CRS

Do you know what CRS is? Anyway, I forgot that when Remy was ready to visit the ring stewards on the about turn after the fast pace, I grabbed his collar and gave him a quick pop. He responded by turning back toward me and promptly going through my legs from behind. That got quite a chuckle from the crowd and the judge. Bad, silly, fun boy. I wonder what the deduction for that is?

Show and Glow

Debbie, Barb, and I went to Flint for a show and go yesterday morning. It made me prepare early for my banquet and kept me from worrying about it all day. The drive down was fun as we discussed (ok, gossiped) about other people in our club. When we got there, Remy was pumped. It was a very large building with 3 rings: one for each of the levels of obedience. The Novice ring was near the registration table and next to a walkway where dogs were being warmed up between the rings. We had to wait about an before we showed but it was great for Remy as it gave him time to settle down, go potty, warm up, etc.
I had a hard time keeping his attention in the building, so I wondered what he would be like in the ring. Debbie was first with her GSD Annie. Annie did not qualify at the national because she jumped in and out of the ring on the heel free! Annie did quite well, but did not sit on the recall and didn't finish on command. The people outside the ring were right on top of the gate and we think that's what caused her reaction.
Then it was our turn. Remy is responding well to the "ready" response you give to the judge. Even though he was looking at the judge, when I said, "ready" he looked back at me. Perfect:) That's a new trick for me. I never used that with my other dogs. He heeled well and didn't miss the first sit like last time even though the judge was there. The rest of his heeling was quite good. With the judge nearby, he tends to quickly look back and forth, but Debbie said he stayed in heel position and his sits were perfect. Barb (who I am finding is quite negative or hmmm, jealous?) said that he was looking all around. Debbie said she'd videotape next time.
Anyway, I was very pleased on the figure eight because he hardly bumped on the inside turn this time. I did give encouragement on the second time around the outside turn because he lagged a bit. I did not use food at all. On the stand, after giving up my leash (security!!!), I stood him, and he set up well...no extra foot movement. Progress:) I then left him and told the judge that I am having an issue with him thinking this is petting time. I asked her if she would go over him with no eye contact. She was a doll and did as asked. Remy was perfect:)
On the heel free, he got into position with me quickly and did very well. Not perfect, but very well even with the judge following along. When we got to the fast and then normal near the ring entrance, the stewards almost got a dog to pet, but I quickly grabbed his collar and we did a nice about turn:)
On the recall, he did exactly what Annie did: came in straight but didn't sit. That didn't surprise me since I have been telling him to sit and I didn't this time. Handler error! Then he didn't finish! That did surprise me. I asked for my leash back and we tried again. Of course, with the leash on, he performed the finish...walk the plank, pirate!
Barb went in next and she surprised Debbie and me by constantly correcting Jessie. She never even let her have much of a chance to make a mistake! She just kept constantly correcting her and sucking the life out of her as she went. So sad:(
Aaah, and then the best part of the story. We had to wait about an hour for the group exercises and Remy finally settled down and was almost ready for a nap when we were called in for the group sit. I was thinking, "He'll probably lie down, but at least I can correct." Well, what happened next was worth the trip. At about 20 seconds into the long sit, the German Shorthair on the end, broke his sit and started racing back and forth in front of the other dogs! His owner was calling him and yelling "down", another lady came into the ring and tried to help catch him, and meanwhile, he kept racing back and forth! Several other dogs broke their stay including Jesse who was on Remy's right. But you would have been so proud of our little wild pony. He did not move a paw! His head jerked back and forth as he tracked the dog and once he even leaned forward as the dog raced past, but he didn't break!! I'm not sure how long the fiasco lasted, but the dog finally jumped the ring barrier, landed between the two rings, and jumped into the open ring, crashing the gating down. And still Remy held:) The judge said, "Back to your dogs" and when I got back, I pulled cheese from my sweatshirt and gave some to Remy and some to Debbie to give Annie who also held and we hugged our good dogs. The long down was uneventful. Debbie and I decided that we couldn't have asked more from a $5 entry fee.

My Wild Pony

Dreamer and I continue on our journey to new training places. It's not so bad once it's a habit. I had a really hard time with her tonight, though. She was just full of herself and very distracted in the parking lot I chose. To get her back, I tried the basics: I did the 1-2-3 game, made her chase me and then do a sit, made her chase me again and then do a down, etc. Those things didn't work quite as well as in the past, so I switched over to a type of bait she rarely gets (and I rarely bring more than one type with me). Then I started taking just two or three steps with heeling (instead of trying to do various types of turns or changes of pace) before praising her. That combo worked.

We had a really good conformation drop-in class. Dreamer didn't have a chance to greet the instructor before we started class, so she was beside herself with glee when it was her turn to be examined. I fought to keep her still, at which point the instructor turned to me and said, "Just let her say hi. Let's get this out of her system." So I let Dreamer say hi, and she just jumped up and wagged and loved the instructor, who said, "Oh, I just love this type of temperament in a Terv!"

Class was really good from then on out, until the end. We started moving the dogs individually, and Dreamer was WILD! She started galloping like a horse. The instructor yelled, "Bring that wild pony back here! We're going to fix this!" (Fixing problems isn't the point of drop-in class, but I certainly wasn't going to argue.) I brought Dreamer back while hearing my classmates laugh, and the instructor said, "You just need to start out walking until she gets her wits about her. THEN you can start running with her." It sounds like common sense, but I hadn't thought of that since I'm a dunce in conformation, and it really worked. I used that tactic when the whole group ran together at the end, and it worked well then too.

We'll return to drop-in class on Saturday. We'll do our obedience lesson on Sunday. We'll be ready for a break by Monday!

Show and Go Giggles

Remy was hysterical at the show and go. I was helping in the Utility ring when they called me. That left me no time to prepare Remy. I grabbed him out of his crate and into the ring we went. He was so happy to be with me that he was extra animated. The heel off lead was quite good after the first correction when he was so happily heeling along he didn't notice that I stopped! He watched me like a hawk after that and I would say that the rest of the heeling pattern was very good. He also did well on the figure eight except for excessive crowding on the inside turns. His sits were great. The judge came up from the left on the stand and that surprised him so he went to greet her, tail wagging happily. I corrected him and he held perfectly. The heel off lead was pretty good. His only mistakes were forging on the slow pace. The recall was fast and good until he got to me and sat crooked off my right leg...so what else is new? I corrected him so on the finish, he decided to correct me. I said, "Remy, heel" and he jumped up and went behind me quickly and then slid through my legs from behind! That little clown:)
He was perfect on the sits and downs although he thought about lying down with about 10 seconds to go and then thought better of it. He probably wondered if there was a brush under him! I didn't do any training this weekend so I'll have to get back at it for our next show and go which is Wednesday morning. Of course, I could just giggle and go again!

Our Daily Thread

Dreamer and I have definitely been getting out more since I finally got my lazy Tacara Terv Trainer tush in gear. Here's what we've done since our last post:

• Wednesday: Nothing! (Hey, it was pouring, and we shouldn't drill these babies to death with training every day, right? Good save.)
• Thursday: We trained in a parking lot near a boys' club where there was a lot of activity. We'd just gotten a cold front from Wednesday's rain, so it was raw and extremely windy. I laughed so hard at Dreamer because I think the wind was whooshing up behind her, and she kept thinking someone was blowing on her. She'd whip around, shocked, as if to say, "Who's goosing me?! Stop that!" Her heeling is really starting to look good. She's so darned cute and bouncy. I think she could win points in obedience for cuteness alone!
• Friday: What an exhausting day. I took Dreamer to work with me because I thought the day would be slow. However, I received a lot of meeting invitations overnight and hadn't checked my work email until arriving at the office, so Dreamer got to go to multiple meetings with me. She saw lots of people and ran laps around a long conference room table for hours. So crazy! I'm lucky I work with dog lovers. I'm going to try to take Dreamer to work with me at least once a week from now on. This is another commitment I'm trying to make. After a very long day at work, I was ready for a break from Dreamer but decided I had to train her. So I forced myself to take her out to a new parking lot where kids were coming in and out of a skating rink. Good one! It was hard for her, but I think she's already starting to focus more on me than on the distractions. Maybe she was just tired from being at work with me, though. Hmmm. Okay, it's too soon to say.
• Saturday (that's today): We are headed to conformation drop-in class in about an hour. This is one of my additional commitments until our next show in early December: to take Dreamer to drop-in class every Saturday. Thrilling. I will also try to train her in obedience today, but our primary commitment on Saturdays will be conformation. Dreamer will have an obedience lesson next Sunday. We've got to round up some new pieces of training equipment before then, so maybe I'll get her out to some pet stores for additional quality time.

That's what we've been doing this week. It will be interesting to see if Karen can tell a difference at our lesson next week. It will be more interesting to see if I can tell a difference at the shows in December. Stay tuned for...the rest of the story.

Frustrating Fronts

I worked Remy on our walk today. The heeling was awesome, but the fronts are really starting to frustrate him. I need him to understand that his butt cannot be perpendicular to my right leg. If we work on it more than a few times, he starts to whine...not a good thing. I guess I'll have to work indoors next to a wall to my right so that he cannot swing out. Or outside next to a tree or bush...
I think back to when we first started the automatic sit and he used to swing his butt out wide. I started him over again, placing him in a sit each time. Maybe that's the solution. What do you think, Tacara Terv Trainer? I know he wants to please but it's just not clicking. The whining bothers me because I know it's his way of telling me that he just doesn't get it.

Walnut Brain

Today was a huge leap forward for Remy so he no longer has a puppy pea brain....more like a walnut brain:)
I was taking a tennis clinic with friends for an hour this morning, so Mark and I decided to test Remy by leaving him loose in the bedroom. The problem was after the lesson, the other 3 gals wanted to play another hour! I worried the whole time. Silly me...while I was gone, Remy was enjoying our plush bed all to himself and dreaming of the days he used to be confined to his crate. He was very excited to see me and I was very excited to see my big angel boy.
I had 15 minutes to get ready to go meet Debbie and Barb at the club. Luckily for me, Remy took care of business outside quickly and we were on our way (including jumping into the car...always a good thing). When I arrived, the gal who cleans the club was vacuuming the other ring. Barb and I let Jessie and Remy run but confined them to the ring we would work in. When Debbie arrived, she let one of her dogs loose in the ring while she helped moved crates for vacuuming. Barb and I started training. Remy was actually pretty good even when the loose dog came around. I continued to work Remy for 30 minutes straight - going through all the novice exercises with the reward of frisbee catching and or tugging thrown in. I then did several sequences of off lead heeling and I was blown away! He is getting it! There was even a point when Debbie heeled her dog past and he started to look and then turned back to me. I was able to catch that lightbulb moment with a "yes" and a treat. Remy got very excited about that and bit my bait bag:) We still need to work on his fronts on the long recall. He veers off to the right. His finish is very cute - even though he's finishing around, he jumps up. He did lie down 3 minutes into the long sit, but got the brush correction. (I just love that look on his face when it happens!). He was perfect on the 5 minute long down.
We are all heading down to Flint for a show and go next Wednesday morning. I'm excited about that to see where we are at. I'm also helping ring steward on Saturday at our club for a show and go. I'll run Remy through at that also. Results to follow.

We Trained Tonight and Want a Badge For It

Dreamer and I trained at a nearby school parking lot tonight. I think there was a boy scout meeting there, so it was busy with cars pulling in and out and people walking by. I was very happy to be training Dreamer around distractions, but I think there were probably too many. I think I need to ease her into the distractions, starting with fewer ones and building to more. I was very pleased with how Dreamer worked tonight, but it was very hard for her. I tried a few tricks to get her attention back, and it was a struggle, but I was eventually successful. I am determined to continue training her in new places. Scout's honor.

Membership Meeting Means Movement

I took Remy to his 2nd membership meeting at our club. He was one tiny bit better than last time, but still very hyperactive. At one point, I had to take him to the back of the room and do some heeling and stays with him just to give him a job to do! There was a rep from Canidae there who spoke and explained the nutrition of dog food. He gave us sample packets. Remy ate a whole packet of salmon. I was thrilled! When I got home, I put some in his bowl. Are you kidding me? It's still sitting there this morning.
While seated, I kept him occupied by giving down, sit, stand, etc. hand signals which he eagerly did in succession, pleased to have his mind occupied.
By the end of the 2 hour meeting, Remy was finally lying by my side but eagerly staring me in the eyes as if to say, "When do we train again, huh? huh? huh?"
Oh, I love my little pirate.

Getting Out More

I've known it for a long time.

I've done nothing but yap about it. (yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap yap)

But now I'm finally doing something about it.

I'm getting Dreamer out more.

I used to be really good at taking Dreamer to new places. In fact, from the day I picked her up at Linda's house (at 7 weeks) to the end of the critical socialization period (at 12 weeks), I took Dreamer to a new place every single day. Dreamer went to work with me as well as to parks, schools, shopping centers, ice cream parlors, Lowe's, obedience lessons, agility trials, pumpkin patches, nurseries, and any other place I could think of where we could meet a variety of people and dogs. There was a lot of noise and commotion at all of those places.

Since then, I've been a total slacker. I've taken Dreamer to work on rare occasions, and I've shown her in conformation a few times, but otherwise I've trained her in the back yard at my own convenience. I think it finally hit me at our last dog show that I need to commit to getting out more with my dog. So...here's what we've done since Thursday, when the thunderstorms and other excuses cleared out of our forecast:

• Thursday: We went to a new place to train with lots of distractions. Dreamer was crazy. It was really hard to get her attention, but I finally got her into a good working mode. I wasn't pleased with our training session at all, but I felt like it was good reinforcement for the training commitment I was starting.
• Friday: Dreamer went to work with me for the first time in at least three months. She met a black Lab who's new to the office and had a ball playing with her. By the time we got home, I must say we'd had more than enough quality time together, and I didn't train her...but I felt good that I'd gotten her out and around a lot of people and activity.
• Saturday: Gosh, I don't think I trained Dreamer or took her anywhere new. I was going to take her to conformation drop-in class, and I can't think of why I didn't...except that I am, and forever will be, a total slacker at heart.
• Sunday: I took Dreamer to her obedience lesson, where she was 100% focused and adorable! It was very windy, and she was herding all the leaves blowing by, but she was incredibly attentive for having a baby brain. We had a very productive training session with Karen and put more pieces of the heeling pattern together. I left our lesson feeling motivated and inspired by this beautiful and willing little girl. We got some nice compliments from Karen too, who said, "She is really starting to get it. Aren't you excited?!" I'm definitely excited that we're building on the basics and seeing results. Karen is an excellent cheerleader. She makes you feel better when you leave than you did when you got there, as she knows how to identify, and focus on, small victories.
• Monday (that's today): I took Dreamer to a parking lot across from a very busy park. She made some of her little "woof-woof" alert noises, but she was very attentive. We worked for quite a while, and I feel like we accomplished a lot.

It felt good to come home knowing that I had spent some time working with my girl in a new place. I'm not sure if I'm just excited about finally doing something about our biggest problem or if I'm just easily entertained and need to get out more. In any case, my Tacara Terv got trained today!

Getting to Second Base

Due to Karen showing her Irish Setters over the weekend, we moved Dreamer's obedience lesson to tonight. The first half of the lesson was frustrating because we met at our usual place, but there was a baseball game going on nearby. The distractions were good...and bad! Dreamer's baby brain was in full gear, and getting her attention was very hard.

Karen had me do some pop and runs. When those didn't work (Hello, Earth to Dreamer!), Karen had me do a variety of things with Dreamer after each pop and run. So...I'd pop, run, and do a Sit...then a Down...then a Stand. Dreamer seemed to respond to that. I need to get her out more to different places, which is definitely a big problem that is my fault. Taking her to new places will be necessary as we move into the time change and darkness; I'll have to find well-lit training places during the week. Nothing like being forced into something to make it happen!

After the first 30 minutes of correcting my handler errors on various exercises, we spent the last 30 minutes putting bigger chunks of heeling together. Now we'll actually do changes of pace and turns instead of doing them all separately. I finally feel like we're getting to second base with this training method!

At the end of our lesson, Karen told me to order a jump stick, but I can't remember why. She also told me to find a hula hoop. She said we're going to teach Dreamer how to jump through a hula hoop because it will teach her to jump like a porpoise. Karen said that she teaches most breeds how to jump this way, but particularly shepherds and other breeds that tend to jump really straight. I remember how Legan used to take off way too early and barely clear the jump. It was hard to watch, and people would always gasp when she was about to land. Ugh. It should be interesting to see how Dreamer will handle the hula hoop phase of our training. Who knows, maybe she'll hit a home run?

We'll have our next lesson in two weeks. Until then, it's obedience practice and two days of dog shows.

Super Sinner Sunday

On my way home from my run, Mark drove by on his way to church. Unlike his sinner wife, he was going to thank God for John's success on the bar exam. I told him to pray for me and continued on my merry, happy way, thanking God for every injury-free step that I now run.
Remy was very excited to see me, having been relegated to his crate in Mark's absence. Therefore he was super excited to train. Remember the old Koehler method of crating the dog for 2 hours before training? I always thought that was ridiculous. I don't think a dog knows the difference between 2 hours and 2 minutes. But I do see how crating prior to showing or training can make that dog want to be near you and work hard. The Remster got very excited as I pulled out his training equipment.
We worked on lead for a very short time because he's almost perfect on lead unless around strong distractions. I then attached my new tracking long line to his collar and we heeled some more. My new training stick is a gentle reminder to him about where to be with the feeling of freedom. Since I was heeling in the street in front of our house, the long line gave me a feeling of security should I need it. I am using treats in a very sporadic manner now. Sometimes 90%, other times 25%. This method of intermittent reinforcement is working well. I always up the treat level if he seems confused or very distracted. Otherwise, I'm working on praise alone. I am also starting to back off on the verbal praise so that I can finally get him to the level he'll receive in the ring (after exercises). I am thrilled with his progress. He seems very happy and willing to work. We are still having trouble with straight sits on the recalls, but I can tell that he is thinking them through. The look on his face is so precious as he gets near and tries different butt positions! He held a long sit for 2 minutes without going down, but he was also concentrating on people who were walking past. So it will be interesting to see if he lies down on Wednesday at the club when he gets bored.
The training stick is really working for the crowding! It's such a great, gentle way to teach him heel position without bumping into him for the correction. He's actually learning much faster about not forging and not crowding with the stick than he did with all the left turns we used in the past.
We are continuing the dumbell work and it is going well.

Dreamer's Day Out

Dreamer had a big day today. It started with her annual vet visit. *Sniff* I hate the idea of this "annual" visit now. She's officially a dog!

Anyway, the vet told me that on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the ideal pet weight, Dreamer is a 5. I gave her a look like she was insane, and then she asked if I'm unhappy with Dreamer's weight. I explained that Dreamer is probably perfect for performance sports, but she's too lean for conformation. The vet could see my point about judges looking for "beefy" dogs, but she held firm in her belief that Dreamer is at her ideal weight. Tell that to our judges, Doc. Gosh, there are times when I really wish veterinarians weren't so important and could spend some idle time being conformation judges. Of course, I'm sure there are some vets who do both.

After the vet appointment, Dreamer and I went to conformation drop-in class. Dreamer wasn't near as wild as last week, but I wonder if that's because she already spent some of her energy getting overstimulated at the vet's office? She was still wild, but I found her a lot easier to control this time. I did lose her a few times and tried the 1-2-3 trick as well as a pop-and-run "here." My friend Nancy, who owns Panda, said she felt there was nothing wrong with a pop-and-run in the conformation ring if it brings the dog back. I just hope I remember it's an option. I find myself freaking out when I'm in the ring and I can't get Dreamer back. It's only after we leave the ring that I think, "Oh, why didn't I think to pop and run? Why didn't I play 1-2-3?" Ugh.

At the end of conformation drop-in class today, when we were running around the ring as a group (which is extremely difficult for Dreamer to do without breaking her gait, barking, acting wild, humiliating me, etc.), the lady in front of me fell and heard something pop. She thought it was her shoulder, but the instructor thought it was her collarbone. The lady had a very sluggish and clumsy Malamute that I had never seen before. I'm quite certain that she tripped over the dog and smacked down on the cement. I put her Malamute in a crate (with Dreamer hanging from his neck because she thought he was a chew toy, apparently) while the instructor called 9-1-1 and a guy in the class got her some water. She was flat on her back when I left. I hope she's okay, and I guess it was a good reminder that some people have real problems. We'll just go to the show next weekend and break a leg -- figuratively ONLY, of course!

Wonderful Wednesdays

Barb, Debbie, and I met for our Wednesday training session. Barb and I trained in the building and I was so excited about Remy's progress. The only time he gets distracted now is when Barb and Jesse are playing with squeak toys. Otherwise, Remy is doing great! He even heels beautifully off lead now. True, I am holding a treat. But this is where we started our training on lead, so the progress is great. He held his stand perfectly for Barb. We let Jesse and Remy run and play when Debbie got there late. They ran and ran and ran, narrowly missing chairs and zipping through ring gate openings as if they were in a Jack Russell race.
Debbie forgot to bring heat panties for her bitch in heat, so we moved outside for the rest of the session. I purposefully heeled behind Debbie and her bitch to see if I could keep Remy's attention. Remy's nose looked like Samantha on Bewitched!! So cute. He did well and extended his neck toward her butt, but did his automatic sits and didn't lunge.
On the long sit, he is continuing the "oh, I am so bored so I think I'll lie down". I know he understands now because as I approached him, he sat back up. Now that he understands, I think I'll give him one more week to be sure his pea brain understands before I either put something under him that will make him uncomfortable when he lies down or give him a good pop. I prefer the first method. What do you think? We are at full length on the sits and downs now and have been for months. This problem just popped up 2 or 3 weeks ago.