Finally...

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. :)

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!

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.

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!

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!

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.

Teeters are not so bad...

For the months of March and April, we re-took Agility 1 with Penney Morse of Sunara Dog Training and we took and Advanced Class with Lisa Lucas of Northern Tails Dog Training.

Our class with Lisa was great. Meg REALLY like Lisa's partner Dharma, the Belgian Sheepdog. Two dogs from day camp were also in our class. We learned more about shaping and backchaining and had a lot of fun. Meg now knows paw targeting, crawl, and "you're on fire" (roll over). We also put together a little routine of tricks for the Headstart Class.

Agility with Penney was also great. Things were a little bumpy starting out. Meg still does not like/trust Penney, but Penney has been great about not pushing the issue and slowly trying to regain Meg's trust. Meg was much more confident on the equipment this time around. The A-Frame is the greatest and when you aren't sure what the human wants, run through the weave poles...lol.

We worked on the dreaded teeter a couple times in the last sessions of the class. Penney had some new ideas on how to help Meg become more confident about it. First, with the teeter lowered to nearly to the ground and an x-pen blocking her from jumping off one side, I walked her across it holding her collar. Penney held the end of the teeter to prevent the 'bang'. This helped boost Meg's confidence. She was still unsure about the whole thing, but she wasn't terrified of it. By the third time across, she was doing the leading; I was just guiding her to stay on. The next session, we had the teeter at full height, but put a table underneath one end so the down side only had to come down half-way. (And Penney put a rug on it to silence the bang, though there was still a 'bang' when it reset.) The first couple of runs, I slowed the teeter as it moved so it didn't scare Meg. Meg did fantastic. By the third run, it was all her and she actually enjoyed it a bit.

Yesterday, I made a make-shift teeter for practice at home with the center point only about 6" high. Meg went over it like it was nothing. We did it about four times. When I reset the board so it wouldn't move (so we could work on other things) Meg walked on it and seemed disappointed that it wasn't moving anymore.

Meg is REALLY starting to enjoy every aspect of agility now. I can't wait until we start Agility II in a couple weeks and start putting things together more.

Next weekend we start a 4-week class with Diomonds in the RUff that focuses only on Loose Leash Walking, something we really need to work on. Then in June we take another 4-week class to work on loose leash walking in the 'real world'. I'm looking forward to this one as we get to meet at area parks and enjoy summer evening walks. Here's hoping it stops snowing by then...lol.

Meg and Kids

We've had a few visitors staying at the house for the past week, my nephew 21-month-old Jeremiah and niece 6 1/2-year-old Kira. Meg met them for the first time in July, but she was still settling in then. This time, Meg was a bit shy towards them initially. Kira was a bit too loud and excited and moved around too much for Meg. Jeremiah....well, Meg didn't quite know what to make of the little person at first. It didn't help that Bear is not kid friendly and was not setting a good example for Meg.

After the first few days though, Meg was playing fetch and doing tricks with Kira and taking treats from and giving kisses to Jeremiah. She quickly learned to associate the kids with food and play and would seek them out to say hello when she entered the room they were in, though she still was a bit unsure about them when they were loud and hyper. All in all it was a good experience for both Meg and the kids.

In other news, Meg is still enjoying day camp once a week. She's made quite a few friends. She has the most fun playing with other herding breeds and a couple of labs.

Bear injured his shoulder and cost a few hundred dollars at the vet. He'll be fine, but with the timing of his injury combined with my work schedule and the (great) visit we had with my sister and her kids there was too much going on so I decided to hold off on agility classes with Meg until March. We're also looking forward to taking an Advanced class with Lisa Lucas starting in March. I'm sure Meg will be glad to get back to a busy training schedule. She's been bored this past month.

We need to brush up on everything before classes start. I've been slacking. We did work on stay tonight (with me leaving the room and shutting the door). Meg did great!

Day Camp!

Last week, Meg started going to Ruff'n It Dog Day Camp. With the snow, ice, short days and no classes to go to, Meg has been getting a bit bored. I hoped Day Camp would give her exercise, socialization and help her gain more confidence.

On Tuesday, I went in to drop off her paperwork and I brought Meg so she could meet Dan (who runs the place) and sniff around a bit. Dan seems to really understand dogs and Border Collies. Meg sniffed him and then ignored him and he knew enough to take that as her acceptance of him and not try to pet her any further (which would have made Meg nervous).

On Wednesday morning, I dropped Meg off for her first day at camp. Dan said she did great and got along with all the other dogs. I watched her on the web cams from home. She quickly made friends with a boxer and a collie and hung out with them for most of the day.



When I picked her up in the afternoon, Dan gave me a set of pictures to commemorate her first day. So cute!



She went again for a half day on Thursday, where she made more friends and played with Jace, the German Shepherd who lives down the street from us.





She went back this week and met even more dogs. Dan said she spent a lot of time playing. She even met her 'mini me', a dog about half her size with similar markings. They followed each other around and played together for most of the day.

SNOW!!

Our last agility class did not go well. Meg has decided she does not like Penney anymore (the evil one who brings out the teeter) and barked at her straight off. So we spent a good portion of class working on that. Penney insisted we try her on the teeter again with it nearly flat. I reluctantly gave in. Meg still hated it. Then we worked on weaves a bit and that was all.

The next agility classes starts up in January. I'm not sure if we'll go. We may take some time off and work on things at home and try again in the spring. Partly because the last few classes have not been fun for Meg and partly because a deer rearranged the front end of my sister's car and we've been sharing mine to get to and from work. On top of that, the roads are covered in snow and I don't want to drive any more than necessary.

On the topic of snow, just last weekend we we had gorgeous golden brown leaves on the ground.



Now one week later we have two feet of snow on the ground.





Meg and Bear love it (as long as they don't have to stay outside too long). Here is a video of Meg and Bear and I playing in the snow for the first time:

Roll Over Beethoven...

Meg is learning to play the piano! I thought the noise might bother her but she seems to enjoy it. She isn't much of a composer, but its a cute trick to show off for visitors and another confidence booster for Meg. I'll post a video once she's had a bit more practice.

This week agility went a bit smoother as we did not attempt the teeter. Meg was hesitant on the dog walk the first time but once she was sure it wasn't a teeter in disguise she enthusiastically jogged the length of it three times with a very nice bottom-stay on the ending contact each time. On a tunnel-jump sequence, she wanted to go around the jump not over. We used some extra jump wings to block her and she happily went over the jump. The tire gave her some trouble at first too. I'm not sure why...she wanted to go through the gap between the tire and the support, not something she's done in the past. She was brilliant on the table. We've only worked on a table-down 3-4 times in class and not at all at home, but she knew what she was supposed to do. Later, in our handling practice, Meg has a very nice out and wrap, but I need to work on my hand signals still. I keep giving the same hand signal for 'out' when I'm asking for a 'switch' and Meg isn't sure what I want so I/we have some practice to do.

I'm sad to say today was our last class for Prep School. We had a play session before class and Meg was confident enough to run the perimeter of the yard for the first time (she usually sticks pretty close to me). She and Dahrma went for a run until the lab arrived. Meg did better with the lab in the yard than she ever has though. She ran around with her for a bit before deciding she had enough and coming back to me. When the German brothers arrived, they were pretty wired and a bit more than Meg could handle at the same time, but she still did ok.

When class started, Meg got to show off her new tricks ('pretty', wave, and roll over). Then she also showed off her down stay. She does very good as long as she can see me. If I leave her sight, she stands up to look for me (though she still stays in the same spot). Then she got to be the distraction for the other dogs, which was nice because we worked on loose leash walking through a maze of dogs. Meg played with Dahrma for a bit while everyone else got some pointers on stay. Then all the dogs practiced being calm and quiet while us people talked. Meg was so calm she fell asleep...lol. It was a great class, and we're looking forward to taking the Advanced Class with Lisa in January!

Let's Play!

This week in agility class, Meg once again let us know how much she dislikes the teeter. I think maybe we'll just skip the teeter for now since she is so adamant about not liking it. Most of the local competitions are NADAC anyway (no teeter). Meg also did not want to go through the chute with the cloth, though I think with a little practice, she'll get over that one quickly. We introduced Meg to the weave poles...she did well. This week we've been working with a triangle of buckets and practicing our outs, switches, and wraps. Meg does better than I do...my hand signals are inconsistent but she's training me and I'm improving (slowly).

On Saturday in our Prep School class, Meg did great in the pre-class play session. All the dogs were in the yard together and Meg wasn't the slightest bit nervous, even when the crazy lab was flying all over the place and Dahrma had to tackle her to remind her to get control of herself. Meg the workaholic just took it as an opportunity to come sit-lay-stand in front of me in an effort to coerce some treats from me.

During class, Meg kept trying to get everyone to play with her. She bowed, nudged, pounced, rolled, and wiggled for all five of the other dogs in class. A few took her up on her offer to play, but the German Shepherd pups got a bit too enthusiastic so we had to step in before things got out of hand.

We worked on impulse control exercises in class. Meg did great! We also worked on getting the dogs to do the basics (sit, down, stand, stay) regardless of what position we were in. Meg has trouble with this. She feels the need to be able to see my face at all times. So that's our homework for the week...getting her to understand she does not need to see my face when I ask her to do something.

In addition to training for her classes, we've also been working on a few new tricks. Meg already knows shake (right paw), paw (left paw), and crawl. She recently learned to wave. We've also been working on 'pretty' (sit up) and roll over. She doesn't quite have the balance for 'pretty' yet, but she's improving. I've tried to teach her to roll over a few times over the past few months, but she wasn't comfortable with it. We've been working on it for the past week with the clicker and have made progress; she'll at least go on to her side. This morning however, she had a bit of a break through and rolled completely over three times!

Distance Down

On Wednesday for our agility class, Meg was quite ornery. I think it was partly my fault because I lost track of time and had to rush us out the door so we weren't too late getting to class. Once we arrived, Meg immediately decided that the German Shepherd that was there from a previous class was out to get her (though he was ignoring her) and she barked, growled and lunged at him several times. *sigh*

Meg was all alone in class today, so we started her on the teeter, since that is where she needs the most work. On her second time getting on the teeter, she growled a little and showed her teeth at the trainer to show just how much she dislikes the teeter. After a couple more tries on the teeter, we moved to the A-frame. She tried going around it all together the first couple times (last week I couldn't keep her off of it). Same with dog walk. Then we moved to the tunnel. She likes the tunnel and started to settle down a bit after that, so we started stringing obstacles together. Curved tunnel to table, jump to tire, two jumps (angled) then tire. She liked that, but I need some work here. I have to remember to say "yes" every time she does something right. If I don't she keeps trying different things to figure out what it is I want, even though she's already done it.

Meg was in a great mood for Prep School today. When we arrived, Dharma and one of the labs were playing in the yard. Lise (trainer) suggested I try Meg out in the yard with the lab (after Dharma had worked with her a bit). We went out and Meg did very well. She even tried to get the lab to play chase, but then decided that was a bit more than she could handle and told the lab to stop (with a high pitched bark). This lab doesn't have much self control so we stepped in to help Meg out, and then all was well. Then the terrified little chiweenie Skippy arrived. Meg went up to sniff him, he was ok at first, then growled so Meg backed off (good girl!). She was ok with the German Shepherd puppies too!

During class, Meg started to play with Dharma. They get along great and it was fun to watch them swat at each other and play bow. Then Meg also went to the end of her leash to meet Skippy again. Skippy was feeling a bit more brave and let her sniff him and even came up to her to sniff her.

Last Saturday in our Prep School class, we started working on a distance down. Once again this week, due to work and the shorter days of winter, we weren't able to spend much time training. Today in class, we continued to work on a distance down, but Meg doesn't quite have it. If she is stationary, it doesn't matter where I am or how far away I am, she'll go into a down. But if she's moving, she wants to come all the way to me before going into a down. Telling her to stay before telling her 'down' doesn't seem to work either.

We'll keep trying. Hopefully we'll be able to train more this week and make some progress.

A Breakhrough (of sorts)

Wednesdays agility class was pretty uneventful. We just practiced on the equipment again. Meg loves the A-Frame, Dogwalk, and Tunnel. Jumps are a bit confusing, but we're getting there. The Teeter is out to get her! (she doesn't like the 'bang')

A few hours after class though, we had a bit of a breakthrough on Meg's dog-reactive issue. We went for a walk and as usual Meg flipped out and started getting all tense and barking the second we heard then saw another dog. Only this time I had the clicker. I did nothing and just waited. When she stopped barking for a couple seconds, I clicked the quiet. It was awesome...as soon as she heard the click she immediately relaxed and turned to me for her treat that she knew was coming.

When she started barking again, I waited and clicked the quiet. She again relaxed and looked to me for a treat. I got in four clicks for quiet and didn't hear another bark on the whole walk (though she was still tense and searching for dogs at times).

Never have I seen Meg completely relax so quickly after she goes into her reactive state of mind. Even if I have her sit and look at me, she's still tense. The clicker is our new friend that will continue to go on walks with us.

Prep School, Class 2: Dog Interactions

We had a great day at class yesterday. We were the first to arrive, so we took Dharma and Meg out to the yard together. Thy got along great. Then a young yellow lab pup (5 mos old ) arrived and joined us. Meg had not met this pup yet. The pup was bouncing all over and getting in Meg's face. Meg showed her teeth and snapped at the air to warn the pup off. Pup wasn't listening. So Meg gave a bark (high pitched, half yelp). Pup still didn't listen. Lisa (trainer) stepped in to deal with the overly exuberant lab pup that was being disrespectful. Meg wasn't happy, but she proved that she is not the slightest bit aggressive even in situations where she has cause to be.

The other hyper lab and two German Shep pups arrived then. The bouncing labs went inside while the more mellow dogs stayed outside. Meg did well with the German Shepherd pups who were much calmer.

After everyone had a chance to meet, then settle down, we worked on clicker training again. I even got clicker trained by Lisa (rewarded with a dollar!).

Meg needs to work on Stand this week. She does great at the focus exercises.

Watching Meg interact with the other dogs was fantastic. I learned a lot about her this week!

Why go over when you can go under?

Meg and I began our Agility 1 class with Penney Morse today. Unfortunately, there's only one other dog in her class so it won't do too much for getting her used to working around lots of other dogs, but we still had fun.

First, Meg got to try out the tunnel. She thought it was great and wanted to go through again and again. Then she gave the A-frame a try...that one was a bit scary the first time, but with a little help, she got the idea and went over 2 more times, getting faster and more confident each time. Then we worked on the wobble board a bit, followed by the dog walk. The dog walk was scarier than the A-frame and Meg tried to jump off onto my shoulder on her second time over, but by the fourth time she was trying to run it like a pro!

Then we gave the pause table a shot...that was easy! And we listened to the teeter bang against the ground...Meg found that a bit scary, but tolerable.

And last came the jumps. Meg loves to jump and leap around at home, but these agility jumps were not impressive to her. Why go over them when you can go around? Or better yet, just go under? Or best off all, knock the bar off with your head and just walk right through?

With Penney's help, Meg finally started to get the idea after many tries with the jumps so we called it quits while we were a tad ahead. We'll have to work on it at home.

All that new stuff wore Meg out. After just 35 minutes of class, we came home and she curled up on my lap and was out! I don't think I've ever seen her snooze so soundly. It only lasted about 20 minutes, but I'm glad to have finally wore her out for a change.

Prep School

Yesterday was our first Prep School class with Lisa Lucas. We were the first to arrive which gave Meg a chance to settle in and to meet Dharma, Lisa's dog. Dharma is very calm and polite. Meg got to meet her off leash and did great. Meg was very unsure of the second dog to arrive, a bouncing, hyper lab.

We learned quite a bit in the first class. We started clicker training 'focus'. We also worked on 'Causing'...getting the dog to understand that their behavior is what causes the click then reward. We first asked them to lay down with a cue/hand signal, clicking and rewarding when the elbows hit the floor. Then we removed the hand signal and just waited for the dog to figure out what we wanted on her own, clicking and rewarding when they did it. It was great watching their minds work. Meg was the demo dog for this one and caught on very quickly.

At the end of class, Meg got to meet a German Shepherd puppy (off leash) and she did great. She also sniffed the lab, but when the lab started to get hyped up again Meg started to get nervous.

Lisa brought up a few interesting points about Meg and her reaction towards and interaction with other dogs:

1. She's a bit insecure. She gets very tense when the other dog tries to meet face to face. She's much more comfortable with sniffing the rear (the end without teeth).

2. She's a bit of a control freak. When other dogs are a bit wild and all over the place (like the lab mix in class), Meg feels the need to control the situation (typical of Border Collies I'm told).

3. She feels trapped by the leash. When she freaks out at other dogs on our walk, she is most likely trying to tell them to go away because she feels insecure and can't run away.

We'll continue to work on getting Meg comfortable on leash and trusting that I can handle the situation; she doesn't need to.

Looking forward to next weeks class! (And agility on Wednesday!)

Exciting Week - Pictures!

Meg had a great weekend. On Saturday she got to go to the tire shop (to fix a flat), to the bakery, and to the hardware store. She loved it and was well behaved.

On Sunday, we went to Valleyfest for Responsible Dog Ownership Day, where we watched the disc dog competition.

When we first arrived, Meg was a bit touchy and barked at a few dogs, but she soon settled in (hiding under a picnic table for a while) and focused her attention on the flying discs. Boy oh boy, did she really want to catch one! Perhaps next year.

We also visited the many booths for local shelters and dog-related business. Meg brought home bag full of free goodies including a new toy, a Petfinder bandana, and lots of treats to share with Bear. There was a ton of dogs everywhere and Meg did quite well at ignoring most of them. A few she focused in on and gave the Border Collie stare...we'll continue to work on that.


After Valleyfest, we went to lunch and then for a hike along

Off day? - Pictures!

Colors are changing everywhere and its starting to cool down outside. Perhaps its these changes that brought on Meg's weirdness today?

At least I hope Meg was just having an off day today. It started at 5:30am. She woke me up because she needed to go out. Nothing unusual there, but after she did her 'business' she refused to come back in. When I called her, she ran away from me and then turned and stared at me. I was tired and didn't really care if she stayed outside so Bear came in and Meg didn't. At about 6-6:30am, she started barking at something so Dad got up to bring her in, but she refused to come to him too. After that, she was quiet so we just left her out.
Later in the day, we went to agility class. Meg had been doing pretty well in training all week and I was excited to show what she could do in class. Meg however had other ideas.