Long Down Practice March 12th

Practicing in a different location outside.   This is a baseball field on our walk.


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Leon and My Progress On Long Downs in Ring Settings

This is Leon and my progression on sits/downs in a ring setting. Although I can't walk beyond six feet with him in this setting, you can see he is getting used to it and increasingly calmer. Thank goodness for all the unexpected and additional matches this year so I can work him on this. http://www.mannerlymutts.com http://mannerlymutts.blogspot.com

Show N Go Work March 10th 2012

First pass (heel on lead, figure eight, stand, heel off leash, and recall):



Sit stay and down stay (Leon becomes "The Big Red Brat" ) First pass (you can see Leon having a hard tie with the Boston Terrier being clicked and treated next to him, Dog forbid Leon is not included in the food handouts!):



Pass 2 for heeling on lead, figure eight, stand, heel off leash and recall (where I pull out the toy to lure since he is having a problem with the gate.   And we get good advice on dad placement during the trial):



Sits and downs pass 2, and the big red brat reappears LOL. Now he has a Golden puppy with cheese slices next to him .   Poor woes me boy:



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Sunday Training At Petco

So normally when I am at Petco, I train alone with Leon and Robert (my husband) goes into the grocery store.   Now that we know Leon is going to put up a fuss when Robert is at a trial (or match) by barking, Robert is helping me in Petco by doing the things he will be doing at the trial (video recording, observing, and being around without being with Leon).

Luckily the Petco staff in Portsmouth NH on Market Street is super nice and helpful.   So I could let Leon try out his whining and barking, and realize it is not going to get him up from a command to see Robert (this has been a problem that has cropped up away from the home training grounds--beach, yard, and other training places that we use in York).

Here is a clip of our at least weekly routine at Petco to get him ready for his matches in March and trial in April.




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Collie Club Trial March 2, 2012 Before and During

Walking into the Clarion and starting to warm up before the trial.



Here I am looking nervous before going into the trial ring.   It's been since Summer of 2010 since I was in the ring with Magoo and Bri.   Leon has not been in the trial ring in 5 years, and we have only gotten to three matches before this trial.





I had signed up three weeks ago, where he looked ready.  However, we had not been to a match yet.   First match, he looked great.   But then on match 2 and 3, he seemed began going down hill.   He gets nervous when he can't spot Robert (who I have with me to video tape or his brother Boris).   On match 3, he unfortunately realized he could leave the ring for a treat bag that a competitor had left out (and he must have been thinking about all the way to the recall).   You will see the result of that realization at the end of our trial.  Sigh.

So we had this trial that I had already signed up for on March 2nd and had realized that I was not going to "fix" this by March the 2nd.   Then I realized I had signed up for the wrong date and though "Whew, so they will throw out the registration".   Usually this show gets filled up, and I figured that Leon and I had gotten a lucky break.   But in a "Murphy's Law" moment, the trial secretary had fixed our registration and gotten us through.   I figured we would go anyway, and get in an expensive match anyway.   Good practice for Robert being around and filming, and Leon needing to focus on me instead of looking for Robert.   It was a shame we were not ready yet.   This year is the first year that we have had adequate matches in the area in order to see the holes.   So next year if I am trialling around this time of year and the dog training places that put these on are still in business, I will have the luxury of seeing the holes.   Also, it was a mistake not to be practicing in public areas without Robert around before.   I had not realized how much this would effect Leon.

Here is the actual trial.  


Pretty obvious where all the work is needed.

1. Leon is not required (by me) to do auto sits due to his knees.   But I want him to at least stand in the correct position if he is not going to sit, and obviously sit to my left side even if not perfect.   So that all needs more work for the trial setting.
2. His heel was not horrible, but there were a few times where he was interested in the floor or fencing.   Couple of lags although he did catch up.   I want that to be a lot tighter than it is.   We could probably get a leg with that heel, but I really want to learn how to point as well as possible.  I need to figure out how many points come off for no auto sits in order to estimate what the best is that we would do should that occur (ie his knees are sore).
3. Stand he followed the judge a couple of steps when she went away.  I need to practice with other people who smell like food with that.   It's usually me doing the exam for stand for exam when we practice.   I am going to need to be more diligent in getting volunteers.
4. Recall, obviously stopping with in front, and staying to do the finish instead of looking for Robert or the hotdogs everyone is treating their dogs with would be nice.   Going to need to be very creative with this (finding places with gates, and setting up food items and Robert/Boris outside the gate).  He does not try this at the fields et that we go to.

Luckily, we now have until mid April for the next trial with 5 matches between then and now:) We should be well ready for that. I have never been to this particular trial before though, so I really need to work on my before trial jitters. It never helps out for the handler to be nervous before the trial.




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Leon's Goals in 2011 (related to my maintenance blog)

(related to my blog on maintenance)

Here are my goals for Leon:

• To finally get him a CGC, which he has the skill set to do. I might even go for a CD but without him doing auto sits (his knees) and just reading for the 1 minute sit, which isn't a problem as long as we do not overtrain.
• Have him able to do a long down so if I am doing a private or group lesson, I don't need to check to be sure he is staying in it (Leon knows when I start talking to someone directly and involved that my attention has wandered).
• No more allowing the excited barking when he wants to play or have the ball thrown (must be quiet). This is for when children are around here playing ball, they get alarmed when Leon barks even though he is just doing it because he is having fun. Also helpful if I am training Boris, so I can work him on stays as I do the tug game with Boris.
• Keep up the heeling off leash on equipment around the neighborhood and on the beach (which means being sure we do daily repetitions of this, and let's go command both while on the move and in the house).
• Ah, yes, I want to teach him to retrieve just not his balls to hand for play, but a working retrieve to gather up loose leashes or small dogs that are on longe line and playing when ready or if they try to wander off to far. Also to pick up items that I drop for me. (not so much for me but because he loves to do it). Also to fetch directionally and with "no" and "yes" markers.
• Work on the scent work with him, so when winter trials come up (which is when I like to do this sport) he will be ready to go and get some titles.

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Refreshing and maintaining place work starring Leon

I was a slug this winter.   You can take a break from training sometimes, BUT then you need to go back and refresh with your dog.  It's not fair to expect that they will be at the same place, when you have been working with them for weeks and/or months.

So now that the bitter cold and the flu are all gone, it's time to get back to our daily work.  Leon loves being taken out to work, though the stationary commands are not his favorite.  Later on, I will pair this up with retrieving to jazz it up a little for him, but right now we are just focusing on the place and the send for today.

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Kittery Training AGAIN

The first picture is Magoo in a sit outside the Orvis store.   We then went in and selected a bed.   Magoo was, of course, fawned all over.   You should know that you will NEVER be left alone if you have a Great Dane with you, especially if they are as cute and well behaved as Magoo.   My card and info were requested in the store for someone with a small dog "problem".

The next picture is Leon across the parking lot in a place, as I get Magoo to start training sessions with him.   Yeah, that's right, he's lying on the soft and cushy dog bed that we just bought.   Look at the salt on the ground PLUS the ground is cold.  Magoo fits rather comfortably on the bed with Leon as well.

I only had my handheld with me, so I didn't get great shots of, well anything, but I couldn't shoot what me and Magoo were doing here.  I will get my tripod set up for tomorrow and show you some cute video of Leon trying to figure out how to retrieve on the "ice skating rink".  Also due to go out to Portsmouth, as we rotate distracting areas to train in for Magoo, so hopefully on January 17th, he will not totally wig out in the chaos of the event.






And then between having a year old Great Dane with me, and a Doberman retrieving my keys, a crowd formed. So our training concluded for the day, and the boys got to meet and greet. Magoo and Leon got quite a few photos taken with a couple of nice young ladies that spent a bit of time chatting with us.

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Leon is Fetching

The upside to the winter quiet is the amount of time I have to concentrate on my own dogs. Jackie is being readied for spring trials in Open AKC competition. Leon can't trial due to his inability to keep along sit (bad knees), but he is still able to work and play along side me. I have been training him in an auto stand rather than an auto sit for instance. I am working on the long stand stay LOL. Down works too of course.

One thing we have been working on together, is having Leon pick things up for me. Leon can so far pick up the following and give to me:

• Highlighters or pens


• Keys


• Chain collars


• Leather muzzle


• Leashes nylon or leather


• Remote controls


• All his toys


• Gloves


• Dumbbell


• Shoes


• Skarves


• Dog Coats


• Dog Flat Collars


• Mail or Pamphlets (warning, they get damp)

I have been trying to figure out how to get him to pick up a bowl lately. After we go onto bowls and baskets ET, I will teach him a hold when following me, rather than just when bringing the object to me.

Leon and I have been having a lot of fun with this. Leon's always enjoyed the "getting part", but he now enjoys the bringing and giving to me. I wonder if he thinks I have become really clumsy lately (or clumsier than usual)! We were working around my two Great Dane clients on the beach as a distraction the other day. I had left every one's leashes in a pile a bit away from us while the Great Danes played, and Leon and I did a bit of work.

Leon was doing his free style moves, and picking stuff up for his very clumsy owner. At the end, I started over to get the leashes. I did not ask Leon to get the leashes, and I saw him look from me to the leashes and back at me. So I stopped walking. Leon took off, grabbed a leash and brought it back to me! He took his praise, and dashed off two more times until I had all the leashes. I loved this, as he saw a need that I had and solved it on his own. Course he had his trademark Leon grin on as we headed back home.

Leon and the gang even got a business card handed out that day. It wasn't during the fancy work, but in a long down stay. When the dogs go to the bathroom on the beach, I down them while I pick it up and then typically walk about a quarter of a mile away to "deposit it". Then I walk back to the dogs, they are in a down this whole time, and release them. If anyone who has dogs is on the beach, they normally can't believe it. They will say "why are those dogs all in a down"? " You mean they will stay there until you return". There was a lady on the beach beginning to work with her puppy. We talked, the dogs were released to meet the cutey, and I got a card out.

I keep joking with the Great Dane's owners that they need to be put on commission LOL.

Magical Days

In working with dogs, there are so many magical days. I normally forget to document most of them. Then there are times where I didn't bother to get the camera, just wanting to stay in the moment. Yesterday was just such a day:)

It started with our boarder and behaviorally challenged, Gigi, waking up. Gigi is so much fun, the very first thing she wants to do each morning is play. Play with doggie companions who are game for such play:) So she tippy tappies around on her toes identifying each playmate and making "inquiries". Gigi is also a student of play, as she had never done it before with a dog. I notice she studies hard what the other dogs are doing, and then tries it herself. I noticed her doing this, when she figured every likes to chase each other. Then she didn't know what came next after she got to them though LOL. Then she started figuring out about boxing, wrestling, and mock mouth fighting.

So yesterday, Leon was fetching my slippers, and it finally clicked to Gigi. You chase the thing, you get the thing, and then you run and get chased. Her and Leon had such a wonderful time doing this. Gigi even brought the slipper back a few times as Leon was trained to do. You have to watch her though, as she is likely to rip and shred, and these were my good slippers:)

Gigi and Jack also got to playing for a little bit. Jack's been teaching her that mock mouth fighting does not mean giving pressure to sharp teeth by whining at her when she is too rough. So Gigi had a heavenly morning right up her alley and gave my dogs a bit of entertainment as well.

Yesterday was a horrid weather day. It started with snow, and by the time Roxy and Harley, two Great Dane clients, needed walking, it was sleeting out. So I put on my boots with the screws in the bottom (works great by the way) and leashed up Leon with his pack on. We walked there with Leon being reintroduced to the concept of heeling to a client's house, as his knees have been doing really well lately. Leon and I got the Great Danes and went down to the beach, which was at low tide.

The dogs really had fun despite the adverse conditions. Well everyone except Roxy who has a horror of all that is damp. She does not do wet, and so she just stuck close by me as Harley and Leon tore up the beach. The good thing about bad weather days, is that the beach is totally empty even at low tide!! My hands were numb by the time we went back, because I had to take the gloves off to get all the dogs leashed up again.

When I went home it was time for training. I did fetch exercises with Jack around the worst distraction I could think of, bread that he couldn't eat while training. I had him also doing fronts through two English muffins lying on the floor, and needed to concentrate on fetch and give while auto sitting and staying next to two muffins. A whole lot of training has been going around things he tends to be an aggressor to Leon over in order to increase his tolerance threshold and obedience threshold around those things. In the meantime, and until a semblance of that goal is reached, he is limited as to his total freedom that he used to have in the house.

Leon was next, and we did his practice retrieve. He understands getting and retrieving keys, gloves, scarves, remote controls, and his toys. Now I am starting working him on a bowl. We also did his freestyle dance moves, which he loves. I think I will start this with Jack as well.

And thus ended a very productive and fun day. All the dogs slept very well that night:)

GOT HOMEWORK?

Do you and your dog have homework to do today? Well, I do everyday. I mean how can I possibly convince my clients they need to work every day (or six days in my case), if I and my dogs are not an example of this? I do take time off for if I get sick, vacation, or for my recent sprained ankle. When I do not have time (outside of being sick et) I see my training totally suffer,because I have become lax and lazy. Unlike a regular old dog owner though, this is my business. My dogs and I are ambassadors for what can be done in dog training, or we try to be anyway . There are those days.

I also have to be sure the training plan fits into the schedule of a "normal person" and not someone as Abby Normal as I am. That works because you don't want your dog to have to punch in on a time clock overly long either. It's all about balance. You don't want to do too little, you don't want to do too much and burn either human or dog out. You want it to be enjoyable, yet you also want to get real work done during your session, or I do anyway. A dog trainer is always honing their skills, and always aware that there is more improvement to be made, especially since you are leading future and current dog owners and trainers.

All of this homework and educational experience is self prescribed, being that top training people in the industry have become "out of style" in their quest for excellence. Don't get me wrong, they aren't exactly hurting for business either. Dog owners with common sense and a quest to really provide the best life for their dogs, recognize quality and rare education. These people haven't been asked to follow the circuit group that is supporting another business model of training. One that I believe is dangerous, as it degrades quality time and teaching the language for your dog into something "not fun" because it does not go fast enough to the next "trick". Instead of recognizing the real life skills that can open up a whole new world to dog owner and dog, if they wish that. I have needed to research, dig up, dust off, and re-discover some of the better trainers in the country thru due diligence. Sadly, due to the success of convincing people that traditional training is evil, what has happened as these people stick close to home and have less costly travel to places that have made up stories about them anyway. Talk about a thankless job!! On the other hand, what has happened is the training experience in this area has become very one sided, and no longer the proud profession that dog training certainly can be. It's become a glorified feel good festival, with like minded trainers stroking each other and murmuring encouragingly as our rights as dog owners are torn right from us. Not to mention the illegal search and seizure of dogs that has been happening in certain parts of the United States due to legislation that is promoted by the Animal Rights groups. In Albuquerque NM it's very close to illegal to leave your house and go anywhere without your dog on a leash. Many times that means even in your own yard!! Rights of owners are flying out the window, and it's our fault as our standards are low for training. There are so many excuses and mantras out there for why not to train your dog (and I will go over these in another blog).

Writing this very article is homework in itself that I need to accomplish every day. Additionally, I have dogs to train that aren't being paid for by other people. I train them for my own personal knowledge. I am also practicing my presentation skills in a visible way not only for a future video, but to see me as I might appear to clients. Jack and I have finished most of our training for the day. We did 10 repetitions of Week 1 and Day 1 of the retrieve exercises from the Open Obedience book by William Koehler. We had been on Week 2, when I discovered that I had missed two steps. My bad!! In the interest of teaching others, and spending efficient and effective time with my dog, I need to be as detailed as possible, and push for that same excellence in my students. I am also not in any rush, the next trial isn't until February 2009. We have plenty of time to perfect this as much as possible, and hopefully not only get the title but hammer home some better scores. Bri and I will be going over basically the same exercises as Jack today. I have revisited the foundation with both of them in the Koehler Method of Dog Training by William Koehler, realizing that my poor scores are probably reflective of not expecting really excellent work on my part. I see so many things that I can do better now, and are really not any big deal to do. My dogs only do exactly what I taught them to do LOL. I take full responsibility for our errors in trial. I am so proud of my dogs when in there. I cried the very first time Jack and I qualified for a leg. To me that was such an achievement for the both of us. It goes right up there with my wedding day and graduation from college.

Devon, a Thai Ridgeback, is being trained for his Novice trial in February 2009 as well. My daycare looks to me for entertainment during the day that can take the form of trick training, play fetching, ET. Knowing about their behavior and pack mentality, and continuing my education on this allows such an unleashed and free atmosphere to continue.

I love my job, and I love my work even when it's homework. What work have you done with your dog today?

Want to train your dog? Call Robin Rubin at Mannerly Mutts Dog Training at 207-361-4395. Or e-mail at mannerly_mutt@yahoo.com.