Getting back into the swing of things.....

After 4 to 6 weeks of feeling just BLAH both on my part and Steeler's - we are finally getting back into training mode.  The boys are both adjusting to Logan's absence and we are all starting to recover.  Tonight Keegan played a little bit with Steeler while throwing the frisbee out back.  Keegan went through a period where he didn't want to be left alone and didn't want to be in the house even when we were home.  Poor Keeg!  His entire life, Logan has been there.  We did everything together back then, agility, walks in the woods, trips to where ever.  At any rate, I feel that Keegan is on the mend. 

Steeler has been getting back into the swing of things as well.  We competed in another CDSP trial up at the Monadnock Humane Society, and while his runs were nice - they didn't have much enthusiasm.  Watch the videos and see what you think.

Novice C run #1
Novice C run #2

 Before I start to panic, I am going to chalk it up to the fact that we were both a little off balance.  We had a few not so great training sessions as well, BUT I think that we are both starting to mend.  We've had one great agility class, and last week we had a really fun training session with friends.  We worked on some specific obedience skills but we also worked on some "real life" type stuff.  A lot of it was similar to some of the control unleashed exercises in Leslie McDevitt's book.  We put a new twist on "group stays" ....

Following our training session Steeler and I went down for obedience run thru's.  We had two rally runs and one Novice run.  Steeler did awesome - despite the fact that I was a nervous wreck because there were a ton of people there.  I did get to see some friends I don't see often - so that was a nice bonus! 

We have a busy few weeks ahead of us.  This weekend I am taking Steeler to agility run thru's for the first time in over a year.  He has been doing pretty well in class, so we are going to give this a try.  The following weekend we are entered in another CDSP trial.  I entered him in Novice C again.  Then we have an APDT rally trial the following weekend.  Did I say BUSY?????    I think I might take a bit of a break in April.  Steeler and I are going to the Denise Fenzi seminar at MasterPeace Dog Training - but other than that I am not signed up for anything yet.  Hopefully I won't get too carried away and book up all my weekends.  :-)

Rest in Peace my sweet girl! Logan 3/21/98 - 1/28/12

 My sweet little girl lost her battle tonight. She's had a rough couple of months.  I am not sure what she was battling, but it doesn't matter now.  Now she can run pain free and breath easy. 

she put up with just about anything

I hate winter!

She was my first dog, and of course I got her for all the wrong reasons.  We went to the shelter just to "look."  I had just been laid off, so obviously it was a perfect time to get a dog.  She was all alone in her kennel and she was just so cute that I couldn't resist her. She and her littermates had been dumped at the animal shelter because they had come down with coccidia.  Logan taught me about dogs in general and what owning a dalmatian was all about.   We started a general pet obedience class together and soon moved on to agility.  She was never an agility superstar - she did agility because she enjoyed being with me.  Her favorite course was USDAA Jumpers!  She could really fly when she wanted to - and even better no weave poles in jumpers!  She always did try to entertain the crowd a little though. 

She loved to run in the woods, and never met a dog she couldn't play with.  She alway knew just what to do if a dog was scared or nervous about meeting other dogs.  She especially loved the big dogs!  We used to run into a guy walking his great dane - oh it was so entertaining to watch them play!  As a TDI test dog she had to be told that she couldn't flirt with the other dogs while doing the test.  She was supposed to be a neutral dog!

the original trio

She loved almost everyone - the couple of times that I remember she didn't like a person, I heeded her wisdom - especially since this usually happened in the woods while I was walking with her, Keegan and Puka alone.

If I stare at this piece of cheese hard enough - someone will give it to me!

Because of Logan I have friends I never would have met otherwise.  I will miss you my sweet little girl.

Happy Birthday Steeler!!!

It's hard to believe - but my puppy is 6 years old today!  I'm not really sure where the years went!  I think having a birthday is a good excuse to post some puppy pictures!!!

6 weeks

 4 months - playing with Luke.

November already????

How on earth did November get here so soon? 

Steeler and I have been training the last several months.  Mostly in obedience, but also some agility.  Since our last update - Steeler got his second Beginner Novice leg with a 2nd place and a 195 at the Wampanoag Kennel Club in October.  One of my friends got the video on her iPhone.  :-)  I was a little bit frazzled.  I didn't think I was too nervous - but apparently I put Steeler in the car and left the house without anything else ... like cookies for my puppy????  Guess I was a little more nervous than I thought!

This run is MILES from where we were last March.  I am just beyond pleased with my boy and how well he is doing. 

Then in late October we had a freak snow storm here in New England that resulted in much of Massachusetts being without power for several days.  Halloween was cancelled, work was no open due to the power being out.  Thankfully it was not too cold during the day so the nights weren't too bad.  But 5 nights of no electricity was getting to be a bit much!  I hope this is not an indication of what winter is going to be like!
 
This weekend Steeler was entered in another CDSP trial on our home turf.  I suspected that this might actually be tougher for Steeler rather than going to some other places.  He is used to a certain "feel" to the building when we train and at class, and definitely the atmosphere is different at a trial.  I able to squeeze in an obedience lesson on Friday and E asked me - Why are you entered in Novice C, why didn't you enter him in Open?????  OPEN????? Me and Steeler?  Well honestly when I entered I didn't think that his drop on recall or his go out was ready for the open ring.  And I figured, any good experiences in the obedience ring at an actual trial would be a good thing.  But I've been working on his drop on recall, and that is almost ready for prime time.  So - just for giggles, we decided to see if we could teach him a "go out" during our lesson. 

For the CDSP Open class - the last exercise is the "go out".  The dog must travel half the distance of the ring and turn and sit within a 6 ft box.  This is the first part of the directed jumping exercise in Utility.  Steeler has been playing with this exercise for a while - purely as shaping games.  So he can go out and sit in a hula hoop, and he has pretty strong targeting skills.  He's done some targeting to a stantion and ring gating, but not in a really long time.  So in an hour we had him going out about 20 feet or so and turning and sitting at the ring gate.  What a brilliant boy!  I wish I had some video of the lesson because it was a ton of fun! 

So on Saturday I decided that I would do my first run in Novice C and my second run in Open A.  His Novice C run was a little rough on the figure 8 - he was REALLY interested in one of the posts.  But the rest of the run wasn't too bad.  He was the only qualifying dog in Nov C - so we got to take home a blue ribbon!  His open run was FABULOUS!  He didn't get the go out - but the rest of it more than made up for not being able to do that under pressure.  One of my Monday night classmates was kind enough to get it on video without telling me so I wouldn't get nervous about it.

His runs on Sunday were a little more stressy - we did Open first, and then because he was having a hard time I decided to leave him in Novice C for the last trial. In open, Steeler didn't want to go get his dumbbell for retrieve on the flat, and he didn't really want to drop so far away from me.  I just went into training mode and tried to make things easy for him.  In Novice C,  he again had a bit of trouble with one of the posts, but otherwise had a nice run to finish up the weekend.  I am super proud of my boy!  He did a great job for me, and as a bonus he was quiet in his crate today during the show. 

Back at home - Logan and Keegan got to spend some time with my folks this weekend.  :-)  Something they always enjoy.  Logan's been coughing a little bit lately - so I need to call the vet on Monday. 

New Obedience Title for Steeler.....

What a weekend Steeler and I had!  Steeler and I competed in the first CDSP Obedience trial in New England this weekend.  4 trials over 2 days!  Steeler was entered in Novice B because we have Rally titles in AKC and APDT.  The Novice A class is for DOGS (not handlers) that do not have any obedience or rally titles in other venues.  Competitors can continue to compete in the Novice C class after they earn their title.  If you qualify 10 times with scores of 185 or better you earn your Novice Championship (CD-CCH).  I had a great time this weekend, and I think Steeler had fun too.  He earned his CD-C in 3 straight efforts with scores of 197.5, 199, and 196.5.  For the last trial I moved him to the Novice C class since he is not quite ready for the open class yet.  In his Nov C class he scored a 198 - and earned High in Trial!  Go Steeler!!!!!  Needless to say I am still smiling when I think about how well he did this weekend. 

This is the second trial!

Here is run #3

And his first Novice C run!

As you can see from the video's - CDSP is similar to AKC obedience with some changes.  In Novice, the exercises are:

- heel on leash
- Figure 8 off leash
- Stand for exam
- Recall over the high jump
- Honor Stay (you choose Sit or Down for the next dogs heeling pattern)

Now I am more motivated to actually train the Open exercises more!

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! 

VERY BAD Blogger!

Well I started this blog with the hope that it would help me keep a record of Steeler's training life.  I haven't been doing a very good job - that is for sure!  I am not sure we have really been up to much since the National's other than our regular obedience class and a Control Unleashed Class that I have been taking up at Nevin's Farm.  We are on round two of the Introduction class because there weren't enough dogs to run the Advanced class.  As I am sure that many people know - The Control Unleashed class is based on Leslie McDevitt's book of the same name.  I was lucky enough to attend one of her early seminar's in the Pittsburgh area a few years ago.  I absolutely loved the concept - but had a lot of trouble trying to implement things on my own.  So when I moved and there was a class starting near me I decided that I wanted to give it a try.  I love our instructor!  M is great at setting all of the dogs up for success.

Our first session was before the national and in that class there was one Golden Retriever and 3 small dogs.  So Steeler did really well in that class - there wasn't much there that pushed his threshold.  This time around we have another golden, a large yellow lab, a large barky sheltie, a pug, and an Aussie that seems a bit timid.  The Aussie is being handled by a very experienced handler - so I am sure I don't see the issues that led to her joining the CU class.  All things considered - it is a good mix of dogs for Steeler.  He is doing really well with the GR - which previously would have been a huge trigger for him.  He is a bit bothered by the lab, but getting better, and the barking sheltie has been great practice for us - because barking dogs while he is working have sometimes been a problem.  I am sure the sheltie's owner would like him not to bark, motion is a big trigger for this dog - he wants to control all the movement! 

So we just finished week five!  This week we played some new games - There's a dog in your face and Mat racing.  For "There's a Dog in your Face"  we had some ring gates set up with dogs behind them - and then dogs on the other side with space to approach the gate.  Steeler was paired with the GR - and we were the approaching dog first.  Steeler did AWESOME!  No reaction to the GR even when we were running towards him. We even approached at a run and stopped at the gate with no issues for either dog.  Then it was Steeler's turn to be the stationary dog.  His new cue for there is a dog approaching is ..... "INCOMING"  We worked up to the same type of things, the GR running towards us, stopping at the gate .... No reaction what so ever other than to look at me!  Now I just need to work on translating that to "the real world".  Steeler also got to work with the Sheltie - again with no issues at all.  I was very very pleased!

As far as Mat Racing goes - this game makes me a little bit nervous because all the dogs are racing to their mats from across the room - and there is lots more motion, dogs moving ahead of us and chance for leashes to slip.  But all the dogs did really well.  We started all on the same side, then moved to every other on opposite sides of the room, and then some moving and some playing "look at that" on their mats.  It was a very active class!  But Steeler did really well as did all the dogs.

Now just for some fun - here is some video of Steeler trying to find a good place to hide his bone.  At one point he actually jumps into the closet with it.