Past due for an update

As I have been reminded recently - I am way over due for a blog update.  Life has been pretty busy - between classes with Steeler and work - I don't seem to have much time for anything else. 

We've finished 6 more weeks of "advanced" control unleashed classes up at Nevin's Farm and the MSPCA in Methuen.  It was a ton of fun and Steeler did really well with the class.  I think there are plans to maybe take the next level outside.  That should be a lot of fun.

In addition to our weekly obedience class we are taking a foundations class just for fun that a friend teaches in NH on Tuesday nights.  It's always good to revisit foundation behaviors.

I finally got talked into actually entering Steeler into an agility trial.  Well two agility trials since they were nearby.  The first trial was a CPE trial - I only entered one day, which was a good thing because the following day tropical storm Irene came through.

I am not sure I really remember much from the trial .... it was kind of a gray drizzly day.  Steeler had some nice moments and he did qualify in his first level one standard course.  We also entered Full House, Wildcard and Snooker.  By the time we got to snooker it was POURING!  And Steeler is not a dog that likes to run in the rain! Here is his standard run.

Steeler had a bit of visiting to do with the ring crew, but considering we haven't been to agility class in 8 months and his last outdoor trial was last October, I was pretty pleased with his runs.

In addition to his first CPE trial - Steeler also entered his first USDAA Trial this past weekend.  Since the trial was about 7 minutes from my house Steeler sent in entries for both days .... for everything that he thought would be fun.  That included Performance Speed Jumping, Standard and Gamblers on Saturday and Standard, Gamblers, Snooker, and Jumpers on Sunday. I didn't get much on video - but  overall I was pleased with his runs.  On Saturday Performance Speed Jumping was first and his run was a big WAHOOOO!  We did have some flashes of brilliance.  I tried to keep moving and not worry about fixing things since I entered just for the ring experience.  He nailed his contacts, got his weave poles the second time through and didn't leave the ring without me!  He definitely was a bit distracted by being outside and having so much going on around him.

After PSJ there was a lot of down time.  So we walked around, watched some runs and I was able to run home and let the older two dogs out.  P1 Gamblers was up next.  It was (for those of you agility folks) a 1, 3, 5,7 system.  Steeler needed to collect 14 points in the opening and do the gamble to Q.  Which he did - with 2nd place.  Standard was the last run of the day and by that point I know I was tired!  I think was had some moments of working together as a team and apparently we didn't miss any of the obstacles on the course because he took 3rd place.  He was over time - due to ring crew visiting and not wanting to down on the table- but again he hit all his contacts, got his weave pole entry .....

On Sunday - our Standard run was first.  I walked into the ring with the intention of trying to remember to run it like I would in class.  And wow!  What a difference.  He did have to do a little bit of visiting with the ring crew - but he dropped on the table much quicker and was generally much more focused.  I got his standard run on video but didn't get anything else.  (which is ok with me!)  Snooker was next and Steeler derailed my plan and ran out of the ring .... I of course panicked - but he did come back.  Gamblers was after that and I think I had a good plan - but again he was just a bit distracted by the ring crew and what was going on outside the ring.  I wasn't quite where I wanted to be when the whistle blew and I totally muffed the gamble.  Jumpers was better - not as nice as the standard run - but definitely better than snooker and gamblers.  This time I got distracted and sent him over the wrong jump and then totally got confused.  hey - it was the end of the day and I was tired!  Here is his standard run.

Stay tuned for more happenings with Steeler in September! 

Agility at the DCA national specialty.

The plan for agility day .... get up and be out the door by 6:30.  I am so not a morning person any more.  However, we did manage to get out the door and over to Dunkin Donuts for coffee and a snack, and be on the highway by 6:40 I think.  We got to the agility site around 7:15 in plenty of time for the first briefing and walk thru.  Steeler had to be measured as well.  This time he measured right at 22 inches so at least I didn't have to move him to the 24 inch class.  Although, looking at the photos from the trial I really had no reason to be concerned.  I am probably going to order some prints so I will have to see if I can scan them and post them.

First up for the day was Novice FAST.  A general explanation of FAST is that you have a set amount of time and you make up your own course to accumulate points and somewhere in your plan you have to do a series of obstacles from behind a line before you run out of time.  In Novice (20 inch) you have 32 seconds and you need 51 total points to qualify.  You have to get the "send" and that gives you bonus points as well.  So basically - for this course - Steeler needed to get 21 points and the Send.  Well, he got 63 points in 26+ seconds!  That got him a second place!  Missed first place by a point.  :-) 

Next ... a lot of waiting.  :-)  We watched open FAST, Excellent FAST, Excellent Standard and Open Standard, and then we got to run again!  We had a few handling errors in our Standard run - but overall I was pretty happy with our efforts.  Our last class of the day was Novice Jumpers with Weaves.  Steeler had a great run for another 2nd place and a Q.






All things considered - I was very very pleased with the spotty boy's performance in obedience and agility!  Now we just took it easy for the next several days and played "kennel help" for my friend Dawn.  There was the welcome party, the top twenty and the awards banquet to go to during the week. 

I also managed to take some time to visit my great Auntie Berna in Cincinnati which was fun.  I took Steeler with me and she had to knock on all her neighbors doors and introduce me and Steeler.  I can only hope that when I am almost 90 years old I am in half the shape that she is in! 

Wednesday night after the banquet we got most of the car packed up so we could leave bright and early Thursday morning.  On Thursday we drove from Ft Mitchell to Afton NY to see one of Dawn's puppy owners.  We got to NY around 4:30 and the dogs got to stretch their legs a bit.  We got to sit down and visit and have dinner and then we let the dogs play.  Steeler got to take turns playing with both puppies (8 months old) and he got to RUN.  I don't think he has had much of a chance to do that since we moved in December.  He definitely needed it.  We got on the road again around 7:30 and the dogs were all silent for the next 4+ hours that it took to get home. 

Dalmatian National continued ....

..... OK so here is the rest of the National story.  I picked up Steeler's number for Beginner Novice.  And yes I was my normal neurotic self.  LOL. I am pretty sure that I watched 7 dogs compete before me but when I entered the ring I had no idea what the heeling patter was!  In Beginner Novice the heeling pattern is done with Rally signs.   His heeling wasn't pretty - or at least not as pretty as it can be when I am not nervous, but it was TONS better than it was the first time we entered the obedience ring.  It got a little bit better with the figure 8 exercise as well. I think I need to work on my attitude entering the ring - when we are just practicing things seem SO much easier!  Steeler's sit for exam, and his stay were solid!  His recall however - well he came, with a LOT more speed than usual.  I was pretty sure that I had NQ'd here - not that I was worried about whether we qualified or not.  But since that was the last exercise I was on my way out of the building to spend some time outside with Steeler when everyone asked where I was going .... "you qualified ... come back!"  Who knew!  Out of 9 dogs that were entered and the 8 that competed, there were three qualifying runs.  Steeler came in third with a 181.  I entered the ring knowing that I wasn't there to worry about a great score - I was going to tell Steeler to sit if he needed the reminder, and I was going to double command if I needed to.  So I know I lost a lot of points for things like that. 

We were also entered in Advanced Rally, which didn't go so well.  We pretty much went from the obedience ring to the Rally ring.  Steeler got his nose stuck  on a spot on the floor.  So I ended up walking him out of the ring.  So many people came after me to tell me it wasn't his fault that someone's dog had pee'd in the ring.  Which was fine- I wasn't mad at Steeler.  Part of our new program is keeping things as black and white as we can.  If he chooses not to work with me (and clearly dog pee at that moment in time was more interesting than a stressed out Momma) that is fine but he is not going to get rewarded for it. 

After all my obedience and rally stuff was finished we hung out and watched and chatted with friends for a while.  Then we headed over to the agility venue for run thru's.  The training club has hosted run thru's the night before our agility trials when the nationals have been in KY.  It's a nice facility, indoors and air conditioned!  There is not a lot of shade around - but we were lucky to have cool days so it was easy to crate out of the car for the run thru's.  We hadn't been to agility class in a month, and the last set of run thrus that we went to were not all that successful.  So I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I decided that since there was no food in the ring (toys were ok) I would start away from the ring gate for my first run.  I was sufficiently nervous that I decided to leave Steeler on leash and ask him to do the dog walk and offer him the toy to see if he wanted to play.  WELL - he did want to play!  OMG!!!!  :-)  So I took the leash off and we did our own thing and played tug with his stuffed sheepie.  Our second run I was more confident and we started at an actual start line near the ring gate.  Steeler was great!!!  Of course I had to pick up stuffing along the way - but just the fact that he was willing to play with me in a new place with lots of people around - well that is awesome!!!!  After our runs Dawn and I packed up the pups and headed back towards the hotel, picking up dinner along the way.  I think both of us were exhausted, and Saturday was going to be an early morning! 

What a weekend

Well I finally did it .... a classmate goaded and taunted me until I actually entered Steeler in an agility trial.  :-)  So this weekend Steeler competed in his first "real" AKC trial in Falmouth at the Cape Cod Kennel club show.  It was a three day trial and I decided that if I was going to enter I might as well enter everything.  Friday was Novice FAST, Novice Standard and then Novice Jumpers.  I think we finished around 6PM and it was a COLD and windy day.  Steeler had some nice moments in all of his classes, but did a LOT of visiting with the ring crew in his FAST and Standard runs.  He did however Q in Jumpers with weaves.  YAY!  I was exhausted by the time we got home!  Saturday was another long day, but it wasn't quite as cold and windy.  Today we actually were finished by 3 PM I think since we just had Standard and Jumpers.  Friday's video's are below - but if you want to check out the rest of the weekend - check out our youtube channel.

novice standard -



novice FAST -



And here is Novice Jumpers with weaves for a Q and second place




All things considered - we had a great weekend!  Steeler Q'd twice in Jumpers with a second and third place, he didn't leave the ring, he didn't get snarky with any dogs and he was good hanging out ringside.  Now we just need to work on visiting the ring crew.

Notes from the Julie Daniels Seminar

Julie Daniels Seminar – Aug 21 – 22, 2010

Your dog needs you to:

1. Show up!
2. Stay Connected
3. Inspire your dog (criticism is not helpful)
4. Keep your dog safe: being happy in the face of the unexpected is critical.  For example: if a dog comes into your space, don’t scream at the dog – start feeding your dog – Keep the other dog away if you have to.

Think about your personal energy: ie it does not create good energy to go thru a crowd telling everyone to move their dog because your dog is scared, aggressive etc.

For dogs that won’t eat:  continue to offer food for 2 seconds.  Then put back in bait bag/pocket.  The day will come that they will take food – so don’t stop offering.

When not working your dog – put them away.  If you can not stay connected …. Put them away.  DO NOT put them in a down stay or disengage and go move equipment etc.

First exercise – 1 dog 2 people.   Building drive to play or get reward.  So with Steeler – hand in collar – do you want this toy … do ya … really ….. GET IT.  2^nd person plays with dog the same way.  You can use this game whenever you have a helper …. “oh my gosh she’s got your toy … wheres’ she going with that toy … then release dog to get toy.  You can also do things like put a jump in between you and helper.  Jump become incidental (and therefore the cost of doing the jump is low)

Cookie Jar

-          use glass jars for big dogs (except on concrete)  - kind of like a food tube.  Want something that will not allow dog to self reward.

-          You want the dog to decide to come to work.  Let the dog sniff, paw, etc – do not call dog away.

-          Work needs to be EASY when beginning.

-          Make dog part of process (Let dog think things thru???)

-          Cookie jar goes before the obstacle that you want to reward.

-          All cookies are unpredictable

-          Feed from the jar, This will make the cookies in your hand/bait bag unreliable!

-          ALWAYS HAVE LEFT OVERS!!!! 

Send exercises

Two jump exercise:

First time – stand in between 2 jumps  leg/hand closest to dog … send straight over jump

Second time – stand in between 2 jumps as before  this time you want to send dog to jump behind you.  You step sideways away from dog, picking up dog with furthest arm to turn and send dog behind you.  (get out of the dogs path)

Tunnel games -  can you send dog into tunnel with a handful of cookies in the sending hand.

Motivation:  motivation = Rewards – cost

-          most of us know how to increase rewards …. But how can we lower the cost.  Remember to work one issue at a time!  For example – do you need to work on your start line stay at the same time you are trying to work a new skill or set of obstacles.  Remember – it is the DOGS perception that counts. 

-          Julie like to work on “go” before working on “stay”

-          Watch out for unconscious patterns.

-          Remember to reward even if you are not happy with performance – do not deprive your dog of a reward because of lack of enthusiasm

-          Or another example – dog leaves to check things out – first reward when dog comes back no matter what! Work up to the dog coming back for a chance to earn a reward.  (ie dog comes back and you ask for known behavior and then reward)

Things that are part of cost – Difficulty, Duration, Joy or Pleasure (handler derived), Drive (or desire)

Cookies (or toys) should be delivered in the ring – not outside.  You want the GOOD STUFF to be inside the ring rather than outside.  Stuff happening inside the ring should be better than the stuff outside the ring. 

Reinforcers: 

-          can be lots of things – food, toys, touch, play.  And don’t forget about the power of relief of pressure.

-          You should know your dogs reinforcement hierarchy.  What does he value most?  Least?

-          Reinforcement hierarchy is context specific

-          Remember ALL learning ins contextual.

-          For dogs that are really stressed in the ring, relief can be your best friend.  Start with entering ring – Oh my gosh you are brilliant!  What a good puppy you are – C/T and run out of ring.

Be creative about variables.

Somethings to think about

-          Orientation (of handler, dog, obstacle)

-          See saw example – change pivot point by duct taping paper weight underneath to change pivot point

o       Put cookie sheet under to change noise

Possibly one of my favorite quotes from JD (who heard it in a psych class)

“You can’t help anyone unless you accept their premise as valid”

-          you need to accept your dogs starting point and work from there.

Games to play ….

-          weave poles: showed us a method using ex-pens

-          2 rules Stay on your own side, and only click when dog is going away from you

Noise game – build a tower using dog bowls, soup cans – pay dog for knocking it down.

See Saw games –

-          wobble board and balance games

-          drag dog around on bed

-          see saw between 2 tables

-          see saw backwards so dog has to use paws to pull down to table

-          play push back game to increase desire to be on the board – when dog is pushing and fighting to stay on the board dog is ready to run down.  (train contact behavior separately)

As far as contacts go – JD first establishes the yellow zone as a place of many many cookies.  At first this is solely the responsibility of the handler

Raising Criteria

Remember the three D’s – Duration, Distance, Distraction

-          can raise criteria when at least 75% reps are correct

-          or another way to look at it … 75% are correct, 10% are excellent, no more than 25% are incorrect.

Example: Target Stick Training

-          at first only a direct touch to the hand would be incorrect (not reinforcable)

-          then the bottom 25% of the stick would not be reinforceable … etc

When shaping something and you have a GREAT step one and you take too big a step 2 – go back to step one!  You can shape failure just as easily as you can shape success.

Jackpots – Differential Reinforcement for Excellence (for the science geeks)

Rough rule of thumb – jackpots should happen about 1/10^th the time for 10X as many treats. (not really a hard and fast rule)

Oh boy! Tomorrow is Saturday.....

....and that means that Steeler and I will be attending the Julie Daniels Seminar down in RI at K9 Connection. I didn't think that I was that nervous about it .... but I was wrong! :-) I am sure it will be fine and lots of fun. I know there will be at least a couple of people there that I know - so know I will be able to relax and have fun with the spotty dog.

JULIE DANIELS!

Speed’em Up Seminar

Emphasis on motivational games and handling techniques to bring out SPEED, DRIVE and CONFIDENCE!!

Topics Covered:

How to help the dog who is too serious

Shaping for DEMAND on the obstacles

Learn how to inspire your dog

REAL help on how to "lighten up!"

How to use differential reinforcement, clickers and jackpots

Learn to increase your yards/second to qualify and/or get more MACH points.

Plenty of individual help! A lot to do and learn, even without a dog!

Julie is a top agility competitor both nationally and internationally. She and her dogs have earned multiple trophies and medals at the IFCS World Agility Championships and is an award winning author of agility books and instructional dvds.

Crazy week!

It's been a crazy kind of week. First the speedometer on the van died again on my way home last Saturday night. That scrapped my plans for Sunday that I had been looking forward to. So I dropped the van off at Sullivan Tire near work Monday morning to have them take a look. I was really hoping that it would be a matter of some loose wires since I knew that the computer was going to need to be replaced. Well Monday they called and said that everything going on was tied to the computer and there wasn't anything they could do. The car had to go visit the dealer. UGH! That was going to be difficult enough since when the speedometer dies the car goes into Safety Mode and it won't go any faster than 35 miles an hour. That means no highway driving ... and the nearest dealer was at least 30 minutes away on the highway. So obviously this was not making me happy. I go to pick up the car and see a note about the exhaust leaking. Ummmm ... you guys were supposed to have replaced the exhaust in May - why is it leaking????? So the tech goes out and crawls under my car again - guess what THEY NEVER REPLACED IT! On one hand I am horrified, but on the other - since I decided that I really just needed a more reliable vehicle I am kind of glad that they did not replace it. Now I will get that money back. So after much debate I ended up buying a 2008 Forester. It sure is nice to be able to go faster than 35 mph. All the stuff that was in the van is now piled in the entry way so I have a bit of organizing and cleaning to do.

We never made obedience class last week but we did make it to agility class on Wednesday night. We were working on "go outs" and Steeler did really well. I really need to find the battery charger for the camera so I can go back to getting some video!

Today we went down to Rhode Island for an agility Match. Steeler did really well. We got there about 2:30ish and hung out for a while with Lisa and Bob. Met Kelly who also trains with Catie. I get pretty stressed out about Steeler's behavior sometimes and Lisa was there to remind me that he is just a normal dog. But I still asked Lisa and Bob to stand at either ring entrance just in case! His first run was pretty distracted. He really needs to check out the environment in new places. But he is definitely getting a bit better about that. He didn't try to leave the ring but he did have to say hi to the ring crew. I was able to get him back and working. Then his second and third runs were GREAT! No visiting the ring crew or checking out other stuff. Lisa was kind enough to video - so hopefully I will get those this week. Steeler is now napping on the bed. Tomorrow is going to be cleaning day. (YUCK!)

Catching up ...

So behind again ... sigh. Oh well. Here is some video from noseworks class number 6. Unfortunately I don't think we are going to do the next session as I already know that I would miss two classes out of the six. We'll continue to do some work at home and with friends though.



Other stuff that has been going on -

we did an obedience show n go on Sunday last week, Steeler had two novice runs that went pretty well. The only exception being when I lost his focus during the first run. In watching the video and talking to E about the runs - I think Steeler does not find our targeting game as much fun as I thought he did. We talked about some other ways to reward between exercises as well. Obedience class is going pretty well. Last Monday there were puppies around outside the ring while we were working on heeling. Steeler isn't too sure what he thinks about puppies and used to bark at them. Outside the ring this week was a newfie puppy (already weighs more than Steeler!) and a 8 or 10 week old Aussie puppy in the owners lap. Steeler was able to heel towards the puppies and then turn around and heel in the other direction without a backward glance! YAY! I think we got probably within 5 feet or so of the puppies - I wasn't really paying attention to the dogs - I was focused on Steeler and what we were doing because I trust E to not send us over what Steeler can handle. Steeler and I can do great things when I can focus on him and the job at hand rather than trying to scan the environment for problems. And I am learning - that focusing on Steeler and our activities - Steeler doesn't even see the other distractions that I used to obsess over. Here's one of his runs. We still have a few things to work on, like getting into the ring with the long line not so tangled.



On Wednesday Steeler had a great agility class - but I forgot the camera! And now I can't remember at all what we worked on. I know it was short sequences again .... but I can't for the life of me remember what specific skill we were working on! I think my brain is full.

Today we went to the barn for an agility match. Steeler had three runs. The first two at 20 inches and the third at 24. Laurie was there with our old classmate Solo the Briard, and her husband was nice enough to video for me! (Thanks Dave!!) Steeler's first run was ok. Not great but not horrible. He got distracted after the teeter by something that must have smelled really good! I probably didn't react quickly enough to Steeler deserting me. But I did get him back and working.



I think I must have worked out what ever nerves I had during the first run because his next two runs were much better I thought.



For his third run I had Lisa and Trixie hang out in the ring. I really need (in my mind) to work on things that I think are distracting. So since Steeler likes Trixi and I don't worry about what MIGHT happen with her I decided to start with pretending that they were hanging out near the ring. Lisa is great because she does exactly what you ask her to! So we will work up to having Trix moving and work on maintaining focus! He is clearly not bothered in the slightest by Trixie just hanging out which makes me very happy! :-) Steeler has made so much progress in the last 9 months since we started class with Catie! I was so happy with the spotty boy today!

Agility Class

Once again I am falling behind. Last week we had Obedience class, two agility classes (Tuesday and Wednesday) - one a make up class from a snow storm, noseworks class, and today the obedience show n go. I am exhausted.

The last few weeks I have felt like I was really struggling with Steeler's attention and focus in agility class. In thinking about it (obsessing about it?) I realized that the nights that I felt like I was really struggling (video here if you really want to see how bad it was) I had brought Steeler's dinner to class with me. My thought was that since dinner of ground beef and veggies was VERY reinforcing to him - I could start building some speed and drive from him. Unfortunately I think it sent his poor spotty brain into overload and he just couldn't focus at all. *sigh* Some day I will remember not to up the criteria so much at once. If he can't practice obedience stuff at home around his full food bowl with out loosing his brain - why should it be any different at agility class! So after Tuesday's class I felt very discouraged until I had that epiphany and on Wednesday I did not bring his dinner with us to class. It was in the car, but not in the building. This helped! Wednesday we worked on threadles - so we were doing a bunch of drill type exercises. I worked on making sure we were connected getting to and from the start line and paid him for his attention - and he was great! No running off and he was very attentive!  Yippee!  Meanwhile - we will work up to those distractions at home first before bringing them to the barn! Here is some video of what we worked on.

Wednesday night agility class

Steeler had a great night!  And so did I....  We spent our hour working a single course this time.  I really should see if I can get the course maps to share.  I crated Steeler in the tack room (I think that is what it is called) It is warmer in there than it is in the barn  - I think it is heated a little bit at least.  And since the car is having heat issues (possibly a thermostat stuck open??) I didn't have the option of blasting the heat and working out of the car which I have been doing the last few weeks.  Steeler does not handle the cold very well if he is just sitting around in his crate.  The first time thru - we walked the course and then ran without any discussion.  The opening sequence was 2 jumps to the weave poles.  The jumps were angled and I was able to lead out to the 2nd jump.  From the weaves we reversed  direction into the shoot and then did a semi circle of jumps.  I chose to do a front cross after jump number seven. Then one more jump to the teeter. (now headed towards the front of the barn again).  From the teeter (A frame discrimination) to the tunnel to a jump facing the wall, and then reversing direction again to the A frame (A frame/tunnel discrimination).  From the A frame there was a series of three jumps down to the far end of the barn.  I am going to have to draw out the course I think!   At any rate - Catie said that she thought that was the smoothest she has seen Steeler and I run - and the run FELT good!!!!  We talked about where we were putting front crosses and we discussed how to tighten up the jump after the tunnel and then ran it again ... and again! Catie had us working to get our front cross in between 8 and 9 (instead of between 7 and 8) and then another front cross in before the teeter!  The second time through Steeler had a little bit of trouble sending from the tire to jump number 7 - I am still working out timing with him for things like that - and I know we will get there eventually. 

So one thing that I have been trying to work on (in addition to all the other stuff) is my attitude when we get ready to run.  I suspect that my attitude was better last night because the beginning of the course was at the far end of the barn - so Steeler and I ran to our starting position.  And even though I asked him for a stay at the start line - I was confident that the opening was something he could handle easily - and he did!  I have also been trying not to chatter at him while we run - I did that pretty well last night and discovered that he LIKES it when I talk to him in the weave poles - but other than that he prefers to only hear from me when it is important.  :-)  It was a good night!

OK I downloaded the trial version of course designer....  here is a rough estimation of the course to give you an idea.  the spacing is probably not quite right - but you get the idea.  :-)

Saturday Agility Match in Duxbury and catch up

So once again I am behind on stuff.  First Thanks to Kim for making my new header! 

This past week it has been pretty cold - so we haven't been doing much.  Wednesday nights agility class went well.  Though I think Steeler was cold.  We are also working on hard stuff and I think that I really should have upped my rate of reinforcement much more than I did.  BAD HANDLER!  But Steeler continues to do pretty well.

Today we were at the barn for an agility match and Steeler was GREAT!  Usually I am so nervous at these events that I end up doing restrained recalls with Steeler across the barn and then working in the back corner away from all the people and dogs.  Well I didn't feel to nervous (that doesn't always mean much) and I started at the begining of the novice course.  I didn't fuss too much since the first obstacle was a tunnel, and damn if Steeler didn't just do the course for me.  Of course I completely messed up the novice course the first time through and ended up just making my own course.  I don't think that Steeler realized I was lost though.  :-)  The second run I tried the harder course (It could have been an excellent or open level course) since we had been working on that opening sequence in class on Wednesday.  That was a bit too much for Steeler though.  Not sure if it was the people and dogs behind him or me ... I went back to running with him and we did get through the opening sequence (4 jumps to the tunnel which was the first novice obstacle) and then we just continued with the novice course.  The first two courses I ran at 20 inches then ran the last one at 24 inches.  Since I was changing the jump height I decided to go back to the novice course once again.  And I have to say I was really pleased with how well we did today.  He hit all his contacts and had really nice weave poles!  Not to mention that his behavior was just wonderful!  Now how much of that was related to me not panicing every time a dog went by and generally being more comfortable with the people around me now that I know them from classes and stuff and how much was related to Steeler  growing up..... who knows!  LOL it is probably a combination of things.  But it was really nice to be so calm instead of worrying about every possible encounter. 

Catie had things set up so that the small dogs (8 and 12) ran all of their runs first and then the big dogs were scheduled to start at 11:45.  So I took Logan over at 9:30 to help set up.  The barn is about 10 minutes from my house and I figured that doing something was better than getting worked up (however subconsiously) about the run thru's waiting for our turn.  Logan got to come in and play with one of Catie's border collie's while we were setting up.  I am glad that she could - she has been really moping around the house lately.  It's been too cold to take her with me when I take Steeler to class.  But today we had a New England heat wave (I think it got into the mid 40's or maybe even up to 50 degrees today) so even if she couldn't have come in to play at least she would have gotten out of the house.  Plus we stopped at my favorite pet store to say hi and check out Dianes new puppy (what a cutie!)

So that is what has been going on today for Steeler.  His favorite liver pal Jenna from Maine got her last three points at the breed show in Fitchburg today as well so Congratulations to Dawn and Jenna!!!!

Tomorrow we are off to an Obedience Show N Go.  Oh boy!

Tuesday night agility

Tuesday night I went back to agility class after taking a couple of weeks off.  It was rather crazy around the holidays and there was just too much going on.  So at class last night we were working short sequences that involved rear crosses and to some extent pulling and pushing our dogs.  I also raised the jump heights on Steeler.  He hasn't been measure in a while and I am pretty sure that if I do any USDAA that he is going to have to jump 26 inches (unless I put him in Performance to jump 22 inches - which is an option).  For USDAA a dog over 21 inches at the withers must jump 26, for AKC if the dog is under 22 inches they can jump 20 inches, over 22 inches they jump 24.  NADAC has a class for those that measure over 20 inches, but they only have to jump 20 inches.  So the last time I had Steeler measured he was under 22 inches, but over 21.  So I think he can jump 20 inches for AKC but for USDAA he will either have to jump 26" or 22" in performance.

Ok - I got a bit distracted.  On Tuesday we tried raising the jumps to a mix of 24 and 26".  Up until we moved to the barn he had been jumping 24 in quite well.  I don't know if the courses were a bit more difficult for him than I thought, and raising the jump heights made him a bit anxious, or he was cold.  He seemed a bit distracted(sniffing and just wandering off as opposed to racing off to investigate) and didn't really seem to want to work.  I thought maybe he had to poop.  But I had him out before we went into the barn, and I took him out after we ran for 5 minutes and he didn't do anything!  His second run was better.  He had a great 2 on 2 off on the a frame!  And he actually started to go into an automatic down on the table!  And on the third run I ran him at 20 inches and that was probably his best run.  So we ended on a successfull note which is very important to me.  We do need to work on taking the first jump when I release him.  For the sequences we were working on we were setting the dogs up at an angle at the first jump, and Steeler went around it several times.  I thought at first that it was the higher height, but he did it again on the last run.  So it was probably my fault.  :-)  And that we haven't practiced that much. 

Totally awesome class tonight!

Steeler and I had a totally rocking agility class tonight! I had an epiphany earlier today or maybe last night ... Last week I was so focused on this vision of Steeler heeling out to the start line gazing at me adoringly the entire time. OK so that is a bit of an exaggeration - but you get the idea. And what I realized was that I wasn't doing anything to help him get to the start line while still paying attention to me. I wasn't making it fun for him - because really - heeling in a horse barn? While dogs are doing agility. Seriously - I think that was asking an awful lot from my little spotty boy! Someone hit me with that rolled up newspaper! :-)

So what did I do different tonight you ask?

Well I got Steeler out of his crate while Trixie was running (steeler and trixie have run pairs together in a seminar setting so I have no worries about the dogs meeting) and we did some warm up attention stuff and playing with a toy in the aisle with the horses - it's about an 8 foot wide cooridor and three (or four?) large horse stalls long. Then when it was our turn I RAN to the start line with Steeler. He is a dal after all and they were born to run! We are having a little bit of trouble with sitting at the start line. Steeler does not like to sit in the cold barn dirt.

We ran two crazy courses tonight! Both were lots of jumping and lots of fun. It was a good thing for me to work on with Steeler since we have in the past had trouble with lots of jumping. Steeler did the first course AWESOME!!! There was a series of 9 jumps to a tunnel - and since Steeler has had trouble with that kind of intense focus in the past I decided to reward right before the tunnel with a big jackpot. I of course interupted his perfect run - but I think it was worth it! And we got to do it again - so that was good.

The second course was a bit more difficult for us - lots of wrapping jumps and reversing direction. But Steeler did pretty well. This course included the teeter and that looked really nice tonight. Last week he wasn't driving up it - so I was happy this week he picked up where we left off last week. I wish I had video - but maybe that is why he did so well tonight! I forgot the battery for the video camera. :-)

Agility class

So I decided to pick up agility classes again for the winter since class is literally 5 miles from the house! When I emailed Catie she put me in the advanced class with all the dogs that are already competing. Most of them at the open and excellent level. YIKES! I have to say one of the things that I like about class is that many people crate their dogs while they are not running. This means I can relax just a little bit more. The first week Steeler did great with the dogs that were there. This week there was only 4 of us for class. Of course I can not remember anyone's names yet. There is an aussie named Cheyanne with her dad, a border collie named Trixie (who is Cheyanne's sister) and her mom, and a springer spaniel whose name I can't remember. Steeler has seen Trixie before and even ran pairs with her at a games seminar we did this summer.

This week right before we ran our first exercise Cheyanne got snarky with Steeler. Of course Steeler got snarky right back at her. But I didn't think it was very intense and it might have been because we were in between her and her mom. Even though Dad runs her, she is very much a momma's girl (or so I've been told). So Steeler was a little bit distracted for the first minute. I am sure that I could have handled something different walking out to the start line. I am not sure if he was looking for Cheyanne or if he was just distracted. So if anyone has any thoughts on what they see in the video please let me know! The video is unedited so rather long. I am feeling rather lazy about editing.



The second exercise is apparently still processing at youtube. Not sure why it is taking so long. .... ok that took long enough.



The third exercise had a very tricky weave pole entrance. And it was at the end of the night so both Steeler and I were running out of steam. I wonder if I should have brought his toy back out especially for this exercise. And i think we should have maybe quit after getting through the exercise the first time. At the very end I was having a hard time getting Steeler's attention at all.

The weekend!

Well we made it to the weekend! YAY! Just a quick note as I am headed out to Springfield to do a little bit of window shopping and see some friends. No way I was going to make the 8AM ring time for the dals today though - so hopefully some will be hanging around for a while.

Steeler had a totally awesome agility class on Wednesday. I am in a new class (same instructor) in a horse barn maybe 10 minutes from home! How awesome is that! When I got to class Catie had said to me - Let's see how he does, but maybe the earlier 7PM class might be a better fit for Steeler. I was a bit nervous (haha go figure) since it is 6 or 7 people and they are all competing many of them in Excellent, and new dogs for Steeler. And really I don't care if he is in the 7 or 8 PM class - either would be fine. But Steeler did AWESOME! It helped I think that I knew most of the people - at least in passing, and most of the dogs were crated when not running. I only had one minor panic attack when we had to do a straight row of jumps towards all the people watching and right towards an aussie that was watching - and then Steeler had to turn 180 degrees into the poles. I am not sure that he realized we were turning after the 3rd jump and I paniced and turned into a Lunatic yelling "come come come" because he was headed right at the Aussie (I thought). The panic only lasted a couple of seconds before Steeler turned and nailed his weave pole entry. And Steeler was able to to complete the whole course of 22 obstacles instead of the half a course at a time that we were doing previously. I did notice that his enthusiasm was starting to decrease a bit - and i realized that I had probably decreased the rate of reinforcement too fast. I get into the feeling of not wanting to hold up the class and forget to stop and give the dog a cookie sometimes. So next week I am going to try to remember to break things down a little bit more for him!

Thursday was shaping class night and I went up a little bit early to get a run thru in before class. He did pretty well - I am trying to get the food out of my hand since I feel like I have been using it as a crutch lately. Shaping class was good - though Steeler had a bit of trouble with a golden when we started moving around. So I just moved him away and we played Look at the Golden for a while. And Jane was kind enough to let us do some work around her new Toller puppy (OMG how cute!) and her Golden retriever as well - so it was a hard working night for Steeler. But he did really well! Oh and we did stays after class as well - and I have to say - those are coming along extremely well!

So today Steeler and I are headed to Springfield so we can practice going in and out of the building politely. Yes - that is why we are going, definitely not going to shop. :-)

Tuesday night agility fun

So tonight Steeler and I took a trip up to Franklin to drop in on Katrin's agility class. I always pick up something from any class I have taken with her. Tonight - well we know that Steeler knows how to "push my buttons" - our opening sequence was a series of jumps (4 jumps in a straight line but turning after jump #3) Steeler veered into me just a little bit after jump #2 and what did I do - I yielded space to him. And this after playing the space game with him quite a bit. Maybe not so much in the last month or so - but still it is something we play at least once a week. Sometimes I think I focus on the technical aspects of agility - and I need to learn to focus more on what Steeler and I are actually doing. Steeler is such a responsive dog - it only took a couple repeats of doing the opening sequence for him to realize that he had to jump all three jumps and I didn't have to keep repeating jump each time. Of course that also means that every time I drop my arm he comes into me!

The course was also set up to work on changes in lead (I think that is the right term - any horse people?) Katrin calls it "switch" and I use "Flip" as my cue. Steeler actually handled this very nicely once I figured out where I was supposed to be. Actually - I was really impressed since it is something that we work on occassionally and we started the basics in Katrin's Communication class last summer. Honestly I don't know that I have done much with it since then. But Steeler seemed to understand what I wanted when I said it! We had a little bit of trouble with the dog walk - but only in one direction which I thought was a bit odd.

What was also nice is that he didn't have any barking hissy fits with the dogs that he had never seen before. He wasn't real quiet in his crate - but he wasn't at his worst either. And he played tug with me after running - which for us is a key indication of how in sync we are! And I got to catch up with Katrin a bit. All things considered - it was worth the 2 hours of driving. :-)

Stress! and a GREAT Tuesday Agility Class

So - I haven't posted in a while because I have been kind of cranky and whishy washy feeling about training, and work has been insanely busy, and just generally I think the pressure of everything has been getting to me. I am thinking that I might take a break from obedience class for a while. The stress of getting to class on time is just one added thing that I am having trouble with. I know I might not be able to get back into that class again - the competition classes where I go are full and someone pretty much has to die for there to be an opening in the next level class - and I don't want that to happen.

On the plus side - Steeler had a GREAT agility class tonight. We have a new dog in class - a Springer Spaniel who seems very out going. Steeler barked at him as we were coming up the path to the agilty field - so when we did our first run I asked for them to wait on the other side of the fence while we ran. And actually - Steeler was just a little bit distracted - but didn't leave me to go check them out. Catie had set up a novice course since a couple of people are competing this weekend for the first time and Steeler did GREAT. We've started putting him in his crate if he drifts off to be sniffy to break the pattern of leaving me for something he deems more interesting. No harsh words or handling - just a "oh you need a break" and into the crate for 10 seconds. What a difference that has made in just a couple classes. I really need to work on following through at home too. We ran the course 3 times tonight, and the second and third time Elliot (the new dog) was in the ring for the 2nd and 3rd run. On the 2nd run Steeler looked at him once and moved in his direction but was quickly back on course with me when I called him. And when I say "moved in his direction" - well Steeler probably only took maybe 3 steps in that general direction. Probably only because I started to get a litte anxious in that area because Steeler was coming down off the Aframe and then later thru the shute with a direct line of sight to Elliot. But my little boy NAILED his contacts (all of them) and his weave poles. Oh and he was able to run with me when there were a couple of people in the next class watching us who he really really wanted to say hello to. :-) I did let him say hello after - but at that point he was more interested in what I might have for him.

In the last month or so we have done a few other things as well. Steeler and I went to another APDT Rally match and Catie had run thru's at her house at the end of September. I am glad I went - even though it was raining! It wasn't too crowded and the people were all really nice - I played judge for someone and people played ring crew and in general were really helpful. Steeler was a bit distracted and had trouble running with all of those people and dogs watching. So I went back to starting with a restrained recall across the ring and working in the far corner. On the plus side - he was willing to play tug with me down there and we worked a series of jumps to the dog walk - with the dog walk coming back towards all the activity - and he nailed his contacts! On his last run - I did the same thing but instead of spending most of my time down there in the far corner - I played tug for 15 seconds - then did the jumps to the dog walk. Dog walk to table - then ran the entire novice course from the table. :-)

Busy Busy weekend for the Steeler Puppy!

Well Steeler and I have had a very busy weekend! On Friday we got together with Ann and Brandy and worked on some individual agility stuff and then on some control unleashed exercises together. Brandy and Steeler make pretty good play partners. Then I met Lisa with Brew and Winnie and we worked on obedience stuff. We did stays, stand for exam, some heeling, drop on recall .... the usual stuff. It was nice to be playing in the AC instead of the heat!

Then Saturday morning I got up early threw some boxes of books in the car and headed over to Ann's where they were having a neighborhood yard sale. Didn't sell anything, but Steeler got to play meet and greet with the people that stopped by. He was VERY good with a timid boy that really wanted to pet him - but flinched if Steeler moved. He did eventually pet Steeler for a second. We let Steeler and Brandy play in the back yard for a while, while Paul tried to get some actual work done on the computer inside. We packed stuff up sometime after noon, and tried Steeler and Nico in the back yard. Not such a good idea. Nico is 12 ish and his back legs don't work quite as well as they used to. Nico got just a little bit to forward for Steeler and then couldn't back away when Steeler let him know that he was not happy. :-) No harm done - but probably they will just be walking buddies. Steeler and Brandy got to practice Mat work while we had lunch - then we took Steeler to the barn!



Last time we were at the barn, Steeler was a bit anxious about the horses. But at the end of our session when he saw Ann hand out treats to the horses he seemed to relax quite a bit. I was really happy to see that had carried over to this session - almost 6 weeks after the first session. Something clicked in his brain and we were working within a couple of feet of Ann's horses while she gave them a bath. We spent about 2.5 hours at the barn! Add that to the morning spent hanging out and playing with Brandy - well I had one very very tired puppy last night.

This morning we got up and headed to an Agility Games Seminar with Catie. So, most people know I get a bit anxious doing agility around other dogs with Steeler. I actually had a dream last night that I was at a seminar and the instructor told everyone that Steeler was a bad dog. LOL That is not something that Catie would say at all but still - I woke up nervous. The seminar was geared towards dogs that were novice competitors already and Steeler is not quite ready for a whole course without some reinforcement. There were 12 working spots - so that is 11 other handlers and dogs ... plus there were a few auditors that had dogs with them as well. ACK!!! Actually - everyone was really nice - I think several of them are in classes together, and I did know one woman that was there with her BC, Trixie. Trixie is a sweet little BC girl that I already know Steeler is comfortable with. She doesn't have that strong stare that some of the BC's have.

First we worked on Snooker! Lots and Lots of questions about snooker. When I first started agility years and years ago, we started in USDAA, and the snooker rules haven't changed much. Steeler did really well on the first course we ran. He did drift a little bit - ok actually he drifted right out the back door. Good thing there were no horses out there. So we closed the doors and started again. Second time around was much better. I was reallly pleased with how well he stuck with me and when he did drift because the smells were too enticing he did come back when I called him. That in itself is a big improvement. He is hitting his Aframe contact at full height which is just amazing to me, since we really just started working on that a couple of months ago.
Here is his second snooker run. This course was a bit harder than the first one.



We spent so much time on Snooker that we decided to skip discussing Gamblers and instead focus on Pairs and FAST. And yes I did run Steeler in Pairs!!!! He was wonderful. I ran with Trixie and her mom whose name I can't remember. Steeler never even looked at her when we handed off the baton and he was jumping into the crowd as well. He didn't even become "spazzy boy" while watching Trixie run! By the time we got to FAST, Steeler was pretty much done for the day. It was HOT HOT HOT today and I don't think he napped in his crate at all in between his runs. I can't tell you how pleased I was with the spotty boy today! He was hanging out in the hallway letting dogs pass him by within inches with nothing more than an occassional glance to see who it was. I think it helped that there were only 3 other "big" dogs. Two BC's and a Chessie. We had 3 or 4 Caveliers, a poodle, an ACD, a Havanese I think, and I don't know what else. Steeler is one tired puppy tonight.

The video is up ...

So the video from Tuesday nights class is up, unedited ...
the first time through is here
second time through and the last time through.

Also - since I don't talk about the other two often ... here is a couple of pictures of Keegan and Steeler playing. You can see Logan in the background sleeping. There was a time that many people told me that I might have to keep Steeler and Keegan separated - Keegan is not fond of new dogs and after a couple of bad experiences he became pretty dog reactive. He is much much better now - but he and Steeler had a couple of rocky starts to their friendship. So now when I see them play together it makes me very happy! The stuffed bunny didn't last long - they are playing tug with his tail! Yesterday we went back to the barn and today we are off to an agility games seminar! I know the rules for the USDAA games - but this will be a great opportunity to see how we cope with a larger number of people and dogs around while we do agility. And by we - yes I mean ME!

The past week

AHHHH ... a long weekend with no major plans except to relax!

The last week has been a pleasant although busy one. Monday night obedience class continues to go well. Though I think I do need to go back and refresh some of the basics that we haven't worked on recently. This week we worked on retrieving. Steeler is doing great with that - with the minor exception of letting go of the dumbbell when I put my hands on it. It was a pretty common problem in class and we talked about two different ways to work on that. The first way seemed to me to be shaping the dog to want to hold onto it. The other way used doggy zen to maintain the hold. I will likely play with both methods this weekend and see how we do. Meanwhile - Steeler's stays are coming along nicely and I think I might be ready to take the leash off pretty soon.

Agility class on Tuesday - Oh boy! It is so nice to be in a class where everyone seems to care how you are doing! Everyone in the class is competing except for Steeler I think - oh and Solo. OK - so half of the class is competing. Everyone wanted to know how Steeler did at the Match last weekend. We worked on a new lead out skill this week. Some day I will get my act together and maybe get some maps uploaded. It was a hard one, three jumps to the poles and Catie wanted us to be able to lead out to the third jump. Which really wouldn't have been that difficult - except for the fact that it wasn't a straight line! We started closer to jump 2 than to 3 the first time thru to work on the mechanics. Steeler and I are still working on our timing - but we quickly got the hang of it. The second time thru we were closer to jump three, but not quite where we ultimately wanted to be. We had a bit more trouble there - I am still working out what it means for Steeler to be committed to an obstacle. We also added a few more obstacles this time through. So Jump Jump Jump, poles, jump, tunnel table. By the time we finished our turn - I was standing where Catie wanted us close to jump 3 and Steeler was committing to jump 2 before turning into me and he nailed his weave poles and turbo charged the next jump to the tunnel and didn't fall off the table! YAY! And everyone said - OH my doG he is going to be FAST! :-)

On another note - Steeler did have a few things to say when Solo came into the agility ring, but when Steeler set up in front of the first jump and Solo was 4 or 5 feet behind him on the other side of the gate - Steeler didn't seem to care much. He did glance at Solo once, but I just reminded him to sit and walked away. And Steeler held his sit and waited for me to release him! He also got a bit distracted the first time through and left me, not sure if that was a minor stress issue - because we were working on something hard for him. I had a moment of slight panic because he decided to play with the BC girl in our class. Luckily she is a sweet girl that doesn't give off any hard vibes. And after my moment of panic I did manage to call Steeler back to me in an almost normal tone of voice - and he came running back! On our second turn he started to leave again to go play - and this time I had my brain back and just called him before he got very close and he came right back. :-) YAY!

Thursday night is Communications class with Katrin. I am really enjoying this class. We worked on the eye targeting game some more. Steeler had some trouble getting started, he was a bit distracted by a couple of the dogs. We worked with peanut butter for a bit, and then switched to a can of Evangers all meat canned food. All of a sudden Steeler was REALLY into this game. Amazing what you can do with a novel treat. And he seems to be getting the idea that he needs to find my eyes. I will try to video this weekend. We also introduced the space game this week. Steeler LOVES this ... of course any thing that involves motion is good with him. This game is to teach the dogs to move into our space when invited, and out of our space when we step into theirs. I'll have to video that too. It's all about pressure. Creating pressure when you step into them, and easing pressure when you invite them into your space. I talked to Katrin a bit about Steeler's reaction to Solo (and he has a similar, less intense reaction to the golden in class) and I am going to try to be proactive next Tuesday (and Thursday). Before Steeler can notice Solo I am going to start playing the space game with him. And if he does react to Solo, I am going to just back up and reward him for coming into my space. We have lots of homework this week. Continuing with the eye contact game, the space game - moving forward and back and side to side, as well as working on backing up in a straight line. hmmmm I guess I will be doing more training and less relaxing than I thought this weekend. Oh wait - dog training is a form of relaxation! :-)