Thanksgiving Shows

We dreamed big: 3 majors in 3 days. We came away with 3 blue ribbons and a purple and white. I have to admit, the competition was fierce. Big entries and a lot of older dogs. Remy was right in there, but just not mature enough yet for this set of judges. Dang! But it was good quality time with friends and my best friend, Mr. Remy. It was also great time away from the exhausting puppy raising of the Pilot. Plus I got to watch agility. Debbie even had me come down into the ring with her to do the walk-through. That was fun! She taught me as we went. It was a thrill to watch her and Annie do the actual run and score the points we mapped out in the FAST class. She ended up taking 3rd place. I really look forward to showing in agility. All the people and dogs were having so much more fun than the conformation people! Even the judge applauded good rounds.
I have to get it out of my mind that I need to finish Remy's championship before I do other things with him.
Tomorrow's another day. Hopefully I'll wake up on the sunny side of my mind.

Giving Thanks

Dreamer and I have a lot to be thankful for, just in time for Thanksgiving!

Lynn, I hope you're reading this because our thanks starts with you. THANK YOU for doing the hunting and gathering of the littermate owners so that we could all be in touch, hear and compare stories about our wonderful dogs, share tips and advice, and form new friendships along the way.

I'm also thankful to have such a great Terv in my life. Dreamer had big paws to fill, and while her paws are much smaller in size than the Terv who came before her, I couldn't have asked for a better Terv to take me into the next chapter of my life. I have Linda to thank for that, and I try to thank her as often as I can for the wonderful, funny, smart, beautiful (in a cute sort of way), and good-natured Dreamer.

Never in a million years did I think I'd ever train a dog with treats, but I'm thankful that I opened my mind and sought out a great trainer like Karen to help me see just how much better it is for the dog. I shudder to wonder how I might have broken Dreamer's beautiful spirit if I'd gone down the popping/yanking path I learned and used for close to 30 years. Things have definitely changed for the better in my dog training world. A big thanks to Nancy for suggesting this training blog. I'm not sure I would've been as diligent with my training if I didn't have an accountability partner!

Lastly, I'm thankful for great weather this week and a little time off to train my Tacara Terv. Maybe I'll train her with turkey pieces tomorrow! I'm sure she would work hard for that. Or maybe we'll just take Thanksgiving off. Now that is something to be thankful for!

Happy Thanksgiving to my fellow Tacara Terv Trainers and their wonderful Tervs!

Return of the Wild Pony

Dreamer and I had a busy Saturday. This morning, she got her distemper vaccination at the vet and was a big hit with dogs in the waiting room as well as with the staff. She's very popular at the vet, which is good because I don't want her to be nervous when we go there; it needs to remain a positive experience for her.

On the way home from the vet, we stopped at the pet store to get more dog food that Dreamer probably won't eat, as well as training bait and other supplies. Once again, Dreamer was a hit and received lots of ooohs and ahhhs from customers and cashiers alike.

A bit later, we were off to conformation drop-in class. The December shows are quickly approaching, and we need the most practice we can get. Dreamer had a blast at class and was Angel Dog through most of it. She stacked beautifully, stood still for her exams, and moved on auto pilot; I was just along for the ride. At the end of class, however, my little angel showed her devil side. The instructor started clapping when we all ran around, and Dreamer became the wild pony. She was galloping, barking, hopping around, and just plain losing her pea brain.

The instructor, who had been very impressed with Dreamer throughout class, yelled, "OH, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" She asked a few people to stay after class and help us work through it. I think Dreamer has learned how to follow other dogs, but when you add the clapping, she definitely loses it. She's always been turned on by clapping. We started running a few of the handlers and dogs around while other classmates just stood aside and clapped, and the wild pony only got wilder. The instructor told me to give Dreamer a hard pop, which I did, and Dreamer responded with a heartbreaking "roo-roo-roooooo" and sad eyes that made me feel very guilty for putting her wild butt in place. I think the correction was too hard and probably wasn't what we needed at that particular moment. Dreamer responds so well to voice corrections that I'm not sure what I was thinking by popping her. The pop only made her pea brain smaller, I think. I will figure out how best to correct her. Somebody at class suggested getting an applause CD and playing it when we train, but I don't think that will work long term. We need to practice in grocery store parking lots where we can get a few people to clap for a few minutes here and there. Ugh. It's always something in dog training, right?

Mom Time

The Remster has been a bit jealous of all the attention Pilot is getting. I can't say that I blame him. So he was absolutely delighted to be taken to his favorite place in the world last night: my dog club...alone....no puppy. He was delighted to see his friend Jesse, but he quickly ignored her and settled right down to work. I had forgotten to bring his nylon choke and Barb offered me her choke chain, but I passed. We can't rip out that hair now, can we? So I trained on his flat buckle collar. She couldn't believe I could do that! I told her that unless there was a cat, it really didn't make a difference. Our dogs are so soft:)
Remy blew my socks off. He heeled like he has never heeled before. He never left the proper heel position. It didn't hit me until this morning, but he never forged! His figure 8 was to die for! Barb (usually so negative, remember?) commented that he was way ahead of Jesse and that his sits are perfect....her word exactly: perfect! He held his stand for exam even though Barb went over him thoroughly. She even said she loved the way he "pops" into his stand position. Off lead he was even better than on lead! He wanted to work! I began to have big dreams about beating Koda and Donna at the National...bad me:)
The recall was terrific until the end when he swung his butt wide. But he had a smile on his face so my "correction" was merely to back up and coo "Get it in" which worked like a charm. He ignored the finish command as usual. Our goal this week is to do 10 finishes a day until he knows it cold.
We gave Remy and Jesse a huge reward and let them run and run and run until class started.
Class went so well! Several people went up to the training director and told her what a great class it is and how much fun they are having. I'm very pleased with that because I'm having fun also. Plus, I get all my classes free as well as get to use the club for free anytime I need to train. It's so great to have Barb as an assistant because she notices different things than I do.
Life is good:)

Alcohol and Progress

What a difference a day can make. On Saturday, after discovering that conformation drop-in class was cancelled, I decided to work on obedience with Dreamer. We'd had some very consistent, solid training sessions and had made lots of steady progress on heeling, sit-waits, and the dumbbell. However, Saturday was a completely different story. It was like I had a completely different dog at the end of the leash. Dreamer was totally out to lunch! I tried EVERYTHING to get her attention, but she was very lackluster, uninterested, and spaced out. I wondered and worried that maybe she was going into season (secretly panicking that she was regressing!), and I decided to just hang her up -- something I've never had to do with her. I felt very discouraged, especially with our obedience lesson looming the next morning.

I went to happy hour with my Terv friends that evening, and then it's like everything changed. Ah...alcohol. I got up on Sunday to find that the old Dreamer was back. She was engaged, happy, and smart as an honors student. She really brought her A game to our lesson, and Karen was really pleased. We showed Karen how solid the sit-waits are, and we even showed her how we worked ahead on the recall (and she didn't even scold me for working ahead this time!). The sit-waits and recall are definitely strengths for Dreamer, and even her tucked sits are becoming a non-issue. Ah, alcohol and progress! It's been a long road. We started working on fronts in our lesson, and those are going to be interesting with the stubborn Dreamer, but we will work through the resistance. Dreamer does not want to sit in front of me. She wants to run around and chase leaves! She'll learn. Leaf it up to me to solve this problem.

I didn't work with Dreamer on Monday night. I was incredibly exhausted from working most of the weekend with very little downtime, and I just needed a break. I was a little worried about what state I might find Dreamer in today when we trained, but she was her happy and willing old self. Whew! We had a good session, and I can tell that the wheels are turning in her brain. We'll work through our latest homework and be ready for our next lesson over Thanksgiving weekend. I will try to have more alcohol and more progress by then.

Weave Wonders Day 2

The video instructs you to move the weave poles to the grass and line up the entry with a tree so that the poles are at 8:00 and 2:00. Remy and I got back from our run and he was tired, but game. It was very interesting that he immediately recognized the poles and moved toward them. He tried several various things (going around them to the right; going around them to the left, etc) before he finally realized to go between them. Each time he goes, I throw the ball or the frisbee low, he brings it back and we start all over again. You work the arc around the entrance and by the end of our 5 minute session, he could hit the entry from every angle. So far, so good!

Weave Wonders

I have been putting off this weave pole training until I thought I had a stretch of days where I could consistently train. I watched the video and took copious notes while pausing and playing; pausing and playing. I read the notes several times more to get the method firmly implanted in my pea brain. And then we ventured forward to my driveway. The method consists of starting with 2 poles and building "value" for the poles themselves. This woman should be given a Nobel Prize! Hopefully, at the very least, she is making a lot of money.
The method is AMAZING! You have to be patient and have good timing, but it is so rewarding to watch your dog figure out that the poles bring reward. We did the first easy session before the run. After our run, we started the 2nd session. He acted as if we had never done the first session and just stood by me, gazing lovingly into my face. So I pulled out the frisbee and tugged, getting him fired up again so he would want to move. It worked! He works better when he is on my left (gee, I wonder why?) so I made sure to have him on my right as well. He did so well, I gave him a short break and we jumped right into the 3rd session which is angling the poles for a proper entry. No problems. My assignment today is to watch Day 2 of the video, take notes and be prepared for tomorrow. We did it! I wouldn't say that the poles have as much value as a squirrel or a leaf, but considering they don't move, we're getting there:)

Cat Nip

On our run this morning, we stopped at the parking lot of the Sanford Bar and Grill to train around the cats. As usual, Remy was very distracted by them, but within minutes his attention was back on me. I can't say that we really nipped the cat watching, but we tried. We didn't do a lot. I was anxious to get back and begin our Susan Garrity 2X2 weave pole training.

No Hand Burning

Dreamer and I have had a couple of great training sessions this week. Last night, I would've rather burned my hands on the stove than trained Dreamer, but I forced myself to get out with her. You know, I never regret training her. She puts me in the best mood with her spunk and willingness. Even when she's being a Devil Dog, I find our time together to be heavenly.

Anyway, I was so proud of Dreamer last night as a helicopter flew over us during a sit-wait...and Dreamer held! It was scary, noisy, and flying really low. I'm so impressed that she trusted me and held her stay to please me. It felt like a breakthrough, even though we haven't had a whole lot of problems on the stay exercise.

Tonight, I really thought I wasn't going to get out to train Dreamer. Despite last night's positive session, I wanted to burn my hands on the stove again. But I forced myself to train Dreamer instead, and we had a really good time. We worked the dumbbell a bit last night and tonight, and she's already starting to take it without any resistance. All I really want her to do right now is hold it for a few seconds, which she is doing. It's hard to believe what she can achieve in just a couple of days. Our sessions are never longer than 15 minutes, and we never repeat any one thing more than 4 or 5 times per day (if even every day), so I guess I find her learning ability to be pretty amazing.

Tomorrow night: The goal is to prefer to train Dreamer instead of burn my hands on the stove. I'll try to light a fire under myself again. Stay tuned.

Obedience Fun Match #3

Gail, Tammy (Boxer owner), and I traveled to the 3 day shows in Grand Rapids. Since we were showing early on Friday morning, I entered the correction match on Thursday night. I was a bit leery about showing with Gail watching since she thinks she knows all. But as it turned out, it was a huge boost to my confidence. More about that later. I decided that I would use food and praise at this match because at the last match I didn't. Remy was almost perfect. He ignored the judge walking along and watched me. This is another leap forward. As far as I know, he was near perfect on the on-lead heeling. On the figure 8, he lagged on the outside turns. That's a new one! The judge allowed me a 3rd go-round so I ran and encouraged him. That did the trick. I asked the judge for no eye contact on the stand and he was perfect. Next match I will up the ante again and ask for eye contact. On the off lead heeling he was just about perfect until the fast pace, about turn at the ring entrance. He responded to the quick correction much better than last time (he didn't go through my legs!) and instead quickly got back into heel position. The recall was excellent but I did use food when he was almost to me to lure him into the perfect front. I used a hand signal for the finish and it was great. Weird dog...I guess he prefers a hand signal to the voice command. I'm not sure why. After I came out of the ring, I commented, "Not bad for a pea brain". Gail said that I shouldn't call him that. She said it will come back to haunt me and that when he gets his OTCH, she's going to take out an ad in the TNT and print, "Pea Brain Does It!" That comment blew me away. I have never mentioned to Gail that I would like to put an OTCH on Remy.
On Saturday, after showing in conformation, I worked him in the noisy grooming area and he did pretty well with his attention. I also asked 2 people to do the stand for exam and he stayed...hooray!
I ran into a gal with a Terv female that Remy fell in love with at the Marshall shows in July. She got her first OTCH point that weekend and finished the title in October. How impressive is that?
My goals this week are to take Remy to the class I am teaching at my club on Thursday and get a lot of people to do the obedience stand as well as the conformation stand. I'm also planning to do some dumbbell work and start up again with weave pole training. I write this to motivate myself. We'll see....

Grooming 102

Dreamer and I were invited out to Cynthia's house today for a refresher course in grooming. We hadn't seen Cynthia since the grooming party in August, and though I had taken notes the first time around, I had some follow-up questions that needed in-person explanation and demonstration.

Cynthia decided that she would invite all local Terv club members, but the turnout was pretty low. Most of the people are in agility and/or rally, so I'm sure grooming is not their top priority. One club member brought her male, so I got to watch Cynthia give pointers on how to groom him. Then Cynthia went over Dreamer, and I took notes on what I'd missed the first time around. It was a good session, and Dreamer was very patient for the four hours we spent there. Oh, and the vodka-lemonade drink Cynthia made for me was fantastic!

Prior to the grooming party, I took Dreamer to conformation drop-in class. She was a little wild, but we worked on her following a variety of dogs today. She seemed better, but it's usually a crapshoot with her. I guess I'm a little down about conformation right now because I've heard so many people say that you shouldn't bother showing your dog until it's 3 years old, especially if you're an owner-handler. I just wonder if I'm wasting my time and money right now. The points are few and far between for all the work. In any case, Dreamer had a full day, and it was fun to spend the day with her. Did I mention that she looks and smells wonderful?

A Weekend With the Dumbbell

Dreamer and I have had a very busy weekend. As I sit here blogging at the kitchen table, I've got chicken cooking for fajitas, a fantastic pale ale in a frosty glass, and a Roomba doing its job in the living room. (More on the Roomba later. I've had it for a week, and Dreamer went from being afraid of it to attacking it!)

Yesterday, Dreamer and I went to conformation drop-in class. She's getting better with stacking and holding for exams, but she's still a wild pony during the all-around. I tried walking with her again in class this week, but it didn't work. I know that she'll grow out of it, but I find it really frustrating. She gets so turned on by motion and clapping that she can't think. It must be nice to live in the moment and just feel the excitement as it's happening! The instructor had someone run in front of us for our individual all-around every time it was our turn, but that didn't seem to bother Dreamer. It was when everyone was running that she lost her head. I'd like to borrow Remy's pirate costume so that Dreamer can walk the plank, please!

Today, I took Dreamer to her obedience lesson with Karen. She did pretty well, and we learned a few new things. We're starting the dumbbell this week, but Legan's old dumbbell is just way too big for the delicate Dreamer. There's a guy in town who's older than dirt and makes custom-fit dumbbells. I guess all the local obedience people get their dumbbells from him, so I'll be looking into a fitting when we start working the dumbbell pretty regularly. For now, we're just getting Dreamer used to it being in her mouth. I don't anticipate making much progress this week since I'll be out of town tomorrow through Thursday, but Dreamer catches on pretty quickly. I think she'll grasp the dumbbell, among other things, in the one week we'll have before meeting up with Karen again.

I guess I'm just a little frustrated at how hard some things are for Dreamer (sits, for example). I know every dog has trouble spots, but I just wish Dreamer wasn't such a dumbbell about some things. Why can't it be easy?