Training Log
Spring
2006 -
Present
Spring 2006
As I begin training with Niven, I thought I would spend some time writing my observations. I missed this with Crumpet and never
thought about it with Sprout ( as her training is extremely limited ).
As I think of different events or observations, I am back filling portions of this page. Some aspects will be
lacking until that is complete.
Monday March 13, 2006
Niven's Siblings
- Five pups remained when I got there to look at the litter. ( There were a
total of ten black pups )
- All were consistent with each other; good solid pups that all looked as if
they came from the same litter.
( This is important for genetic consistency. )
- I wanted a Bitch so I was limited to two pups, but would have taken one of the males too if I could have.
- Both Dam and Sire were friendly and greeted me without incident, in the same way all pups did.
- Pups were out in a pen sleeping, but I liked that all of them woke up and wanted to meet me. There appeared to
be a 'proper', half asleep temperament that seemed 'right' to me.
Home
Niven rode home on my backseat since the crate I brought was too small. She
immediately found a quiet spot on the floor and
fell asleep. When I got home, I grabbed Sprout and Crumpet and headed to
the back yard where everyone could meet.
Despite having spent the entire morning/early afternoon outside playing, Niven
managed around the yard to follow two older dogs that showed as much interest.
There was no problem in and out of the house or with any of the cats. Within two weeks, Niven was definitely part of the family.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
First retrieve.....
One very dead squirrel from the weed patch in the backyard.
"Come here Puppy......."
Nameless, seven and a half week old Pup hands over Squirrel
"Thank you, what a good puppy. Let us go and get a treat."
Nameless Puppy tears up yard after two Corgis very excited about getting a treat.
(Three months later)
Second Retrieve
"Why is Niven carrying a leaf in her mouth?" I ask myself.
"Come here, Niven. Let me see what you have."
Niven proudly trots over and hands me a leaf. I look down to see a pinkie mouse
wrapped inside.
"Thank you, Nivie! What a good puppy. Let us go and get a treat."
Niven tears off to the gate followed by two Corgis.
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Summer 2006
- "Keep away" when retrieving
- Corgi 'chase downs' which compounded "keep away"
- When the object was brought back, Niven would not "drop"
- In house, Niven would retrieve and drop the object on my lap for another throw - Encouraged
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Winter 2007
- Best I could do was to play a different game, touching only the toy dropped for me by Niven.
- I was not playing into the game established by any of the dogs.
- Minor failures with bumper training that did not promise encouragement on my end.
- "Toy for the Treat" was loosely started in the house, along with sequenced ( broken down routines ) obedience exercises.
- More formalized obedience was started, Niven attending OYRDTC Beginners Obedience
class without much success. Dog was too unfamiliar with other people and needed to ( playful )
"lunge to meet". She did perform, but failures were on my end, as I was focused elsewhere for
behavior setting. Shortened obedience routines were taught and learned almost immediately.
- Down needs to be to the ground ( Sphinx-like for now )
- Sit, Heel, "one second" Wait.
- 'Wait' needs to be practiced and will be with Agility practice looking like it will be started soon.
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Spring 2007
- Obedience routines are being linked together, food motivator is slowly being weeded away to "pocket or table"
- Clicker training was used for the Table, more to get Niven comfortable/familiar with what it is.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Bumper Retrieving was tested in backyard. The original idea was to start with "toy for treat",
but Niven offered immediate retrieving behaviors with "drop it when I get to you".
This was better then the "keep away" game normally played. Treats were offered
for the performance.
Ramp to DW was placed on the Table. Niven had an easier time going down
the ramp then she did going up. Back legs / paw placement are the
difficulty, as they normally are when teaching this part of the obstacle especially when using this technique. For some
reason it is easier to start with the full Dog Walk then it is to use a "safer method".
"Table" was also started, Niven ran around the 12 inch obstacle a few times until
it dawned on her what was wanted. It only took once with her on my left side to at least make the jump
up, but she had problems when I put her on my other side or changed the approach direction. All of the offered behaviors
were common and typical for starting dogs.
Wednesday April 24, 2007
Since the weekend, Niven has displayed that she would play a different game
with me then what Mike does. Although she is not 'delivering to hand'
anything she retrieves, I will definitely take what she brings back and drops in
front of me.
While taking our walk at the local park, I stopped at the car to get a bright orange Bumper. I have had problems with this
particular Bumper because it is plastic and 'ribbed'. Niven will chase it, pick it up and spit it out, to come back empty mouthed.
The park has an asphalt pathway bordered by grass, landscaping, and light forests. The variables allowed for me to charge Niven up
and let her chase the Bumper to see what she would do. I was happy that it took
only once or twice before
she figured out she
had to bring it back in order for me to throw it again.
There was little trouble with retrieving from the grass, partial dirt, or the heavy leaves. Where
there were problems was when the
Bumper landed on the asphalt pathway. Niven wanted nothing to do with it then. The only thing I can think of is the oily smell the path produced
or maybe the retention of heat from the day? That will be something I can work on later, but for now
I take what is offered.
Thursday April 26, 2007
I was not going to do anything more on our walk then let Niven explore, but during the second trip around I stopped to get the Bumper.
While walking, it had started to rain and the ground was wet, allowing scent to hang heavy and low. Niven's response was what I can consider typical
for these types of nights. Bouncing around and trying to create games, I felt the Bumper game would
yield something better then last night.
I was not disappointed.
All Bumper throws were retrieved, with the first 'return' dropped at my feet.
For all others, Niven came back to stand so I could take it from her. She was
given treats for one very good reason. If she were not on a twenty-six foot
Flexi Lead, she probably would not have come back because I
was taking the Bumper from her.
Stepping backward:
In the beginning, I was having problems with Niven and 'focus work'. It has been
a long time since I have had a puppy to train ( normally I get adult dogs to
handle ) and I am dealing with "puppy excitement" and not a "level headed adult".
What I normally implement for training is the "Here" command, waiting until the dog
gets to the end of the Flexi Lead
and calling her to come back to get a treat. This helps to teach there is an
end to the Lead. What may have happened is that Niven fell into the automatic 'Here'
that was learned without the Bumper and came back because that is what is standard.
Earlier, I made the mistake of playing ball in the yard while Sprout and Crumpet were with me. We managed three
retrieves before Crumpet decided he needed to chase the Black Sheep down, thus kicking Niven back into older/set
behaviors.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
I took Niven with me to an American Civil War Re-Enactment held at one of the local parks. The idea was to get her out
among people, as well as different black powder rifles that comes with the sport.
I was not keen on sticking around for the cannon portion despite the
fact I love cannon; I was not sure how the puppy would react to the noise and percussion.
Niven, Jen and I spent the morning meandering around a thick crowd of people who wanted to meet the
very tall puppy. The great thing was that
this gave the pup a lot of experience with approaching people of various heights and clothing restrictions
( Hoop Skirts, shiny objects, weapons, etc. )
While the Union Soldiers were Drilling, they were also firing their rifles. I walked Niven onto the
side of the field and she displayed no reaction to
the noise or total situation. This encouraged me and throughout the morning we edged closer when the men were testing their weapons.
By the time the main battle took place, we found ourselves next to the Confederate Cannon. This was not a place I really wanted to be,
but managed to get to the bottom of a hill that served as a berm. As soon as I got
there, all three cannon were fired with Niven remaining sitting
without a flinch.
Over the next half hour there were multiple cannon shot and as time wore on, Niven
either began to 'jump' or did not seem to mind. It depended if her attention was
focused on meeting someone, watching the kids play ball, or was idle. At one
point I realized the main body of
soldiers would arrive shortly and the cannon fire would stop, but there would be a couple of hundred rifles firing
in unison. I wanted to get out of there before that
could happen.
We were about a thousand feet away when the first volley was fired and despite the louder,
continuous noise, Niven did not even notice. This day was perfect
for finding out how she would react around gunfire.
One other aspect that complimented the day was walking Niven around the Sutler
portion of the Encampment. I really thought I would have a puppy who jumped and
darted all over the place. Instead, what I got was her staying close to my body,
almost in Heel Position. This enabled me to meander into a few of the tented merchant areas without anyone noticing
I had a large dog with me.
Monday April 30, 2007
Niven and I headed to the backyard for what I thought would be a few minutes of
Agility work. The DogWalk I have was originally built for
the Corgis and has been sitting outside for five years. Even using the center board braced against the Table caused it to begin falling apart.
The Table should not pose a problem. Already Nivie has the idea to jump on and Sit, then Down when asked. Come to think of it, I only seemed
to have a serious ( competition ) Table problem with Harry years ago.
I also pulled out two jumps to see what would be remembered from last week and I was not disappointed. Niven is
definitely trying to learn
how all four legs move and how to change the "leading leg/paw" when distance and stride are changed.
One needs to be careful about creating too much change when Jumping if first started. I need to keep these Jumps
consistent until
Niven truly learns how to jump.
By the end of the session, she was looking to the next obstacle instead of looking back for a command. This is also
important in that Niven will need to move out on her own and not pull herself out of a stride that would set her up for
the next obstacle.
What is needed at this point is for me to start the 'send out' training. This is nothing more then using a chair to send the Dog around to
get a treat while distance is slowly increased. Once Niven can be 'sent out' to the next jump, I think I can get away with seriously focusing on
jumping, change of stride, leading leg change, and height increase.
I dare not do that now only because the Pup is still growing....but there
are ways to start the fun stuff while staying on the ground.
Tuesday May 1, 2007
The only thing I wanted to focus on was the "Send Out", which required Niven to run out and go around a stationary object. In this case
I chose a plastic chair from our backyard and took with me a bag of treats. The theory is simple, take a step forward and use a sweeping hand
signal
to help the dog to move forward to go around. As it comes back, it gets a treat.
Niven had no choice but to go around and had no problems with both right and left sided send outs. What did develop very quickly when
distance ( five feet ) was increase, was the "Handler Left Side Dominate" problem. I could not increase distance past
five feet, so I was a bit disappointed. ( I am used to Corgis who seem to excel at this part of the game. )
I ended the game there, knowing I can easily come back to it within a day or two.
One of the strangest behaviors Niven gave me and I have not seen this from her before, especially since she is always on the move, was to
lay down. There is a signal with this behavior, but I cannot tell from where or why it was being acted out.
It will be interesting to see if it reemerges later on.
Thursday May 3, 2007
I wanted to spend a few minutes outside working the Send Out. This time, Niven
was right there with me, but still displays a ton of uncertainty when it comes
to distance and me 'standing still'. What I thought to do was combine the "Chair
Obstacle" with something else and added the Table. Nivie not only performed the
Table Sit/Down with speed, but started to 'get' the idea of what the Chair was
about. Every now and then, I would have to step in to make sure the forward
motion was completed.
Since we were doing so well with the two obstacles, I decided to add one Jump. This time I put the bar at 16
inches and sent Niven over. She had no problem with the change of height, but
seemed to realize there was something different. I was able to work all
three obstacles with her on either side without much difficulty.
Being on my left side is definitely easier, as that is where Niven is used to being
for
competition obedience. ( This to me is nothing more then me needing to continue to work both sides for
comfort. )
One other thought occurred to me later while walking at the park. I have always trained the dogs to untangle themselves from around poles.
It is very possible that Niven is transposing one set of behaviors ( untangle
Flexi Lead cord at distance ) to the "run around chair" Send Out, which is
causing her second guess herself.
Saturday May 5, 2007
Four of us went to a local reservoir today and we took Niven along. Since there was a lake and creek, plus different types of ground cover,
what started out as time to get out of the house became something different for me.
For the first time, I could truly appreciate the structural attributes of a
Field Labrador Retriever. Like many of the AKC recognized dog breeds, Labradors
are surrounded by controversy that does not really exist within Pembroke Welsh
Corgis (although we do have arguments with other similar issues. )
Either a person has bought a Field Dog or a Breed Dog ( conformation lineage ). The difference is quite
dramatic, especially in height of leg, length of angulation, lighter bone, and/or more refine body.
Someone who does not know there is a difference can see a Field Dog as a younger pup
or mixed breed simply because it is
the Breed Breeders who tend to interface with the public.
Having different terrain to traverse over offered my "Lab Eye" something new to dwell on.
Water
Last week at the Reenactment, we had walked down to the Delaware River, but Niven wanted nothing to do with it. As far as she knew it was
'land that moved' and backed off. Today caught me off guard because as we approached the lake, Niven continued down the path and into the water.
It took one step for her to figure out there was something seriously different and two more steps to realize whatever she was in was not land.
Personally, I wished that part of the lake was not chosen since it was 'near standing'
water, but hey at least she went in.
After we
made it over to the creek, Niven did make another attempt at the water thing, but nothing more then one paw.
She allowed the other paws to sink two inches into the mud. I will have to remember to bring a floating ball to throw or at least be prepared to
creek walk myself.
Brush - High on Leg, Movement & Energy, Terrain, and Pads
Walking back to the lake, we had to cut through high grass. This was not a bother to neither Niven or myself ( oh smart one that I am...I
wore shorts ), but when the terrain turned to low laying sticker brush and other harder
vegetation, I wondered how Niven would handle the change.
There was no indication she saw anything different, even though I did.
Most Breed Standards require the dog to "single track". Often this is mistaken as the four paws coming inward to the body's center point
during movement, creating one track of paws. Actually it means something
different. The paws on each side must land on the same point; front right paw is
placed, back right paw is placed on top of or close to the front footprint to
form two single tracks, one for each side of the body.
What caught my attention was that Niven was Single Tracking, but also moved "narrow". She forced herself to 'come in'
( create one track ) to be able to cut through the taller grasses with greater ease. What was amazing to me
was that she constantly changed stride and pace to diversify and never seemed to run out of energy due to poor movement.
I always seem to be bitching about 'working drive' and
'high drive' and having a dog with too much
energy evaluated as such. Watching Niven have to cut through high vegetation, run up steep hills, jump into water, etc, she did not tire out.
Yet, this is house friendly dog who fits nicely in a Pack that is the of the same
temperament. I still hold to my complaint that dogs of any Group bred with "needing high energy"
as a mind set, will produce nothing more then pups
that are not easy to live or work with.
Another observation I did get to make and watch the rest for the rest day, was Niven's height. What I thought was a
leggy conformation, actually worked for her today. She can cover more ground
because of her ease of movement ( structure and natural gait ) passing over prickly
brush and tall grasses without showing signs of any discomfort or tiring.
This point lead to me the last observation of the day, the pads on her feet. Perhaps I am too use to the Corgis, but even the Rottweilers
have a smaller pad that is not naturally rough. Without 'road work' to toughen the
pads, both breeds will experience "foot sore". ( Pads
on the paw will blister, bleed, or be tender depending on the circumstance. )
Niven did not seem to notice the rougher ground cover and I wonder if having a wider pad that always seems
naturally rough is not another
benefit of a Labrador of Field Lineage.
Friday May 11, 2007
Being that today was too nice of an opportunity to let slip past, Niven and I headed out to the backyard for Bumper Throws. The other night I bought
my roll of Treats and was ready to go. The key to Niven performing without the 'Corgi
Chase
Game' is creating another focal point ( bag of treats ) in a safe location ( to
keep her from easily getting them ).
Niven was ready, having spent the week left as a pet. Poor Doggie.
The intention was to keep training focused to the Bumper and leave the Agility
portion out of it. I am not sure how well she performs in higher humidity and
today offered that.
There is no issue with Niven going out, picking up the Bumper and returning.
Where the issue is in the Hand Back. Having a bag of treats
has helped because in order to get the treat, she has to drop the Bumper. There is no treat for a dog that runs off,
trying to play established games.
I also tried to make this round a bit more formal and required Niven to sit on my right side. At first I did not care if the
Sit was crooked,
only that she sat long enough for the Bumper to be thrown and land. I did have to hold the scruff of the neck to remind her to 'stay', but
she immediately went out for the retrieve.
What developed next was interesting and I am still not sure of where it is coming from. When I asked Niven to sit a third time,
she slunk into a Down. I think this behavior had to do with the increased humidity, as I have seen it once before. Another possibility
to factor is that Niven is used to less structure and wanted to play more on her terms then mine.
A third factor could be that I am adding too much variety into the training program and a Labrador may need the repetition in order to
fully grasp the routine. This is an aspect I am going to have to play around with because it can greatly effect my training program all around.
For a short fifteen minute training session, this was definitely interesting.
Tuesday May 15, 2007
Niven and I headed out to the backyard once again for Bumper Work. I figured it was a good time, as she had spent
the day in the crate and was ready to go. What continues to amaze me is how fast training takes on her. I think
it has to do with the Labrador thing, but I am constantly awed in that half of what I have to do with the
Corgis ( or Herding / Working Breeds ) really does not need to get applied with
a Sporting Dog.
I walked to the picnic table to put the treats down and Niven was already back with the Bumper. "Throw It" was
her main focus and I need to get away from the treat reward quickly. ( That is why I keep the treats on the table,
as we have to run to get a treat now. )
Since Niven was offering me a full retrieve with at least a return to 'almost' hand, I used the treats after every
couple of throws. In between, I asked for a Sit and Wait, which she performed.
Then it was back to the spot where I was standing for the Retrieve Throws. I asked for a Sit and Wait, faked
throwing it a few times, then sent her on for the flying retrieve.
It seems that by separating the Sit/Wait and Sit/Wait/Retrieve Send Out, I was able to create a more stable Wait all
around. This is really a great thing for me because I had not trained Crumpet for Retrieves this way.
By the time
CDX work was started ( during CD training ), the Corgi had been trained to Sit and Wait for just about everything.
( I had started Agility with Crumpet when he was six months old and had a solid 'everything' by the time structured
Retrieving was taught. I do not have that here with Niven. )
I finished the session off with a Free Heel without treats in hand or pocket. We had to go back to the Picnic Table
for those. Niven did drift off a few times, but for the most part stayed with me. Cannot ask for anything more,
especially since I barely train and I train with the dogs completely off-lead ( but fenced in the back yard ).
Friday May 18, 2007
Came home from work and took Niven out back, more to run off some energy then to formally train. One of the reasons
I have to separate any game of "throw" and "backyard time" is because Crumpet will chase his younger companion down for "being faster".
Removing Crumpet and Sprout from Niven's training arena has helped immensely.
What I got in performance was beyond pleasing. Niven was gone before the Bumper even hit the ground and was back
before I could take more then three steps. All retrieves were directly to hand, with the exception of two which
were my fault.
Niven decided at one point to play 'tug of war' and without thinking I issued one of my "Crumpet knock it off"
commands along with the tone. The next return was dropped, basically telling me that what I had done was
listened to. I made a short throw which resulted in the same and decided to try one long throw with a ton of verbal
encouragement. That seemed to work and Niven began to return the Bumper with a more gentle mouthing.
I added in a longer Sit and Wait and managed to walk around without having her break.
That was the impressive part for the evening. Niven cannot sit still for one second, more or less long enough
for me to walk around her. For this set of practice the reward was either the Bumper
being thrown and/or she got a treat.
Again, I finished the session off with a Free Heel and did not have the same result as last time. Niven was going wide,
but I am not sure if she was focused on the Treat Table or not interested. It really did not matter purely because
it is my job as the Handler to let her make that mistake. In order to learn what is truly wanted, something
wrong needs to happen.
For this, I patted my leg and used an encouraging voice to pull her back in. She
was still distracted until I stopped and she immediately went into a Sit.....to reawaken to the behavior routine.
Treats were given out and that was the end for today.
Sunday May 20, 2007
Back into the yard for another round of "Fetch the Bumper". This time I ran with the idea Niven has been
catching on very quickly and started to roll with whatever she offered. Walking to the picnic table to put down
the bag of treats, she went into a loose Heel and sat when I stopped.
I figured this was a good thing to begin to add to the routine because I am trying to mold behaviors to
what is asked for in the Hunt Tests. As to what is normal, Niven bounded off to get the Bumper and come back.
I began something a bit different after I took the Bumper, I asked her to Sit while I tried my 'fake out' throwing.
This portion of the training is definitely progressing better then I thought it would.
As for Obedience, I continued to break the Retrieving up with a Sit and Down, but have added in the "Return to Heel"
portion. Up until now it has been impossible to walk around Niven because she has been so 'busy' and breaks because
her head is whipping around.
The first go round resulted in a complete 'break' and I realized I had treats in my hand. That was probably the
reason I have been struggling with this exercise and restarted the routine with greater success. Not only was
I able to walk around a "Sitting Niven", but also while in a Down. She even waited during both until given a release
command.
Back to Retrieving, there were two issues that popped up that I thought different.
The first was during one of my first throws ( after mowing the lawn half an hour
before, Niven hauled out to pick up the Bumper, nose touched it, and returned
empty mouthed. Instead of returning to me, she sought out what she though was a
dropped treat under the Table. I encouraged her to go back out to get the Bumper and she did so.
The second, was also during one of the Retrieves where Niven started the run out and immediately
became distracted by something in the 'weed patch'. When attention was returned to me, she followed direction
and completed the task.
Wednesday May 23, 2007
Yesterday, I tried to demonstrate to Mike how Niven can sit and let me walk around her. Of course, she had to
make a liar out of me and not do anything. Moving to the other room for more space, she managed to sit long
enough to make me feel like a dog trainer.
What this did do was show me that Niven does 'generalize' ( carry over one behavior to a new location without much
difficulty ), if only minorly. This is something that would grow if I pushed more often, but it helps to see it
emerge on its own.
Thursday May 24, 2007
Another go round of Retrieving and minor Obedience training when I got home. Tonight was not what I was expecting,
especially since we have been working to increase the training criteria to add new behaviors.
Tonight, Niven decided to be more daring, returning with the Bumper, but running passed me to come back a second
time. I am not sure if this is something she is doing to make the game more interesting or to revolt ( test
waters in what she can get away with ). I finally called an end to the game before it could become ingrained and
a pattern set. No treats were given for any of these retrieves.
Heeling was worst, Niven decided it was more interesting to keep her nose to the ground and ignore me. I finally
resorted to holding a few treats in my hand to at least feel a bit pleased
so I could praise and mean it, but this was not what we have been
performing.
Waiting in a Sit resulted in nothing more then it being broken. I may have increased to much distance in an attempt
to begin training the Recall, but I was not pleased. One other factor could have been the treats I was holding
in my hand and Niven focusing too much on them.
All in all, if I had to rate tonight's performance, I would give it a Zero. All of us have nights like these and
there is always tomorrow's different changes to the routine.
Saturday May 26, 2007
With the Holiday Weekend beginning, I decided to head downtown ( yet again ) to see the Archaeological Dig and Iraqi War Memorial. Both were to be
temporary and time was limited. I figured that it would be a great idea to take Niven with me for another round of City Noises and atmosphere. Niven, as usual, was willing to jump into the truck crate and head out for a day of adventure.
Keeping this to Niven experiences, we walked around Independence Hall. The sidewalk on 5th Street is tight, especially with the extra Holiday Pedestrian traffic. The year and a half old Lab pup managed to
negotiate the thick crowd without starting a riot. One high point of the day was that I was able to get Niven's picture with part of
Independence Hall in the background. Unfortunately, I do not trust her "Stay" beyond the length of the Lead so the photograph has an air of humor to it.
Despite the heat and Niven being a Black Lab, she plotted along for the hour and a half I wandered around.
High Points
Niven went into an 'almost' Heal for most of the walking. I think she has the "walking through the crowd" thing down.
The SEPTA bus that magically appeared on the corner of 5th and Market Streets seemed to perplex her. Here was this big white Box that stopped while making more noise then everything else. Then a person appeared. Despite the confusion Niven expressed on her face and ears, it was handled as if she saw this daily.
Walking around the Monuments, I was reminded Niven is a Girl Doggie and did not need to be
encouraged to not pee on them. ( Which would be the complete disrespect since the theme was to honor the Fallen of the Current Conflict Overseas. ) She did not complain about being placed under a table for shade when I went to take a few photographs and managed to sit still when Taps was played. A woman walked by and complemented Niven for being a really good dog, sitting and waiting ( basically being respectful ). It is too bad because there were a few human kids that acted with less respect.
We made our way over the Archaeological Site at 6th and Market Streets. The site
is the original "White House of the young Republic", before the location was moved to
Washington DC. If it was easier to see over the fencing, I would have forgone using the observation deck that has been set up for people like me. I was not too sure of how Niven would respond (
playful pup stuff ) to having unknown people in close quarters.
I was surprised when Niven negotiated the tight space with growing crowd and did not object to the "Sit" under
description board. After taking a few photographs of the site, I realized that I had forgotten she was even there. To me this is extremely important because she can be taken more places. Other then the cannon fire at the re-enactment, this was about as worst case as it gets.
Time frame not known
Niven now jumps into the Truck Crate.
I am not too sure of why I did not think of it before, instead of holding the crate door open with my body and standing off to the left, I elected to hold the crate door open leaning across. Once I changed my position, Niven has no problems with jumping the three feet into the crate opening.
This is great because up until now, I have had to pick her up to shove her in. I like this new way so much better.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Niven and I took the normal walk at the local university. We practiced the "stairway approach" which has been very important. Niven can 'flow over' steps easier then I can and in essence pull me down if she decides to take off after the Ducks in the pond a few feet away.
We did practice some off-lead obedience which I have done with her before. I also decided to try to let her off lead following, but was more worried that she would get it in her head to chase off to the pond where the birds are. All was
successful in my eyes and I have to buy one of those ID tags for her collar and get her micro-chipped. ( That I am waiting to move before doing so. )
One of the biggest accomplishments was the Bumper Training. Completely off-lead, I was able to send Niven out to retrieve the
nemeses Bumper and have her return it without incident. Even better was when she did drop it early, she was willing to go back and get it.
Wednesday May 30, 2007
Once again, we made our way to the park and same as the day before, Niven and I practiced with the orange Bumper. Since the retrieves are about one hundred feet ( if that ) and Niven is giving me what is required, I thought to up the stakes and add few new things. At this point it is
merely for myself, as I really want to see what may be "natural instinct" and what might be an 'environmentally trained behavior'.
Niven remained in a Sit while I threw the Bumper. I figured this is her least
favorite and would be more willing to wait for it then if I had used the Canvas one. She did return without incident, but the spring in her step let me know she was calculating something. One aspect of Niven is that she is a dominate bitch and it takes a little extra time
for her to submit. This is
definitely noticeable in the Down, her not wanting to completely lay down when following a command.
Since this was progressing, I wanted to see if she would try to find the Bumper
when it was slightly out of view. I was going to use a larger tree to send Niven
out behind, but my throw ended the Bumper in a thick bush by a creek. I was not
even sure where it had landed. She not only waited, but went out and searched
for the Bumper which appeared to not be an easy task, then returned with it.
I have not had a chance to try something more advanced or to practice with what I have already, so it should be interesting to see what happens.
Tuesday June 4, 2007
Tonight was not exactly planned for, but what ended up happening. After two very long days ( we are in the process of buying a house ),
it was my night to walk the 'crated' Niven. I cut our two circles around the University grounds to once and decided it was long
distance throw time.
Ideas I had come up with for tonight was taken from a few Hunt Test Diagrams I found on the AKC Website. Right now, I am not
worried about the technical aspects of what the dog is being 'tested for', but on the terrain, footing, topography, etc. that a dog
has to face out in the Field and during Testing. I had forgotten there was a small pond/creek area that plays home to tall vegetation.
All of the throws except two were "in sight", meaning Niven was either running after a falling Bumper or sat and watched where
it fell - Marked. Two of the throws Niven watched where they fell, but when she got out there, it took a search to find it. One
throw in particular completely amazed even me.
I had not meant to throw the Bumper into the Creek Water below where I was standing, but Niven waited ( she was breaking all Stays
due to lack of training ) while I held her collar. I watched the Bumper sail threw the air and disappear below a drain wall.
Bye Bumper.
Off Niven went and to my surprise, she not only refused to give up, but worked
out how to get down to the water. One side was blocked by a larger bush while
the other side had more open access to where the Bumper might be. Next, the
water nemesis posed a slight problem....as in it appears that we do not like to
get wet. Niven disappeared behind the wall, figured how to
use the tall reeds, bent them down to form a bridge and came back completely dry.
I tried to keep "Sitting and Waiting" to a minimum to keep Niven's Drive higher. If I continued to always ask for the same behavior
she might begin to invent her own games. This is something I had learned with the Herding and Working Dogs and it has always worked
to keep things different enough that the dogs looked forward to working instead of trying to
figure out how to get out of it.
Friday June 8, 2007
My intention was not to train anything while a thunderstorm was coming in, but that is basically what happened. We never made it around
the campus loop because by the time we arrived, stronger lightening and louder thunder made prominent appearance. Instead of heading to the reed pond,
I elected to stay in the parking lot and throw the bumper onto the grassy area. That seemed to work
I did have to "hook a finger" under her collar to remind her to 'wait', but each time there was little problem with returning. Once
or twice, Niven found the time to stop and sniff, but I think that was more because we did not walk around the loop. Considering this
was the first time I have ever pulled her out of the truck and set to work immediately, I will take what was offered.
We left just as it was starting to pout.
Saturday, June 9, 2007
My intent this night was to go once around the park and then focus on the reed pond. I figured that Niven would like that much more
then her feeling the need to heel around, as she likes to do. While we were heading to the truck to get the Bumper, I spied a
double creek area that is flat between landings.
What fascinated me more was that Niven would make the effort to run out to the Bumper via the creek, but would return using the
pathway bridge ten feet away. If she was calculating, she would conserve a lot more energy if the
pathway was taken in
both directions.
Out of curiosity, I created three harder challenges. The first was to throw the Bumper over the second creek twenty more feet out
and Niven returned without much incident. The second challenge was a throw to land in dense ground cover. Mostly this was completed,
but one retrieve in particular was interesting.
I held her until it landed, then sent her out to find it. Technically,
Niven had it marked but stopped fifteen feet short to begin a
sweeping pattern and never thought to go further out. Finally she came toward me, but I sent her back out, this time using the road
to carry her further then before. A new scenting pattern was started until it was finally found. This retrieve started a new behavior
of the 'pattern sweep' and I am not sure if this is a good thing or not.
The third throw was a 'trick', Niven had run in a different direction then what I chose to throw
the Bumper. She never found it and slowly I
walked inward to help. I was about ten feet out from the reeds where it was laying when
it was found and Niven brought it in. Again.
I am not sure if this is something good to do, but it worked for Crumpet and the
Frisbee when it would get lost.
Sunday June 11, 2007
I chose to repeat the 'once around campus' to stop on the other side of the reed pond. To the right was a soccer field and to the left
was the steep incline down to the water/plants. This way I could modify the game and see what would happen. I did not have to 'walk in'
to help Niven find the Bumper, but the scent sweeping is almost 'now standard'.
I did hear Niven go into the water at some point, so that is a good thing. It would figure that I get a dog that can get wet and she figures
out how to stay dry....yet I have had dogs that are a pain to keep dry and want to get wet.
What I have taken to is to let Niven work finding the Bumper for herself. I have done that with the Corgis with better success and Niven is
incredibly interesting in how she can finally find a lost retrieve. A lot has to do with airborne scent coming closer to the ground
over a short duration. She
immediately goes back to a previous retrieve spot, so she is holding memory. I am still trying to figure this whole thing out, so it is making
it interesting.
Wednesday June 13, 2007
University Campus
Will have to take photographs during the daylight hours of all of these places.
Slight change in formatting for ease of keeping technical.
- Carried the Bumper with me while we walked around the water pond and did not take any treats with me at all.
- Niven varied between staying close to me in anticipation to maintaining the normal routine of her having a real 'walk'. She ignored the ducks completely.
- I used three different types of terrain while standing on the cross-pathway.
One was straight out and downward to the Reed Pond to retrieve the Bumper out of the mud/water ground & vegetation.
Two was straight out over a deep ravine/creek to retrieve the Bumper from flat, grassy ground.
Three was straight out to to retrieve from thick ground cover.
Mostly I asked Niven to wait until the Bumper had fallen before sending her out. When it was time to keep things more light, as soon as she came back I would send her out while throwing it down to the Reed Pond.
Observations of the Send Outs
Niven sits and watches the Bumper fall and basically bee-lines it directly to where the Bumper has fallen, but
after a few throws, she is stopping short to begin a "scenting side-sweep". Unfortunately, I have no idea if this is normal or not, but it does bother me because this is not a blind retrieve.
During the first retrieve, there was an extra "double-back" to check inside a water pipe to make sure the Bumper magically did not float in. I think this was purely to explore and may be what is going on with the scenting.
I was able to throw the Bumper far enough to land it within the higher vegetation along the Reed Pond's creek. Niven has been selectively picking her pathway to avoid the water, but she forged through and went directly to where the Bumper was.
On our way back to the truck, I thought to try make a throw so the retrieve was out of sight over a steep hill. Niven readily barreled out and made the retrieve in no time.
I also tried a throw that would take her over an extremely rocky, run-off ravine with a small creek. This did not pose a problem either.
Off lead walking borders between staying in loose heel position or meandering slightly ahead. I really miss having this option....having
no Lead.
Thursday June 14, 2007
University Campus
- Tricking Niven into the flying leap into the Creek/Reed Pond. The Bumper
was thrown pretty far into the Reeds and I sent Niven out. She had already
chosen the most direct route and was startled to find out it involved a deeper
part of the stream/creek.
All I heard was a heavy 'splash' followed by more as the Retriever tried to find dry land. Ok. I stood there and laughed.
- Two retrieves that technically should not have been found, both were.....seriously scent work to find the Bumper in the tallest Reeds on the
waterside. The game was for me to get the Bumper into the Reeds as far as I could get it. I had already decided that a lost Bumper
could easily be replaced. Why not?
Monday June 18, 2007
University Campus
- Kids on skateboards - barking. Thick gloves worn by one of them caused a problem, but Niven was willing to approach when they were removed.
- Losing what should be marked retrieves 'gone blind'. May be a focus issue because of the re-enforcement of the 'Wait' command, meaning Niven
is paying more attention to "I have to stay here when I could be out there already" and
not holding the Bumper's "marked" landing spot.
- At least two poor throws on my part that resulted in me having to move in the direction of the Bumper. I need to seriously get moving on
training the Directional Commands that I use heavily in Agility.
- Returning to previous marked spots as a starting point, then making the jump
off to start the search.
- Water is seeming to not pose a problem once Niven has gone "in at least once". It appears she takes the effort to avoid getting wet until
she has no choice, then spends time splashing through the shallow creek. ( I will take it, no matter what because I have yet to get her to a place
where she has to swim. )
I am hanging back and letting Niven explore while she hunts down the Bumper. The Reed Pond and the surrounding area offers a serious change
in 'texture' landscaping and she will teach herself more by "just doing it" then if I had to walk her through everything.
June marked the end of the Spring and the beginning of the summer, thus ending this portion of the
Log. A lot happened to delay
my postings, especially both Mike and I buying a new house. For now, Niven has been limited to the backyard until I can find a
training location that offers a bit more safety.
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Summer 2007
Unfortunately or Fortunately, depending on how one looks at it, we moved from our apartment to a new home west of the city.
I thought with the more remote area there would be wider open spaces, more locations of diverse
training terrain, and a hunt
club or too.
What I found instead? The neighbors own big dogs and none of them are fenced contained or lead restrained. In essence, on two
walks down the back road behind the house, I have met my neighbors via their
territorial pooches. After the Pit Bull incident a few years back, this was so much easier to deal with. Unfortunately, until I
find a stable place to train, I am limited.
I did ask the guys down at the local Gun Store if they knew of any hunt clubs for Retriever Training and well, five guys and a few
patrons had no idea or said there were none in the area. I should have stayed in the old neighborhood east of the city.
So up goes my nifty garden fence to contain my doggies and out comes....Mr. Bumper. Niven gets all excited....bounding off the
deck at an angle that makes me cringe. Come January she turns two years old and I can have her Hips, Elbows and Eyes certified.
Now to get her from jumping off the staircase......to keep from chasing the birds at the birdfeeders......
I do have us enrolled in a Beginners Agility class with TBAC come January. It seems their waiting list is six months big and that
was the soonest they could fit us in. Kind of bumming, but at least Niven will be
ready at that time.
The below dates are unknown because it has been a whirlwind around here. Sometimes going out back to play "Huntin' Dawg" is
purely to burn off some energy the Corgis could not help bleed out.
July 2007
On one Saturday morning, Niven actually got one of the younger birds from
under the birdfeeders, wounding it.
"Here Mom! Look what I got!". She dropped it at my feet, which is better then running off through the yard with it.
"WOW WEE Nivie!", I started to reply, noticing the puppy not taking her eyes from my movement of bending down to pick it up.
Never mind the fact I had no idea of what I was going to do.
The bird made the decision for me and flew-hopped the ten feet to scurry under the neighbor's fence
to hide in the overgrown garden.
"Oooops Niv." I managed out, as the puppy probably thought I was the most incompetent huntress in the world.
Later that same day.......Niven shows up with the same little guy, this time
not wounded, but "gone". As she approached, Niven eyed me,
unsure if I would have the knowledge of how to hold the thing in place.
"Oh wow, Niv. You are such a good dog!" Niven drops the dead bird at my feet as if to say, "There you stupid moron, it ain't
goinnin' nowhere now."
I have to say, I did feel insulted.
Backyard training has its restrictions, especially a Grape Arbor that previous owners had erected. I am not sure how long some
of these wooden features have been standing, but I think it is longer then ten years. I throw Mr. Orange Bumper and he sails out to smack the Arbor. Without
realizing what is about to happen,
I send Niven out and she makes the over run....
This visual is complete timing........
Mr. Bumper hits Arbor
and loosens one side so that it swings down
Dog is sent out almost immediately ( part of the variable training for Sit and Wait. )
Dog over-runs and
is making her way back
Board is now on the back swing
Dog gets to Bumper
The nail the Board is still hanging from, slows down the swing and releases
Dog with Bumper in her mouth is totally surprised when Board lands on the ground next to her.
Human has yet to move..............total time is about ten seconds.
"Nivie! What a good dog," I utter out while the puppy happily returns.
Man, am I lucky.
The first encounter with a neighbor happened when I decided to walk all three dogs to the end of the
road behind the house. Just
as we were returning, the guy who lives in the house behind us let his Mastiff out of the house. The dog took one look at us and
came barreling off the porch.........
-
Crumpet was called off and moved behind me. Why? Because he likes to protect me and he is 25 pounds
and is used to this.
-
Niven stood were she was and bristled, being quiet after being yelled at by me.
Both of these dogs were on Flex-Leads, but Sprout....the trust worthy one......was off lead
-
Sprout decided to take him on, flying, barking and basically holding her ground. It worked because the Mastiff decided to listen
to his owner.
This is also the dog that challenged a ten pointed buck on one of our walks. Remind me....that is the dog that gets put on lead.
Oh yeah, she is also 25 pounds and is Crumpet's sister.
Another encounter with a neighbor's dog had me worried, but also ended
positively. Not only did Niven handle herself well, but managed to keep a dog that
the owners' say has a problem with other Bitches, from creating a larger scene.
All I had to remember was to keep the Flexi-Lead
as limp as possible and allow the dogs to both make up their own minds. That is always the hardest thing to remember, mark what
appears as good ( or wanted behavior ) and quietly lower the vocal tone to mark bad behavior ( unwanted ).
The gamble paid off and we managed to walk away with a good experience "meeting other dogs" instead of me heading off to the vet.
August 24, 2007
Playing Huntin' Dawg out in the backyard, Niven came back with the first retrieve. Without asking for it, she came in and
Sat. I took the Bumper from her and praised heavily, sending her around to Heel and throwing
the bumper immediately as reward.
Since I have no clue how to train a Retriever and since Niven is what I consider a "young, growing dog", I have not put any stress
on her to "formal learn". Everything that I have toyed with in "training", has "just happened". All I have done is grabbed
the offered behavior and started shaping it into what I want.
I have never trained a dog in this method, but what I am finding is the dog is telling me when it is ready to be more formal, or
in develop, she is ready for more advanced work. Why escalate behaviors when the dog is still trying to grasp why it is doing
what it is doing in the first place?
What is also important here, is that I do not need to train and run
a Hunting Dog nor do I need the same for Agility. Time is on my side and I can
sit back and allow this type of training program. What is important to me is that the Retriever grows her bones without the
harshness of Climbing, Descending, Jumping, and Angle Changes.
That trick seemed to work because each retrieve was made with a "Sit
Front". There were a few times that I had to break the "come back to stand"
behavior. While Niven stood with the Bumper not wanting to perform the Sit and
after me trying verbal encouragement a few times, all
I needed to do was turn around and take a few steps. Niven naturally came to stand in front
of me and was more willing to sit so I could take the Bumper. Call this a
"breaking the unwanted behavior".
As soon as that happened, I turned around, put her into Heel and sent her out to chase the flying Bumper. The trick seemed to have
worked, but since then I have not been out back to throw anything.
I really do miss the privacy of the University Park, not to mention the Reed Pond where Niven really could find the extremely lost
Bumper.
September 2, 2007
Mike and I took Niven out to the backyard for a few new photographs. I wanted to get a new "conformation" picture, as I have
been collecting them from various points in her life. I am curious to see how she grows and at what points within the lineage
not to make these types of evaluations. By no means is she a Breed Dog, her balanced Height and Length is too much for her
Championship, not to mention she is too "Light on Bone" or appears to be very
"dainty".
Although I had brought Nivie home to be my next Performance Dog, there is always the chance that I might breed her. I would really
like to have photos to refer back to when the next generation is on the ground, or maybe even further on.
Any way, I will be adding the new photos to the web site............
September 7, 2007
My Floppy-Headed, Dead Ducks arrived today. Last weekend I finally ordered two different type of Duck Bumpers and I was delighted
with a Friday afternoon delivery. Niven was more then excited that I was walking out the door with TWO DUCKS.
Three things happened that I am very happy about:
First, it only took Nivie twice to realize the Bumper was not what she was looking for, but a funny smelling, floppy headed, dead
duck thingie. I threw the Duck, sent her out and she went. After picking it up, she was about to return, but dropped it probably
thinking she had to find the Bumper. Coming back empty mouthed, I re-sent her out
and she went back to the Duck, bringing it
back.
Second, I had the second Duck with me, having left it on top of the trash can. I was curious to see if Niven would be one of those
"Single Ball Retrievers", meaning she would only retrieve one object and remain focused on it. I was not disappointed when I changed the Ducks out ( one having a rope as a neck, thus Floppy Headed and the other being a single
body ) and Niven did not notice the change until she had it in her mouth. One is a foam body, the other harder plastic.
The "retired" Duck was completely ignored.
Third, with the change to using the new Ducks ( meaning Niven's Retrieve Drive was not yet heightened due to the
excitement normally generated by the Orange Bumper ), I tried a "Wait" command. This time, I was not holding her back while I
threw the Duck and waited to see if she was starting to get the concept. Both times, I was rewarded with Niven sitting patiently,
looking at me for the release command. The question is whether or not Nivie will be willing to sit there tomorrow........
Both times, I used the immediate send out without a Sit in Heel as the reward,
which really seems to work with her.
One other thing happened that surprised me. At one point Niven lost the Duck and started to return. As she looked at me I sent her back
out with a "Go" command. She suddenly turned around and went back in the direction she had come. I am not sure why I did this next part,
but it made me feel like I had Crumpet again.....I called a "left" and flawlessly Niven turned in that direction,
scooping up the Duck. I
am almost positive this was a complete timing accident, but I will take anything that remotely looks like I know what I am doing.
Now I really need to train the Directionals!
So my quick outing to the backyard resulted in a huge Happy, Mrs. Smilie Face. I like the Dead Duck with its Floppy Head. I do fear
for the ailing Arbor though.......these things are HEAVY.
Mwhahahahahahhahah
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Winter 2008
As is normally the case, the coming colder days found me sitting inside the house staring outside, wondering if I was ever going
to start really training Niven. I have decided that I miss the University grounds for its well lit nights and ease of
training access.
A lot of weekend events such as the birth of a friend's baby, an Engagement Party, Bridal Shower, Wedding,
Thanksgiving, Christmas, Birth of a Nephew, a Baptism and one New Year's Day later, I found the energy to get Niven
out into the backyard.
On January 7th, Niven and I attended our first real Dog Agility Class. It has been such a long time since I started a dog out, so
in between a few different methods of teaching the dogs the performance of the obstacles and me having an overly driven, young dog,
Monday nights have been looked forward to.
For Agility class, I am keeping a separate log of my thoughts and observations, but I have elected not to post them. There are
differences of training Novice dogs from what I am used to and I am using that log for a self critique. I really will not have a
true cross-compare until Niven is running Trials and has a history to judge with. Doing something old with something new might
not be the correct answer and I am looking forward to seeing what doing something new with something new results in. : D
January 7 & 21
Agility Class
So far we have tackled the Chute, Tunnel and Jump training. Two nights of training saw each of these obstacles performed with
greater difficulty. Jumps have only been set at maximum of four inches with identical spacing between the three jumps.
What I have liked so far is that Niven has been calculating strides between jumps, even if it is just enough to lift her body over
the short jump bar. Another point I like is her focus for work across the board. With limited class experience, she walked into
the first night's class and immediately performed a Down, Sit and Wait despite a new location, horse scent and other barking dogs.
As stated above, there are a lot of things I could make a comment on, but I am reserving that for later. In between obstacle training
I have started collar work, minor focus work and letting Niven make her own choices. Remarkably, she has bounced back from nearly
everything and dare I say, she reminds me way too much of Crumpet.
Niven is totally my type of dog to run.
January 26, 2008
Today's practicing held something very different. On January 15th, I made the decision to put Crumpet to Sleep since he had appeared
to have suffered a stroke that he was not bouncing back from. During the past few days, I have gone through a lot of photographs and
old emails ( found Crumpet's first Agility run in the Archives )so today was a bit different. Why? I actually felt like training.
Niven appeared to be in awe of my sudden game of "figure 8 through mom's legs" while Sprout was still upstairs and we were standing
in the living room. What made this really cool was that the
treats were in the canister three rooms away and the Lab was weaving in and out
( four times ) with Hand Signals for Direction. Even betters? After
a second or third time ( we had to go and get the treat in between ), I was able
to begin moving my legs, appearing to walk as Niven weaved in and out.
That step alone is a separate psychological study, especially with Herding Dogs. Their natural instinct is to stay out of
the way of moving legs, less they take a frontal injury from kicking livestock. Trust and Movement are not two words one finds
with Herding Dogs and it took me a while to get Crumpet to perform with me 'walking'.
There are certain behaviors that Niven willing gives, something that I had struggled for years with, with Crumpet. Funny how
experience makes so much look easy.
Since I was in the mood for some spot training, I grabbed Nivie and headed out the door with her and the Floppy Headed Dead Duck.
Floppy Headed Dead Duck
We started out this session the same as normal, only it has been a while. Niven was pretty focused, but edged with excitement. I
am not sure if the Agility training, plus the few dog tricks performed in the
living room helped, but there was a difference that
I had noticed.
There were not many retrieves, most if not all of my throws sent the Duck high to land straight down. If you remember, Niven tends
to lose the Bumper and then starts to track its scent as it settles down to the ground. Often she will track back and forth ( time
frame depending on height ) until she can catch the scent and locate the Bumper/Duck. This was repeated today as she missed the
Duck's location at least twice, not going far enough forward to mark it visually.
As is also normal, when Niven does miss where the Duck falls, she does not give up trying and within seconds had located it.
Obedience
I moved onto some of the Obedience routines, not disappointed that the "Heel" was nothing more than a lunge forward while mom
tells me to "get in". When practicing the "Stand", I really had to start from ground zero ( again ) simply because Niven was
reading my hand signals as a "go around". I had a similar problem with Crumpet, only he would drop into a "down". I really
need to separate out those hand signals, but I always seem to say that.
There was one last element that was a positive and that was as I was finishing with Obedience, Mike came out with Sprout. I really
thought that Niven would lose her focus, thinking it was playtime, but instead she tried her hardest to split attention. The result
was a crooked sit when coming back to Heel Position, but given the circumstances and the fact it was the first time the Lab had to
face that situation, crocked sit is perfect.
January 27, 2008
I took Niven outside with "Targeting" in mind. Earlier in the morning, I got to thinking about the Floppy Headed Dead Duck and how Niven could be trained
for distant retrieves. If I could leave the dogs on the deck, walk back to the garage and place the duck, then come back to let Nivie find it on her own, I might
just get that 150 foot Send Out Retrieve. My only problem with doing this is that Sprout will still be loose in the yard and if Niven gets it in her mind to
play "keep away", any training I had set would be gone. Adding Sprout in as a distraction later on will be the challenge, but for now I really want to lay foundation
work.
The idea still held direction and I got to thinking about how Crumpie was trained for Send Outs. What works for a Herding Dog should work on a Sporting Dog.....
Unfortunately, part of what trained Crumpet was the "Send around the Barrel", way after a working relationship had been formed. Although I had
barely used Targeting
and on other people's dogs, I decided to see if I could start Niven on the "Touch your nose to the Cat Food lid" game.
This game is relatively easy and if anything, offers a high rate of food reward. The dogs usually catch on quickly, but after changing over to Labs, I find
they need slightly more repition before they 'get it'.
Hold Can Lid at nose level
Either you hold the lid to its nose or when it touches the lid. Click & Treat ( or mark with word and treat )
As dog becomes faster because it is figuring out what is wanted, start to lower the lid ( knee level then on the floor )
If there is a problem with focus, call attention to the lid by moving it with your foot, Click & Treat
Eventually increase distance and send the dog to the Lid, Click & Treat
When enough distance is created, raise the criteria and "wait" the dog, then send, Click & Treat
Continue to increase distance. Treat.
A couple of behaviors will be seen and tactics can be altered to suit the dog. That is why I like this method of training so much better. First, the
dog will reach a point where you are letting it figure out what to do. You are standing there holding
the lid and the dog is all over the place. It wants to
work, it is sitting, downing, circling, coming in to Heel Position, anything. Technically, the dog is going through every taught and LEARNED behavior, trying to figure
out how to get the Treat. The Handler needs to drop the criteria and show the dog what is wanted. Then stakes can be raised again.
If worst comes to worst, put the lid on the ground with a treat on top. In the beginning the dog can be snatching
them up as you put them down. Add timing and distance. It does not matter
what one does, modify the game to the dog.
There were two things that Niven struggled with, mainly my fault. First I had the clicker and lid in my left hand and was feeding her from my right. One night
in Agility Class we were practicing Hand Targeting and Niven remembered, I did not. She is touching my hand and I never noticed because I was too concentrated on
the lid. The dog was offering the behavior from the start.
Once I figured that out, I change Lid hands and instantly she was nose touching. Where I did start to have problems
again was Lid knee-level as Niven was not looking down.
To help take it to extreme, I dropped the lid to the deck and pushed it around with a foot. ( This makes it easier on the back and the dog is not working on
body signals....which is something that I should have been doing. Gotta love writing. ) This worked marginally, so I put the treats on the lid and clicked
when she found it ( touched the lid ).
I moved from the deck and went for distance. Niven is pretty good at "find it", but I did not want her to play. What I wanted her to do was to mark the location by
watching me place the lid on the deck step with a treat and then when released, go directly there. Each time she was sent, it was as if she lost the marked sight and began to
located by scent. ( This is something she has been doing with the Floppy Duck. )
The possibility to this is she could have passed the heavier scent trail coming from the large back of treats on the table (cross wind ) and forgot what
she was doing. Not having "focus experience", she 'scatter-brained' and started to scent track eventually leading her to the target ( or eventually remembering
the Lid ).
In all fairness, the distance I was asking for was too great for a dog with little experience with this game. I wanted to see what Niven would do and I was not
disappointed. She did demonstrate a faster 'memory' for where the lid was and I think this needs to be repeated for a few more days. The starting point will be
the deck step with the same location, but I will leave the bag on the table ( train under all distractions...in this case, the worst case
scenario ). As the behavior is learned, I will leave the Lid on the step, but increase the distance Niven will have to travel, Back Chaining this whole behavior.
During the last send out, Niven finally got it. As she made her way across the deck, she finally took the "go go go go" command to mean "keep going". This is
something I will need her to do when sending her out in trials. ( I refuse to slow a dog down on Agility courses and I have a feeling she will short step herself to stay
close. That is something I really do not want. )
So with this exercise and in less the ten minutes Niven was started with:
....the beginning stages of "look down"
....Lid Targeting
....Send Out ( Agility, Obedience, Hunt )
....working under distraction, learning how to focus
...."Go On" command
Oh how I have missed Dog Training.
Sunday, January 28, 2008
I took Niven out without the Floppy Headed Dead Duck. The day before retrieving was completely botched by Niven who
likes to run out, pick up the Duck and run off instead of back with it. I have decided that is not what I want and tend
to end the game right there. At that point, she met me on the top deck and tried to get me to play with her and I "demanded"
a deliver to hand. The game was ended there.
This time, I wanted to focus on a bit more success and focused on Targeting. We started the session on the lower deck with
the Target on the step. Niven immediately went sent out, remembering the game from the day before. She did not break her
Sit/Stay and was quite patient.
Curiosity got the better of me as it normally does and I tried putting the Target out of Niven's sight, but let her watch
were I went. I waited a extra second before sending her and almost immediately, Niven went to the exact place. There is
where the scenting came in and within two seconds, she had her Target and Treat. Afterward, she had no problems remembering
where the Target was.
Raising the stakes like I am not supposed to, I decided to see if I could get her out to the Arbor. If I thought yesterday's
send out distance was causing a problem, then the forty foot distance had to be insane. When I did send her out, Niven took
about two steps and turned around, almost as if to check to make sure I really wanted her to go. A spin was the result and
I fought the urge to issue a double command of "go get it". This way, she had to think about the initial command. I was
not disappointed, as during the spin, Niven figured it out and took off to get the treat on top of the Target.
While we are working the Target Sends, Niven was forced in a Sit/Stay. Twice out of five attempts did she break, but I cannot
blame her because I have not really trained this command and the distance I was traveling was too far. All I did was take
her collar, not say a word and put her back on the deck to wait again. Both times, Niven waited until I got back and went
barreling off.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Niven and I headed off to Agility class were we added a Jump to both sequences of Tunnel and Chute. We also worked on what
they call "Tippy Boards", obstacle that move underfoot. I knew that Niven would have no problems with the extra Jump, but
I was not sure if she would handle having something she stepped on move. I was more then pleasantly surprised that she
took to it immediately, really responding to the Treat Jackpot given for something really awesome. If anything, Niven is
quickly figuring out Clicker Training.
Ironically, we did begin Targeting training, Niven having no problems with finding the clear plastic square. This was slightly
different then the first day on the deck where she was not comprehending the idea to look down for something. That is a
drawback to Hand Targeting.
At this point, I have not done anything more, but am welcoming the coming of the longer days. In another week or two, I might
have a few extra minutes as soon as I get home to do some minor training. I am really looking forward to meandering down
to one of the parks that border the river to see how well long distance retrieving and swimming works out. For the swimming part
I may have to "go in", but I do not think that should be a problem.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
I took the dogs to the local State Park thinking we could spend half an hour walking around the Lake. I did prepare myself
with the Floating Dead Duck and the bag of treats, thinking I could work Niven out in the field. I was not expecting what
I actually got.
This particular place has been on my mind all week and it dawned on me that is
has an easy access to one Lake. This would mean Niven and I could wade in a few
feet and I would not have to worry too much about the unfamiliar water bottom or
what might turn out to be swift currents. I had found another watershed around
the corner, but it is part of the River System so I would have that concern from
the start. Once the warmer weather hits, I want to visit both places, as I also
want to see if I can use either for longer distance retrieve training ( and how many other dogs are there running loose ).
I decided to take along Sproutie Fluffy Muffin since she rarely 'gets to go'. I thought about taking her with me to get
my Oil changed earlier in the morning, but did not want to impose if they had rules about dogs. At last second, my 'take along
a dog" plan was foiled and revamped. Off we went.
The new plan was to walk around the Lake and return Sprout to the car. Today was pretty cold, but nothing
horrible if one is stuck in a crate in the back. Sproutie plotted along while Niven tore off to the end of her
twenty-six feet of Flexi Lead. Through the mud and ice water we traveled and even over a grated foot bridge that neither
dog bulked at. That surprised me because the grating has got to hurt and can easily trap a paw or foot. Niven did respond
to a 'slow down' command, but kept going.
The first achievement of my day was getting Niven to sit and stay long enough for me to get a photograph of her and Sprout.
It has been a really long time since I have been able to do this and I am sorry that I left her Flexi Lead
attached to her collar. The photograph would have been awesome if both dogs did
not look so "bound". ( Tomorrow I am going to try to take a few pictures of both while out in the yard, but I really liked the Lake as a back-drop. I guess I will have
to go back and give it another try.
When we stopped a second time to see if I could get a better 'group' photo, Niven had no problems walking down to the lake
edge and walking across the ice. When we had first pulled in to park, I was very surprised to find the surface was frozen, but wondering how
deep the ice was.
I pushed too long with Sprout and had to make it back to car where I left Sprout toasty warm on two layers of crate matting.
Niven and I continued on with our afternoon. Since I was parked next to one of the canoe launch sites, I decided to see
if Nivie was willing to retrieve at least, from the lake's edge. I had brought my 'solid dead duck' and she had trouble
picking it up on dry land. Maybe in the water it is better, but I was not thrilled with the Lab's struggle to get a hold
of its body. Instead, Niven hauled it in via its thin neck. Hmmmmmmm for a real duck and oh how I do not want that visual.
The one thing I did do was more for Niven's safety then anything else. I left her on Lead. If she did decide to go into
the water after the Dead Duck and the ice broke, I would have some kind of 'life line' to help haul her butt out. This meant
our retrieve game existed within the parameter of the Flexi-Lead's twenty six feet.
Since she was willing to haul to get the duck, I threw it into three feet water, figuring I could retrieve it if she did not. I was shocked to see her
plow in and return. She did display that she knew something was different, either
the temperature of the water or the water itself. For the duration of this
training, the expression was her trying to figure
out why this was not solid land.
For the second toss, Niven barreled directly in and had no problems with the water.
When I threw the duck to land a bit
in on the ice, I was surprised even further to see her try to climb up onto it.
This resulted in the ice breaking and the
doggie plunging down in. She returned with the duck.
Another throw resulted in the duck being about ten feet from land and Niven having to
partially wade into the water and
find footing on the ice. She did this well, walked across the frozen water never displaying the terrain was different despite
a leg or two sliding. Plunging back down into the frozen water, she came back with the duck.
For the next throw, I unintentionally put a spin on the duck. This meant when it hit the ice it started to slide. Niven was
hot on its plastic butt, knocking to to slide further as she climbed onto the ice and gave chase. The sad part was she
ran out of Flexi Lead and was stopped five to eight feet short of her intended focus.
Bye Bye Duckie
I called her back when I realized the Duck was lost and that seemed to spur her on to trying to figure out how she can
finish off her job. Honestly, it was sad to watch as the Lab made a second attempt of traversing the ice and then trying
the concrete dock ( and thinking about jumping in ). If I knew she could swim and knew how steady the ice was, I would have
removed the Flexi and re-sent her. The risk was not worth my dog's life ( if the ice should not hold her ) and I elected
to praise her for calling off instead.
Yes, I was irked with myself to letting an expensive retrieve toy sit just out of reach of my retrieving dog, but I read those
articles on CNN.com about people being hauled off to the hospital because they tried to save their dog out in frozen water.
I decided to join the ranks of people who will be buying new Dead Ducks this weekend. Why not? It supports the economy.
Maybe someone else's dog will find a new love when it picks the duck out of the water come Spring.
; D
From there, Niven and I spent the next hour or so meandering through the
leafless forest. She was having fun weaving in
and out of the trees, trailing her Flexi Lead cord around everything. Through the mud, muck and decaying leaves we
traveled until it was back to the car to come home.
Who would have thought the dog that bent Cattails in the Reed Pond to keep dry during the hot summer months would find the drive to splash
her way through frigid water to get an irretrievable Dead Duck?
Pulling out of my parking spot, all I could hear was the beckoning call of a duck on ice, just out of reach
......."retrieve me............."
Main Observation while Walking Through the Woods
Have I mentioned that I really like this Bitch? Everything a Working / Performance Dog should be is found in Niven. I may
not have any knowledge of her Hunting lineage, but I can definitely appreciate the true working drive that I came to love in
Crumpet. Up when needed, low when at home.
One of the most immediate things I noticed while walking over moss covered rocks, ice and snow pockets left from last week's
snow and other slippery conditions, was that Niven took everything in absolute stride. There was not once that I had to
steady her to conquer a different terrain. Climbing over unstable rocks and boulders was not an issue, only once did I see
her look back with the light bulb on over her head. If I could swear on a dog's thought process, it was that she remembered
the unstable footing provided by the "Tippy Boards". Her expression indicated she remembered and seemed pleased with herself.
It truly is amazing how a set of positive experiences can show up in the strangest of places. Five minutes later, I found
Niven tied up in the cord of the Flexi. Without even thinking about it, I leaned over and was able to move each leg until
she was free. Did the 'conformation show stacking' play a role here, Niven used to having me lean over her in a near threatening
position? I just trained the Stack for 'archive record' reasons, never thinking this would come in handy.
Niven is still long in leg, allowing for her to pass over taller vegetation. Her pads still rough, enabling her to handle
today as if she normally does this. I loved the fact that I could haul through mud and not have to worry about grooming it
out.
Why am I on a list for a Corgi pup? : D
Hee hee hee
Corgi Pup better like mud. There is nothing like a show dog soppin' wet with a dumb smile on her face.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Agility Class
Niven has been progressing a little too well in Agility Class. Although there are the minor bumps of being pulled from Tunnels and
thinking I really did not mean for her to take that eight inch Jump, do occur, there is a ton of potential. A few
times already, "Crumpet" appeared, me having to laugh at myself as my handling reflected the previous dog and not one who barely
knows what is wanted. "Across the Body" hand signals and "Directional Commands" have already popped up with only the Directional
being followed. ( Niven definitely needs a wider arm signal push that I had tended to use sparingly because Crumpet turned better
with a opposite hand/arm signal. )
There are two aspects that I do not like, but one should correct with experience. The first is what I saw the day I bought Niven and
that was that she was the only pup left ( out of five available ) that squeaked and continued to squeak when I first stepped into the pen. For
most people this is not a bother, but since it is excitement driven, the pup would probably "talk" through anything, including long
Sits and Downs, in the car driving place, waiting for for something to happen. If I had her in a Duck Blind as a Hunter,
she would probably squeak until a bird came down.
The second aspect reared it ugly head on this night. Niven decided to short circuit her brain and started the Zoomies, a behavior
that is nothing more then total pent up energy and too many thoughts trying to compete for
her body follow through with. Mostly,
this disappears as the Team is formed and the dog learns how to focus its intention and power, but at the beginning stages can be very
dangerous. I really do not want Niven learning to take off around the room / ring because it can pattern set very quickly.
Niven started this tonight, leaving me twice for different reasons. When we
first started, I was working her off Lead as I had just completed the Jumps and
Tunnel exercise. Suddenly there was a look of complete impatience and meltdown
and she was off to play with three other dogs in our group. At some point, there was a second meltdown and the "rear
leg tuck" she normally gets before screaming off
around the yard, popped up. When this happens, Niven is in her own world and calling
to her will not do any good purely because she
cannot hear the words. Her attention is totally focused on a reckless behavior, not in trying to sort all thoughts out
and picking one.
Some where in her tear around the group, Niven actually stopped herself and looked for me. I called her name, repeated it a second
time when she seemed to 'home in' and gave a treat reward when she returned. There was no harm in this case because I was able to get
her attention back so quickly, letting her make a 'mistake' that could be corrected. It should be interesting to see if the Zoomies
show back up
Two sessions later, Niven decided the "Shadow Handling" that we were
practicing was not yielding any high rate of reward and was becoming boring. She
found it easier to get them from the other woman with a Lab and left me to go and find that out. Since
the other handler had experience in this department, she did nothing more then
turn around with her dog and stop treating
him. Niven received no attention and no treat.
My job now was to get Niven to come back instead of trying someone else and
when she returned, Niven was given a treat. What was good here is there was no "zoomie" effect, only the desire to try something
different. Again, the dog needs to make the mistake in order to find out what is accepted / works and what is not /
does not.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Just as Agility class was ending on Monday, the instructor handed out what will now be known as the "Magic Fairy Wand". This is nothing
more then a wiffle ball golf ball and a dowel rod jammed into one of the holes.
There is supposed to be a wooden base with a hole where the rod can be inserted,
but since we moved, my extra wood remained at the apartment. What I did find was
left over Play-Do and a round container. Stuff Play-Do in and puncture with rod. Hey, it works.
The first thing that needed to be trained was for Niven to touch her nose to the ball. I stood in the Kitchen and held it out, clicking
for when her nose moved in the direction of the ball. Once that was
completed, the criteria was raised for just a ball touch.
The next part was to move the Magic Fairy Wand to the other side of the room, thus the use of the base. I did nothing
other then to click for
when Nivie went out to touch it. I ignored the fact she was circling around and finding the ball
by accident. Those times resulted in a Jackpot of treats.
I ended this session with Niven being sent out to the wall. Some times she was seated and some times directed while "wandering around sniffing".
Even though I have been heavily using the clicker for about a month, Niven has really caught on to what the noise/technique means.
She appears to be trying ( and succeeding ) to problem solve and figuring out what is wanted. It does not take
her long to figure out a game and I am really enjoying a different type of intelligence that the Herding Dogs seem to fly over.
One of Niven's main problems is that she "Neutral Brain Slams" or does not seem to know which thought to follow. In other words,
until she can figure out a direction, each thought that is vying for action hits her at once. This causes all of the possible behaviors
to be acted out at once which comes out as a spin or bounce. This is impossible for even the best of us, so it has been interesting to watch with a Labrador.
Eventually Niven snaps out of it by picking one action that, if unwanted by me, can be redirected or if wanted, praised. The key with her is waiting
until "she comes back to earth" before I move. This is getting better and hopefully disappear as we begin to form a solid training team.
SNOW! Need I say more?
Saturday February 23, 2008
The guys had gotten together to go hiking and I had some dental work done
and did not feel like going. Instead, Niven and I played a quick round of Magic
Fairy Wand. Our training grounds were the Dining and Living Rooms. I had wanted to move this
outdoors, but it had snowed on Friday and the backyard was no longer a suitable
place for playing nose touch to a white golf ball.
To help put both of us into the mindset of training, I started this session with a quick round of "nose touch to the wand", then
put the wand near the wall for sending Niven out. In less then four 'goes', Niven was ready for a longer distance. I had put Sprout
behind a gate in the back room and set the Magic Wand on the Living Room floor. Next, I set myself up at the entrance to the Kitchen
and we began.
For the first few trys, Niven went straight out and touched the ball without incident. Then she started to doubt herself and started
to spin after moving out one stride. Remembering what the game was, Niven
would straighten herself out and complete the performance. I thought to remedy this by placing
a treat on top of the golf ball and that seemed to work.
Since this was progressing, I decided to see if setting up a Jump would work.
My original plan was to start this out in the yard and then back chain at least
two Jump. The
Agility Class Instructor wants each dog to drive out to the Wand, over Jumps and
through the Weave Poles. Instead, I grabbed two Dining Room Chairs and the Swifter Mop and set up a ten inch Jump.
I really thought Niven would have a hard time since my makeshift Jump appeared tight
in landing space and that she was not used to working inside
the house. Surprising me, she hauled out to the Wand and came barreling back like it is normally there. After a few send outs, the
immediate circling reappeared. I finally resigned myself to standing there and giving no verbals at all, letting
Niven figure out that a straight send out was needed. Finally she started going out without circling.
Out of curiosity, I lifted on side of the Jump to the top of the chair, probably about eighteen to twenty inches.
An angled Jump was created. Again I was not sure Niven would do this since we only have jumped her at eight inches and the
landing room perspective is
"tight space".
I was really impressed with this training, especially since Niven has exceeded all of my expectations. I practiced with "just sending
Niven out" and having her sit in heel then to be sent out. I think the variation is working, as long as in the early stages I repeat
those until she 'gets it". I can add more 'stuff' as we go. Unlike the Corgis where variation is the entire key and if it is not part
of the training program, the Handler can be dead before she even starts.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
With snow still on the ground outside, I kept tonight's training session confined to the Living Room. Same as yesterday, I immediately
set up in the Dining Room and sent Niven out to touch the Magic Fairy Wand. There were no issues with her going out so I added the
makeshift Jump.
Once again, Niven displayed that she knew what was wanted, did not circle on her way out and completed her job. I raised the bar up
on one side to whatever height the chair seat offers and Niven went directly over. With Niven doing so well with the
crooked bar, I
wanted to see what she would do if the bar was set completely at chair seat height ( twenty inches? ).
Niven's first attempt at the new height would have dislodged the bar if this was a competition Jump. Coming back over, the Jump bar
was easily cleared. I am not sure if this was an attempt to compensate for the shorter landing space or if she was not realizing
there needed to be a harder push. I suspect it was a combination of both.
What happened over the next couple of send outs proved interesting. Not only did Niven 'sometimes' knock
the bar off the chair, but also learned to go under. What also reappeared was
the spin before she finally decided to take the jump and touch the ball.
Finally, the last emerged; Niven was getting tired of the game and looked as if
she was waiting for a higher challenge or an end to the session.
This last part did not surprise me. When we were still practicing at the
University, Niven was at her best when the Bumper was "more lost". When the
Bumper was retrieved from plain sight, there was less of a chance she would return with that glassy eyed look that said
she was working at peak performance or 'pushing herself'.
To stay at a lower training level for too long might mean she will shut off. It may be
that Beginners Agility is offering enough variation introduced each week and has enough change each week to keep things
challenging.
It will be interesting to see where that goes.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Agility Class
This was not the best of class nights so far. I think I was not in the training mind frame, too many things at work promised a long week and this was not
the way I wanted to start it. Nothing really bad happened, at least the Zoomies were not in effect, but Niven was mentally all over the place. The good thing
was that she was focused when it was time to work, but the class numbers have increased because the class time is back to 6pm and more people can attend.
Niven did do two things where I had to smile at myself. For the Jump Chute, off she barreled with me yelling "go on" like an idiot. Like the poor thing
really knows what that means? She took off so fast that I was once again left standing there wondering why I have not started training the Directionals.
For sending Niven off to the Tunnel from varying angles, I managed to get her to not only identify the Tunnel waaaaay over there, but almost go out AND take it.
She realized I was still standing there and decided to come back. I never had that problem with Crumpet..............
Hopefully next week will be better.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Mr. Bumper Returns
After losing my Solid Headed Dead Duck a few weekends back, I decided to buy an extra one or two for the purpose of "away from home and in the water"
use. I need to order another Floppy Headed Dead Duck, but that can wait as I still have the one left. Anyway, I digress.
I have not been practicing Retrieve Work for a few weeks, mainly because the backyard has been either iced over or a swampy mess. It has not been
the most pleasant of Winters so I am really looking forward to Spring and the dryer season. Niven was pretty good about making all of the retrieves.
The most notable was her "eye-sight marking" as compared to her normal "it fell out of sight and I will remember where it is once the scent starts
to come lower" marking. Maybe the orange Bumper is better to mark then the lighter duck colors of Mr. Floppy Head? This will be something that
I will have to watch out for.
I did not put a collar on Niven going out of the house and she knew this, especially since I was holding the scruff of her neck instead. She did
manage to break two different 'waits' and that is some cause for concern, but not enough to panic over at this point.
For this session, there really was nothing new to talk about other then straight retrieves and no over runs. That is a good thing.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Niven and I headed out to the backyard for MF Wand and Target work. I have not been working with her at home for the past two weeks and
I really need to get into the routine again. I even found the stack of Jumps and reassembled a few of them for tomorrow. Since I was still
dressed for work and not in the mood to haul butt around the muddy yard, we worked on "Two Feet On, Two Feet Off" with the deck step, MF Wand
send outs and eventually adding a Jump to that.
Both sets of behaviors were quickly performed, especially since Niven has been excelling at these in Agility Class. Niven waited on the deck and
seemed to have no problems finding the target ( nearly out of sight because of the step down ) and leaving two feet on the top step. At this angle,
I have no problems training this, but for serious use on the competition angled Frame and Dog Walk, I am hesitant because of problems that quickly
develop.
Next I set up a Jump without a bar and set the MF Wand out under the arbor. Again, Niven had no problems waiting, then going out through the uprights and
to the Wand. I did try to keep her on my right side and she seemed a bit more settled, so that gave me some hope. I decided to try leaving her in a sit
and standing parallel with the Jump. She would have to ignore me to go to the Wand instead. I aided this by placing a treat on top of the Ball, making that
more attractive.
Da da! It worked.
We re-worked the target on the lower step and called it a session. I wanted to pull a few more Jumps out of the PVC Pile by the garage to get ready for Jump
work planned for tomorrow. I have been lacking in class, so I need to get moving so I can really wow and amaze my instructors. I do need to buy a set of
Weave Poles.............
Thursday, March 13, 2008
I was glad I had taken the time yesterday to get the Jumps ready for this afternoon. I wanted to keep things simple for today's practice
so I pulled out two Jumps, the MF Wand and the Target.
Targeting was practiced heading off the deck, Niven really remembering yesterday's routine. Immediately, both back legs were left on the upper deck while
her nose found the Cat Food Lid/Target. Like yesterday, I did keep her at a distance ( six feet ) while I stood at the Target to make sure she did not
side hop off the step/upper deck.
We made our way to the back part of the yard that still has grass and is no longer soggy. I set three Jumps up, two creating a straight run and the
third set at an angle. The result was an L shape running line. I left Niven in a sit and set the MF Wand at the end of the two Jumps so I could
send her. The first two attempts were perfect so I added a twelve inch bar.
At this point, I started to vary the Jump sequences, focusing on the turn to the third Jump. Nearly every time that bar came down and I believe
it is for a few reasons. Niven is inexperienced with Jumping, anticipation of the twisting body, speed and next jump-off point. Either she is not getting
her back legs up and keeping them there or she is whacking the bar with her tail. I think I caught both of those factors, but realize that when hauling
down the 'chute' there seems to be no issue.
I was able to get Niven to focus on hand directions to smoothly transfer sides and I laughed when I realized that I was pushing "right sided" work
without thinking about it. Niven seemed not to care until I asked her to sit on my right. The struggle reappeared, but was not totally evident once
she was working. That will just have to right itself as we continue to practice.
Using only one Jump, I worked the Figure Eight pattern, where the dog jumps, comes around, jumps and comes around. She seemed to also get this after
the initial "miss". I am not sure she knew what I was asking and decided to go around it or I did not give enough distance to the Jump for a decent
takeoff.
I started to work the Directionals, Right and Left. This is going to be needed once Niven gets comfortable about going on through longer sequences.
I did push too hard by positioning myself in an advanced position when the dog really had to clue what I was asking her to do. Again, that will
comes with practice.
The MF Wand was returned to again, this time Niven was refusing to take the second Jump, so this was a struggle. I may have pushed with the session,
especially since it was all Jumping and is normally tiring. I thought a straight send out, one third up the lawn would be a good way to end and was not
disappointed to see Nivie haul butt up the slight hill to nose touch the ball. Hooray!
|
|
Spring 2008
Late Winter and Early Spring
As I said in the Winter section, Niven and I have been attending Agility Class. We completed the first session of ten
classes and continued with the second session, which is where we are now.
Niven has really impressed me with a lot of her working drive and low key attitude while at home. After thirteen weeks
of class, she has truly become a speed demon and loves the Contact Equipment. Tunnels could be left undone, which is
something I am not used to and never thought I would have to train one. If anything, Niven will probably be a "Contact Dog"
meaning if there is a choice between the DogWalk or Tunnel under it, it will be the DW.
Retrieving Work was placed on hold, mainly because I wanted to focus on
Agility. This was to give Niven something more
diverse in training while following the philosophy of "leaving the dog wanting more". I have noticed that she gets too
focused on the FHDDuck and well, was looking for something new and different to do with her. Only recently, like yesterday,
did I pull the Duck out to finish off a session of Backyard Agility. I was not disappointed with that performance either.
Since I had started Agility class, I wanted to keep a separate log of observations while starting a new dog out. It has been a
long time since I have trained ( compared to run ) a dog, so I thought to keep a Word Document of how things went
for each night of class. Had I thought about it years ago, I would have keep a 'serious' account of training and trialing, but I
will take what I have from the Archives.
Since this is me, these documents have stick people and dogs performing courses and obstacles, just for shear
silliness. All of them
are hand drawn and scanned into the computer, some funnier then all get out. One day I will have to perform the magic upload for all
to see and appreciate. As would become the case, courses started to emerge and I found myself using a trial version of Clean Run's
Agility Course Maker. More expensive then I care to admit, I found myself really using this application so I could archive more cleanly
the night's courses and backyard 'throw togethers'. The cool thing is this program allows for .gif files so I can include them in my
nifty documents, archives and website. Now who would have thought about me doing something like that?
In early April my sister and her husband gave me a Digital Camera as a gift. I am trying out a few methods for camera position
and will probably borrow Mike's Camera Tripod for more elevation, but I am excited. Today's run around the yard caught Niven
performing her first ever, perfect Six Pole, Tunnel, Six Pole combo ever.
Lots of things to talk about in dog training so let me get started.
Sometime during mid-March, I decided to buy the Weave Poles and a Tunnel. Both of these would have been great to
use with Crumpet, but by the time he was trialing, most of his foundation training was a full blown
competition. Not
that practicing out in the yard was not needed, only he was getting what he needed during class time. As problems
developed, I made most of the equipment for the yard and did without on the other stuff. When Mike and I moved to the
new house, my disappointment was not having a yard that is wide, but long. Purchasing the DogWalk, Frame and Teeter-Totter
is out of the question until I can figure out how get all of it in without killing the view.
Everything is being worked on in class, so this log is more about the stuff out in the yard. Some methods are different
then what I would have trained and in the grand scheme anything different to be used can increase a performance.
I welcome the variable methods and training the Weave poles alone is part of this explanation.
Having the PVC Jumps sitting out in the yard for the last five years required dirt clean up. The Tire Jump in even worst
condition, finally the red spray paint revealing the yellow underneath with the base black shining through. Have to love
remembering everything as each Jump was reformed from a stack of PVC Poles tied together to survive the Move. My Weave poles
would not work for Niven, who is twice as big as the Corgis and longer strided. She could easily snap a dowel rod just by
walking through one set of Poles. That was the driving force to order a competition ready set and start.
The Weave poles arrived three days after order and the Tunnel about two or three weeks later. It was awesome to drag everything
down the slight hill to set up an almost official looking segment. I scared myself, realizing the time and energy it takes to train
a dog for serious competition. Here we go again..........
The backyard is not very wide, but large enough for a decent sized course. I wish it were a bit more level, but that is the way it goes.
I always seem to be able to make due with what I have so packing a lot of obstacles into a tight course has become the challenge. I was
able to put one set of Six Poles in the back of the yard and the other on the deck. This is where the fun starts.
Weavepoles
I started Niven with the set on the deck and used the Clicker to get her to find the entry.
After that, I was able to shape each pole
until she was making her way through. Honestly, there is none of the clean movement one sees on TV, but she started to move in and out.
Every now and then she would miss a pole, but that is to be expected. When I went to use the set at the back of the yard, I had to start
over again, as would also be expected because Niven is not generalizing. Eventually she figured out both sets of poles were the same and
started to work them that way.
This week I moved the second set of poles to where the other is and spent time working Niven through. Every now and then she will stop
dead, almost as if she is waiting for me to direct. It is strange that she does this because she can be performing everything as if she
always knew it and then suddenly forget. The remedy is to drop the criteria and go back to basics.
I also started to ask Niven for one set of poles when I get home from work. Mike normally lets her off the deck as I come in and before
Sprout can make the loooooong journey, I can get Niven through. Call this a crime of
opportunity where there are no treats and there
is a ton of excitement energy that Nivie needs to learn how to handle. I am more then please that she is
starting to gain that focus.
Tonight I thought to back-chain the poles using the MFWand as a target. This is being used in class, but the pole set there is designed
for the Channel Method. I put the Wand at the end of the poles and set Niven up two from the end, sending her through both poles, to touch her nose
to the Wand. This seemed to work well and I continued to add two more poles until she was starting to drive towards the end and the Wand. Every
now and then she would mis-step or seem to forget what to do, but for the most part, she was getting the idea.
To break up the boredom of the poles, I had the Tunnel set at the end. Just for kicks,
 I wanted to see if she would put the two sets of poles
together broken up by the Tunnel. I was not disappointed when she pushed through the first set, went through the Tunnel and immediately
found the entry to the second set. Even better was that I had this on video, so that was
definitely cool for me.
It will be interesting to see how this develops and I look forward to Niven in the Weave poles and video to watch. Out of all of the obstacles,
this is the hardest to teach and the longest to perfect. If she can start now, this will be a life saver when it comes time for trials.
Jumping
Jumping has posed an interesting set of observations. Of course I have the fear of having another dog that bar knocks, but that is
the way it goes. No one knows how to lose that way more then I do. I just rather not any more. Niven has the ability to clear a Jump
Bar, but there are clauses as to when she is going to forget herself and either not tuck up completely or flat jump.
If there is a turn involved, that bar is bound to come down, but once Niven has done that once, it is not repeated. The problem that is
now posed, will she continue to do this for "first course of the morning" runs? Again, this is something that will be interesting
to see once we start trialing.
The Tire Jump I have has been modified from its original height, so I am kind of stuck with a twelve inch high Tire. I will need to get
more PVC piping to change this, but the Tire does not sit neatly or evenly within the frame work. On a bad day, this does pose more
then a challenge because Niven will get it through her mind that is the way this obstacle is performed.
I did start working the Directionals, but at this point they are no where near reliable. Niven is going to be a dog that once she learns
'right and left', I will be heavily leaning on them. She is twenty times faster then Crumpet and he stretched me with these nifty commands.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
After spending a few minutes working the Weave poles and Tunnel, I thought Niven would get a kick out of seeing the Floppy Headed Dead Duck again.
This magical toy has remained hidden for the past month or two as I concentrated on Agility. When I left the house, I grabbed the Duck to
put it out of the way, but to remain a distraction. Once I had set up the video camera, Niven really surprised me by ignoring the Duck that
as behind the Tunnel, but over the fence. I figured if this became a focus, at least she would not get it as a reward.
I think she managed to try to find it once and that was in direct result of me asking her where the Tunnel was. Off she went to find the Duck,
which is beyond a good thing. If Niven can maintain this working ethic, I am not looking at a long struggle of her not
separating events and
sports. That was something I loved about Crumpet, his focus and drive no matter what was going on.
Niven picked up as if we have been practicing every night, but there was a difference about her. Maybe the Agility training has done a lot
to center the attention, but she was just...more centered. After a number of throws, I was able to start working the "wait" while I threw
the duck to my right side. I was pleasantly surprised when she held the Wait and took off when released. I have been lucky with the Start
Line Waits, so this might be a great cross over effect.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Niven's performance in the Weave poles, although impressive to me, seemed to be slowing down. I know that I have been pushing too hard with this obstacle,
so after this training session, I have decided to move on to different stuff for a few days. Today I wanted to pull out the video camera and set it up so
I could see how Niven is moving within the poles. I was quite pleased with the video that I did get; Niven moves with both front feet going in the same direction.
Crumpet had the typical "split leg where each side of the body was placed on opposite side of the poles as he cut through. This will be interesting to see if
the method the Dog Club uses will change this type of movement.
I decided to work Rear Crosses, which were introduced two weeks ago in class. I wanted to do something different and the Tunnel offered the fastest
performance
and the most fun. A Rear Cross is nothing more then having the dog on one side, sending it on to complete the obstacle and then cutting behind it to "pick it up"
on the other side. What makes these difficult is that the beginners dog is paying too much attention to the handler and tries to 'go along'. The result is the
dog pulling itself from the obstacle. When we tried this the first time in class, Niven handled the cross at first, but then started to anticipate me cutting to
the other side.
For today, Niven was not worried about me ending up on her other side, but the spin coming out of the Tunnel returned. I do not think she is fully understanding
what is going on, but continued to perform the Tunnel. It would be interesting to see how different she would respond if I use an obstacle where
she can fully see what I am doing and make mistakes constantly. I have indirectly tried this with a Jump, but the results were 'stutter stopped' and ill performance.
This was more of a result of the dog not certain about jumping in the first place and me taking the criteria to the top performance.
x
Like the Weave poles, I did get some funny video of Niven tearing through the Tunnel ( Tunnel Framed ) and video of the rear cross. I wanted to see how Niven handled this
obstacle, especially since I missed this with Crumpet. If only we had these things ten years ago! Heck, High Eight Video Tape was expensive.......and hard to view
afterward.
I thought to rearrange the equipment and try a set of Weave poles, Jump, Tunnel and second set of poles. I was not really expecting much from this and got as much, but
for the most part, Niven did a good job. One thing that I am appreciating is her finding the poles, even if she is not nailing the entry. More then a few times she did,
but I rather her acknowledge their existence then to run past them.
I spent some time on Sunday night putting together some of the video footage I had taken during the week. It has been a long time since I have worked
with splicing multiple media sources, but I had goofed off with some other video since college. Other then tacky music to lack-luster Agility movies that needed
better transition and timing, I managed to create a few minute long video. I included some still photographs of Crumpet and probably could have done the same with
for the other dogs that I have owned, trained or handled.
This short will not be posted, but I will have to see about creating something better for posting to this website. Always nice to see the dogs running around, especially
when everyone is so far apart.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Niven and I attended Agility Class on Monday night where she performed really well. There are a few areas that I will need to work on and others that need to be
changed for challenge and further work experience. For the most part, Niven has been coming along in class and posing me with new
challenge as well. I never
thought I could pull off two Front Crosses moving at the speed Niven does, but I now can say I have. Not my
performance and I look forward to going back to
Rear Crosses.
Anyway, tonight I thought I would work Niven with the FHDDuck while videoing her performance from another angle. The choice for camera position was perfect and
I will need to repeat it again, but unfortunately, Niven was too wild and there are a few things that need to end Niven will bounce while I walk as well as bounce
to snag the Duck out of my arm. In the past I have tried to figure out a solution, but I was more worried about doing something that would turn her off to the
whole thing of retrieving. Remember I had a hard time getting Niven to return anything thrown and spent a lot of time trying to figure out the "why" and the game.
I was not about to attempt anything that might ruin that.
Tonight, she really did not bounce as much as she normally does, but there were a few times when she either went out, got the Duck and took off with it or went back
to holding on to it in Tug-of-War. This I cannot allow ever, since I do not want her to get the idea to do this with dead bird. I finally lost it and ended up 'rolling'
her onto her back and holding her there before I made the attempt for another throw. This seemed to work, but I normally do not do this to a dog. I think Crumpet was
'rolled' twice in his life for similar actions.
There are times when Niven gets it in her head that we are doing things at her pace and I have to go along. This has always been a struggle, but since I have been practicing
on a limited schedule, there are some behaviors that I have chosen to let go. Not now. Seeing certain performances in a known area like Agility, I can better adjust to what
is going on with retrieving. After rolling her, I went into "sit and wait" while throwing the duck and not holding on to her. I am not sure if it was my immediate actions
or the Agility 'wait', but I was able to throw the duck a good few feet without having to hold on to her at all.
Eventually we were back to playing by Niven's rules and I ended up 'rolling' her a second time, which also produced the result. This time, I did not let her get back up,
but left her in a down while I moved the Duck to another close by spot. Instead of letting her get it or me moving to pick it up, we played "Leave It" and heeled to the back
of the yard. The cool thing is that I was able to create a couple different situations with this action.
Leave It
We were able to leave the Duck and walk across the yard without having Niven break her concentration. The reward was going out to get the Duck.
Marked Retrieve
Although me leaving a duck and walking away from it is not the same as having a dog sit a considerable distance away watching as the bird falls out of the sky. This was
the best thing I could think to do to make a change.
Send Out
This could be tied into the Marked Retrieve as Niven would naturally head out to the marked spot. This will have to be worked for Agility and Retrieving, along with the
Directionals since both will go hand in hand.
Niven did two of these before I called a halt to the session.
I was not thrilled with Niven's performance, but after watching the video I realized this was not as bad as I thought it was. Funny how a
perception can change when
emotion and thought have been redirected to 'different mindset'. There are a few things I want to try, one being to have more diversity in what is trained ( Sit/Wait
while something is thrown and then moving on to long distance retrieves ) and another to create a Marked Game of sorts by placing the Duck in hidden spots in the yard.
This way Niven does not get pattern set to running full length across the yard, but has to search for a new ( newer ) location each time. I might try setting the Tunnel
up as a straight tube to see if she will perform it on her own while barreling across the lawn.
Sad to say, but today the FHDDuck had a chunk taken out of it. I think I need to order a few more..........
Thursday April 24, 2008
Tonight I thought I would try something a bit different. I wanted to see if eliminating treats would increase or decrease a performance with Niven. This is something
I am struggling with in Agility, especially with working the Contact Equipment. When there are treats involved, Niven cannot stay focused on the movement of her body,
but charges through to get to the reward.
One behavior that I thought I could try this out on was the Conformation Show Stack.
I have a horrendous time trying to get Niven to hold any position I set her feet in
and end up resorting to Free Baiting her to keep her still long enough for a photograph. This has caused most of the photographs of her to never "seem right". If I can
rework the stack without bait, I might solve my "treat" question and end up with better pictures.
I headed outside for a few minutes before starting and did not bring a collar. I wanted to make this as impromptu as possible. Niven did try to whip around in
excitement of me touching her ( this is another problem I have, she cannot 'just be petted' and starts to Scramble Brain ), but I managed to set her back legs with
her leaving where they were placed. It was not until I tried to move either of the front legs that Niven began to shuffle around, ruining any placement I had done.
Given this was the start of my nifty project, I can take what was offered.
After we had gone through arranging four feet and standing for a second or two, I tried repeating this a second time. There was already marked improvement for the
back legs and I was able to place on front leg. Niven is not used to me moving them and the response is to jiggle around. It will be interesting to see how long and well
this takes to shape.
Wednesday April 30, 2008
Since last weekend it has done nothing but rain, causing me to skip mowing the lawn. With the grass growing to the point where Sprout disappears and the pollen count
getting higher, I missed Agility class on Monday night due to a migraine and have not practiced since last week. After the Retrieving session then, this time off was
probably a good thing.
Since I am not really feeling too well I decided to keep today's game short, but have it be enough for Niven to challenge her little doggie mind. I figured I would
hide the FHDDuck and send her out to retrieve it, but some how I ended up with the video camera and nine
weave poles set. I am happy to report that Niven performed the
nine poles at least once perfectly and then ran into technical problems of trying to weave while looking back at me. It appears that now I am not moving fast enough for
her and am causing pop-outs because of it. Not a big deal for now, but at least adding three poles really did not cause a mental meltdown. If anything, she is finding her
own rhythm once she gets moving. That was something I had seen in the other video.
What I also did going out the door, was grab the FHDD to leave on the picnic table as a type of distraction. Niven did really well remembering it was there at least twice,
but once we started working the Weave poles, she seemed to forget it was there. I did try sending her out to Remember-Find it, but she was not getting the idea. Finally, I
walked back to the top of the yard, left Niven in a Down, placed the duck out of sight and we went back to the bottom of the yard. From there I sent her out and Niven hauled
butt directly to the spot. I repeated this once more and placed the duck along the side fence. Again, Niven had no problems hauling back out there to get the duck. This is
the only thing I can think of to help train in distance retrieve work, having her wait, working "memory" and training in a "Wait for the command.
I only performed those types of retrieves twice and worked Niven through another set of nine poles. I figured that she will go into meltdown and cross-working her might
create the short circuit needed to pull her together......as long as I keep things simple and short. Once again Niven tried the poles and only skipped one in the middle.
I will take it, all things considered.
The last part I worked was having Niven wait while I threw the FHDD a few feet away. She waited for both short distance throws, but I did hold her back when I went to
throw it harder. That is when she broke away and tore off. I really could not say a whole lot, but turned around so she would have to find heel position with my back
turned to her approach. At least I was not disappointed with her automatically coming around and handing me the duck.
That was about it for this go round.........
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Today was one of those awesome spring days where it was just awesome to be outside. Mike wanted to take photographs of his new car and thought to spend a few minutes
taking new photos of Niven working Agility. Once I get to see what he has, I will have to post a few of them within the Log, but for now, you get text.
I was going to work Niven in the Weave poles and turn to FHDDuck time, but since Mike was sitting in the tall grass, the plan was changed to see if he could get Niven
performing. At first I chose to leave the FHDD inside the folded up Tunnel and Niven seemed ok with that. Once the Tunnel was put into use and the FHDD was placed on
the other side of the fence, her attention was pulled there. Trying to get her to take the Tunnel was growing frustrating, so I chose to end the session and not
play with the Duck.
Niven is not lifting her feet to clear the Tire and I am not sure if this is because the ring shape is not wide enough or if she is being lazy. In class, there seems
to be no problems with this obstacle, so it is interesting to watch what she does in the backyard.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Niven and I went to our Monday night Agility class as normal. I have been waiting for her to come into season and she seems to want to be dramatically late this time
around. This has been causing me to go to class on a week by week basis, too afraid to miss anything good. I guess I should be happy about getting her on the Contact
Equipment while everyone else is still in the learning stage.
The cool thing about Monday night is that we got to run a somewhat longer course with full contacts. Up until now, we have been breaking them down into segments, so it
was pretty cool to see everyone performing at the different levels from the start. Looking forward to next week's adventure......if Niven continues to hold off.
Tonight Mike and I decided to walk up the street and around the local church's May Fair which included rides and
carnival games. I am not sure if they have this every
year, but we missed this one by a month as Mike and I moved in about a year ago. Crumpet would have loved this little adventure, but Niven took his place. Sprout has
been having a hard time making it the end of the backyard which is technically on the next block over. There was no way I was going to ask her to walk the distance we
were going to. She got left home with Kiwi the cat.
The fair was bigger then I was expecting it, especially since the last one held around here was no more then four rides and about ten Game Trailers. Niven and I walked the
few blocks to get Funnel Cake and ended up having fun.
 This time there had to be a total of twenty rides for all ages and more people to meander through then I thought
lived in the township. For a dog training experience, this was going to be fun. Then again, Niven surprised me at last year's Civil War
Reenactment by sticking close
and handling crowds without any problems.
A lot of people wanted to pet the puppy, so it was nice to meet the distant neighbors. I think I learned more about everyone's dog then some
people do the neighbor's kids.
The greatest achievement for the evening was having Niven sit and stay so I could take on of those
famous photos of her. Just as I back up and
drop the Lead, seven kids go screaming past. I am not sure if it was uncertainty, but that look of "wow someone that can keep up" went across her
face. The amazing thing? The Labrador did NOT chase after them. I would have.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
I wish I could say these two days were good training days. They were not. I attempted to work the FHDDuck at considerable distance and to just let Niven
head out into the yard to find the hidden duck. I realize I was being unfair since I have never asked her to stay on the Deck or remain in the house while
I place the FHDDuck some place. Instead nothing I did to begin to help her worked and I ended up finishing the session madder at her then I was
at myself.
Nearly every "Wait" was broken and there was no focus from Nivie while I pushed beyond any limit I thought she had.....and went further.
"Bad Dog" is the only thing I can think of, yet it really should be directed at me and not her. I ended both sessions with a bad taste in my mouth and decided
the next thing to work on would look nothing like Agility or Retrieving. As usual, I broke that.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
For some reason, I decided to set up the Tunnel and a twenty inch Jump and keep a complete set of Weave poles off to the side. After a few attempts, Niven managed
to weave her way through the whole set. I think there is a definite difference between the method used in class and the one I am using at home. The dog is
required to move differently ( or more efficiently ) using the Channel Method and clicker/shaping is causing a different movement. I rather the first, but feel pushing
through both techniques will be a benefit as we progress.
Every now and then, Niven will bulk at the Tunnel and I have to wait for her to figure it out. Once we do get moving, there is no problems with a speedy run through and
us moving on to the next obstacle.
As for the Jump and change of height by four inches, I was even surprised. For the most part Niven jumps fairly high, but will flat jump to knock the bar. I am not too
sure if this is due to limited space in the yard, me half hauling and then stopping dead because of the limited spacing, or Niven just not paying attention. If her
front legs do not tick the Jump, her back legs will. Only time and continued practice will help correct this. As for a practice session, I am glad I did try it out, as
Niven really did try to modify her jumping.
We finished the session off by working the "Two Feet On - Two Feet Off" (TOTO) thing using the deck.
This is a behavior for the Dog Walk, Frame and Teeter and I am not too sure if
I will end up enforcing it down the road. I have my rational, but I want to see how this pans out before I go back to handling something I am familiar with. One never knows when one
comes up with something better for a different dog.
Despite breaking a stay and heading off to work on her own, Niven surprised me with her
performance. It has been a while since I have enforced this while working in the
yard and it showed in most of her actions. Although she was remembering what needed to get done, there was a ton of handling I had to do. Working her on my right side
was a must, especially since she was pivoting and moving her back legs to keep an eye on the treats in my hand. After a few attempts on both steps of the deck, we
eventually got some where good to end the session on.
Working on the same philosophy, I waited about an hour and headed back out into the yard to work Conformation Handling. I wanted to get video of Niven's movement and
the session grew from there. What was interesting was adding the Targets in as a focal point to keep Niven from looking back at me when moving. By the end of a few minutes
of running back and forth, there is a marked difference in her "going away and coming" gait.
Ok, so Niven is definitely a Field Dog in conformation, but I was glad to have yet another photograph. I am planning on carrying this into the variable training in the
backyard and the video should be interesting. I am just glad I have the option of yanking a still shot from it for posting. If only it were bigger........
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Today's session was a repeat of yesterday's TOTO. I wanted to see how much Niven would remember, especially since she seems to have this amazing ability to carry over
behaviors from one day to the next with even more amazing performance growth. I was not disappointed in the least and was surprised to see her not twisting her rear
end to maneuver to see better. Instead she stuck to "waiting" and was appeared to be trying her hardest to figure out this whole game. If we were at Agility Class
I think she would have it down in association, but I do not have the luxury of owning the heavy equipment to help her.
What will be interesting is seeing how these past two days of training carries over to tomorrow night's class performance.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Part of my delay in writing is that Niven and I have not been attending Agility Class. Two weeks ago, while carrying Sprout down the steps first thing in the morning, I
mis-stepped and managed to take the entire flight on my rear end. To add insult to injury, somewhere during the dramatic ride down, I kicked the wall. You can only
imagine why I am not hot to trot to run around. Mainly, if I wanted to I would not be able to.
Despite me not training and adding more to the Log, Niven and I have been goofing off in the backyard. The best part is that I have picked stuff that does not require me
to run....or move for that matter. More then once I have found myself standing on one leg while Niven whips around into Heel Position. I cannot stomach the idea of her
stepping on my foot while digging into the ground to make shorter order of the command.
We have continued practicing with TOTO, the last time a near perfect performance. I just need to work sending her to the position instead of me standing on the step.
Part of the challenge has been Niven not keeping her back legs on the top step of the deck and moving to turn when I drop the Treat on the Target. For now, that is where
that stands and I shifted to pulling out the Bumper.
Retrieve Work has turned to mostly faster Retrieves and looser retrieving, but Niven is maintaining what more formal training there has been. I did get some video of her
retrieving and need to put something together, but at least I am picking up a few different ideas from watching the performance. One other thing I have been stressing is
"leave it" while we walk to the other side of the yard. From there I can send her on to retrieve the Bumper that was left. In one sense it is
reinforcing a focus on me and
not on the object, plus learning to not follow every desire. Next up is to remember where the Bumper is ( marked ) while increasing distance and stressing distraction of
'focus, un-focus, refocus'. So far, Niven has yet to lose on this game.
I think I may have found a hunt club and just need to follow up with phone calls. For now, the Bumper can be thrown further and Niv hauls out just as fast no matter
what the temperature.
On the Agility front, especially tonight, Niven hauled butt through ten poles before deciding to bark at me for lack of direction. I was trying to modify the training and
using Retrieving as a secondary reward system. Retrieve well here and we do the Weaves, do well there and you get to haul out for the Bumper.....it continuing to spin on
itself until on Lab tongue hangs low to the ground.
After one attempt and missing at last moment, I was very pleasantly surprised to put Niv back through for her to complete all twelve. This was immediately followed up
with Mr. Bumper who was found hanging on the outside of the fence and beyond doggie reach. I wanted to see if this was something Niv would repeat and was happy to see
that once again, she managed to haul through another set of twelve without problems. One thing that did pop up for the first time was her barking as she completed the back
end of the obstacle. Crumpet would do this under extreme excitement or when I was not giving
enough direction. If left unchecked, a problem can arise and I am not used
to running a noisy dog. I will have to watch and see if this behavior disappears next time or if it gets worst.
Other then the above forays in training land, I continue to hobble around, trying to keep my foot from being stepped on. On Saturday, Mike and I went out for the day and
came home with two kittens. For now Nimbus and Puck are their names, but I suspect these will stick. Kiwi is taking the new guys as well as an Adult Cat can while
Sprout kind of ignores Niven who is constantly trying to get one of them to play with her. Oh how I cannot wait to add a puppy Corgi to this mix.
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Summer 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
As things always do, time has gotten away from me. Niven and I have been working hard in Agility, most of those experiences
written out in Excel within a separate log. ( This way I can really bust on myself without worry of public criticism. ) Since
downloading the Agility Course Builder, I have found myself using the thing more then once a week and the log becoming more
priceless to me then anything else.
We really have not been practicing Retrieving, but I have been working toward Rally-O showing. Finding a Hunt Club has been hard
, but at least I have in the back of me head the notion that Hunters are suppose to remain hidden. Rally-O is advertised
nearly everywhere, yet no one has a current class or is still thinking of putting one together. I had one club tell me that I
needed to be evaluated before attending any classes, for a fifteen dollar fee of course. So like the self respecting person that
I should be, I searched around the Internet and found myself a Word Document that contains all of the Rally Signs, made a trip
to Staples for heavy card stock and printed myself up two sets for use.
Working Obedience again, I have to say that it is an interesting experience with a larger dog, especially with one the length
of Niven. Where I am used to crowding corners, I find she will keep my honest as she knocks over the Orange Cones trying to stay
in Heel Position. The whole experience has been eye opening for me and I am really looking forward to entering a trial or two toward
the beginning of Fall.
Aside from the Agility Training in class, Niven and I have been working out in the backyard, trying to reach any level of being able to
run a course.....like I did before. No, my training times of less then fifteen minutes still hold, but we have progressed so differently
that there are times when I wonder how I ever got through Novice Agility with Crumpet. That is one problem starting out with a dog that
picked up ideas quicker then I could come up with methods. That does not mean Niven is behind, just getting there in ways I would not have
thought. Blame it on too many National Field Champions comprising her brain's genetic makeup.
Purchasing competition Weave poles and Tunnel has really helped and I am sorry I never did for Crumpet. I think at that point it was more
for economics, but it does make training a bit more fun. The Jumps are still the ones I made years ago, still out of course spec, but one thing
I have learned about them? The dogs that train over them have no problems finding the five feet wide ones on course. This was
evident over this past weekend when Niven and I ran in our first "trial-like" Show'N'Go. Panel Jumps that cannot be seen through are still wide
enough to go over.
In essence, we have been busy while it really does not appear that way. There are a lot of plans up in the air, Agility, Rally-O and maybe even Obedience
to look forward too over the next year. This has been accented by me looking for a new Corgi pup to add to the growing
fray...now two dogs and three cats. I am
really looking forward to getting back into the Conformation ring after a long absence, as well as starting over again in the other performance areas.
For now? I think I have burned the Niver-Kanivers out on Agility and have flopped back over to Retrieving Work for the week. I thought a break from
Rear Crosses and Weave Poles might produce something different for the mentally fogged while this compensates for my rough last weekend and exhausting week.
One trick that was written up in Gun Dog Magazine is to stack a few Bumpers near a marked location ( they use huge caution cones, I use the Arbor ) and
continuously
send the dog out to retrieve each one. I had started something like this using the entire length of the yard, but a shorter distance with lots of Bumpers
seemed more Retrieverie......good fun.
Tuesday and Wednesday, August 12th and 13th, 2008
Practice was pretty straight forward. I left Niven sitting on the lower deck while I walked out to the Arbor and placed two plastic orange and one
canvas Bumpers
in plain sight. Once I returned I broke the Wait by calling her over to the table for a treat, then returned to the same "wait" spot. I sent her off for
the first retrieve and rewarded again before sending her out again.
What was interesting? Niven continuously picks up the larger of the orange Bumpers, then the smaller, followed by the Canvas one. Tonight, the canvas Bumper was
beyond undesirable, which lead to me putting both orange ones back in the house and using only that one for training. This should get
interesting as time wears on. Ironic though, that in the early months, Niven wanted nothing to do with the orange Bumpers and would not even
pick one up.
One other thing that I started to do was to separate each Bumper by about five to ten feet, letting Nivie pick out which one to bring back. What was interesting
was that she continued her favoritism of the larger, orange Bumper, then the smaller, followed by the canvas. As this progresses, this should be interesting.
All I can do now is increase distance from the pile and between each Bumper.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Over the past few days Mike and I decided to head to the local park and spend some time
getting new photos of Niven. Mike had gotten a new lens for his camera and wanted to try it
out on a fast moving subject such as Niven. Since last week, I have been centered on working
Niven with Retrieving and wanted to see if I could get her into the water. This place would be
perfect since there are two lakes and open ground.
The focus I had was mainly working Nivie “straight from the truck”, meaning to go with work
specifically in mind, followed by something fun. Last week’s match showed that I really needed
to start working her in different places even though her performance was pretty awesome for a
first go round. More experience was what was called for and today would be perfect.
We ended up at the second lake and found a spot near a stream to work a few Conformation
photos. A few did come out, but the lighting was not the greatest, either losing the black dog
in the background or creating a brighter landscaping. There are a few photos that came out
really well and at least I have them for the archives.
We moved from under the trees and to a more private field where we were surrounded by forest
and one steep hill, holding back the lake on the other side. This gave us privacy from the
rest of the park, but not from people passing on the trail high above. From here we were able
to take some more Conformation photos before moving into a quick round of Heeling around the
cones for Rally-O practice.
I did not want to push this part of the practice, as truly my focus was working Niven in a
new environment. Up until now, when we go places, it is more to have free time then it is for
her to focus at a job. Also by now, the treats were making Nivie pant and the weather warming
her as well. I really did not want her to associate work with something dumb like Heeling.
What was cool was that she did a nice job and Mike was able to get a few photos of us
meandering our way around the cones. I do have to remember to make wider turns/passes to let
the poor dog clear each one, but for the most part she was trying to work. I would definitely
need more practice in multiple locations before I could think to enter her in a Rally Trial,
which I was thinking of doing toward the end of the year. Despite this, I was very happy to
see she was willing to try, even if she seemed confused by what she was supposed to be doing
and by the Lead I had. I forget that I often train without one, so when it comes time for a
trial, they tend to know something is different. Not a good thing if I want to avoid "Ring
Smartness".
After Heeling for about two passes of the cones, I moved on to Retrieving, using the new
technique that I mutated a bit from an article in Gun Dog Magazine. I piled a stack of Bumpers
about thirty feet out and sent her out to get one at a time. The first round went really well,
Niven hauling out to get each one and ignoring the growing stack I had behind me.
Unfortunately, I upped the stakes too high and moved the pile out another twenty feet.
Even though the stack of bright orange Bumpers was visible from our location, Niven decided
it was too far and had a problems sending out. Eventually I got her to do so and revolted
completely for the second and third Sends. Realizing she was not going to be allowed to focus
on the Bumper I had on the ground behind me, she decided to drive into the treat bin, which did
not sit well with me.
Poor doggie got yelled at, but in the spirit, I called her and moved closer to the pile. I
just put too much distance when the real practice was being in a new location. I thought she
would have the drive to go out, but I seemed to be wrong. Stepping in worked nicely and Niven
was sending out to get the last two Bumpers before we called this quits.
It was decided to head back to the car and get Nivie some water and dump off my bag.
Completing that, I grabbed a Bumper and we made our way to the water where there was a boat
launch. Fish Hooks were a concern, but I wanted to see if she would go flying into the water.
In February, we had made our water attempt on the frozen pond a half mile away and I where I
did not feel comfortable taking her off lead to retrieve the lost duck.
In an odd way, what was about to transpire over the next few minutes, there were remnants of
that fateful day……………..
I have not had the chance to get Nivie in the water since February and with her lackluster
retrieving ten minutes before, I was not gambling on her wanting to do this. I was about as
wrong as anything, especially after we got to the water and she waded in up a few inches.
Another circle around and now she was in deeper. I threw the Bumper a few feet in and she had
no problems following.
A little further and she repeated the retrieve. Then I figured it was time to take the Lead
off and throw the Bumper….it was either sink or swim time. I threw it about thirty feet out
and off she went, sailing in and splashing like the Bull in the China Shop she is. Water was
splashed and the Bumper was pushed out further….Niven in a type of swimming pursuit.
Unfortunately, she had never done this before so her style is not graceful and if there were
any real ducks out there to be hunted, they would be gone by now. I was just excited to see
her try to do this and she went under, popping back up a second later. She seemed a bit
panicked, but not overly so, more like a controlled "omigawd"". She turned in toward the dock
that extended out and made her way towards the shore. I almost launched in when she
disappeared for two seconds, but decided that she was still swimming and the dock was going to
be a guide in the correct direction.
Mike on the other hand threw me his camera and hauled butt out to get her, helping the last
fifteen feet to shore. Just as all of this was happening, I happened to notice two Park
Rangers standing behind me. It seems dogs are not allowed to swim off lead in the lakes, new
rules because of a legal case currently in court. By this time, Mike and Niven were back on
shoreline and Niven was heading out into the tall Reeds that were to our left, trying to figure
a way to get the Bumper fifty feet out. I called her back and held onto her collar, not sure
what to do.
I did not want to leave the Bumper out in the lake and it was now moving with the current
toward the dam/waterfall a hundred feet out. I figured that if we waited long enough, we could
get it there, but now it was heading to the Reeds and appeared would get stuck.
I asked the nice Rangers if I could send her out once to get the Bumper and they decided that
they were both standing there, sure. So now Mr. Bumper has been floating for about three
minutes and is about to disappear from sight. I am not sure she has even marked it, but I
assume she has been because she is Niven.
Complete shock hit me as she tore off into the water, seemed to go a bit wide, stopped to
mark it, turned, swam out, stopped, marked again, snagged it, turned around and started back to
shore via hugging the Reeds.
If someone needs a cheering crowd to mark an excellent retrieve performance on the first
shot, Niven got one. Both Ranger, a family with kids, Mike and myself all were there to greet
and pet as Niven handed me back the Bumper, ready for another send out.
Thanking everyone and checking to make sure it was ok to have her on lead and send her out
into the water, Niven was sent back out for a couple more. I just needed to make sure they
landed within twenty-six feet.
This whole afternoon experience was beyond kick-ass. Not only was Niven really trying to
focus on the job at hand, but was switching gears easily from Conformation, Obedience, Rally
Work and Retrieving ( Dry and Wet ). I could not ask for anything better.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
As is standard, Niven and I had our Monday night Agility class that went more then well. There is something totally different
about the way both of us are performing and I am really excited about getting her out to Trials. Thinking about one in October
to see how far we have come, but only time will tell as we continue to train the different aspects required for flawless course
runs.
After last Sunday's outing to the local lake where we got yelled at by the nice Park Rangers for having Niven in the water, off
lead, I decided to pursue the dog pool. This place is a few miles from home and I was not expecting much in terms of Niven's
willingness to jump right in. The cool thing is that the pool is totally enclosed with a building and the water heated, so it
is open year round.
Getting there was not a problem and the owner met us to make sure Niven was introduced to pool life as easy as someone used
to this knows. After sideswiping Nivie into the pool, Linda had her swimming in circles until 'letting her know where the
exit was'. Circling the pool was repeated again on lead and then it was left to me to continue to walk the pool to keep Nivie
moving. Once it was established that she was getting the hang of swimming, retrieving the Bumper and finding her way out of
the pool, the fun began.
While Linda and I yapped, Nivie was learning to jump into the pool and swimming out to get the Bumper. Her jumping was pretty
horrible, the splash even worst, and the paddling out frantic. Eventually she settled, but an interesting point about her going
out is that she over paddles/splashes in either an attempt to get there faster ( excitement ) or to keep her head well above the
water line to keep the Bumper marked. Once the Bumper is retrieved, she calmly swims back, climbs out of the pool and brings
it back to hand....ready to go flying back in. I was there for over an hour and she still wanted to go.
By then, Nivie was tearing across the deck to perform eight foot leaps into the water. Oh how this is going to be fun!
Saturday, August 23, 2008
We finally made our way outdoors to play "Stack of Bumpers" Game, where I pile the Bumpers at one end of the yard and send the
cute little black dog down the yard to get them all....one at a time. Leaving Niven on the deck and sending her down the lawn
has become easier, especially since she is more willing to search for 'out of sight' Bumpers. I suspect this is purely because
Mike plays ball with her in this direction and it is already pattern set.
All eight retrieves she was sent out on were successful, straight out and immediate back. I never changed the direction,
sending
her up the lawn to retrieve the stack left near the deck. Instead, I ran into other problems that came from leaving two Bumpers
together and the two others thrown twenty feet out and apart. Niven started to run into trouble finding the 'second' stack and
then finding one Bumper, only to stumble over the second. This resulted in her dropping the one she had and picking up the
other. This is a disqualification in Field Trials and am afraid to move forward until I can figure out how to now have that
happen.
Already known, I need to be able to direction Niven in the event she has lost her way. For now, she sweeps back and forth on her
own until she locates whatever I am using. I thought I would work something more formal, similar to Utility Obedience and Directed
Retrieving. I set Niven in a Wait and placed one Bumper on each side of the yard, near to the Arbor. From there, Niven was set to
retrieve one particular Bumper at a time. Ironically it was the second Bumper that caused the problem, but like the others was highly
visible. I am looking forward to seeing where this goes as well.
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Fall 2008
It is amazing how time seems to slip away. August slammed into December
with a lot happening. I guess that is why I tend to lose an entire season,
each weekend schedule blending all together. Mike and I managed
through two weddings in between me heading over to Kandy's house to play with a
litter of Corgi puppies out of her Madison. One video taking session and
dog show later, I decided to take her offer of a male pup who has now been added
to the household for a few months.
Being only three months old at the time, I decided to follow a similar program I did with Niven and let him get the
lay of the land before beaming him over the head with any training that appeared formal. Since his arrival, it has been
mostly "hang from Niv's ear" in play while we periodically practice "circle walking" for the Breed Ring. While the sun
was settling later and the day allowed, there were the times when the Tunnel came out, adding to the whole mystery of "stand
and wait". I need to start looking for a Handling Class that is more local to here, but will do so after the holidays.
Niven has not only be awesome with Torch, but has been flying along in training. I entered her in an October AKC Agility Trial
where she really surprised me. I was sorry to see our first official runs were water logged with a rainy fall day, but was pleased
when she began to pull it together and qualify during the third run, which was Novice FAST ( Gambles for those who remember ). That
weekend is posted up, but can be accessed here. The second day
saw us roasting under a hot fall sun, but Niven really tried to keep her brain from Lab Scramble and managed a qualifying run in Novice
Standard and Jumpers.
By this point we were practicing Rally-O out in the yard, me trying to remember the rules as I had read them years ago. I figured that if
Torch was going to show in the Breed Ring, I might as well enter Niven in Rally Obedience. I was lucky enough to find room in a class that
started too soon after I found out about it, but with six weeks completed, I feel more comfortable with following the Rally Signs to complete
a fast paced obedience course. Nivie, I think, just likes to work and gets too
enthusiastic about whatever we are doing. One aspect that I did like?
On the first night of Rally class, she did recognize a lowered A Frame pushed off to the corner. I did not allow her to perform it, but was thrilled
to see she could "match her shapes" and then ignore them to work something demanding more mental focus. Between Agility and Rally-O practice on back
to back nights, Niven has really progressed in a few areas, but the main one is her focus. By no means is she
seasoned, but she is coming along with how she approaches each sport. I am really excited about getting out there more
consistently.
On one other note, I found a Dog Pool about two miles away where Niven and I were going after work for swimming and retrieving. What became fascinating was
watching how she perfected her swimming from total splash ( excitement and frustration of not getting there fast enough ) to a more refined style of the
typical Retriever. I would really love to be able to let her loose in a huge pond, but that appears to be the next hurdle to jump. The hunt club is still
the biggest.
Sprout patiently waits under the Grooming Table while everyone is coming and going. Every now and then she gets to play show dog for the video camera
or gets to find the Tunnel. I do find it funny that she needs to be carried up and down the deck step, but manages to haul down the yard ( and back ) when
the treat bin is out.
Some noteworthy observation or points ( all Niven ):
- Swimming
-
It did not take Niven too long to figure out she needed to step onto the glassy floor to get the Bumper laying in the middle. Once she really
got the hang of the whole experience, she was performing at least ten foot flying leaps off the concrete deck.
It was fun to watch her swimming style go from complete splash, to splash only going out, to no splash. It was almost as if she needed to learn how
to move her body first and then handle the driving desire to get the Bumper before something else did.
Unfortunately I have not been back in some time
to let Niven retrieve for an hour, but will have to get back into the practice.
- Rally-O
-
Going back to Obedience, even though it is Rally, I noticed a lot of things I had missed training with Niven. One of the most important was the "watch me" command
which nearly all the dogs had upfront. Since I had not started formal training and the one Obedience class we did go to when she was six months old really did
not stress this, I am struggling now. The great thing is that this is Rally O and not formal obedience, where the mindset is a bit different for training
purposes. Since this sport is a bit looser I have been able to force more of a focus, which is starting to carry over to Agility. I had only intended to
run the six week long course, but after seeing what I had not trained, we are entered in a continuing class.
Aside from all the things I have not been doing, Niven has been progressing faster then even I thought. There are focusing issues that stem from her never
having been asked to do so in the company of people so there are the 'nose drifts' when someone is too close. Overall, I am more then impressed with both of
our performances! ( I even got a compliment on one of our Rally Course runs in Tuesday night's class. Everyone said it was the model, which is really nice
because I entered for me to learn how to do this and for Niven to learn to work in a new location within a new sport. )
- Agility
- This has been on going since January and there have been a lot of things we had to learn. Since this was a 'foundation year' where everything was new to both
of us, trying to capture every last highlight became next to impossible. Our Monday night class has progressed quickly and we are finding ourselves running
technical courses of Open and Excellent elements. Sometimes this is frustration with a Novice Dog, but it sure makes Novice Courses at Trials look 'do-able'
I definitely need to practice more then once a week, especially since Niven can and will deep focus and forget to listen/turn or will space out. She has
mastered the TOTO on the Contacts and seems to follow direction when Tunnels are placed under the heavier equipment. One thing that still remains is the knocked
bar when Jump Heights are changed, this more about her learning where her body is and what she needs to be doing. Again, what is needed is more practice time
and wider space to do so, but this is now limited to class time ( since it is Winter and the backyard does not really offer this ).
- Retrieving
-
In all fairness, I have let this part slip to the side. I am getting to a point where I really need to change things or figure out how I need to change it.
Ok, I realized Niven needs to be trained to look back AND take direction. This led me in the direction of Obedience, more so the "Directed Retrieve" of AKC
Utility ( thus the Rally Class ). We have gotten to the point where Niven will go out and retrieve one Bumper at a time from a stack placed way out, but I have
run into a huge stumbling block. I had to check the requirements for the AKC Hunt Test and what has developed will not fly in competition.
I can get Niven to haul out to the pile of Bumpers, but when they are set apart, she will pick one up and stop at the second/third to see if one of those
is better. The other day, I had marked each Bumper with a number and realized this was more for investigation then it was for desire of retrieving a "better
Bumper". She places it down, sniffs, contemplates the whole thing, puts that one down, ( sometimes repeat if more then one offered ) goes back to the
original Bumper and comes in. All I can hear when she does is this is.......ZAP of the non-existent Wireless Training Collar. Unfortunately, this is not a
current option and I want to know of other methods before heading down this road. Hunters have been training Retrievers for hundreds of years and there has to be
some old ways out there. In the meantime of figuring this magical world out, I am letting this fall to the background. The only thing I can do to keep from training something bad is
to keep this limited and keep the Bumpers together.
There was one day when I took Torch and Niven to the park to practice with Niven on the 270 Degree Agility Turns. I took along a bag of Bumpers and in between
working Jumps, set them up to send her out. What was interesting is that she had a harder time focusing in on Agility afterwards, but with a lot of call-offs for her
to go and find Bumpers now in the truck, she really did well.
There was one last major achievement from the Fall season. I managed to get Sprout, Niven AND Torch to sit long enough for Mike to take a new Group Doggie photo.
Considering the circumstance of Torch's age and lack of "wait" training, I am calling this too awesome not to acknowledge.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
To bring some life to a "about to flurry any minute" late Fall day, I took Niven and Torch out back to the street behind us to work "walking around in circles". I took
the video camera as I love to come back to this stuff with time to do cross compares. I was not really in any type of training mind frame other then to have
some time where the dogs could get higher rates of treats and just enjoy standing in place. I am sorry the day was not brighter or that Mike was not feeling
well because Niven was cooperating and Torch was really moving out with both ears up.
The biggest problem with Niven working Breed is that she is a pain in the butt. I realize I only asked her to do this every now and then and there was no
formal Breed Movement Training, but to get the photo below I did today was.....an achievement. Oh thank you Video Camera! I am sure someone would laugh at her
tail, but at least I got a photo with it.
Meanwhile, Torch was strutting out and learning the trick behind "baiting", really pulling his ears straight, pulling forward and reaching. His expression is
lost in the photo, but was perfect standing out in front. I cannot ask for anything better!
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Winter 2009
The Holiday Season rolled through just as fast as the Fall Season seemed to fly by. On a personal level nifty good things came along, a new
niece arrived
and another cousin soon to be born announced. The kittens managed to not knock down the Christmas Tree as I had anticipated and the puppy let them use the
security it offered as a "safe zone". All in all, the household saw a very festive season without breaking anything.
Both of the clubs I am currently training with for Rally-O and Agility took either a two or three week holiday season break. Just as Niven and I were getting
started, she came into season, which means the two of us had to pull from classes. Torch, on the other hand got to attend a Handling Class at a third training
location. How I managed a schedule like I have for the past few weeks, I have no idea, but sad for me, it will not be like that come the next session. Niven
and I will have to practice our Rally out on the "back road" because I cannot be in the Tuesday night class.
That is part of the problem when you have three different clubs offering different services and none of them are coordinating their schedules to each other.
Although it would rock if I could get everything into one night, I cannot. Since we moved away from the area, the drive is twice the distance, creating a
greater limitation. At least we got to attend what we did and I have a better understanding of how to 'run a Rally Course". Niven and I just need to keep
practicing where we can until a new schedule develops and we can return to class.
Niven
Agility
No sooner did Niv and I return to Agility class after the Holiday break, then we had to sideline again for three weeks. This week was our first back
and despite the long absence, she really did hold it together. There were a few hiccups, but that mainly came from me being out of position, swinging too
fast, or "just being rusty too". I elected to run her again at 20" just to get back into things and will have to go up to 24" since we are entered in a trial
during March.
Looking forward to seeing how well we do at the trial, but I am remaining reserve about Qualifying. If this were later in the season and we had more of a groove
I might be a bit more demanding, but Niven tends to surprised me when I think there might be issues. The idea is to just get out there and "de-green" the same
way I had with Crumpet all those years ago.
Rally-O
This week also marked the first time we were back in class since it started. There is only next week left and after that the club's schedule returns Rally
to nights where I cannot attend. The club just acquired a new portion of the training facility and I might have to rent time some time for training in Rally and
Agility, toting Torch along for beginning "fun stuff" agility.
Niven really pulled herself together and settled into class very well. I almost want to enter her in a Rally Trial in March to see how far along we are,
especially since Rally Novice is performed totally on Lead and "extra" commands are allowed. The only hold off is that I would like to concentrate on Torch's
showing in Breed for the first few times and until I can settle into handling both rings.
Retrieving
This has ground to a halt and left to Mike playing ball with Niven. Mainly, the backyard is four inches of mud and it does not need to become five. I did
take her to the Dog Pool this week and she was once again performing her amazing ten foot leaps off the pool deck, so at least that is not lost. I think she
has become comfortable in the water, splash is really non-existing except when she gets herself out of stride. At this point, I just need to get her out to
the local parks to work.
Torch
Breed
The Torch-man made his Breed debut in January during a Saturday Night Match. Despite it being his first show, having his eyes CERFed, being groomed and then
asked to "show", I thought he did amazingly well. He took a second placement
that night, so it was a very nice way to get back into the rhythm of the breed ring.
For now, we have been attending a handling class where Crumpet went, followed by Jazzy and Victor years ago. I love this class as I normally get "yelled at" and
always walk away feeling like I have learned something. Torch is still trying to figure most of it out, but does not mind the extra treats that seem to come
flying from me.
I am thinking about entering a day or two of shows in March and a few in April, but time will tell.
I will have to get back into the swing of keeping the training log, but since the start of the fall season, very little has been going on with the dogs. Most
of the training has been going on in classes since backyard practice has been limited to what I can work on the asphalt of the back road.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
I figured today would be a good one to get both dogs to the backyard road for Rally and Breed practice. I started with Niven intending just a few minutes of
Heeling, with a Stand and Recall, while throwing in the Rally Cones.
Unfortunately, there was a high wind and distraction from the weather had me not focused,
how can I expect the dog to do the same? Ironically, Niven heeled along as if she has always done this with minor focus distraction coming from the people down
the road shoveling dirt onto their lawn.
All in all for the length of the session, weather, wind and my interest, I thought this went very well. I took her back into the house, got the Torch-man
and the bag of Bumpers and made our way back through the yard. I figured I would work with Torch and then bring Niven back outside to see what she would do
for "directed retrieving". As we made our way through the yard, I put the four bumpers out and continued to the back road.
I wish I could say the session with Torch was stellar, but the winds were blowing the Dumpster lids down the street and the Tarp on top of the pop-up trailer
was not helping. I walked Torch back and forth and decided to abandon the Breed training and work the 'scary noises'. Sometimes that is the best thing one can
do.
I definitely like the way he approaches "the scary", his manner very similar to the way Niven handles things. In the beginning she would "ten foot bolt" to
stop, turn around and return to whatever spooked her in this first place. It is almost like a "fear facing knowing things are now safe". Torch was no different
and was more then willing to nose the tarp or dumpster lid. Having accomplished that, we returned to the house with the idea that tomorrow I would head to a
park for practice. I was hoping the wind would die down by then.
Since the bumpers were already in place, I brought Niven out in a 'near heel' and set her up on the deck as I would normally. Usually she sits there while I
head out and place the bumpers and return for send out. I think she locked onto the two "orange" spots on the other side of the yard, but when I sent her,
she bolted straight for the bumper hidden under the arbor halfway out. She returned and was sent out until all four were retrieved.
This is the interesting thing. Niven retrieved each bumper as it was placed ( halfway, three quarter way and two on the other end of the yard ). How she
knew one was 'hidden' I have no idea, but can only speculate she searches there first for a lost ball throw. Even cooler, was that the two furthest bumpers
were retrieved while "ignoring" the remaining one. This is something I have been struggling with as Niven tends to pick one up, then
investigate the others,
before coming back in with the original bumper.
The last part I ended with was more of a Utility Dog exercise of Directed Retrieving. I wish I could say this was perfect as it was not due to her foot getting
caught in one rope and leaving it for the other one or not delivering to hand. What was interesting is that Niven was focused on the right one and I sent her off
to the left one, which she readily did. The second part was her running off ( which is normal when she needs to stretch the mind and body and runs out to come
back in ) and coming in toward the other bumper. "Leave it" was issued and she kept on going without stopping. Despite the whole performance as it looks in
the Obedience Rings being totally 'shot', I did walk away with two new happy points.
That is where I left all training today.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Waking up this morning held too much promise of one of those days. It was Monday without
employment to head to, Puck managed to spill an
entire cup of coffee over the desk, and Torch was getting put in his place by Sprout. When Niven consistently showed up to nudge, I had about had it.
Time to get my butt up off the chair and head to the great outdoors. I threw the hair up and put two dogs in the truck
without much hassle from either one. Sprout would be spared and could be walked to the other side of the yard for adventure. Poor Sprout, got left home again.
Off we went to the State Park.....for what I had planned to be a longer walk, but turned out to be pretty short....something about high winds and cold
temperatures. ( My ears hurt shortly after starting out, so we will have to do this again tomorrow....if it is not so windy. )
My idea was to take both dogs for a walk and work both in either Obedience or Breed, but the winds were too strong and I elected not to have Torch's first
experience on a Flexi-lead ( where too many things are learned at once and can cause less enthusiasm for working at the end ). We walked along the lake until
the path disappeared and headed back via another road and pathway to cut back and around......you get the idea. That is the great thing about dogs, they never
care if you find yourself on a familiar pathway just covered. If anything, they thrive on it.....because now they know where they are.
Torch is the one that took me unaware while I was lost in some thought.
Splash
~~
Looks over and down at the product of an international breeding of
Group Placement Parents standing up past his elbows in near frozen lake water.
~~
"Seems you might just be like them," I thought. "Why could Niv NOT do that from the start? Noooo, she had to create Reed Bridges over puddles."
Meanwhile, Torch was looking at me to tell him to get out, but I was more concerned with the water temperature. If he was willing to go in and have it not
bother him......realizing I had not said anything about catching him, after the leaf he pounced and by that time Niven was pulling both of along. Of course
the only time she looked at the water was when it was below by seven feet. Eeeek.
Anyway, we had a fun time and returned to the truck, hoping tomorrow might be better walking conditions. Since I am stuck here, might as well wander around.
I did work Niven very quickly in Heeling, just to see what she would do with the higher winds and new location. I was very pleased to see her lining up and
really trying to focus, nearly giving a "200" performance for what was asked for.
Friday, March 13, 2009 and Saturday, March 14, 2009
I entered the Torch-man in his first Point Show for this weekend. At this time, he is just nine months and gets to move into the 9-12 Month Puppy class.
Since we have been attending Handling Class on Wednesday nights, I wanted to see how well along we were progressing and thought it was time to 'throw him in
to a few shows' just to get used to being in the Ring. At this point, it really does not matter if the entries draw up Majors since we are just starting out,
so I thought a weekday and weekend day would offer a smooth transition from less busy progressing to busy. What I was not expecting was to have both days be Majors in Dogs.
Kandy and Sherryn were kind enough to not only save space for Torch and me, but to also take the time to groom him out on Friday. I had a lot of fun watching
everyone get the dogs ready for the ring and one by one disappear to the main aisle way to stretch doggie legs and get their brains focused. Torch and I were no
exception, joining a few minutes later.
There was only one 6-9 Month Dog puppy and just us in the 9-12 Month Dog puppy class. I was bummed out in that I was looking forward to seeing what the judges would think,
but was more then happy to not only have the initial time in the ring, but to stand outside and get ready to go back in for Winners Dog. Since I had entered
with 'training for the ring' in mind, this was important to me. Yes, Corgis are known to win points from the Puppy Classes and it does happen often, I just
decided I would handle him to the best of my, his and our potential ( in other words be serious ) while maintaining the focus of ring training. There is a lot
Torch has to grow into over the next year or two and for some reason we humans get it stuck in our heads that they have to be finished their championships before a
certain time frame. Yup, we would all love to have the puppy that finishes by the age of one year, but for now I think I will continue to go to class and show
to our best while having fun and being proud of the way we worked together. This is definitely the foundation to my forming of the working team.
High Points from the Ring
:
Torch really stayed focused on moving around the ring, only breaking gait while in for Winners Dog and the whole class was moving to fast. He did step out, but too fast,
as that is what he is used to in class when the big dogs. I did 'correct' him for it the next day, but will have to work on that away from the Ring.
The Table portion was not bad, if anything Torch was not thrilled about standing there after half an hour of grooming fuss. At least this time around he
was able to 'see' and not have to go through the Eye CERF like the match back in January.
If you want to know the truth, Torch really did well all around and I am looking forward to watching him grow up, move into the older classes and seeing
what he does as the future becomes the present. For now, we will continue to attend classes on Wednesday night and enter shows 'here and there' until his age
catches him up.
Dog Shows in general have not really changed, just some of the equipment and modes of getting stuff into the building. Had to laugh at myself for having the
grooming table on wheels....everyone seemed to be looking at it as if they were seeing a vintage car being rolled through. To think I almost ditched it for some
thing smaller and buying a dolly.......
March 16, 2009
Since Niven was left home while Torch got to parade his handler around the ring for two days, I figured I would take her out to 'some place special'. Friday morning
the Retriever was bouncing all over the place, excited because she thought she was going out for another day of Agility. The
disappointed squeaking could be heard
all the way out front while I packed the car. Saturday morning saw her sitting patiently, watching me back out the door. There was something heart
wrenching about this simple act, so I planned a trip to the doggie pool for today. We went last month and with my cousin's Baby Shower,
Agility Trial, Breed Shows and
park wanderings, I have not really had time to take Niv.
The first dive in was performed as normal, only this time I really thought Niven was going to haul off the concrete deck and jump in. Instead, she did her
normal run around to the side, but instead of stepping on the glass floor and flop into the water, she did a jump to the center point. After the first jump
she was back to her famous half-pool leaps.
At this point, I wanted to see if I could start getting her to look back at me for direction. I figured if she was sent out and started to swim towards the
wall where the Bumper normally is, it would take her a second or two to realize there was nothing there. This is important because on land, she will begin to
haul in to me instead of stopping to wait. I do not want to have to re-send and potentially lose whatever I have trained now.
I sent her in and about halfway, Niven realized there was no Bumper floating and started to circle around looking for it. I kept making a noise to draw her
attention back to me and it took more then a few seconds for her to come out of 'search mode' and look for direction. As soon as she did, I was able to praise
and then throw the Bumper to its normal spot. What was amazing was as the pool time session wore on, I practiced this a few more times. Within six
send outs and attention 'back to me', Niven was beginning to realize the Bumper was not where it was located, stayed in place and then would send with the
throw of the Bumper. Obviously this is not the finished product, but it was a perfect way to start, as I have been having problems with her NOT taking direction
from me because the focus is too strong. Either I am not getting through the focus or she is totally ignoring me to keep from being called off from the search.
At least there was a hanging tongue and glassy eyed look when we finally left for home. Niven got to jump and swim while we practiced her "Wait and Throw",
"Wait, Throw and Send", "Jump After It" and "Jump, Search, Look back, and Send with Throw". I meant to take the video camera today, but got halfway there
when I remembered that I forgot it. Next time...........
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Spring 2009
June 16, 2009
Where does time seem to go lately? I think I have accepted the fact that I come in here every now and then and realize either:
A) How much training I have NOT done
B) How much training I have done
C) I am slowly growing accustomed to the "Whatever" attitude.
When I sit back and think about the countless hours spent training Crumpet, I shutter at having to go through the heartache of that much "travel" wear.
This can
often over take in feeling and I find myself not wanting to go through all of those motions, even with something as simple as a weekly class. Alas, some how the
energy seems
to show up and I find myself going, if only for the glassy eyed look Niven and Torch give as they are performing Agility or Show Handling.
So....with that said, we have mowed our way through Spring with a few events and lots of training classes. Currently, Niven and I are not entered in a Rally class and
I have let that go for now. My original intention was to train enough to enter Rally Novice while Show Handling Torch in Breed. As it goes, I am normally nervous that
both rings would move at the same pace and both dogs would "go on" at the same time. I have yet to be disappointed when the schedule arrived and 'fears' were confirmed.
For Spring, Torch was entered for a few Breed Shows with the idea of getting ring experience for the little man and me back into the routine of showing. I chose to keep to
entering
only one weekend day with an exception here and there due to the event itself or the close location of the show. Part of the experience is driving for two hours to get someplace
and I never thought the 'stress of travel' was worth putting on a growing pup who would face so many other challenges throughout the day. As for Torch's performance at each show,
I have to say he is coming along nicely and does try with all his heart 'to do the correct thing'. Each day offered something different, from indoor shows with echoes to outdoor shows
with tall grass and rain, he always plotted along to show well. At the end of the day, that is all one can ask for.
Kandy had asked me to video tape a few of her dogs, Dara, a litter sister to Torch was one of them. I had fun watching the various dogs all related being moved back and forth and am
glad the video exists. Wish I had this camera a few years back for Niven, but at least it is being used now.
Dara and Torch Video.
I am having fun with re-learning to groom with Torch in mind and going to Wednesday night Handling class under Pat Foley.
Unfortunately, obligations to TBAC have this class abandoned
once or twice a month, but what I have learned in the few short months of 'going back to class' has been beyond priceless. Pat has been a huge help for me, especially since she knows she is
training people to handle whatever dog they bring, not try to train the dog itself. That alone is half the battle for any instructor with a class. I really
do look forward to the next show and am enjoying the class and show day more.
As for the Performance areas of dog showing, I have not touched the little man with the exception of using the Tunnel for variation in Show Stacking ( have to do something fun...
he is a Corgi after all. I am thinking
about getting him entered in the January TBAC Agility Beginner's Class only because Sandy's training program starts with no/low Jump bars and lots of "footing stability" training.
By the end of sixteen weeks, Torch would be turning two years old and we can really start moving on without the fear of
damaging growing bones.
Niven on the other hand is past the growing stage and has progressed very nicely in Agility, Rally and Retrieving. I wish I put more of a demand on the second two, but I do try to
get out and work something while we are out and about. I have been unemployed since February and have had the time to take the dogs to French Creek State Park for mile long walks.
It is more of a treat for Torch, who once bathed for a show is limited in the mud factor. During those outings, I have pulled out the Rally Cones, Leads and Treats and we have practiced
with Rally-O & Retrieving and Breed Handling. I figured out that working each for five to ten minutes and rotating each other for two sessions has worked really well, giving
both a time to rest the brains, if not the body.
Mike celebrated his 40th Birthday on June 6th and we stayed at his Aunt and Uncle's Lake House in New Jersey for a short weekend. I was thinking about where to get both dogs into the water, but this particular lake
does not have easy access for flying dogs. If the beach allowed dogs, I would have used the swimming area, but I guess over time so did everyone else. Instead, Sprout, Niven and Torch
had to play the part of being a kenneled dog, staying in the backyard kennel. We did set the Ex-Pen up on the lake so they would not be 'left out' when we moved to sitting on the dock on
Saturday night and Sunday morning. I did managed a few minutes ( this was a surprise party that lasted from 9am to midnight so there was not much time for anything ) on Sunday morning
to take Niven over to a partially fenced baseball field to lob the Bumper a few times. I was very pleased with her focus, drive and retrieves themselves,
especially since I have not
touched this sport training in a while.
Since Torch and I were entered in Breed Shows this weekend, I felt bad that Niven had patiently waited so I figured I would head to the dog pool to let her swim around. When I got there
no one was there and one of the kennel dogs was locked inside the pool area. I was not about to create a scene or
disturb the nice wet German Shepherd, so we drove to the local park instead.
I was weary about using the river today since the rain has been heavy all week, so I chose to stay in the field and try to attempt some kind of training and hand-held video taping.
I was able to get more distance with the Bumper Throws and Niven did some nice send-outs, but there were more then a few points a Professional Trainer would scream at me about. I
did manage to get video and condensed most of it to one file.
Land Retrieving
With Niven's tongue hanging lower then her long legs ( a feat unto itself ), I figured we would try the river and see how things went. I was NOT pleased with the visual strong current,
but decided to let Niven 'tell me' if enough was enough. Never mind the fact that the cell phone was left in the car and keys and camera left on the ground....just in case I had to splash
to make the retrieve. I wish I could have thrown the Bumper further, but toward the end I was pushing against a current and I was no longer comfortable.
Perhaps if Niv had more
experience with moving water, I would be hauling the thing in, but again as it was last February......it really was not worth the dog's life.
Water Retrieving
With the Bumper Retrieving slowly making a come back, Niv and I have attended one more TBAC Agility trial where she picked up a second Standard Qualify. The story can be read
by following this link if you are interested, but the weekend proved
interesting for "Niven Observations". On Sunday she really tried to pull it together, but I was left wondering if being at Dream Park time and again really was not helping.
I have her entered in two more trials with one being outdoors and the following one back at Dream Park to see if that makes a difference.
I have to say Niv is really fun to handle, different then Crumpet ever was, but with the same type of flare. Maybe it was the same with him and I just never knew enough to understand
the thrill, but my god is Niven quick. Coming back to all sports I really could not have asked for two dogs that "give their all" like I have with both Niven and Torch.
Making the attempt to handle Niven at break neck speed to avoid the Labrador PSI Collision Impact during the dreaded Front Crosses has been most of the thrill. That alone is something I never had to worry about with the twenty-five pound Corgis years ago.
Then again, years ago Front Crosses were not in vogue and not all the rage. I do find myself falling back into old school handling strategy that always seemed to work................
Looking forward to the Summer fun.
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Summer 2009
Monday, June 30, 2009
I start this summer with a positive note, Niven received her AKC Novice Agility Title and pick up a second
win in AKC FAST this past weekend. Despite the change of trial location and both days being hot, known issues seemed to dwindle and new ones popped up.
I have the trial story posted on the Performance Page, but this
link will take you directly there. I have come across a couple of different
themes from a weekend of observations that I really wanted to break out into a
separate set of web pages, but that kind of dulls the point of having a training log.
So much "old advice" is coming back to me, answering the question of why Niven is or was doing something different then she normally does. This past weekend's
trial offered new equipment, three differences being the Tunnels, Dog Walk and the Weave Poles and I have to smile as rational seemed slam out of now where. The
joys of having a new dog.
Tunnels
Niven began to refuse Tunnel entries starting with her first run on Saturday morning. She will look at the entry, head toward it, get there and at the last possible
moment decide I really meant something so different, like run around the back side until called back. I realized then that the colors of the Tunnels were much darker
then what we use in class. Teal, light green, light yellow, red and orange are about as dark as the TBAC equipment gets. There is plenty of light for the dogs to see their
way through long, U-shaped Tunnels. What I did not think about until late in the night is not that the dark colors of green and blue were restricting vision, but on a day of
ninety degrees, those things have to be steamer-cooking inside. I am sure that they could not have smelled right either.
In two weekends we are back to Dream Park and I am looking forward to seeing what colors this club's tunnels will be and how it effects Niven's performance. I never had
a dog refuse a Tunnel and would not have thought about it if it were not for the out-runs by a jet black dog.
Limited movement visibility with odd visual of the entryway
Higher Temperature
Possible Smell
Dog Walk
One aspect that surprised me with Niven on the Dog Walk was that she was moving slower then she normally does. I thought this was more because she was being careful and
trying to pay attention, but it was not until I saw a few pictures taken by the photographer after the trial was over that one point hit me. There were slats on the Dog Walk,
something the ones in class do not have. A lot of times a club will have to decide on what equipment is needed and always go with the option of "without slats" for practice.
( Same with height, buy the four foot high, twelve foot longer pieces )
If the dog is used to having the slats for either a visual or "feel" marker, when they get to competition and there are NO slats, speed is increase along with carelessness. More
often those dogs will "jump the contact". The reverse often sees the dog at a trial slowing down to not step on the slats that are there for footing if the dog should slip. Some
dogs who can not generalize may either refuse to perform or will jump off. Had Niven had any problems with the slatting, this may have hit me earlier, but the photographer gave
me something to look back on....I never noticed there was a difference, just that the DW looked strange with more pronounced slats. No wonder so many dogs were having problems.
Slat vs. No Slats
Slat Thickness
Slat Spacing
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