Random Assortment

I've been doing lots of "random" training lately.  Not sure why.  I guess there's so much I want to train, and so little time!  Plus, I don't think Kimma and Pentti would appreciate my attempting to keep their attention for long training sessions.  So we shall continue to keep it short and sweet!

I suppose I will separate this post according to dog.

Kimma:
We've been doing tons of proofing, especially with weaves, and prolonged sit/stay and down/stay.  Her weaves have gotten fantastic, except we still need tons of work with the more difficult entries in other environments.  She can do pretty much anything in the yard, but of course taking it to another field = WHHHAAA????

Another thing we've started working on is getting a good, solid heel.  With the help of another trainer, of course.  Goodness knows I have NO IDEA how to go about teaching heel.  So I pretty much am luring Kimma's face to my knee, and treating her like crazy when she gets there on her own.  Then I take slow, calculated steps, and treat her for keeping her face close ("close" is our verbal, BTW).

We do 90-degree turns, and I'm having her start to find her position from different angles.  And then there's circle work!  Kimma LOVES it!  Though she does bark the entire time we're doing it, hahaha.

Hmmm what else...  Oh yes!  Tighter turns involving jumps, and using jumps to work on focus and following me.  It's been so far so good with her focus, however!  Especially because hot dogs are now being use sparingly while training!!!  Oh happy day for Kimma!

Standing waits and trying to teach directionals have also been a bit of a focus.  She likes the idea of doing spin moves (the directionals), but hasn't quite gotten the concept of WHY I'm asking her to randomly spin in place different ways, hahah.  And she barks while moving, so I don't even think the girl can hear my verbal marker anyway!  What a crazy.  But her standing waits have become amazing.  That, along with some Doggy Zen should be good for her impusle control.

Overall, she's becoming quite the little canine athlete!  Still has tons of drive for the obstacles, though he developed a little bit of fear for the teeter for no apparent reason, and with her new-found realization that paying attention to Mom = treats, we're hopefully on our way!  As of now, she's actually eligible to compete in some venues (she's 15 months old), but I'm in no rush.  I want her debut to be amazing, and I'm not even going to bother until we fully become a team.

Then she will truly live up to her new nickname (given by a Facebook friend) - The Flying Finkie!!!

Here's a pic of her at training yesterday, taken by our trainer, Lesley!

Pentti:
Poor guy is still overwhelmed with the outside world.  By outside, I mean anything not in my house or in the yard.  He is now walking perfectly in the yard, but as soon as we head out into the driveway or the lawn, he freezes.  Won't play with toys, doesn't want treats (which isn't all that unusual anyway - he definitely loves toys more than treats), and doesn't even really want to go anywhere.  He just stares at nothing, LOL.

Today we did make some progress on the front lawn, however.  I just kept walking in circles and taking random turns, and each time he ended up next to me in a nice loose-leash position, he treated him, pet him, told him he was the best doggy in the world, etc.  So then we took it to the street and he did so well!  He didn't even care that the mailman was only about 30 feet away putting away the mail!

Other than that, we've been doing some Doggy Zen with him, too.  We have been working mostly with treats, and he's been good.  I'm sure it will be a bigger challenge when we switch to toys, though!

I can't wait to get him in a class...  But I know that I can do a lot of basic work with him beforehand, so I'm not in too much of a rush...  Even though I am...  LOL!

Hey Mum...Where's My Treat? Oh What A Week!

Maui is completely food driven. Don't get me wrong, he loves to play with toys and really enjoys playing tug with me, but food rules in Maui's world! He will even drop his most treasured item, a tennis ball, when food makes an appearance.
In fact, the little guy will actually let you know what he enjoys most by the constant quiver in his underbite when he thinks something really really rocks!


So...what rocks? Well, this list has to start with cheese, cheese and more cheese. Stick cheese, fat free cheese, full fat cheese, he's not choosy when it comes to cheese. Closely followed by hot dogs. Any hot dog as long as it's not reduced fat, as the underbite does not move when this is offered. But hey, he will eat it if that's all that's going. I have offered him roast chicken, roast beef and even rare beef, but cheese and hot dogs are the ultimate for the little guy.


Now, Crate Games is his favorite thing to do with me. Why??? Food of course! In fact he often goes missing in the house and where do I find him? Trying to start Crate Games by sitting in the very back of his crate. I'm sure this is not what Susan Garrett had in mind!


Last Sunday Maui passed his CGC test with my husband handling him. Unbelievable event! My bark-happy, all-American dog now has letters behind his name! What can I say... I'm so proud of him. In the days that followed he was extremely well behaved on his walks. No pulling, no barking and walking around the neighborhood with the confidence of a graduate.
He brought his new found confidence to his agility class this week. I placed him on a long line and he followed and stayed with me for most of the class. However his new found confidence was to be short lived. As our class was coming to an end Maui decided to pay a visit to another dog who was running the course. Whilst I was removing the long line that was tangled around my shoe, I shouted for him to come to me. This feel on deaf ears and within seconds Maui was examining the tonsils and inner dental work of a very large dog. Maui's vocal range reached notes that I had never heard before!  Thankfully Toi Leo's aren't very tasty and Maui was released. Believe it or not... only minutes after his ordeal he ate cheese!
These photos where taken just before the lion became a rabbit!

Maui on the dog walk

Trying to weave!!!

Kimma has manners?

Yes, that's right!  My little wild child has manners!  She was able to get her CGC (Canine Good Citizen) last weekend.

I, of course, was a nervous wreck.  She could have done a lot of stuff better (her "Out For a Walk" was a bit iffy), but I totally blame it on my nerves.  I was definitely overcompensating and spewing out random commands/kissy noises for no reason...  Ah well!  At least it's done, and I get a cool certificate to hang up somewhere!

As for the agility stuff, we have begun having her on a long string.  It's not like an actual lead, but just a thin, nylon string attached to her collar.  I think that it has really helped us the past few weeks.  Mostly because I know that if she does decide to go run off on her own, I can stop her.

So we have been treating after every obstacle, doing a lot of single jumps, releasing waits from different angles, etc.  All of which is helping.  Plus, I've been rewarding every little positive thing that she does.  Part of her issues probably stemmed from my lack of proofing and fading rewards too quickly.

Another thing that has really picked up is her weave training.  She is now doing 6 weaves outside, FAST.  It's awesome.  Since she still refuses to work for toys, I decided to try putting a bunch of goodies inside of an old treat pouch and throwing that instead.  You'd better believe that when that pouch comes out, she gets excited!  So she gets a mini-meal after doing a set of weaves.  It's building drive, and helping her not to look at me at the end.  We also started adding a jump at the beginning, and continue to work our entries.

Here's a quick video from last weekend (the same day she got her CGC!):

My camera cut out the first weave pole, so you can't see it, but she actually does have a correct entry.

Susan Garrett's Crate Games has also been a big part of life lately.  Well, I guess I should say that attempting to implement Crate Games has been a big part of life...  So far, we have been doing it about 3-4 times a week, hoping that it can help with impulse control and drive, and also make her feel a bit better about the time she spends in her crate.  I wish I knew about this method sooner!

Interestingly enough, the past couple of weeks have been HORRIBLE for Kimma's crate-hatred.  She barks like CRAZY if we are in the room and she is in the crate (say, if I'm doing dishes, cleaning, practicing, stuff where she can't be out anyway), and this causes her to therefore be awake, and she will sometimes pee.   Of course, she gets taken out then (I can either see her doing it if the blanket isn't down, or I hear it or hear her licking it, which is gross), defeating the purpose.  She's been through every crate training method imaginable, but she will not calm down in there unless she is SUPER tired.  It has been frustrating for everyone involved, including Pentti who is probably sick of her voice by now.

I have been diligent with putting the sheet down every time she barks, and lifting it after she's been quiet.  That, and the continuation of Crate Games has been helping.  I think.  Well she's in there now and she's quiet, so that's progress, right?

...Right?????