..... 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!
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obedience. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
May???? How did that happen???
Oh my! How on earth did it go from January to MAY!!! LOL Well I must say I thought I was back to my training blog in January, but that was apparently not the case. Now that winter has come and gone, the house is rented, and my stress level has finally decreased - things are finally calming down. Steeler and I have been working on agility and obedience between January and the end of March, with the goal of competing at the Dalmatian National in Fort Michell, KY at the end of April. Well as a warm up, I entered Steeler in a Beginner Novice run at a real actual trial. UGH! What a disaster. I don't know what the problem was, my nerves? Steeler's anxiety? But he literally pulled me from sign to sign on the heeling pattern. We do a lot of Rally. The sign's really should not have been interesting to him at all, or so I thought. There is always something to learn as Steeler has reminded me time and time again. So after viewing the video, and a lesson with my obedience instructor (E), we devised a plan. This is going to sound so incredibly simple, but really it's not. In the discussion with E - she reminded me that really the last couple of years we haven't really been doing a lot of training, yes we go to class every week, we occasionally go to run thru's or show n go's but really how much time have I spent training outside that environment. The reality is that really I wasn't doing any real consistent training.
I don't really remember how we arrived at this idea - but it was a relatively simple thing - no more pulling on leash EVER!!!! No more getting cookies for just sitting around, no more Mom being a Pez dispenser. It sounds like such a simple thing. But really it was and is HARD!!!! But what a change. I worked hard for the month between our decision to give this a try and the national. 25 out of the next 30 days there had to be some sort of training if I were to consider showing at the national. We dropped just about everything else as far as training went. No working on heeling or retrieves etc. Everywhere we went, you will walk right here with me .... you don't get to pull me to the next bush to pee. You don't get to pull me over to friends to say hi. Those things became "real life rewards".
Steeler didn't really think this change in "The Rules" was such a good thing at first. We were entered in an APDT Rally trial the following weekend, and after some discussion I decided that I was going to go and give Steeler the opportunity to decided whether he wanted to work with me or not. The Saturday trial was not pretty! We walked into the ring, got the slowest sit ever, and when I asked him if he was ready he wouldn't even look at me. LOL oh that was hard. I said thank you to the judge and walked out of the ring and put Steeler in his crate, no words and he had to walk through a crowd of kids saying LOOK IT'S a Dalmatian. We did that twice on Saturday. Sunday was a bit better, I got more attention and was able to do a couple of signs and have a big party in the ring.
The following weekend we were again entered in another APDT Rally trial. Thankfully close to home. Huge change in attitude during the week. We were able to do the whole courses with lots of reinforcement for choosing to work in the ring. So after three plus weeks of working I was still undecided about whether to even bother going to the National. E didn't think that we were actually ready to go in the ring just yet, but at the very least, it would be a week where I could concentrate on working on our program. So we went......
To be continued!
I don't really remember how we arrived at this idea - but it was a relatively simple thing - no more pulling on leash EVER!!!! No more getting cookies for just sitting around, no more Mom being a Pez dispenser. It sounds like such a simple thing. But really it was and is HARD!!!! But what a change. I worked hard for the month between our decision to give this a try and the national. 25 out of the next 30 days there had to be some sort of training if I were to consider showing at the national. We dropped just about everything else as far as training went. No working on heeling or retrieves etc. Everywhere we went, you will walk right here with me .... you don't get to pull me to the next bush to pee. You don't get to pull me over to friends to say hi. Those things became "real life rewards".
Steeler didn't really think this change in "The Rules" was such a good thing at first. We were entered in an APDT Rally trial the following weekend, and after some discussion I decided that I was going to go and give Steeler the opportunity to decided whether he wanted to work with me or not. The Saturday trial was not pretty! We walked into the ring, got the slowest sit ever, and when I asked him if he was ready he wouldn't even look at me. LOL oh that was hard. I said thank you to the judge and walked out of the ring and put Steeler in his crate, no words and he had to walk through a crowd of kids saying LOOK IT'S a Dalmatian. We did that twice on Saturday. Sunday was a bit better, I got more attention and was able to do a couple of signs and have a big party in the ring.
The following weekend we were again entered in another APDT Rally trial. Thankfully close to home. Huge change in attitude during the week. We were able to do the whole courses with lots of reinforcement for choosing to work in the ring. So after three plus weeks of working I was still undecided about whether to even bother going to the National. E didn't think that we were actually ready to go in the ring just yet, but at the very least, it would be a week where I could concentrate on working on our program. So we went......
To be continued!
Saturday, March 6, 2010
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!
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!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sunday Show N Go! at Performance Plus in Taunton
Steeler ROCKS! He was such a good boy today! And I only had a minor little panic attack over stays. :-) Run thru's started at 10 AM and Steeler was in the second and third sets of 8. We got there about 9:30. A bunch of people that we train with were there already and had saved us crate space. We were set up in front of the novice ring - so there were lots of dogs going past up to get to the open ring and the utility ring. Steeler was quiet in his crate even with the crate cover up and just watched the world go by. No whining at all until we were just about ready to leave, at which point he had been hanging out in the building for over 4 hours - even with breaks outside that is a long time in a busy noisy building for my spotted boy.
His first run was pretty good considering that we haven't been to class in over 3 months and have only been doing a bit of training here and there. I thought his heeling felt a little bit laggy - but people watching said no it wasn't that bad. I've been working him on a long line so that he doesn't get the chance to make the mistake of just wandering away from me, and today I only had to step on it once when we were approaching a couple of stacked crates with a HUGE stuffed dog on top. His figure 8 was pretty good too - just a little bit laggy on the outside turn. Stand for exam just a little bit of foot movement .... and his recall was AWESOME!!!!
The first set of stays I found a little bit nerve wracking. There were 8 of us along the short wall - there was definitely about 4 ft between dogs - but for baby dogs it was a bit crowded. I was a bit too nervous to drop the leash for the 1 minute sit, though I did let go of it about 40 seconds in. I stayed close but stayed silent and calm I think. I had trouble getting Steeler to drop into his down for the long down - so I did lure him into it. But once he was down - he stayed down for the 3 minutes. He did pop up as I started to walk around him - but I think that was just a timing thing with all the other people approaching - I decided to not fuss with it.
His second run thru was at least as good as or better than the first one. His Stand for Exam was definitely better, only one tiny foot movement. His recall was spot on again and his heeling felt a bit better. And even better his Stays were good! This time we set up against the longer wall so there was a little bit more space between the dogs. I set Steeler up between Riley (who he has known thru class for almost 3 years) and Ellie who he hasn't seen in a while but wasn't a complete stranger to him. This time I was able to get almost all the way across the ring from him on the sit stay - even with a dog barking in the crate that was directly behind him on the other side of the ring gate! On the long down I did have to lure him down with a cookie - but he stayed down and I was able to get all the way across the ring. We still had the barking dog and lots of activity going on behind him so I did a bit of walking in towards him when I thought he was getting too distracted. And he was able to stay in the down as everyone was walking back to their dogs. He really did a great job today! GO STEELER!
His first run was pretty good considering that we haven't been to class in over 3 months and have only been doing a bit of training here and there. I thought his heeling felt a little bit laggy - but people watching said no it wasn't that bad. I've been working him on a long line so that he doesn't get the chance to make the mistake of just wandering away from me, and today I only had to step on it once when we were approaching a couple of stacked crates with a HUGE stuffed dog on top. His figure 8 was pretty good too - just a little bit laggy on the outside turn. Stand for exam just a little bit of foot movement .... and his recall was AWESOME!!!!
The first set of stays I found a little bit nerve wracking. There were 8 of us along the short wall - there was definitely about 4 ft between dogs - but for baby dogs it was a bit crowded. I was a bit too nervous to drop the leash for the 1 minute sit, though I did let go of it about 40 seconds in. I stayed close but stayed silent and calm I think. I had trouble getting Steeler to drop into his down for the long down - so I did lure him into it. But once he was down - he stayed down for the 3 minutes. He did pop up as I started to walk around him - but I think that was just a timing thing with all the other people approaching - I decided to not fuss with it.
His second run thru was at least as good as or better than the first one. His Stand for Exam was definitely better, only one tiny foot movement. His recall was spot on again and his heeling felt a bit better. And even better his Stays were good! This time we set up against the longer wall so there was a little bit more space between the dogs. I set Steeler up between Riley (who he has known thru class for almost 3 years) and Ellie who he hasn't seen in a while but wasn't a complete stranger to him. This time I was able to get almost all the way across the ring from him on the sit stay - even with a dog barking in the crate that was directly behind him on the other side of the ring gate! On the long down I did have to lure him down with a cookie - but he stayed down and I was able to get all the way across the ring. We still had the barking dog and lots of activity going on behind him so I did a bit of walking in towards him when I thought he was getting too distracted. And he was able to stay in the down as everyone was walking back to their dogs. He really did a great job today! GO STEELER!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
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. :-)
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. :-)
Friday, November 6, 2009
Shaping Class
Well - the Steeler pup is taking a shaping class. Just a short 3 week session and he has lots of shaping experience, but I figured a class with new dogs would be a good thing since I am taking a break with obedience and agility for a bit. And I have to say, Steeler did AWESOME! Class starts at 6 which is a bit tight time wise for me, and we got there just a couple of minutes before class started. Steeler was excited to get there and get in the ring - so it took us a few minutes to get in the building since I am trying to be consistant about my requirements for a loose leash. :-) We sat next to a great Dane last night - I think Steeler thought he was a small pony. :-) The best part is that Steeler had NO reactions to the other dogs in class other than mild interest! YAY! And he did know 3 of the dogs, two from Obedience class and my friend Ann's dog Brandy who Steeler likes to play with is taking the class too. I was totally incredibly pleased with Steeler last night!
Today I subbed for Play Group and Puppy Kindergarden. Play Group is always rough on my nerves, but I did manage to survive. One of these days I am going to ask folks if they would mind if I video'd - because I sure would love some feed back on what other people see as appropriate play. After teaching we hung for an obedience lesson and Steeler got to do stays with some new dogs. He really is doing well! The sheltie next to him kept looking at him and inviting him to play and while steeler was definitely interested in the invitation (wagging his tail back) he stayed where he was! What a GOOD boy!!!!
Coming up in December with have a "nose work" seminar which I decided to do a working spot instead of just auditing. There will be a lot of people and dogs there that I know - so I think I will be able to work Steeler with out worrying too much about the dogs around us. Ann and Brandy will be there as will my friend Lisa and her husband and their two Malamutes. Plus some other friends that are in obedience class with us. Then there will be an APDT rally training party, and Steeler's first APDT Rally Trial on the 19th if we get in. Oh boy!
Today I subbed for Play Group and Puppy Kindergarden. Play Group is always rough on my nerves, but I did manage to survive. One of these days I am going to ask folks if they would mind if I video'd - because I sure would love some feed back on what other people see as appropriate play. After teaching we hung for an obedience lesson and Steeler got to do stays with some new dogs. He really is doing well! The sheltie next to him kept looking at him and inviting him to play and while steeler was definitely interested in the invitation (wagging his tail back) he stayed where he was! What a GOOD boy!!!!
Coming up in December with have a "nose work" seminar which I decided to do a working spot instead of just auditing. There will be a lot of people and dogs there that I know - so I think I will be able to work Steeler with out worrying too much about the dogs around us. Ann and Brandy will be there as will my friend Lisa and her husband and their two Malamutes. Plus some other friends that are in obedience class with us. Then there will be an APDT rally training party, and Steeler's first APDT Rally Trial on the 19th if we get in. Oh boy!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Good Boy Steeler
Steeler and I have been working on obedience stuff in addition to agility. Stays are my nemesis, though I am getting less and less nervous about them. Yesterday we went to a show n go at the training center. Steeler's first run was early before the start so that I could Steward for utility. Side note: some people are just plain nuts - though I am not training in utility yet so maybe I am full of it. Someone was very insistant that their articles that were scented not touch the other articles because there were 5 shows coming up and she wouldn't be able to show if the articles got mixed up.
OK - back on track! Steelers first run was nice! Great attention, stayed with me, his recall/front was dead on straight. We do need to work on working with a long line though. His first run can be found here. I need to teach Lisa how to edit - the video is a bit long. Steeler then spent some time in his crate in the building instead of out in the car. And he was actually pretty quiet! Good Boy! My friend Jane was crating her golden nearby so she fed Steeler several time for being quiet.
Later in the day, after lunch I brought Steeler back in for a second run. There significantly more noise and commotion, lots of people and dogs right on the ring gate. Steeler's heeling wasn't as nice - but he did pretty well. I was especially happy with the fact that I only had to call him back to me once (and he was only a couple feet away) - he wanted to go say hello to the border collie leaning up against the ring gate right in front of him. But his turn back to me was instant! And Judge Laurie said I did good! :-) Again his recall was very nice - even with the noise! And then there were those dreaded STAYS!!!! and OMG - Steeler STAYED! I know I shouldn't be surprised by now! But I knew I was rushing into the ring and I was too tight on the leash. Not that long ago being tight on the leash like that and walking past dogs would have had Steeler reacting to the other dogs around him. No reactions at all this time. For stays were were second dog from the end, between a sheltie and a lab. The sheltie he had seen a couple of times in class and a friend knew the woman with the lab - a very sweet yellow girl that Steeler was making eyes at. :-) I didn't actually let go of the leash for the sit stay - but Steeler stayed put even though he was making eyes with the lab. Then for the down Stay I did get all the way across the ring a few times, and spent the majority of the time about half way across. Steeler even held his stay when another dogs dumbell landed right behind him on the other side of the ring gate! What a good boy!
We even got to meet a new dalmatian puppy! She was very cute! And Amy was nice enough to walk her up and down the drive in front of Steeler so I could work on - oh look here comes a puppy! And Steeler was awesome!
OK - back on track! Steelers first run was nice! Great attention, stayed with me, his recall/front was dead on straight. We do need to work on working with a long line though. His first run can be found here. I need to teach Lisa how to edit
Later in the day, after lunch I brought Steeler back in for a second run. There significantly more noise and commotion, lots of people and dogs right on the ring gate. Steeler's heeling wasn't as nice - but he did pretty well. I was especially happy with the fact that I only had to call him back to me once (and he was only a couple feet away) - he wanted to go say hello to the border collie leaning up against the ring gate right in front of him. But his turn back to me was instant! And Judge Laurie said I did good! :-) Again his recall was very nice - even with the noise! And then there were those dreaded STAYS!!!! and OMG - Steeler STAYED! I know I shouldn't be surprised by now! But I knew I was rushing into the ring and I was too tight on the leash. Not that long ago being tight on the leash like that and walking past dogs would have had Steeler reacting to the other dogs around him. No reactions at all this time. For stays were were second dog from the end, between a sheltie and a lab. The sheltie he had seen a couple of times in class and a friend knew the woman with the lab - a very sweet yellow girl that Steeler was making eyes at. :-) I didn't actually let go of the leash for the sit stay - but Steeler stayed put even though he was making eyes with the lab. Then for the down Stay I did get all the way across the ring a few times, and spent the majority of the time about half way across. Steeler even held his stay when another dogs dumbell landed right behind him on the other side of the ring gate! What a good boy!
We even got to meet a new dalmatian puppy! She was very cute! And Amy was nice enough to walk her up and down the drive in front of Steeler so I could work on - oh look here comes a puppy! And Steeler was awesome!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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. :-)
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.
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. :-)
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Sunday Training Time
Today Steeler and I went to a "training party" organized by Karen. We all had obedience run thru's and worked on whatever else we wanted with our friends. Steeler was just AWESOME today! First - he took a little short walk with Winnie - the malamute puppy that is now bigger than he is and I think he has decided that she is ok. We might try a walk in the woods at some point this summer. Second - he was SUPER hanging out with dogs going past him and he felt comfortable enough to just lie down and hang out. Third we did some work with a Collie puppy - I don't remember how old she is now - maybe 7 or 8 months? And the two of them went nose to nose at one point, kind of by accident - and Steeler has decided that she is ok too! He had no reaction when I called him away. We worked on Stays as well and we did a bunch of short ones where I actually took the leash off for a change and went all the way across the ring! And to top that all off - his novice run thru was spectacular! His heeling was awesome, his recall was great even if his front was just a little bit crooked. His stand for exam was pretty good too, just a little bit of minor shifting of the feet when Karen walked in to do the exam. He LOVES his auntie Karen - so to stand still while she comes in is really hard for him.
After that we stopped at Ann's house to do some more training. Ann and I have made a pact to try to get together more often to actually do more training stuff with our dogs. Some friends of hers with a little white dog named Harry also came down to add another dog to the mix. While we were waiting for Harry, we started with just Brandy and Steeler hanging out - they are both a lot alike - this is BORING when are we going to MOVE! When Harry arrived, we took the dogs down the street to an area that I think links up with the Blue Hills Reservation(?). At any rate - we took the dogs for a walk through the woods where Steeler and Brandy went nose to nose sniffing the same spot a couple of times with no reaction from either of them. We saw some horses as well. When we got to a wide open spot where we could see for quite a ways we worked on taking the leash on and off with Steeler. It seems I have done a spectacular job of pairing the leash going on, the appearance of other dogs, and mom getting nervous to result in Steeler doing a cujo impersonation. So we are going to try to uncouple that by working with dogs I know first! Instead of trying to jump straight to strange dogs. At least it isn't just putting the leash back on that causes this reaction, so we have a place to start! And I know he can do this - because we can walk all around the agility trials and not have a reaction to other dogs passing within a foot or two.
All in all, we had a great day hanging out with friends! But now Steeler and I are tired! :-)
After that we stopped at Ann's house to do some more training. Ann and I have made a pact to try to get together more often to actually do more training stuff with our dogs. Some friends of hers with a little white dog named Harry also came down to add another dog to the mix. While we were waiting for Harry, we started with just Brandy and Steeler hanging out - they are both a lot alike - this is BORING when are we going to MOVE!
All in all, we had a great day hanging out with friends! But now Steeler and I are tired! :-)
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