tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26538393434123817232024-02-18T21:16:01.255-05:00The Second Hand Dogs"Sometimes a dog will show up when a person needs one most. Sometimes a person will show up when a dog needs one most. Sometimes a dog and a person will find each other at just the right moment - a moment when they need each other more than either could ever imagine." -- from Stay by Michaela MunteanDawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.comBlogger43125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-33615178584354486312014-06-15T11:12:00.000-04:002014-06-19T18:58:43.989-04:00Agility Dog<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sprout AD SG SSA SR SK</td></tr>
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The journey with Sprout continues. So far, we've realized a lot of success, but are still working hard at becoming a true team. Sometimes we're in sync and it's poetry in motion. Other times, his overdrive is kicked on so high that it blinds him to my communication or I just can't quite manage to keep up so that things can get a bit hairy. Every trial experience gives me homework for us to work on. No matter what, I LOVE running this dog. The universe certainly bestowed me with a gift when he came into my life last summer.<br />
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As detailed in <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2014/04/springing-into-action-after-winter-of.html" target="_blank">my last post</a>, I started trialing Sprout in mid-March, beginning with a USDAA Intro Trial and then proceeding through a series of UKI trials, finishing his Beginner titles in that venue and now working toward completing his Novice titles. I like UKI for him for several reasons: he gets to jump 8" as his regular height and do a 5'3" AFrame; to keep things lite and fun, especially when first starting out, I could take a toy in the ring and run him NFC; I like the courses - they are international style and not as open as the lower levels in other venues.<br />
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We will continue with UKI, but having always been a USDAA person, I wanted to give that a try as well. In USDAA Sprout has to jump 12" in championship, which is what I normally jump him while training, but I was still on the fence about competing at that height. At the beginning of May I entered him in a USDAA trial for one day to see how he'd do. We ran 4 classes - jumpers, snooker, gamblers & standard - and Q'd in all except standard when he had a baby dog moment.<br />
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With that success under our belts, I decided to continue to pursue USDAA and run him 2 days each in a couple of trials in June. At the first trial, something was off with him during the first couple of runs as he was knocking bars - 3 in jumpers and then the 1st red in snooker, giving me my first ever 0 point snooker run experience. This had me rethinking jumping him at 12". But I gave him a long massage after our disastrous snooker run and didn't have any problems in the afternoon or the next day, so it was probably something muscular that needed to be worked out. I did feel like we were struggling as a team throughout this trial though; we just weren't in sync. The starters courses are so open, which can make running a tiny speed demon very challenging. We only came home with one Q, in standard, that first day. Things improved the next day where we Q'd in 3 of 4 runs. Here is our best run of the weekend - our first time running pairs where we ran the 2nd half. We purposely took a lot of time at the baton exchange since neither dog had ever run relay before, but I wasn't concerned with making time.<br />
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And here is our snooker run from Sunday. I was pretty pleased with this up until the off course jump after #5 in the close. And we hit 37 points right on the dot, so Q'd.<br />
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The following weekend I had entered him in the Friday and Saturday of a 3-day trial. This time we really felt like a team for the majority of our runs. We ended up Qing in 7 out of 8 and, on Saturday, finishing his Agility Dog title along with his Starters titles in Gamblers, Standard, Relay, and Snooker. Here are a couple of his runs from Friday - a fast and pretty standard run and a speedy jumpers run.<br />
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And here is our last run of the day on Saturday (also our last run at the Starters level) - snooker.<br />
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Next weekend we have some UKI planned and then we'll have some time off to recoup and regroup. We definitely have some things to work on! Agility is always a journey in process.<br />
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Advanced classes here we come...<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-86986181813955437332014-04-14T14:55:00.000-04:002014-04-14T16:37:45.930-04:00Springing into Action After the Winter of Our Discontent<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's been 4 1/2 months since my last post. The reason for that? I blame this past miserably cold and snowy winter - the worst in recent memory. All my energy was pretty much focused on picturing the light at the end of the tunnel, as that tunnel seemed to grow longer and longer, and trying to stay warm in the meantime. My ability to train ANYTHING was severely limited. Too cold to be outside. Too cold to go to the agility building. Even too cold in my basement.<br />
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Three of my four dogs didn't seem to mind the cold snowy days so much.<br />
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Hokey on the other hand...she and I are kindred spirits when it comes to the winter months. I'm convinced she suffers from a form of Canine Seasonal Affective Disorder. She was miserable for months. She didn't want to go outside AT ALL. Every time, I let the dogs out, it was an ordeal just to get her to take a couple of steps off the screen porch to do her business. She would go right there in front of the screen porch door and immediately turn around and ask to come back in. Inside the house, she spent the bulk of her time leaning up against the heat vents shivering or curled up somewhere glaring and grumping at all the other 4-leggeds. Sometime in late March, as spring FINALLY showed the occasional symptom of appearing, she turned into a different dog. Suddenly she was happy again, bringing me toys to play with and chasing Sprout around.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">First storm of the season - I'm not going out there</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Different storm - same scene playing out all winter. LET ME IN!!!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spring is here at last! Time to play and celebrate!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The worst thing that happened this winter was that Sprout developed a case of demodex. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hair growing back after a few treatments</td></tr>
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He'd had something going on since late fall, but the way it presented at first was somewhat atypical for demodex and looked like allergies. For the first couple of months, it was confined to his armpit area, but then in mid-December it started to spread. He was finally diagnosed on New Year's Eve day. Then I ended up spending a good part of New Year's Eve night at the emergency clinic; I very nearly lost him after his first treatment. After that, we switched him to a different treatment, but I was still nervous with each successive one. He was never himself for about 24 hours after each one. His last scraping in early March revealed no more mites and his hair has grown back in most places. However, I still worry about it returning; his hair hasn't grown back in his armpits yet. So I continue to give him medicated baths once or twice a week and I apply Goodwinol ointment to his armpits every night. I watch him like a hawk for any evidence that he might be losing hair again. I'm also worried about an underlying immune issue that may have caused the outbreak in the first place. Skin issues aside, he's as active and happy as ever.<br />
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Speaking of which, Sprout has made his official trialing debut and is now a titled agility dog!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loot from his first trial where he went 3 for 3</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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We just wrapped up a whirlwind debut tour of 4 trials in 5 weeks - 1 USDAA Intro trial and 3 UKI trials. Our first trial was a last minute decision on my part. I had read an article about USDAA intro only trials and decided to check the events calendar on the off chance there might be one coming up in this area - and there was! Soon. Luckily I had already registered him with USDAA. It's not really worth it for me to travel to a regular USDAA trial to run him in the 1 or 2 intro classes that might be offered in a day, but a trial dedicated to just intro classes is a different story. The only thing I wish was a little different is, unlike UKI where at any level you can decide right then and there to take a toy into the ring and announce that you are running "not for competition", in USDAA Intro you have to pre-enter as an FEO (For Exhibition Only). I wanted to enter at least one run, preferably, the 3rd or 4th, as an FEO so I could bring a toy in the ring and keep things lite and fun for him his first time out. Winter being what it was and having an effect on our contact training and maintenance as a consequence, I decided to pre-enter standard, the 3rd class of the day, as our FEO run. He had some really great runs for his first time out, including a smokin' 51 point snooker run, and Q'd and placed first in the 3 non-standard classes. Unfortunately, I don't have any video of any of those runs. But here we are practicing between this first trial and the UKI trial the following weekend.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUOIUx1qxUWn31Oqw2H-zk3FtqW7yEgUkd-9ifBikP3YvfBhaB5nwtBLzJmbTLq21GcycE3NsT9xWRf6Tsr3zsB2ywrVJN2gFrxQVyFcWgxYXZNG6pnoxDLv-gDCIUsWvAsizHIhm_jQU/s1600/IMG_9695.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUOIUx1qxUWn31Oqw2H-zk3FtqW7yEgUkd-9ifBikP3YvfBhaB5nwtBLzJmbTLq21GcycE3NsT9xWRf6Tsr3zsB2ywrVJN2gFrxQVyFcWgxYXZNG6pnoxDLv-gDCIUsWvAsizHIhm_jQU/s1600/IMG_9695.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a>The following weekend we started Sprout's UKI career. I really like UKI for him because he only has to jump 8" as his regular jump height (as opposed to 12" in USDAA) and the A-Frame is only 5'3" for the little guys. I also find the courses challenging from a handling perspective, which I really enjoy.<br />
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He did really awesome once again - Qing and winning all his beginner classes. <br />
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Here is his jumpers run from that trial:<br />
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The following week, we did a small UKI trial on a Friday. Once again, he smoked the beginners courses, Qing and winning all 3 AND finishing his very first agility titles - the UKI beginner titles in both the Speedstakes and International programs.<br />
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Here are a couple of his runs from that trial:<br />
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And, after a week off, this past Saturday we completed our last UKI trial in this cluster. He's now moved up to the novice level. The courses are the same as beginners, but now refusals count. And in UKI runs have to be clean in order to earn a qualifying run. We Q'd and blued in jumpers, gamblers and standard. Sprout has always made some growly, whiny noises while running due to excitement, but at this trial he graduated to throwing in the occasional bark. Silly. Here is his gamblers run. You can hear one of his barks as he is landing off the jump between the 2nd set of weave poles and the dog walk.<br />
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In other news, I'd tried to enter Poppy in a nose work trial the first Saturday in April at the same site where <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/10/sniffing-out-success.html" target="_blank">Ollie's was held last September.</a> I was particularly interested in trialing her at this site because of her aversion to golf carts; there aren't any in use at this Gettysburg site. I don't remember when the entries opened, it was months ago. After they closed, she was waitlisted. Since she ended up at number 19 on the waitlist, I'd given up hope for her doing any nose work trials anytime soon and hadn't been practicing much over the winter. Then 3 weeks before the trial, just as Sprout was making his agility debut, I got an email saying Poppy had been pulled off the waitlist and had a slot in the trial. YIKES! I had to cram a lot of practice in. Luckily, it was like riding a bike to her; she wasn't even rusty. So my one "free" weekend in the middle of Sprout's agility trial tour, turned into a nose work trial weekend for me (5 weeks of trialing in a row - I've never done that before!). This being my 3rd nose work trial, <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/11/the-sniff-test.html" target="_blank">having already not passed once with Poppy</a>, and having been to this particular site once before with Ollie, I was much more relaxed. Just like at Ollie's trial, the order was interior, container, vehicles, and exterior. She was insane during her interior search, which was in a less creepy area than Ollie's had been, but still involved A LOT of arcade game machines. I let her off leash this time, since I didn't have to worry about antique furniture, and she spent the first 40 seconds or so bouncing up in people's faces, trying to find a way back out of the search area, and generally running around like a nut. <a href="http://edbacon.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/NW1-Gettysburg-April-5-2014/G0000CJhtfZwvHfo/I0000KHxnpnA.tYo/C0000HTjV5gnJ_rI" target="_blank">Most of her pictures from that search have some blur to them.</a> And we won't mention the crazed look in her eyes. Finally she settled down and started to work. She found that hide in just over a minute. The first comment on her score sheet was "A LOT of energy". HAHAHA! Understatement! Later in the morning, we did our container search. She buzzed right through that and found it in 9 seconds, which earned her a 2nd place. Then came the heartbreak. Yes, it was SUPER windy out, but that wasn't the reason why we didn't pass vehicles. I am 100% responsible for her not passing. I was too quick to call it when she started lingering on an area and for the first time I heard "I'm sorry, no". Oh well. I pulled it together quick. I had to because we immediately had to move on to the exterior search. Well, apparently I DID really pull it together because she smoked that search - 6.46 seconds! Good enough for first place! So, although her title remained elusive, once again, we didn't go home empty handed. Poppy certainly has her moments of brilliance. I think we're trying for a record - the most placement ribbons at NW1 trials without actually finishing a title. We'll keep trying to get that title ribbon to add to the placements she's racking up. Gotta love that crazy gal!<br />
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<b>Now What? </b>I taking a little breather and figuring out the next steps for each dog. I have a <br />
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couple of demo days coming up. The first I just show up with a couple of dogs, and do agility with one and nose work with the other. At the second, I'm actually running the nose work station at a dog activity day event, so I'll be giving talks, demos and then offering a short intro to nose work session for anyone interested in trying it out with their dog.<br />
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I'm figuring out Sprout's agility trial schedule. I'd like to get in some USDAA here and there, so I think I'm going to enter one day of an upcoming trial at the beginning of May, then take the rest of the month off to focus on training. June looks like a very busy month for UKI and some USDAA and I need to figure out what trials/days, I'm going to be able to do. I probably won't do a lot of trialing in July or August due to the heat, but we'll see what comes up.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey heeling along</td></tr>
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I'm planning to train Hokey for rally/obedience in the hopes that she'll like it enough for <br />
me to enter her in those classes at this year's JRTCA Nationals. She seems to like heel work and she's 100% food motivated and the rules will allow me to bring food into the ring in my pocket. So we'll see how that comes along. In the meantime, now that it's warm enough again, I'm starting to bring her along to the building with Sprout so she can do a little agility once again.<br />
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Hokey is loving nose work. I think mainly it's because she gets an instant payoff. I have her working on odor only now and think she'll be ready for an ORT sometime in the near future. Ollie and Poppy will continue to practice nose work. I'll be interested in seeing how the element specialty trials play out. I'm really interested in doing some of those. And, of course, I want Poppy to finally get that NW1 title! I got involved in nose work specifically for her sake and Ollie (AKA Mr. Perfect) swooped in late to the game and got his title first time out. Out of all my dogs, Poppy is the dog I've struggled with the most and I really want this title for her.<br />
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The warmth of Spring is finally here. Time to get BUSY!!<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-62846084199443753232013-11-23T12:05:00.000-05:002013-11-23T12:07:17.495-05:00The Sniff Test<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy - 1st place container search with a time of 5.37 seconds</td></tr>
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On October 26th, Poppy and I competed in her first nose work trial. It was a beautiful day in a gorgeous location - <a href="http://welkinweir.org/" target="_blank">Welkinweir in Pottstown PA</a>. Having been through the experience of a nose work trial with <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/10/sniffing-out-success.html" target="_blank">Ollie only a month before</a>, I had a much better idea of how a nose work trial is run and what to expect. This time, my 2 fellow former classmates and their dogs were also entered, so it was nice to have the camaraderie and support. I was much more relaxed at this trial than I had been at Ollie's.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Linda with Kyra (who finished her NW1 title this day at age 13), Marilyn with Mia, and me with Poppy</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr>
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We started with our morning with check-in followed by a walk-thru of all 4 elements. The searches would all take place around an estate house that is often used for wedding rentals.<br />
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Interior followed by exterior would take place in the morning and then, in the afternoon, it would be container followed by vehicle. I was a little perplexed about what to do with the interior search. I wanted to let Poppy do the search off-leash. However, after seeing the room, I had second thoughts. Not for the purposes of the search, but for the preservation of the room. This was a fancy room full of antique furniture. Poppy is an enthusiastic nose work dog. She puts her paws on on things and sometimes scratches at the hide. She jumps on furniture. I've trained her that there are no real boundaries - the hide could be ANYWHERE and it's up to her to go anywhere to find it. We were told our dogs shouldn't be allowed to jump on the furniture. I was thinking "UGH! How is that not going to happen?". <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Part of the room where our interior search was held</td></tr>
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Then it was our time to start the journey toward the house. There were several wait-stations from the in-gate to the house involving a lovely walk down a pretty trail. Unfortunately, Poppy did not have a lovely, relaxing time. The people running the trial were using several golf carts to move from here to there. Poppy has some weird fears and sound sensitivities and golf carts suddenly occupied the top of that list.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2YcPVIh4KYkQvsk3T56zlklsx0J25rzcm5H8So0iWANSRuwAu02VkcmV9_6L4JKItp4czIlkreklMxZMZncdXzYgbIbXPOPorSW1umdLD6c1n3wQWa0gJ3w9DNcLH9N5iI5V_rHsMGE/s1600/golf-cart-storage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh2YcPVIh4KYkQvsk3T56zlklsx0J25rzcm5H8So0iWANSRuwAu02VkcmV9_6L4JKItp4czIlkreklMxZMZncdXzYgbIbXPOPorSW1umdLD6c1n3wQWa0gJ3w9DNcLH9N5iI5V_rHsMGE/s320/golf-cart-storage.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The most evil invention of mankind according to Poppy</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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She was having a series of mini-panic attacks during our journey through the various stations. What's more, it was turning out to be a pretty windy day, which only added to her anxiety and hyper-vigilance. The rustling of leaves had her bolting and jumping in terror thinking that there was a golf cart sneaking up behind her. I was relieved to get to the final wait station where the golf carts couldn't be encountered. To go from that into the fancy room of complete silence was a huge environmental adjustment for me. I can't imagine what it must of been like for Poppy. I decided, for the sake of the fancy room, to keep her on leash, although I was really disappointed that I didn't feel as though I had the kind of freedom I wished to just let her loose. (Turns out she ended jumping up on the most antique looking sofa in the room during the search anyway - I was momentarily mortified).<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiks96tqZ-1tj7UC3j4PIhwiSrLSC3mfShPG3ziZtiQyHt5LN0GN6U6juOIWrU9x0WGFatgC9zwTvog4taVj7vvDOK2y_7WORvHsPbowgckIxbLWiD6Fg2P14Bx5_acXBTF5IqNhqWkpkc/s1600/Fireplace.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiks96tqZ-1tj7UC3j4PIhwiSrLSC3mfShPG3ziZtiQyHt5LN0GN6U6juOIWrU9x0WGFatgC9zwTvog4taVj7vvDOK2y_7WORvHsPbowgckIxbLWiD6Fg2P14Bx5_acXBTF5IqNhqWkpkc/s400/Fireplace.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fireplace where hide was located sans holiday flowers</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The hide was located at the bottom of a stanchion at the fireplace. Poppy showed some interest in the area early on in the search and the thought crossed my mind to call it, but, whereas she's normally very bold about her indications leaving me with no doubt, this indication was luke-warm at best. I didn't feel the kind of confidence I normally feel with her and she moved on, which is not like her either. She typically exhibits pretty strong odor obedience and wouldn't generally move off an odor. However, I did notice that she seemed very cautious about the dark marble floor directly in front of the fireplace that she would have to step on to indicate the hide location. I'm not sure if it was a visual thing with the shiny surface or the slickness of the surface making her feel unsteady, but she definitely had a reaction to it and wasn't crazy about putting her paws on it. I worked the rest of the room with her with no other signs of indication and eventually was given the 30 second warning. I felt my best hope was to take her back to the fireplace to see if she would at least give me a weak indication again, but she really didn't want to get that close to it. Something was scaring her. Time was called and that was that. No title for us today. It was both disappointing and liberating. At least now I had nothing more to lose the rest of the day, although I would spend the next couple of days second-guessing myself and wishing I'd called the alert on her weak indication since I sort of thought maybe it was there. If nothing else, I've learned how she might react in a trial situation and that her normal alert behaviors may be much weaker than what I'm used to seeing in practice. <br />
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We went from the interior directly to the exterior search without any real waiting period in between, so Poppy and I needed to recover fast. The pictures below show the exterior search area which was in the front of the house. The picture on the right gives a better perspective of the area. The threshold was the doorway (since we were coming from inside the house) and extended from the foreground of this picture to the edge of the garden area in front of the windows in the background. It ran across the macadam to a stone wall bordering driveway directly across from the house (just off camera in this picture). LOTS of cracks and crevices for hides! The hide was actually up under the seat of the bench to the right of the doorway shown in the picture on the left, although it was pulled out a bit from the wall of the house. <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZeycku8u0seuJvq_qjGBHQliLfdg60SsJ_ZZ6-rk5qpotMXAlBfUBK6NHmf-yLNsaHygUL-NQDeAbl0aC7zKWrWHSkiewxkC2xdMI3L6HgvNHy8PgRmIW-0x3IZc_tR-SqkyriHxz0IM/s1600/400x400_1376926032968-ashleydaniel-wedding052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZeycku8u0seuJvq_qjGBHQliLfdg60SsJ_ZZ6-rk5qpotMXAlBfUBK6NHmf-yLNsaHygUL-NQDeAbl0aC7zKWrWHSkiewxkC2xdMI3L6HgvNHy8PgRmIW-0x3IZc_tR-SqkyriHxz0IM/s320/400x400_1376926032968-ashleydaniel-wedding052.jpg" width="213" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmSnxMxHoP2L8R5dBJBKQ7_2HqnkvdMDZie__kd_NgzHDuMjWJ0nQ1cEkpanxMrYccfvHTcQ_vH29BBMGfdJkGH-22VIFH_E3UJsxKXwANt-4z85xPwtOszfdzHXs0yLsbXz47QK858Sc/s1600/600x600_1350590550804-WelkinweirFront.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmSnxMxHoP2L8R5dBJBKQ7_2HqnkvdMDZie__kd_NgzHDuMjWJ0nQ1cEkpanxMrYccfvHTcQ_vH29BBMGfdJkGH-22VIFH_E3UJsxKXwANt-4z85xPwtOszfdzHXs0yLsbXz47QK858Sc/s320/600x600_1350590550804-WelkinweirFront.jpg" width="320" /></a><br />
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When Poppy and I crossed the threshold into the search area, she turned to the side of the door opposite where the hide was and worked that area for a short time. Then she moved to the side where the bench was and seemed to catch the odor pretty quickly. She worked the bench and went around the back side of it. This time she gave me a typical, strong indication including pawing at the bench seat and I immediately called the alert - 22.27 seconds and the 5th fastest exterior search of the day. I felt some sense of redemption. <br />
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After a lunch break, the afternoon searches got underway - container followed by vehicle. Again, we had to run the gauntlet of scary golf carts and swooshy wind noises. Poppy almost came unhinged during our walk down the driveway to the final waiting area as a golf cart came down the drive behind us. Argh! The container search was set up in a large tent area next to the house. I gather from many photos I've seen, this is often used for weddings that take place at this location.<br />
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Of course, when we did our search, it was minus all the chairs and tables and the sides of the tent were closed. My biggest concern was how the already hyper-vigilant, hyper-sound sensitive Poppy would react to the wind noise inside the tent. The tent sat in a gorgeous location on a hill overlooking a lake, but that just meant an open area for the wind to pick up and slam into the side of the tent. It turns out, our search was so short that<br />
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it didn't become a factor at all. Whereas Ollie's container search had involved searching <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lc3Zexz8KOqcU8oTCBe2-tmp87dQ7By9xM9OYW_YLqHOprmRoqIVI3O8xbj_HgpltS88nzGpHyZ7Ls4X2xfxwxGAgD_LdK_zFbLpnWZ-kd9WPwCqLRxaG-FmsD2rjAax6w3fWmLuz6Y/s1600/IMG_7451.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7lc3Zexz8KOqcU8oTCBe2-tmp87dQ7By9xM9OYW_YLqHOprmRoqIVI3O8xbj_HgpltS88nzGpHyZ7Ls4X2xfxwxGAgD_LdK_zFbLpnWZ-kd9WPwCqLRxaG-FmsD2rjAax6w3fWmLuz6Y/s400/IMG_7451.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Evidence of our proud triumph</td></tr>
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boxes in the shape of a jack-o-lantern, Poppy's containers were in the shape of a pine tree with the startline facing the "tree trunk". If I remember correctly, the hide was on the exterior left hand side of the 3rd "bough" from the bottom. As soon as I released her from the startline, she was off and running. It just so happens that she chose to work the boxes on the outside left first. When she started to pass the box where the hide was located, she whipped around and showed interest. That was enough of an indication for me; I called the alert. Our time was 5.37 seconds!!! First place! And by far the fastest time - the 2nd place dog had a time of nearly 14 seconds. We got a nice pretty purple first place ribbon to take home, so even though we didn't get a title ribbon, at least we brought a reward home with us for our efforts.<br />
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Last came the vehicle search. The 3 vehicles were parked side-by-side in a staggered pattern with the startline face the drivers side of the first vehicle. It was VERY windy by this point and competitors were instructed to call the alert loudly so we could be heard over the noise of the wind. If I remember correctly, the hide was located on the inside of the wheel-well of the rear passenger side of the first vehicle, an SUV. Poppy worked the that vehicle a bit, as well as the drivers side of the second vehicle, which was parallel to the location of the hide. She then went around to the front and worked that a bit before coming back down and working the passenger side of the correct vehicle. She stopped and gave me a medium indication on the hide. I wasn't very disappointed in her indication behavior because normally she is too exhuberant in indicating vehicle hides and scratches like mad at the car. I'm quick to reward the find and stop any major damage, but scratching like that in a trial could be faulted, so I was almost relieved that her indication was just nose touch and some excitement. <a href="http://edbacon.photoshelter.com/gallery-image/NW1-Welkinweir-2013/G0000UfSj.RfvpQ4/I0000XtQDA2InOPM/C0000DE3ZTuiF4CE" target="_blank">Here is a link to a picture of her indicating the hide.</a> Having learned my lesson from the interior search that morning, I decided to call it. It was the right thing to do. Her time was 26.73 seconds, which was the 8th fastest vehicle search of the day.<br />
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So, while Poppy didn't end up with her NW1 title, we had 3 really good searches and I learned a lot about what I might expect from her in a trial situation. I plan on trying again in 2014. At this time, I don't have plans to pursue a NW2 title on any of my dogs, but that could change. I AM looking forward to the element specialty trials starting up next April. In the meantime, I'm going to start Ollie and Poppy on anise. And I've started training Hokey in nosework. She's absolutely MAD for it!!! I'm going to be starting her on birch odor TODAY, but here she is doing one of her first search sessions, looking for hotdogs in boxes. She caught on like she's been doing it her whole life.<br />
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Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-14815517784872387202013-11-10T22:28:00.001-05:002013-11-10T22:28:27.495-05:00The Contact Zone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPLlEwKhLzZzarAcTAN9YgwqIRIdRoQn7r6PTwuoflUUsWmiXkzeo9NMC04ObKHWyehYxrMzsjlkhnDXFqjEUK6T0tmbZWLwy0deEGxO66oaiaFge7x7HkZ75g8pEoIlOp7wwlU79VL0/s1600/Snapshot+-+46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKPLlEwKhLzZzarAcTAN9YgwqIRIdRoQn7r6PTwuoflUUsWmiXkzeo9NMC04ObKHWyehYxrMzsjlkhnDXFqjEUK6T0tmbZWLwy0deEGxO66oaiaFge7x7HkZ75g8pEoIlOp7wwlU79VL0/s400/Snapshot+-+46.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I am currently in the midst of training Sprout to have great performances on all three contact obstacles. I'm training running contacts for both the A-frame and dogwalk and a 4-on teeter. Because I live in a city home with only a small yard, I don't have space
for my own contact equipment. In order to gain access to equipment, I
rent an agility building once a week to train. Right now, this means
those particular training sessions are very contact focused; basically, I work one contact obstacle then take a short short walk break and/or run a short jump-tunnel-weave sequence before moving on to the next contact. One hour per week, may not be ideal, but it's what I have to work with and I believe I'm making the most of it and being rewarded with good results for my effort. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmgrk63v0FGFWx_op4rwn7A0K_cFoj7IJNSpBLpBTY0ct-rTtkfyWrYL6j709KXtS7orAiD8J9cAz89SrZejl6N81gMFK64-5q9L4c12oErtg4ZKhnR9qpfxsRrraM3-6Mqm6QfLPYsk/s1600/Snapshot+-+48.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZmgrk63v0FGFWx_op4rwn7A0K_cFoj7IJNSpBLpBTY0ct-rTtkfyWrYL6j709KXtS7orAiD8J9cAz89SrZejl6N81gMFK64-5q9L4c12oErtg4ZKhnR9qpfxsRrraM3-6Mqm6QfLPYsk/s400/Snapshot+-+48.jpg" width="400" /></a><b>A-Frame: </b>This is the one contact obstacle where I was able to do the ground work at home. I am using <a href="https://www.cleanrun.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&Product_ID=1700" target="_blank">Rachel Sanders box method</a>, which I previously used to train both Poppy and Hokey's running contacts. I started Sprout by running him straight through the box laid out on the ground. I decided in order to get him a little deeper into the box and to get a better bounce, I needed to raise the back end a few inches. The cardboard insert from toilet paper or paper towel rolls works great for this, although you can also add some PVC extensions. I like cheap, quick, and readily handy myself. I worked all 3 of the stationary positions on both sides of the box:<br />
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Next I added the jump grid to the box. These are two low jumps that precede the box. The 2nd jump is placed exactly 9 feet from the back edge of the box. This simulates the down ramp of the frame. Running through the grid teaches the correct striding up over the apex of the frame then one bounce before the contact zone and then a 2nd bounce into the contact zone and off the frame. It's building muscle memory for the real thing. I did have a little bit of trouble getting the correct striding from Sprout early on; sometimes instead of the two bounces in 9', he was adding an extra stride - so two little strides then a bounce through the box or sometimes he was missing the box altogether. By messing around with the jump heights and their distances from each other, I was finally able to get a consistent 2-strided performance from him. Once the consistency came, I was able to set the jumps as I normally would have. The following clip shows us working the grid over a few different days. Again, I worked the 3 stationary positions on each side and then, once he was proficient and giving me a consistent performance, I added some motion and obstacles.<br />
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Then came time for the real deal. First, I set up the grid right next to the frame and ran him through it a few times. Then I set the A-frame pretty low and transferred the box to the down contact. I set a jump bar on the apex in case that helped him get the idea of leap over the apex; I had done this with Hokey and it had helped her. I'm not sure if it really helped Sprout or not. I didn't use one in subsequent sessions. If you look at the pictures above from our most recent A-frame session, you can see that he is now consistently leaping over the apex and catching a lot of air in the process - and getting a nice two bounce descent. For him, it seemed to come as a natural progression as his confidence increased and his drive accelerated. Here is his first session on the frame. I did raise it a little bit during this first session.<br />
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Here is Sprout's 2nd session a week later with the A-frame a little higher. As you can see, he's putting in some solid performances.<br />
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And here is Sprout's most recent A-Frame session on a still higher A-frame. Just look at him FLY! His confidence and drive are really starting to take off and he is sailing over the apex and putting in two solid hits. It can be hard to really see what's going on, but the pictures above are
snapshots taken from this clip. He is catching some major air! <br />
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My plan from here is to continue to move to full height and to continue to get this kind of performance on a consistent basis, then fade the box. What is truly awesome is that NOT ONCE in any of these training sessions, has he missed bouncing through the box. He's 100% when it comes to hitting the contact on the frame so far. I am so pleased with his progress to date.<br />
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<b>Teeter: </b><a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-new-and-deja-vu.html" target="_blank">In a previous post</a>, I had shown a clip of the end behavior work I'd done in preparation for training the teeter. Finally, it was time to work the entire obstacle, starting with it set low, of course. Here is part of our first session (after training Hokey, I often forget that I can use a clicker with Sprout, even when it's in my hand!):<br />
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<br />And here we are a couple of weeks later, with the teeter a bit higher:<br />
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So far, each teeter session goes like this: the first time, run like mad just past the fulcrum, then as it starts to drop suddenly panic and put on the brakes and look like a back-peddling cartoon character, end up in the contact zone, but not down close to the end. The 2nd and maybe the 3rd time through "Oh it's that scary thing that moves when I run across it. I need to be cautious." = a slow performance and a less than stellar contact performance (i.e. in the upper part of the yellow instead of down near the end of the teeter). Then the confidence builds and builds and by the end of the session he's got tons of teeter drive. My plan is to build his confidence while gradually raising the teeter to full height over several weeks. I also hope I can get him out and get him some exposure to other teeters.<br />
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<b>Dogwalk:</b> I'm still in the early stages of training Sprout's dogwalk. So far, I am planning a running contact performance. Unlike with Hokey and the foam tiles, I didn't do any ground work with Sprout. Instead, the last month or so, I've spent time each week letting him get used to the dogwalk by walking him on leash back and forth and letting him turn around. Then I've worked the down ramp by having my partner restrain him while I get him excited and then, when he's released, I throw a toy for him to run down the ramp and through a hoop I have set up at the end of the ramp. I had originally made the <br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRC3eBMoLD0Dnc1iAXeKR-xIx5ZtPpz9pi7Uc-8LNF9J06XIYG7ULSJnJpqpvQ_6FGtzss0okarOCZ-hZsVKYY0l3Xehyphenhyphen7jXDYRG7tDrK0Ze1vgFe2JI6byZl04vfLuVJBmsx3-Dhf0Po/s1600/Snapshot+-+69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRC3eBMoLD0Dnc1iAXeKR-xIx5ZtPpz9pi7Uc-8LNF9J06XIYG7ULSJnJpqpvQ_6FGtzss0okarOCZ-hZsVKYY0l3Xehyphenhyphen7jXDYRG7tDrK0Ze1vgFe2JI6byZl04vfLuVJBmsx3-Dhf0Po/s320/Snapshot+-+69.jpg" width="320" /></a>hoop for Hokey's running dogwalk contact training and found it quite helpful since I was really at disadvantage trying to teach a solid running contact without the ability to use a clicker or any other sound to mark the correct behavior. I found the hoop taught her to run straight off the end of the ramp without leaping off while keeping her head low. She was able to retain the behavior after I faded the hoop. I'm hoping to have the same result with Sprout.<br />
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This past week was the first time I worked the entire length of the dogwalk with him (after the retrained ramp runs). Here is a clip of the result:<br />
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I'm pretty happy with this. I think his confidence will continue to build off this and his drive and speed with increase as a result. Once I feel satisfied with that, I'll start to fade the hoop and see if we retain the contact behavior I'm looking for.<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-52979278300187010572013-10-21T13:30:00.001-04:002013-10-21T13:32:52.692-04:00JRTCA Nationals - AKA Mudfest 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Did you ever want to find out what it would be like to participate in a trial held in a bog? No. Neither did I. But that is precisely what this year's JRTCA National trial felt like. Let me back up and tell of my journey across the water from south-central PA to western MD.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This would have been a more practical mode of transportation than my Forester</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The trial started on Friday, but I didn't have much planned for that day. Sprout was pre-entered in lure coursing and then I planned to run both terriers in the tunnelers agility warm-up, which is a pay-at-the-gate type class. Lure coursing ran until 3 and tunnelers normally starts around 3. The drive SHOULD take a little less than 2 1/2 hours, so I figured as long as we left town by 11 or so, we'd make it there in plenty of time for the lure coursing run and then we could do our tunnelers runs. Unfortunately, that day also happened to coincide with record rainfall for this area. Water and flooding everywhere - and the rain just wasn't letting up. York County was especially hard hit. As a consequence, traffic was horrible and travel was treacherous. At one point on Route 30, somewhere west of York, we came to an area where there was a lot of water on the road, but still passable. It just so happened that when I was driving across, an 18-wheeler was coming in the opposite direction. There was more water on that other side of the road than on mine and as the truck passed me, it sent a tsunami of water over and under my vehicle. I made it through fine, but my check engine and a couple other lights on my dash came on. It was running as normal, but it certainly made me nervous to continue driving it. I had no choice at that point. I wasn't about to turn around and drive through that water again.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not my Forester, but a reenactment of exactly what I saw. Not good.</td></tr>
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We ended up getting to the trial site a little after 3. I was disappointed since that meant I had missed my lure coursing run. As I got out to walk the dogs and get my bearings, I noticed that lure coursing was still running. I wasn't sure if I needed to check in first, but I figured it was worth a shot at trying to get my run in. Unfortunately, because of the chaos, I didn't get any pictures or video of Sprout's attempt at lure coursing, but it looked kind of like this:<br />
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Okay. Not really that bad. But the start of the course did involve running through some water and mud. The track was basically square around the perimeter of a field. It started at the lower corner, turned then went up a gradual incline where there was an agility tunnel to run through, turned again and ran along the top of the incline where there was another tunnel to pass through before turning again and heading down the slope to the finish. Sprout started out well. He chased the lure through the water and mud and up the slope. Then the momma's boy part of his brain kicked in as he got to the far side of the field; he realized I wasn't with him and how far away from me he was and panicked. He had two back-to-back runs. The first time he ran back to me as he got to the first tunnel. The second time he made it through the tunnel then panicked at he approached the far corner. He tried jumping over the temporary fencing to cut across to me. The people running the lure tried to get him to chase it again. He started to, but then gave up and came back around to me. So much for our adventures with lure coursing. I thought he'd really like it, but apparently he didn't like it as much as being with me. Hokey seemed interested seeing the lure running. However, she is kind of a princess when it comes to wet and muck and I didn't want to immediately turn off her interest by trying to run her in those conditions. Maybe another, drier, time.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The queen of speed. If I can get her to chase a lure, she'll be a force to be reckoned with.</td></tr>
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At least Saturday dawned a little brighter. It was nice to see the sun here and there throughout the day between the rain showers. I was kicking myself that I didn't enter Sprout in Agility I. Yes, he would have to do the A-Frame and DW, which I've only begun to train, but I think I could have easily "faked" an obstacle performance of each. I think he would have rocked. Instead, while I waited for the tunnelers course to open up and Hokey's Agility II class, I decided to try brush hunt with Sprout. He had no clue whatsoever about what he was supposed to be doing. He probably needs a proper introduction to rats. Who would have thunk he wouldn't just go out there and immediately hunt down a rat in a cage? Oh well. It was fun to try.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sprout wandering aimlessly around the Brush Hunt area </td></tr>
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Next came our tunnelers runs. I ran both dogs twice. I started with Hokey, who did pretty well, although about halfway through she paused for a little bit. I thought maybe because she was suddenly confused about why we were doing so many tunnels.<br />
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Then I ran Sprout twice. He did well with his first run. Excellent for his first time at a trial, especially with the multiple distractions such a excited dogs at the brush hunt area nearby and the less than idea footing due to the wet weather. He, too, seemed a little confused about why we were doing so many tunnels in a row, but took it in stride. He had one off course tunnel entry in that first run. His second run included a couple moments of distraction, but he worked well and was fast and this time got around without going off course. So proud of him! <br />
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Then I did a second run with Hokey. That's when things started to go awry. She stopped after the 1st tunnel and refused to go on as I encouraged her to continue. Then she took off back to the gate. She did come back and start working again, with a couple more weird glitchy things, like stopping to bark at the judge, but then she did finish strong. I'm still not sure what went wrong. Something freaked her out - the mushy footing, trialing outside for the first time, the general atmosphere? Maybe she was sore somewhere? Who knows? Being at the hotel was a new experience too and she became somewhat obsessed with the light and shadows under the door. So maybe the entire experience was just too much for her to handle at this point. <br />
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Things went even worse in our Agility II run. I got her to the line and released her. She ran around the 1st jump and over to the fence at the opposite side of the ring (where the gate was). I got her to come back to me a few times, but was unsuccessful at getting her to take any obstacles. She was definitely having a meltdown. Poor girl. <br />
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We ended the day by taking both dogs to the Thunder Tunnel area. Both dogs were introduced to the rat in the cage that would be at the end of the tunnel. Sprout, Mr. KILL ALL THE THINGS, completely surprised me by acting terrified of the rat. He's my highest prey drive dog at home, so that threw me for a loop. Hokey, Miss Nearly Zero Prey Drive, at least showed some vague interest (and Sprout got slightly more brave seeing her checking out the rat).<br />
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The women running Thunder Tunnel were SUPER super nice and encouraging. I can't say enough good things about them. Sprout went first. He did the entire tunnel with A LOT of encouragement. He'll do just about anything for me. What a brave boy!<br />
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Hokey made it clear she wanted no part of doing the entire tunnel, so we just had her do the short section from the ball pit to the end a couple of times. She was a good girl. <br />
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Sunday, the final day of the trial, started out gloomy and got worse - drizzle to rain - as the day progressed. Hokey was entered in Agility III in the morning and Colors in the afternoon, but I wasn't sure if I was going to attempt to run at all given the even mushier footing and her quirkiness the previous day. I walked the Agility III course and decided I had nothing to lose by at least attempting it. It did not go well. Again, when I released her from the startline, she ran to the fence on the other side of the ring. This time she wouldn't even come back to me. I wasn't going to push her anymore. It was disappointing since I know what she is capable of, but she'd made it clear something was bothering her and that she didn't want to work. I scratched her from the afternoon class, but did stick around to do a "fun run" in the rain with Sprout so I could at least end things on a good note. It was a game called Dare-to-Double, which I gathered comes from Teacup Agility. He did great. His greenness showed a little bit as he was reluctant to take the long tunnel that curved away from the inside of the ring when I handled it from the inside, but then he did take it when I went out and did a front cross and stayed to the outside. I was told that our score would have been a Q in a Teacup trial. So proud of my little man and how he handled everything. It's hard to believe he's only been with me and in training for 3 months!<br />
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Each dog got a placement ribbon in the tunnelers practice run, so at least they each got a memento to bring home. I think it's pretty cool that Sprout's first ribbon is from a national event. I got an expensive car repair bill that I have no idea how I'm going to afford. My take home from the trial is that Hokey needs a little break from agility, so we are working on some other things right now to build her confidence back up and cement our working bond again (watch for an upcoming blog post on that). But I'm already looking forward to going back next year and rocking agility with Sprout and potentially doing some other things with Hokey. I'm just hoping for much better weather and definitely better driving conditions.<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-74105618483719131942013-10-20T15:20:00.000-04:002013-10-20T16:15:19.270-04:00Sniffing Out Success<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aOSOzfIdtQyT6gH3owDasBndiwd0bjzTI5wiOY6UjLSRrYaFofZ_5dMLltgn1TIqRi3auKcgsEQzd8Hl6sFz-J53WnKnlSWor4Cb16VlR_qvDgWzL0sMmTHJWaETojHc1Ictv2hdnhw/s1600/1275652_10200545089009311_1810221359_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2aOSOzfIdtQyT6gH3owDasBndiwd0bjzTI5wiOY6UjLSRrYaFofZ_5dMLltgn1TIqRi3auKcgsEQzd8Hl6sFz-J53WnKnlSWor4Cb16VlR_qvDgWzL0sMmTHJWaETojHc1Ictv2hdnhw/s400/1275652_10200545089009311_1810221359_o.jpg" width="388" /></a></div>
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Ollie has a brand new title! We went to our first nose work trial on Sept 28th and were successful. Now, in addition to his plethora of agility titles, he has NW1 listed after his name. I'm nearly as proud of this title as I am of his ADCHs and LAA.<br />
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I've been trialing in the USDAA masters ring for the past several years, but I have to say, I found the experience of this nose work trial to be vastly more stressful than any agility competition. Why? I don't know. Maybe because EVERYTHING counts and if you miss one of the 4 elements there goes your chance at your title. Maybe the cost; compared to a day at an agility trial, a nose work trial is pretty expensive ($95 for NW1), so if you blow one element, there goes the entry fee, which for me is a good chunk of change I'd rather not lose without something to show for it. Maybe it's the fact that, in this area anyway, nose work trials are few and far between and when they do occur there is a long waitlist of teams who didn't manage to be selected through the random draw process, so, if you aren't successful, it could be a long time before you get the chance to try again. What didn't help my stress any was the fact that Ollie was dead last (#38) in the running order in both the morning and afternoon. Some trials will split the entries into two groups and while one group does 2 elements, the other group does the other 2 and then they switch in the afternoon. This particular trial didn't work that way. All dogs ran through the interior and container searches in the morning, then the vehicle and exterior searches in the afternoon. That meant the hides, especially the afternoon ones which were put out first thing in the morning, had been sitting there for hours before Ollie got a shot at them. Luckily I'd been putting out hides at home before I left for work in the morning and then letting him search for them when I arrived home, so he had been prepped for this. Still, waiting around for hours for my turn didn't do my anxiety any favors.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Z9A612tyRO23VyxaVwPMi7Hsb7G0fX-AyaHFOgodprIuaGeYfZ44lfsHw3hpzegAV-46AQMjjlwYXVFq1fGqWaDCtLGhTiByQlexFYCbW2xnmW3qUN0_kdhY-HGzV4ejaUq_cJsXbTE/s1600/42012.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6Z9A612tyRO23VyxaVwPMi7Hsb7G0fX-AyaHFOgodprIuaGeYfZ44lfsHw3hpzegAV-46AQMjjlwYXVFq1fGqWaDCtLGhTiByQlexFYCbW2xnmW3qUN0_kdhY-HGzV4ejaUq_cJsXbTE/s200/42012.jpg" width="193" /></a><br />
The trial was held at a sports/amusement complex near Gettysburg. The good news about <br />
this location was that it didn't involve a lot of walking over long distances like some nose work trial sites do. The bad news was, because the locations of the search areas were so concentrated, I believe that is what contributed to the decision not to split the competitors into two working groups. Also, the site was a bit odd, even a little creepy, in places.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOldydTdLOv_TPHu8W-xkvRQVzIGriP-h7I1QvgmhbBmXi6U6xZYZzVtwGt5kJy_cE6hrY2BpfKXFNnsRHrGyERrimIaJ7DqXIZ20H0W9cpTUCUXReReT76K-detCse1LFeD2uKPobF9Q/s1600/IMG_4381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOldydTdLOv_TPHu8W-xkvRQVzIGriP-h7I1QvgmhbBmXi6U6xZYZzVtwGt5kJy_cE6hrY2BpfKXFNnsRHrGyERrimIaJ7DqXIZ20H0W9cpTUCUXReReT76K-detCse1LFeD2uKPobF9Q/s200/IMG_4381.JPG" width="150" /></a>When I arrived, I parked in the "reactive dog" section. True, Ollie is a veteran when it comes to trialing and is used to being crated in my vehicle in close proximity to others with dogs, but with nose work being more sensitive to the needs of reactive dogs, I figured why not keep my reactive dog as calm as possible while waiting our turn by catering to his personal space issues. As with his ORT, he wore a red bandana to alert others that he is a reactive dog and to please keep their dogs at a distance. There was a check-in and then a walk-through where we got a look at all 4 search areas and had the chance to ask questions. Then, after a period of time, the trial got underway.<br />
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When our turn came close, I took him over to the warm up/recovery area where there were 4 boxes set out, one of which contained birch odor. This let him know what we were about to do. Each search area had 3 or 4 stations that you move through where dogs are kept at a safe distance from each other while waiting their turn. We moved through those on our way to the interior search area. The interior search area was pretty creepy in my opinion, but the final staging area was even worse. It was in a room with black walls and glow-in-the-dark graffiti painted on them. The only lighting was from a single overhead black light. Needless to say, the atmosphere didn't alleviate my growing sense of dread. Pictures of the actual search area <a href="http://www.seegametimephotos.com/p312876835" target="_blank">can be found here</a>. Yes, with the dim lighting, black graffiti covered walls, weird panels and old banquet chairs and arcade games randomly strewn about, it was a like a creepy graveyard for amusements of the early 1990s.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtXqAk3PcYfXR-ec3y2vYUUAoKY8wIAd4GQXLdAtid7D6tPopo4LOHUYFNJc85sfnh4WQ8scdtwwcnMgVaTl8AJ-TBQ_M_k5Pk2ZmPK7KFEuQ5RogwrPw87VW7r4P-YiDRTljI5gJqT8/s1600/5115557829_c597f1f7f5_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRtXqAk3PcYfXR-ec3y2vYUUAoKY8wIAd4GQXLdAtid7D6tPopo4LOHUYFNJc85sfnh4WQ8scdtwwcnMgVaTl8AJ-TBQ_M_k5Pk2ZmPK7KFEuQ5RogwrPw87VW7r4P-YiDRTljI5gJqT8/s320/5115557829_c597f1f7f5_z.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Happy Sniffing - hope you make it out alive!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Like this, only about 20 years older</td></tr>
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To fit the atmosphere, it turned out to be our most nail-biting search of the day. First, I opted to do the search on leash, which in hindsight may have been a mistake. The hide was up inside an old banquet chair in the middle of the room between one of those weird panels and an arcade game. We had 3 minutes to find it. Ollie opted to check the perimeter of the room first. Then he actually got near the hide. I suspected that it was the general location of the hide because it looked like he started to clean up some dropped food (! - why weren't those crumbs cleaned up??!!!!). It's hard to recall, but I *think* I may have pulled him away a bit to get him back on task. That's when he veered from the area of hide and started to focus on an arcade game, Sonic the Hedgehog, right across from the chair. He spent a lot of time and energy on that game. As a consequence, I now hate that game.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mzqx0dDqw0iEvKFnpD7T_Hy54XWlX2g1WTmu7orRWm90U22AFGsZPa2SBxSyCe4E8TaD6itqMEEHNjgYBzSNeoVwq1aRsNODyeDUaR5-8RbjaRmER_nCmfg2pG1zBIzkOLJC4CRkJaQ/s1600/sonic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4mzqx0dDqw0iEvKFnpD7T_Hy54XWlX2g1WTmu7orRWm90U22AFGsZPa2SBxSyCe4E8TaD6itqMEEHNjgYBzSNeoVwq1aRsNODyeDUaR5-8RbjaRmER_nCmfg2pG1zBIzkOLJC4CRkJaQ/s320/sonic.jpg" width="246" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Most hated arcade game EVER!!</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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After spending a lot of time on the arcade game without alerting, I pulled him away for a sweep of other areas. Nothing. Then came the dreaded 30 second alert that no one wants to hear. I felt my stomach sink and panic rising. I took Ollie back to the area he was interested in and again he looked at the Sonic game, but then, thankfully, turned toward the chair, sniffed his way up the leg and alerted at the hide with just under 20 seconds to spare. PHEW!<br />
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Then it was immediately on to the container search. The containers were on the floor in part of a large gymnasium and had been arranged in the shape of a jack-o-lantern, i.e. a circle of boxes surrounding other boxes forming eyes, nose, and a mouth. I was surprised when I walked Ollie into the room to find many spectators seated in chairs watching. Very different from the ORT. I walked to the startline, took a deep breath and started the search. I let him go straight up the middle and then choose which half of the outer part of the circle to work first. He chose to go right, which turned out to be an excellent choice. About halfway down the arc he alerted on the correct box. The search lasted 11 seconds in all - the 5th fastest out of the 38 dogs - and it earned us a "pronounced" score and a round of applause from the spectators. It brought much relief after our less than steller interior search. Pictures of Ollie searching containers at the trial <a href="http://www.seegametimephotos.com/p869088726" target="_blank">can be found starting here</a> - go to the last two pages of the container search photos to see him.<br />
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After a very long wait for lunch break and the 37 dogs in front of us to search, it was our turn for vehicles and exterior. The vehicle search was set up like this, with the hide in the front of the driver's side wheel-well of the 3rd vehicle from the startline (starred):<br />
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<img alt="" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /><br />
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We paused at the startline and then forged ahead toward the line of vehicles. Ollie bypassed vehicle 1 altogether. Then something in the miniature golf area behind the vehicles briefly caught his attention between vehicles 1 and 2. I got his focus back and he went to vehicle 3 and started searching. He found the hide in less than 14 seconds - the 4th fastest vehicle search of the 38 dogs! Since I don't get a chance to practice vehicles as much as the other elements, I was thrilled with how fast he found it, especially since he bypassed the other 2 vehicles to start his search on the correct one. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-LsXCuaT4jfSbhMd0BxLsle-KL3zv8qjyw9EH9xZ0jCeC5NKuK8nMfNl29JfdoWDxis3ihSb7hmDE2SG8dr-31vLI21h8WDj-Jf84i_Es00vWLtvQ_G0iATBQriQwh0N8A6yzWYw1gs/s1600/giraffe.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjW-LsXCuaT4jfSbhMd0BxLsle-KL3zv8qjyw9EH9xZ0jCeC5NKuK8nMfNl29JfdoWDxis3ihSb7hmDE2SG8dr-31vLI21h8WDj-Jf84i_Es00vWLtvQ_G0iATBQriQwh0N8A6yzWYw1gs/s320/giraffe.JPG" width="216" /></a>Three down, one to go! I felt pretty good about the exterior search, since that tends to be his strongest element. Even though we'd been practicing elevated hides, I was hoping it would be closer to ground level since his beagle nose is best at those. The final waiting area involved standing next to a weird life size giraffe statue that towered over us. Kind of like the picture on the right, only more weather-beaten and with more demonic eyes. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQFmcLYtLu0vp9zqV9oRvVLffNrrqLuLv0k_5yKHkeq-s8_1iFPhjqyYg60IWGYFsj7jtei9hYaEns5O_JKuUPtakVrQlImm5C2gx8eLxJSOyS2SGS4WbayzTwEQtdussQkUfhOUgRyA/s1600/No-Dog-Peeing-Sign-K-8228.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlQFmcLYtLu0vp9zqV9oRvVLffNrrqLuLv0k_5yKHkeq-s8_1iFPhjqyYg60IWGYFsj7jtei9hYaEns5O_JKuUPtakVrQlImm5C2gx8eLxJSOyS2SGS4WbayzTwEQtdussQkUfhOUgRyA/s200/No-Dog-Peeing-Sign-K-8228.gif" width="200" /></a>The exterior search area was only slightly less creepy than the interior one. At least there weren't any black walls and glow in the dark graffiti involved. But there was a lot of cement and some playground equipment that looked like it was designed to give children a sure case of tetanus. But, actually, the lack of plant life in the search area was a huge bonus for us because Ollie can be a quick and sneaky marker if he smells that another dog has peed anywhere in the vicinity during previous century. Elimination equals elimination, so it was a relief to me to know that he would be much less likely to do that in this particular exterior search area.<br />
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As I approached the search area, the judge made some kind remarks about Ollie and his happy smile and wagging tail, which made me smile and helped to put me at ease. We crossed the start and Ollie started to work the left side of the perimeter of the search area. As he worked his way forward he came to the start of a wooden fence. He immediately honed in on a crack in the railing then followed it down to a crack in the cement and alerted. Afterward the judge jokingly commented that his head whipped up to look at me standing behind him so fast that he nearly gave himself whiplash. He completed the exterior search in 11 1/2 seconds - the 5th fastest exterior search of the day - and earned another "pronounced" score. You can see pictures of Ollie doing the exterior search <a href="http://www.seegametimephotos.com/p104967752" target="_blank">starting here - go to the last two pages of the exterior search photos to see him. </a><br />
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WE HAD OUR TITLE! I was ecstatic and relieved. And so proud of Ollie. What a great little dog he is! <br />
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And now I get to put myself through all that terror and stress again next weekend with Poppy. At least the upcoming trial site looks very pretty and not intimidatingly creepy. Poppy CAN be a lightning fast searcher, but she is more erratic in her search patterns and not always as exact in her alert behavior, whereas Ollie is methodical and his alerts are very easy to read. So stay tuned for another nose work trial report. In the meantime, I've been prepping hard this past week. I'll leave you with a video of Poppy and Ollie working some interior searches.</div>
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-21849170953975970292013-09-19T00:31:00.001-04:002013-09-19T11:27:59.903-04:00The New and the Deja Vu<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XZHbD7vyz3ObU1baelNdMV_UrvSz4tf-plD4xaf2oGhi0FPBJJP2y0LG6wVqR-YgjdSD5aSr2PIJxnChPAocfHcFUkOk9XFZ1TkJheT0DpM7igFyMt-tKoZ2KYZEQm5Hd4-R7zBTFQs/s1600/IMG_6584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0XZHbD7vyz3ObU1baelNdMV_UrvSz4tf-plD4xaf2oGhi0FPBJJP2y0LG6wVqR-YgjdSD5aSr2PIJxnChPAocfHcFUkOk9XFZ1TkJheT0DpM7igFyMt-tKoZ2KYZEQm5Hd4-R7zBTFQs/s400/IMG_6584.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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My goodness. Between keeping Hokey's agility skills up and prepping her for a few trials, getting Ollie and Poppy prepared for their upcoming nose work trials, and working on Sprout's foundation training, I feel like I do nothing but dog stuff whenever I'm not at work. Not that I'm complaining! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycP-B15MzUZNnsKj_mSk5EjEkwEzOAX1iuWbhiSnvYnmfCu_5ocgaZgTtnCWlOuajIJRwCyyfZy5aH85jUdCEdsq8kfQwmte2x3fWqHSuBZ3GTyNXigmqOngSKHCC4a4q171q2G8Mn98/s1600/Snapshot+-+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhycP-B15MzUZNnsKj_mSk5EjEkwEzOAX1iuWbhiSnvYnmfCu_5ocgaZgTtnCWlOuajIJRwCyyfZy5aH85jUdCEdsq8kfQwmte2x3fWqHSuBZ3GTyNXigmqOngSKHCC4a4q171q2G8Mn98/s400/Snapshot+-+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey's running dw has become pretty consistent</td></tr>
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The New<span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1156"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></h4>
<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1156" style="font-size: small;">On Labor Day, Hokey and I went back into the ring for the 2nd time after a few months break since her <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/05/celebration.html" target="_blank">successful first trial</a> at the end of May. I decided to give <a href="http://www.ukagilityinternational.com/" target="_blank">UKI</a> a try. I like their jump height cut-offs and A-Frame heights for my little dogs. Also, since Hokey has some issues with the table (the down seems uncomfortable for her, probably because she is deep chested and has no hair or body fat for padding), I like that the table is only an optional obstacle in Agility (aka Standard) and, when it is used, it's a no-count down and go. Seems like a fair compromise. UKI courses are international in flavor and somewhat technical, except
for the Speed Stakes class, which, as the name indicates, is supposed to
be more about speed. I like challenging courses, so really like what UKI has to offer as a possible alternative to USDAA. I also like that you can go into the ring with a toy and, at the startline, declare your run to be "Not For Competition" and then just use your time in the ring to train and have fun with your dog. I have a feeling I'll be taking advantage of that with Sprout in the future.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivXywOMaXKlmI-WEXHH3U7IEibKxOacaCreIs64jPIDJTD-lUZpKBNLcyB1eOYVguy1cez1s5e4tNAGA6tULNsIuJch1UWvMpTNlpcY1a54o-Xgt8fYMPUf3dcAzXtus4EzOM-yLREcRU/s1600/IMG_6510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivXywOMaXKlmI-WEXHH3U7IEibKxOacaCreIs64jPIDJTD-lUZpKBNLcyB1eOYVguy1cez1s5e4tNAGA6tULNsIuJch1UWvMpTNlpcY1a54o-Xgt8fYMPUf3dcAzXtus4EzOM-yLREcRU/s320/IMG_6510.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Sprout - proud serial decapitator of Kongs</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1172" style="font-size: small;">Like I mentioned in my previous post, Hokey has some distraction issues to work through.
Her first class was Speed Stakes and that went pretty well. Just one
small distracted bobble at the 4th jump, but I was able to bring her
around easily and continue on. Definitely not her fastest run, but it was pretty
good considering how green she is and that she hasn't worked in
distracting environments very much. It was good enough for a Q and 1st
place. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1181" style="font-size: small;">Next
was beginner Jumpers (with weaves). It had moments brilliance and
moments of not-brilliant-at-all due to her getting distracted. It didn't
feel good at the time, but when I went back and watched it, it wasn't
as bad as I thought. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1186" style="font-size: small;">Her
last run was Agility (standard). It was a pretty nice run. Much better
than I thought it would turn out looking at the course on paper. She
stayed with me the entire time right up until the last jump, where she
left me for a second. I got her back quickly, but in UKI running past
the last jump is 5 faults (refusals don't count at
the beginners level at any other obstacle except the last) and you need
a clear round to qualify. She was a little tentative on the contact
equipment, but again, that's just a matter of getting her out and
experience. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">Overall, I was pretty happy with how she did her 2nd time out. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">Here is a clip of Hokey and I practicing this past week. The hard rear cross and table performance weren't her best of the night, but at least she hit her A-Frame contact, which is something she'd been very naughty about during her previous runs and her teeter performance looked pretty great too.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">The Deja Vu</span></span></span></h4>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">It seems like I just went through all this foundation training stuff with Hokey. In fact there are many posts from over the past year that chronicle her progress. Now I'm doing it all over again with Sprout. The difference is that Sprout is on the accelerated plan. I can't stress enough how important taking the time to build a solid foundation is in agility training. This dog is exceptional. He has lots of drive and learns everything so quickly. </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sprout demonstrating that he has *a little bit* of drive</span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">This is a demonstration of what an eager worker he is. Here he is before I got into position for some <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/12/laying-more-bricks-in-foundation.html" target="_blank">one-jump work</a> and then after I finished the exercise. He is far too eager to begin and certainly isn't ready to quit. Every time I let him out in the yard these days, he's out there taking jumps of his own accord. It's hard to believe that when he came to me just 2 1/2 short months ago, he wasn't even interested in passing between a set of jump standards with no bar set. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">I decided I might as well teach Sprout to weave. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">He went from this first introduction to a single set of 2x2s:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">To 6 poles:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">To 12 poles:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">All in exactly 2 weeks. (See my <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/03/weaves-101-or-2x2.html" target="_blank">back-to-back posts on weave training</a> for a step-by-step account of the training method used to accomplish this).</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">And here he is working serpentines for the first time and then incorporating them with his newly learned weave skills in a layering exercise:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">I'll be starting Sprout's contact training soon. I've already begun working his end behavior on the teeter. (For a more detailed explanation of "The Bang Game", refer to <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/04/gimme-t.html" target="_blank">my post on Hokey's teeter training</a>). Soon he'll be ready to start working the teeter as an obstacle.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">So that's the report from here. I have Hokey entered in 3 runs at a CPE trial this weekend and then the following Saturday is Ollie's big day - our first nose work trial! I just received the information on the location (they don't send the actual location to you until a week or two before the trial) and the run order. I'm not entirely happy with our position in the run order - last in our group. In order to prep for this, I've been putting a few hides out in the morning and letting them sit all day. Then, when I get home from work, I immediately put Ollie in his harness and have him search. So far, so good. He's a little slower at the elevated hides that have been out all day, so we'll continue to work at building his speed. I've had a couple of odor swabs cooking in a box for the past 2 days. He's lightning fast at finding that, so I'm encouraged for the container search part of the trial. I think his weakest element is interior searching, so we'll be working hard on that one for the next week. </span><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193">Poppy's nose work trial is at the end of October. </span>Wish us luck! I'll be writing about our experience soon. </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The nose work dogs resting up for their big trial debuts</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span id="yui_3_10_3_1_1379556720101_1193"> </span></span></h4>
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Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-36787535071618329422013-08-28T23:11:00.000-04:002013-08-28T23:11:57.234-04:00"What I did this summer..."<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUNg_DWJ0PT-k5E9jcyDkenpNNiiHqeGWw5KSCq4T6oY5JjWIeo5GIX9sDmJWZrM8WUvfNPp6r05CJIDhVn3jSZAOPT8kwZNlsE79oNkfF6tvlwRHWMYQZmIVXLBIOoZWa00Tsh32Tys/s1600/SproutBeg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeUNg_DWJ0PT-k5E9jcyDkenpNNiiHqeGWw5KSCq4T6oY5JjWIeo5GIX9sDmJWZrM8WUvfNPp6r05CJIDhVn3jSZAOPT8kwZNlsE79oNkfF6tvlwRHWMYQZmIVXLBIOoZWa00Tsh32Tys/s320/SproutBeg.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>
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If you've been beggin' for a new blog post, here it is! I feel like I'm sitting down to write one of those back-to-school essays on What I Did This Summer. Did you know that having 4 dogs and training 2 each in different sports keeps you pretty busy? So busy that it can be hard to find the time to sit down and write a blog entry?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Summer - time to relax</td></tr>
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Although summer has been "slow" in the sense that I haven't entered any events, I sure have been keeping busy. I'm gearing up for a busy fall season starting this coming Monday when Hokey makes her return to the agility ring for the first time since her <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/05/celebration.html" target="_blank">debut in May</a>. I expect we'll have some "stuff" to work through. Namely, her distractability when it comes to ring crew. I mostly train on my own and one of the downsides to that is that Hokey only rarely gets exposure to working in an environment where there are other people and dogs. She is a social butterfly with people and, because of her deafness, if she locks onto someone and wants to visit, I can't call her off if she's not looking at me. I dropped into group class with her last week to see where we are with her visiting issue so I can be prepared when we do some <br />
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trialing this fall. I asked people to sit in the ring while she ran in order to simulate a trial environment with ring crew. She did do some visiting, but it was very brief and she came right back and worked. In fact, she was pretty much on fire and focused *most* of the time. So, we have a little something to work through, but the only way to do that is to get out there among the people and try to run our hearts out. <br />
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These are a couple of months old - we're doing a full height frame now and generally not using "crutches" on the contact equipment - but here we are doing some training back in June. The first video shows Hokey doing a frame-flip-tunnel for the first time and then running some sequences:<br />
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And here we are working on her running dogwalk into the weaves:<br />
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Ollie and Poppy have been busy gearing up for their first nose work trials. Yes, that's plural; trial with an "s". Since at a nosework trial, the hides remain in the same location for all the dogs entered, a handler can only work one dog per trial. I've been waiting around for a trial to come along since <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-ort-experience.html" target="_blank">they both passed their ORT in early March.</a> Nothing cropped up around here until recently - two nose work trials, one at the end of September and one at the end of October. It was the luck of the draw, literally, that I was fortunate enough to get both dogs into those 2 trials. The entry for both trials was random draw. Ollie was selected for the one in September and I know the <br />
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waitlist (those who were picked in the random draw AFTER the ~35 spots available were filled) was at least 27 dogs long since that's where a friend of mine ended up. I'm not sure how long the waitlist was for the trial that Poppy got into in October other than a vague email statement saying "there is a long waitlist". So luck was definitely with me. I still have no explanation as to why my numbers didn't come up in the big PowerBall lottery at that time. I mean, I was on a roll!<br />
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I've been working on a TON of foundation training with Sprout. He's like working with Hokey x10. Months of the kind of foundation training I did with her have been compressed into weeks. Not because I'm trying to rush him, but because he learns crazy quick!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Playing the Mountain Climbing Game on the Frame</td></tr>
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An example - I've brought him along to the building where I train Hokey twice now. By the 2nd time, he'd already mastered an automatic down on the table through pure shaping. I don't even have that with Hokey yet! (To be fair, being that she is deep-chested, has no fur, and not an ounce of fat on her body, so can be a somewhat reluctant about going into the down position on a hard surface because it is a bit uncomfortable for her). I'm thinking of starting his weave training soon just to give him something new and exciting to learn while we continue to work on building his foundation. I won't be doing a lot of separate posts on foundation training topics as Sprout progresses because I feel like I've just recently "been there, done that" with Hokey. Here are a few videos taken at different points during the last few weeks though. I can't believe this dog has been with me for less than two months!<br />
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Learning "back"/rear end awareness:<br />
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Playing with the tunnel:<br />
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Some Basic 2 jump/tunnel Handling:<br />
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Front-cross box work:<br />
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Pinwheel foundation training:<br />
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More pinwheels - only the 2nd time working them, 2 weeks after the pinwheel foundation session:<br />
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We'll be checking in with reports from our agility and nose work road adventures, as well as Sprout's training progress. Hoping I won't feel pulled in too many different directions!<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-19437761600638246392013-07-17T16:53:00.000-04:002013-07-18T08:38:14.937-04:00Look What Sprouted...<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq12k0489FQ-mAn1m5FCKCMI6Bzy9fui0vvYp9b29ps4E5hyrtbWV-Qq9JP_qQhKXQuhqZi2pTHl0V6CNI0VMUWIKyjedhd3ZZGvDr843SYoU29z8MW_c2pqDFZdp47ZoZvprNei6hGms/s1600/IMG_5875.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiq12k0489FQ-mAn1m5FCKCMI6Bzy9fui0vvYp9b29ps4E5hyrtbWV-Qq9JP_qQhKXQuhqZi2pTHl0V6CNI0VMUWIKyjedhd3ZZGvDr843SYoU29z8MW_c2pqDFZdp47ZoZvprNei6hGms/s400/IMG_5875.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Who is this???</td></tr>
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I feel terrible for neglecting this blog for the past month and a half, but life has really gotten busy. I've been working overtime hours at my job and the dogs, including a foster and now a new guy (more about that in a minute), have been keeping me very preoccupied.<br />
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<b>Catching up with the gang:</b><br />
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Hokey's training is going well. Her contact training is now in the polishing stages and we're running full courses using all obstacles at full height. I've taken her to a couple of workshops just to get her out and working in some new places. I really love running her! I've not entered her in any more trials since sticking our toes in the water Memorial Day weekend and probably won't bring her out again until fall. Summertime is just too hot. I haven't given trialing too much thought. I'm disappointed that we still don't have an answer on jump height changes from USDAA as was expected the first week of July. I'm reluctant to enter her in any USDAA trials until I know what's going to happen. I may just stick with CPE or perhaps give UKI a try, until there is an answer. I did join the Jack Russell Terrier Club of America and sent in paperwork to have Hokey "recorded". I am planning to do agility with her at their Nationals in October.<br />
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I found a way to be able to keep doing a little bit of agility with Poppy! A friend of mine has her own little home-grown agility venue called Super Sport Agility. She holds tiny trials that are run very differently than trials in other venues; nested courses are set up once for the entire day; they account for for 3 different classes and several different levels. Up to 4 dogs per hour can come and run the courses and then the results are tallied up at the end of the day. The teeter is not really used, the other contacts are lower and you can choose to jump your dog at whatever height you want to jump them at; classes are only placed according to level and jump height is not factored into it. It's PERFECT for Poppy because it is low stress on her both mentally and physically. Everyone has to start at the beginner level. I gave it a whirl in June with no expectations considering we don't really practice and she hasn't done any "real" agility for more than 6 months. Not only did she Q in all 6 runs for a "perfect weekend", placing 1st in 4 of them, she finished the two beginner titles AND was High in Trial dog. I'm so glad I've found a way for her to be able to do a little agility and be successful. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy with her loot from the June SSA trial</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Poppy and Ollie continue their training in nose work. There have not been any trials in this area, but there are a couple coming up in the fall. The first one will be at the end of September in Gettysburg. The entry period for that one occurred last week. Even though I am only allowed to handle one dog per trial, I threw both dogs into the pool for the draw in the hopes that at least one of them would be picked. Given that there haven't been any trials in the area, but there have been several ORTs, I figured the number of teams vying for the 38 spots would be large. I'm happy to report that Ollie was selected! Poppy ended up #8 on the waitlist, but since Ollie got in, I told them to remove her. Unfortunately my classmates ended up #23 and #25 on the waitlist which was a bummer. I was really looking forward to doing our first trial together. The next trial in the area will be in October and the draw period for that will be next month. I'll only be throwing Poppy into the pool for that one. Crossing my fingers she'll get in.<br />
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<b>Adventures in Fostering:</b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My cutie pie foster, Clark</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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It's been a little over a year since my "failed" attempt at fostering brought Hokey into my life permanently. I decided I'd give it another go. This time I succeeded! Clark was brought up by MAJR, along with 4 other dogs, from a bad hoarding situation in rural VA. Here is a picture of just some of the hoard. That is Clark in the front leaning up against the fence with another dog's paw on his back.<br />
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Really, you wouldn't know he came from such a terrible situation. He fit into my house like he lived here all his life. And, stranger still, my dogs ALL loved him! He and Poppy became BFFs. Hokey picked on him endlessly, but he just let her and they enjoyed chasing each other around the house and yard. Even Ollie liked him!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Odd Couple</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Astounding rare Hokey behavior</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9n14yms4O45cn6SLAxEe8wqREid8ajzJV-soN3AjGR-dTcncrO7A_5sepcYCINo2u-5rtXC08CbkZnGjnei94JTwzQ_bRDniAtkcQnwLRk9ntfXdfMC4GfEHQl_LzkWSF9tP5uInJdfo/s1600/1000547_4910299954929_940161965_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9n14yms4O45cn6SLAxEe8wqREid8ajzJV-soN3AjGR-dTcncrO7A_5sepcYCINo2u-5rtXC08CbkZnGjnei94JTwzQ_bRDniAtkcQnwLRk9ntfXdfMC4GfEHQl_LzkWSF9tP5uInJdfo/s320/1000547_4910299954929_940161965_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two Bros Bonding</td></tr>
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Here are Clark and Poppy acting like complete hooligans until Hokey finally says "enough"!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRP96OQa35VQbcufsuzuQseKwjDJ0BvVzW-GtPgvjD7zwzYS6iSbMmyLHKnCvWJh76igzqJ7glJ1WBsKmSCfw-KMSYt_Um_kgJZAytOO8n-JABUHYYGE0RmU1ERgciKOU6EERntk-JRI/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiRP96OQa35VQbcufsuzuQseKwjDJ0BvVzW-GtPgvjD7zwzYS6iSbMmyLHKnCvWJh76igzqJ7glJ1WBsKmSCfw-KMSYt_Um_kgJZAytOO8n-JABUHYYGE0RmU1ERgciKOU6EERntk-JRI/s200/photo.JPG" width="150" /></a>He was great fun and we all loved having him here, but I knew his permanent place was elsewhere. After 3 1/2 weeks in my home, he found his permanent family via a mutual friend. They love him to pieces and he will be treated like royalty for the rest of his life. The picture on the right was sent to me by his new family about a week after he left. Looks like he's settling in just great. Talk about a Cinderella story complete with storybook happy ending. <br />
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<b>The BIG News</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTbn4kAyhvqeBzWKodwvmM-9wZMyxW4so9YI6VLCfbT-R34jw2ArQiUs5udPaekxWs4v81aDtUR9vvStEwJjiqkxFdSUd_4QfzudRndAQ7jHgTY4x0tNruUBH9-CcGqAwbltKKPDi-AI/s1600/993308_10200105294614726_225697058_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsTbn4kAyhvqeBzWKodwvmM-9wZMyxW4so9YI6VLCfbT-R34jw2ArQiUs5udPaekxWs4v81aDtUR9vvStEwJjiqkxFdSUd_4QfzudRndAQ7jHgTY4x0tNruUBH9-CcGqAwbltKKPDi-AI/s400/993308_10200105294614726_225697058_n.jpg" width="400" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi62hPd-bPPCc2eSCUbJOlBMryAxNwm5r5ATTN9UpT0DEXcl9Douay9MGQ0JY4rEEA8cn7RZZIR3MxORzJIa1PJtqYnZllubs2QPIVuSOSh487LfVmkKgqzij6yrWThCgZcB-wPUb7UaD4/s1600/IMG_5952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi62hPd-bPPCc2eSCUbJOlBMryAxNwm5r5ATTN9UpT0DEXcl9Douay9MGQ0JY4rEEA8cn7RZZIR3MxORzJIa1PJtqYnZllubs2QPIVuSOSh487LfVmkKgqzij6yrWThCgZcB-wPUb7UaD4/s320/IMG_5952.JPG" width="320" /></a>So, that brings me to the latest and greatest news - there is a new canine member of the family! After Clark left, I decided I wanted to foster again right away. Meanwhile, I've not-very-seriously-at-all<b> </b>been thinking about adding another male to the household. The week Clark got adopted is actually one of, if not THE, busiest times for intake at animal shelters across the country. ACCT in Philly had 900 (!!!) animals come in through their doors over the period of one week. The influx was so large, it made the TV news. Since the shelter only has space for 600 animals, you can only image the heartbreaking decisions that were having to be made by the shelter staff. MAJR pulled 3 jack russells: two that had been owner turn in from the same person and one that had come in as a stray. The one that came in as a stray had no clue that the shelter was a scary place and that, without rescue, his demise was imminent. To him, life at the shelter was one big party and everyone there was a great friend. He quickly became a staff favorite due to his attitude. After hearing his personality described to me by the MAJR person, Ardis, who evaluated and later pulled him, I requested him as my next foster dog. He was with Ardis for a day and a half. She fell in love with him and nearly kept him herself. I took him knowing ahead of time that I might be interested in adopting him.<br />
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It turns out he is 100 kinds of awesome and is here to stay. I named him Sprout. He is 8 1/2 lbs of busy, happy, joy. He LOVES to play with toys! He loves to snuggle. He's smart as a whip, responsive, and so eager to please. I think he may be the easiest dog I've ever worked with. And I had promised myself my next dog would be "easier" for a change. Here he is learning down for the first time; he definitely didn't know it beforehand. This is less than 5 minutes after I trained it by luring and clicking. He got that in probably just over a minute, so I decided to go ahead and just put in on command. It's already 10x faster than Hokey's down.<br />
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And here we are playing with my "baby" tunnel. He's learning it's all part of the fun and games. </div>
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So far, two of my 3 dogs like him. Poppy is ecstatic to have another playmate that will endlessly wrestle, play bitey face, and tug with her. And Ollie is always grateful to have a dog in the house that diverts unwanted canine attention from him. Hokey is the sole holdout and was my only hesitation in deciding to adopt him. She loved Clark. I think it was because Clark was a little wus and let her boss him around and bully him endlessly. She would hump him and bark at him to the point that I was nearly being driven mad. This picture shows her groveling after getting in trouble (the shakey no-no finger came out with a vengeance) for ceaselessly humping and barking at him. Although I'm sure she was back at it less than 5 minutes later.<br />
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This next picture shows Hokey being a scary crankasaurus because Poppy and Sprout are playing nearby. Unfortunately I've seen this face and the "I'm shooting lasers from my eyes while I act all sullen and sulky" look all too often in the past week since Sprout came to stay here. I'm pretty sure it's because he let her know almost immediately that he wasn't going to put up with her bullying crap the way Clark did. He HAS learned to give her respect and keep his distance, so hopefully that will help to ameliorate things. Every so often the bee in her bonnet will fly away and she'll actually play with him and have a good time despite herself, so I'm hoping she'll get over herself soon.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But I'm such a cute princess</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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I sure am looking forward to working with this new little guy. He is already such a joy!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The expanded family</td></tr>
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Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-80545218414279595252013-05-27T11:16:00.000-04:002013-05-27T11:18:48.484-04:00Celebration!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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One year ago this weekend, I agreed to take in a deaf Jack Russell as a foster. At first it was only supposed to be temporary - through the holiday weekend. Then it turned into something more long term. Finally, it became permanent. The little diva was here to stay.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey - one year ago</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even then, she was a little cheeky</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey one year later - isn't she gorgeous?</td></tr>
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To tell the truth, at the beginning of this month, I began to have doubts about where her agility training was going. Suddenly, she seemed not to have much interest in working for me. I began to ponder what I'd done to "ruin" her interest and also wondered if she might be hurting somewhere. As time went on, things got worse and she didn't seem to show a lot of interest in doing much of anything at all. I noticed her stomach was upset nearly every day; she had more interest in eating grass than doing her business every time I let her out in the yard and I found myself giving her pepcid on a nearly daily basis to settle her stomach. But she also seemed lethargic. Then I noticed her nose was running a bit and she seemed to be sneezing even more than usual. She's a sneezer to begin with, so I hadn't paid much attention at first, but when combined with her other symptoms, I started to suspect spring allergies were afoot. There was a suspicion that she may have been exhibiting allergies when she came to live with me last year. My vet gave me a dosage for OTC allergy meds and Hokey seemed to respond, but it was hard to say for sure whether it was a response to the meds or just something running its course. Given that her symptoms were a milder version of last year, I decided to put her back on the allergy meds to see if they had any effect. I am happy to report that they worked their magic and within a few days she was completely back to her normal terrier self. I was so relieved that her behavior wasn't related to agility training.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGE9CMIiVIjm39jHRGnMESEPRShQKJuSChFkeLiV7YDr3_iLEyEXhPHE6gQV5f5A5AsntMdb2hh0uyGJp6S8vQU3WpAdMJSmD0Uu-h1QWimPUUlgG2CYC9W5YsV-zqFTni4qa9_sgxX3E/s1600/IMG_5169.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGE9CMIiVIjm39jHRGnMESEPRShQKJuSChFkeLiV7YDr3_iLEyEXhPHE6gQV5f5A5AsntMdb2hh0uyGJp6S8vQU3WpAdMJSmD0Uu-h1QWimPUUlgG2CYC9W5YsV-zqFTni4qa9_sgxX3E/s400/IMG_5169.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey modelling her new harness</td></tr>
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Now that the weather is warmer, I'm spending a lot more time on cross-training. This involves playing little games in the backyard which may or may not include some agility elements, trick training, doing exercises for strength and flexibility, and going for lots and lots of walks. She LOVES to go for walks!<br />
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Here is an example of one of the little games I made up to play with her using a cheap plastic small patio table:<br />
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And here is Hokey showing off one of her newest tricks:<br />
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But best of all, I decided to enter her in her first agility trial. While I don't feel like she is quite ready for prime time and I'm still working on getting her contacts trained to where I would like them, I figured a couple of CPE runs at level 1 at a location that we had just been for some training the previous weekend would be a good way to dip our toes into the water, see what we need to work on, and celebrate our first year together. I chose to enter Hokey in jumpers and full house because a) they were scheduled back-to-back first thing in the morning b) I don't have to worry about contact obstacles in jumpers and c) full house is a make-your-own-course point accumulation game so I likely wouldn't have to do contact obstacles and even if I did, I feel like I can probably get a passable A-frame or dog walk out of her at this point (I did end up throwing in one of those "passable" frames since it was kind of on the way to the table that, in that game, stops the clock). I am happy to report that she Q'd and blued in both runs AND because those two level 1 classes are paired, she also finished her first agility title - CL1-F! I couldn't be more proud.<br />
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Here is the video of her jumpers run; her first run in a trial ever:<br />
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1369662920077_2636">Her full house run didn't go quite as
smoothly - she discovered the ring crew and decided to pay a visit both
between the 2nd and 3rd obstacle and then again at the end as the buzzer
went off and when I needed to get her to the table. However, in both cases I was
able to get her back on task and was able to run the entire course I'd
mapped out for her and then get her to the table, so it worked out fine. Just
something to work on with my social butterfly. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey's first agility ribbons</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<span id="yui_3_7_2_1_1369662920077_2636">Considering that one year ago this weekend, she was slated to be euthanized for being "unadoptable" due to her deafness, we have an awful lot to celebrate!</span>Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-57396488372100841082013-04-25T22:53:00.000-04:002013-04-26T20:50:18.686-04:00Gimme a "T"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>T is for tunnel.</b></div>
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Several months ago I wrote about how, due to her deafness, Hokey was really struggling with reading rear crosses when heading into a tunnel. She would lock onto the tunnel entrance and "tunnel vision" would take over; my motion would become irrelevant. Once inside the tunnel, our visual contact would be broken and since she does not have the ability to pick up auditory clues, she would have no idea where I was and would repeatedly end up turning in the incorrect direction when exiting the tunnel. </div>
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Since then, Hokey has become more experienced with the information being given to her through my handling. I've also worked on getting her to look for me as she exits the tunnel. Last weekend I took her to a little group training session/informal class at a place we've never been and one of the compliments I received on her training is that she was looking for me at the exit of the tunnel to tell her where to go next. I was curious to see how far she'd actually come in the past few months, so a couple of days ago I set up an exercise with a jump on either side of a slightly curved tunnel in order to see how well she could predict which way to turn as she exited the tunnel. I kept it simple at first.</div>
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Then I mixed it up just a little bit in order to see if she could still follow the information I was giving her regarding which direction to turn when exiting the tunnel.</div>
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I was still curious if Hokey's ability to read a rear cross on a straight tunnel (i.e. "puppy cannon") had improved, so I set that up today. It still needs some work. We did have a few instances of "missed communication". I noticed these were more apt to happen during a more straight on approach to the tunnel then if we had a more angled approach.<br />
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But overall, she is making progress. Months ago, she almost never turned the correct way out of a straight tunnel when I executed a rear cross. Even repeating it several times didn't seem to clue her in. Now her "hits" definitely exceed her misses. Here she is turning the correct way several times.<br />
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I finished off with the big exam - an exercise that mixed things up between rear crosses and non-rear crosses. She did excellent!<br />
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<b>T is for Teeter </b><br />
In my last blog post, I explained the process I was using to train the teeter, but didn't have any video clips to demonstrate. I've rectified that.<br />
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We play two different teeter games. The first is the "bang game" where I line Hokey up parallel with the slightly elevated end of the teeter and have her hop on. This teaches her how to use her body to push the end down and stay balanced. It also teaches her the 4-on end behavior I'll be looking for. We work on her staying in position until I release her. In most dogs, the "bang game" also helps to acclimate them to the noise the teeter makes when it hits the ground, but since Hokey is deaf, maybe calling it the "push it down" game would be more appropriate.<br />
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Next, I work on getting her to run across a low teeter, encouraging speed, but also getting her to stick her 4-on end behavior no matter what my motion is until I release her. In previous weeks, I had someone else restrain and release her. This past week I restrained her then raced her to the end where she would stop, but I would keep going. Here she is on a very low set teeter.<br />
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And then one set a little higher:<br />
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It appears she has a pretty good grasp of the end behavior criteria because the one time she overshot and came off the end, she tried to fix herself without any prompting on my part.<br />
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And here is Hokey running a little mini-course that incorporates all of the contact obstacles. Her A-Frame and teeter are coming along nicely. I haven't spent much time training the dog walk yet, so we still need to tackle that more seriously.<br />
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<b>T is for Table that needs to be Trained </b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIv3grjUTdv3gI5hGwhgGj3TATUlckZ729wyXx2aJUv6XGmOwChpSPCHDyx1mT0OvTL3uOH5NyaAdrN1rFnUSnERzgqkT6id9nKnL1ITsOnQgOKpzVHJm8U6jayMXvG6-NubctI-cocMY/s1600/IMG_5052.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIv3grjUTdv3gI5hGwhgGj3TATUlckZ729wyXx2aJUv6XGmOwChpSPCHDyx1mT0OvTL3uOH5NyaAdrN1rFnUSnERzgqkT6id9nKnL1ITsOnQgOKpzVHJm8U6jayMXvG6-NubctI-cocMY/s320/IMG_5052.JPG" width="320" /></a>I also need to spend some time training the "down on the table" behavior in the hopes of getting a faster down and better duration. The table is often considered a bit of a no-brainer obstacle that doesn't need much training time compared to other obstacles, but when you have a dog that doesn't like to go into the down position in the first place, it's something that requires some dedicated training time. Out of all the many things I've trained this dog to do over the past several months, I would have to say that "down" was the thing I struggled with the most. Even now, she displays some resistance to going into the down position and has a tendency to slightly rise back up with her elbows hovering just above the ground - you can see both of these habits on display in the above video. She loves jumping on the table itself. But going and staying down? That's another matter. I've tried to find ways of making "down" into a fun and highly rewarding game for her, but so far I've struck out.<br />
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So that's my Terrific Testimony on Training Three T obsTacles.<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-52261135370694526062013-04-07T22:21:00.000-04:002013-04-07T23:02:43.851-04:00A Little Bit of This, A Little Bit of That<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I hate to speak too soon, but it looks like as of today, springtime may have finally arrived. In anticipation of warmer temps that have been MIA for the past several weeks, the dogs and I have been swinging into full gear. Hence, the hodgepodge that follows.<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>Hocus Pocus - Agility Training</b></span><br />
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<b>1. Weave training:</b> Hokey's weave training has continued to move forward. The day after my last blog post, she actually had her first real test: her first exposure to a set of 24" weaves (the 2x2s I've been using, as well as my own set of weave poles, are older & narrower) in a different location. As you can see, she had no problem generalizing the behavior.<br />
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A few days after that, I decided to add a 2nd set of 6, for a total of 12. I introduced it the same way I introduced the 3rd set of 2x2s to the 4 poles - I set them a few feet apart and gradually moved them together. Hokey picked it up quickly and within a few minutes was weaving 12 poles! Here she is on that first day of 12 poles:<br />
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From here, I will continue to do some around-the-clock entry work with the set of 6 poles and incorporate handling/motion into the mix with sets of both 6 and 12 as well as building the weaves into sequencing.<br />
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<b>2. Sequencing: </b>And speaking of sequencing, we've been doing more of that recently. Here is a short clip showing some examples, including the first one where she does a serpentine-backside-threadle combo.<br />
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I thought it would be interesting to have both Hokey and Poppy run a short sequence to compare. They both do a great job considering Hokey had only been truly weaving for a couple of days before this and Poppy rarely does agility anymore. You can see the difference between the green and velcro dog vs. the experienced one who is confident with distance.<br />
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<b>3. Contact Training: </b>Hokey and I have been working on all 3 contact obstacles. Living in the city with only a small yard, I don't have any contact equipment of my own, so I try to make the most of my once-a-week training sessions that give me access to the equipment. I don't have any recent video of her teeter training, but we've been working on her end behavior, which, due to her weighing 12 lbs or less, will be a 4-on-run-to-the-end-and-ride-it-down behavior. I do this by propping up the "down end" of the teeter with a short jump standard so that the "up end" then becomes the "down end". I then place her parallel to the teeter end and let her hop up sideways and ride it down a few inches. I start with just a small drop and gradually increasing the drop, by placing foam tiles under the end and removing 3 or so at a time, until there are none. After working the end behavior from both sides, I drop the teeter low and, with the help of an assistant, do some restrained recalls running the entire length of the board, while holding the end behavior we'd just practiced.<br />
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Hokey's running A-Frame is slowly coming along. Since I was having some issues with her scrambling between the apex and the box, I lowered the frame more so that I could set some bars on each side of the frame to help her stride rather than scramble.<br />
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After a couple of weeks of that, this past week I set it a little higher and removed the jump bars (except the one I lay at the apex). At the end of our session, I decided to see what would happen if Hokey approached the frame with some momentum rather than a sit/stay. This is the result:<br />
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For the first time, she gave me a 2-hit descent (2nd example in clip), which was wonderful. However, I've decided not to be picky about that. I'm fine with her giving me a 3 hit descent as long as she is moving forward at a good clip and not scrambling between the apex and the box and also hitting the yellow well. In fact, when she gives the 2-hit here, she isn't hitting as deeply into the box as she tends to when she does a 3-hit descent, so I actually prefer the look of things at 3.<br />
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Because I've been concentrating on the A-frame and teeter, I haven't had much time to incorporate the dogwalk into our training. I really need to get a 12' plank to practice running her across at home (if I can figure out how to get a 12' board to my yard from Lowes or Home Depot) and also build her a little arch hoop to run through to encourage her to run all the way down to the end instead of leaping. Here is what little I've done with restraining her and letting her run down the plank to a reward.<br />
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<b>Hocus Pocus - Conditioning:</b><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3SYTZ8_Z7tvHvQTXLrazPPoVnyyMctqUBNBv_vW9Le2HlYT344yDhdzIHyz-ATqb9eVGttDjs19pndvyHwauL768K7J6vKTLFAitF3QZd01ZPcOpap8Vk7KMj3Gge43dJCNW6JaOTjI/s1600/IMG_4679.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq3SYTZ8_Z7tvHvQTXLrazPPoVnyyMctqUBNBv_vW9Le2HlYT344yDhdzIHyz-ATqb9eVGttDjs19pndvyHwauL768K7J6vKTLFAitF3QZd01ZPcOpap8Vk7KMj3Gge43dJCNW6JaOTjI/s320/IMG_4679.JPG" width="320" /></a>I decided that Hokey needs more conditioning in certain muscles that she will be using when descending the A-frame and dogwalk and riding the teeter down as it drops. I decided to use stairs for a couple of different exercises in order to help with this. One exercise will involve her walking backwards up a few stairs. I decided to train her the same way I trained Ollie and Poppy to reach back with their hind legs to walk up various objects backwards (see previous post <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/07/back-up-that-booty.html" target="_blank">Back Up That Booty</a> for details). Since Hokey is small and the stairs are relatively high, I felt I needed to start with something a little lower. Here she is backing up onto a box:<br />
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I used the box to transition her to the stairs, by placing it in front of the bottom stair, then having her back up onto the box, then onto the bottom stair. Then I removed the box and had her just backing onto the bottom stair.<br />
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Then I added a second stair to the mix. This is a little trickier because she actually has to move her front end up and back first and then move her rear end. She does have a tendency to curl her body instead of keeping it straight, but she's getting better.<br />
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And finally, I started to add a third stair:<br />
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Now that the weather is starting to get warmer, I'm able to get her out for walks more often. This helps build both her muscles and her stamina. There are also a couple of places in my neighborhood that have concrete steps. We stop and do our backing up exercise as part of our travels. The lesson seems to have transferred well to other locations.<br />
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<b>Poppy & Ollie - Nose work:</b><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDSS1NTjnJVtDOr5fzKgh1LRzeGz-wNIJnLiHjnMN_OXUO8I3rrSQefnEinzAXBwYLWuKKvGpRJcBrKkB3zB38r8l-oWAbDp4Zvp8_N0e5JAvN1JZjoDJ70YUwYtbncgrRnwT2VvHdVs/s1600/IMG_4697.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsDSS1NTjnJVtDOr5fzKgh1LRzeGz-wNIJnLiHjnMN_OXUO8I3rrSQefnEinzAXBwYLWuKKvGpRJcBrKkB3zB38r8l-oWAbDp4Zvp8_N0e5JAvN1JZjoDJ70YUwYtbncgrRnwT2VvHdVs/s320/IMG_4697.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy howls for nose work</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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After a month-long hiatus, nose work class has started back up. Now that they have<a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/03/the-ort-experience.html" target="_blank"> both passed their ORT</a><b>, </b>Ollie and Poppy are preparing for their first nose work trial at some future point yet to be determined. With the weather getting warmer, we are now able to more comfortably practice exterior searches and vehicle searches. Here is a clip of Ollie practicing a couple of exterior searches. The tin contains 3 Qtips of birch odor.<br />
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And Poppy as well. <br />
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A friend gave me a couple of plastic vials for exterior search practice. Because they are <br />
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somewhat pointy on the bottom, you can place a Qtip inside, close the lid and drive it down into the ground anywhere in the yard, then open the top back up so that it is hardly visible. Today was the first day I tried using them and both dogs did amazingly well at finding them even though I only had one swab of odor in the container and it was windy out. I also taped the vial to things like the branches of my lilac bush, lawn furniture, and weave poles, so the dogs would get practice searching for odor at different heights and not just at ground level.<br />
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<b>FUN!</b><br />
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I will wrap this up with a quick video of Hokey and I after one of our backyard agility training sessions. I hope it makes you smile. Always remember to play with your dog and share joy together! That's what it's all about.<br />
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Time to put this blog post to bed.<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-54493458222682029712013-03-27T19:39:00.001-04:002013-03-27T19:39:29.382-04:00Weaves 102x2 (or 6)<br />
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So two days ago I wrote a <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/03/weaves-101-or-2x2.html" target="_blank">blog post</a> with video clips detailing all the steps I've taken in Hokey's weave training starting from the very beginning all the way up to the point where I was ready to add the 3rd set of 2x2s for a total of 6 weave poles. Then the WORST happened! It snowed. <br />
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Okay...so it wasn't the worst thing in the world. Despite my lamenting the ceaseless winter, it actually melted quickly and I was out there the very next day (yesterday) to resume our training. And that meant adding the 3rd set of 2x2s.<br />
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I introduced the new set by placing it a few feet in front of the set of 4 poles. Then I ran her through a couple of times from both sides. Gradually I moved the new set closer and closer to the other 4 poles.<br />
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Eventually I joined the new set with the old set of 4 poles and that's when the magic happened. Suddenly I had a dog that was weaving 6 poles! <br />
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So now that I have a weaving dog, what's next? Well, I want her to have independent obstacle performance regardless of my position or motion (or lack thereof). So we will continue to do some exercises with me sending her from various locations. For example, one thing I'm working on for independence is to send her ahead of me. We struggled a little with this at first; she would do the first 3 or 4 weaves then stop and look at me because she was unsure. Most dogs, particularly green ones, find lack of handler motion a bit perplexing. But being deaf, Hokey is probably a little more reliant than the average dog on my motion and/or keeping me in visual range. But we worked through it. Here she is sending ahead of me to complete the weaves. The fact that she is willing to go on ahead of me to complete them is a huge step. The confidence will come.<br />
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I will continue to do some Around-the-Clock exercises to work on difficult angles of entry, as seen here:<br />
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I will also be introducing motion and handling into the picture at this stage. Once Hokey is confidently performing 6 weaves independently with and without motion and consistently hitting her entries from all angles of approach, I will introduce a 2nd set of 6 poles and work up to the full set of 12.Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-2437453919198538982013-03-25T13:02:00.001-04:002013-03-25T13:02:49.448-04:00Weaves 101 (or 2x2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Searching for spring</td></tr>
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I had put off training Hokey's weaves for several months because of winter. In my opinion, to properly train weaves and progress quickly, you need to be able to work a little bit each day. Winter brings cold temps and the possibility of varying amounts of snow and, since I don't have the space in my house to set up 6 weaves, never mind a full set of 12, I decided to put it off until early March thinking I'd be safe weather-wise by then. After all, last year by mid-March, it was 80 degrees and I was mowing my yard. Looking out my window today on the 25th, with the snow coming down and a couple of inches already on the ground, I'm questioning the wisdom of my decision. However, I've already invested a little over 2 1/2 weeks into the process. Hopefully this will melt quickly and not affect our momentum and the progress we've achieved thus far. And I guess if I can't be out there training, I can at least write about it.<br />
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I had great success using the 2x2 method of weave training with Poppy a couple of years ago, so decided to use it again to train Hokey. However, with Poppy, I had used the "older" method where the 2x2s are set at angles and gradually moved to the straight position -- like channel weaves. This time, I decided to use Mary Ellen Barry's 2x2 method instead. An article outlining her method was published in the April 2009 issue of Clean Run and can be found, <a href="http://www.kineticdog.com/Files/2%20x%202%20PDF.pdf" target="_blank">here</a>, on the KineticDog website. This method puts the emphasis on teaching correct entries from multiple angles of approach. The sequence of screen capture snapshots below show Hokey approaching and entering the weaves from a sharp angle that requires her to wrap around the 1st pole, thereby demonstrating her understanding of what constitutes a correct entry even at this early stage in her training:<br />
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I wanted to document our progress, not only for the sake of this blog, but should I be in the position to be training another dog sometime in the future, it will be there to help guide me through the steps again. I suspect Hokey's progress, although not slow by any means, may be slightly slower than the average dog due to her deafness. I don't really want her looking at me as I want her focus to be on driving forward. Yet she is unable to receive any kind of auditory feedback, so she must rely on learning more by trial and error than a dog that can hear would. She does have a fairly low threshold for frustration though, often expressed with a loud snort, which requires us to take a break and do something else. <br />
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I believe I started Hokey with step 1 on March 6th or 7th and I did not document this step with video. It simply consists of shaping the dog to pass through the poles of a set of 2x2s by standing at one end and tossing treats for the dog whenever it passes through the 2 poles. Direction doesn't matter at this point. You simply want the dog to understand the value of passing between the 2 poles. However, you want to move quickly to the next step once the behavior has been established.<br />
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Step 2 begins by establishing direction - i.e. the dog learns that from now on the correct way to enter the weaves is with its left shoulder passing the 1st pole. At this point you always want to have your dog approaching the 2x2s from one direction; you do not want to turn around and come at them again from the direction you just came (i.e. "back weave"). Because of cold rainy weather, I began the 1st couple of steps in my
basement, which is plenty big enough for the first couple of steps, but unfortunately appears to have been last decorated circa 1978.<br />
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Once direction is well-established and your dog is consistently hitting the entry you can move on to part B of step 2 which teaches your dog to wrap around the 1st pole at increasingly sharper angles of approach by gradually moving the 2x2s from a straight on approach to a perpendicular approach. Here is Hokey demonstrating this step:<br />
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Once the dog is successfully hitting the entry to the 2x2s at the above stage, you can start to move on to the Around-the-Clock work. The first stage consists of you and your dog moving around the set of 2x2s as if they were set with the 1st pole pointing toward 6 on a clock and the last pole pointing toward 12. You and your dog work all angles of approach in an arc from 6 - 11 clockwise and 6 - 1 counterclockwise. At this point you always have your dog by your side and may do a restrain and release. <br />
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The next step is to work Around-the-Clock positions where you are stationary but releasing the dog from various positions that don't require any actual handling. The following video shows me working Hokey on both sides from ONE of these positions. I had trouble with my spare camera battery dying on me, so was not able to capture some of the other positions, but the Clean Run article mentioned above shows the positions to work on. <br />
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Once the dog is hitting the entry well from the various positions, it's time to add another set of 2x2s. To do this, first place the 2nd set in line a few feet from the 1st. Send the dog through the first set and reward immediately after. Then send the dog through the second set.<br />
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Quickly fade the reward between the two sets then reward the dog for performing both sets together. Even though the dog is performing both sets at once, they should still be considered two separate obstacles, so you are actually moving with your dog to the 2nd set instead of remaining stationary.<br />
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Once the dog is moving through both sets of 2x2s, start all of your Around-the-Clock work again both with the dog at your side and then releasing from various positions.<br />
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Next, gradually start to move the 2nd set closer to the first and repeat the steps above.<br />
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Eventually the 2 sets of 2x2s come together and you start to see something that looks like weaving! Continue to work the various positions like here:<br />
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And here:<br />
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So that's where Hokey's training stands as of now. I believe I am ready to introduce the 3rd set of 2x2s into the mix so we will have 6 poles. That is, IF it stops snowing and it all melts away. <br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-64594612907782552212013-03-06T05:33:00.000-05:002013-03-06T05:34:43.823-05:00Internationalization: Raising the Bar or Building Barriers?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This is my second contribution for a Dog Agility Blog Action Day and the topic this time is internationalization. That is, the increasing influence of European style course designs and the increased adoption and execution of new, somewhat complex, handling maneuvers. I've been thinking long and hard about what I wanted to write and when it came down to it, I really struggled with what to say. The truth is, I have very mixed feelings on the internationalization of the sport. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_NXW1DGIgYqFzKVPymyeXM3oexlKelPUcVDbeFcCzuRBGQCyl_dW92O10plOi1sbq-4N-KmbpMGX3TKp8z8OyG1zwqI9xs49bHHaBn3962hjnpBLthAoGxDh59nmQ_4OugXBfZfuRWrs/s1600/Run.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_NXW1DGIgYqFzKVPymyeXM3oexlKelPUcVDbeFcCzuRBGQCyl_dW92O10plOi1sbq-4N-KmbpMGX3TKp8z8OyG1zwqI9xs49bHHaBn3962hjnpBLthAoGxDh59nmQ_4OugXBfZfuRWrs/s320/Run.jpg" width="320" /></a>On the one hand, I love to learn new things and challenge myself. Admittedly, I'm not the most graceful handler in the world and sometimes feel like a dancer with two left feet (and two left arms) when learning some of these fancy moves and attempting to put them into action. I have to break them down into pieces and slowly put them together again before spending time working on my timing with my dog in order to be able to successfully execute them. The truth is, I'm unlikely to incorporate some of these moves into my repertoire in a trial setting at this time. Keeping it simple tends to work best for me. But I never say never and who knows? When Hokey and I come together as a team in the future, I might be out there tossing in Ketschers left and right.<br />
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I admire and appreciate watching teams successfully maneuver their way through a highly technical course. With Ollie by my side, I've enjoyed tackling the more difficult courses. I'd much rather run him on a technical course than one built for flow and speed. I admit, it's a rush to make it through a challenging course clean and be one of the few to earn a Q. And I'm looking forward to seeing what Hokey will do on such courses someday. She's building a good foundation in backsides and other maneuvers that will translate into some tight turns and being able to respond to some pretty fancy handling moves.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-j6dQER0860ojkY0G5qw0iPL3MJXiDLwBgYnMvqAyjf91Z8lbUj24h8C8jtNaMLL6upQIYzqjH0-hyDEDEuCb2hidEVZvy589wkvbGdvjhv0hx7-F7gi21_G3R4QvBQhrB08zBjyldc/s1600/sphere_flags_clip_art_14062.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6-j6dQER0860ojkY0G5qw0iPL3MJXiDLwBgYnMvqAyjf91Z8lbUj24h8C8jtNaMLL6upQIYzqjH0-hyDEDEuCb2hidEVZvy589wkvbGdvjhv0hx7-F7gi21_G3R4QvBQhrB08zBjyldc/s200/sphere_flags_clip_art_14062.jpg" width="200" /></a>On the other hand, I do see some negative consequences resulting from the increase of international influences. Not the least of which, they are not necessarily right for every dog/handler/team. I happen to have a dog like that. Poppy. I know she is capable of executing technical courses and responding properly to some of the newer, complex handling moves. A couple of months ago, we took a brief class focusing on just that and she did beautifully. We Jaakko'd and Ketschered and blinded and back-sided our butts off. Put her in a trial situation however, and it would be a different story. Because her environmental sensitivities go haywire in a trial setting, the more flowing the course and the less handling I have to do, the better off she is. Too much technicality in the course or too much handling required on my part results in a stressy, disconnected dog. She is not the only dog like this. For some dogs, the optimal course is a flowing, forward moving one where they can hit a rhythm instead of constantly and rapidly having to switch back and forth between extension and collection and making a bunch of tight turns. Yes, I am fortunate that, should I ever decide to get her going in agility again, I have a range of venues to select from and can choose one where I would encounter more flowing courses. Not everyone lives in a venue rich area like I do, however. I worry that as the international elements become the norm, some handlers with dogs who are not motivated by these types of courses and have a tendency to shut down when encountered with them, will become discouraged and will no longer want to participate in the sport.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaeZ99SXx3WPDYPx6NJWoqYp9VItDN3jd0wh3P6RuH5aRwh9K8R7LaX4OIlqxlXV10Y3ltpunIWD5R0dghQZXRMX_0HWOiDJpPiO97jEzodJWk0aPc3YUQ3EmRBWNxZD23urth4N2tS8/s1600/jump.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyaeZ99SXx3WPDYPx6NJWoqYp9VItDN3jd0wh3P6RuH5aRwh9K8R7LaX4OIlqxlXV10Y3ltpunIWD5R0dghQZXRMX_0HWOiDJpPiO97jEzodJWk0aPc3YUQ3EmRBWNxZD23urth4N2tS8/s320/jump.jpg" width="320" /></a>Which brings me to another, more general, concern. Will the increasing influence of internationalization of the sport create a schism between the serious competitors with eyes toward big achievements in the realm of national and international competitions and those who simply participate for the love playing the game with their dog and who have smaller goals and aspirations? Will certain venues cater more to those serious competitors by continuing to incorporate international course design elements to the point where they become known as venues for elite teams only? Will the newer or more casual competitors feel alienated as a result? I don't know. I hope not. But I fear I may have already witnessed this slowly creeping into the sport. I understand that, in part, this is just the natural evolution of the sport. However, I would hate to see agility completely lose touch with its roots and become a sport only for elite handlers and their dogs.<br />
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Lastly, I worry about the physical effects on our dogs as we ask them to perform more and tighter turns while pushing for greater speeds. Are there more injuries occurring as these elements become more common? No handler is 100% perfect. With more severe angles on course and tighter turns required, a slight misjudgement in timing has the potential of causing harm. Just because it can be done, does that mean it should be? What is fair and reasonable to ask of a dog in this sport? <br />
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In sum, I truly have mixed feelings about the increasing influence of internationalization in dog agility. I, myself, love to run the more difficult courses and learn the new handling moves, but, at the same time, I am concerned about alienating and discouraging teams from participating in the sport and also about the physical effects the demands of these courses are placing on our dogs.<br />
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To read what others have to say on the subject of internationalization in agility, please visit the <a href="http://dogagilityblogevents.wordpress.com/internationalization/" target="_blank">Dog Agility Blog Events page</a> on the subject.<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-91699715718733771492013-03-04T20:06:00.001-05:002013-03-05T09:57:35.206-05:00The ORT Experience<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhEkvVpeSusvcfgZQvkyerqZcp9kU0OxOhPwfiNEVcxQlFVqJwzqYlj0taaUxohyphenhyphenP2lQTb6bgrNGfoOI7fP67DJr-8dYfsM8vhg-z7NzEjbjy7fZPYsio1vTI3avRgvVSUayc5FRnnjs/s1600/IMG_4381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZhEkvVpeSusvcfgZQvkyerqZcp9kU0OxOhPwfiNEVcxQlFVqJwzqYlj0taaUxohyphenhyphenP2lQTb6bgrNGfoOI7fP67DJr-8dYfsM8vhg-z7NzEjbjy7fZPYsio1vTI3avRgvVSUayc5FRnnjs/s320/IMG_4381.JPG" width="240" /></a>This past Saturday, Ollie and Poppy participated in their first official nose work event. It's called the Odor Recognition Test or ORT. ORTs are sanctioned through the <a href="http://www.funnosework.com/home.html" target="_blank">National Association of Canine Scent Work (NACSW)</a> and are the first step toward competing in nose work trials. NACSW trials have 3 levels and each level adds a new odor for the dog to learn. In order to verify that the dog knows the odor it will be searching for in competition, it must pass the ORT on that odor prior to being allowed to enter a nose work trial. For nose work level 1 trials, that odor is birch. My <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2013/01/sniffer-workout.html" target="_blank">January post on nose work</a> shows Ollie and Poppy working searches on birch odor. The ORT not only demonstrates that the dog is able to recognize the target odor for which it is being tested, it also tests the communication between handler and dog - i.e. the dog displays some sort of behavior to indicate where the odor is hidden and the handler is able to read the dog and and say "there it is". Or, actually, the official verbal statement that must be given in an ORT is the word "alert".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWYCUMuVBtq5paJH9eeeOVxBk1HXuSFEH-Azqrtcn96A7wIaQvWc5zYDkOpR6uN3mOUg_W0JkGT-AUorojIpuaqi3hPeX57IbKhcmv-HZfwmghKEsEJ1z1oSY9vuudUeYgZNL86p_BRI/s1600/popharness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipWYCUMuVBtq5paJH9eeeOVxBk1HXuSFEH-Azqrtcn96A7wIaQvWc5zYDkOpR6uN3mOUg_W0JkGT-AUorojIpuaqi3hPeX57IbKhcmv-HZfwmghKEsEJ1z1oSY9vuudUeYgZNL86p_BRI/s320/popharness.jpg" width="320" /></a>First, it it important to understand that, unlike agility, nose work is NOT a spectator sport. In fact, it is the opposite. Because of the sensitive nature of the location of the hidden odor, every effort is made to keep that information from leaking out. The only people in the building when the test is running are the judge, the NACSW certifying official and the few people working the trial: the timer, gate steward, ring stewards (at least one to reset any non-odor boxes moved by the dog being tested and another that only resets the box containing odor if needed), etc. Competitors are told to primarily stay in their vehicles while they await their turn and after they go through the test they are told only to let people know if they passed or not with a thumbs up or a thumbs down. They should not discuss anything about the test conditions themselves.<br />
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When you check in, you give the ORT secretary the dog's official NACSW scorebook for the results to be recorded. Then there is a briefing giving you all the basic information on what to expect. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy & Ollie's scorebooks</td></tr>
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Like in agility, there is a gate sheet with a running order. There is also a "warm up" area where a small number of boxes are put out, one containing odor. You can practice on these shortly before going in for your test so that your dog understands what it's there to do. You may also use them for "recovery" purposes after the test, but warm-up teams have priority.<br />
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The gate steward calls you into the building when it is your turn. You are allowed to bring one person with you to record your test. If you have such a person, they are actually escorted into the building ahead of you and seated before you are allowed to go in. This is to minimize the distraction to the dog being tested. When called, or once your guest is situated, the gate steward escorts you into the building and takes your coat and anything else you don't want on your person or dog while testing, then asks you if you have any questions. After that, it is EXTREMELY quiet in the building. You walk to the startline where you may pause for a maximum of 10 seconds. No one will tell you to "go". Like I said, it is quiet. And purposely so. It's about you and your dog concentrating on the work without a lot of other distractions. The time starts as soon as the dog's nose crosses the startline or after the 10 seconds at the startline runs out.<br />
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The test itself consists of 12 identical boxes set a minimum of 48" apart. They may be set in a pattern of 2 rows of 6 or in one long row. One box contains 3 cotton swabs with the target odor (in this case, birch). It remains in the same location for all dogs being tested on that odor so that it is concentrated in one spot for the entire test. As a verification of the test, a "dog in white", i.e. a dog who has already passed the ORT on the odor being tested, is brought in for a trial run before the dogs being tested are run. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjohqbdTOg0HjmOmwA0YxtqYSSMv7fRRT2sBQrnUvThBtm3MZQPBp5UuHlRGl5Wc6NEMeXoKiUSo0Vb3oeqStF1F0yWhFk6Pi5rmSTzeMAMUGXbs8ntYHbHIWUKNRktpinum59dNxWG0k8/s1600/thumbs_up_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjohqbdTOg0HjmOmwA0YxtqYSSMv7fRRT2sBQrnUvThBtm3MZQPBp5UuHlRGl5Wc6NEMeXoKiUSo0Vb3oeqStF1F0yWhFk6Pi5rmSTzeMAMUGXbs8ntYHbHIWUKNRktpinum59dNxWG0k8/s200/thumbs_up_large.png" width="200" /></a>Then the real test begins. As the handler has no idea which box is the one containing odor, it is up to the dog to indicate the correct box to the handler, at which point the handler calls out "alert" stopping the time. You are given up to 3 minutes to call the alert. If you call the alert on the correct box, you will be told "yes" immediately by the judge and then quickly reward your dog with food or a toy. Then you go to the judges table for your booklet, which will be marked with a "pass" and signed by both the judge and the NACSW certifying official. Lastly, you are met by the gate steward to collect whatever belongings you left with them and are escorted out of the building to give the thumbs up to anyone who cares to know your joy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7582cIN1pl0Nnx8U8yswjGrMZSsXPx3X84ZLLfL_DJ33dH9bkszD6nG9fBmPfn1E0MASDim1vLzwTjXxXV0IWbCqt8mdRBG4ZnYM-ThCAgOeI9ijGsbwMpx5qahh0I_eEO6z-FTRImU/s1600/thumbs-down-smiley-md.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="192" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji7582cIN1pl0Nnx8U8yswjGrMZSsXPx3X84ZLLfL_DJ33dH9bkszD6nG9fBmPfn1E0MASDim1vLzwTjXxXV0IWbCqt8mdRBG4ZnYM-ThCAgOeI9ijGsbwMpx5qahh0I_eEO6z-FTRImU/s200/thumbs-down-smiley-md.png" width="200" /></a>If you call out alert on the wrong box, say if you have trouble reading your dog and incorrectly think they are indicating when they aren't or if the dog gives you a false positive, you are told "no" then told which box is the correct one. You are to go directly to that box and reward your dog there. Then you go to the judges table to get your booklet where the result is recorded as a "miss" and must try again some other day.<br />
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Unfortunately, I did not bring anyone with me to tape Ollie and Poppy's ORT runs. However, my friend Marilyn was gracious enough to let me use some clips of her sheltie, Mia, doing some practice runs at an ORT run-thru that the club hosting this past weekend's test had held a couple of weeks before. I thought it would be useful to show these in order to demonstrate the basic set up of an ORT. Note that the background, although relatively quiet, is still much busier and noisier than it would be in an actual ORT situation, where you can pretty much hear a pin drop. Here are 2 clips of successful practice runs. Notice the indication behavior:<br />
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And here is another practice run, but this time Mia presents a false positive by indicating the wrong box for whatever mysterious reason. In an actual ORT, Marilyn would have been told which box was the correct one and would have had to immediately proceed to it. But, because this is just practice, she continues to search until Mia indicates on the correct box.<br />
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My own experience with the ORT started to really fall into place a few days before. I've been crazy-busy at work and have been putting in some overtime and just didn't think I could manage to make it out to a store to buy a red bandana for Ollie. A red bandana is the conventional signal in nose work to let others know that the dog is reactive and they should keep their distance. I sent a plea for help out to my co-workers asking if anyone had a red bandana I could borrow for the weekend. I quickly received 2 replies, so that was covered and one thing I could check off my list. (I found out at the ORT that the host club also had some extra bandanas available for our use if needed). Then it looked like Ollie's replacement harness (I had returned one for a bigger size) wouldn't arrive from Clean Run in time, so I was faced with either working him in the cheap one I've been using that makes him walk like he's in a straight jacket or risking his embarrassment by having to share Poppy's hot pink harness which would have clashed with his red bandana. By some miracle, the replacement harness was waiting for me when I arrived home from work on Friday. <br />
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surprise to me - despite the significant height difference they
actually wear the same size harness. Does Ollie look embarrassed trying
on Poppy's pink harness?</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8iWfQ2CEYmL97GsVA-eqZifSpsgx9EjoXikQmgZ8LqypwCZnWlVt7SNVhWRrP_Bnn7-q4bUkGy7lspQZ2a8itz5YbRwtJuFpL8UKBSJC1pTC_u6Pl34LhWMZbVXR9NLvTy4XA205MQds/s1600/IMG_4385.JPG" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8iWfQ2CEYmL97GsVA-eqZifSpsgx9EjoXikQmgZ8LqypwCZnWlVt7SNVhWRrP_Bnn7-q4bUkGy7lspQZ2a8itz5YbRwtJuFpL8UKBSJC1pTC_u6Pl34LhWMZbVXR9NLvTy4XA205MQds/s400/IMG_4385.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollie lookin' sharp sporting his new harness & red reactive dog bandana</td></tr>
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Their ORT practices had been going well. Even Ollie, who has 8 years or
so of heavy reinforcement for 101 Things To Do with a Box and so
has a tendency to goof around offering behaviors on boxes instead of
using his sniffer, was giving me excellent search results.<br />
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Friday night, Poppy was so excited about something happening the next day, she kept waking me up as though she was saying "Is it time to leave yet?".<br />
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Obviously, since the odor box being used in the test does not move and I would know where it was after running my first dog, I could not test both Ollie and Poppy in the same ORT. Luckily, this club offered an AM test and a separate PM test. Ollie was 3rd dog on the line in the morning test. What was supposed to be a nice, sunny day turned out to be a cold and blustery one with occasional snow spitting from the sky. I had brought some birch odor with me and put it in a small box. I let him sniff it a few times while rewarding him with food, but he started to nose target rather than actually sniff, so I stopped that. I brought him to the warm up area and ran him through twice. The result was iffy; he was really offering behaviors rather than truly using his nose. So I hoped for the best and went to wait my turn in the freezing cold wind.<br />
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Our turn came and we were called in to the building. I handed my coat to the gate steward and headed across the floor to where the startline was set up. Once there, I paused, took a deep breath, made sure Ollie was looking at the 2 rows of boxes in front of us and then said "find it". As soon as I saw him sniff the first box and head for the second, I could tell he was actually working, so I relaxed a bit. When he came to the 3rd box, as he started to bypass it, he suddenly pivoted back around, put his paw on the box, looked up at me, then dipped his nose in for a target. I felt that was a pretty clear indication so I called it. The answer was YES!!! I was so elated and proud of my dog! He got a big reward. It had happened so quickly, either the NACSW official or the judge asked the timer how long it had been. The answer: 5 SECONDS!! Amazing. I collected my booklet with the "pass" and signatures and my coat and walked out the door. Someone helping outside of the test gave me a questioning look with a thumbs up and I smiled and nodded. Then ran back to my car to lavish praise and treats on Ollie-Ollie-Good-Dog.<br />
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After spending about 3 hours trying to stay warm in my vehicle, it was Miss Poppy's turn to show her stuff. She was first dog on the line in the afternoon test. I was a lot more nervous when it came to her. Poppy is the better nose work dog of the two, however, she suffers from severe environmental sensitivity. She gets very anxious in new settings and then loses her ability to focus. I had no idea what to expect. Her behavior in the warm up area did not encourage me. Instead of working, she just wanted to paw and knock the boxes around. Any boxes. Odor or not. Then when I went to the gate to wait to be called, she was very unfocused and doing a lot of stress sniffing on the ground. She was still not herself when we were called into the building. Normally when we do nose work, she can hardly contain her excitement. She barks loud and a lot. She strains at her harness and leaps around in the air. This Poppy was quiet, unfocused, and sniffing at the ground. When I got to the startline, she wasn't even looking at the boxes in front of her. I paused a few seconds until she was facing forward then gave her the "Find It!" command and she started off down one of the rows of boxes. I was encouraged that she was sniffing each box as she worked down the row, but still worried. When she came to the 5th box in that row, she started shoving it across the floor then placed a paw on it. I called the alert. The answer: "YES". Woo-Hoo! They were impressed with her speed and, just as with Ollie, asked for the time. She had alerted in just over 7 seconds! Another amazing run.<br />
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I couldn't be more pleased or proud of my dogs. And relieved!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Booklets showing the "pass" on ORT for both dogs</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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Now that they are both eligible to enter Nose Work 1 trials, we will get busy refining our work on the 4 elements tested in a trial: container, vehicle, interior and exterior searches. Stay tuned for more nose work fun in the future.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollie was super happy about passing his birch ORT with flying colors</td></tr>
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-45738449237270137082013-02-28T21:27:00.000-05:002013-02-28T21:29:23.769-05:00Flying Frame Update<br />
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Just a quick update from what I posted a few days ago. I worked Hokey on the A-Frame again today and concentrated on getting her to jump the apex, rather than scrambling over it like she was doing on Sunday. I placed a jump bar at the top of the frame to encourage the behavior and it seemed to work the majority of the time. It looks like she's getting 2 strides on the upside rather than the 3 she was getting on Sunday. However, on the decent, she is putting in a short stride between landing over the apex and pouncing into the box. I guess I'll see if that starts to fade as she gets more experience and gains more confidence. I think this is pretty good for only her second time on the frame though.<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-62208022839232562162013-02-25T23:51:00.001-05:002013-02-26T06:24:43.260-05:003-2-1 Contact Training (with Serps & Pinwheels too)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Hokey's agility training has been coming along. While (im)patiently waiting for spring to arrive, I've recently been able to get access to a nice building and equipment to practice on once a week. And it's only ~10 minutes from my house. Deb Goodhart rents the building about once a month to give lessons, so we've been doing that as well. I'm so appreciative to finally have an opportunity to do some training that doesn't involve traveling to the ends of the earth!<br />
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I put together a couple of clips of just a few things I was working on during our practice sessions. The first shows us doing some rear cross on the tunnel work, learning to drive through the chute and just fooling around running a little sequence -- a "real" one.<br />
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The following week, I worked her on some serps. It was only the 2nd time she'd done real serps. The first had been about a week before in my backyard. We still need a little work on timing and teamwork and her ability to consistently read the serp RTH when I add motion, but I thought she did stunningly overall considering how green she is. I also show a bit of a rear cross exercise at the end of this. Rear crosses are something we are still working hard at and still need a lot of work, but I was happy with what she did here. It's coming along. I was doing some exercises with her in my backyard this evening and after a small initial struggle, she started to really pick it up well. We'll continue to work at it.<br />
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Hokey has had a couple of initial introductory sessions on the teeter now, with the ends set on tables. During the first session, we just let her run back and forth to get treats at either end. Then we dropped one of the tables so that one end had about a 12" drop. She was unfazed. She couldn't seem to turn around fast enough to run to the other end to get her treat, even if it meant jumping up on the end and riding it down first. Of course, being deaf, the banging noise is out of the picture for her. But the motion doesn't seem to worry her.<br />
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Here is the end of our second session on the teeter. I am not teaching her any "end behavior" yet, however I am trying to train her to pause on the table at the end of the teeter as I move ahead. Since she is relatively fearless and tends to be at the "less" end of the self-preservation scale, teaching her to use her brakes now is probably a good idea. So here she is playing her favorite teeter ping-pong game:<br />
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She's been working the A-frame grid well for some time now, although admittedly I haven't been able to do it consistently during the winter months. But every time we do work it, she's been working well. So I decided it was time to introduce the actual A-frame into the equation. We've played the "mountain climbing game" on one side of the frame a couple of times to build up her hamstrings and teach her that she's able to control her decent. And she's run over it a couple of times at full height on the way to something else of her own accord (deaf dogs simply don't listen to "Don't do that until you've been trained how" and the "uh-uh-uh" as they forge ahead with their own agenda). But for a true introduction, we lowered it and I put my PVC box on. The first couple of times up and down, she was pretty tentative and unsure, like here:<br />
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So we decided to set up the ground grid next to the frame to remind her of what it is all about and give her muscle memory a boost.<br />
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That was all fine and good, so I switched back to the frame. Or at least I tried to. Suddenly, she was all "Frame? What frame? I don't see any huge, looming piece of wood directly in front of me". Even when Deb tried a restrained recall, she did a run-around.<br />
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Then she finally took the plunge up and over, proceeding to leap completely over the contact zone and box. But...she did a great job tackling the frame.<br />
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So now we were ready to put it together. As you can see, Hokey hasn't made the connection and generalized the striding from the ground grid to the frame yet. She's still getting used to the idea of running up and down it at this point. I know she's capable of opening up her stride more and she needs to learn to leap over the top rather than scrambling over and down until pouncing through the box, as she's mostly doing here. She may need a jump bar or something clamped to the top in order to help aid her in transferring the striding she learned on the ground grid to the frame. We'll see. But this isn't too bad considering it's the first time working the frame for this wee little pup.<br />
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We also worked some pinwheel exercises in my lesson this week. Since we are new to sequencing and with Hokey still being VERY green, her obstacle commitment is not always there and she apparently still needs quite a bit of support. I'm sure this will lessen as she gains experience and confidence. Here we are doing a straight pinwheel. Without a lot of support, she is pulling off jumps instead of committing:<br />
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Here we are doing the exercise without the send to the middle pinwheel jump, so that she understands that where I place my body relative to the plane of jumps tells her whether to take the pinwheel jump or not. Not taking the pinwheel jump isn't a problem, but she is so sensitive to my pulling motion that she almost misses the 3rd jump without me giving her a little extra push back out to it.<br />
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Next, adding a front cross between jumps 4 and 5 after the pinwheel. I spent too long supporting her pinwheel jump and was late for my cross the first time through. The second time was much better. Of course, part of training a new dog, especially when you start to put it together and run some sequences, means learning how to come together to work as a team. <br />
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Then we did the pinwheel with blind crosses. The first run was pretty nice. I was a little too early on my cross in the 2nd run. The 3rd was much better timing-wise, even though she ended up dropping the bar.<br />
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Our last blind cross ended up being pretty nice though. Bonus: she doesn't even look at the off-course trap jump set up near the 3rd and 4th jumps:<br />
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We haven't started any training for the dogwalk and haven't even been able to resume the groundwork for that was put on hold for the winter. (confession: in another don't-try-to-tell-a-deaf-dog-no moment, she has been up on the full height dog walk of her own accord a couple of times. Like I said, she is fearless. I have been VERY conscious of keeping her away from the full-height teeter however).<br />
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I plan on starting 2x2 weave training sometime in March.<br />
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So that's the update on Hocus Pocus training. More to come soon as the warmer weather allows us more training opportunities! <br />
<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-48284484324770820702013-01-30T19:54:00.001-05:002013-01-31T06:37:36.752-05:00Rainy Day and My Backyard-is-a-Bog Training<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey planted herself in front of the heat vent. It was cold!</td></tr>
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This will be a short, but sweet post.<br />
Between the weather being horrendously cold last week...<br />
then snowing...<br />
then warming up so dramatically the snow melted in less than a day...<br />
then raining buckets... <br />
so that my backyard has become a virtual bog,<br />
I haven't had much opportunity to do any real training with Hokey.<br />
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What to do?<br />
<br />
How about shaping a random behavior?<br />
I am using a flashlight as my substitute clicker. <br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-86098201399610450772013-01-15T23:08:00.002-05:002013-01-15T23:08:56.396-05:00Sniffer Workout<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Since I haven't posted anything about nose work since <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/08/training-sniffer.html" target="_blank">last summer</a>, it's time to catch up on how the dogs have been coming along with training their sniffers. We've made lots of progress! But first I should mention that I decided to focus on Hokey's agility training and not continue to train her in nose work at the moment. Since I unofficially retired Ollie from agility in November, it was time to step up his nose work training as a second career. He and Poppy are now both attending formal nose work class and sharing the time by alternating weeks.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollie's nose leading him to the target odor</td></tr>
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Our last session of classes started out with vehicle searches using food. Then we moved inside to start introducing the dogs to working on searching odor. Then our class went on hiatus from December until mid-January. For the majority of that time, I was focusing on doing agility with both of the girls, but as the date for nose work class approached, I got my ass back into gear and stepped up my practice sessions to several times a week. Scent work is so natural for most dogs, it doesn't take long for them to get back in the swing of things after a break, but I definitely see a huge difference in their abilities when I can practice more often.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy using the wall to help her pinpoint the location of the scent</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cotton swab with birch oil</td></tr>
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The first scent introduced to the dogs is birch (essential oil of sweet birch, aka Betula lenta). The odor is prepared by cutting up Qtips and applying the oil to the cotton tip. Preparing many swabs at one time and then storing them in an airtight small jar, such as a baby food jar, helps retain the scent for a long time and prevents the odor from contaminating the area while not in use. <br />
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The main thing to keep in mind when working with odor is that you want to be careful when handling the oil or anything that comes in contact with the oil. You do not want to confuse your dog by contaminating areas of your house, or other places your dog may frequent, with birch scent. Disposable gloves are essential. You may want to use a set of tweezers to handle the Qtips when taking them out of the jar and placing them in the hide container and vice versa. Do your prep in an area with access to hot water and hand soap and wash your hands thoroughly, even when gloved, after handling the odor article. Dispose of gloves and anything else not to be put back in storage by placing them in a ziplock bag and throwing them in an outside garbage can in an area your dog does not have regular access to or by placing them in the freezer until trash day.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Supplies for preparing odor search: disposable gloves, odor-treated cotton swabs, a search container & hand soap</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2 Containers: tube with hole in cap & metal tin</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The Qtips treated with scent should be placed inside some sort of container as to not contaminate the search area. At this point in my dogs' training, I place 3 - 5 swabs in the container. Some examples of containers that can be used: a small screw top tin with holes in the lid, an empty chapstick container with a hole in the top, taping the swabs to a piece of cardboard then folding it over and taping the edges down to prevent direct access to the swabs, a plastic fast food ketchup container with a lid taped down and small holes punched in the lid, etc. You want to mix it up and use different types of containers so that the dog will learn to search for the birch scent and not "birch scent mixed with the metal scent of the tin" or "birch scent mixed with plastic and tape adhesive". <br />
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My personal favorite container is the screw top tin. It has a powerful little magnet inside so I can stick the container to anything metal - door hinges, heating grates, appliances, dog crates, etc. I love it!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">metal tin with holes in lid</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">magnet & swabs in tin bottom</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Magnetic tin stuck to heating grate</td></tr>
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We started the transition to working with odor by going back and working with searches in cardboard boxes and pairing the odor with food. The food was placed just in front of the container holding the odor, so that when the dog found the food it would take in a whiff of the odor at the same time and start to associate the birch odor with the food reward. When rewarding the dog with additional treats upon the find, those treats would be thrown in the box as close to the odor as possible or by offering the treats to the dog by placing your partially closed hand directly in front of the container so that the dog is taking large whiffs while getting the reward. Once the dog associates the odor with the reward, you can start placing a hide or two using odor only and not pairing with food at the very end of your practice sessions. You need to be VERY quick in delivering your rewards for finds at this stage. Once you are getting good response to the odor only searches, you can start doing less pairing and more odor only searches.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcYE3OV1OmRF-2m5TxDIP2UKBmo1GGBmx_IyfHQ8XB0-uCe2rs5XxMgUa03LNz1e8_Eobj1WOKXTrF2R9uhklD83M21HsjfPCTdrK38eAAe46Ws2NjTy5qiHTTs8RzztAIWsQxcRgefA/s1600/Snapshot+-+69.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpcYE3OV1OmRF-2m5TxDIP2UKBmo1GGBmx_IyfHQ8XB0-uCe2rs5XxMgUa03LNz1e8_Eobj1WOKXTrF2R9uhklD83M21HsjfPCTdrK38eAAe46Ws2NjTy5qiHTTs8RzztAIWsQxcRgefA/s400/Snapshot+-+69.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy locked in on the odor with her nose</td></tr>
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Right now, Poppy and Ollie are no longer using boxes to do odor searches. I just pick a floor of the house to work and place the hides in random places. I start out the sessions by doing 2 or 3 searches paired with food as a warm up, then switch over to pure odor searches. They are doing amazingly well and are proving to me that they now "get it" when working odor only.<br />
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Here is Ollie doing some odor only searches with the magnetic tin:<br />
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And Poppy doing the same:<br />
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Here is Poppy again, showing some real nose work sleuth work when trying to locate the odor underneath a blanket draped over the metal chair that the magnet is stuck to:<br />
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I hadn't ventured outside for any odor searches yet, but decided at the end of Poppy's session last Saturday to give it a try just to see how she'd do. There was a breeze, which made it somewhat challenging. It took her a little longer than the interior searches we've been working on, but she did succeed!<br />
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As you can tell from their enthusiasm while working and the smiles on their faces, Poppy and Ollie both love nose work. I strongly encourage anyone to give this activity a try with their dog. It is immensely rewarding to see your dog hone its strongest innate ability and work at something with so much joy!<br />
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We started back up with class tonight by doing some mock odor recognition test (ORT) runs on closed containers. So look for more nose work posts in the future as we work toward the ORT and then getting ready to compete in nose work trials.<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-18268097905634630082012-12-30T10:16:00.000-05:002012-12-30T11:50:41.161-05:00What About Poppy?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9a9URHyZMhybF2oPAB3StvTRluNBQkUlcohU1kw4neruAfIxoen1QU7ApOncD2LXiBPntGPZ_zUtiUyaWctuZfYP0EBkuCKxKe_lRuzi0NJ-D-o8o-PtzkigHpfNamGKApwa2I2zYImw/s1600/Smile.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9a9URHyZMhybF2oPAB3StvTRluNBQkUlcohU1kw4neruAfIxoen1QU7ApOncD2LXiBPntGPZ_zUtiUyaWctuZfYP0EBkuCKxKe_lRuzi0NJ-D-o8o-PtzkigHpfNamGKApwa2I2zYImw/s400/Smile.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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What about Poppy? I haven't said too much about her as of late. True, I've been training her to become a<a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/08/training-sniffer.html" target="_blank"> nosework superstar</a> and she absolutely loves it. But, as far as agility goes, between her stressing in the ring at trials, a sudden issue with the teeter that appeared early last spring, and then <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/07/poppys-injury.html" target="_blank">her injury in July</a>, her agility career has been put on hold while I focused on achieving my 2012 agility goals for Ollie and worked on Hokey's foundation training. But I've really missed running my crazy girl. This is a video I made back in the fall of 2011, when we'd been struggling, but I was still holding on to the hope that the worst was behind us.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy with her ribbons from her first trial</td></tr>
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Despite her multiple issues, I LOVE running this dog in agility. She started out with such potential and I really thought she was going to surpass Ollie in superstardom. She has a lot of drive and learned everything so fast. I entered her in her first trial (USDAA) at 19 months of age as a 22" championship dog. She Q'd in 4 out of 4 runs.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Results of her 2nd trial: Poppy AD</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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The following month, I entered her in her second trial. She
Q'd in 5 out of 5 classes AND because that gave us all the Qs we needed,
plus the 3 judge minimum, she finished her AD title. At 20 months old
and in only 2 trials!! I couldn't be more proud of my crazy little
shelter mutt. <br />
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Then everything fell apart. I had brought her to the Mid-Atlantic Agility Showcase and, I don't know what - the intensity in the atmosphere? Certain sounds? A combination of factors? Who knows? But her sensitivity to something turned on big time. She melted down in some form of doggy panic attack. This carried through to smaller local trials. Suddenly this dog who was still fast and focused in class, could barely manage to do more than an obstacle or two at a trial. Once, after I'd decided to do an arc of 4 jumps from the start to the finish and leave in the hopes of giving her a relatively stress-free & positive experience in the ring, she did 2 jumps and ran out of the ring. After less than a handful of trials, I tried dropping her down to Performance 16" to see if that would have any effect on her stress levels. Nope.</div>
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Then I decided to try doing a little CPE (easier courses, more laid back environment) in the same building where we were taking weekly agility classes, starting at level 3. I started off slow, only entering a couple of classes/trial at first. It was better. Not perfect. There was still some stressing. But it was better. A few months later, after I fully entered a couple of trials, she even managed a couple of perfect weekends.</div>
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<tr align="left"><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLrIbU3wQlv7IA8YXvhNw4vnMOyxMWib00HVtuDongsgaCfbej9lJ-IiUpgp-RW5vsv9KygEw-0JvrTc9q8Lmp9dDjaMVMDKv6is1sMczBJI1kHzNItAia1fO8R2cogIV6nEKkt5hv_Q/s1600/PW.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCLrIbU3wQlv7IA8YXvhNw4vnMOyxMWib00HVtuDongsgaCfbej9lJ-IiUpgp-RW5vsv9KygEw-0JvrTc9q8Lmp9dDjaMVMDKv6is1sMczBJI1kHzNItAia1fO8R2cogIV6nEKkt5hv_Q/s320/PW.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy's first CPE perfect weekend</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiek5IVJGxv4xkwjpeUIOXUz0cBOJIMpK_ydgt2Qvjqi0blVMYnIHlI9wTX2OMS6WwvOGVxD-jlJ9ETtHanIIffMC4voiCAy_5WEzo8Gfl-Mfh2Rgcdr1LVKmOZAxgWiCH-eKLjR42B5vk/s1600/IMG_1682.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiek5IVJGxv4xkwjpeUIOXUz0cBOJIMpK_ydgt2Qvjqi0blVMYnIHlI9wTX2OMS6WwvOGVxD-jlJ9ETtHanIIffMC4voiCAy_5WEzo8Gfl-Mfh2Rgcdr1LVKmOZAxgWiCH-eKLjR42B5vk/s320/IMG_1682.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new CPE title</td></tr>
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Then there are my handling issues and the holes in her foundation training. I've always known those issues were there and tried to seek help, but didn't get far. Some of the things I've been working on with Hokey have given me ideas for plugging the holes in Poppy's foundation. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1qBKrvk7KwHxx2dt7TXzxk-zVEBlrQjNjOCqs5vATw-YDcVDllqp7YoGz1QRIZVr4sgxWZqVgxvGbnWq8ZDfdxUvhPLgeij3SybbjCZAqA4DDJE6m7m3ngFaA0muKiNn8cKQmrPDlYI/s1600/1st.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim1qBKrvk7KwHxx2dt7TXzxk-zVEBlrQjNjOCqs5vATw-YDcVDllqp7YoGz1QRIZVr4sgxWZqVgxvGbnWq8ZDfdxUvhPLgeij3SybbjCZAqA4DDJE6m7m3ngFaA0muKiNn8cKQmrPDlYI/s400/1st.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy Jan 2010 - the day after I adopted her (6 months old)</td></tr>
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After several months of no agility, during a break from nosework class, I signed her up 4-week mini agility class. The experience provided me with the opportunity to "take her temperature" when it came to agility and gave me some very useful feedback:<br />
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<li> Ring-stress. She still stresses when it comes to agility. There is a huge difference in stress level and focus between when she does nosework and when she does agility. However, she still worked very well and, after the first couple of classes as she started to feel more relaxed, I did start to see more of her true personality coming out. It will continue to be a work in progress.</li>
<li>Handling. I really learned a lot about how I need to handle her in this class! I felt like for the first time, I finally got the type of feedback I needed. Poppy handles quite differently from the two little ones. With those long legs of hers, she's faster, bigger striding, bigger jumping and doesn't respond as quickly. I've found it very difficult to get my timing just right with her. Ollie has spoiled me in that my handling can be so-so and he'll still do just about anything I ask. No so with Poppy. She requires much more precision. I need to communicate my cues sooner and remember to always keep moving. After this class, I have a much better idea of where I'm headed with her and what I need to work on. And for that, I am so thankful.</li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"knuckling over" behavior</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<li>Physical soundness: This remains an open question as far as Poppy's future agility career goes. I'm still not sure what caused the<a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/07/poppys-injury.html" target="_blank"> severe lameness back in July</a>. I will say that she has an odd quirk of standing knuckled over on the toes of that same leg. This is nothing new; she's always done it. It hasn't gotten any worse over the past 2 1/2 years and has never seemed to bother her or affected her ability to run like a fiend, careen off the walls of my house, launch herself down the stairs, or do agility. However, since she only displays this behavior on her left rear leg, which was the same one she came up lame on, it does make me a little suspicious. I did mention it to the vet back in July and, off the top of her head, she didn't seem to think it was related. I've also noticed that sometimes when I'm holding her and put her down, as soon as she touches the ground she has a tendency to poke her nose or bite at one of her hips --- not always the same one. Is it just another one of her weird quirks, or is she indicating that something is bothering her? </li>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wild and Crazy Girl</td></tr>
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Anyway, the agility class gave me more food for thought and has me wondering even more about her teeter-fear issue. The first week, at the end of class, I wanted to see where she stood with the teeter since it had been many months since she'd seen one. It was obvious she'd forgotten her fear at first as she tackled it with a little too much gusto before realizing what the obstacle was. Not exactly what I was going for. She was a little more reluctant after that, but I did manage to coax her across a couple more times. After each class, I massage her before turning in for the night. That night, when I went to massage the upper part of that particular leg, her hackles went up and she growled. NOT typical Poppy behavior! Obviously it hurt her and she didn't want me touching it. She had had the same reaction back in the summer when she was lame on it and we were trying to pinpoint the issue. The last 3 weeks of class I did not put her on the teeter, but she did all the other equipment, including the usual suspects that might cause a problem: jumps, A-frame, and weaves. I had no problem with her reacting to my massaging the leg on those nights. So might her teeter issue primarily be a reaction to pain that it might be causing her with the noise and/or motion only being secondary fears due to their association with physical pain? I don't know. But it warrants further investigation.<br />
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So, as it stands now, I do not have any plans to trial her in the near future. I want to spend some time really working on my handling with her, continuing to work on her ring-stress, explore her physical issues --- and then see. <br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-54589455686493953022012-12-17T23:07:00.001-05:002012-12-17T23:07:39.136-05:00Laying More Bricks in the Foundation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sometimes I feel like I'm in training overload. There are so many things I'm working on right now. but so little daylight for me to be able to train outside. I never feel like there are enough hours in the day and that I can't do it all justice. Here are just a few of the things I've been working on as far as Hokey's foundation training goes, in no particular order:<br />
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1. Running Contacts. The dogwalk training has kind of been put on the backburner simply because by the time I get home from work, there just isn't enough daylight for me to set up and work on it. In the meantime, I've been questioning if a running dogwalk is going to be the right behavior for Hokey. Being that consistency in striding is key, I'm not so sure if her habit of naturally adding an occasional leaping motion into the middle of her full out run might interfere. However, I will continue to train the foundation for a running until I'm ready to make a decision because, no matter what contact behavior I decide on, I still want her learning to drive with speed to the end of the walk.<br />
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With the dogwalk on hold, I have, however, gone back to work harder on the foundation for the Aframe running contact. Hokey is working the box on the ground consistently well. Here is a video showing me setting her up so there is a direct line between her and I, with the box offset from that line. She shows that she understands what she's supposed to do by leaving the line in order to bounce through the box instead of coming directly to me when I release her. Also shown is that she is able to drive ahead of me independently (although I'd still like to see little more forward drive in her behavior) when I'm well behind and several feet lateral from the box.<br />
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I've also started to apply the grid to the box. She's working it pretty well although it's not a ingrained behavior yet (we just started, so that's expected). Sometimes when I first set it up, she loses sight of the box behavior and does the 2 jumps and then comes to me instead of driving forward through the entire grid. I've found that if I start off relatively close to the box and then increase my distance, it seems to help remind her that she needs to bounce through the box. I noticed in reviewing the video below that when I added the grid, she is also looking at me a little more instead of driving forward into her reward zone. I may need to be just a little quicker with throwing my reward. Right now I'm only working the first (forward) position on both sides in conjunction with the grid. Once she's moving forward consistently and seems to understand her job, I'll start working the other positions. Here she is doing a nice job with the grid: <br />
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2. Line Setting. I started working on some foundational "line" exercises to teach her to stay in her lane/path while I'm in mine. Here we set up on two parallel paths both heading forward. I have a dish set up in the middle of her path that contains one very small treat. I do a restrained release so that she drives ahead of me to the dish, staying in her lane. When I catch up and pass her, I get her attention with a toy so that she breaks from the dish ASAP and chases me while both of us stay in our individual lanes. I do need to be a little more aware of not veering into her lane or pulling her off into mine. It's harder to keep track of in my yard than it is in the training building where we go for lessons. In the building, there are mats to help clearly define our separate lanes. We'll be adding challenges to this exercise as we move forward with our training. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmYkfL0caIoKE2kmkXL90INIgxLsL44NGDpPE3nnoyGIvCYV0Wsb6RKkxBVn_K9DtBxAZWdt7nog5qtQAj2DxA710truq91L4NolienlUTUzHFrrMmf_fJ0YVjyTbRLSiNrRlDdI7jzm8/s1600/Snapshot+-+54.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmYkfL0caIoKE2kmkXL90INIgxLsL44NGDpPE3nnoyGIvCYV0Wsb6RKkxBVn_K9DtBxAZWdt7nog5qtQAj2DxA710truq91L4NolienlUTUzHFrrMmf_fJ0YVjyTbRLSiNrRlDdI7jzm8/s320/Snapshot+-+54.jpg" width="320" /></a>3. One Jump Exercises. I started doing some one jump work with Hokey to teach her to use her body properly when jumping. It is used to teach her proper form when turning tightly over a jump by training her to keep her head down into the turn. I am also teaching her to keep her feet up so that she doesn't tick or knock the bar. Sometimes my timing isn't the best and sometimes my treat placement isn't great, mostly because they bounce, but for the most part, she's doing well with this.<br />
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4. J-turn for a change of direction. I'm training a turning cue so that, when she's facing me, Hokey passes my side and turns away from me to change direction so that we are then on parallel paths. Here we are working on the flat, around an obstacle, and over a jump. Note that, because I just started training this, my arm movement is highly exaggerated at this point. As her understanding of the cue increases, I should gradually be able to keep my arm much closer to my body.<br />
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5. Pinwheel. Starting with a close-set pinwheel of jumps, I'm am training Hokey to drive into a pinwheel and carry through all 3 jumps independently. My path is to run up the middle on a straight line toward the standard of the center jump. As soon as I see her commit to the 2nd jump, I move back down the center line in the opposite direction (I am not happy with the last example in the follow clip as I paused instead of moving when I should have).<br />
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6. Sends. Because deaf dogs have a tendency to be velcro and not easily amenable to working at a distance, I wanted to make sure I was working on sends right from the very start. As mentioned in my <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-backyardless-adch-apartment.html" target="_blank">"Living Room Agility Training" blog post</a>, I often use the dining room table to practice sends with all my dogs. I just trained Hokey on dining room sends a few days ago. Here we are having a blast with it. This will come in handy when it's 20 degrees outside with a foot of snow on the ground.<br />
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We can use patio furniture in the yard to do something similar:<br />
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Since she tends to like to drive into my tunnel, I also put that to use in working sends:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_zFtnYihfVo2k4K-J9jYEDBC3GFEXpeat-6R3BCephSA2KRgeEpz5a8EmTWDAGGuCoIma-K8NfI2uBZVQa3_jLTTGLsGGaly6ajovnwx8Nu_4osNx13tS_1JUenh0PEVQtqhcv3_KPuU/s1600/Snapshot+-+55.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_zFtnYihfVo2k4K-J9jYEDBC3GFEXpeat-6R3BCephSA2KRgeEpz5a8EmTWDAGGuCoIma-K8NfI2uBZVQa3_jLTTGLsGGaly6ajovnwx8Nu_4osNx13tS_1JUenh0PEVQtqhcv3_KPuU/s320/Snapshot+-+55.jpg" width="320" /></a>7. Backside Cues. If we end up running in USDAA trials, Hokey is going to have to learn how to read my cues to do a backside approach. We just started this and she's already picking up on it really well. I mix it up with front approaches so that she doesn't get locked into a particular pattern. The key is my foot position - notice the difference in where my sending foot is pointing when I send her to the backside as opposed to the times when I'm sending her for a front approach and asking her to wrap back to me. As for my arm movement - it's too exaggerated and distracting. I need to work on that. <br />
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8. Tunnel Rear Cross. This is something I'm really struggling with. I have had some trouble with Hokey pulling off the tunnel, entering and then turning around to come back out, or showing hesitation/drop in drive when I work on this. Putting a toy several feet from the far end of the tunnel for her to drive to usually helps with that aspect of things. However, as shown in the 2nd half of the following clip, she still has a long way to go as far as learning to read the rear cross. It is simply not clicking thus far. Her deafness doesn't help because I can't help her with a verbal clue to let her know where I am once we've lost visual contact. I've been thinking about how I can use the placement of the toy to help her learn to read the cross. I also need to think about my own timing and placement of the cross to, hopefully, make it more clear to her where I'm going. It's hard, because if her head is already in the tunnel and, especially if she's driving to the toy, she might not notice my cross at all. If I cross too soon, it might cause her to pull off or turn around and come back out of the the same way she went in. I'll have to play with it and try to come up with a solution. <br />
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So that's the update. I can't wait for the daylight to lengthen again in order to give me more training time during the week. However, with January and February on the horizon, even with enough daylight, there may be snowy and cold weather ahead. I sure am looking forward to spring!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the way?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span id="goog_1756850005"></span><span id="goog_1756850006"></span><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgURZVaqsholjTW72FqF7v0fJkkBKs-AwgnEQqnzm2tygzPRyogjO758UGmANi2Nz02ewmOoyubdhNpHesg6CJn6XEIUHE7RXfdjLF7aJ426zTcUaWC241_PH6Sf-YNQIrWWNhIrhB7c04/s320/IMG_3722.JPG" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wake me when winter is over!</td></tr>
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-39656828866791564642012-12-05T00:17:00.001-05:002013-02-27T06:11:58.877-05:00The Backyardless ADCH: Apartment Training for the Agility Dog <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ADCH Ollie: title earned in 2009 during 4 years of apartment living with no place to train or practice "real" agility</td></tr>
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This is my first time participating in a <a href="http://dogagilityblogevents.wordpress.com/backyard-training/" target="_blank">Dog Agility Blog Action Day event</a> and it just so happens the topic is on something I know a lot about! The topic is backyard training, including the logistics of training in a small space. Or even, as was the case during my first 4 years of participation in the sport, no yard whatsoever. <br />
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That's right. Those were the apartment years. I had no place to train or practice. None. Not even a postage stamp sized yard. My "practice" was my weekly group agility class, which, usually consisted of running 2 or 3 courses. That's all the "real" agility I got. I didn't own any agility equipment because I had no yard to set anything up and, with Ollie's dog reactivity and his crazy critter prey drive, I never felt comfortable taking him to a park or other open space to practice off-leash. Looking back on it now, I wonder how my first agility dogs, Wave and Ollie, managed to learn such complex behaviors like weaving without me having a place to regularly train them on equipment. On rare occasions, I would rent a place with equipment, but, as I also find it necessary to practice agility-on-a-frayed-shoestring-budget, those were supplemental treats that were few and far between.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollie in our first and littlest apartment - dreaming of the day he could have a yard</td></tr>
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Yet, somehow during a time when I had no place to train or practice any "real" agility other than a weekly group class, I managed to take a dog from adoption all the way to finishing an ADCH.<br />
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So if you take anything away from this post, let it be this: Do not let a lack of training space discourage you from becoming involved in the sport and do not let anyone tell you that you shouldn't even bother to attempt becoming involved in agility unless you have a large, fully equipped yard, field or building in which to practice. Not having space or equipment may be far from the ideal situation, but if you have a passion for agility you CAN still participate. You just need to be a little inventive.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollie AD, 2007 - that space in the background was all we had for training.</td></tr>
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I spent my first four years in the sport doing apartment agility training. What does that entail? Basically building a relationship between you and your dog while playing games together that incorporate some of the skills used in agility. Below is a list of a few of the things I did while living in a small space without access to a place to train. <br />
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1. Shaping Games: There is no better way for you and your dog to learn how to become a team than playing shaping games together. They learn how to think through situations and become better problem solvers and you both learn how to effectively communicate with each other. How you play is only limited by your imagination. I've done everything from 101 Things To Do With A Box (or chair or some other random object) to training tricks such as the Put the Ball in the Bucket game, the end product of which is shown here, but was trained through pure shaping with a clicker:<br />
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2. Body Awareness: This dovetails onto the 101 Things To Do With A Box shaping exercises which help a dog learn body awareness. Other things that can be done:<br />
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<li>Place a row of boxes with low sides across the floor (or a small ladder or slightly raised jump bars) and ask your dog to move straight through so that s/he learns to lift up all 4 of his or her feet while in motion. </li>
<li>Have your dog place its front feet on some sort of object - a short stool, a sturdy square box, or even, as I've been using due to my ongoing household projects, a paint can - then teach them to pivot on their front legs while moving their hind legs in either direction around the perimeter of the object. </li>
<li>Build your own makeshift wobble board. Take a large box, crate pan or some other suitable object and put a rolled up towel, a ball or some other small object underneath it and go to town having your dog move around on top, including having them have to sit up and balance on their hind end while reaching for a treat. With my little Hokey, I've found I'm even able to get the desired effect using a large square throw pillow.</li>
<li>Teach your dog to move backwards onto objects. Refer to my past post, <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/07/back-up-that-booty.html" target="_blank">Back Up That Booty</a>, on how I train that.</li>
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3. Crate Games: Always great for a variety of reasons. Since I recently wrote a post on the subject, I won't go into the details here, but here is the link to that entry - <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/09/playing-crate-games.html" target="_blank">Playing Crate Games.</a><br />
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4. Target Training: My dogs were all taught how to target objects (my
hand, plastic lids, a target stick, alley-oop style targets, or random
objects) with their noses and individual feet. It's a big game that
they absolutely love! <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5oHKux91gHWWuSjumFrmQkqjH26BJeMVt6pJSE-CqlzbkZoz-QIyXgOb15aUkhCAqsEOgibqns5_riIzf8J5nExumY8e3S07JUntCI5oyjXoI8q5eJw7PYwvbKb2pZrvVbl2m7dbU5U/s1600/IMG_3846.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik5oHKux91gHWWuSjumFrmQkqjH26BJeMVt6pJSE-CqlzbkZoz-QIyXgOb15aUkhCAqsEOgibqns5_riIzf8J5nExumY8e3S07JUntCI5oyjXoI8q5eJw7PYwvbKb2pZrvVbl2m7dbU5U/s320/IMG_3846.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey targeting the alley-oop</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWqytwHGReVnM0hmaLv1C_nZ1bmTaL7DAV2sjp7vuVN50NKAqvA-OL3D4V0LCCA6Pj14HcqDHvf1nwhW3r90YTo_Zl2NNPXVcJ3h08uFL7VsEQBYz4DTAEp1L8Fi4mlf_FjFmmCnxknuU/s320/IMG_3859.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollie targeting the alley-oop</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Poppy demonstrating targeting with a back foot<br />
(and also how to target an eye with a tongue) </td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollie hand targeting</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollie nose targeting a flat target</td></tr>
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5. Sends: Even in a very limited space, you can work on distance skills. I used my alley-oop style target to teach my dogs to send outs. I also used furniture to practice straight and lateral sends. Any object that you can send your dog around will suffice. I was fortunate that the last apartment in which I was living had a large enough living room that I was able to configure the loveseat and sofa in such a way that I could work a figure-8 pattern. Even without that kind of space, I've been able to at least use the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8nTE8EXVTM" target="_blank">dining room table</a> or pull a chair out to practice sending my dogs out and around from different positions.<br />
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6. Directionals: I don't use verbal right/left directionals, but I do teach my dogs various non-verbal turning cues. This can mean some as simple as having the dog facing me then spin either left or right in response to my hand signal. I also teach them to change direction by either turning into me or away from me while at my side in a heel position, depending on what cue I give. Another thing I've done is set up a couple of cones for the dog to go out around and practice different cues and crosses. I've also worked the J-cues for distance redirectionals and a modified version for closer "flick away" turns. <br />
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7. One Jump Exercises: Even the smallest apartment space usually has enough room to work on your dog's jumping skills using one jump exercises. You can also work on recall-to-heel positions with or without a jump.<br />
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8. 2o/2o Contacts: Although I've recently been training running contacts, Wave and Ollie were both trained to perform a 2 on/2 off contact behavior on all contact obstacles. I was fortunate enough that the apartments I lived in during the first 3 years of my involvement in agility both had a set of carpeted stairs. If you choose to train 2o/2o contact behavior, stairs can be an invaluable tools for both training the behavior and maintaining the 2o/2o criteria. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ollie demonstrating a 2o/2o using the stairs</td></tr>
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9. "Table": My dogs were trained to do "table" as a behavior, not an obstacle. Since USDAA is my primary venue, this means when I give the verbal cue "table" they are to jump up on whatever object I am directing them to and immediately drop into the down position. (Because of Hokey's deafness, I will need to come up with some other kind of signal in lieu of the verbal command when I train this). Beds, sofas and arm chairs have been my most convenient "tables" over the years. If your dog is small enough, you could also use a large, sturdy, reinforced cardboard box covered with a non-slip surface, such as a non-skid mat, placed on top.<br />
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10: Tricks, Tricks, Tricks: Nothing builds and reinforces the bond between you and your dog like trick training does. Teach many and have them perform a few every day. Enjoy every minute of it!<br />
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10: Play!: Have fun together. It's all about you and your dog experiencing joy together while interacting in a fun and positive way. My dogs love it when I hide and they have to find me. And, no matter the size of your abode, there is always enough room for playing retrieving games or having a good round of tug. Just make sure to move that vase or lamp out of the way first!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our first spring in our own fenced yard</td></tr>
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Three years ago I was finally able to purchase a house of my own.
However, all I could afford was a row house in the city. I actually
selected the house I live in now based partially on the size of the
yard; it's a little larger than the average city backyard (although the house itself is smaller than my last apartment). Although sizable in comparison to the majority of city yards, it is still far from the ideal size for practicing agility at 40' in length with 2/3rds of the yard having about 15' of usable
space across and the remaining 1/3, about 20'.<br />
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Compared to the years spent with no yard to practice in, having my own fenced in space is a welcomed luxury. However, because the space is relatively small, I'm still constrained in what I can set up and what I can train and practice. (Note: on this Blog Action Day I expect there will be several posts on exercises that can be done in a small yard, so I will leave that up to others). I have no space for contact equipment, so am limited to setting up exercises involving jumps, weaves and my canvas practice tunnel. It's better than nothing though, and Hokey and Poppy are reaping the benefits of "real" training space that Ollie never had. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yard set up with jumps and weaves</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Finally a little bit of room for some training</td></tr>
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-17715516202003991072012-11-18T15:17:00.002-05:002012-11-18T15:17:43.798-05:00Running Dog Walk Training: Modification One<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I still have other material on other subjects related our foundation training to write about, but, in the meantime, I added a modification to my running dog walk training set-up in order to help with one of the problems I've been having that wrote about in <a href="http://thesecondhanddogs.blogspot.com/2012/11/foundations-running-contacts.html" target="_blank">my last post</a>. The issue is that Hokey often comes off the side of the plank as she runs toward a remote controlled treat dispenser placed several feet from the end. A friend of mine (thanks Ivette!) suggested using a hoop at the contact end that could act as a visual aid to keep her running straight on the plank all the way to the end. I do have a hoop, but thought that maybe just a couple of upright posts connected by a short stabilization bar (in this case, roughly 16") might be enough to do the trick. <br />
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First, I needed to introduce her to the concept of running through the uprights. I shaped this simply by strolling by the obstacle and rewarding her for taking the initiative of going through the uprights. We've done this when introducing other obstacles in the past, so it's a familiar drill to her. The only "new" concept was the narrowness of the uprights. Here I am shaping the behavior. As you can see, as Hokey gradually becomes more confident about performing the behavior, her speed and drive increase. By the way, that soft click you might hear is a flashlight that I'm using as a substitute clicker. More about that later.<br />
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Once Hokey clearly understood the concept of running through the uprights, I placed the remote controlled treat dispenser on the ground for her to drive to. She would get a treat released for a "hit" - running through the uprights, but, in theory, wouldn't get one for a "miss" - running by the uprights without going through them. She never did get a miss during this phase though. <br />
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Then it was time to put it all together by putting my foam tiles down with the uprights placed at the contact end and the treat dispenser placed several feet from the end.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3LC-rhFrVPqmsNZNTJmLs9PWTsyVz6G8CokXUls_6StTan3nuBBNYpLfik0wLtfzVKFc14zsCE3owTWBTfx7SsNagRrZ9_co5MMWjuD5b8lDHPl2g77VqlVd6Vw4AkqBWgf90dqs-PY/s1600/IMG_3782.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm3LC-rhFrVPqmsNZNTJmLs9PWTsyVz6G8CokXUls_6StTan3nuBBNYpLfik0wLtfzVKFc14zsCE3owTWBTfx7SsNagRrZ9_co5MMWjuD5b8lDHPl2g77VqlVd6Vw4AkqBWgf90dqs-PY/s320/IMG_3782.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbvSYqk0N0AsD-S-lxSxYi0RX-qM8GpRObfof0VawdrDQmqlJJhBTeTE2Q0wGcjIgh_fiBumBlO3Xk7Qn7BmlRdIKzncCHRLUsEQH5enEsyTzq4AHJ0mZRtrA36PxvRxKqk1O2yeECC8/s1600/IMG_3783.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYbvSYqk0N0AsD-S-lxSxYi0RX-qM8GpRObfof0VawdrDQmqlJJhBTeTE2Q0wGcjIgh_fiBumBlO3Xk7Qn7BmlRdIKzncCHRLUsEQH5enEsyTzq4AHJ0mZRtrA36PxvRxKqk1O2yeECC8/s320/IMG_3783.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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I have decided it is easiest to see a contact hit if I have 3 foam
tiles of all the same color linked together at each end of the "plank"
(recall from the last post that 3 tiles are equal to the USDAA contact
zone measurement). Here I have red on one end, yellow on the other.<br />
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The modification with the uprights worked really well. It seemed to do its job of acting as a visual guide to help her stay on the plank all the way to the end the majority of the time. She had a couple of instances where she came off and then swung back on to run through the uprights, but those misses were not nearly as numerous as those during the training session a few days ago when I wasn't using the uprights. Here is Hokey getting some nice "hits":<br />
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As for the other main problem mentioned in my last post - that of the absence of a good clicker substitute to mark the desired behavior - that is something I'm still working on. <br />
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As you can see from these stills from videos taken during today's
session, she still has times where she is leaping over the contact area
rather than hitting it. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbzQUMxE1D3efxG4TXGiDkfazUcJAC8J-H0_NW3UMDo-5lFeAzhgM4xBnCAdAdsJSXeFqN5oSkhlQDhq2lDhlfES41vLb8DpE6w1rBhEKYg3pbE_bDRFYgq5xiIH1rSbvtrBLmg1WSzQ/s1600/Snapshot+-+46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghbzQUMxE1D3efxG4TXGiDkfazUcJAC8J-H0_NW3UMDo-5lFeAzhgM4xBnCAdAdsJSXeFqN5oSkhlQDhq2lDhlfES41vLb8DpE6w1rBhEKYg3pbE_bDRFYgq5xiIH1rSbvtrBLmg1WSzQ/s320/Snapshot+-+46.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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There is a slight possibility that the uprights will encourage this behavior since she might interpret them as a cue to jump, but because she had several instances of just running through the uprights rather than jumping, I do not think this is the case.<br />
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Here is the video showing her leaping over the contact zone:<br />
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Without a proper aid to give her instant feedback, there is really no good way for me to communicate what I'm looking for her to do. I'm sure it's frustrating to her. Not having the ability to communicate my criteria to her properly is frustrating to me.<br />
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However, I do think I may have a workable solution. I bought a little push button LED flashlight a couple of days ago to try to use as a substitute clicker (as an alternative to my hand flash). It's relatively bright, so as long as Hokey is looking at it, she should be able to see the light flash on even when outside during the day. It also has a relatively quick reaction without much of a delay, which is a huge bonus as this is something I have struggled with when trying to find devices that will work well in our training.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ksCpVIFdqI1U-PHF3U68WZjInrFSzWgnjZpBZZJmS5smQOr5WmxXxtA6cEdHkPAeB25uVar9hvo8_lLIv5PsX5HNT4YeweCw7M_nlRDp3W-IDsLsP2Ka6tTT5Gvl0qcqI4WsLusemag/s1600/IMG_3795.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_ksCpVIFdqI1U-PHF3U68WZjInrFSzWgnjZpBZZJmS5smQOr5WmxXxtA6cEdHkPAeB25uVar9hvo8_lLIv5PsX5HNT4YeweCw7M_nlRDp3W-IDsLsP2Ka6tTT5Gvl0qcqI4WsLusemag/s320/IMG_3795.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The downside to using the flashlight is that Hokey needs to be facing it in order to get the information. In training the running dog walk, if I'm restraining her or holding a stationary position at any location other than right at the end of the plank facing toward her, I can't provide her with the information contained in that flash of light. Even with me standing at the end like that, things don't work out so well. Having to release her, watch the contact, decide to click the flashlight followed by clicking the remote for the treat dispenser all within quick succession did not prove to be very workable in practice. Therefore, I think it would be best at this time to have a second person stationed at the contact end of the plank watching the contact area for "hits" and clicking the flashlight, while I concentrate on releasing her and operating the treat dispenser.<br />
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In the short time I've introduced her to the concept of the flashlight as a substitute clicker (I picked it up on Friday and today is Sunday), Hokey has grasped the concept very well. Here we are today demonstrating how it can be used to shape a sit/stay. Notice that she is definitely glancing at the flashlight in anticipation of getting information/feedback from it.<br />
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So that's the update! Running dog walk contacts are still a work in progress, but with improvements!<br />
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<br />Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2653839343412381723.post-31390950373288203592012-11-14T20:44:00.001-05:002012-11-15T11:34:41.178-05:00Foundations: Running Contacts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqySmUw6UEyHeHCm9Sk4R0eIcr2cr9D_FtWZ95c49PdKBXWPsdkfmKZPbQdYKc9hyphenhyphen8FjNFlJvQIIr9E-GdmK8rlkHeTvecG8e_y4o2zJlOz8hj2Ie9ZY-TTNBDPitLmnFmL8FNAm_UWZ4/s1600/Snapshot+-+10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqySmUw6UEyHeHCm9Sk4R0eIcr2cr9D_FtWZ95c49PdKBXWPsdkfmKZPbQdYKc9hyphenhyphen8FjNFlJvQIIr9E-GdmK8rlkHeTvecG8e_y4o2zJlOz8hj2Ie9ZY-TTNBDPitLmnFmL8FNAm_UWZ4/s400/Snapshot+-+10.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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I finally have time to report on the progress I've been making with Hokey's agility foundation training. In fact, I have so much material, I'm going to have to split it into more than one post. This post will be dedicated to our attempts to develop solid running contact behaviors for both the A-frame and the dog walk. <br />
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But first, let me report that we all survived "Superstorm Sandy" (I still prefer the pre-storm moniker "Frankenstorm") without any hardship. However, Hokey begs to differ with that assessment. She was convinced she'd melt by getting rain in her face. Is this not the most pathetic sight ever? <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEine8Yx9d0v20ujn2bqGi6G5UVli39EwTsAzQeu9hRxdmzZI0vPRsE8YtK-J8s6i4eaXddIjdxY-hQ5RTO_PeHdNoP1MDejo-4BgLGSCobjsFywJNwqEWngGffBJxKrrVgx2LJCq75NraE/s1600/pathetic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEine8Yx9d0v20ujn2bqGi6G5UVli39EwTsAzQeu9hRxdmzZI0vPRsE8YtK-J8s6i4eaXddIjdxY-hQ5RTO_PeHdNoP1MDejo-4BgLGSCobjsFywJNwqEWngGffBJxKrrVgx2LJCq75NraE/s320/pathetic.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey "suffering" the effects of Superstorm Sandy</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
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So back to running contact training starting with the A-frame. I have introduced Hokey to the PVC box. The introductory step involved me sitting in a chair while shaping her moment into the box (i.e. first moving toward it, then a foot in, two feet in, etc) by building value for it with lots of tossed treats. She moved through those steps very quickly. Then I ran into some trouble at what would ordinarily be the next couple of steps - me still sitting in a chair off to the side of the box with her moving straight through without looking at me while getting a nice pounce into the box then bouncing straight out. Because of her deafness, I had trouble imparting this concept to her and actually ended up jumping ahead a couple of steps. The main problem is that I have yet to come up with a good alternative marker to use in lieu of a clicker. Such a marker would need to be visual, yet not require her to look at me for information (i.e. some remote device that she would look at to get her information regardless of my position relative to her). It would also have to have very little delay so that the feedback would be virtually instantaneous. I've experimented with a couple of things, but none of them have worked out quite to my specifications. SO, I decided to jump ahead and see how she would respond to me working the 3 positions around either side of the box (front corner, side, back corner) with me tossing a treat or toy to keep her focused on driving forward. Being a bouncy jack, she naturally picked up on the one bounce into the box with a bounce straight out. She really gets some nice pouncing action, as seen in this still from the video that follows:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs6wW8HBrzS_QG4VBSF5mHZPsw0VVT42c-f30xDdm4x0vsxHLT_ObOl7LRMMmZCB2yOcyzYPfQl2XjWVAbEGkcVuHoswiVKUiMMCPSr3zVMFublLBwds3LL1mDFnagZumT4ScCUtk7DOA/s1600/Snapshot+-+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs6wW8HBrzS_QG4VBSF5mHZPsw0VVT42c-f30xDdm4x0vsxHLT_ObOl7LRMMmZCB2yOcyzYPfQl2XjWVAbEGkcVuHoswiVKUiMMCPSr3zVMFublLBwds3LL1mDFnagZumT4ScCUtk7DOA/s400/Snapshot+-+7.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hokey "pouncing" into the PVC box</td></tr>
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And here is the video of us working the 3 positions around the box at full speed followed by half speed:<br />
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We've also started to work on the foundation for a running dog walk contact. I want to try to train this and see how it goes. So far, it's proving to be challenging and sometimes frustrating. I may need to rethink how I go about certain things, but I figure if it doesn't work out, I can always switch to a 2o/2o instead. I think it would be an easier transition to retrain a running to a 2o/2o contact behavior than the other way around. Currently I am using interlocking foam tiles as a portable substitute for a plank. They are 12" x 12", so 12 tiles represents a DW ramp and the last 3 tiles are equal to the USDAA contact zone specifications.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKfehBYk7WCXQwkZTHYNBR5hmzyEBqAnUxn2ifbLS3mztxbORy1Vpg0WQxwiEjGwJyRqyhcMKsXLeIWpEz1DS2717eNvn-ETX4ujcdx7SsxvNRibsDi26uLuYi73JXH2FQOOyaCYfne4/s1600/IMG_3752.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKKfehBYk7WCXQwkZTHYNBR5hmzyEBqAnUxn2ifbLS3mztxbORy1Vpg0WQxwiEjGwJyRqyhcMKsXLeIWpEz1DS2717eNvn-ETX4ujcdx7SsxvNRibsDi26uLuYi73JXH2FQOOyaCYfne4/s320/IMG_3752.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the interlocking foam tiles</td></tr>
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When training a running DW contact, you want to teach your dog to drive forward with speed while remaining completely independent of handler motion. Therefore, in these early stages of training, I remain stationary and position myself at either end of the "plank". I have a remote controlled treat dispenser placed several feet from the end of the plank that acts as the "goal" for Hokey to drive to. I've also used a tug toy stuffed with hot dogs placed or thrown at the contact end of the plank. However, if I use the toy, I give up the control of rewarding her for a correct vs. incorrect performance since she's often driving forward far ahead of me. In other words, the toy reward is indiscriminate; it rewards her for performing both correct and incorrect contact behaviors. Therefore, I prefer to use the treat dispenser so that I can reward her only when she runs all the way across the plank without leaping off the end or stepping off the side. The downside to using the remote dispenser is that it has a little bit of a delay, so that sometimes in my eagerness to deliver the reward to her at the correct moment, I anticipate her performing correct behavior and instead end up rewarding her for an undesirable behavior.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQZxOQLA6xOKYllIekhvdtKjWS7b-UvvKwdyzJXxXiJs0CUtbBriZW-3qubC2gTIKqvYcn4bKciunWRc1nB6fmh-qOPGqNbw-KMBC9BAo-EkxQCo-W2_gl_kSokfYkghXndm4aaJ_h2E/s1600/IMG_3755.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwQZxOQLA6xOKYllIekhvdtKjWS7b-UvvKwdyzJXxXiJs0CUtbBriZW-3qubC2gTIKqvYcn4bKciunWRc1nB6fmh-qOPGqNbw-KMBC9BAo-EkxQCo-W2_gl_kSokfYkghXndm4aaJ_h2E/s320/IMG_3755.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Remote controlled treat dispenser</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Unfortunately, as mentioned before, I haven't come up with a good clicker substitute with which to provide her with instant feedback for performing the correct behavior without her having to
look at me, so, right now, Hokey is stuck with the imprecision of trying to learn what gets her a reward and what doesn't and trying to tease out what she did right from the wide range of possible behaviors. This is a currently source of frustration for the both of us and something I need to give more thought to in order to come up with a better solution.<br />
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Below are video examples of our hits and misses. <br />
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In this clip, I stand stationary at the "contact" end of of the plank near the treat dispenser and release her toward me:<br />
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I have found that she tends to show a little more speed and drive if I am at the opposite end with her and do a restrained release, sending her across the plank toward the dispenser, as shown here:<br />
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As I mentioned before, Hokey is a bouncy jack russell and has a tendency to add an occasional leap amid her strides as she runs. Sometimes these leaps carry her right into the contact zone, such as here:<br />
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However, this is not the most desirable behavior as it can easily turn into a leap that has her sailing completely over the contact zone:<br />
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A frequent problem I'm having with her is that she has a tendency to run off the side of the plank as she's heading toward the treat dispenser. <br />
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This is happening more often lately and I need to fix it now before it drifts into habit. My thought is that I either need to take some steps back and build high value for staying on the plank before running the entire length at full speed OR get a helper so that one person can be available to give some sort of visual "click" for the desired behavior. Or maybe some kind of combination of the two. <br />
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Like I said, it's a work in progress with some kinks to be worked out. We'll see how it goes as we move forward.<br />
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Another post on our progress focusing on other skills should be up within the next few days. Stay tuned! Dawnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02760768082392110727noreply@blogger.com0