Engineering Dad and I were away for a week in the (not so) sunny south. It was a relaxing holiday but I missed the dogs like crazy. They stayed with a lovely couple who have been taking care of my dogs since we moved here 11 years ago. I'm pretty sure they had a good holiday too. I was thrilled this morning to be able to take them out for a walk without boots or coats (well except for me - I'm a bit of a wuss that way).
I think we are going to head to the arena this afternoon for a bit of exercise and training. I have an idea for Max's running contacts to hopefully remind him he has to run to the bottom as he has been leaping off. He still hits the contact 95% of the time but a more experienced handler told me at our last training session that it's something I'll want to fix before it becomes a problem and I think she is probably right. We'll also see how he feels about the teeter after being away from any teeter training for nearly two weeks.
I'll work contacts with Rylie too and some handling exercises for both.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Tired
I need to go back to work tomorrow to rest up! It was a busy weekend here in the nest. Nothing exciting - just busy. Saturday morning we went to the arena to train. Max's retraining on the teeter is going well I think. Before we were done I had moved to just an 8 inch table under one end of the teeter and he was going over without stopping (he wasn't running but I'm okay with that because I don't want him getting bounced again). The masters dogs were there practicing so there were a lot of dogs in close proximity. One BC even decided to come and check Max out when he was weaving and he kept in the weaves - Good boy! We were set up close to the weave poles and Max did the same thing to another dog despite my best efforts. I think I'll have to keep him on leash when there are strange dogs around because he's too interested.
The masters trainers were pretty impressed with Rylie's weaves - he really is stinking fast. Rylie is not at all impressed when I train Max and he lets me know about it in no uncertain terms. Yet another reason why they shouldn't be in the same class I guess.
I drove into the city to shop (by myself) Saturday afternoon. By the time I left the mall it had been storming and it was a really miserable drive home. The socks and hand lotion I got weren't worth that drive.
I had a work project Saturday night and Sunday morning - after that we went to the dog park. I think dog parks are Max's favourite place in the world because he just runs and runs. We went back to the arena this afternoon to train by ourselves. I mostly worked contacts with Max since we needed that. Rylie just wanted to run and jump. I tried a decel exercise with him and he caught on the second time. I was pretty impressed by that. Max and Rylie both aced the serpentine exercise I set up from our workshop in December. I hope that had something to do with my timing getting better and not just the fact that they are both brilliant!
I hope both dogs will be tired enough that they will sleep well tonight - I know I will.
The masters trainers were pretty impressed with Rylie's weaves - he really is stinking fast. Rylie is not at all impressed when I train Max and he lets me know about it in no uncertain terms. Yet another reason why they shouldn't be in the same class I guess.
I drove into the city to shop (by myself) Saturday afternoon. By the time I left the mall it had been storming and it was a really miserable drive home. The socks and hand lotion I got weren't worth that drive.
I had a work project Saturday night and Sunday morning - after that we went to the dog park. I think dog parks are Max's favourite place in the world because he just runs and runs. We went back to the arena this afternoon to train by ourselves. I mostly worked contacts with Max since we needed that. Rylie just wanted to run and jump. I tried a decel exercise with him and he caught on the second time. I was pretty impressed by that. Max and Rylie both aced the serpentine exercise I set up from our workshop in December. I hope that had something to do with my timing getting better and not just the fact that they are both brilliant!
I hope both dogs will be tired enough that they will sleep well tonight - I know I will.
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Operation Bang for Beef
I'm also doing this exercise with Rylie a) because Rylie will not be left out and b) I think Max's tentativeness comes a lot from not regularly practicing. He can't eat beef though so he kind of gets ripped off in the treat department but shhhhhh - don't tell him.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Training Weekend
We went to the arena yesterday to train. There were some dogs there that neither Max or Rylie knew so it was a good distraction. We got in some good distance work. Max is still having issues with the teeter - and with the car for that matter. I do have a plan around that. I bought a pound of stewing beef separated it into small packages. I know he loves beef so I'm going to reward him like crazy when he bangs the teeter and gets in the car. You have to know that I love my dog a lot because the thought of touching raw meat gives me the heebie jeebies. I do most of my cooking without ever touching the raw meat with my hands! He's such a good boy - and the way to his heart is definitely through his stomach. I just have to be patient and not rush him.
Rylie was amazing! I wish I had a video camera. When he does the weaves he throws up such a cloud of dust behind him that I think I should rename him Pigpen! He was great at the distance work and every bit as good as Max at following my body signals. He got really annoyed when Max was stressing over the teeter because he wanted to show him how to do it!
Today we went to the dog park in our nearest city. I love this dog park. I don't want to jinx us but we've never had an issue there. All of the dogs appear to be with someone (as opposed to some parks where dogs have followed us around and been annoying to my guys without me ever being able to identify who they were with). Max is Mr. Social and feels the need to say hello to pretty much every dog. Rylie has a strong preference for black dogs. I had to call Max out of one scrum of three much larger dogs play wrestling because I was pretty sure he was going to get squashed by accident.
All in all it was a good weekend.
Rylie was amazing! I wish I had a video camera. When he does the weaves he throws up such a cloud of dust behind him that I think I should rename him Pigpen! He was great at the distance work and every bit as good as Max at following my body signals. He got really annoyed when Max was stressing over the teeter because he wanted to show him how to do it!
Today we went to the dog park in our nearest city. I love this dog park. I don't want to jinx us but we've never had an issue there. All of the dogs appear to be with someone (as opposed to some parks where dogs have followed us around and been annoying to my guys without me ever being able to identify who they were with). Max is Mr. Social and feels the need to say hello to pretty much every dog. Rylie has a strong preference for black dogs. I had to call Max out of one scrum of three much larger dogs play wrestling because I was pretty sure he was going to get squashed by accident.
All in all it was a good weekend.
Monday, January 24, 2011
Max
Max has always loved going in the car. This week when I took him to the vets he wasn't so keen to get in. He had slipped a little bit while jumping in last weekend so I put it down to that and lifted him in. On Saturday when we went to practice he was his crazy self when he saw me getting ready but then he ran to the car and back to sit at the door. Again I put him in the car but as our drive was a bit longer I noticed that his lip was quivering. The same thing yesterday when we went to get his nails clipped (I know - not something that is likely to relieve his stress) and then to the dog park. He seemed okay on the way home.
I have put this down to being more stressed than I realized in the crating area last weekend at the trial (he rides in his crate in the car). My thought is to take him for short car rides whenever I can (whenever possible to do something fun - but sometimes just to go get gas or go through the car wash) but I'd certainly like to hear any other advice. I also took the flexible crate to the arena and switched off dogs in it on Saturday - neither dog was in it for more than 5-10 minutes at a time - I'm hoping that will help. Both dogs sleep in their wire crates at home and will go in them without prompting whenever I am in the room. I suppose that is the key though - they can always either see or hear me.
Our next agility trial is in March and I shouldn't have to leave in in the crating area because we are visiting my son and the hotel is very close to the venue.
I have put this down to being more stressed than I realized in the crating area last weekend at the trial (he rides in his crate in the car). My thought is to take him for short car rides whenever I can (whenever possible to do something fun - but sometimes just to go get gas or go through the car wash) but I'd certainly like to hear any other advice. I also took the flexible crate to the arena and switched off dogs in it on Saturday - neither dog was in it for more than 5-10 minutes at a time - I'm hoping that will help. Both dogs sleep in their wire crates at home and will go in them without prompting whenever I am in the room. I suppose that is the key though - they can always either see or hear me.
Our next agility trial is in March and I shouldn't have to leave in in the crating area because we are visiting my son and the hotel is very close to the venue.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
This and That
We went to the arena today and practiced the tricky bit of the advanced jumpers course from last weekend and the gamble. Even after a few tries I was still bobbling the handling of the jumpers but both dogs were able to follow my handling and both dogs did the gamble we set up. It took Rylie two tries but I was pretty excited. I do think there is something funny going on with Max but I can't put my finger on it. He's just been acting a little off. The workout certainly tired him out but it just seemed to give Rylie more energy!
Rylie is a silly boy. When he wants to play ball he can become quite annoying and bark to get your attention. As a consequence he gets his ball taken away. One day I guess he had all of his balls confiscated so ever resourceful he asked to go outside. He came in with a chunk of ice that he dropped at my feet for me to throw for him. How on earth am I supposed to resist that?
Rylie is a silly boy. When he wants to play ball he can become quite annoying and bark to get your attention. As a consequence he gets his ball taken away. One day I guess he had all of his balls confiscated so ever resourceful he asked to go outside. He came in with a chunk of ice that he dropped at my feet for me to throw for him. How on earth am I supposed to resist that?
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