The power of foundation

More new videos are up!!! It was a very interesting training session today, with SoBe in particular :-) As I was changing my location on the dog walk, SoBe's 2on/2off foundation kicked in and if I was stationary at the middle or bottom of the last ramp she wanted to stop in a 2on/2off position. I also experimented with running past the dog walk and this too caused the stop. The dog's amazing ability to recognize training and the power of good foundation is a most powerful thing! What I really find ironic is that although I have not asked for a stop in several weeks and we have been diligently training the run for that amount of time she still defaults to that behavior although would never even consider offering it in a trial environment!!!

SO, I had to think about what to do to change this behavior. The good news is that the very first thing I tried seemed to work! I released her with her verbal release cue to the go and ran with her. I have put this video up as well.

I was impressed with the fact that although when I stand at the base of the dog walk in a stationary position she has a tendency to launch because of the forward pressure I am putting on her, but, when I ran with her she was close to 100% running through the yellow!

I have said it before and I say it again, this is a truly fun, amazing, thought provoking process that will ultimately be a great learning experience for both dog and handler!

Having tons of fun!

First, the last entry should have had a video with it, but alas it would not upload to the blog... in any event I have created a YouTube account and all videos are there for your pleasure and perusal :-) Search under Merger Plank work and there should be a few of both Merger and SoBe.

I have been diligent in my work with the dogs until today, had so much other part of life stuff to do that the dogs did not get worked... It appears I did get Hawk, my giant paint horse, a trial gig, which will hopefully become permanent as a therapy horse at a therapeutic riding program. Cross your fingers, he will be great at this work!

I have been having so much fun with this silly plank work!! I have been toying with this whole running contact thing for so long now it is really nice to have finally made a decision and have a plan.

The dogs are really enjoying it and I am already seeing tremendous improvement and some true understanding of what I want.

It has become a great case study in dog differences already as well. It has never been a secret that SoBe is primarily a "doer" and Merger a "thinker", but, it has been truly interesting to watch those facts come to life when training each of them the same thing on the contacts.

Merger clearly understands that it is about the plank, to the degree that I have already been able to place the toy at a 90 degree angle to the dogs walk plank and he will run straight down the plank then turn to get the toy. There is video of this on the Merger elevated plank work video :-) Whereas SoBe is certain the game at this point is about how do I get the toy, if I do not make sure that the toy is directly straight off the end of the plank she will follow the line of the toy to a "T" and come off high and crooked to whatever direction the toy is placed.

They are both figuring out the job just in their own way. I do not expect this to be a quick process, months and months from what I hear, however, the end will definitely justify the means in this case if what i am seeing now holds up.

Danger puppy is doing really well and has learned his name, the eye contact game, hand touches, sit and down. This feels like a lot since I am primarily focusing on play at this point. It is definitely my plan to take my time with Danger and really instill the play/prey drive as well as focus and attention before we worry about any structured training.

Danger at this point will switch from food to toys and back again with no problem, as a matter of fact I can play with him with a toy and have food in my hand. He is a tugging fool and it is my goal to get him to maintain focus on his toy regardless of what distractions are occurring.

I had Danger and Merger together in the building the other night and Danger was tugging a toy I was holding in my left hand while I tugged and threw toys for Merger out of my right without letting go or getting distracted by what Merger was doing! Good boy!!!

We are currently working on retrieving, Danger happily chases the toy but is still not completely convinced he should bring it to me, when he does bring the toy I praise enthusiastically play a bit of tug and release the toy, Danger gets to win pretty much every game right now so that he wants to continue to "share" his toys with me.

We are playing the trade game and racing to toys as well, this game he does not always win I am encouraging competition and drive to the toy. I have also started a bit of opposition reflex training holding loosely onto Dangers collar while teasing him forward with the toy. When he offers even the slightest pull forward I release my hold and tell him to get it! He loves these games!

I am fortunate to be home one more day then if the weather cooperates Merger, Danger and myself are off to Connecticut, Mass., and, New York. Keep your fingers crossed that Danger continues to fit in the Sherpa for 12 more days and that the weather cooperates and allows Merger to fly!

Then I have driving trips for a while so that I can take dogs and continue to work those planks!

Merger's Plank Work





Merger Low Aframe



SoBe's Plank Work

Go Merger GO!

See, even a giant dog can run a plank! This was just the second time I worked Merger on the plank and I am thrilled with how he did!! I was able to change my location, his location, and, the toy a bit as well. And, he still consistently ran through the contact. the last 2 attempts were actually at a run off of a jump to the plank, that is so many more steps than I thought I would get in even several weeks time.

I am going to start really moving the toy and moving more myself over the next couple of days, if he stays this consistent it will be time to put the plank on a low table sooner rather than later.

Merger seems to really understand what I am rewarding for and although has ample opportunity to bail, at this point he seems very happen to drive through.

I am also seeing a great deal more confidence on the single plank than I was even on the 1' tall dog walk. It is still a bit of an issue for Merger to single track across a 12" plank, he is a big boy!

I am so pleased with his performance tonight! I started the plank work yesterday and he jumped from the red to the floor to the toy a couple of times, when he did this I simply took the toy and replaced it out approx. 20 feet from the bottom of the plank and asked him to do it again. When he offered the behavior of running through we played tug and had a party, that is the only difference I am offering right now while he is trying to figure it out.

I am also marking the behavior when he hits in the yellow with a yes!

His jumping and weave poles looked awesome tonight as well. Tomorrow I am going to go back to the broad jump board at the base of the A-frame and remind him his stride pattern....

Danger and SoBe got to work today as well :-) SoBe is playing the same game as Merger but as it turns out a stride regulator and the board slightly elevate gives her a much more consistent stride pattern down through the contact.

Danger is learning that toys, food and his name are the coolest things on the planet and so far when he hears his name he comes running and jumps up and puts his front feet on me for a reward. So far he knows his name, hand touches, sit and down on verbal cues. He is a tugging maniac and will switch readily between food and toys.

Our training at present is all about attention, and play! He loves to play and has fabulous attention so I guess we are on the right track.

Until next time!

Taking a step back and moving forward...

What a motley crew! Well, these are them, the crazy crew that I call my agility dogs. So many wonderful dogs came before them and I am sure there will still be a few to come after :-) At present these are the dogs that keep me the busiest and definitely keep me on my toes! Can you name them all? You probably can except for that incredibly cute little black puppy face, his name is Danger and he is the newest addition to the pack.

Danger comes to me from my very good friend Stephanie Spyr who bred her Taser (Wallys aunt) to Olga Chaiko's Yankee, to produce a repeat of a breeding she did last year. I absolutely love the temperment that Yankee produces and of course am very partial to Tasers lines, so, here I am starting again...

Danger is a wonderful pup who exudes energy, is toy driven out of his mind, loves to learn and has incredible focus for a 9 week old pup.

I will definitely be chronicling his progression in hopes that a foundation tutorial is born.

I picked danger up during a 2 week working vacation that took me first to sunny warm Phoenix for what I believe is the 14th year of teaching there in Jan. It was the most amazing weather I have ever experienced in all of my Januarys in Phoenix!

The seminars were fabulous and as always it is a bit like old home week, I have the chance to work with people I have known for years and who are so incredibly eager to learn! Every year there is so much improvement and that opens the door for new skills. Agility being the evolutionary sport that it is there are always new skills!

Halfway through the trip on my day off I took a little road trip to Riverside CA to pick up Danger, the whole litter was still there and it was great to see the interaction between littermates. Stephanie picked everyone's pups for them and I was very grateful for that, I am not at all sure how I would have picked myself!!! Of course as soon as I knew who was mine I knew he was the very best pup and of course perfect for me, so far I have been right on both counts I am sure :-)

Back to Phoenix I went to teach for 5 more days and Danger had a blast meeting new people and generally just being adored!

Once I finished working it was back to CA! I had the awesome opportunity to spend a couple of days training with Stephanie, we set up tons of challenging drills for the older dogs getting ready for worlds, world team tryouts, Nationals, etc... Oh yea, SoBe got to play on them too even though what she is getting ready for right now is the most comfortable way to get carried off the course for sassing her mother!!! Have I mentioned lately how much I love her? :-)

Anyway, it was a great time, very fun to get to work my own dogs and to be lucky enough to have the eyes and advice of Steph! We also played some puppy games and generally had an amazing time!

The highlight of the trip to CA was getting to pick Stephanies brain about teaching a running dog walk. We were able to get into some really great training discussions and put theories to the test with SoBe who is going to be taking some time off of competing in any classes that require a dog walk while I completely reconstruct her dog walk performance.

The reason for going back to square one is because she needs to "learn" how to perform a running dog walk and I have to "teach" the criteria. Just early releasing her from her 2on/2off will not be enough to keep the responsibility of proper performance on SoBe. I truly want her to "know" the job and be able to perform it independently. This reconstruction is of course my reference to taking a step back.

Merger will be learning the same performance at the same time, I am very excited to see how it translates on 2 such incredibly different dogs, both mentally different and physically different!

These 2 get to teach me the patience and step by step process that Danger will be the recipient

of as he grows up.

Maze and Wally are just plain and simply awesome! We left Stephanies and headed to San Diego where we competed in a USDAA trial over the weekend.

Maze won the GP at 26" and Wally took 2nd to Rage :-) SoBe almost got around clean but her serious aversion to collecting for the weave poles reared it's ugly head, on more than one occasion I am afraid!! While she is learning the dog walk she is also going to learn the consequences to ignoring collection and sassing me on course, game over! I will convince the little princess that I am driving the bus one of these days and then watch out World she is gonna kick butt!

Merger had some much needed time off to grow some more :-) I was hoping it was a mental growth but I swear he grew another inch while I was away! He did have the bestest time training last night though, a little break can do wonders!!!

I am very excited about what taking a step back is going to mean to the whole process of moving forward!

Fun at the Fun Match!

HI All!

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas!! I had a fabulous Christmas, both of my boys are home together for the first time in I don't know how many years that is fantastic!! The weather has not been great but who cares when you are surrounded by family and friends! I also had a fantastic Birthday :-) I was the lucky recipient of too many wonderful Christmas and Birthday gifts. I am definitely going to be a very well dressed agility teacher/competitor in the New Year!

The dogs probably wished for a slightly better Christmas, we had about 72 hours of 60-70 mph winds and so the pups had to spend a significant amount of time inside, plus there was that whole shopping thing that took precedence over all else :-)

Now that the hubbub is over we can breathe a bit and maybe actually get a bit of training done. On Sunday I broke tradition and actually headed out to another fun match with SoBe and Merger. SoBe had the majority of the runs but Merger actually got to play in one run as well. It is very comical the contrasts between Merger and SoBe.

SoBe needed 3 of the 4 runs because we had to have multiple discussions about what the actual dog walk criteria is, she needed a couple of start line reminders and then there is that whole collection thing necessary to transition from the first to the second weave pole :-) Ultimately she got all of that figured out and per the norm kept all of her bars up, had perfect running A-frames and teeters, as well as doing everything at the speed of light.

Truthfully we accomplished everything I was hoping to by going to the match, put her in trial mode and be able to "fix" things.

She also had the opportunity to hear some new noises that a microphone makes and get used to those as well.

Merger had perfect stays, awesome weave poles, and in general was a perfect boy, hence the contrast comment :-) His A-frame seems to really be coming together and his teeter was also very nice. I do not think he dropped any bars but is still in need of a bit of confidence in order to really offer the speed on course that I know he is capable of.

It is always very interesting to me to train polar opposites in dogs at the same time, it definitely keeps me on my toes as a trainer.

We had a very good time at the match and I am very glad I decided to go :-) We have a trial this weekend and I am really excited about it!

So, how did everyone like the course?? I have another that is even harder with some really cool challenges that I will post in the upcoming week.

Until then, have a very good week and a Happy New Year!

Let's have some fun! Part 2 :-)

HI All!

Here is the rest of the course, Merry Christmas to all and to all a great day!

Let's have some fun!

HI All! Yes, the course is here, I can actually see it... you see, I think I am one of the last humans standing that has absolutely no idea how to do anything on a computer other than type and check email, anything more complex than that and I just quit... So, I think thanks to my friend Amy who has a MAC also I was able to be walked through the process of actually changing something to something else so that it could actually show up here :-) Now we can have some fun!

This is the approximation of a course that I set up in my building yesterday and thought it was a great little brain teaser to share with the masses on a cold snowy day to keep us thinking about agility and course strategy. Gotta keep the mind sharp you know!

So, I only gave you the first 7 obstacles to start with, I thought the opening was very challenging in and of itself. What I want is some dialog about what you think is the best way to handle this opening utilizing the most efficient path and keeping in mind what cues and signals you need to use to get the correct response from your dog.

I will share my thoughts after some of you have shared yours! Have fun!