After class work

Accomplished today:
- Loose leash walking. That is long overdue without a prong collar. Working with a martingale. Started with sequence: leash tight, stop, Scorch looks back at me, CR and treat when he returns to me, resume walking. Definitely saw marked improvement initially. When responses began declining, worked on stopping and penalty yards. Wasn't much interested in treats.
- Sit stays on walk. This did help him resume interest in treats. Worked on staying across the street from barking pit mixes. Also seemed to help calm the fenced dogs down. First pass, Scorch was a bit stressed and had an initial bout of reactivity. Second pass, he successfully stayed although he turned his back on the fenced dogs and lifted a paw. The dogs went back to sniffing around their yard. Great use of calming signals.
- Returning to heel after a stay. Did 2 sets with treats in front of his nose. After that, just a verbal reminder of "good stay" and he held it perfectly every time. Calm jackpot. Worked it at several locations on our walk.j
- Stand. Worked on it in the house first and he was all over the place. Tried it on the walk and it went much better. Lured into a stand after returning to him on sit stay. He did a kickback stand perfectly and calmly.
- Take it/dumbbell. I've been working with shaping techniques, and he would tap the dumbbell with his nose but that was about it. Using Sue Sternberg's technique (sort of), worked on manual repetitions of putting the dumbbell in his mouth and quickly swapping it for a treat. Worked up to where he's reaching out and taking the dumbbell (and gripping about 50% of the time) reliably. Introduced the command "take it".

Recent pictures of Scorch, Wolfie, and Norman.

First 2 classes

It's been a long, long time since I've even looked at this. Time to resurrect it as my training diary.

After a long hiatus, Scorch and I are back in the training game. We've advanced to Beginner II class at SOTC (after trying Beginner I and discovering that we were skilled well past it).

Summary of our first class:
- Instructor Angie liked Scorch's name. She went around meeting the dogs and incorrectly called Scorch a "chunker". Once she put her hands on him, she realized he was all fur and is in stellar shape.
- Scorch showed a lot of frustration and anxiety with all the other dogs around. We worked on very tight heels/pivots to keep him engaged. Heel around the ring was mediocre. Auto sit at heel was good when focused or in a tight circle heel.
- Recall on a long line was stellar. He held his stay while I walked away, continually turning to tell him "good stay". He flew across the room when I called and landed in a perfect front. Repeat was the same.
- 1 min 30 sec group sit stay. He tried to lay down a few times but responded to a light pull up on the leash + 1 step towards him. He did not get up at all.
- 3 min group down stay. Perfect, with occasional verbal reinforcement.
- Heel up. Working on final positioning. He flips well but lands far back. Using luring to prevent him from getting incorrect positioning.
- Mild to moderate reactivity to intact male Ridgeback in class. Ridgeback is friendly but not well controlled.

Summary of our second class:
- Much more anxiety, drooling. Mild to moderate reactivity to Ridgeback, as well as small female Rottweiler. We worked on attention, CR (conditioned reinforcer) any time he looked at one of the dogs and then looked back at me without reacting. Also brought tennis tug rope.
- Heeling around ring was mediocre. Heeling in wide circles was better. Angie pointed out that I'm giving the CR when he's forging. She showed me how to lightly correct back with the leash to keep him in position. This forging seems to stemming partly from his anxiety. Auto sit was better.
- Group stays were good. I asked Angie if we could treat during the stay and she encouraged us to do so. He maintained his stay this time. Worked on holding the treat in front of his nose and returning to heel around him.
- Recalls on long line. He broke his first stay and Angie told me to enforce it. Perfect 1st front, 2nd needed adjustment. Still very enthusiastic.
- Worked on around the back finish. Not sure if "around" will be our word, although it's getting late to change it. Used to "finish". He quickly remembered how to do it, although still needs a treat lure to ensure proper final position. Worked on heel up as well, and discriminating between the two.
- Dog fight broke out between 2 intact males in the conformation class next to us. Heavy treat/CR with Scorch and then tugging with the rope. He handled it well, although all the class dogs were a bit shaken.

Happy 1st birthday Scorchie!

When I first met you, I knew your spunk and attitude were exactly what I was looking for.






And clearly, you felt it too.


I didn't know how I was going to survive after losing Jack, but you became the light of my life, the little bit of hope and love I needed.




You were such an itty-bitty precious baby, but so smart right from the beginning.




Your brother grieved hard for Jack, but it wasn't long before you won him over.




And surprisingly, grumpy-pants Norman fell in love with you.




You were one cute puppy.




And even in your gangly, awkward stage, you were ALWAYS handsome.








So here we are Scorch, a year old and I'm more in love with you than ever. I cannot imagine a life without you. You're everything I hoped you would be and more. I look forward to many more years of companionship, and your sure-to-be-stellar obedience career.

Wolfie thinks Scorch is weird

Occasionally, Scorch decides that he would not like his breakfast. For me, that's the equivalent of not wanting to breathe. Every dog I've owned or fostered has eaten like they'll never see food again.

I've learned to accept it as one of his idiosyncrasies, but that doesn't stop me from attempting to encourage him.

Today, I set his chicken leg quarter in front of him. He sniffed it, turned his nose up, and went to lay down by the sink. I brought him over to it and started cheerleadering him.

"Get the chicken Scorchie!! Get that chicken! Good boy!"

I would praise him every time he touched it or licked it, and all I ended up with was a dog who was enthusiastically targeting the chicken. Great.

So I picked up the meal and brought it to his crate. He leaped into the air, twirling and dancing the happy dance, then ran into the crate eagerly awaiting the leg. I put it in there with him, shut the door... and he pushed it aside, laid down, and sighed.

I left him in there for a few minutes, then decided he wasn't going to eat it and let him out, shutting the crate door behind him. Wolfie, at this point, came up to see what was going on, and why his moronic brother wasn't touching a perfectly good leg quarter. Scorch lay against the closed crate door and apologetically cowered while showing Wolfie his teeth.

I patiently explained to Scorch that he could not guard his chicken if he wasn't prepared to eat it. Apparently, he did not agree. Eventually, Wolfie's desire for the abandoned food overrode Scorch's desire to be a stubborn jerk, and he is currently munching away inside his crate.

...I just don't get it.

October Tampa Show

There is an obedience trial in Tampa in October. I think I can have Scorch ready by then if we just step up the training schedule. We're going to start Novice classes at the SOTC (if they will let us jump ahead of Basic) in a few weeks.

Right now our goals are:
1. Stand for exam. The current state of this command is wretched. I'm ashamed to have neglected this exercise for as long as I have.
2. Anticipation of commands. "Come" and "sit vs. down" in particular.
3. Longer stays.

Other than that, we need to polish up our heelwork and start proofing. Oh, and be neutered. :) I don't know that I can bear waiting until 11 months.

Pictures from the park:

Wolfie is a whole lotta crazy.




Cherry, a rescued Newf.


Harvey, her Newf brother.


Sammy, an older Lab.


I don't know this dog's name, but he enjoyed spending time with my pups.

Good lord, keep her away from photoshop!

Um, I may have gotten a little carried away playing around with photoshop. :)

It certainly does make me feel better about using the Kodak point-and-shoot though. I do hate that blogger snips my pictures on the right though. Any way to fix that?











Yes, I like vignettes. Shut up.

My puppy is gone

I'm not sure where he went. One day, I had this little fuzzy thing...


...and now he's gone. In his place is this hairy beast:


I guess this guy is pretty cool too, so I'll keep him around.




Wolfie approves of the obnoxious adolescent.


Wolfie tries for regal...


...and then FAILS.


So my mother is lending me her camera. I hate it. But it's better than nothing. I've been scheming ways to get my hands on a digital Rebel sometime soon... we shall see. I'll still want a point-and-shoot most likely, but I may wait a little longer and go with the Rebel first.

Sarasota is still fantastic. I am happier here than I've been in a long, long time.

Even when Scorch sets out to prove that he can remove all of his toys 100x faster than I can put them away...