Showing posts with label agility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label agility. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Porter Weaves 6 Poles!
We've finally made a break though after being in a rut with our weave pole training.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Dogwalk at Location #2
This morning was Porter's class at J's. I mentioned to her the horrible time he had on the dogwalk this week at G's so she asked me to do just the dogwalk so she could see. He was a little slow, and almost stopped at what would have been the pivot point on the teeter, but continued. He wasn't shaky and didn't jump off. She had me do it again but without cookies and he did much better the second time around.
We did a short sequence with the dog walk as the second obstacle and then the reverse and he did fine...except for his contact behavior since I didn't have the target plate out. He still hit the contact, but didn't do 2on2off.
I didn't have his mat for the a-frame so he went really slow going down and did 4on. J didn't like his speed so I made sure to get his mat the next time and he was wonderful.
One thing I loved about Porter today is he was very focused when he was working. A few times his sequence ended with him facing the line of dogs waiting and his ball even rolled within a foot of one young female. Porter rushed over, grabbed his ball and turned back toward me! It's not like him to ignore a cute girl, so I was really happy! Especially since his reward was a toy not a food-filled toy. He knows though that if he gets the toy I'll bring him food, but it's not a lure or an immediate reward like the food-filled toys. He had to make a conscience choice to pick me (food) over playtime with other dogs.
We did a short sequence with the dog walk as the second obstacle and then the reverse and he did fine...except for his contact behavior since I didn't have the target plate out. He still hit the contact, but didn't do 2on2off.
I didn't have his mat for the a-frame so he went really slow going down and did 4on. J didn't like his speed so I made sure to get his mat the next time and he was wonderful.
One thing I loved about Porter today is he was very focused when he was working. A few times his sequence ended with him facing the line of dogs waiting and his ball even rolled within a foot of one young female. Porter rushed over, grabbed his ball and turned back toward me! It's not like him to ignore a cute girl, so I was really happy! Especially since his reward was a toy not a food-filled toy. He knows though that if he gets the toy I'll bring him food, but it's not a lure or an immediate reward like the food-filled toys. He had to make a conscience choice to pick me (food) over playtime with other dogs.
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Dogwalk and Teeter Confusion
Up until last week, Porter had been doing great on his contact obstacles. He *loves* the dogwalk and A-Frame and is doing well with his contacts. In G's class we are working on the teeter and are now at the point where we give him treats right at the pivot point and then let him continue down to the end and do his contact. He seemed fine, you could tell he was gripping more with his feet, but he was still very enthusiastic about doing it.
Last Friday in J's class our first sequence was hoop, dogwalk, and so on. Porter ran up the dogwalk about 5 feet then bailed off the side...something he's never done before. I brought him back to do it again and he repeated the behavior. This time I stayed with him, I think I might have even had his collar to help guide him up and about 4 or 5 feet up he slowed down and started walking funny. I was worried maybe he hurt a back leg when he jumped off, but J asked if he had been doing teeters recently.
Apparently what is happening is Porter cannot tell the teeter and dogwalk apart. When facing those obstacles head on they look exactly the same (especially when the dogwalk does not have slats, and J's don't). He isn't the first dog to have this problem I've been told. So when he goes up the dogwalk he is slowing down and trying to find the pivot point.
I guided him all the way up and he was fine and was able to do the dogwalk a few more times.
Then this morning in G's class Porter had problems again. I wasn't expecting it since her dogwalk has slats. Porter was actually worse today than he was on Friday. I had to Hansel and Gretel treats all the way up and across. A few times he still jumped off and from the top as well! So we took it even more slow...treats every few inches, I stayed by his shoulder to prevent him from jumping off. His back legs looked shaky and he missed a few treats here and there. He was really stressed! But of course back ont he ground he was pulling to get back on the dogwalk (thankfully).
After the first try and we noticed he was nervous we backchained the end and he had no problem. G suggested I use the name when we backchain and are at the end but not to label it when we start him from the front and he's going to be scared. She doesn't want to pair his emotion with the obstacle name.
Porter has three turns on the dogwalk and while we made some progress he was still clearly having issues. I'm not used to seeing this dog worried about something. He's always been pretty bombproof.
I made another observation...a week or so ago he stopped taking treats from his Manners Minder in class and I thought it was because he was so exhausted from playing with Theo the night before. He was very slow and unmotivated in class, so I lumped the two. I also thought that the treats inside were not good enough since they were stale and getting hard.
He was very hesitant to go in his soft crate and looked worried about the manners minder so I turn off the beeping sound. It beep when a treat is delivered, like a click, it also does several loud, low beeps when it's jammed. I was concerned this noise was freaking him out.
Now that the sound has been turned off he seems better about the machine but still not 100%. I wonder if he's just bored with it? Or still unsure.
Maybe my dog isn't as resistant to being spooked as I thought? Can they go through a fear period at 22 months?
On a pleasant note, I have been able to use toys as a throwing reward in the last few classes. Int he past I had to use a food filled toy, but have progressed to a normal ty. Porter isn't taking it and running away, but he does expect a treat still and I'm fine with it!
We did some pinwheels in class today and Porter rocked them! I was able to stand pretty much right in the middle and just pivot and he was awesome :)
Last Friday in J's class our first sequence was hoop, dogwalk, and so on. Porter ran up the dogwalk about 5 feet then bailed off the side...something he's never done before. I brought him back to do it again and he repeated the behavior. This time I stayed with him, I think I might have even had his collar to help guide him up and about 4 or 5 feet up he slowed down and started walking funny. I was worried maybe he hurt a back leg when he jumped off, but J asked if he had been doing teeters recently.
Apparently what is happening is Porter cannot tell the teeter and dogwalk apart. When facing those obstacles head on they look exactly the same (especially when the dogwalk does not have slats, and J's don't). He isn't the first dog to have this problem I've been told. So when he goes up the dogwalk he is slowing down and trying to find the pivot point.
I guided him all the way up and he was fine and was able to do the dogwalk a few more times.
Then this morning in G's class Porter had problems again. I wasn't expecting it since her dogwalk has slats. Porter was actually worse today than he was on Friday. I had to Hansel and Gretel treats all the way up and across. A few times he still jumped off and from the top as well! So we took it even more slow...treats every few inches, I stayed by his shoulder to prevent him from jumping off. His back legs looked shaky and he missed a few treats here and there. He was really stressed! But of course back ont he ground he was pulling to get back on the dogwalk (thankfully).
After the first try and we noticed he was nervous we backchained the end and he had no problem. G suggested I use the name when we backchain and are at the end but not to label it when we start him from the front and he's going to be scared. She doesn't want to pair his emotion with the obstacle name.
Porter has three turns on the dogwalk and while we made some progress he was still clearly having issues. I'm not used to seeing this dog worried about something. He's always been pretty bombproof.
I made another observation...a week or so ago he stopped taking treats from his Manners Minder in class and I thought it was because he was so exhausted from playing with Theo the night before. He was very slow and unmotivated in class, so I lumped the two. I also thought that the treats inside were not good enough since they were stale and getting hard.
He was very hesitant to go in his soft crate and looked worried about the manners minder so I turn off the beeping sound. It beep when a treat is delivered, like a click, it also does several loud, low beeps when it's jammed. I was concerned this noise was freaking him out.
Now that the sound has been turned off he seems better about the machine but still not 100%. I wonder if he's just bored with it? Or still unsure.
Maybe my dog isn't as resistant to being spooked as I thought? Can they go through a fear period at 22 months?
On a pleasant note, I have been able to use toys as a throwing reward in the last few classes. Int he past I had to use a food filled toy, but have progressed to a normal ty. Porter isn't taking it and running away, but he does expect a treat still and I'm fine with it!
We did some pinwheels in class today and Porter rocked them! I was able to stand pretty much right in the middle and just pivot and he was awesome :)
Friday, May 3, 2013
Agility Contacts and Weaves
Porter is really coming along in his agility training.
His contacts are not done yet, but they are looking really nice. I have noticed that we need to help him generalize. At his normal agility class he does that perfectly, and even without his targets. I am making sure I am changing up what my body is doing when he hits his contacts so he's not cueing off of me and I am building up a good lateral distance. But at his new agility location his behavior is not as precise. Not only are we on a new field but the ground is dirt instead of grass. Over the weeks he's gotten better but there is still a discrepancy.
We are also coming along with his weave poles. He's starting to be able to do a set of 4 now! Sometimes he want so skip the first set and do the second only, so we are working on that and it's getting better. we are also working on his drive since he's so slow!!! It's weird since everywhere else he's speedy, but in my training I've accidentally trained him to be slow :(
My friends have been raving about this new agility instructor so I decided to give her a try. It doesn't hurt that she's only 15 minutes away and no freeway driving!! Her location is awesome. She has a huge agility field on her property which is fully fenced. She also has an area the size of my backyard which is fenced in for the dogs to potty and run around off leash. I can back my car right up tot he edge of the field and keep Porter crated in the car which is great. He's much less barky that way.
So far, I really like J! Her style is very different different from G so I have to retrain myself a little bit. J competes in NADAC with her Border Collies and handles from a distance. G does less distance with with her dogs, but since her dogs are slower and the venues she competes in don't need as much distance handling it works for her. She does have a BC pup now so it will be interesting to see how this dog will need to the handled.
G likes us to not use many verbal cues but mostly our body to communicate where we want the dog to go. I totally get this. Dogs are more in turn to body language anyhow. And this way, she says when you do need to use your voice the dog will pay attention since you haven't been babbling at him the whole course.
J uses a lot of verbal cues for her dogs, for the obstacles as well as which way to turn, to go out further, and so on. This has been hard for me since I'm used to being quiet. But, I have seen that giving Porter an early verbal cue to go into the tunnel has really helped him. I've been able to work him from a farther distance whereas before I'd have to go with him almost all the say to the entrance to the tunnel. I still need to work on giving him that information early enough though. I'm used to him not committing until the last minute so I typically wait to show him where to go next or he'll pull off an obstacle or drop a bar. But he's getting better at this so I need to catch myself up with him and handle him better.
J is very willing to alter things for me when what she does conflicts with what G does. That's been a big help.
Another thing I like about J is she gives you so much feedback on what to change, what you did that caused the dog to do what he did, etc. She is really paying attention and catches everything and has no problem calling you out on something. I love it!! I want all that constructive criticism. I want to be told (over and over again if needed) that I dropped my hand too soon or my feet were pointing in the wrong direction, or I was too late cueing him where to go next. I don't get offended. I need that info to grow in my handling. If Porter drops a bar, I want to know why. If he missed an obstacle I was trying to have him take I want to know what to change for next time to help him. It's always something the handler is doing.
Today several dogs took the wrong obstacle when they needed to discriminate between the two and I loved that J told the handles to just go with it, because the dog was just doing what their body told them to do. The dog was not wrong. The handler miscommunicated to the dog. So don't punish the dog; don't demotivate him. He did what you asked...just just asked the wrong thing.
Right now I am seeing both trainers but I'll probably need make a choice and go with just one. Mostly because the husband says I do (it'll get costly going to two classes at once), but also because some of the small differences might be hard to mesh.
But for this month I'm still attending both classes and learning so much!
His contacts are not done yet, but they are looking really nice. I have noticed that we need to help him generalize. At his normal agility class he does that perfectly, and even without his targets. I am making sure I am changing up what my body is doing when he hits his contacts so he's not cueing off of me and I am building up a good lateral distance. But at his new agility location his behavior is not as precise. Not only are we on a new field but the ground is dirt instead of grass. Over the weeks he's gotten better but there is still a discrepancy.
We are also coming along with his weave poles. He's starting to be able to do a set of 4 now! Sometimes he want so skip the first set and do the second only, so we are working on that and it's getting better. we are also working on his drive since he's so slow!!! It's weird since everywhere else he's speedy, but in my training I've accidentally trained him to be slow :(
My friends have been raving about this new agility instructor so I decided to give her a try. It doesn't hurt that she's only 15 minutes away and no freeway driving!! Her location is awesome. She has a huge agility field on her property which is fully fenced. She also has an area the size of my backyard which is fenced in for the dogs to potty and run around off leash. I can back my car right up tot he edge of the field and keep Porter crated in the car which is great. He's much less barky that way.
So far, I really like J! Her style is very different different from G so I have to retrain myself a little bit. J competes in NADAC with her Border Collies and handles from a distance. G does less distance with with her dogs, but since her dogs are slower and the venues she competes in don't need as much distance handling it works for her. She does have a BC pup now so it will be interesting to see how this dog will need to the handled.
G likes us to not use many verbal cues but mostly our body to communicate where we want the dog to go. I totally get this. Dogs are more in turn to body language anyhow. And this way, she says when you do need to use your voice the dog will pay attention since you haven't been babbling at him the whole course.
J uses a lot of verbal cues for her dogs, for the obstacles as well as which way to turn, to go out further, and so on. This has been hard for me since I'm used to being quiet. But, I have seen that giving Porter an early verbal cue to go into the tunnel has really helped him. I've been able to work him from a farther distance whereas before I'd have to go with him almost all the say to the entrance to the tunnel. I still need to work on giving him that information early enough though. I'm used to him not committing until the last minute so I typically wait to show him where to go next or he'll pull off an obstacle or drop a bar. But he's getting better at this so I need to catch myself up with him and handle him better.
J is very willing to alter things for me when what she does conflicts with what G does. That's been a big help.
Another thing I like about J is she gives you so much feedback on what to change, what you did that caused the dog to do what he did, etc. She is really paying attention and catches everything and has no problem calling you out on something. I love it!! I want all that constructive criticism. I want to be told (over and over again if needed) that I dropped my hand too soon or my feet were pointing in the wrong direction, or I was too late cueing him where to go next. I don't get offended. I need that info to grow in my handling. If Porter drops a bar, I want to know why. If he missed an obstacle I was trying to have him take I want to know what to change for next time to help him. It's always something the handler is doing.
Today several dogs took the wrong obstacle when they needed to discriminate between the two and I loved that J told the handles to just go with it, because the dog was just doing what their body told them to do. The dog was not wrong. The handler miscommunicated to the dog. So don't punish the dog; don't demotivate him. He did what you asked...just just asked the wrong thing.
Right now I am seeing both trainers but I'll probably need make a choice and go with just one. Mostly because the husband says I do (it'll get costly going to two classes at once), but also because some of the small differences might be hard to mesh.
But for this month I'm still attending both classes and learning so much!
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Committed Casanova
com·mit
v. com·mit·ted, com·mit·ting, com·mits
v.tr.
1. To place officially in confinement or custody, as in a mental health facility.
v.intr.
To pledge or obligate one's own self: felt that he was too young to commit fully to marriage.
Agility class today had to be modified for Porter due to his extracurricular activities yesterday. I first noticed something was wrong yesterday when I spotted blood droplets on the ground. Then this morning, Porter tried to avoid sitting for his breakfast. Once at class he was hobbling while walking over the woodchips and just didn't have the spring in his step he normally has.
In class we dropped the bars and I shortened the sequences the rest of the class was doing. We skipped the dogwalk and the weaves and mostly let Porter relax in his crate after just a few small exercises.
Why did he need these modifications? Yesterday he spend the better half of an hour trying to mount and hump my sister's neutered tripod Golden Retriever. Porter didn't care if Beakers was flat on the ground, he was fully committed to giving it the old college try. The ground was rough which abraded his pad, either when he was in the throes of making a good impression or when he was leashed but tying with all his might to get to Beakers. I'm hoping that's all that is wrong and he didn't pull a muscle in his exuberance.
Intact teenage males are fun!
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Restless Rover
Porter was not a happy camper in his crate at agility today. I had to babysit him a lot to keep him from barking his fool head off. But at least he was totally focused while we were working. :)
We started with a slightly tricky sequence. The first time through I messed Porter up. I lost him in my peripheral vision and he stopped to sniff the ground before the tunnel. Then my line of travel wasn't quite right and I pulled him off of jump #4. But the second time went very well and he did great!
This is how it should have looked* but I'm sure we were a little sloppier.
*except for the end, our lines shouldn't converge, but I suck at the paint program
Then we worked on threadles for the first time. Just a very simple exercise to practice using our arm change to change the direction of our dog. Porter did well.
Last was the weaves but there was only time for one quick run. I'm glad we've been practicing at home. The two set of poles were about 3 feet apart and at 1 & 7. I chose the easiest entry since it is a different location than home and it was the end of class. Porter drove ahead with speed and determination and hit both the entries. :) I need to start staking the poles down at home.
Harley was in class again today and while I kept Porter at least a few feet away, he never gave Harley a nasty look. He might have, but I'm not going to give him the chance and practice that kind of behavior.
Even though he was very vocal in the crate today he is doing amazing driving to the crate when we are finished with an exercise. He used to try to rush past it to get to the palm tree or bushes behind it, or even the pool farther along. Now he rushes inside to get treats. He doesn't try to poke his head out and shove through when I unzip the door...he started to for a little bit, but now he waits calmly. Even when I release him if I don't do anything right away he rushes back in. He knows treat rain from the sky when he's in there :) And this is after he had a good breakfast this morning, too! His girlfriend, Jackie, was out of her crate very close to us but Porter was not tempted by the little vixen and remained in the crate with the door open.
We started with a slightly tricky sequence. The first time through I messed Porter up. I lost him in my peripheral vision and he stopped to sniff the ground before the tunnel. Then my line of travel wasn't quite right and I pulled him off of jump #4. But the second time went very well and he did great!
This is how it should have looked* but I'm sure we were a little sloppier.
*except for the end, our lines shouldn't converge, but I suck at the paint program
Then we worked on threadles for the first time. Just a very simple exercise to practice using our arm change to change the direction of our dog. Porter did well.
Last was the weaves but there was only time for one quick run. I'm glad we've been practicing at home. The two set of poles were about 3 feet apart and at 1 & 7. I chose the easiest entry since it is a different location than home and it was the end of class. Porter drove ahead with speed and determination and hit both the entries. :) I need to start staking the poles down at home.
Harley was in class again today and while I kept Porter at least a few feet away, he never gave Harley a nasty look. He might have, but I'm not going to give him the chance and practice that kind of behavior.
Even though he was very vocal in the crate today he is doing amazing driving to the crate when we are finished with an exercise. He used to try to rush past it to get to the palm tree or bushes behind it, or even the pool farther along. Now he rushes inside to get treats. He doesn't try to poke his head out and shove through when I unzip the door...he started to for a little bit, but now he waits calmly. Even when I release him if I don't do anything right away he rushes back in. He knows treat rain from the sky when he's in there :) And this is after he had a good breakfast this morning, too! His girlfriend, Jackie, was out of her crate very close to us but Porter was not tempted by the little vixen and remained in the crate with the door open.
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Constant Contact
Today's agility spend spend the first part on our contact behavior. We took them over the dogwalk, rewarded a nose touch to the target plate with 2 on 2 off and then a right turn to the A frame and rewarded a down on the ground on a tiny mat after the contact.
Porter is doing very well with these behaviors. I still would like to tighten up his down. He was very straight today, but some classes he pivots so he can turn towards me if I am slightly behind. This will not work as well if we are then heading to an obstacle straight ahead or off to the other side. I have been practicing changing my speed, sometimes being ahead of him slightly and sometimes behind him. My next step is to work on being farther out from the obstacles.
Next we played the bang game with the teeter. The front of the teeter is propped up so the end is only short distance off the ground. You shape the dog to climb on and it drops to the ground as you reward the dog in the right contact position (2 on 2 off on our case). At first the end is only an inch off the ground and you slowly build up on that. We approach the teeter perpendicularly with the dog so our body encourages the dog to hop up and not swing off.
After a quick refresher with the end 6 or so inches off the ground we progressed to the next level where the teeter was mostly parallel to the ground. The front was propped up on the table, so we hopped the dog up, he walked to just past the pivot point, the teeter dropped about 2 feet and we heavily rewarded him right there. Then we let the dog proceed to the end and do his contact behavior and earn more rewards.
I was happy Porter was not fazed in the slightest.
Thankfully we had practiced out weaves this week since we worked more on them today. Porter did as well as he does at home. Mostly amazing at the level is is at, but a few missed entries at the hardest angles.
Last we did a very short sequence. Jump, to a curved tunnel, to a wing jump, then a double. Since I didn't decelerate soon enough Porter even took the panel jump. Good pup for staying on his line and taking the obstacles on that line :) The line continued to his crate so he almost finished his run by dashing inside :) Crate games is really paying off.
Sad part of today is his "friend" Harley, the Viszla, was visiting class today. Harley neutered several weeks ago and I was hoping Porter would stop being a punk with him. No such luck. Porter didn't care if he was near, but once when Harley started coming over to say hi, Porter stared and did a quick, low growl. Ugh. Maybe the hormones have not completely left Harley's system? I can only hope.
Porter is doing very well with these behaviors. I still would like to tighten up his down. He was very straight today, but some classes he pivots so he can turn towards me if I am slightly behind. This will not work as well if we are then heading to an obstacle straight ahead or off to the other side. I have been practicing changing my speed, sometimes being ahead of him slightly and sometimes behind him. My next step is to work on being farther out from the obstacles.
Next we played the bang game with the teeter. The front of the teeter is propped up so the end is only short distance off the ground. You shape the dog to climb on and it drops to the ground as you reward the dog in the right contact position (2 on 2 off on our case). At first the end is only an inch off the ground and you slowly build up on that. We approach the teeter perpendicularly with the dog so our body encourages the dog to hop up and not swing off.
After a quick refresher with the end 6 or so inches off the ground we progressed to the next level where the teeter was mostly parallel to the ground. The front was propped up on the table, so we hopped the dog up, he walked to just past the pivot point, the teeter dropped about 2 feet and we heavily rewarded him right there. Then we let the dog proceed to the end and do his contact behavior and earn more rewards.
I was happy Porter was not fazed in the slightest.
Thankfully we had practiced out weaves this week since we worked more on them today. Porter did as well as he does at home. Mostly amazing at the level is is at, but a few missed entries at the hardest angles.
Last we did a very short sequence. Jump, to a curved tunnel, to a wing jump, then a double. Since I didn't decelerate soon enough Porter even took the panel jump. Good pup for staying on his line and taking the obstacles on that line :) The line continued to his crate so he almost finished his run by dashing inside :) Crate games is really paying off.
Sad part of today is his "friend" Harley, the Viszla, was visiting class today. Harley neutered several weeks ago and I was hoping Porter would stop being a punk with him. No such luck. Porter didn't care if he was near, but once when Harley started coming over to say hi, Porter stared and did a quick, low growl. Ugh. Maybe the hormones have not completely left Harley's system? I can only hope.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Back on Track
Porter is fully recovered :) so we did more 2x2s today. The two sets of poles are now 4 feet apart at pivoted to 1 & 7. He's doing well with his entrances 90% of the time, but occasionally misses the first set when we are attempting an entrance from the 5 o'clock position. He's doing well when I'm barely moving or when I'll running full speed. I can be a few feet off laterally, too, which is all I can get in my tiny yard.
My next goal will be to take the show on the road and practice elsewhere. This poses a challenge since parks do not allow off leash dogs and dog parks are not appropriate to do this kind of training (unless we hit one at 4am maybe!). So I'll have to see what I can manage. But at least we have two places to practice, home and the agility field. Maybe I'll try the front yard.
My next goal will be to take the show on the road and practice elsewhere. This poses a challenge since parks do not allow off leash dogs and dog parks are not appropriate to do this kind of training (unless we hit one at 4am maybe!). So I'll have to see what I can manage. But at least we have two places to practice, home and the agility field. Maybe I'll try the front yard.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
2x2 Weave Pole Training
I admit it. Sometimes, ok, many times, I'm a lazy and procrastinating trainer. I love to train. I find it mentally fascinating and enjoy working with the dogs, but life gets in the way more than I care to admit.
I've owned a set of 2x2 weave poles for several of years now, but I can probably count on two hands how many training sessions I've had with Porter with them. And Indi, well, she sees them maybe once a year.
I have excuses as to why I'm so awful about them. Blah, blah, blah, not enough time, blah, blah, blah, other dog makes a ruckus, blah, and so on. But really...I need to shut up and get to work. More than half of Porter's agility class is already weaving a full set of 12. And here's Porter, stuck in the beginning stages of the 2x2 method. If I want an agility dog I need to put in the time and effort outside of class.
I busted out the poles this morning and I'll be making a bigger effort to do so more often during the week. A few minutes once in week in class is not going to cut it.
And of course, Porter did amazing. We made huge strides from class two days ago. I think that since I practice so rarely I wasn't upping the bar. I figured it had been a week or more since we last did the weaves so we need to revisit the same level. This isn't faulty thinking, but I was dragging his progress slower than it needed to be.
Let's hope for Porter's sake that I can keep up this momentum!
I've owned a set of 2x2 weave poles for several of years now, but I can probably count on two hands how many training sessions I've had with Porter with them. And Indi, well, she sees them maybe once a year.
I have excuses as to why I'm so awful about them. Blah, blah, blah, not enough time, blah, blah, blah, other dog makes a ruckus, blah, and so on. But really...I need to shut up and get to work. More than half of Porter's agility class is already weaving a full set of 12. And here's Porter, stuck in the beginning stages of the 2x2 method. If I want an agility dog I need to put in the time and effort outside of class.
I busted out the poles this morning and I'll be making a bigger effort to do so more often during the week. A few minutes once in week in class is not going to cut it.
And of course, Porter did amazing. We made huge strides from class two days ago. I think that since I practice so rarely I wasn't upping the bar. I figured it had been a week or more since we last did the weaves so we need to revisit the same level. This isn't faulty thinking, but I was dragging his progress slower than it needed to be.
Let's hope for Porter's sake that I can keep up this momentum!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Hormones Schmormones...
I was incredibly impressive with Porter's performance in agility today. Not because anything we did was terribly complicated but he overcame several obstacles when I thought today was going to be a wash.
My first mistake of the day was accidentally feeding him breakfast. I usually skip his morning meal on agility training days so he's as motivated as possible to work with me for his reward. Plus he doesn't need a full meal and the additional calories from his treats in class. I could tell when we got on the field that he wasn't super jazzed about eating. He was giving me about 50% of his normal attention.
Then Jackie arrived. My second mistake actually occurred last week. I broke my rule and allowed him to interact and play with a dog on the training field. He was enamored. As soon as he saw her today everything else faded into the background. I didn't think I would ever get his attention back on me or the task at hand.
We had to skip the first exercise which was just practicing start line stays. Porter wouldn't turn away from Jackie, so I just walked him around a bit and tried to get his mind off her.
Our first sequence looked like this:
I wasn't even sure if Porter would just sit for me at the start line but I thought I'd give it a try. If we had to do one obstacle and then stop and reward to keep his focus I was going to do that.
But Porter surprised me! Not only did he not run off with his new girlfriend but he did the sequence perfectly! He stayed with me the entire time. He did wonderful with my lateral lead out at the start. He had no issue with the wing jump at #3. He read my arm change after the tunnel exactly as he should have and didn't get sticky and glue himself to my side, but peeled off to the left to take the last jump.
I could tell his brain wasn't with me 100% though since he was *much* slower than normal, but he did it :)
The second time around he did great. I chose a different toy to throw (one he often runs away with) since he didn't want food anymore. He grabbed it, started to do his victory lap, but came back to me quickly when I called him!! No running to the pool. No running around the field. Or to his girlfriend. Right back to me. :) Such a good boy.
And did I mention it was so nasty and hot out there today? And he never gave up but kept working with me.
I love my big goofy boy.
My first mistake of the day was accidentally feeding him breakfast. I usually skip his morning meal on agility training days so he's as motivated as possible to work with me for his reward. Plus he doesn't need a full meal and the additional calories from his treats in class. I could tell when we got on the field that he wasn't super jazzed about eating. He was giving me about 50% of his normal attention.
Then Jackie arrived. My second mistake actually occurred last week. I broke my rule and allowed him to interact and play with a dog on the training field. He was enamored. As soon as he saw her today everything else faded into the background. I didn't think I would ever get his attention back on me or the task at hand.
We had to skip the first exercise which was just practicing start line stays. Porter wouldn't turn away from Jackie, so I just walked him around a bit and tried to get his mind off her.
Our first sequence looked like this:
I wasn't even sure if Porter would just sit for me at the start line but I thought I'd give it a try. If we had to do one obstacle and then stop and reward to keep his focus I was going to do that.
But Porter surprised me! Not only did he not run off with his new girlfriend but he did the sequence perfectly! He stayed with me the entire time. He did wonderful with my lateral lead out at the start. He had no issue with the wing jump at #3. He read my arm change after the tunnel exactly as he should have and didn't get sticky and glue himself to my side, but peeled off to the left to take the last jump.
I could tell his brain wasn't with me 100% though since he was *much* slower than normal, but he did it :)
The second time around he did great. I chose a different toy to throw (one he often runs away with) since he didn't want food anymore. He grabbed it, started to do his victory lap, but came back to me quickly when I called him!! No running to the pool. No running around the field. Or to his girlfriend. Right back to me. :) Such a good boy.
And did I mention it was so nasty and hot out there today? And he never gave up but kept working with me.
I love my big goofy boy.
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Agility Training Continues
Despite the heat, Porter has been doing well in agility. I bought him a Chilly Buddy Cooling Jacket and a Ryobi portable fan. It's been really humid, which is odd for this area, but he hasn't wilted like he used to.
Today in class he really rocked a short sequence we did. We had to miss last week and were not able to get there super early to let him sniff it out, but I was still very pleased with his focus. He was into the hot dogs I was offering and focused well on the toy stuffed with them when it was used as his reward. No taking off on victory laps or running over to the pool.
Here is the short sequence we did. Porter was first up. The black line is him, the reddish line is my path. I didn't lead out past 2 since I wanted to run with him a few steps before the front cross to give him more speed. Number 3 is a wing jump and sometimes he's a bit sticky on my side with those. He has such a large stride, plus I wanted to be sure he was fully committed to #3 before doing the front cross, so he did land far and swung wide. In the future I'll work on turning earlier so he knows where he's going before he takes off and can adjust his stride accordingly. But once he realized where I was and what my body language was telling him he quickly came back to my right side. #4 is another wing jump and I was pleased he did fine with that. Again, he went out farther than he needed before the tunnel, so I need to trust him more and turn earlier.
The second run through I was a bit jerky in my movements for some reason and I caused Porter to knock down the bar on #3. But the third time was our best performance. Very smooth and much more efficient.
We also worked the weaves today. Porter is currently on two sets of poles 15 feet apart and doing well. I really need to practice with him at home. If I did he would be doing a full set of 12 by now.
For the A-Frame his modified running contact is really coming along. He downs on a target a stride length past the A-frame. I was able to keep running a couple of feet past that point and he still hit and stuck his down where he was supposed to.
I switched his swim lesson for Wednesday instead of being directly after agility class for a few reasons. One, I have to rush to pack up and drive over to the pool. It's not far, but on a hot day I don't want him walking on the asphalt over there. Two, we share the pool with another dog on Tuesdays so Porter needs to wear a life jacket so I can leash him. This keeps him out of the other dog's face who really doesn't want to visit. Wednesday it'll be just us so he can swim without the jacket and get an even better workout. And three, I'm hoping it eliminates him getting antsy towards the end of agility class when he knows it's almost swim time. He starts to lose focus and try to get to the pool.
Today in class he really rocked a short sequence we did. We had to miss last week and were not able to get there super early to let him sniff it out, but I was still very pleased with his focus. He was into the hot dogs I was offering and focused well on the toy stuffed with them when it was used as his reward. No taking off on victory laps or running over to the pool.
Here is the short sequence we did. Porter was first up. The black line is him, the reddish line is my path. I didn't lead out past 2 since I wanted to run with him a few steps before the front cross to give him more speed. Number 3 is a wing jump and sometimes he's a bit sticky on my side with those. He has such a large stride, plus I wanted to be sure he was fully committed to #3 before doing the front cross, so he did land far and swung wide. In the future I'll work on turning earlier so he knows where he's going before he takes off and can adjust his stride accordingly. But once he realized where I was and what my body language was telling him he quickly came back to my right side. #4 is another wing jump and I was pleased he did fine with that. Again, he went out farther than he needed before the tunnel, so I need to trust him more and turn earlier.
The second run through I was a bit jerky in my movements for some reason and I caused Porter to knock down the bar on #3. But the third time was our best performance. Very smooth and much more efficient.
We also worked the weaves today. Porter is currently on two sets of poles 15 feet apart and doing well. I really need to practice with him at home. If I did he would be doing a full set of 12 by now.
For the A-Frame his modified running contact is really coming along. He downs on a target a stride length past the A-frame. I was able to keep running a couple of feet past that point and he still hit and stuck his down where he was supposed to.
I switched his swim lesson for Wednesday instead of being directly after agility class for a few reasons. One, I have to rush to pack up and drive over to the pool. It's not far, but on a hot day I don't want him walking on the asphalt over there. Two, we share the pool with another dog on Tuesdays so Porter needs to wear a life jacket so I can leash him. This keeps him out of the other dog's face who really doesn't want to visit. Wednesday it'll be just us so he can swim without the jacket and get an even better workout. And three, I'm hoping it eliminates him getting antsy towards the end of agility class when he knows it's almost swim time. He starts to lose focus and try to get to the pool.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Agility Update
With summer in full swing our 10am agility class is heating up. I purchased a Chilly Buddy Cooling Coat a month ago and it finally just arrived. It seems to fit Porter well and is really light weight. He didn't seem to tire out as quickly at yesterday's class but it's hard to tell if it was due to the coat or not. We had a private lesson this afternoon at 4pm and he was dragging even with the coat, but it was quite a bit warmer than yesterday.
Porter's contacts are coming along. I've decided to do a down after the A-Frame (Four on the Floor; Modified Running Contact). Down is his default position so it comes so naturally to him. When Indi took lessons with Ann Croft and she taught us this method I didn't think it would be a good choice for her, since Indi hates to down in a lot of situations. But for Porter, this is perfect. I was considering doing Rachel Sander's Box Method but I don't have the DVD yet and my instructor doesn't teach this method as a regular part of her classes. I'd still like to learn about it, but for now the down is going well. We are doing 2 on 2 off for the dog walk and teeter and things are progressing nicely with that, too. I can walk quickly past his target or hang back and he still hits his spot. I need to vary my speed and lateral distance even more, but we'll get there.
Porter's flatwork needs work!! He's a bit distracted so I need to just take a long line out to a park and really work on it. I'll probably toss in some of Leslie McDevitt's ideas in there to help him along.
In our private lessons I've been working on Porter following his line. He tends to skip the last jump in a short sequence to get into heel position. Even more so if it's a wing jump. When we can practice several in a row he does better, so we'll just need to stay on top of it.
I finally found a toy that looks like it's working and it's really helping with this issue. This Rip and Tug toy can hold treats inside and the dog can break into it to self reward. Porter will follow a normal toy and chase it but then either 1) ignores it once it's "dead" or 2) grabs it and runs victory laps while playing keep away. Neither is good for his training. But with this toy he gets the thrill of the chase and then when the toy is dead he stops and lies down and self rewards. No running off with it or getting bored and walking off to sniff. It also keeps him mostly pointed in the original direction if there are more obstacles for us to do once I've rewarded him for the first part. And so far, the food hasn't flung out and all over the field on accident as it can do with some other stuffable toys.
He's doing ok with his 2x2 weave poles, but would be much farther along if I practiced at home more. This new toy will help with that practice as well.
Porter's sense of timing is amazing. In the last ten minutes of class yesterday Porter started to get antsy and became pulling like mad in the direction of the pool (which he cannot see from the agility field). He knew his swim lesson was about to start. He never does this on Wednesdays after our private lessons since swim is only on Tuesdays.
Porter's contacts are coming along. I've decided to do a down after the A-Frame (Four on the Floor; Modified Running Contact). Down is his default position so it comes so naturally to him. When Indi took lessons with Ann Croft and she taught us this method I didn't think it would be a good choice for her, since Indi hates to down in a lot of situations. But for Porter, this is perfect. I was considering doing Rachel Sander's Box Method but I don't have the DVD yet and my instructor doesn't teach this method as a regular part of her classes. I'd still like to learn about it, but for now the down is going well. We are doing 2 on 2 off for the dog walk and teeter and things are progressing nicely with that, too. I can walk quickly past his target or hang back and he still hits his spot. I need to vary my speed and lateral distance even more, but we'll get there.
Porter's flatwork needs work!! He's a bit distracted so I need to just take a long line out to a park and really work on it. I'll probably toss in some of Leslie McDevitt's ideas in there to help him along.
In our private lessons I've been working on Porter following his line. He tends to skip the last jump in a short sequence to get into heel position. Even more so if it's a wing jump. When we can practice several in a row he does better, so we'll just need to stay on top of it.
I finally found a toy that looks like it's working and it's really helping with this issue. This Rip and Tug toy can hold treats inside and the dog can break into it to self reward. Porter will follow a normal toy and chase it but then either 1) ignores it once it's "dead" or 2) grabs it and runs victory laps while playing keep away. Neither is good for his training. But with this toy he gets the thrill of the chase and then when the toy is dead he stops and lies down and self rewards. No running off with it or getting bored and walking off to sniff. It also keeps him mostly pointed in the original direction if there are more obstacles for us to do once I've rewarded him for the first part. And so far, the food hasn't flung out and all over the field on accident as it can do with some other stuffable toys.
He's doing ok with his 2x2 weave poles, but would be much farther along if I practiced at home more. This new toy will help with that practice as well.
Porter's sense of timing is amazing. In the last ten minutes of class yesterday Porter started to get antsy and became pulling like mad in the direction of the pool (which he cannot see from the agility field). He knew his swim lesson was about to start. He never does this on Wednesdays after our private lessons since swim is only on Tuesdays.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
8 Months Old
My puppy is now 8 months old. I cannot believe how fast the time goes.
Porter has come a long way in the 6 months he has lived with us.
I never worry about him having an accident in the house (and haven't for a couple of months or more). Although I do need to carefully supervise Indi when she poops outside since he's still obsessed with eating it. Luckily he doesn't care about his own anymore. I wonder if it has to do with his hormones since he also stalks her when she pees and does the male thing of licking it up. Ewwww.
He no longer trying to eat my hands when I just want to pet and snuggle. That first month he was such an alligator and all I wanted to do was pet him. The mouthing has mostly stopped. If he's super excited it will start up and for some reason, when I'm on the phone, he bites my arms and clothes pretty hard. Thankfully I have bags of treats easily accessible, so while I'm talking, Porter and Indi get tossed treats every few seconds.
He does amazing in his crate despite having the worst time the first week and a half. He does so well that he will run to his crate from half way across the agility field. He's happy crated in the car unless he can hear me playing/training other dogs and desperately wants a turn. He hasn't learned to sleep in yet, but I'm still holding out it will happen. I also realized that other day that he's only a month away from being the same age Indi was when we stopped crating her at night. Porter will not get that freedom at 9 months. Not because I don't trust him but since he's so big and clumsy he'll smash Indi if he tries to sleep on the bed with us all.
He's coming along in his agility training. We had a great class this week. He had no problems driving through two obstacles and towards the throw toy reward. He wasn't clingy at all :) He also did great on the dog walk. We need to work the contact more, but he did very well considering we haven't worked on it in months. He's building a lot of motivation for the obstacles. He knows that if one is near it's very rewarding to take it. Which means I need to be careful when listening to instructions in class while he's on leash with me. Sometimes he'll decide he should get himself over to the tunnel nearby. I also need to pay attention when walking to a new part of the field so he doesn't try to take the obstacles we pass.
We're going over some of the behaviors needed for the NADAC Beginner Agility Test. Porter cannot take it until he's a year old, so there's plenty of time, but so far he's right on track. It'll be great to have a small title soon and get those ring nerves over and done with before getting on a full course. I think it's smart of NADAC, too, since it will draw more people in and early and then hook them to these venue.
We have made a break through with his flirt pole tugging. It was impossible to get it from him once he caught the bag but I discovered a way to do it and it's working well. Treats were not working at first and I couldn't bring them close to him to let him see how awesome they were since he would just start playing keep away and would run off. So now I toss hunks of string cheese right near his nose when he's looking down. At first this did nothing. Then he started letting the bag go, gobbling the cheese, and quickly grabbing the bag again. So I was patient. I just threw more and never made a move for the bag. Then I started tossing some farther away and so on. Now after the initial toss he'll drop the bag and sit and wait for his treat. He's not afraid I'll steal the bag anymore. He'll even sit and stare at the bag in anticipation of me making it move again. It's like when the dogs wait by the hunter to be told to go get the ducks they just watched fall. He's waiting...tense...but controlling himself. I think he really likes this part since sometimes he wags his tail. It's great for his impulse control.
He doesn't counter surf, but he has tried to put his paws up there a few times, not so much in the recent past. My counters are not free and clear of things like they should be, but I do keep tempting food items pushed farther back.
His stays are looking great, especially his start line stay for agility. We are adding a hand signal for down. I have not worked his drop it and leave it has only been situational default work (like food on the coffee table or his dinner being set down). I haven't taught him any "tricks". So much to do!!
He will now retrieve the toy, kind of. I finally did what I do for Indi. Every time he brings the toy back I reward him with a treat. I didn't think I'd need to for a retriever but I must have messed something up, probably playing chase with him. But now he'll happily bring it back most if not all of the way when we play in the backyard.
His coat is fluffier but not too crazy at all. Only a tiny bit of feathering. Most of the lays nice and flat with only his neck being a bit plumped out. I really like this length and would love for it to stay this way, but we'll see what happens as he matures.
One lone canine has still refused to move into the proper position. It doesn't affect his eating or tugging, but it does hit the roof of his mouth. The rest of the teeth look great and where they should be so I'm thinking this might be it. If so, it would keep him out of the show ring. While I'm not really a conformation person, he's such a lovely dog, both in his attitude and personality and in looks that it would be a shame not to title him. I will still be working on getting him ready for the ring just in case his jaw keeps growing, which I heard it can do up to about a year. His brother, Tatum, is like his twin in every way (except he has perfect teeth), so at least he can pass on these great genes for the litter one day.
On two occasions Porter seemed to have an issue with another unaltered male pup just about his age. The first time was with his Vizsla friend, Harley. They haven't played together in a few months and after class I lete them interact (which I normally do not do). They were wrestling a bit and I'm not sure what went down. Maybe Porter felt tangled or got stepped on, but he took offense to something and let Harley know. Only he didn't back off. Once the growl came out I stepped in and separated them and had Porter's collar but he was still growling and pulling to get to Harley. I'm not happy that he held on to the grudge after it was all over. They've seen each other since but have not played and wrestled so I don't know what to make of it. The second time was a week later. He wanted to play really bad with Finnly (a golden). Way back in my puppy kindergarten class when they pups were 3 or so months old, they had some play time. Porter would posture and make this growling sound while trying to stand tall over Finnly. I would quickly redirect Porter and then move him elsewhere. He hasn't interacted with Finnly in ages until last week. He saw Finnly wrestling with another dog so I let Porter say hi when he suddenly growled. Things I did wrong...they were all on leash. Porter was excited to greet and probably frustrated since I was holding him back. When I did bring him over the leash was still tight since he was was straining to make contact.
So now I need to figure out...does he has issues with other intact males, does he have issues greeting on leash, is be becoming dog selective? He hasn't been to a dog park in a month or so. All the dogs he's been interacting with the last month have been the same ones and most of those are females (one being an altered male). Does he just have an issue with Finnly, since he seemed to have problems with him from the start and maybe the deal with Harley was a fluke?? Ugh.
Porter has come a long way in the 6 months he has lived with us.
I never worry about him having an accident in the house (and haven't for a couple of months or more). Although I do need to carefully supervise Indi when she poops outside since he's still obsessed with eating it. Luckily he doesn't care about his own anymore. I wonder if it has to do with his hormones since he also stalks her when she pees and does the male thing of licking it up. Ewwww.
He no longer trying to eat my hands when I just want to pet and snuggle. That first month he was such an alligator and all I wanted to do was pet him. The mouthing has mostly stopped. If he's super excited it will start up and for some reason, when I'm on the phone, he bites my arms and clothes pretty hard. Thankfully I have bags of treats easily accessible, so while I'm talking, Porter and Indi get tossed treats every few seconds.
He does amazing in his crate despite having the worst time the first week and a half. He does so well that he will run to his crate from half way across the agility field. He's happy crated in the car unless he can hear me playing/training other dogs and desperately wants a turn. He hasn't learned to sleep in yet, but I'm still holding out it will happen. I also realized that other day that he's only a month away from being the same age Indi was when we stopped crating her at night. Porter will not get that freedom at 9 months. Not because I don't trust him but since he's so big and clumsy he'll smash Indi if he tries to sleep on the bed with us all.
He's coming along in his agility training. We had a great class this week. He had no problems driving through two obstacles and towards the throw toy reward. He wasn't clingy at all :) He also did great on the dog walk. We need to work the contact more, but he did very well considering we haven't worked on it in months. He's building a lot of motivation for the obstacles. He knows that if one is near it's very rewarding to take it. Which means I need to be careful when listening to instructions in class while he's on leash with me. Sometimes he'll decide he should get himself over to the tunnel nearby. I also need to pay attention when walking to a new part of the field so he doesn't try to take the obstacles we pass.
We're going over some of the behaviors needed for the NADAC Beginner Agility Test. Porter cannot take it until he's a year old, so there's plenty of time, but so far he's right on track. It'll be great to have a small title soon and get those ring nerves over and done with before getting on a full course. I think it's smart of NADAC, too, since it will draw more people in and early and then hook them to these venue.
We have made a break through with his flirt pole tugging. It was impossible to get it from him once he caught the bag but I discovered a way to do it and it's working well. Treats were not working at first and I couldn't bring them close to him to let him see how awesome they were since he would just start playing keep away and would run off. So now I toss hunks of string cheese right near his nose when he's looking down. At first this did nothing. Then he started letting the bag go, gobbling the cheese, and quickly grabbing the bag again. So I was patient. I just threw more and never made a move for the bag. Then I started tossing some farther away and so on. Now after the initial toss he'll drop the bag and sit and wait for his treat. He's not afraid I'll steal the bag anymore. He'll even sit and stare at the bag in anticipation of me making it move again. It's like when the dogs wait by the hunter to be told to go get the ducks they just watched fall. He's waiting...tense...but controlling himself. I think he really likes this part since sometimes he wags his tail. It's great for his impulse control.
He doesn't counter surf, but he has tried to put his paws up there a few times, not so much in the recent past. My counters are not free and clear of things like they should be, but I do keep tempting food items pushed farther back.
His stays are looking great, especially his start line stay for agility. We are adding a hand signal for down. I have not worked his drop it and leave it has only been situational default work (like food on the coffee table or his dinner being set down). I haven't taught him any "tricks". So much to do!!
He will now retrieve the toy, kind of. I finally did what I do for Indi. Every time he brings the toy back I reward him with a treat. I didn't think I'd need to for a retriever but I must have messed something up, probably playing chase with him. But now he'll happily bring it back most if not all of the way when we play in the backyard.
His coat is fluffier but not too crazy at all. Only a tiny bit of feathering. Most of the lays nice and flat with only his neck being a bit plumped out. I really like this length and would love for it to stay this way, but we'll see what happens as he matures.
One lone canine has still refused to move into the proper position. It doesn't affect his eating or tugging, but it does hit the roof of his mouth. The rest of the teeth look great and where they should be so I'm thinking this might be it. If so, it would keep him out of the show ring. While I'm not really a conformation person, he's such a lovely dog, both in his attitude and personality and in looks that it would be a shame not to title him. I will still be working on getting him ready for the ring just in case his jaw keeps growing, which I heard it can do up to about a year. His brother, Tatum, is like his twin in every way (except he has perfect teeth), so at least he can pass on these great genes for the litter one day.
On two occasions Porter seemed to have an issue with another unaltered male pup just about his age. The first time was with his Vizsla friend, Harley. They haven't played together in a few months and after class I lete them interact (which I normally do not do). They were wrestling a bit and I'm not sure what went down. Maybe Porter felt tangled or got stepped on, but he took offense to something and let Harley know. Only he didn't back off. Once the growl came out I stepped in and separated them and had Porter's collar but he was still growling and pulling to get to Harley. I'm not happy that he held on to the grudge after it was all over. They've seen each other since but have not played and wrestled so I don't know what to make of it. The second time was a week later. He wanted to play really bad with Finnly (a golden). Way back in my puppy kindergarten class when they pups were 3 or so months old, they had some play time. Porter would posture and make this growling sound while trying to stand tall over Finnly. I would quickly redirect Porter and then move him elsewhere. He hasn't interacted with Finnly in ages until last week. He saw Finnly wrestling with another dog so I let Porter say hi when he suddenly growled. Things I did wrong...they were all on leash. Porter was excited to greet and probably frustrated since I was holding him back. When I did bring him over the leash was still tight since he was was straining to make contact.
So now I need to figure out...does he has issues with other intact males, does he have issues greeting on leash, is be becoming dog selective? He hasn't been to a dog park in a month or so. All the dogs he's been interacting with the last month have been the same ones and most of those are females (one being an altered male). Does he just have an issue with Finnly, since he seemed to have problems with him from the start and maybe the deal with Harley was a fluke?? Ugh.
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Toy Drive
Porter's private agility session went well today. We discussed and practiced building his tug so we can use that as a reward system. I've never had a dog motivated enough by toys to use it as a reward. Food has always been at the top of the list with toys way at the bottom. My dogs enjoy toys in their free time but are not interested in working for them.
One of things I wanted in this new pup was a dog who was thrilled with toys all the time. Porter (and most of his siblings) showed interest in tugging when they were evaluated at 7 weeks. He happily plays in the house and really gets going when Indi tugs with him. He'll now tug nicely in the backyard most of the time and he's slowly starting to tug in class, but not with as much enthusiasm as he does at home.
The flirt pole is another story. If Porter gets a hold of the bag he turns into a Schutzhund dog and clamps down with all his tight and tugs so hard I can't always hold my ground. I have tried transferring this drive to his normal tug toys by putting a plastic bag on the end of them. It's not exactly the same, but it greatly increased his tug drive from what it was with those toys.
So at our lesson today, the instructor went over how she builds this drive. Some ideas I have heard before but some other parts were new to me and I'm excited to put them into action and see how Porter does.
In our other agility class we toss the reward after the obstacle, but this instructor doesn't do that (I'm not sure if she doesn't toss toys at all or just for certain things). She trains the dogs to be highly motivated to go after the still toy on the ground and not just a toy in motion. She showed me how to build up to that. First we build his tug, then we work on his out. Next we drop the toy right at our feet and release him to get it. Then we drop it at our feet and we back away from the toy slightly and I release him to rush over and get it. I run with him, too, not to beat him, but to keep up and to tug with him right at the reward spot so he doesn't want to turn and run back to me to play.
What I need to do is schedule times to practice this in the backyard first and then in the front yard. If I schedule it like it's a class I'm taking I might be more likely to do it instead of getting busy with other things.
She also told me that NADAC is doing virtual trials! So a dog like Indi, who is too reactive and stressed to be at a normal trial, will have an opportunity to earn (virtual) titles. That is really awesome! I need to look into it more and see if someone is doing them around here. Indi love agility so much (except for the teeter) so this would be perfect for her.
One of things I wanted in this new pup was a dog who was thrilled with toys all the time. Porter (and most of his siblings) showed interest in tugging when they were evaluated at 7 weeks. He happily plays in the house and really gets going when Indi tugs with him. He'll now tug nicely in the backyard most of the time and he's slowly starting to tug in class, but not with as much enthusiasm as he does at home.
The flirt pole is another story. If Porter gets a hold of the bag he turns into a Schutzhund dog and clamps down with all his tight and tugs so hard I can't always hold my ground. I have tried transferring this drive to his normal tug toys by putting a plastic bag on the end of them. It's not exactly the same, but it greatly increased his tug drive from what it was with those toys.
So at our lesson today, the instructor went over how she builds this drive. Some ideas I have heard before but some other parts were new to me and I'm excited to put them into action and see how Porter does.
In our other agility class we toss the reward after the obstacle, but this instructor doesn't do that (I'm not sure if she doesn't toss toys at all or just for certain things). She trains the dogs to be highly motivated to go after the still toy on the ground and not just a toy in motion. She showed me how to build up to that. First we build his tug, then we work on his out. Next we drop the toy right at our feet and release him to get it. Then we drop it at our feet and we back away from the toy slightly and I release him to rush over and get it. I run with him, too, not to beat him, but to keep up and to tug with him right at the reward spot so he doesn't want to turn and run back to me to play.
What I need to do is schedule times to practice this in the backyard first and then in the front yard. If I schedule it like it's a class I'm taking I might be more likely to do it instead of getting busy with other things.
She also told me that NADAC is doing virtual trials! So a dog like Indi, who is too reactive and stressed to be at a normal trial, will have an opportunity to earn (virtual) titles. That is really awesome! I need to look into it more and see if someone is doing them around here. Indi love agility so much (except for the teeter) so this would be perfect for her.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Agility Update
Porter's progress in agility has been up and down. Some things he does amazing, especially considering how little we have been doing this, and other things he struggles with even though the other dogs are doing well. I can't lie, it's hard having the one dog who didn't do an exercise correctly and looks remedial. I guess I'm pretty competitive. I'm also used to Indi, who did very well in agility classes. Except for the whole the teeter is evil thing. She was older when we started so she already had more obedience training and I think that helped a lot.
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| I'm very regal looking... |
Porter is doing amazing with his 2x2 weave pole training. I'm taking it slow, so we are only on one set of poles still, but they are angled slightly and we are working the clock for his entrances. He has great drive for the poles and is doing well hitting his entrance...but he will try to go backward through the poles if I am not careful. I need to practice more, but since he's still young there's no rush and even more reasons to wait and go slowly so he's not twisting and turning too much.
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| ...when I'm not looking like a doof. |
His start line stays are fantastic. Thank goodness, since this is important to me and kind of a pet peeve. Does he still need practice with them? Of course. But I can lead out to the second obstacle and he'll wait for his release. Sometimes he looks like he almost self released, but he's only broken his stay once. I can see him flinching in anticipation though.
Today I used a velcro food pouch with a strap and that worked well. He tugged it a bit, he chased it a bit...if I keep practicing it might work ok. I also bought a rip and tug ball from Clean Run (in addition to 50,000 other things). It's shaped like a ball on a string but the ball can be ripped into two pieces and inside is a velcro pouch you can put food in. Indi will love it. Hopefully Porter will, too.
Yesterday Porter did much better about taking two obstacles without trying to cling by my side, thereby squeezing past the second obstacle. It did help that I did a lead out half way to the second obstacle. I also threw a toy (a new orbee ball on a string) so he was looking forward for his reward and not coming to me for it. We need a lot more practice with this and without me leading out so he learns to take his line and not cut over to heel position.
Next we did the same two obstacles (hoops, if you want to know), but after the second we did a 180, bypassed the closest hoop and run back and took the first one again. The first time I didn't turn soon enough and he kept running out ahead, but I called him and got him back to me and on track. The second time (other side) he did great! I was happy that both times he took the last hoop fine and didn't cling to my side.
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| Picture Taking is Serious Business |
We worked on a lower dog walk as well. Whenever we approach any obstacle, Porter is raring to go. He sees an obstacle and just wants to take it, so I have to be mindful of that as we wait our turn. But then of course when I released him he kept just walking past it instead! I don't know what was going through his head. Finally he got on...he's not scared luckily and he kept his hind end perfectly on the board.
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| So serious we can't even look at you. |
Despite being fine with the dogwalk Porter has issues with the car ramp I got. I think in part it's the steep incline, the carpet which is has less traction than the sandpaper ramps, and the fact that there's a little give and wobble when he climbs up. If I don't have good enough treats he refuses to go up. Sometimes even with great treats he's hesitant. When he's hungry and I let him call the shots he's so much better and was dashing up the ramp repeatedly.
Tomorrow we have a private session with another trainer who Indi and I have taken classes with in the past. Porter and I need more practice time and more instruction and I think it can be good to try out different trainers. Plus it will get us out to a new location.
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| This is Porter sleeping. Yes, with his eyes open! Creepy. |
Saturday, January 7, 2012
6 Months Old!
Porter turned 6 months old right before Christmas. I'm amazed how much he has grown and how fast the time as flown. It seemed like ages when I was waiting for him to be born and then old enough to come home. My husband remarked the other day how Porter is exactly what we were expecting and hoping for, based on the things we heard about the breed.
I also realized that he is now old enough to compete in Rally (or traditional obedience) but he's no where ready! This gave me a wake up call. I should have been working him more on rally. Not that I expected us to enter a ring this early, but he should be closer to being ready than he is. My main focus is on agility, but dogs cannot compete until 18 months, so I shouldn't put rally on hold in the meantime. Plus I can easily throw in a few rally moves here and there in the house whenever I want and it won't get in the way of his agility training time.
I started working with more of a purpose on his rally moves and was pleasantly surprised at how well he did. He's still in the very early stages and I am rewarding him quite a bit, but he readily completely the moves and stays focused on me. I think all my heeling work as paid off.
So my goal this year for Porter is to get him ready to trial in rally. We will also be working on Nose Work and working towards getting him on birch so we can do his ORT. He needs to be a year old at least, IRRC, so we have some time.
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| I love the shadow of his tail here with all the feathering |
Another goal that has recently come up is to get Porter in the show ring. His overshot is almost gone and I am hoping that by the end of February his teeth will be perfect and he can compete in the Silver Bay Kennel Club show here in San Diego. I don't feel comfortable handling him myself. Who really wants both parts of the team green? Yikes! Right now the plan that we are working on is for his breeder to handle him on Saturday and another local breeder/handler to show him on Sunday. We'll be practicing with his breeder next week since I really haven't worked with him on her stacking or gaiting.
Since the weather has really warmed up in San Diego this week we hit the beach a few times. During our first trip Porter finally swam! He didn't mean to but ended up a little farther than expected while retrieving a stick. He turned around and realized he could touch so he swam back to shore. After that he was smart/stubborn and refused to go past a certain spot and would just level the stick out in the water. Some retriever! :) In this picture he is turning back and was about 2 feet shy of the stick. You can see the tiny ripple the stick is making just past him but he wasn't having any of it. He still happily ran in the water the rest of the trip...just not too deep.
On a fun note, Ian surprised me with a Gopro Hero HD camera which is used to take videos of sports from the first person perspective. You can mount the camera on a helmet, your chest, your surfboard, etc. I *love* gadgets. I love dogs even more and when the two collide I'm in hog heaven. Yesterday I mounted the camera to Porter's collar and we headed to Fiesta Island Dog Beach. Here are two quick clips of his day.
This first video just shows him fetching a stick we found.
This clip show off his recall. It's still in the works, but I was very happy that he left the large group of new dogs and came to be from so far away.
Be prepared for many more videos! My vision is to video tape him doing agility :) I need to monkey with the mount a little since parts of the video (like when he was running full force) are too bouncy and hard to watch. I'd like the camera to be more steady so we'll see what I can come up with.
Monday, January 2, 2012
Christmas and Agility
For Christmas we traveled to my in-laws for a few days with Porter in tow. Indi stayed at doggie Disneyland (her BFF Theo's house) because my two brother-in-laws were bringing their young bouncy dogs and I knew it would be too stressful for me and Indi.
Unfortunately I came down with the flu shortly after we arrived so my husband was in charge of Porter almost the entire time. As you know, he's a pretty easy pup, but due to his size and my in-laws not being dog people, he had to be tethered and watched closely every moment.
His cousin dog, Guinness, the Boston Terrier/Pug, had free reign (with a drag leash) and used it to his advantage. Guinness loved taunting Porter by grabbing a toy and zooming past Porter. When they played bitey face, Guinness camped himself under the coffee table for protection and surged forward to attack only to retreat out of Porter's reach. He looked like a Moray Eel. Porter adapted to Guinness's sneaky tactics of staying out of reach by grabbing the leash Guinness was dragging and yanking him back into the fray.
On Christmas, his other cousin arrived, Zeus, the Pug/Beagle. The three dogs got along well and did a great job tiring each other out.
Despite being tethered a majority of the time, Porter was very well behaved and pretty calm. He got frequent walks to the park where he played with a Great Dane in addition to all the wrestling he did wit his cousins.
We barely got everything to fit in our car with Porter's crate in the back and he's ready to move up to the next size. I love my SUV but I'm surprised how little cargo room I have. It's fine if there's no crate, but that's not an option.
Porter's snuggle techniques are being fine tuned every week. He is now using QM as a pillow, which she adores.
If Porter hears me running a bath for QM he now darts upstairs and bobs for her bath toys. He'd happily jump in but I'd rather not have a wet sopping dog running through the house.
At bedtime, Porter is learning to snuggle on her bed while we read bedtime stories. Sometimes he still gets stir crazy and wants to play or chew something but he's getting better about it every day. On those days he's just too amped up I close him out of the room and he lies down outside the door and waits for me to finish. Any time I'm in a room and he can't come in he sets up a vigil just outside. He'll lie there for hours waiting for me to emerge even though the rest of the family is downstairs and more than happy to keep him company.
Due to some appointments Porter is missing two agility classes. I worked on his issue of sticking to my left side like glue and missing the jump, but of course he didn't do it in the backyard at all. We are making progress with his contact behavior. It's still not even close to being done, but we have worked out the issue of Porter twisting towards me and bringing his back end off the ramp. I found that he was so focused on getting to the target plate that he came off the board. He wasn't paying any attention to his body. So instead of using a target I just did some free shaping. He's more focused this way instead of flailing all over the place. I think part of the problem is he can smell all the treats on the ground others have used so he's obsessed with sniffing all over the place to get a free morsel. Apparently I'm starving him even though I have a huge bait bag full of amazing treats that I provide in ample supply.
Last class I tried something new. Because Porter was so obsessed with sniffing the ground any chance he got I decided to try a technique by Swedish agility trainers Eva Bertilsson and Emelie Johnson Vegh. While you are training the dog is either actively working or put away and on a break. To get from one spot to another you use a transport, which can be tugging with the dog and moving to your spot, carrying your dog, a cookie magnet, or holding the collar. But you are controlling the situation and keeping the dog from getting distracted or doing his own thing. He knows it's time to work and not just wander around.
So in class Porter was either in his soft crate (door flap still open and lots of treats), actively working with me, or on his mat. This was a challenge to keep up in class since we are constantly moving to another part of the field to work and while there need to listen to the instruction and then wait our turn. I can't be that far away from Porter while he's in the soft crate yet, since I don't want him to learn he could rip out of it if he really wanted to. So I carried his mat everywhere and worked on him relaxing until it was his turn, then right after it was either back on his mat or into the crate.
I found this to be exhausted for both of us. I think it will be better when his mat and soft crate behavior are more solid, but right now he still needs treats every now and then so he's not truly relaxing but still anticipating being rewarded. 45 minutes into class I could tell his brain just wanted to turn off and we were unable to do one of the exercised.
On the plus side, I found this method did prevent a lot of his sniffing behavior and while his brain was still fresh he was a lot more focused on each exercise.
I will continue trying this method and see what come of it. I also am not allowing him to greet or play with any dogs when at a training facility. I noticed last week that he seemed less amped up and trying to play because of this.
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| Look how much he's grown! |
Unfortunately I came down with the flu shortly after we arrived so my husband was in charge of Porter almost the entire time. As you know, he's a pretty easy pup, but due to his size and my in-laws not being dog people, he had to be tethered and watched closely every moment.
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| Here he is getting settled in his spot. |
His cousin dog, Guinness, the Boston Terrier/Pug, had free reign (with a drag leash) and used it to his advantage. Guinness loved taunting Porter by grabbing a toy and zooming past Porter. When they played bitey face, Guinness camped himself under the coffee table for protection and surged forward to attack only to retreat out of Porter's reach. He looked like a Moray Eel. Porter adapted to Guinness's sneaky tactics of staying out of reach by grabbing the leash Guinness was dragging and yanking him back into the fray.
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| There's no escape for Guinness |
On Christmas, his other cousin arrived, Zeus, the Pug/Beagle. The three dogs got along well and did a great job tiring each other out.
Despite being tethered a majority of the time, Porter was very well behaved and pretty calm. He got frequent walks to the park where he played with a Great Dane in addition to all the wrestling he did wit his cousins.
We barely got everything to fit in our car with Porter's crate in the back and he's ready to move up to the next size. I love my SUV but I'm surprised how little cargo room I have. It's fine if there's no crate, but that's not an option.
Porter's snuggle techniques are being fine tuned every week. He is now using QM as a pillow, which she adores.
At bedtime, Porter is learning to snuggle on her bed while we read bedtime stories. Sometimes he still gets stir crazy and wants to play or chew something but he's getting better about it every day. On those days he's just too amped up I close him out of the room and he lies down outside the door and waits for me to finish. Any time I'm in a room and he can't come in he sets up a vigil just outside. He'll lie there for hours waiting for me to emerge even though the rest of the family is downstairs and more than happy to keep him company.
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| Coveting Kylie's wood plank. |
Due to some appointments Porter is missing two agility classes. I worked on his issue of sticking to my left side like glue and missing the jump, but of course he didn't do it in the backyard at all. We are making progress with his contact behavior. It's still not even close to being done, but we have worked out the issue of Porter twisting towards me and bringing his back end off the ramp. I found that he was so focused on getting to the target plate that he came off the board. He wasn't paying any attention to his body. So instead of using a target I just did some free shaping. He's more focused this way instead of flailing all over the place. I think part of the problem is he can smell all the treats on the ground others have used so he's obsessed with sniffing all over the place to get a free morsel. Apparently I'm starving him even though I have a huge bait bag full of amazing treats that I provide in ample supply.
Last class I tried something new. Because Porter was so obsessed with sniffing the ground any chance he got I decided to try a technique by Swedish agility trainers Eva Bertilsson and Emelie Johnson Vegh. While you are training the dog is either actively working or put away and on a break. To get from one spot to another you use a transport, which can be tugging with the dog and moving to your spot, carrying your dog, a cookie magnet, or holding the collar. But you are controlling the situation and keeping the dog from getting distracted or doing his own thing. He knows it's time to work and not just wander around.
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| Not quite swimming, but getting closer! |
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| Comfort is highly valued on our household |
On the plus side, I found this method did prevent a lot of his sniffing behavior and while his brain was still fresh he was a lot more focused on each exercise.
I will continue trying this method and see what come of it. I also am not allowing him to greet or play with any dogs when at a training facility. I noticed last week that he seemed less amped up and trying to play because of this.
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| Apparently this is comfortable for him. I call it his "Broken Puppy" position. |
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Found Another Lop in his Side
I've lamented a few times on Porter's lopsidedness. He heels much better on my left than my right due to the fact that I work that side a lot more often.
Today I discovered that in one situation his success flip flops and he's much better on the right than left.
This week in agility I noticed (again) that sometimes Porter will do everything he can to be glued to my side. This means that when we approach a jump standard he will squeeze his big gangly body between me and the standard instead of just running through the jump. He has to slow himself down and almost cut behind me (ack, no side changes behind my back!) in order to make it.
So today I brought out my jump and worked him at home. Hmmm, he was doing just fine and had no problem running right though the middle of the jump, not even hugging the standard closest to me. Maybe it's the change in location?
But then he finally did it again and glued himself to my side. I realized that when he's on my left he's trying to heel like we practice for rally and therefore he stays very close. On the right he feels more comfortable being a slight distance away if necessary. Any time we approached the jump with him on my right he was fine. On the left he crammed in next to me.
Now that I know more specifically what the issue is I can work on fixing it.
I'm wondering if I should refrain from rally practice until he understands the difference. I know that dogs can learn to discriminate and know when they are at agility, or rally, or obedience and change their behavior accordingly. I have no doubt that Porter will eventually be able to do this. But that's going to take some time and in the meantime it's slowly down our agility progress. Since agility is my priority I'd rather not hamper our efforts with the work I'm doing for other sports.
I'll need to think about this some more. In the meantime, I am going to get different collars and leads for each sport to help him discrimination the required tasks more easily.
Today I discovered that in one situation his success flip flops and he's much better on the right than left.
This week in agility I noticed (again) that sometimes Porter will do everything he can to be glued to my side. This means that when we approach a jump standard he will squeeze his big gangly body between me and the standard instead of just running through the jump. He has to slow himself down and almost cut behind me (ack, no side changes behind my back!) in order to make it.
So today I brought out my jump and worked him at home. Hmmm, he was doing just fine and had no problem running right though the middle of the jump, not even hugging the standard closest to me. Maybe it's the change in location?
But then he finally did it again and glued himself to my side. I realized that when he's on my left he's trying to heel like we practice for rally and therefore he stays very close. On the right he feels more comfortable being a slight distance away if necessary. Any time we approached the jump with him on my right he was fine. On the left he crammed in next to me.
Now that I know more specifically what the issue is I can work on fixing it.
I'm wondering if I should refrain from rally practice until he understands the difference. I know that dogs can learn to discriminate and know when they are at agility, or rally, or obedience and change their behavior accordingly. I have no doubt that Porter will eventually be able to do this. But that's going to take some time and in the meantime it's slowly down our agility progress. Since agility is my priority I'd rather not hamper our efforts with the work I'm doing for other sports.
I'll need to think about this some more. In the meantime, I am going to get different collars and leads for each sport to help him discrimination the required tasks more easily.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Lopsided Pup
Porter had a great start to the week. He was able to attend the K9 Nose Work class I taught on Monday and thoroughly enjoyed himself. He already has a lot of drive for the boxes despite only doing this 4 times. Tuesday morning was his agility class, which he equally loves. He's very enthusiastic about the ladder, wobble board, and ramps. Although his favorite thing...the one he pulls to the most of all any time we are within 10 feet...his crate. lol It's awesome, and a little annoying at times but it's a good thing to be annoyed at. So much better than a dog who hates the crate.
There are a few things we really need to work on though. I guess Porter can't be the star all the time. For one, he's lopsided, but I already knew this. I have worked him mostly on my left in preparation for rally and I knew this would make him being on the right weaker. There's a big difference in sides when we do our flatwork. It's nothing that cannot be overcome with just a tiny bit of work though.
His other issue is swinging his hips so his back feet come off the contact. This is my fault as well. I need to learn how to help position him better, with my own body stance and with the treat delivery and I can help him keep those back legs up there. He has no problem walking down the plank at least. All feet stay on, it's just when he's doing his 2 on 2 off and eating from the target plate that he rotates his head towards me and off come those gangly legs. We have a plank at home to wok with. I just need to lock Indi away so we can work without a distracting terrier.
I finally found a toy he will play with at agility. It's a glow in the dark whistle ball. A tad smaller than a tennis ball and a bit smushy. Maybe he loves it since it's not out with his other toys and he rarely sees it, but I'm just glad I have something that works besides food. He'll happily chase after it when he exits the tunnel or goes through the tire.
I don't know what it is about this field but Porter forages like nobody's business while we are there. I've decided that this behavior is probably made worse by the ladder and how we drop treats on the ground between the rungs as they walk through. This makes that whole area of the grass smell amazing and I think he often finds leftover treats from other dogs. So I've decided that instead of rewarding this way I will click him for what I want but feed out of my hand. I might even go last and move the ladder to a new area of the grass or go first to avoid leftovers distracting him.
There are a few things we really need to work on though. I guess Porter can't be the star all the time. For one, he's lopsided, but I already knew this. I have worked him mostly on my left in preparation for rally and I knew this would make him being on the right weaker. There's a big difference in sides when we do our flatwork. It's nothing that cannot be overcome with just a tiny bit of work though.
His other issue is swinging his hips so his back feet come off the contact. This is my fault as well. I need to learn how to help position him better, with my own body stance and with the treat delivery and I can help him keep those back legs up there. He has no problem walking down the plank at least. All feet stay on, it's just when he's doing his 2 on 2 off and eating from the target plate that he rotates his head towards me and off come those gangly legs. We have a plank at home to wok with. I just need to lock Indi away so we can work without a distracting terrier.
I finally found a toy he will play with at agility. It's a glow in the dark whistle ball. A tad smaller than a tennis ball and a bit smushy. Maybe he loves it since it's not out with his other toys and he rarely sees it, but I'm just glad I have something that works besides food. He'll happily chase after it when he exits the tunnel or goes through the tire.
I don't know what it is about this field but Porter forages like nobody's business while we are there. I've decided that this behavior is probably made worse by the ladder and how we drop treats on the ground between the rungs as they walk through. This makes that whole area of the grass smell amazing and I think he often finds leftover treats from other dogs. So I've decided that instead of rewarding this way I will click him for what I want but feed out of my hand. I might even go last and move the ladder to a new area of the grass or go first to avoid leftovers distracting him.
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