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!