Flatwork Day 1

Day 1 was awesome.  I was so proud of Rylie - whether it is because the skills in this camp weren't quite such a stretch for me, or I have had that much more training since spring, or just because I met three of the other campers at the B&B at breakfast this morning.  Rylie wouldn't really tug at camp but I didn't let it bother me because I know he will do it at home and in environments that are low stress.  Eventually the rest will come.  My partner for camp was a lady with a lovely poodle  (she was very lovely as well)- he was also more food motivated than toy motivated.  I realized that some of my criteria for reinforcement zone and crate games has been pretty low but again - that's something I can work on.  Rylie was very quick to adapt when I changed criteria on him.  The only downer is that Rylie has the runs.  I even brought water from home because I know his tummy is sensitive but I guess that is his way of handling stress.  I wasn't going to feed him his supper tonight (he had a lot of treats anyway) but he was pretty vocal in his objections to that plan so he got to eat - I sense it might be a longish night.  Hopefully he won't have to go out too often.

We got back to the B&B at about 5 p.m.  The only restaurants I know in the area are fast food so I thought I'd be stuck with that but when I walked in the door the proprietor informed me that soup would be ready in half an hour.  Apparently he always makes homemade soup for the dog camp people so they won't have to pack up their dogs and take them out.  Did I mention I might never leave?

 I hope tomorrow goes as well as today.  Other than the tummy issues Rylie seemed to handle the day well and enjoy it.  He's a great partner.

Katie - yes my head often feels like it is going to explode when I go to these multi-day camps.  My own trainer goes to these camps (and is at this one) and uses the same systems so the concepts aren't totally foreign to me but you get a lot in a two day camp and sometimes I feel like I  need more than what I can get in an hour a week.

Flatwork Camp - The Day before

The camp Rylie and I are going to is only about an hour and a half from my house.  I am an incredibly nervous winter driver so I decided to spend Friday night close by and found a B&B that previous campers I have met raved about.  Our little area of the world has been hit hard by storms all week and last night they were predicting another one tonight.  Being the nervous nelly that I am I e-mailed the B&B to see if they could possibly fit me in tonight so I could drive down mostly in daylight.  I am now sitting on my king sized bed with a complimentary glass of red wine beside me and Rylie on the other side.  I was met at the door and my bags carried in.  Rylie is allowed to be loose in the house (with me watching of course).  There is a fully fenced back yard to take him out in. I wonder if they'd notice if I didn't leave?  Did I mention the gas fireplace in my room?  This was definitely a good idea - now I can sleep in tomorrow and be well rested for camp instead of getting up every hour to see if the storm had started.  For the record the skies were blue on my drive and there is no snow at all here.

I Must Be Crazy

I am heading off next weekend to an agiity handling seminar.  I hemmed and hawed about which dog to bring and I decided to bring Rylie.  Max really shut down after the seminar we went to in the spring and I'm not really sure now.  I do know that he is much fitter and thinner now and he is able to make a mistake without thinking the world has ended but Rylie is a little less soft.  My trainer also thinks he deserves the opportunity to work with me one on one for a weekend.  Rylie is also a little less trained and he tends to be quite vocal when he feels he has been wronged (like when I leave him in his crate and walk away or refuse to throw the ball for him) so it could be interesting.  I know I'll learn a lot and I think I've gotten over being intimidated by being one of the greenest handlers at the seminar (it just means I have more to learn and will surely get my moneys worth).

Crate Games gone bad

Susan Garrett's Crate Games  DVD is one of my favourite dog training resources and if I could only recommend one resource to new puppy owners that would be it.  However Rylie has shown me that it can also be turned around so the dog trains the trainer.


We play Crate Games all the time - my dogs have been well rewarded for going into and staying in their crates.  They sleep in their crates in our bedroom.  Rylie invented a game where he would go into his crate when I was in the shower in the morning.  Of course when I came out he looked so cute he got a treat.  By then Max has usually gone into his crate as well so as not to miss anything,  so of course I use the opportunity to play by calling one of them out and then the other.  Of course they get treats when they are successful.  The other day Rylie decided to take the game to a new level.  I released both dogs from their crates and went downstairs to make my breakfast.  I hear Rylie bark - hubby goes up to see what's up and there is Rylie sitting in his crate.  I hear "Oh mom must have forgotten your treat" and of course Rylie got another treat!  Impressed with his success with his gullible dad he tried it several times with me after hubby went to work.   I may not be able to resist the big brown eyes too easily but the bark is incredibly annoying and not something I want him to learn to do to get what he wants so I just laughed at him and closed the bedroom door so he couldn't play anymore.  He keeps me on my toes - that's for sure.

Agility Lessons Learned

I took Max to a trial today.  He was entered in Starters Standard and Starters Jumpers.  The standard course was a lovely flowing course.  Perhaps a bit too flowing for us lol!  It was pretty much a train wreck!  We were going great guns until obstacle eight which was the table.   Max either flew off or ran over the table - I'm not entirely sure he tried to stop.  We haven't done a lot of tables but he has been really good.  In hindsight I didn't decel at all so he didn't have enough information.  Novice handler with novice dog mistake.  Next was the weaves - Max's weaves are solid so I wasn't concerned - well he popped out three times.  I chose to handle them offside but that doesn't bother him so I'm not sure what went wrong - then there were three jumps which were lovely and a teeter.  I tried to rear cross just as he started up the teeter and he jumped off  - I probably had time to front cross and it likely would have been a better move.  The teeter had a huge bang - Max either flew or jumped (I think he jumped) off.  No big deal but not something I want to encourage.  After that it was smooth sailing until the end.  The positive was that Max continues to get faster - his running contacts were awesome - he ran right to the bottom of the A-Frame and dogwalk, and even with the table and teeter debacles and the three tries on the weaves we were under time.  It was the first time we had done a course without my trainer to walk it with us and Max finished happy.

I was freaked about the jumpers course.  It seemed to me to have a couple of really tricky bits where the dogs would have to discriminate obstacles.  Also Max was the VERY FIRST DOG to run. That has never happened to us before.  Not such a big deal because I don't watch the dogs before us but I had to manage my course walk through.   When I walked the course there was only one spot where I thought there could be an issue and that was between jumps three and four - I was confident if we could get that far we'd be home free.  I watched the more experienced handlers walk the course to see how they were handling the first four jumps and copied them lol.  Max rocked!  The dog that I worried about in the spring because he seemed to have lost his zip ran the course clean at nearly 5 metres/second (the standard course time was 2.8 metres per second).  At this venue starters is a very small group but I'm told only two of the 26" dogs were faster.

The starters jumpers Q was the one I really wanted because it allows me to run Rylie in jumpers at the next trial we are at and Rylie was born ready!  Of course I could run them both in the same class but with the small dogs having such small classes I'd probably have to run the course back to back.  I'm middle aged and not in good enough shape to do that!

Wow - This is November!

We took a drive to see engineering guy this weekend.  We decided to take Max and Rylie with us.  I had Max at a B&B when we went to camp last year but we've never stayed at a hotel with them.  I do have to say it was a great experience.  They both travelled really well and our hotel had a patio door so it was easy to take them outside.

The weather was gorgeous!  Who could ask for better weather in November?  Since we had a fair bit of time to kill on Saturday we went for a hike at a nearby Conservation area.  It was just lovely.  It was long enough to tire out the four footed ones (and the two footed ones as well!).  I love finding new spots to walk with the dogs - especially since we do tend to spend a lot of time cooling our heels when we go.  I've walked the waterfront (which I adore) many times and poked into all the nifty little shops so it's nice to find something new to explore.

Agility Weekend

Max had a great agility trial this weekend.  Saturday he was in his first ever starters standard run.  He ran beautifully.  Sadly for him the team member whose name is not Max tripped over her feet on the dogwalk and fell down.  This caused Max to want to jump off to lick her face.  To his credit he didn't but it distracted him enough to miss the last obstacle.  We came SO close I entered him in the second standard run.  He ran beautifully again and I didn't mess up either so he was first in his class with a Q.  In fact he was 3rd or 4th fastest of all the starters standard dogs of any height.  He was beaten out by a border collie and a golden retriever.

Today on his standard run he also ran beautifully.  He was beat out by his class mate Peanut but he was 2nd with a Q.

The starters jumpers was at the end of the day.  Each run Max has got faster and I just wasn't prepared for a dog who  decides he knows the line and doesn't check in with the momma.  Consequently I didn't call him fast enough and he took an off course jump.

I was so proud of Max.  This is the first time he's run more than one run in a day.  I was worried that it would be too much for him but I think he really enjoyed himself.