Birch, Anise, and Clove. Oh, My!

Porter's Nose Work practice group met again today.

The other two dogs are on all three odors, so the first two times we met, I either paired the last two odors with birch or with his primary reward (food).  Today I did the same for the first half of practice. We ended on a vehicle search (three vehicles actually) and did three rounds so each odor was searched for. This time I did not pair and Porter easily found the anise and clove hides. I didn't delay, but jumped in to reward him the second I could tell he knew where it was. I didn't wait for him to give an alert, or more likely, second guess himself and move on. I'm very proud of my little hunter! He's doing amazing.

We haven't had any problems with marking even though Porter has no interest in peeing before a search. I give him the opportunity, but he knows what's going on and wants to just get right to it.

Our next goal is to widen the search area and practice on a big field with the hide somewhere in the grass or dirt instead of on an obvious object.

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.

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.

To Add Insult to Injury...

On top of feeling down in the dumps yesterday, Porter is having an allergic reaction to something this morning. We don't know if he keeps getting stung by bees, bit by spiders, or is allergic to a plant in the yard, but this is the third time his face has swollen up.

Poor guy was miserable pawing at his face and rubbing it on the ground. Benadryl did the trick for a few hours but then it started getting worse again so we headed to the vet. Now he's on prednisone to make him more comfortable.

The good news is he was ready for breakfast this morning, so his stomach is feeling much better! I still kept him hom from our FCR Fun Day just in case he caught something he could pass on to the other dogs.

Sick Pup

Poor Porter isn't feeling well today. He refused to eat breakfast, which is rare, but I thought it was because I offered him ground chicken hearts and veggies. He ate a small amount fine last night so I figured he was just being picky and didn't want that much of it this morning.

That's not the case. He's turning his nose up at treats and deli meat. He actually puts his ears down and backs away like I'm trying to poison him when I hold out something to eat.

Tomorrow is our big Flat-Coated Retriever Fun Day were we get to hang out, do agility, and swim all day long. I hope he's feeling up to going.

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!

K9 Nose Work Trial Prep

I am hoping to enter Porter in his first K9 Nose Work trial in January. At the moment, we do not have trials in San Diego, although our first ORT is being hosted in March (Thanks to Connie Kelley and her excellent planning and organization!), so we'll need to travel to Orange County again. If interest is high, there will be a random drawing for spots. I'm crossing my fingers we get in.

In anticipation for this trial, Porter and I have been doing more hides outdoors, since we have the least amount of practice with this element. I was a bit worried, since Porter and I did poorly at our friend's house. We searched her front yard and while Porter found the first hide quickly, the next two proved difficult. He was more interested in marking. : / This could have been lack of experience, it could have been I did not give Porter enough time to potty and mark around the neighborhood before we started, or it might have been her own intact male's scent in the yard distracting Porter. Thankfully this has not been repeated and all of our other outdoor practices have been stellar.

In addition to getting in more practice outside, I have also been pairing the other two odors with birch (or his primary). I've been thinking of doing this soon, so we can do the San Diego March ORT and test for Anise and Clove, but was planning on waiting a littler long so I could focus on the trial first. However, the group we are practicing with is already on the other odors, so we just jumped right in.

If we do not get into the Jan. trial we'll be well prepared for the next one. Let's hope it's not too far away.