Dear Blog...I've Been Unfaithful To You

Yes, I feel like I've been cheating on my blog by not being there to write and I've fallen into the category of dead beat blogger! Life's been beyond hectic and I've found myself stretched to the gills the last month. But the last week or so has me getting refocused, energized and working toward getting back on track.

First, I had Stacy Peardot-Goudy in for a week conducting seminars. I always come away from working with Stacy feeling motivated, with a ton of new ideas and of course encouraged by the progress I've made with my dogs.

In February I wrote about how Rouge's social calendar was overtaking her ability to think clearly in agility and so it is with great pride that I write that in this seminar she never once went to visit and consistently worked with me.

I also had an opportunity to work little Zulu and discovered a few things. First, he has now gained the ability to quickly focus. Second, that he jumps way better at 24" and third, he's going to be a ton of fun!

The next step in my busy schedule has me in Kenai, Alaska judging. One of the best parts about being in the middle of nowhere? The lack of cell phone and internet service. Amazingly, I've happily survived the last 4 days without the pressure of phone calls, e-mails and text messages. Of course the beautiful scenery and wonderful people have made this trip memorable as well.

Colorful Fungus

It seems each time I take pictures a theme emerges. This time the theme is mushrooms! I felt very lilliputian (small in size) next to the gigantic varieties found here in Alaska. Here are just a few pictures of the fungus among-us.

Ugly, but BIG fungus!

Bowl-like Fungus

More Fungus

Frilly Fungus

Alaska has a lot more to offer and here are just a few additional pictures

Fly Fishing in the Kenai River

Kenia Fjords

Lake at the Cross Roads in Alaska

Dan & Lisa at Exit Glacier in Seward, Alaska

Up Close to Exit Glacier

Blue Ice is COLD Ice!

An Update on the Pack

One of the challenges with having 5 dogs is they're all so different! They have different needs, different personalities, different activity levels, different training points and more.

I'll admit, that's part of the fun as well and here is a quick update on each of the pups.

Zulu was neutered on Wednesday and since he had one undescended testicle it wasn't a 'normal' surgery. I'm thrilled with Sumner Vet and how they handled the 'search', which was to utilize ultra sound. This non-invasive method found the testicle clear up in his abdomin and so they were able to make two small and precise incisions which had him up and wanting to run around almost immediately. Here we are four days later and he's doing great! The neutering was just in time because...

Rylee went into season this morning. While the two dogs (Rylee & Zulu) can't be together at this time, I'm hoping for a bit less in the hormone drive from Mr. Z. Rylee will have a bit of a reprieve from agility training for the next few weeks since I've found that my girls in season can be a little moody and out of sorts. I find it easier to just cuddle with them and not to ask to much and definitely not to train new things. Rylee will be in a Conformation show next weekend so we'll see how that goes.

Ru & Burton are doing great, spoiled as ever!

Ru can always be found glued to my side and makes pathetic sounds resembling an alien-gremlin cross if separated from me or can't be where I am.

Burton on the other hand is being reminded of his daily manners and is doing great with that. As usual, he wants to be where Dan is.

Both dogs are now in heavy weave pole training and Dan and I are working together to get our dogs prepared for a show at the end of July. We've brought the channel weave poles into the house (all 12 of them) and they're setup in our hall way. With Dan on one side and me on the other, we split their food between us and let them go back and forth and receive kibble for going down the middle of the training poles. Today was our first day and both dogs did great.

Pinky's still my feisty girl and has no problems keeping the young pups in line. She's definitely aged and sleeps as often as she likes, but she's still my bright and loving sweetheart. She's raised me well.

Rouge's First Agility Trial

Video of May 29, 2010 - Nov Std Run

Today was Rouge’s first ‘official’ agility trial and I was a bit nervous. 

The problem with being a dog trainer and a perfectionist is that I’m always thinking “I should do more work on (fill in the blank)”. I’m also keenly aware of the areas I haven’t trained completely (i.e. weave poles) and our potential weaknesses (i.e. her healthy curiosity).

But for once I followed my own advice and thought it wise to pick and then focus on just one goal to execute during our runs. In this case, I decided that our goal would be to stay connected and work together as a team throughout our run. 

Rouge is very knowledgeable on the equipment (yes, I do need to finalize my weave training which was temporarily put on hold when her love of life disabled her ability to concentrate), and she has wonderful sit stays, an automatic down on the table, an amazing 2-on-2-off contact performance, great collection work over jumps and she reads rear-crosses like a pro. But like a lot of young dogs, her exuberance can elicit visions of a crazed mad-woman dashing around the mall on a timed shopping spree!

So  our goal of working together as a team during our run was not only fitting for her, but also for me. It recently dawned on me that as her trainer, I needed to touch-base/check-in/be aware/stay connected with Rouge at a specific point between each obstacle as well. Additionally, I also needed to take a step back on the drivey portion of our run and focus on quality when in new environments.

As much as I like to run at full-speed, I had to also be aware that for the moment, the adrenaline rush that comes with running in a new heightened environment was overtaking Rouge’s ability to think clearly about her job(s) in Agility. So, I toned my running down a bit and made sure I had her attention at each point of the course, whether that was on an obstacle or between an obstacle.

For us, this was the winning formula that enabled me to keep her on task and to share continuous ‘good job’ rewards to enforce all of the positive behaviors she was offering.

Sure, we had our technical faults (a run-by to a wrong course), but what I am most pleased with was how quickly Rouge collected, returned to me and got back on track to continue the course. I’ve always said that how fast a dog recovers when a plan goes awry can be an important indicator as to where they’re head is in the game and how far they’ve come (or how far they need to go).

Let’s talk brilliant moments because Rouge had one that nearly blew me out of the water. Our Standard run (in the rain) used the short chute to the broad jump to a ‘C’ shaped tunnel. To the left of the tunnel was the dog walk (have I mentioned how much Rouge LOVES her contacts?). I was behind her and so she was left to make a choice between her favorite (a contact obstacle) or the tunnel and she did an AMAZING job of checking in and correctly choosing to drive to the tunnel entrance. I was stunned. Happily of course!

Another brilliant moment occurred on both courses when Rouge checked in with me and chose to correctly take my forward movement cue (again, I was coming in from behind) and actively sought out the last jump on the course and drove to the obstacle. Yeah for her!

After each run, multiple people asked “Did you qualify?” Gosh, I felt like I’d just climbed a mountain and our achievement was far bigger than a Qualifying ribbon. Today's runs have increased my confidence with her and have motivated me to move toward finishing our weave pole training. 

Our next trial will be at the end of July at the Chuckanut show and I'm really excited to come out even stronger and better trained there. It's nice to have a clear cut goal to work toward!

Rouge - Day 3 of Her Seminar, Finally a Break Through!

Rouge and I participated in the 2-day Excellent Stacy Peardot-Goudy seminar on Saturday & Sunday. The good news is that her contacts are beautiful, the better news is that she successfully exhibited her 'distracted self' which means the bad news was that little 'ole me was left with the exhausting task of cheerleading, begging, pleading and trying to keep her attention. It was a bit of a frustrating place to be and very unexpected.

Stacy and I had a chance to talk about it  at the end of the day (Stacy's been working with us for all of Rouge's agility training) and her guidance and observation has never steered me wrong. To quickly summarize the situation, it was time to expect more from Rouge if she wanted to play the game of agility with me. So the plan started with the simple concept of her lack of attention meant she got to go back to her crate.

Now, it's important to understand that Rouge has been trained and trained via a positive reward based system. However, she's a very smart dog and quickly learned to play me like a violin and that's how I unexpectedly found myself in the cheerleader role. But thanks to Stacy, times are a changing and so are the dynamics of Team Lisa & Rouge.

I started off the morning by working Burton, my husband's Lab. It was fun and he was great, but he's not my dog to run. By the afternoon, I was pining to work Rouge so Stacy and I discussed a plan ahead of time so that I was clear as to what steps I needed to take based on the behaviors she was offering me. Things went pretty well the first time out and it was far better than it had been over the weekend. However the second time out was SPECTACULAR!

The second time out I felt I had her complete attention and she was a working member of Team Lisa & Rouge. What an amazing change and so nice to see the progress! I've worked hard to give her a solid base and by golly, I know this dog is amazingly talented. It turns out that I needed to stop babysitting her and to clarify the teamwork part of the equation - not because it didn't exist, but because I was taking on far too much responsibility.

As always, Stacy's talents never ceases to amaze me. Now I feel on track again and ready to push to the next level.

What Happened to Our Attention?!?!

Beyond the Agility Equipment: Rouge, my young Dalmatian, never ceases to astound me. She is an amazing companion, rock solid in all situations and incredibly outgoing and confident.


Physically she was always comfortable in her own body and excelled when training our agility skills. So it was a little disappointing (although expected) when at our first and second agility seminars she was distracted and instead of working on technique and form, we mainly worked on a soft skill...attention.


The irony is that I've worked hard to foster her confident, love-of-life attitude and here her zesty character was temporarily biting me in the butt! The good news is that I have drive, the bad news is that the entire package of her agility ability has not yet come together....That's okay because as I mentioned above, these moments should be expected and are a normal part of the evolution stage.




Remember, we're our dog's mentor: In a previous post I brought up the notion that we are our dog's mentor. To recap, as mentor's we develop, guide, shape and mold our dogs in all sorts of agility skills. Ultimately the goal is to strike a balance between our dogs natural abilities and to develop those 'other things' that will ensure they are well-rounded and prepared to go out on course with confidence. Think of it this way, some days we work on Skill A (contact performance for example) and other days we work on Skill B (perhaps attention) and so on.


Getting back to Ru...and the seminars. Ru wasn't being belligerent, stubborn or willful at the seminars, but rather her technical abilities were far stronger than her mental ability to stay focused. Unfortunately, without the attention, our technical skills are worthless. And that's how a training opportunity is born!

The flaw in my training...I'll own up to my part in Ru's lack of training. I worked on the hard skills, shaped them and did a terrific job on that. However, I did not put as much work into creating attention once there was three or more obstacles in a row. Honestly, she was doing so good at home, that in my excitement, I rushed to do more course work and skipped a few steps along the way. Sound familiar? Yeah, lots of us do it and I'm human too.

What to do next...At first I was confused as to where our great work had gone astray. I mean it was so amazing! However, when I asked myself "What would you tell your students to do?" the answer hit me like a V-8 moment (you know the commercial where they slap their forehead and shout "I could have had a V-8!).

The answer was to break things down in such a way that I could now work on & reward the attention - I needed Ru to clearly understand what the expectation was BETWEEN the obstacles. So I followed my own advice and shifted my focus from obstacles & handling to shaping/rewarding the in between parts...You know, the places where I needed my dog to look to ME for direction and not elsewhere for an adventure. By doing this, it gave Ru something to do (that I was happy with) and we were able to keep our connection.


How's it working...GREAT! I recently took her out to a distracted area and was amazed at how much better she was doing in staying focused on the agility task. Was she perfect? Nope, but her recovery period was far shorter and her attention moments were a lot longer. I'll happily take that progress and continue.

Someday we'll have it all, but in the meantime we'll keep working through these normal growing moments and continue moving forward in our growth.

For the Love of the Sport

As the Puppies Grow...

The attached picture of Ru was taken almost a year ago, but it's one of my favorites. She's not so puppy any more and is now almost 16 months old. While she is technically old enough to compete in AKC Agility, I prefer the 18 months that USDAA uses as their guidelines.

Ready or not, Ru will compete in the PSLRA Lab Trial that I'm co-chairing in mid-June. I mean hey, why not make her debut in front of friends! : )

I've been feeling the pressure a bit since I haven't been practicing as diligently as some, but I've certainly spent daily time bonding with her in non-agility ways - so there is a plus and she certainly isn't being ignored. On the contrast, she's a spoiled brat !

This is a hard age because she's probably ready physically for the challenges Agility has to offer, but I've intentionally chosen to be conservative and take it easy on this (as I have been with all of my prior dogs) and that's why I hadn't practiced as much as some at this age. 

For the record, mentally Ru has an incredible work ethic and LOVES to be with & interact me. I've known all along that she enjoys the parts of Agility we have trained, but was concerned when she was a bit slower and more cautious when it came to putting it all together with jumping AND handling. You could definitely see the wheels turning while she worked through the information being tossed at her at a faster and faster speed as she progressed (this is a good thing). 

Here's where training with Stacy P-G and Pinky way back when came in handy - Stacy taught me that as long as they're thinking, let them finish the thought and see what conclusion they come up with. Far too often handlers step in to make the decision for the dog - not the best way for the dog to learn. It's amazing how that sound advice from over a decade ago is still very relevant today and has quickly paid off.

Tonight I finally got a full glimpse of what Ru is capable of and I'm thrilled! 

• Tonight she was a little speed demon over the jumps (a first). While I had the speed over contacts, I hadn't had it during jumps & handling sequences so I was so amazed at the progress and enthusiasm she suddenly showed tonight. 
• Next, she took 3 jumps in a straight line, a very tough sequence for a young dog.
  
• On the first approach to the teeter, she did hesitate a bit earlier than I would have preferred. However, I'm proud that she recognized the obstacle and adjusted to fit her comfort level (although ultimately I'd like to heavily reward going to the end of the board & riding it down).  So I was VERY pleased that as the night progressed she ran toward the last 1/3 of the board with confidence and rode it down easily on her own accord. I was very generous for that teeter performance and am encouraged that she offered more on her own accord!
• Next, Ru loves her contacts and will often pull to those obstacles rather than follow my lead. I continued my work from last week on by-passing contacts and taking a different path. I was so pleased when this week she easily got the concept and again, I rewarded generously for her decision. (Note to self: remember to stop and reward the jumps as much as I had the contacts so that all obstacles have equal value).
• Next, what stuck out was that I really need to go back to my rear-cross work with her. As she gains speed and confidence, she is not reading (or I'm not executing properly) the rear-cross as it's been trained or to my criteria expectations. This is normal for the transitional phase and should be some fun homework for us to do over the next week or so.

I believe that one of the things that made us successful tonight was that I made sure to be very generous with my praise and treats over the last few weeks. I worked hard to focus on the positive and to change my attitude to look for those good things vs. the 'faults'. I also worked hard to break things down into smaller, more managable & successful parts.

As a bit of insight, there was a week in the past where I came to the conclusion that I was expecting Ru (my Dalmatian) to act like a Border Collie (namely like my now deceased BC, Coal, the last dog I trained from a puppy). Imagine my disappointment when she wasn't Coal and shame on me for inadvertently going in that directions. But, I'm human and since I allow my dogs the luxury of learning by doing, I need to give myself the same space. It was a good reminder on how every dog IS different and that just like when I'm teaching, I need to remember to adjust more liberally to my own personal dogs.

Additionally, I think it's easy to forget the amount of time and effort we put into our older dogs and that it's way too easy to expect our younger ones to 'just know' those things. Too bad osmosis doesn't work for dog training since I'd be soooo rich if I could accomplish that.