tonight was class - the dogs ran outside and did crazy stuff for about 3-4 hours today, and i shoveled for almost 3 - needless to say we were all tired.
this is what my dogs did for half the day it seemed:
so we got to class and were FRIED. but we carried on...
after novice we worked on berlins trick... officially debuted -
PEE LIKE A BOY!
i worked mercury with some fronts and such during open but he is very lame today after playing too hard so i quit after 5-10 minutes.
and by the time we got to utility i was exhausted. small class since only two of us showed up - we talked about go outs and signals - since both of these boys ONLY failed go outs at the last trial they were in, we worked on heavy distraction again.
this is rah doing his hardest go outs so far- with berlin and bunny running loose with lydia chasing the wiggly giggly.
sorry its fuzzy - camera didnt know where to focus, and i couldnt get us all in the frame all the time
he actually is going straight - the center is 2 feet to the right of that stanchion - and he does it perfectly for the most part. he's like rain man...
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
i love snow but
i love training too.
and i cant train in the snow :(
no class... hopefully we will have class tomorrow. got entries for next weekend. rah is first in utility A which is first in ring 2, and mercury is 8th in open A with his first in ring 1 (in a separate building). i may ask to move one of them... cant decide which.
and i cant train in the snow :(
no class... hopefully we will have class tomorrow. got entries for next weekend. rah is first in utility A which is first in ring 2, and mercury is 8th in open A with his first in ring 1 (in a separate building). i may ask to move one of them... cant decide which.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
lori drouin
a great post on one of the email lists from lori drouin...
"The trainers I know who are most consistently successful with many dogs
use a lot of motivation through personal interaction and yes, rewards in
their training system; but every one of them also has clear ways to
inform their dogs when the dogs make mistakes that is not based on a
barter system. It holds up in the ring because they don't show their
dogs until the dogs are seasoned enough that corrections are extremely
rare in training because mistakes are not being made very often at all.
The dogs know they are right because correct and incorrect variations
have been clearly and consistently identified, and good habits of
performance have been set. It holds up because these folks match their
dogs and generalize their training locations enough that the dogs no
longer wonder if either the reward or correction contingencies are in
play in new places; they believe that they are. The dogs already know
they are right in the ring, and praise that is allowed in the ring
affirms it, and absence of any of the "you need to fix this" messages
also affirms that they are right. The dogs may well be thinking about
the tug game or the treats they will get when they come out of the ring
with anticipation, but they aren't thinking that the absence of the
treats in the ring means that they are wrong."
"The trainers I know who are most consistently successful with many dogs
use a lot of motivation through personal interaction and yes, rewards in
their training system; but every one of them also has clear ways to
inform their dogs when the dogs make mistakes that is not based on a
barter system. It holds up in the ring because they don't show their
dogs until the dogs are seasoned enough that corrections are extremely
rare in training because mistakes are not being made very often at all.
The dogs know they are right because correct and incorrect variations
have been clearly and consistently identified, and good habits of
performance have been set. It holds up because these folks match their
dogs and generalize their training locations enough that the dogs no
longer wonder if either the reward or correction contingencies are in
play in new places; they believe that they are. The dogs already know
they are right in the ring, and praise that is allowed in the ring
affirms it, and absence of any of the "you need to fix this" messages
also affirms that they are right. The dogs may well be thinking about
the tug game or the treats they will get when they come out of the ring
with anticipation, but they aren't thinking that the absence of the
treats in the ring means that they are wrong."
Friday, January 21, 2011
obedience and a return to agility
wednesday obedience class and we worked on go outs for rah - tell me how the dog can do go outs with people chasing him, go outs with people poking and talking to him, go outs with people throwing toys at him and around him - BUT HE CANNOT DO THEM AT A SHOW?
i now why they call this futility. how much harder can this be at training before he does it in a show? :) i shouldn't complain, he does them many times- sometimes he just cant seem to focus. and i saw the video from this past weekend - and i can see exactly why he didn't -= i can't share the video out of respect for the judge though.
thursday berlin had a private with our new possible agility trainer - and we did fairly well for a baby dog thats been out of class for 6 months. she was very friendly (BBERLIN as well as the trainer, ha ha) - and she zoomed and was super fast and the trainer said she had a ton of drive and a nice foundation - i need some handling help obviously! she ironically nailed weaves, nailed all her contacts - and had full of fail start line stays. *shrugs*. i will try to take privates until berlin will be ready for her masters level handling class, which will hopefully be soon. berlin loved her, it was funny.
rah is entered this weekend in an AKC trial - but im not sure we're going. im not feeling it right now, and im not sure i want to drive 2.5 hours one way (without traffic, which im not sure will happen on the LIE?) - and my biggest concern is this venue said NO SOFT CRATES. its an ob only trial - so what am i supposed to put rah in? i cannot and will not carry his wire crate in - its great dane sized. and iw ont let people stack on him. grrrrr.
im tired. and i am teaching berlin to pee like a boy. its cute.
i now why they call this futility. how much harder can this be at training before he does it in a show? :) i shouldn't complain, he does them many times- sometimes he just cant seem to focus. and i saw the video from this past weekend - and i can see exactly why he didn't -= i can't share the video out of respect for the judge though.
thursday berlin had a private with our new possible agility trainer - and we did fairly well for a baby dog thats been out of class for 6 months. she was very friendly (BBERLIN as well as the trainer, ha ha) - and she zoomed and was super fast and the trainer said she had a ton of drive and a nice foundation - i need some handling help obviously! she ironically nailed weaves, nailed all her contacts - and had full of fail start line stays. *shrugs*. i will try to take privates until berlin will be ready for her masters level handling class, which will hopefully be soon. berlin loved her, it was funny.
rah is entered this weekend in an AKC trial - but im not sure we're going. im not feeling it right now, and im not sure i want to drive 2.5 hours one way (without traffic, which im not sure will happen on the LIE?) - and my biggest concern is this venue said NO SOFT CRATES. its an ob only trial - so what am i supposed to put rah in? i cannot and will not carry his wire crate in - its great dane sized. and iw ont let people stack on him. grrrrr.
im tired. and i am teaching berlin to pee like a boy. its cute.
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
sunday recap
ok so the show sunday - i felt like poo but i survived! i was so afraid he would mess up articles i refused to take cold meds!!
so we were 10 from the end or so - entered in utility B because i wanted to show to this particular judge. i was nervous and concerned about when i was going to go into the ring because ob was going on at the same time, and they didnt reverse order at all so the same dogs were going into the ring at the same time - i as predicted, i had to go out of order since no one else was available (and that was with nancy taking 2 bathroom breaks!)
once again a huuuuuge thanks has to go out to my trainer - its really something to go to a show and have your awesome trainers there helping, and have your super multiple OTCH trainer warm up up and walk you to the ring - to control your warm up, to talk you through the little things we have to think of (where is the steward taking the gloves once we are done? where will your path be, and will he see his gloves once he is done?) - these are the things that make up the little points...
so we warmed up and i entered the ring - gloves were first. went over to gloves and set him up - it was glove two. nice pivot, he marked the glove immediately instead of waiting for my signal, but he raced out. shook a few times coming in, and then fronted. and then refused to give me the glove. i literally had to rip it out of his mouth and said "around" just as i was getting it from him.
transitioned over to signals - i was so nervous, since he hasn't had successful signals in a SHOW ring since july!!!!! this has been the exercise that i've been working on the most - this exercise has been the single exercise we've failed the most consistently (as in all but 2 trials) and has been the ONLY thing he failed in the last 3 trials.
so we're starting signals - he's of course forging, but not that bad. the pattern is good for him, no fasts into a left and its not an about turn stand your dog - but right before the last leg of the heeling, rah's forging and im too close to the stanchions and he hits three in a row, including the last one right before i turn into the stand - i stand him but hes a little forged and definitely flared since he swung his butt out after hitting the stanchion.
i give him a strong stand signal, and then another stay - and walk. the entire time im taking deep breaths and just thinking to myself "I DONT HEAR FEET I DONT HEAR FEET" because you can hear the pitter patter of rah running... and nothing. i turn and -- RAH IS WHERE I LEFT HIm.
im beaming at this point - i give him the drop, he hits the ground. give the sit and have to use a little added umph to get him up but he pops straight up. call him in and you can see on his face he knew he did it --- because ehe comes flying in and lifts his front and and lands on my chest. he's staring at me, and then he goofs off further and drops into a down. im laughing now, but finish him on a signal and we're done.
RAH DID SIGNALS!!!!
of course, the next exercise was go outs, and we failed that :) wont say much here since the judge was awesome and let me train in the ring :) some of the failure was that i didnt prepare rah enough for the exercise and didn't give him enough verbal heads up...
next is moving stand - he was perfect. didnt lose any points at all. locked in, didnt move a muscle.
last were articles - i was so stressed since not only did he miss articles at wilmington's match but also friday at work. i send him and he works the entire pile, but hasnt checked the center of the pile, directly under where he's standing!!! finally gets in, comes back and one article down.
send him for the second article - finds it quicker, comes back... and again, just like with the glove, rah won't out the article! i fight him for it and get it out of his mouth, finish him..
so that was it - we passed everything but go outs. nancy was super nice and complimented me on how nice he looked and what a good job we were doing.
im sad we didnt get a leg - i feel he knows what he's doing and if i can just get him to THINK, we will be there. im most happy that signals seems to have reached some inner core of him that we're finally getting through.
so, next show sunday. kathy says she has something special for rah's training :)
so we were 10 from the end or so - entered in utility B because i wanted to show to this particular judge. i was nervous and concerned about when i was going to go into the ring because ob was going on at the same time, and they didnt reverse order at all so the same dogs were going into the ring at the same time - i as predicted, i had to go out of order since no one else was available (and that was with nancy taking 2 bathroom breaks!)
once again a huuuuuge thanks has to go out to my trainer - its really something to go to a show and have your awesome trainers there helping, and have your super multiple OTCH trainer warm up up and walk you to the ring - to control your warm up, to talk you through the little things we have to think of (where is the steward taking the gloves once we are done? where will your path be, and will he see his gloves once he is done?) - these are the things that make up the little points...
so we warmed up and i entered the ring - gloves were first. went over to gloves and set him up - it was glove two. nice pivot, he marked the glove immediately instead of waiting for my signal, but he raced out. shook a few times coming in, and then fronted. and then refused to give me the glove. i literally had to rip it out of his mouth and said "around" just as i was getting it from him.
transitioned over to signals - i was so nervous, since he hasn't had successful signals in a SHOW ring since july!!!!! this has been the exercise that i've been working on the most - this exercise has been the single exercise we've failed the most consistently (as in all but 2 trials) and has been the ONLY thing he failed in the last 3 trials.
so we're starting signals - he's of course forging, but not that bad. the pattern is good for him, no fasts into a left and its not an about turn stand your dog - but right before the last leg of the heeling, rah's forging and im too close to the stanchions and he hits three in a row, including the last one right before i turn into the stand - i stand him but hes a little forged and definitely flared since he swung his butt out after hitting the stanchion.
i give him a strong stand signal, and then another stay - and walk. the entire time im taking deep breaths and just thinking to myself "I DONT HEAR FEET I DONT HEAR FEET" because you can hear the pitter patter of rah running... and nothing. i turn and -- RAH IS WHERE I LEFT HIm.
im beaming at this point - i give him the drop, he hits the ground. give the sit and have to use a little added umph to get him up but he pops straight up. call him in and you can see on his face he knew he did it --- because ehe comes flying in and lifts his front and and lands on my chest. he's staring at me, and then he goofs off further and drops into a down. im laughing now, but finish him on a signal and we're done.
RAH DID SIGNALS!!!!
of course, the next exercise was go outs, and we failed that :) wont say much here since the judge was awesome and let me train in the ring :) some of the failure was that i didnt prepare rah enough for the exercise and didn't give him enough verbal heads up...
next is moving stand - he was perfect. didnt lose any points at all. locked in, didnt move a muscle.
last were articles - i was so stressed since not only did he miss articles at wilmington's match but also friday at work. i send him and he works the entire pile, but hasnt checked the center of the pile, directly under where he's standing!!! finally gets in, comes back and one article down.
send him for the second article - finds it quicker, comes back... and again, just like with the glove, rah won't out the article! i fight him for it and get it out of his mouth, finish him..
so that was it - we passed everything but go outs. nancy was super nice and complimented me on how nice he looked and what a good job we were doing.
im sad we didnt get a leg - i feel he knows what he's doing and if i can just get him to THINK, we will be there. im most happy that signals seems to have reached some inner core of him that we're finally getting through.
so, next show sunday. kathy says she has something special for rah's training :)
Monday, January 17, 2011
should change the name
of this blog to "i dream of UD" because right now both seem as equally unlikely.
perfect MS on sunday. RAH DID SIGNALS. and articles, which broke the entire week before were good (except not wanting to out the article, just like with the glove, AHEM).
no go outs.
= F.
perfect MS on sunday. RAH DID SIGNALS. and articles, which broke the entire week before were good (except not wanting to out the article, just like with the glove, AHEM).
no go outs.
= F.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
match updates...
yesterday in the snowstorm lydia and took off with all the dogs.
she took the fuzzard to dream park for agility (USDAA) and i took all the dobermans, including mercury, to delaware for a match. i only drove down because both mercury and rah will be showing at this very site in february and ill do anything i can to get a UD leg...
got there 10 minutes before the show and go started, and waited in line for my runs - i got 2 utility for rah, 2 open for merc, and 1 each of open and novice for berlin. the bad thing was there's two buildings - so of course the dogs were in different buildings. the hill wasnt huge, but in the snow it was slippery enough! set up berlin and merc down hill and then drove up to put rah in the utility building.
berlin was up first - did her novice run. her food bowl was outside the ring and she did a fairly good job. she was a little squirrely off leash and had swivel ears on, trying to see both the judge and the front door to the building, where people were still coming in. she was with me (but on leash!) but not 100% mentally there. did the fig8 - the inner post wasnt bad, the outer ones she was there and driving but she wasnt up far enough and head wasn't up - she was kinda daydreaming and doing it by rote.
SFE - perfect, i threw her frisbee for her instead of finishing it formally since she looked like she wanted nothing to do with the judge, but did it.
her off leash was BETTER than her on - she was jumping and popping up, bumping me, all sorts of cute. loooooved it.
her recall was cute - she tried to bypass me to get the target - NEED TO WORK ON THIS - but the next one was nice.
mercury was next - his first run through was sorta crazy. on thursday at training we had a meltdown with the ROF - he wouldnt bring the db back to me (instead going to his mom) and i had to correct him. hes a marshmallow in color and brain, so this was hard for him. then he came back but wouldnt leave my side... it was a big deal for him. so today, he was funny - he anticipated the retrieves! id much rather see that - i eventually just called him off the db and that seemed to fix it. his drops werent bad - the first time he wouldnt come off the drop, i called him a second time and repeated and he did it. the b iggest thing we need to work with is his fronts - he coems in but doesnt sit, or putzes - just like rah used to do.
rah in utility - argh. signals werent bad, gloves were ridiculous - he would NOT out the glove for me period at the match and twice i had to literally rip it out of his mouth. his moving stands were fine.
articles - ARTICLES. the first run he couldnt find his articles for the life of him. i have no clue what the problem was, since it was the same articles he showed with the last 2 shows, and nothing has changed. i corrected him twice and he finally did them right, and i moved on - the second run through he was pERFECT. go figure. im not going to worry about it, because he hasnt missed an article since august.
go outs were my worry since this is the exact building that in august he couldnt find go out for the life of him - the first one i just sent him on his mark and iw asnt sure he knew where he was going - he ran out and veered off towards glove 3 but went out. i let him go, sat him, and then got him up, moved him closer, and sent him to the right place (he marked it correctly this time). all his other go outs were good - except he started picking his jumps based on what the judge says instead of what i indicate - BUTTHEAD!
so it was a good day. stopped by dream park on the way home and saw lydia and bunny run - no q's for them that day.
rah's entered 4 times in the next month, mercury twice. im still trying to see if i have the money to show berlin in agility. i REALLY want to... but she's been out of class for almost half a year now... i need to get her back in class!!!!
she took the fuzzard to dream park for agility (USDAA) and i took all the dobermans, including mercury, to delaware for a match. i only drove down because both mercury and rah will be showing at this very site in february and ill do anything i can to get a UD leg...
got there 10 minutes before the show and go started, and waited in line for my runs - i got 2 utility for rah, 2 open for merc, and 1 each of open and novice for berlin. the bad thing was there's two buildings - so of course the dogs were in different buildings. the hill wasnt huge, but in the snow it was slippery enough! set up berlin and merc down hill and then drove up to put rah in the utility building.
berlin was up first - did her novice run. her food bowl was outside the ring and she did a fairly good job. she was a little squirrely off leash and had swivel ears on, trying to see both the judge and the front door to the building, where people were still coming in. she was with me (but on leash!) but not 100% mentally there. did the fig8 - the inner post wasnt bad, the outer ones she was there and driving but she wasnt up far enough and head wasn't up - she was kinda daydreaming and doing it by rote.
SFE - perfect, i threw her frisbee for her instead of finishing it formally since she looked like she wanted nothing to do with the judge, but did it.
her off leash was BETTER than her on - she was jumping and popping up, bumping me, all sorts of cute. loooooved it.
her recall was cute - she tried to bypass me to get the target - NEED TO WORK ON THIS - but the next one was nice.
mercury was next - his first run through was sorta crazy. on thursday at training we had a meltdown with the ROF - he wouldnt bring the db back to me (instead going to his mom) and i had to correct him. hes a marshmallow in color and brain, so this was hard for him. then he came back but wouldnt leave my side... it was a big deal for him. so today, he was funny - he anticipated the retrieves! id much rather see that - i eventually just called him off the db and that seemed to fix it. his drops werent bad - the first time he wouldnt come off the drop, i called him a second time and repeated and he did it. the b iggest thing we need to work with is his fronts - he coems in but doesnt sit, or putzes - just like rah used to do.
rah in utility - argh. signals werent bad, gloves were ridiculous - he would NOT out the glove for me period at the match and twice i had to literally rip it out of his mouth. his moving stands were fine.
articles - ARTICLES. the first run he couldnt find his articles for the life of him. i have no clue what the problem was, since it was the same articles he showed with the last 2 shows, and nothing has changed. i corrected him twice and he finally did them right, and i moved on - the second run through he was pERFECT. go figure. im not going to worry about it, because he hasnt missed an article since august.
go outs were my worry since this is the exact building that in august he couldnt find go out for the life of him - the first one i just sent him on his mark and iw asnt sure he knew where he was going - he ran out and veered off towards glove 3 but went out. i let him go, sat him, and then got him up, moved him closer, and sent him to the right place (he marked it correctly this time). all his other go outs were good - except he started picking his jumps based on what the judge says instead of what i indicate - BUTTHEAD!
so it was a good day. stopped by dream park on the way home and saw lydia and bunny run - no q's for them that day.
rah's entered 4 times in the next month, mercury twice. im still trying to see if i have the money to show berlin in agility. i REALLY want to... but she's been out of class for almost half a year now... i need to get her back in class!!!!
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