Monday, July 9, 2012
Friday, January 6, 2012
Double the weave poles...no problem!
So I FINALLY got around to putting together another set of weave poles, giving us a full set of 12. We gave it a shot for the first time on Wednesday. Meg did wonderful! She didn't even hesitate to complete all 12 poles on the first try. She did them 6-7 times and really seemed to enjoy the fact that she could keep going and she got faster and faster with each run (the liverwurst helped I'm sure). She only popped out a couple poles early twice, once was my fault.
Now we just need to continue working on focus away from home and not hitting the pause table so hard that she slides off of it. :)
Now we just need to continue working on focus away from home and not hitting the pause table so hard that she slides off of it. :)
Monday, November 21, 2011
Lap Dog
Meg has decided she wants to be a lap dog. It started when I was sick...she makes a good nurse. It also more comfortable than the floor. :) I don't mind the oversize lap dogs, but others in the family aren't so thrilled. I'm hoping she learns not to climb into anyones' lap unless invited.
In agility news, Meg and I are loving the Competition Level class. There are fewer students and all are at a more advanced level so the class generally moves quickly. We spend less time waiting for our turn. We're struggling with a few things though. I'm having trouble keeping Meg's focus both in class and at home. In class she seems to think the smells on the ground are more interesting. At home, its the dog that lives two houses down that distracts her or sometimes she just thinks running in circles is more fun. I have to work hard to get her attention at times and in doing so I forget where I should be. In getting Meg to complete one obstacle, I end up positioning myself wrong so I'm not where I should be to send her to the next and/or I'm blocking her path. So then I lose her focus again because clearly I'm just the dumb human who doesn't know what I'm doing.
We'll work through it I'm sure. Right now I'm trying to make agility more interesting to her by using the clicker and treat at home again (we were just using toys for reward). In class its harder. She has little interest in toys and treats are ok, but not as good as the cool smells on the floor.
We're also having some tunnel trouble. Meg tends to hesitate at the entrance of the tunnel. I've have to remember to hold at the tunnel entrance longer. If I turn away to position for the obstacle before she has all four paws in the tunnel, she'll back out of it. We stayed a few minutes after class last time and played in the tunnel a bit with a jackpot of treats after each pass. That did get her more excited about it so I'm hoping a few more sessions of doing that will turn her into more of a tunnel enthusiast.
Its cold and snowy outside. We have two more sessions before agility classes end. Then we've got about a month or so off (I think). Maybe the long break from agility will help renew Meg's interest when we start up again. Here's hoping!
In agility news, Meg and I are loving the Competition Level class. There are fewer students and all are at a more advanced level so the class generally moves quickly. We spend less time waiting for our turn. We're struggling with a few things though. I'm having trouble keeping Meg's focus both in class and at home. In class she seems to think the smells on the ground are more interesting. At home, its the dog that lives two houses down that distracts her or sometimes she just thinks running in circles is more fun. I have to work hard to get her attention at times and in doing so I forget where I should be. In getting Meg to complete one obstacle, I end up positioning myself wrong so I'm not where I should be to send her to the next and/or I'm blocking her path. So then I lose her focus again because clearly I'm just the dumb human who doesn't know what I'm doing.
We'll work through it I'm sure. Right now I'm trying to make agility more interesting to her by using the clicker and treat at home again (we were just using toys for reward). In class its harder. She has little interest in toys and treats are ok, but not as good as the cool smells on the floor.
We're also having some tunnel trouble. Meg tends to hesitate at the entrance of the tunnel. I've have to remember to hold at the tunnel entrance longer. If I turn away to position for the obstacle before she has all four paws in the tunnel, she'll back out of it. We stayed a few minutes after class last time and played in the tunnel a bit with a jackpot of treats after each pass. That did get her more excited about it so I'm hoping a few more sessions of doing that will turn her into more of a tunnel enthusiast.
Its cold and snowy outside. We have two more sessions before agility classes end. Then we've got about a month or so off (I think). Maybe the long break from agility will help renew Meg's interest when we start up again. Here's hoping!
Sunday, October 9, 2011
We're movin' on up!
Meg and I are moving up to the Competition Level class! Penney doesn't want Meg to get bored and we've been doing great lately so she suggested we move up a level.
For our equipment at home we now have 4 jumps, a set of six weaves, a tire, and our contact/teeter board to work with. Meg does fantastic at home, even when I screw up. She's gotten very good at interpreting what I want her to do and is seeing the equipment itself as a reward, focusing less on the toy I'm carrying. Though my handling skills still need a lot of work, I am improving too.
I plan on adding six more weave poles, a couple more jumps and a pause table to our home equipment soon. I'd also like to start practicing once a week at Hoodoo if we can. I'm hoping to work on Meg's focus away from home. Sometimes I lose her to some new exciting scent or a dropped treat.
We are considering entering our first agility trial in November but I'm not certain if we're ready for that amount of distraction yet.
For our equipment at home we now have 4 jumps, a set of six weaves, a tire, and our contact/teeter board to work with. Meg does fantastic at home, even when I screw up. She's gotten very good at interpreting what I want her to do and is seeing the equipment itself as a reward, focusing less on the toy I'm carrying. Though my handling skills still need a lot of work, I am improving too.
I plan on adding six more weave poles, a couple more jumps and a pause table to our home equipment soon. I'd also like to start practicing once a week at Hoodoo if we can. I'm hoping to work on Meg's focus away from home. Sometimes I lose her to some new exciting scent or a dropped treat.
We are considering entering our first agility trial in November but I'm not certain if we're ready for that amount of distraction yet.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Weaves!
Our final two Take it on the Road classes were wonderful. One was at Manito Park on Spokane's South Hill. The weather was fantastic which meant the park was very busy with a lot of people and dogs not in our class. Meg was awesome! She walked calmly with a mostly loose leash (lots of distracting smells) and paid very little attention to the ducks in the duck pond. She even said hello to Cathy Fox's (trainer) husky mix who came to join us on our walk around the park.
The final class was downtown at Spokane's Riverfront Park. Another gorgeous day and even more people at the park. Meg was fantastic and very focused on me. She even took a few treats from strangers, though she did not want them to pet her. That's ok though. She was a little nervous on the bridge over the falls at first. The high water level made for very noisy roaring falls and the narrow bridge left little room for escape. After a short while though, Meg started to relax and even looked over the edge to check out the falls. We had a lot of fun and even walked down to the lower falls, an area I've never been to before. I can't wait to join in on future classes!
On to more recent news....
Meg has really been working the weave poles! She's pretty much got her entry down and now fully understands the pattern at home. She does sometimes get a bit distracted, but she does great when focused. In class, its another story. In class, weaves are like a completely new concept, but we're working on it.
Here is a video from one of our practice sessions. It was just before the fourth of July and the neighbors were setting off fireworks. Meg didn't pay much attention to them though and did great!
The final class was downtown at Spokane's Riverfront Park. Another gorgeous day and even more people at the park. Meg was fantastic and very focused on me. She even took a few treats from strangers, though she did not want them to pet her. That's ok though. She was a little nervous on the bridge over the falls at first. The high water level made for very noisy roaring falls and the narrow bridge left little room for escape. After a short while though, Meg started to relax and even looked over the edge to check out the falls. We had a lot of fun and even walked down to the lower falls, an area I've never been to before. I can't wait to join in on future classes!
On to more recent news....
Meg has really been working the weave poles! She's pretty much got her entry down and now fully understands the pattern at home. She does sometimes get a bit distracted, but she does great when focused. In class, its another story. In class, weaves are like a completely new concept, but we're working on it.
Here is a video from one of our practice sessions. It was just before the fourth of July and the neighbors were setting off fireworks. Meg didn't pay much attention to them though and did great!
Monday, June 20, 2011
SUMMER!
Spring has been wet and cold. (Fortunately our Agility classes are indoors.) It looks like Old Man Weather has been checking the calendar however and tomorrow, the official first day of summer, we are supposed to it 80 F for the first time this year. Wednesday is predicted to be even hotter. My garden and my roses needs it. Bring on the heat!
Meg and I successfully completed Agility II and will be advancing to Agility III next week. Can't wait! Meg is really starting to get into agility. She has no issues with the teeter anymore and has gotten very good at finding the tipping point. Her contacts are great and at home her 'bottom' (stay on the contact zone and wait for me) is excellent. In class, its not as solid, but she's doing better than all her classmates.
I finally put together some weave poles for home and we've been practicing. As long as Meg focuses on the poles and doesn't 'check in' with me, she does great. If she looks over at me, she loses track and misses a pole. We're working on it. The good news is, she likes the weave poles and will work for a Frisbee toss.
We've also been working on handling skills. I have to say, Meg is much better than I am. She's getting to be very forgiving of my mistakes.
In our last blog, I mentioned we were taking a Loose Leash Walking class with Diamonds in the Ruff. It went very well. Two weeks ago we started the "Take it on the Road" class with Kathy Fox and Teri Beeman. This is a great class and a lot of fun too. It is basically loose leash walking with distractions. Kathy and Teri also give some great tips on how to handle various situations you are likely to encounter when out walking your dog. The first week we met at "the Ruff House". For week two, we met at Corbin Park in Spokane. Its a quiet park with just a few distractions. This week, we're stepping up the distraction level and heading to Manito Park, a very busy popular park. I'm a bit nervous, but looking forward to it.
Another great thing about this class is once you've taken it, you can just show up at any one of the future sessions for practice. Since classes are outside, there's plenty of room. The more the merrier. I highly recommend this class to anyone who wants to improve the leash walking and distraction skills.
On another note, Meg has shed her winter weight and is in peak condition. Bear has also lost a few pounds, which is better for his hips and joints. I too have lost some. Here's looking forward to a sunny skinny summer!
Meg and I successfully completed Agility II and will be advancing to Agility III next week. Can't wait! Meg is really starting to get into agility. She has no issues with the teeter anymore and has gotten very good at finding the tipping point. Her contacts are great and at home her 'bottom' (stay on the contact zone and wait for me) is excellent. In class, its not as solid, but she's doing better than all her classmates.
I finally put together some weave poles for home and we've been practicing. As long as Meg focuses on the poles and doesn't 'check in' with me, she does great. If she looks over at me, she loses track and misses a pole. We're working on it. The good news is, she likes the weave poles and will work for a Frisbee toss.
We've also been working on handling skills. I have to say, Meg is much better than I am. She's getting to be very forgiving of my mistakes.
In our last blog, I mentioned we were taking a Loose Leash Walking class with Diamonds in the Ruff. It went very well. Two weeks ago we started the "Take it on the Road" class with Kathy Fox and Teri Beeman. This is a great class and a lot of fun too. It is basically loose leash walking with distractions. Kathy and Teri also give some great tips on how to handle various situations you are likely to encounter when out walking your dog. The first week we met at "the Ruff House". For week two, we met at Corbin Park in Spokane. Its a quiet park with just a few distractions. This week, we're stepping up the distraction level and heading to Manito Park, a very busy popular park. I'm a bit nervous, but looking forward to it.
Another great thing about this class is once you've taken it, you can just show up at any one of the future sessions for practice. Since classes are outside, there's plenty of room. The more the merrier. I highly recommend this class to anyone who wants to improve the leash walking and distraction skills.
On another note, Meg has shed her winter weight and is in peak condition. Bear has also lost a few pounds, which is better for his hips and joints. I too have lost some. Here's looking forward to a sunny skinny summer!
Monday, May 9, 2011
Spring is here!
Spring has been a mix of wet and cold with a little bit of sunshine here in the Inland Northwest. I'm eager for it to warm up so we can get to work planting. Last month was the first anniversary of Meg's "gotchya day"! She has been with us for one year now. Looking back, we've come a long way from the shy girl who knew very little and hid in the corner. I'm looking forward to watching her grow even more as we continue our training.
Last week Meg and I started two classes: Agility II with Penney Morse and Loose Leash Walking with Pat Moberly and Judy Campbell of Diamonds in The Ruff. This is our first class with Diamonds in the Ruff and so far its been fantastic. DITR offers many focused classes to work on specific things. I'm really looking forward to taking more classes with them in the future. We're signed up for another leash walking class at area parks next month. Here's hoping the weather improves.
Our Loose Leash Walking class has been great and we've learned many new steps towards calm walking on the leash without the pulling and walking all over the place. Meg does fantastic on our exercises in class and at home in the yard, but once we start walking on the road...everything is forgotten. We'll get there eventually. I think the exercise that has helped the most is Silky Leash, borrowed from Ahimsa Dog training. Basically, it teaches the dog to respond to slight pressure on the leash by turning towards the direction of the leash, relieving the pressure.
We're also working on some thing we already know, like hand targeting and 'leave it'. It's been great to review. Our 'leave it' seems to be a bit rusty so we'll make that one of our main focuses this week at home.
There are a number of other dogs in our Loose Leash class. Some of the younger dogs have tried to greet Meg by sniffing her face, which results in her snarling at them. I need to work on redirecting her towards me so the other dogs don't have a chance to get in her face.
Our Agility II class last week was a lot of fun. We've been working on a makeshift teeter at home (a board on top of a 6-inch block). Meg has been doing great with that and I was eager to see if our training would transfer over to the real teeter in class. It did! She did fantastic, even pulling ahead of me to find the tipping point on the big teeter. She showed no sign of being nervous about the equipment at all.
She was a bit nervous about all the other dogs and their people in class though. Up to this point, her agility classes have been small, with just one or two other dogs. Our current class has 5-6 dogs in it. This is a great opportunity for Meg to get used being around more dogs and people.
One of our main focuses last week in agility was teaching the dogs to stop and wait at the bottom of the dog walk. We've been practicing this at home on a board for about a month. Meg did great in class on her first two tries, but 'forgot' on tries 3 and 4 when I sped up a bit. We spent the past week working on it some more at home with me working on both sides of her at different speeds. I think she's really got it down now. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does in class tonight.
Meg continues to go to Ruff'n It Dog Day Camp once a week. I'm able to bring my laptop to work and watch her on the webcams. She seems to love running wide circles around the other dogs and running through the bottom of the kiddie slide like its an agility tunnel. She also loves to play fetch with Dan, the human. She plays with some of the other dogs, but is pretty picky about her friends. I guess I can't blame her because I am too.
We have managed to enjoy a few days of sunshine here and there. Here are a few pictures from one of our walks. As you can see, both Meg and Bear put on a little weight over the winter. They've already begun to slim down a bit with more frequent off-leash walks through the fields.
Last week Meg and I started two classes: Agility II with Penney Morse and Loose Leash Walking with Pat Moberly and Judy Campbell of Diamonds in The Ruff. This is our first class with Diamonds in the Ruff and so far its been fantastic. DITR offers many focused classes to work on specific things. I'm really looking forward to taking more classes with them in the future. We're signed up for another leash walking class at area parks next month. Here's hoping the weather improves.
Our Loose Leash Walking class has been great and we've learned many new steps towards calm walking on the leash without the pulling and walking all over the place. Meg does fantastic on our exercises in class and at home in the yard, but once we start walking on the road...everything is forgotten. We'll get there eventually. I think the exercise that has helped the most is Silky Leash, borrowed from Ahimsa Dog training. Basically, it teaches the dog to respond to slight pressure on the leash by turning towards the direction of the leash, relieving the pressure.
We're also working on some thing we already know, like hand targeting and 'leave it'. It's been great to review. Our 'leave it' seems to be a bit rusty so we'll make that one of our main focuses this week at home.
There are a number of other dogs in our Loose Leash class. Some of the younger dogs have tried to greet Meg by sniffing her face, which results in her snarling at them. I need to work on redirecting her towards me so the other dogs don't have a chance to get in her face.
Our Agility II class last week was a lot of fun. We've been working on a makeshift teeter at home (a board on top of a 6-inch block). Meg has been doing great with that and I was eager to see if our training would transfer over to the real teeter in class. It did! She did fantastic, even pulling ahead of me to find the tipping point on the big teeter. She showed no sign of being nervous about the equipment at all.
She was a bit nervous about all the other dogs and their people in class though. Up to this point, her agility classes have been small, with just one or two other dogs. Our current class has 5-6 dogs in it. This is a great opportunity for Meg to get used being around more dogs and people.
One of our main focuses last week in agility was teaching the dogs to stop and wait at the bottom of the dog walk. We've been practicing this at home on a board for about a month. Meg did great in class on her first two tries, but 'forgot' on tries 3 and 4 when I sped up a bit. We spent the past week working on it some more at home with me working on both sides of her at different speeds. I think she's really got it down now. I'm looking forward to seeing how she does in class tonight.
Meg continues to go to Ruff'n It Dog Day Camp once a week. I'm able to bring my laptop to work and watch her on the webcams. She seems to love running wide circles around the other dogs and running through the bottom of the kiddie slide like its an agility tunnel. She also loves to play fetch with Dan, the human. She plays with some of the other dogs, but is pretty picky about her friends. I guess I can't blame her because I am too.
We have managed to enjoy a few days of sunshine here and there. Here are a few pictures from one of our walks. As you can see, both Meg and Bear put on a little weight over the winter. They've already begun to slim down a bit with more frequent off-leash walks through the fields.
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