripping off night clothes to throw on day clothes to get him to the eVet!! All I could think of was my poor Rowdy dying of aspiration pneumonia and wanting Faelan where he could get the help he needed!! luckily he must have been so shocked at my screaming and running naked through the house throwing my night clothes every which way that he was finally able to clear his throat/windpipe. 

Towhee & Brady were like 'WHOA' stay outta her way!!

So I watched Faelan for like 15 minutes before I left his side to work Brady some.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Glad Faelan is okay......scary stuff when they choke!!!

I can just imagine the looks on Towhee's and Brady's faces!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

On the plus side ... mere days remain for the Faelan x MaeMae litter. 

I mentioned to Barb that I was thinking I would not be badgering her with daily visits since MaeMae doesn't know me and might resent me oohong & ahhing over her puppies -- Barb responded MaeMae has never met a stranger who didn't become a friend and might knock me off my feet in her excitement -- umm, yes she did seem to quite like me the times I have met her and greeted me like a long long friend 

Barb is hoping MaeMae holds off until the weekend ...


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training at SCKC drop in this morning went ok. Lynn my instructor gave us a utility run thru which certainly wasn't a 200 performance but Nugget did a decent job that would have scored mid 190 s. Clean pickups on articles and gloves without any mouthing or resistance on the " out " order. Got a couple sits with his butt OUT and one sit that was forged . Heeling wasn't terrible but did have a lag on an about turn and before he could do it again he was given a VERBAL heel command. Open work needs work on his fronts as they were just about nonexistent on the first attempt on each exercise. Hombre was cute for the ladies and showed his fearlessness ( or stupidity) trying to go by a two different golden males that were showing him teeth. I know these dogs and Hombre was on a short lead there wasn't any danger to him.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Worked on touch, look, unrolling the rug, sit, down, and briefly ran through Penny's "fun" tricks so she doesn't get rusty with them. The vocal commands for sit and down are becoming clear for her again. She hasn't made any progress with the rug trick and we only have two days left so it might not be mastered for rally like I was hoping it would be. I'm more concerned with the more important things she has to work on though. After class I took Penny outside to run around for a half hour and she wore herself out pretty good. She didn't want to chill out afterwards and had to be crated for an hour - to which she protested with unhappy barking for a couple minutes. 

I used a yogurt container from lunch to practice leave it. She only tried to pull me towards it a couple times but was pretty good after that. After a break I took a soup bone out to use, which Penny wanted to get really bad. She was determined to get it for a good ten minutes before she gave up. Once her eyes were consistently on me instead of the bone I put peanut butter on a toy as an extra reward.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Last nights class was a blast.

We started with half the class doing Sits stays while the other half of the class worked ROF - some together with gating forming alleys and some individual. Faelan did a sit first and when 3 dumbbell went flying he must have grown 3 inches in neck height as he was fascinated!! His retrieve needed encouragement the first throw as he was in the middle alley and the dog to our left gently crashed into the gating - why we're there really so all was good 


We worked DOR with 3 dogs at a time dropping in the vicinity of a cone - this was repeated several times at varying distances so we could get a feel for how much, if any, travel our dogs took. Faelan did well.

Next we worked gloves going towards another working dog working gloves on the opposite side of the gating, with handlers teaming up so there was plenty of activity.
I chose gloves #2, then glove #1. Faelan started to veer towards glove #2 and self corrected = possibly 1/2 point worth of veering. Glove #2 was gorgeous.

We then teamed up again and worked 3 aisles of signals with our team member calling the patterns and then switching up: Faelan did very well 

We finished with reconfiguring the floor into 3 zones and worked broad jumps in a variety of forms (obedience 4 foot, 5 foot and agility hump back style)

A very good class !!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

*Articles arrived*

Towhee's oh so dainty pink-on-pink 2nd set of show articles arrived yesterday as well as the masculine bronze-on-brown 1st set of show articles for Brady. These pictures don't so them justice but I did want to share (created by scents-a-bell Scents-A-Bell Utility Scent Articles)

Faelan is in the pic as well


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> Towhee's oh so dainty pink-on-pink 2nd set of show articles arrived yesterday as well as the masculine bronze-on-brown 1st set of show articles for Brady. These pictures don't so them justice but I did want to share (created by scents-a-bell Scents-A-Bell Utility Scent Articles)
> 
> Faelan is in the pic as well


Wow.....those are very nice!!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I gave Nugget the day off but not Hombre. Hombre did 6-12 fronts and surprisingly more than half were straight. We also practiced the swing finish 5-8 times and they are coming along very nicely as long as a treat is used. We did a couple of "stands" and his stays are improving time wise he is catching on pretty well for a 13 1/2 week old pup. His toilet manners the last 4 days vastly improved with only 1 " accident" and out in my yard when he potties he gets praised and more important to him a treat and because he is off leash for the most part in my fenced in yard I'm able to do recalls at a distance after he poops and when I call he responds very well coming into me 100 miles an hour and right before he reaches me I tell him front and he is doing a pretty nice job of it. When he gets to hold the " stay" for about a minute we will do more formal recalls on a long line and in maybe in a month or so if all is going well I'll start heeling but right now it's all praise and treats for a short time session but 2-3 sessions a day. Nugget is jealous of the attention the pup gets and wants to get "paid" with a treat for what Hombre does which I usually do but not for what the pup does but for all the abuse the pup gives him.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

We had our obedience class today. It's slow going but I think we're making progress. I think the teacher was a little surprised at how well Gracie did with her stays given that she's the young, wild & crazy one in the class. After last weeks performance we used a long line for recalls but she did well with them.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I felt drained today so I kept the training light. Some work with touches and look, then used a yogurt container for leave it. Penny only lunged at the container twice, with one weak pull and one moderate pull. Eyes were focused on me the majority of the time, with a few longing glances at the tasty food. Practiced unrolling the rug some more. Penny got it three times today with no treats rolled up in it but she did think about stopping and staring at my pocket once. She definitely knows where the treats are! She seems to anticipate the unrolling of the rug more now and she pushes it with more force.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

I think both dogs picked up a stomach bug at the fun match on Sunday. Harris had bloody diarrhea yesterday and today and Kea started today. Vomiting too. I took stool samples to the vet earlier today, but we won't have results until tomorrow. Kea got worse throughout the day, so we decided to take them both in to the vet and go ahead and start a round of metronidazole for both of them. Kea does not like to go to the vet since her spay surgery last April. We won't be training for a couple of days until they feel better.  It is the worst having sick babies.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

hope they feel better!


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

KeaColorado said:


> I think both dogs picked up a stomach bug at the fun match on Sunday. Harris had bloody diarrhea yesterday and today and Kea started today. Vomiting too. I took stool samples to the vet earlier today, but we won't have results until tomorrow. Kea got worse throughout the day, so we decided to take them both in to the vet and go ahead and start a round of metronidazole for both of them. Kea does not like to go to the vet since her spay surgery last April. We won't be training for a couple of days until they feel better.  It is the worst having sick babies.


Sending healing thoughts to Kea and Harris...poor babies.


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Lexx and I had agility class last night. He's been like a different dog the past couple of weeks which is a good thing!! He was very upbeat and wanting to work. We worked on the A frame...only the 2nd time since he's been taking agility which is 2 years now! He can't get enough of it....hard to get him off of it! Also worked on some sequences with the tire and chute and he did really well.

I have him entered in his first agility trial tomorrow night....just jumpers. I'm not expecting a whole lot from him at this point given his hit or miss history with agility. I'll just be happy if he goes over a couple of jumps before he heads off to look for horse poop!!

We've been working on our obedience exercises during the week. All of his exercises are being well done with very few issues. Now if we can just transfer that to an actual trial we should be okay (easier said than done)!! 

We have our obedience working group class on Saturday. The weather is supposed to be quite nice this weekend so I think we'll get him out on Sunday for some tracking fun.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Just got home from vet's office and now Hombre has all shots other than rabies but he will get that in a few weeks. My vet who also has goldens really likes Hombre and she thinks he will be a big boy . He weighed in at 26 lbs today and was just full of himself at the vets until her golden male explained to Hombre that all big dogs aren't as tolerant as Nugget is. He did do a couple of straight fronts and finish's for me at the vet and impressed the techs who also are into obedience trialing. I'm on the fence about training tonight because it's such a hassle taking Hombre and lugging the plastic crate ( bulky) plus articles and water and all other stuff and of course Nugget and his fold up crate. This has been an unusually busy week with doctor -vet-auto appt. and I've another appt.for tomorrow for the needle in the eye doctor for the macro degeneration but only this injection and one more next month YAY. Sat. Nugget and I plus Hombre have been invited by my friends to come to their home and train in their pole bldg. which is strictly for dog training and after training out for dinner which is always fun and I'm looking forward to a good time.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

My dogs had the morning off - for some reason I was having difficulty concentrating :::--big_grin::--big_grin:


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

Sunrise said:


> My dogs had the morning off - for some reason I was having difficulty concentrating :::--big_grin::--big_grin:


Congratulations to Faelan and Mae Mae on their large litter of healthy babies!!!!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Penny didn't get much exercise today since her paws started bleeding after just ten minutes of running in the snow. I don't have boots yet, so taking her on the salty pavement didn't sound like a viable option. This showed at rally tonight. She was jumping on me when I was seated at various times...socked me right in the eye once. I brought a small container of ice cream for my instructor to feed Penny on the walk through of the course and it worked! No barking is good, although the other dogs were interested in it too...I don't think I'll bring it again. 

Before we did the course the instructor tested how well we had mastered the challenge of unrolling the rug. Three dogs could unroll it with treats inside and only Penny could do it without treats, so we got a little fake award for it. =) 



Penny did really well on our first course run through. (I used the remaining ice cream.) My only complaint is that the course itself was really tight and that made it hard to navigate with a bigger dog. 

Second run through I kept the treats at my stomach instead of using them to keep Penny in position like I always do. I treated her after the completion of each sign and gave her lots of praise for staying in heel position so well. 

Our challenge for next week is to have our dogs switch from the left side to the right side and vice versa by going around our backs. We have to do this both sitting and standing. Not sure how it'll go, but I'll see how Penny does. 

I've been eying a Rally competition that is held at the end of February. I need something that will motivate me to not be complacent with Penny's Rally performance. She does the courses perfectly off leash with treats. There's no reason she can't do a course just as well without treats except for my laziness. My goal is to slowly faze treats out and be able to jackpot Penny at the end of the course by the time the trial comes around.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

We had our first agility class after a two month break, and wow I'm very impressed how well Kerrie Ann did last night! She was very focused and remembered all the commands, and run the course perfect...other than not waiting at the start haha.

It's a lot of fun seeing her enjoying agility, and now Kerrie Ann is running with good speed too! I think we will do well in agility trials one day, but that's still a ways off tho haha


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Guess I should mention here... Bertie is a new RN. He got it fairly easily the last couple days. I had been very leery about entering him too early in anything, but he's a very different "animal" than the other boys I've trialed with. He warmed up FANTASTIC. Very high gear ready to "play". No stress or anxiety at all. Which is a first for me. <- Danny would get hyperactive about being in a crowd and I needed to warm him up quite a bit before going out into the ring. Simply because he needed a lot of time to acclimate. Jacks of course is my little nervous wreck. Bertie was unaffected and ready to work.

I do feel encouraged to enter him in Beginner Novice in a couple months based on this (there's a show I want to enter, but not sure if it's Feb or March). Baby-stepping...


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Megora said:


> Guess I should mention here... Bertie is a new RN. He got it fairly easily the last couple days. I had been very leery about entering him too early in anything, but he's a very different "animal" than the other boys I've trialed with. He warmed up FANTASTIC. Very high gear ready to "play". No stress or anxiety at all. Which is a first for me. <- Danny would get hyperactive about being in a crowd and I needed to warm him up quite a bit before going out into the ring. Simply because he needed a lot of time to acclimate. Jacks of course is my little nervous wreck. Bertie was unaffected and ready to work.
> 
> I do feel encouraged to enter him in Beginner Novice in a couple months based on this (there's a show I want to enter, but not sure if it's Feb or March). Baby-stepping...


Congratulations!!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Very little training today. Worked on going around but that was it. However, I had an interesting experience with a mall that doesn't allow pets. I found out that their pet store allows dogs, and because of that, there's a hundred feet of the mall you're allowed to walk in. I thought they had a side entrance, but nope, you go right through the mall! I kept expecting to get yelled at. The store was disappointingly tiny but the plus side is I finally got Penny her boots. She didn't care that they were on her at all. A couple little screaming children gawked at Penny and I put as much space between them and myself....they didn't get the message. They came within a foot of us and they were squealing in a foreign language so I don't know if they understood me or not. I walked away as fast as I could, retreating as far into the store as possible until their dad(?) took them away. (They still tried to follow me.) The store employees were impressed with how well Penny behaved. I think they jinxed me since Penny went into full zoomie mode (I shouldn't have left the boots on!) when we re-entered the mall. Everyone who saw her thought she was cute with her boots. It was embarrassing to see her act like that but at least she amused some people. Keeping her on a short leash didn't really help. I don't think walking Penny in boots is going to be an option with the way she acted. At the very least, I can let her act like a crazy girl in the snow now without it cutting her paws.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

Kea and Harris have gotten over their stomach bug, so we were back to training today. We worked mainly heeling (balancing precision work with fun and games), and Kea did a few ring entrances with a person standing there distracting her by calling to her. It was a person she really likes and would have loved to visit. I'm really excited for our next round of FDSA classes, and our in-person class that starts back up again next week. I'm going through class withdraw!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Congratulations 




Megora said:


> Guess I should mention here... Bertie is a new RN. He got it fairly easily the last couple days. I had been very leery about entering him too early in anything, but he's a very different "animal" than the other boys I've trialed with. He warmed up FANTASTIC. Very high gear ready to "play". No stress or anxiety at all. Which is a first for me. <- Danny would get hyperactive about being in a crowd and I needed to warm him up quite a bit before going out into the ring. Simply because he needed a lot of time to acclimate. Jacks of course is my little nervous wreck. Bertie was unaffected and ready to work.
> 
> I do feel encouraged to enter him in Beginner Novice in a couple months based on this (there's a show I want to enter, but not sure if it's Feb or March). Baby-stepping...


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

We worked fronts yesterday -- a lot of fronts!!

I am hoping to get a working spot in the upcoming F&F class at FDSA. Feverishly hitting the refresh button as the class registration opens LOL

Today is a food run down to the coast and some errands - I will be switching out dogs for quick sessions since I'd like to do some outdoor work but it is slick when off treated pavements and pretty cold (9F degrees with windchill bringing it down to negative numbers). I don't really like working the dogs much of pavement and especially not treated pavement so sessions will be short and probably on my driveway (not treated and fairly clear).

I will not be visiting the puppies today, a ride up the mountain was offered but I'd still need to traverse icy ground to get into the house and I just feel uncomfortable risking a fall on my hand yet,,,hopefully the weather will warm and the things will thaw out soon.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> KATE ...You can find out info on shows your interested in attending on AKC website under events.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Very pleased with obedience work with Hombre this morning , the pup did several fronts and when they were a tad crooked i would tell him straight and he would adjust and do it. He also is learning WAIT as I was able to leave him and walk several steps away and do short recalls . His downs are funny to watch as he drops as if he were pouncing on prey. Lastly we did several swing finish's and they too are getting better as his sits are coming automatically . He is biddable as long as the treats keep coming. Hombre is a smart little pup with drive but he does scare me at times as he has learned to climb and gets on my bed which has a pillow top making it even higher but he just leaps off it. One "accident " yesterday so housebreaking still a work in progress. This afternoon nugget and Hombre and I will go to my friends home and do some training mostly with Nugget as he hasn't done anything since Tues.for various reasons but we need to get our act together because a week from tomorrow we have a trial to go to.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Worked Faelan on articles and pivots  for pivots I set out a small remote treat dispenser and had him so excited with his pivot he was quivering !!

I am thinking I have my a short list for my new pups name 
- Aidan: Like a fire
- Ardan: High aspiration
- Cahal: Victorious warrior
- Daeglan: Full of goodness
- Ruari: red king

and a few others


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

@Sharon - meant to ask.... are you keeping a puppy from Faelan's litter too? 

I love the name Aidan.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

just one puppy ... it looks like a Faelan puppy (Brady is a Towhee puppy)


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Nuggetsdad said:


> > KATE ...You can find out info on shows your interested in attending on AKC website under events.


Thanks<: 

Thinking about being crazy and entering him in RA and BN at the end of next month (checked the trial dates). I hate the show site (very small, you basically don't have space to warm up, etc), but it follows what I want as far as having him do something every month. I'll probably enter and then see how he does at a fun match next month (at the location) to see if I go.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Light training today due to assisting with two dog classes. Worked on around, which Penny's making great progress on. She knows both the vocal command and the hand signal. I started working on it while I'm standing in addition to sitting, and at the end removed the chair. Also did some separation exercises and called it a night.

EDIT: She seemed bored so I humored her and put the dog to work. Had her do a set of stands and downs and she still tried to sit a couple times. I took a huge Greek yogurt container (stinky, good for training!) out of the fridge to practice leave it. She only tried to lightly pull towards it once. Within a couple minutes she didn't pay any more attention to it. Replaced that with a package of smoked pork hinds and it provided a little more of a challenge, with 3-4 pulls towards it. Ran her through all her fun tricks and also worked on touch. Did a couple recalls while I was at it. Still had energy even after I played fetch so I left her to settle down by herself.


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## TheZ's (Jun 13, 2011)

Sunrise said:


> Worked Faelan on articles and pivots  for pivots I set out a small remote treat dispenser and had him so excited with his pivot he was quivering !!
> 
> I am thinking I have my a short list for my new pups name
> - Aidan: Like a fire
> ...


The names are all interesting choices but Aidan seems like it would be easier to use as a call name and the meaning fits. I like the meaning of Ruari but it's a mouthful unless you pronounce it more like Rory. No puppy from the Titan x Towhee litter? I'm thinking you're going to find one of them irresistible.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I like Daeglan for a name.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Pronunciations: 

Aidan : AY den
Ardan : AR dawn
Cahal : KA hal
Deaglan : DECK lan
Rauri : Rory

I doubt I could train more than 1 puppy  or that Barb would allow it!! They will only be a month apart in age.

It is certainly tough choosing because I have dreamed of a Faelan puppy and have also dreamed of a Titan x Towhee puppy. 

Maybe a Titan x Towhee offspring puppy is in my future..



TheZ's said:


> The names are all interesting choices but Aidan seems like it would be easier to use as a call name and the meaning fits. I like the meaning of Ruari but it's a mouthful unless you pronounce it more like Rory. No puppy from the Titan x Towhee litter? I'm thinking you're going to find one of them irresistible.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Sunrise said:


> Pronunciations:
> 
> Aidan : AY den
> Ardan : AR dawn
> ...



I like Rauri it's short one syllable easy to write on entry forms and I hope for your sake housebreaking goes easier than Hombre's is LOL


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Last night training with friends was a lot of fun. Nugget came out of his crate higher than a kite. He would have qualified in both class's in the mid 190s with his usual mistakes . Lagging on about turns has become serious problem as of late it's like he thinks he is supposed to fall back even though the rest of the patterns he is in heel position. Also on the DR he started for #2 glove when #1 was the correct one but thought about it and did the correct retrieve. I also didn't like the MSFE as he turned to watch as he was being examined and moved a paw about 2 inches but it was scoreable. Open we started with the ROF which he left slowly for and seemed hesitant to pick up the dumbbell after this other than a couple fronts he got his act together and did a good job picking up his speed and trying to please. Can't figure out what his problem was on the first exercise unless the brand new sky blue interlocking matting that Dave just put down in his bldg. threw him off.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

*- Aidan: Like a fire

*All the names are striking in their own way but I was thinking if it's a Faelan puppy and you wanted to keep the Amber Sunrise in the name, the imagery of Amber Sunrise and Like a fire together are really cool! For meaning-wise, Deaglan is adorable and most closely to my interpretation follows Faelan, and if he were red, of course Rauri would be most adorable 

For training this week, Dee Dee went to field class and did great with the drills.

Even though Dee Dee is the one doing obedience since she seems to actually enjoy it, I took Gladys to drop in for dummies this week since Dee went to field. Gladys was wild and obnoxious in the parking lot so I grabbed her collar and sat her down and told her to knock it off. She was pretty cranked up but settled down and did great by the last half of the class. I asked for high five and she was again rolling around on the ground for a belly rub, I read it as playful. She does seem to be enjoying herself more.

Hike n train is cancelled today for weather, so we'll do some inside stuff - dancing moves, rally signs and such, just having fun <3


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Hombre this morning practiced f+f , stand stay, recall and downs all of which are coming along BUT not housebreaking he had an "accident " last evening while I was away and my daughter had to clean it up and is still complaining about it but I have had him out several times this morning and only one trip did he poop which by now should be three. He also managed to earn himself a quick trip to the sink to have a pound of mud washed off which he had to lay in. Hombre isn't very happy right now because he is in his crate but I'm getting tired of poop scooping off my carpets so if he doesn't go outside when he is taken out which is quite frequently then he goes in the crate till the next outing which is now.


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## goldlover68 (Jun 17, 2013)

Well our two year old girl is off to Texas for winter training with our trainer. She will come back ready for SH, based on where she is now....I am already missing her, but know she is where she needs to be for now....

More come spring...


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

weather is not co-operating here ; so far the rental was cancelled due to icy conditions and I am on the fence about whether to believe the weather reports saying it will be above freezing in upstate CT for Brady's new class..

But I am online watching homework videos so I might just get some training done!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

One of those mornings when it was very hard to keep the sessions short & sweet 

First set for Faelan, Towhee & Brady involved a food bowl (stainless steel so it was very visible) with a variety of pasta salads from the deli bar; including a few types of Italian style meats and olives. No mayo but all 3 had an oil based dressing -- my crew rarely get pasta and it is a high value when they do get it!

- Heeling start ups; heeling round the bowl maintaining heads up; recalls past the bowl and finally signals (Faelan missed the 1st ; eyes were on me but his mind was on that food bowl: Brady needed verbal assistance: Towhee is onto the game)

Then we worked a 1.5 minute sit stay.

Then Linda Mecklenburg Recalls to heel.

It was fun


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

This morning it was all about teaching Hombre to go DOWN the stairs. After a few treats he put one foot down a stair and after several more he got the other one down too. He flys up the stairs but looking down is more challenging so we quit with one stair only seven more to go . He is getting to heavy for me to take down the stairs a dozen or more trips a day so I'm teaching him even though that when he masters the trip down new problems will arise for me and I'll have to grow eyes on the back of my head with my little land shark or replace everything I own.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

This was kind of a strange training day. Basically all or mostly positive, but nothing really standing out. I'm not sure what to say that won't bore people to read. LOL.

We had a good class. Heeling was nice. Fronts/drops/jumps/retrieves/stays - they were all solid. Nothing screamed "WE ARE SHOWING NOVICE RIGHT NOW WE ARE SO AWESOME". But nothing screamed fail either. 

Probably the only thing that stood out was Jacks was a little dynamo coming out of his crate at those select times I pulled him out. He did everything with SPEED. Especially at the end since Novice stays finished before Open stays. I stuck Bertie back in the crate and pulled Jacks out for heeling. We did zig zag patterns and speed changes. Basically, effortless teamwork. I can't say enough how happy both he and I are that we aren't stressing out about stays and bigger jumps.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Utility training with Nugget was excellent he really had his act together and was up with plenty of speed and a wonderful attitude just hope he will work close to this come Sunday. For whatever reason Open has taken a little nosedive he did everything and certainly would have qualified if it were a trial in the 190s but not nearly close to ribbon caliber. His fronts in open again were close to non existent can't figure why he gets them ( for the most part) in utility and then has trouble being straight in open. I introduced go-outs to Hombre which he liked eating the cheese on the post but wouldn't hold still or stay long enough to even say go out. He was. Not very good with anything yesterday at club too many distractions for him. Nugget when doing utility had a completely empty bldg. with zero distractions as I get there early and open up.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

This morning, after our walk, I switched thing up a bit - I rolled the dining room rug back and used the kitchen and dining room (about 35 feet) for heeling, signals and Go Outs/marking. Towhee had issues with creeping on the signal down but other than that they did very well.

No food was on me, and I also worked some duration on the heeling portions - Faelan was umm, exuberant LOL, Brady was settled and heeled very well while Towhee was a working machine.

ETA: and yes, Towhee is ... well ... waddling might be a good description : My girlie has a hard belly already and Barb and I were just discussing when we might be sending her up to Barb's Spa & Daycare for safe keeping ...


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training for Hombre went better than last night especially the go outs as he did hold still and stayed long enough for my order of go out. He is only going out a leash length and a couple feet but it's fun to watch his excitement for the cheese bait. His fronts today weren't bad for a puppy as he does try to get them straight with food motivation and his swing finish's are the best of any of my previous dogs at this age. Still the staying on the stand is a work in progress and recalls at short distances without distractions not to shabby either. Sits and downs with a verbal and hand signal combined coming along nicely. Housebreaking improving as NO accidents yesterday or the day before and so far today we are batting 100% are we getting the idea ( I hope) and this morning because I was lazy at 2AM and didn't take him out since 11PM he held it till 4AM when I got up to start our day a full 5 hours . Nugget had a pretty good utility run this morning with only f+ f mistakes and I disagreed with my instructor on one front cause it sure looked straight to me. The only thing he did that didn't make me very happy was leaving for the # 1 glove slow so I asked for a repeat and the second time a good tap on his butt got my message across not that I think the first one was scoreable for being too slow but Nugget tends to get a bit lazy so best not let the small stuff get out of hand. We didn't get as much Open work done as I would have liked with minimal heeling and no fig8 but what we did do wasn't too bad with the worst of it those d... fronts. My open training was cut short because I was asked to do a utility run thru which I did and Lynn's ankle was bothering her so I helped her with everyone's MSFE and because Lynn's dog screwed up S+D at a show she asked me to take her place for them so she could go out of sight and if neccessary I would make a correction on her dog but of course they never screw up when you aren't at a trial.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Tonight Faelan and I went to an Open/Utility class - many of the exercises Faelan excelled at, others he felt pressure like when one person threw a dumbbell towards him but 10 feet to his left and their dog was sent while he was called ,,, I think this is a combination of field honor training and the pressure of a dog charging at a dumbbell so close to him -- but its things like these I signed up for the classes for 

His heeling was awesome, his articles were perfect, stays perfect, stands perfect, drop signals in a staggered line of dogs needed work, retrieves very nice.

I need to make adjustments for the pressure he feels when other dog(s) are having dumbbells thrown and being sent -- oh, he also had a dog charge his dumbbell ... that I was ready for and just broke him out like it was a judge calling for a rethrow

Overall a good lesson.


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

Happiness is.... your youngest doing a 13 article pile with no problems, including delivering with a straight front 

(On the other hand, happiness is also cuddles and kisses on the couch :--heart: )


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I hope to be heading to agility class tonight with Faelan for the first time in like forever!!

My hand is still in a splint and rehab seems to be going slowly so I don't have full use and since I am still protective of the hand, my balance is off. So I asked my instructor if she would consider running my Faelan, and her response was incredible  

_you asked me about running Faelan in classes. I would be happy to run him. He is a great dog and I would consider it an honor to run him ! _


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

This morning I baited Hombre down each of the 8 stairs with turkey giblet treats he was a little tentative at first but I think by weeks end he will do them on his own and that's when my problems will increase LOL . Yesterday late in the afternoon after being out less than 20 min.earlier he had an "accident" . This morning he has done his business twice outside so another good start for the day. Finally received entry numbers for Sun.trial for Open and Utility with 17 dogs entered in utility b and 18 in open b . Tomorrow will be our last opportunity to train before the trial and I'll concentrate on heeling.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Kind of bummed ..

Saturday it was supposed to warm up to almost 50 degrees .. my plan was to
- run errands and take the dogs for location training
- go to drop in rally & obedience classes (switch up to Brady in obedience)
- HEAD UP to Sunfire to meet my Faelan's puppies
- Head back home, clean up, do dogs feet & nails and then head out for the evening with friends

Now, they are calling for snow - potentially quite a bit. << bleck >>

Sunday hopefully we will still be able to do Run Thrus and Brady's rally class


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Dee Dee went to field class yesterday and Novice Drop in for Dummies today.
All the dogs in drop in have come a long way, and the handlers too.
It's amazing how much better the dogs do with better handling.

We worked on figure 8s, slow, and fast, then did some sit/stay practice, I asked if we could do it the way suggested. So we had 4 dogs in class, he had us get in corners and move forward 2 steps, then we all took turns walking around the room a couple times, then we all walked around the room a couple times. 

Dee Dee didn't break but she did lie down twice. Had to get her up.
We forgot to practice stand, so she wasn't ready to be touched.
We were too busy practicing our dance moves and rally moves.

I felt bad for taking Dee Dee out twice and leaving Gladys home :-(
But she wouldn't benefit as much from the field class indoors (other than having fun) and I feel Dee Dee enjoys obedience more, although they both get a lot out of it.

Rally class is this weekend, but my family made plans for a contractor to come install some doors on the weekend without consulting me first ... and now they're saying storm .. so ... weekend will be up in the air. If weather cooperates we'll have hike n train plus field group Sunday ... then Gladys can get out twice <3


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Our Monday night class was cancelled this week. It was Finley's turn. Her and I are planning to go to anther Show n Go on Sunday morning. Then she will go to class with me on Mon. 

I have found some time each day to do small things individually with each dog in the spare bedroom...I have to say the novelty is wearing off for me and I'll be glad to be working them both outside. The weather has left a lot to be desired for outside work this week....I did spend a few minutes outside with Finley working on retrieves and jumps, and of course the drop on recall yesterday...but an inch of snow this afternoon put an end to any idea of working on those things today. 

Tomorrow I'm working the 3-11 shift and I have a ton of stuff to do before I go in. If things work out I can get some training in with each before work. I'm pretty sure none of it will be outside though :no:.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Faelan had an absolute BLAST running agility with Pam - the most frequent comments were about he was just so excited and exuberant -- he got all the dogs going in his excitement LOL

Tough sequences based on coursework in Bad Dog Agility - it was so much fun watching him enjoying himself so much!


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

No class tonight.... not sure if there was class there, but weather not cooperating for me to go out to AA for class. The older I get, the less adventurous I feel about going out at night with a couple inches of slush on the roads. All goes back to me driving home from AA one evening and having two SUV's spinning out of control and going all bumper car in front of me on the highway.  

Was smiling a little while training Bertie this evening... he's definitely snapped into the "training game" mode. Especially heeling. One of these fun matches coming up (one next week - Bertie in Novice and Open) - I hope I can get my sister to come and video him for me. It's such a huge difference than just 6 months ago even. 

He's also totally clicked into retrieving retriever mode. The past half hour or so I was working on my computer and dealing with a tennis ball being rolled into my lap and a mournful little face propped on the edge of the couch waiting for me to toss the ball. I'd toss the ball and instant flying dog to retrieve.... coming back to nose-roll the ball back into my lap and propping face on edge of couch waiting for me to toss it again. #and repeat.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Well it didn't take till the weekend for Hombre to master stairs as he is now going up and down very quickly without ANY help. It amazes me how fast they learn to do something when THEY want to do it wish he wanted to poop outside as much. Training tonight as at SCKC for Nugget but I'll bring Hombre along for socialization .


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

must be fate!!! I was casual (well more casual than usual LOL) about registering for a working spot in Weaves with Julie Daniels at FDSA. I am currently working Brady with weaves on and off - trying to work him a few times a week as I work through a 2 x 2 course but I really want solid weaves and I used to travel 4 hours each way to take privates with Julie, I have been to her camps with previous dogs etc.

But....the budget is stretched a bit and so I was hemming & hawing and finally signed on to FDSA and got a working spot. I guess I'll just have to buckle down and do my taxes early this year for my refund 

:artydude:artydude:artydude:artydude:artydude:artydude


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

I'm going to miss agility class tonight, but I should be back next Thursday night. I don't like missing since we just started again last week. But I won't be able to go tonight blah. 

I hate when things get in the way of training haha


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## Laurie (Sep 20, 2009)

After 2 awesome weeks at agility, last night was a disaster. Lexx wouldn't do anything...it was like he was stuck and wouldn't move and when he did, he was off sniffing. He wasn't the only one. A few of the dogs seemed off last night. Mind you it doesn't help that Lexx and one of his classmates seem to have a hate on for each other and this dog again, charged at Lexx while he was in his crate. Kind of hard to get back on track after that! I'm thinking seriously of pulling him out of agility for a little while. 

He seemed really down after class so when we got home, we worked on some obedience which seems to get him up. He was really good and did everything I asked of him.

Needless to say, today I signed up for the silver "Get Focused" class at FDSA. This will be our first online training class.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Laurie said:


> After 2 awesome weeks at agility, last night was a disaster. Lexx wouldn't do anything...it was like he was stuck and wouldn't move and when he did, he was off sniffing. He wasn't the only one. A few of the dogs seemed off last night. Mind you it doesn't help that Lexx and one of his classmates seem to have a hate on for each other and this dog again, charged at Lexx while he was in his crate. Kind of hard to get back on track after that! I'm thinking seriously of pulling him out of agility for a little while.
> 
> He seemed really down after class so when we got home, we worked on some obedience which seems to get him up. He was really good and did everything I asked of him.
> 
> Needless to say, today I signed up for the silver "Get Focused" class at FDSA. This will be our first online training class.


I want to look into this "Get Focused" class...online training might be fun. I'll google FDSA and see what I find


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

I took Get Focused at bronze level, it was worth every cent. I think it's something that can be a work in progress and you reap the benefits forever. We give it paws up.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Rally was awful today. I didn't get to show that Penny had learned the challenge because I guess the instructor assumed only one person did it? It was weird. 

Penny ignored me as soon as we started the first sign and she stuck her head through the fence to try to get the instructor to pet her. Then she ran off to the other arena. On the plus side, she came running when I called her. Even on leash she wanted to sniff everything and paid zero attention to where I was going or what I said. She even peed on the floor with no warning that she had to go out (She always whines). This is the worst she's behaved in Rally, or any class, ever.

I decided to practice going around - the challenge that was supposed to be for this week - and Penny pulled really hard to get something and knocked me plus the chair I sat in over. She kept jumping on me and trying to play with her leash and I finally went over to the spare arena so she could work it out. I played tug with her leash - which I usually don't allow, but I just wanted her to work out whatever energy she had pent up. 

When we practiced as a group Penny was still awful and unfocused. We went back over to the Rally ring. I decided that we couldn't possibly mess things up any worse and tried the course off leash again. Penny had perfect focus and it was like she was a completely different dog at the end. I felt like crying a couple times during the class because it seemed like a demon had crawled inside my dog. Someone suggested switching to a leather leash because mine looked too much like a rope toy. I don't know if it'll help, but I might as well try it. 

Maybe I'm not going to enter her in a Rally trial anymore...I'll have to see what happens in the next couple weeks. This behavior seems to be getting worse. It started with her just jumping on me while I sat and waited for my turn for the course but it seems to be snowballing.


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## Megora (Jun 7, 2010)

Eclipse - three thoughts. 

1. Everyone has crappy training days. And crappy show days if it comes to that. You shake it off your shoulders, let it roll, and go back at it the next day.  

2. Is she food driven? It might be that she needs more of a focus point right now. Getting a strong/high value treat to work with will give you good training days and give you momentum to build on. If she's distracted and in "play with everyone else" mode in class, sometimes that builds the wrong kind of momentum. I'd go back to using bait to build heel position, build focus, build energy and drive and fade it gradually. 

3. Getting to class 30-40 minutes early if you can - helps. My guys have a ton of energy when I go anywhere. It takes them a while to expend all that "I'm HERE!!!!!" excitement. 

The rest is - don't give up on entering her in a trial. But I would probably push it back a bit until she settles down and or you figure out the magic potion with her.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Megora said:


> Eclipse - three thoughts.
> 
> 1. Everyone has crappy training days. And crappy show days if it comes to that. You shake it off your shoulders, let it roll, and go back at it the next day.
> 
> ...


Penny's extremely food motivated. I've been using food when she went through the course off-leash for 2-3 months with excellent focus, and thought she might be ready to slowly fade out of treats until tonight. I might switch to hot dogs to see how she does on those. Definitely going to be on leash for at least a few sessions now.

I'll take her early to see if it helps. Anything that can help her chill out more will be well worth the time it takes. I hope this doesn't turn into a habit because I've been trying to get Penny into an beginning agility class since December and she can't pass her evaluation if she acts like this. Thanks for the advice, I can use all I can get right now. =)


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

Sunrise said:


> must be fate!!! I was casual (well more casual than usual LOL) about registering for a working spot in Weaves with Julie Daniels at FDSA. I am currently working Brady with weaves on and off - trying to work him a few times a week as I work through a 2 x 2 course but I really want solid weaves and I used to travel 4 hours each way to take privates with Julie, I have been to her camps with previous dogs etc.
> 
> But....the budget is stretched a bit and so I was hemming & hawing and finally signed on to FDSA and got a working spot. I guess I'll just have to buckle down and do my taxes early this year for my refund
> 
> :artydude:artydude:artydude:artydude:artydude:artydude



Oooh. Do the taxes early. I hadn't thought of that...but the timing should work out to pad my pockets with tax return fundage for a working spot in Bridging the Gap come April. I will need to start doing my finger exercises now because I have a feeling that one's going to be very popular. 



Laurie said:


> After 2 awesome weeks at agility, last night was a disaster. Lexx wouldn't do anything...it was like he was stuck and wouldn't move and when he did, he was off sniffing. He wasn't the only one. A few of the dogs seemed off last night. Mind you it doesn't help that Lexx and one of his classmates seem to have a hate on for each other and this dog again, charged at Lexx while he was in his crate. Kind of hard to get back on track after that! I'm thinking seriously of pulling him out of agility for a little while.
> 
> He seemed really down after class so when we got home, we worked on some obedience which seems to get him up. He was really good and did everything I asked of him.
> 
> Needless to say, today I signed up for the silver "Get Focused" class at FDSA. This will be our first online training class.





Melfice said:


> I want to look into this "Get Focused" class...online training might be fun. I'll google FDSA and see what I find


I am pretty excited about the Get Focused class - I took the morning off of work so I could sit here and continuously hit the refresh button when registration opened at 11 am PST. It paid off because I got a working spot! I'm really excited that Laurie and I will be classmates  Sadly, I can answer "yes" to all of the questions in the opening paragraph of the class description. This class is exactly what Kea and I need.

Here is a link to the class if anyone else is interested - the more the merrier! 

Fenzi Dog Sports Academy - FE105: Get Focused!


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Last night we had another very good training session concentrating on heeling which Nugget had his act together doing . His sits were fast ( for a change) and straight and the fig.8 was perfect. We only did 1 DOR and two straight recalls with the drop very fast and two of three fronts dead on and he nailed all the finish' s. Fronts on the other open exercises were 50/50 on being straight but all were done well other than the fronts. Go outs (6) were all pretty straight and his MSFE excellent as was signal exercise. I left Hombre home with my daughter and I enjoyed a break from him for a little while because he was again wound tight ALL DAY. His stair descents are like he has done them from the day he was born. We did a little obedience work baited short go outs and recalls at a short distance plus several f+f which everything is coming along . Hombre is a smart pup with plenty of stamina maybe more than this old man can handle now if he would ONLY GET HOUSEBROKEN!


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I do believe Brady had a weaving break through this morning  he started weaving 2 sets of 2x2s and we worked up to straight poles and me sending him from both sides from pole #2 location 

The missing element may have been starting with the second set a good 4 feet away and moving it in closer with the progressions !!

Faelan and Towhee has fun with the poles as well but they started with 2 straight up sets at regulation distance and we worked entries from extreme angles since the room is small

Fun!!!


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## Loisiana (Jul 29, 2009)

For the next four weeks, I'll have my open class with Phoenix, and then for the hour afterward I've rented the ring to be able to work both dogs. For only $10 an hour  Happy happy!


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

All our outdoor activities got cancelled today due to ice :yuck:
So we went downstairs and did tricks and fun stuff - both dogs can now do spins both ways without the treat guiding them, and they can do back up 3 steps, although not in good heel position, have to work on that.
I volunteered to work at our next club run-throughs, so they'll get runs. 
That should be an interesting day :uhoh:


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I a just back from run thrus with Faelan & Brady.

It was a very friendly atmosphere that high lighted a few areas where my dogs are strong and a few areas I need to work on  I went in all rings with no treats to gauge where my dogs and I are.

*Faelan: *

Open B, he won his class BUT he needs a more definitive break step especially as the heeling pattern is coming to an end (can we auto stand??). I also learned that coming directly in means exactly that!! I threw the dumbbell and it bounced really badly into the corner of the ring (ROF). He got his dumbbell and returned at an angle slicing the high jump; no points lost since he came directly back .. interesting.

Utility B, he would have won his class if his handler didn't mess up!! On the 1st go out he veered to the right and sat facing the bar jump. The judge said bar and I went into automatic training mode and sent him for the further jump -- he took the high jump as directed -- oops, good dog shame about his handler 

*Brady:* First up was grad novice and many exercises were really nice as was his Novice run. However!! I learned he stresses down and loud noises or puppies being carried by the ring while barking put him in an alternate mode of 'no can do' -- his heeling really really showed this so I need to build his confidence and focus -- not entirely unexpected but I would have thought he would stress up not down. It was interesting and shows me he needs more work and more personal play that can go into the ring with me.

On another note, for the 1st time ever, I used the bounce and spins with Faelan between exercises - we had pattern VI for both OB & UA and the stewards were not ready for the figure 8, so we practiced the bounce ups and spins while waiting - Faelan enjoyed it and remained under control so we have another tool in our toolbox.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I have had better trials than today. Nugget was up but brain disengaged blew both articles and then he blew signals
Signal x= NQ
SD x=NQ
DR=30
MSFE x=30
DJ x=35 1/2

Open B
Heel Free &Fig8 x=391/2
DOR X=29
ROF X=191/2
ROHJ X= 291/2
BROAD JUMP X=19
LONG SIT X=30
LONG DOWN=30

SCORE 1961/2

18 dogs in open 12 qualified
17 dogs in utility 7 qualified
I must say he was happy working which is good and I honestly thought we had at LEAST a 198 in open but I guess the f+ f got us again even though they looked good to me other than one. Oh well back to the drawing board


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

sorry Nuggets brain wasn't fully engaged... nice Open run though


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Brady and I had a really great Rally session !! I missed last week, the first week due to icy conditions. Today I almost missed because there was an accident that pretty much shut down the highway in Hartford,

But we made it just as class was starting and Brady did well. He was able to focus and relax with new dogs and such so I was very proud of him  He was demanding work by the end of the hour and the wiggle and strut were definitely in attendance


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training and instructing at my club tonight. After yesterday's poor work in utility at the trial Nugget is going to do his signal exercise several times this evening and the same goes for articles. Don't have any idea what was wrong yesterday as he looked straight at me ( but I think right through me ) and his nose just wasn't working. He also had pretty poor go outs losing 31/2 pts. On them cutting both short. This has been a ongoing problem unless a treat is on a stanchion or cheese in the can on the wall. I may have been a little too nice with him making him understand he Must go all the way out to gate or wall. This is a tough problem as most of the time at home or club or SCKC where I train he does good ones it the unfamiliar places he screws up.
Hombre tonight will also get a little training f+f - stay stand- recall with front if I can get him to stay long enough and we have started short go outs and this too we will work on tonight. Housebreaking still a disaster , I took him out and he did his business this morning then we came in and he ran downstairs and less than five minutes after pooping he pooped AGAIN in the foyer at least it was on ceramic tile and easy to clean up.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Show N Go for Finley yesterday with 2 Open runs. The 1st run was much the same as last week in that the dumbbell throw was off and she went around the jump with it. The second run was much better and so was the throw. The "judge" said we would have lost some points for lagging on the figure 8 outside turn and 1 to 2 points for finishes that weren't straight. I managed to practice outside 1 day his week with the jumps. The weather just isn't cooperating...Class was cancelled tonight because of the potential for snow. Both different judges were very helpful. We have anther practice run on Saturday. Hope any of you living in areas to get hit by this blizzard get home safe before it starts and can enjoy being hunkered down with your dogs!


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

We went to a fun match yesterday and added another notch to Kea's belt of fun ring experiences to continue in her ring preparation - two ring entries with heads-up attention, set up for heeling, did five steps of heeling and a halt, then release to play with a new toy (the first time) and play with food (the second time). I lost her to sniffing the floor during playing the first time, but it felt worse than it actually was - when I reviewed the video footage later, she was pretty dialed in both times. 

Harris again chilled in his crate and periodically came out to do some precision heeling maneuvers. 

My mom is making me a crate cover to take to shows, and I'm very excited for her to finish it and ship it!!!  This was the inspiration:

Dimplicity - Crafty Blog: Dog Crate Cover Tutorial


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

KeaColorado said:


> We went to a fun match yesterday and added another notch to Kea's belt of fun ring experiences to continue in her ring preparation - two ring entries with heads-up attention, set up for heeling, did five steps of heeling and a halt, then release to play with a new toy (the first time) and play with food (the second time). I lost her to sniffing the floor during playing the first time, but it felt worse than it actually was - when I reviewed the video footage later, she was pretty dialed in both times.
> 
> Harris again chilled in his crate and periodically came out to do some precision heeling maneuvers.
> 
> ...


That is probably the prettiest crate cover I've seen. You'll have to post pictures when you get yours


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Classes are cancelled for at least tomorrow due to the blizzard; a driving ban goes into effect at 9 tonight so depending on how things go, Wednesday classes may be cancelled as well.

Other than weaves with Brady, my dogs have today off from training since yesterday was full of show n go's and for Brady a new class.

ETA: I just have to say Susan Garrett certainly treats her students right!! I just renewed my Say Yes to Contact Success for a full year for an incredibly good rate!! Just in time for puppy


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

My class went well this evening with two more than last week and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Now if only I would practice what I preach I always say dog training is CPR CONSISTENCY PATIENCE AND REPETION. I worked Nugget with articles 3 complete sets , not a mistake unlike yesterday at the trial then we did signals another flawless exercise which yesterday he also NQ it. Then because he lost a lot of points on go outs I thought to go back to 6-8 ft.from a stanchion and sent him to go- out several times then backed up 6-8 ft.more and again sent him to go- out then we went all the way to other end of the ring . When sent go out he went directly over the HJ I called him back and sent him again and again he tried going over the jump and I yelled no now he knew I wasn't happy with him and this time I walked him to the go out spot which I touched showing him where to go we went back across the ring and darned if he didn't take the jump going out and then stopping no where near where he was supposed to go. I know he wanted to be told good boy and given treats and have the go - out spot to be baited but I'm not going to bribe him and so I lost my patience and made a hard correction . We then went back to 6-8 ft. And did the whole thing over several times only this time going to the wall which he again cut them short. Altogether about 30 attempts were done not one was a good go- out. Tomorrow at SCKC we will do go outs again as many as it takes. Hombre also did 6-8 go outs from 8 ft which the pup did nicely but his were baited. Hombre is coming along although he does get distracted easily but that's to be expected at his age.


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## MaureenM (Sep 20, 2011)

Today's training session with Finley:
Heeling outside in the front on leash:
Worked on heads-up watching me. This went south when a neighbor pushing a stroller and walking a dog was noticed by her. They were quite a distance down the street, but enough to be a big enough distraction in that she was so busy looking at them she missed a sit on a halt and kept on walking. I reset her from the point where she noticed them and started again. She kept looking in their direction although they were no longer in sight. I made a right turn which she almost missed for being nosey. Three steps and a missed halt and we reset. This time she got it. We did some figure eights where she lagged on the outside turn. After a repeat command and a clap she caught up and did the next set correctly.

Into the backyard where we started with retrieves on flat from either side of the high jump with the dumbbell tossed strategically angled in front of the high jump. These were done correctly with big praise! I could see her looking at the jump on the return and she consciously made the right decision. Then we did some retrieves over the high jump. I took the advice from the man at the show N go and walked closer to the jump so the dumbbell toss would definitely not land directly in front of the jump. This worked like a charm as in the first time I sent her, she went right around the jump just like at the show N go. I was very happy since now I could address the issue. I met her on the return, took the dumbbell and placed it right back where it had been. Reset her and with a very clear "over" and sent her. This time she took the jump. We practiced this a few times with the dumbbell purposely tossed to the right and left of the jump. Lots of praise and encouragement for doing the right thing.

We then set up to do recalls. The first drop was again not as quick as I have seen her do. I have in my mind what I want because I've seen she can do it. I gave the signal and after a second or two the verbal. Big praise when she went down. After one or two more with really no improvement I once again brought out the bar from the bar jump. This she gets, and with just a signal will do whatever she has to to down and tuck her feet in on one side of the bar. I think I have taken the bar away too soon as her downs were really nice until I stopped using the bar. They were really good at class ect without the bar as long as we intermittently kept the bar in the picture at home. I'm not sure when, if ever, I should completely do away with that prop. I'm worried that if it's used all the time, she won't adjust to it not being there. This, even though she adjusted before. For now, its back in the picture. 

At this point I put her in a long sit and went in the house for her ball. After that it was play with the ball with downs and sits from a distance, short heeling spurts, and lots and lots of chase that ball.

The best thing about not getting any snow despite the forecast for it, it was nice enough to work outside with both dogs today.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Went to SCKC this morning and for our 15 min.in the utility ring I worked exclusively on go-outs and articles. We did probably 20-25 go-outs starting at 6-8 ft and working back and today for the most part they were baited . Nugget never tried taking a jump once we were past them and today probably because of the treat waiting for him they were straight fast and after eating his cheese the sits were good and almost immeadiate. After losing patience yesterday I used my head ( for a change ) and baited the go out spot as I wanted Nugget to be successful and give me a opportunity to praise him. Because of losing patience and my temper yesterday I didn't know how it would go today but it actually was a good session. I'm sure his cutting go- outs short isn't over but all I can do is practice and praise the good ones. Articles were well done 2x. 
The judge who I showed to in open was also at training so because I do know her for many years I asked her if she remembered any of our mistakes on Sun.and she said what she could remember was the 1/2pt.lost on heeling and fig8 was a lag. The rest best she could recall were f+ f no handler errors yea!!! I did have Sun.breakdown score sheet but that only tells how much was lost on each exercise but not what the errors were. Hombre did swing finish's - fronts- stands-1/2 dozen short baited go-outs on leash and I started teaching the WATCH for heeling and heeling him 2-3 ft with bait and asking for the sit which he did a couple times. I think even though Hombre is a bit of a wild child and seems to be perpetual motion I think he will eventually be a far better obedience dog than most because he is far more " up" than my other goldens but not crazy like I've seen in several.


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

I've been working on this week's Rally challenge the past few days. Penny learned to push the car without a treat under it after only a couple tries. Sometimes she gets confused and bows instead of pushing it, but she's doing really well.

I also took Penny on campus for the first time this year. The first week of school was too cold, and then I still needed to get boots. I cut up some hotdogs for her and off we went! I'm very glad that I got her booties since I've been seeing mounds of salt on campus everywhere I walked this week. This time, Penny didn't try to do zoomies with her boots on. She was more interested in the hot dogs, which is how I was hoping she would react. Perfect focus on me until the end when a guy came up to pet her. Penny jumped a little and one paw brushed him, but she didn't get super jumpy. She was very calm other than a couple naughty jumps. I don't think people wanted to pet her because it's cold out, which is fine by me. I'd rather get her used to crowds again before letting very many people approach her. At the end I ran out of hot dog and her excitement started to show, but at least we were already back to the parking lot. She played in the snow for a couple seconds to get some energy out and then we went home.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Training sessions this morning with each dog in the training room included :

Fly with 2 small cones for Figure 8 flying combined with a few na-na-na sends: note to self --> start rear cross work with cones

Weaves with 2 sets of straight up 2x2 working from 5 to 3 and then 6 to 9 on the first set of poles.

Perch work with pivoting from front, and then from heel position pivoting to the left and to the right.

Cone work was excellent with all 3.

Weaves were excellent with all 3.

Perch work: 
Towhee - front sets she did well, pivoting in place needs practice
Faelan - front work very nice. He is improving on maintaining heel position while pivoting but still needs work.
Brady - perfect


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I'm beginning to think Hombre will be my toughest dog EVER to housebreak. We got up at 4:00 am went out he peed went back in fed all three dogs put Hombres Flexi on went back out and he now pooped in about 3-4 minutes of being outside. Very good so far. Went to nursing home and returned at 6:15 got him out of his crate and sent him and Nugget and Sadie out and they stayed out about 15 minutes again so far so good. At 7:10 took all three out again as it was now light enough to poop scoop walked the yard which took about 10 minutes came in to write 3 trial entries forms up for upcoming shows and while sitting at my desk in the front room with Nugget by my feet Hombre came in by us walked behind me and left not one but two piles, this after having been out 4 times in less than 2 1/2 hours. He is lucky he is so darn cute but this is getting VERY OLD.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Fun session this morning 

Faelan has a tendency to go directly to heel while excited and carrying something. So, since I believe this is a carryover from field work I decided to start addressing it head on in a similar context but without his formal retrieve things !! I took out a foam bumper and their fronting platform.

*Faelan:* not surprisingly he got so wound up his fronts sucked ... so we got to work on them using the treats for good fronts, praise only for fronts he automatically adjusted (ie; butt was off the platform and he realized on his own) and resets when it was not adjusted on his own.

*Towhee:* Surprisingly she did not like a bumper swinging close to her, so we played a bit of gotcha while I was swinging and then she fully and completely got into the I throw, she fetches and fronts game 

*Brady:* Interestingly he at first refused the bumper (possible throw back to his field work?? teacher wanted to put an eCollar on him so I removed him from training or possibly the issue resurfacing when he saw a bumper?? ). This is not an issue with his dumbbell, scent articles or gloves so I put the bumper into his mouth with a 'hold' and ran backwards with him chasing me - after which he was fine and very much into the game LOL He got as ramped as Faelan but his fronts were much better


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

I've finally managed to get Hombre to sit stay while I walk back 10 ft.and put a dab of cheese on my front door ( inside of course ) and then back to him tell him to go out with a verbal and hand signal which he runs to the cheese and licks it off. It's a fun way for him and he has a lot of enthusiasm for the treat . In a couple days I'll start asking for him to sit after he's gotten the treat. Tonight training at SCKC for both boys. Nugget wasn't very happy watching the pup get the treats and tried to get them first so he wound up outside looking thru the back door window because he is far far too much distraction for the pup and like I have to crate Hombre when I want to do something so must Nugget go outside.


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## boomers_dawn (Sep 20, 2009)

Most of our stuff was cancelled but there was drop in novice for dummies last night.
I decided to take Gladys because she seemed to enjoy it last time and I thought it was her "turn". 

It was next to impossible to get out of the house. Dee Dee wouldn't sit and stay, ran outside to the car, wouldn't come in, finally got her in by shutting the door in her face and leaving her outside for a few seconds. Had to crate her to get out the door with Gladys.

Drop in was ramped up by playing the tape of dog show noises in the background and doing a ton of heeling. Some of the other dogs were trying to play with each other where Gladys goes into the "fun police" mode by barking at them.

She definitely was NOT having fun, did a lot of floor sniffing and "I don't see/hear/acknowledge you" stuff. Ugh. Not doing that again.

So it was a fail/fail - although Gladys was the clear winner in the Sit/Stay and Down/Stay department!
Note to self: If choice must be made, use time/energy/$$ for OBEDIENCE (or at least heeling) on DEE DEE


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

Oh Boomers_Dawn - I sooooo know the choice part! I'll decide which dog(s) is going, leash him/her up with a 'front door' leash and they each try to grab the leash as they charge to the front door!!

Towhee will try to climb up the radiator to beat the 'sit' cue figuring if her nose gets into the cracked door she simply 'must' be the chosen one ... luckily they do mind the wait or it would be complete chaos!!


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

Rally was interesting today. We're getting too many dogs (3 more for the next session, on top of the 8-9 currently in the class) so it's being split into two groups. It'll be sad to lose a few people and their dogs to another time slot. It's been taking way too long to get everyone through the course two times though, so I understand why it's happening.

Apparently I misheard my instructor. Penny's supposed to _circle _the chair with me sitting/standing, not go from side to side. I swear that's what she wanted. Looks like I have some retraining to do. 

Rally Challenges for next week:

Teach Penny to crisscross her paws while laying down.

Teach Penny to ride a skateboard. This will be fun. I'm going to buy a $5 skateboard tomorrow. 

I decided to give Penny one last chance off leash. She did fantastic. On her second run through she wanted to go sniff the jump that has the white boards. Penny lagged a little in a couple places too, but she didn't run off at all. I'm very happy with how she did. 

I'm not a huge fan of the leather leash. It's harder for Penny to get a good grip on it, but it's also harder for me too, which is bad when she decides to pull towards something. I think I'm only going to use it for Rally. 

She still wanted to jump on me. I took her to the practice ring and worked with her. My instructor asked me to show that Penny knows how to play dead but she wouldn't roll over. I decided to work just on rolling over to see what she did. I got her to do it a couple times. After that she barked at me when I asked her. I think she just doesn't feel comfortable exposing her belly outside of the house. I just won't mess with it out in public until I think she's more relaxed. 

During group work I had an issue where Penny barked at me and then jumped at me several times. She jumped towards me enough to catch me attention, not enough to touch me. 

I think I ran into issues tonight because I couldn't exercise her much due to the freezing rain that came down all day. I had to cancel my plans to take Penny on campus today because of it too. Next week I have Agility evaluations after class, so I hope there won't be any freezing rain then.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Training went very well last night with DOR the best absolutely perfect great drops 2x on hand signal straight perfect front ( where were they last Sun.) and straight finish's . A couple fronts on the Jumps needed help . Go outs 3 of 4 were very good but the third one we did was too the left about a points worth. Heeling from what I could see was very good with the instructor telling me the sit on the fig8 was slightly " out ". Nugget was up and it was fun . Hombre did on leash 6-8 ft go outs and he is starting to stay ( a little ) till told "go out" we couldn't get him to stay on the stand for exam last night as he was distracted big time but I did manage a few f+f with him and he didn't draw blood on anybody so I'm thinking good night with Hombre. Because Thurs. you only get 5 minutes in the ring and we spent the time on the directed jumping exercise at home today I'll work articles with Nugget and whatever with Hombre. Oh yes gloves too were done well all three and other than one turn in place that needed a repeat very nice and our MSFE in the group work along with S+D very well done.


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

my crew will have the day off  

I got caught up in membership applications/renewals and ordering my breakfast & snack foods (raw, organic, unpasteurized almonds & such)


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

> Sharon I think a day off now and again is good for you and the dogs otherwise constant training can get to be a drudgery and become boring . Don't you agree?


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## AmberSunrise (Apr 1, 2009)

I do agree 


Nuggetsdad said:


> > Sharon I think a day off now and again is good for you and the dogs otherwise constant training can get to be a drudgery and become boring . Don't you agree?


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Worked articles 2x with Nugget well done with only one front not straight out of the 4, also did 6 baited short go outs with Hombre and got him to sit twice although neither was looking back at me . Baby steps but steps just the same. So far today no " accidents" only one yesterday.


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## Melfice (Aug 4, 2012)

Kerrie Ann and I had a great night of agility class last night! She has been running courses like a champ, but I need to do a better job leading her. Its amazing how the dogs look and follow our leads during the runs!

I really hope I improve, but at least its a lot of fun during class! Oh, I need to work on Kerrie Ann's stay during our runs. She tends to keep going, and does not want to wait haha. 

It's good to see that drive in my pup tho


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## Eclipse (Apr 21, 2014)

The five dollar skateboard was disappointingly small, but it worked well enough for one day. I'll keep it and bring it to class so more people can work on it with their dogs. I might give it away there too. Tomorrow I'll see if I can get a bigger one at a reasonable price. 

Penny has been doing really well with learning to skateboard. I set it on the ground and she thought it was a toy (well, it is, but not _that _kind of toy) and ran around with it in her mouth. 



She is comfortable with staying on it while it is in motion. That was my goal for the day. I'll move from carpeting to a hard floor tomorrow and see how she reacts when the board rolls on faster surface.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAzWWZ9YM7k

I tried to work with her on crossing her paws for a few minutes too, but she doesn't understand what I want from her yet. I think this is going to take more work than than the skateboard. 

Did some practice with waiting, recall, and a couple other basic commands also.


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## Hombrespop (Sep 3, 2012)

Today I took both boys training before the storm comes and Hombre for his first time was in line with two other dogs a Rottlie and a Dobe and we did the 3 min.sit and the 5 min.down . He did break on both exercise BUT he did amazing well holding his position quite awhile on each. Recalls on leash pretty good with very decent fronts and finish's all baited but he is coming along in this. Hombre will do a stand but doesn't hold very long even with using the lead like a suitcase handle but it's getting better. We tried teaching WATCH and a few steps of heeling which we got no where with. Hombre did manage to pee on the clubs floor twice which was just too special for words.

Nugget started off a little slow and sloppy doing go outs but a slap on his butt and he woke up. From the butt slap on his first go out he got it together and did a pretty nice job and we did every exercise twice in utility . In open good work carried over and it was a good session with the majority of f+ f being good which is our major point loser . Good day of training today.


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## KeaColorado (Jan 2, 2013)

I did a private lesson on Thursday and worked some specific heeling issues with each dog - Harris worked on driving around my leg on right quarter turns and Kea worked on change of gait to facilitate a better change of pace to fast pace. Yesterday, I took some video of both dogs working on these things in the yard. When I went back to review the video, I noticed that Kea is really prancing with me on the change of gait. I think she likes to do it  

I've also been diligent in working through our online focus exercises and I'm starting to see some improvements in Kea. The goal for this month is to get out to as many places as we can to train and practice the focus work.


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