Local Events Page Updated

Mannerly Mutts Group Classes:

October 15th 2011  (37 Paul Street York Beach Maine) begins Mannerly Mutts' 6 weekly Group Beginning Companion Dog Adult Classes (6 months and over) at 11 am (pre registration is required by 10/9/11).  Weather and tide permitting, the remaining lessons planned on Long Sands, Short Sands, or Ellis Park.  Be sure that you fill out the client interview form to pre register.

Seminars in the New England Area:

October 16th 2011 Conformation Handling Techniques and Evaluations with Bill & Sue Burrell Time: 9:00am - 3:30pm Cost: Participant: $75.00/handler Auditor: $37.00 Seminar Includes: Full day seminar (30 minute lunch break), handouts, individual evaluations and light snacks 3 White Birch Lane, York, Maine 03909 207-363-0099 info@itsadogsworld.me (they do not have a website).

October 23rd 2011  Genetic Management of Canine Reproduction Dr. Cynthia O'Connor, Reproduction Specialist, will present an overview of Theriogenology - the veterinary reproductive specialty - along with the utilization of genetic testing in breeding programs, breeding management decisions and common problems that breeders are confronted with.  3 White Birch Lane, York, Maine 03909      207-363-0099 info@itsadogsworld.me (they do not have a website).


April 28-29th 2012 Bridget Carlsen Seminar at the K9 Connection  60 Minnesota Ave. Warwick, RI 02888 401-737-2870 K9.connection@verizon.net

DVDs and Educational Materials:
International Association of Canine Professionals Past Conference DVDs

Janice Gunn DVDs for Obedience Competition Training
Rental Service for Canine Training and Related Videos

Upcoming New England Area (ME, NH, MA) Obedience Trials:


(UKC) October 1st to 2nd 2011 Marshland Obedience Club   contact Club President, Jen Strubinger: jstrub_shs@hotmail.com Finish Forward 30 Spring Hill Road Saco Maine

(AKC) October 8th to 9th 2011 Champlain Valley Kennel Club  Champlain Valley Exposition Fairgrounds 105 Pearl St. Essex Junction, VT 05452

(AKC) October 14th to 16th  2011 Souhegan Kennel Club American K9 Country 336 Route 101 Amherst, NH 03031

(UKC) October 15th to 16th 2011 Dog Obedience Guidance School Agawam Massachusetts 

(AKC) November 5th to 6th 2011 Burlington Obedience Training Club Sports & Fitness Edge of Williston 115 Wellness Dr Williston, VT

Upcoming Show N Gos (or run thrus):

October 13th 2011 AKC Show N Go 12-4 PM Run Thrus American Canine Country 336 Route 101 Amherst New Hampshire 03031 603-672-8448

October 16th 2011 AKC Show N Go 08:30 AM to 03:00 PM location: Finish Forward Dog Studio 30 Spring Hill Rd Saco, ME 04072 cost: $8 $8 first entry, $4 additional entry of same dog Jr Showmanship $4 York County Kennel Club hosting

Canine Good Citizen (CGC) and Therapy Dog (TDI) tests:

October 5th 2011 Essex County Dog Training Club will be hosting a Canine Good Citizen test(info.on test items at AKC.org) on Oct.5, 2011 at 7pm in Salisbury Mass. , costis $20.00 per.dog , for directions to our training location go to http://www.ecdtc.net/



October 16th 2011 The Tri-County Obedience Club is hosting an AKC Canine Good Citizen Testing to
celebrate Responsible Dog Ownership days. The testing will be held on Sunday, starting @10a at The Mercer Community Center on 1015 Beech Hill Road, Mercer, Maine 04957. It is off Route 2 just 7 miles from Norridgewock. The test is $15.00/per dog. Dogs must be leashed, on a regular buckle collar, or slip collar. No head collars or pinch collars allowed.  Please register with Dale@207-397-4105 (no website for this group)

November 5th 2011 2nd Annual Trade Show & Doggie Expo 30 Spring Hill Road Saco Maine

Doberman Events

September 30th to October 8th 2011  DPCA 2011 National Show & Convention Fitchburg, MA
86th Annual National Convention Sept. 30-Oct 8, 2011 (will update with location when I get info)


Other Events to Bring Your Canine Companion To

October 8th-10th 2011 Salefest in York Maine 10:00am-4pm Location: Short Sands Beach, York Maine  The shops move their stores to the sidewalks for the end of season sales.

October 15th-16th 2011  Annual Harvestfest (link provides details of events and where they are)Location: York Beach, Maine This festival includes a variety of activities, live bands, an ox roast, bean hole beans and a mix of approximately 200 vendors: including Food Vendors, Juried Crafters, Marketplace Vendors, Go Green Expo Exhibitors and local Non-Profit Organizations. Harvestfest also includes a corn toss challenge, a POW-WOW, hayrides & much more.




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All About Leon...

Leon is about to turn 7 this October 2011 (right around when our other dog, Boris, turns 2).   Leon has known all of our previous pets except Neptune (black male Doberman who died at 9) and Clyde (orange cat who died at 19).   He was really the first of my dogs actively involved with my business and the very first dog I competed with.

Leon has gone to trials for Novice Obedience (I think two before we discovered his knee problems), but I pulled him out of competition when it became clear he had suffered an ACL tear.   It's hard for him to do a row of auto sits for instance or a 1 minute sit if his knees are bothering him.  However, he has been a constant front man for our business in many other ways (demoing, greeting, seen in public, known at businesses that we can bring him into).   He is great around babies, children, seniors (pretty much all stages of humans), small animals, dogs, cats, and even people who are normally afraid of large dogs.  He is my husband's best bud (and mine), and my primary business partner.   He looks mild and low energy, but Leon is anything but.   He actually likes to remain quite active during the day with occasional breaks from daycare or training with everyone (we all need those on occasion to stay sane LOL).

For the last (little less than) two years, I had not been maintaining the training on Leon, as I should have, during a grieving period for my dog, Jackie CD.   I just was not as focused on my dogs' training as I should have been.   Leon got played with, exercised and spoiled for more than a year and a half.  Not a terrible thing, but realize that we both love our job.    The better trained Leon is, the safer Leon is when we are out training dogs.  I sometimes need him to move away from a dog quickly, or trust me speedily and lie down instead of growl when he feels unsure (something that is sure to trigger an aggressive and presently unstable dog).

In order to keep myself honest, I have maintained a written journal of our work, and where we are (weeks, days, exercises, progress, observations) everyday since 8/25/11.  With 3-5 other dogs during each day to train, it has been the only way to keep what is going on with each straight!  It also keeps me realistic on where we should be based on keeping track of how many actually hours we have actually been training together as I have some training dogs coming here for five days a week, some for three days a week, and some who are spotty as we are going over certain issues with an owner who has a limited budget.   So it's very important to be able to jog my memory on exactly where we are with a particular dog.  Also, it helps you look back and be able to acknowledge the progress you made.   Believe it or not, in the moment and being so close to it, you sometimes forget where you and your canine partner actual began.  It's important that you can acknowledge the progress both for your self and for your canine team mate.
I have also written out the goals for Leon.   It is so easy to forget where you are trying to go when training a dog, and get caught up in chaos while changing things up for your dog all the time.   It is especially easy to do this with Leon, as he knows a little about everything and he is so fun to work because of that.   Course I also have to remember their are my clients' dogs to train and my own dog, Boris, so I have to stop with Leon at some point.  He is addictive though, but I also have to remember his knees as well.  Leon gets addicted to the time with me doing his thing, so I have to remember that I have a schedule of many things to get done during the day.

So Leon and Boris have been my focus every day that I can get training in for my own dogs.   I try and am mostly successful at getting their training in one way or another, even if it's not the full scope of what I wanted to do. 

Here are some things having to do with our goals that we have been working and progressing on:

• Leon has a nice heel already under a lot of conditions with no or minimal equipment.   I am maintaining that by making sure he gets out and heels every day.   I am also noting any areas (the woods where deer poop is for instance) where he has more trouble heeling or heeding to add to our training areas.   Also being sure to go to any crowded public events to maintain his heel for those outings (also on restaurant decks that allow dogs, ET and so forth).  Also requesting that when husband takes Leon out for a walk that he spend some time maintaining the heel and let's go in addition to just having fun with him.
• Emphasis has been on "gogogo" and "funfunfun" for Leon for the last year and half plus.   So the long down stays, places, and stationary commands in general have suffered greatly.   Just had a great lunch at the Bagel Basket (Salt Bagel with Peanut Butter and Coffee) with Leon in a down for about 15 minutes (yes we did not bring the friggin camera again).   He got up once, but no temper tantrum barks, whines, or begging.   He looked great!  Brother Boris was there as well allowed to stand if not begging, and put in a sit stay when he was making "the eyes".
• When Leon has been having fun playing games, he has gotten away with being allowed to bark alot.   The Quiet command under very distracting situations has commenced, and Leon has improved greatly on his adherence to this and the ability not to bark non stop every time something fun is going on.
• Something I have been remiss in is practicing passing him to a stranger (though it's not likely I am going to pass him to someone who does not know me) and then walk out of sight (for CGC-Canine Good Citizen).  I have been leaving him in a down stay while I walk out of sight.

Leon is doing great of course.   There are some funny things that he learned while I was not doing my job maintaining as well as I could have been.

• When I tell Boris to "leave it", Leon comes running as he knows a toy has just been acquired and about to be played with.   I have had to teach Leon when he's in a stay that "leave it" does not release him from the stay to come and play (though I do use play on command after a successful stay has been completed under those circumstances occasionally).
• Ditto above for "out".

There are more of the above that I can not think of right now, but may add later.

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Boris, Boris, Boris...



Boris receives his first ribbon and award.   Granted not for an obedience competition, but for "Best Physically Challenged" in the Animal Welfare Society of West Kennebunk Maine Strut Your Mutt Event on September 11th 2011.  I don't think if they knew Boris on a daily basis, that he would have gotten this ribbon LOL.  However, we will take it in the first of a series yet to come:)



I do not post enough about my dogs.   I am doing totally new stuff with Boris method wise.  So I will start with our little black gremlin. Boris has been benefiting, from motivational training which was inspired by Mike Ellis's seminar.  I find the play and training combination to be very appealing as follows:

1. Team orientated (meaning you and the dog are a team) and human with dog interaction.  This is different than offering play solely as a reward.
2. A tug (or in my case ball) is something you can have on you all the time, and since you are playing with your dog and not giving up the tug until some training has taken place and/or without a long line attached to your dog.   So you can control the toy, the dog's perimeter, and have something easy to take with you in a pocket (ideally) everywhere. 
3. You are getting training done when your dog is in a high drive state, plus training attention to you (once you get going and start the game out in distracting areas).
4. Decreases, with the right dog and the training done right, the need for correction (again read the word decreases).
5. You can start out, with the right dog and the training done right, with no corrections whatsoever thus building the high drive to work.
6. This sort of training seems to prolong the training time and make it so it can be done spontaneously in multiple situations.  I don't necessarily mean the training time in one stretch (and this will be a topic for another article).
7. While I don't generally worry about whether I have fun while training, it is fun that generally extends your training time.  In the seminar, I saw that this can indeed be used to train your dog to a standard, which is very important to me and my work.

I prefer play drive (even prey drive)  over food drive.  I am not saying that I never use food, but I am saying that I use food very selectively.   FYI a similar type game can be done with food cradled in your fingers luring the dog.  In this type of method, I have found this helpful if my normally playful puppy is too tired to play with his toy.  Boris will rally for food if it is needed.  Again, more in the spirit of playing with your dog than reward (or worse bribing) your dog.   The play and owner/handler attention is the reward not the food or the toy.  Or that is the way I would like to practice it and look at it.   Many people forget, however, the ultimate reward of being with and working with their human partner, which I find equally as powerful.   Something like this can help you on your way there.

With Boris, he is a very stable, friendly, affectionate, and "slightly" (understatement) crazy for play (or prey) drive based training.   He is one, that assuming I do my work, I think to flourish under this method.   Due to the hectic schedule I have now (and the fact that I am no longer twenty years old and tire easily) I have not gone as far or have been as consistent as I could have (should have) been with Boris to date.   However, I think I have been pleased with the effects of this, and see that we are probably going to be able to go forward into obedience competitions with this.  I haven't exactly figured out how, so we may need to wait until 2012.   Fall is "usually" quiet for my business, but it seems to be driving forward like an out of control freight train.   I don't want to rush Boris's training or myself for this, OR stress either of us out trying to get to a timeline.

Since finding a lasting tug has been a "challenge" with Boris (nicknamed Crazy), I have been doing indoor and outdoor ball games.   Because Boris has been trained partially using an electronic collar after using loosely the ideas of KMODT (Koehler Method of Dog Training) and Bedrock Training Method early on, he is not one that is likely to take off in public or private situations.  So because of this, I have been able to use a ball or Frisbee without any real fear of loosing him. His innate skill for fetch and retrieve is lending to building this team type of activity.

In order to start to bring the training forward, I have had to consider the progression carefully based on what I see from Boris.  I haven't even written out what I am specifically doing, so I will try to lay it out now.  It is not going to sound like rocket science, but realize I have been experimenting with many different ways of doing this on my own.   Part of the training knowledge you get from professionals is or should be based on experimentation and what works.   When I decide to try a method, equipment or whatever, it is usually based on seeing it actually work for more than one instance.   In Mike Ellis's seminar, I probably saw 20 or more people who work with their dogs that this worked for.   Whereas, if I go to a seminar that does not have real life examples on green and accomplished dogs that work (or sometimes these seminars have no working dogs), then I am not likely to pick up and look at that method.  There are so many talented trainers out there who can show me things that work, and they will always take top priority.

I am in love with this method (that I am experimenting with), but there are things to consider:

1. Many sport competitors that use methods like this limit or minimize the amount of dog socialization and play that their dogs have with other dogs or humans.   In my business and the way that I enjoy living with my dogs, I like for them to have an active social life on the beach and at home.   Also their job is to be human and canine greeters for the business.
2. I have found that I need to balance crazy high drive Boris vs confident chill Boris due to number 1 above.
3. Boris can be a little demanding about "play" now LOL.  Probably more of a good thing, as it forces me to train more with him.
4. Because I am doing a lot of experimentation and not following the usual plan for obedience or obedience competition (and I am hoping to score much better on the next competitions), the training process is going a lot slower than it normally would.   I also occasionally worry that I will in the end find this is not the right process for the team of Robin and Boris (but not really too much).
5. I see the potential for a well meaning client to not do this well, and create a crazy dog.  Course there is always that potential, and usually it has already happened before you met the client .  I just think it would be so much fun, that the client would totally not be into the training aspect or what is trying to be accomplished.   However, I was pretty sure that no client would ever buy into the technique of "sit on the dog" which Margot Woods came up with, and I was so totally wrong .

So the game begins with Boris and I as follows:

STEP 1:  Either I have the ball in hand, or Boris has dropped the ball in my lap.
STEP 2A:  If I have the ball in hand, I say "Let's Go".  Then I follow with "Leave It" (or "Out" if he is hovering above my lap or hand with the ball in his mouth)  Let's go is an informal directional which means come towards me, as opposed to the more formal "front" or "finish".
STEP 2B:  If Boris has instead dropped it into my lap (and I am ready to train), then I say "Leave It" at which point Boris Crazy will back off instead of biting at the ball or my hand (truly he is crazy LOL).
STEP 3:   Next the command "Sit" is given.

At the very beginning, the following what would happen, and remember that Boris had already been taught the position of sit, so I do not need to mold, lure, or wait for the offer at this point with this dog.

STEP 4A:   At this point the game has begun, and the dog is very excited in a high state of drive (especially if it's Boris who is totally ball nuts).  If the butt goes straight to the ground and the front (in my dog's case) leg is straight then I say "good".  "Good" is a marker which means praise, but also "continue on as you were".
STEP 4B:   If Boris is scooching backwards or crouching more  in a down crouch than a sit crouch (OR ANYTHING THAT LOOKS NOTHING LIKE A SIT LOL), then the "No" marker is given (no marker, means wrong choice, try again).  He gets this until he gets back into a sit.   He has figured this out each and every time, but if I just could not get a sit (let's say he had never been taught it) then I would need to back up and decide to mold, lure, continue to wait for an offer, or stop the game.  At the beginning of this, you are not supposed to decrease the drive by a correction.   Though the withholding of the ball is sort of a correction ).  When the sit comes, the "Good" marker is given.
STEP 5:  I have the ball now to throw, which Boris's eyes are most likely glued to.   I wait for his eyes to meet mine, even for an instant.
STEP 6:  Once Boris's eyes have made contact with mine, I give the "Yes" marker (yes means good job, now do as you will).  Boris now goes scampering after the ball.  
STEP 7:  (NOTE:  Boris happens to have an excellent innate ability and desire to retrieve and fetch)  The game goes on until Boris gets tired of bringing the ball back.   This can go on for 30 minutes to an hour or more.

We are beyond these steps now, and at a later date, I will document how the game has now evolved:)   We play this in the house, in the yard, on the beach, and in parks ET.   It is building attention focus on me and a solid sit stay command with enthusiasm.  Or that is the plan, anyway...

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So Much to Say...

I have had a hard time doing my blogs and marketing without my laptop computer.   Because there is only a staff or one or two at Mannerly Mutts, I need a computer that goes with me so that I can do my blogging, advertising, marketing, contacting new clients, while I am watching daycare, training & boarding dogs.   Today, I have ten dogs including my own two to watch.

The days have become busy.   This is our Tuesday:

1. One dog is in training for dog aggression.  
2. Another dog is in training to be easily handled by his disabled owner.  
3. One dog is in training to be more confident around other dogs. 
4. One dog is in daycare, but not off leash trained.   One dog is here for boarding, but not off leash trained (and in fact would run away if given the chance).  
5. And three dogs are our core daycare business or we could call them "old hats" at this. 
6. Finally there are my two dogs that are in constant training.

So that is ten dogs that I am responsible for today.   Yes, it is exhausting but fun too.

So a lot has been going on that I have been unable (or too tired to get to the other computer at the only times it is available to me after 6 pm and there are no dogs to watch) either update my blogs OR record video (got video camcorder battery coming by snail mail).   So I got lots to say and update on.

Plus we did the awesome Animal Welfare Society Strut Your Mutt event with Boris and Leon.  The proceeds of this go to the Sadie Fund, which provides medical treatment and care for these animals that come in.

I have a lot of training to do now, but I got a lot to say about what has been going on here at Mannerly Mutts.  My mind is whirling with articles and updates.   So stay tuned, as long as my Toshiba remains healthy, we are back:)

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