April Fool's Stay

I haven't posted recently, but I have been training.
At my last Novice Ready class, Quinn was still having a very difficult time holding his stay. He'd be able to last until I was 22' away then he usually broke and came to me.
So I wondered why 9 paces was the magic number? It seems my usual training area (my dining room and living room) only allows me to get about 22 feet away from him. So today I put him in the kitchen and walked to the other end of my house. He only broke once. I kept returning to him and feeding him. I didn't do any recalls, because I really need to get the stay/wait part solid before I add anything else.
Danny got sucked into the stay vortex and ended up doing stays with Quinn. Missy just ran around behind me. I realize I should have had her do stays also (hers are worse than the boys). But I'm recovering from a cold and didn't have the energy to deal with her today.
I read my most recent Front and Finish and there was an article on a different method to teach scent discrimination. I've always had difficulty teaching this exercise, because my dogs love to retrieve and really don't care too much about the scenting part. It uses Altoid tins, so now I need to go out and get 5 tins.
On March 24, I layed a track for Danny as soon as I got off work. It had just one turn, it was about 50 yards down the side of the parking lot in front of my workplace then a turn about 5 yards and then the glove. Danny's not always solid on turns, he does fringe, so I wanted some age on the track.
I went home changed clothes and went back. Danny started out great, unfortunately the area I started the track had stickers, so he kept having to stop so I could remove them (or he could chew them out). After we got through the bad stuff, he did very well. When we came to the corner, he barely casted around, almost immediately took the corner. He was doing great.

Quinn's progress

I haven't posted in a few weeks, but I have trained! I'm still taking Quinn to the Novice Ready class when I don't work. This past week he was very barky when we went into the building. A member has several small dogs and they're very barky so Quinn really wanted to control them. I recently watched a Patricia McConnell DVD where she demonstrates a method of teaching the dog to look at another dog on command. If done correctly it teaches your dog that looking at another dog does not mean they must escalate their arousal or become reactive. They look at the other dog just as if it's any other behavior they can be rewarded for, i.e. sitting, shaking paw, etc. I began working on this behavior and realized I need to make sure that I teach this completely separate from any ring behaviors. I can't be rewarding him for looking at another dog when I cue it and then expecting perfect attention.
So I will be going to the club to work on one behavior at a time.
I was so proud of Quinn because he held his sit even though the out of control BC was right next to him. He was on a long line, but I was at the end of it. He did break on the down. He came to me (which I'm not upset over) when the OocBC broke his down and his owner corrected him sharply.
Overall Quinn did a very nice job. I just need to practice on his stays more (hmmm, that sounds familiar!)

A New Place

Today I took Quinn to a fun match at a club in a nearby city. I dragged my sister with so I'd have company and a sympathetic ear on the trip home. We arrived early so we'd find crate space and be able to let Quinn just hang out for awhile. When Quinn first arrived Alicia brought him in with her dog. When her dog spotted some poodles in a crate by the door he began to bark, so Quinn had to try to protect 'the pack'. Alicia calmed him down and came on in. Overall moving around the building he did fine, no outbursts. He barked a little in the crate so we did cover it. Occasionally he growled, but did well there too.
On the On-lead heel he was very distracted and I actually stepped on him. He did very well on the figure 8, but he moved on the stand for exam. Part of it was the 'judge' was very hesitant about touching him.
He really wanted to be submissive and go to her. I had to remind him to stay and re-place him. He did actually get examined, with me very close to him. The heel off lead was better, he jumped on my on the fast (which I've just started working on seriously). His recall was short--half the ring, because there were a couple of dogs right by the ring gate and I just didn't trust him to keep his mind on the task. He waited quite nicely even with the judge behind him and I had her call the recall command twice and he held it nicely. When I did call him he raced to me and jumped on me. Since I'm not working on fronts, it was a good recall.
On the sit and down I stayed 6' away. He held them, but he did mutter and talk on the sit stay. As we left the ring, I didn't pay close enough attention and a dog got too close and he went off. I grabbed him and pulled him away--he didn't make any contact just noise. He's not ring ready, but he's coming along nicely.

Quinn's Novice Ready Class

I've been taking Quinn to a Novice Ready class taught by another club member. I haven't been able to attend all the classes, (darn work!) but I've made most of them.
We did some heeling working on fast, where Quinn jumps at me a little; and we practiced our fronts and recalls. Then Robin had each of us do a Novice run through. Quinn got to go first, he did outstanding on heel on leash, and the figure 8, he did a good stand for exam. Stays have been our bugaboo, so I was thrilled he held his stand.
Heel off lead was fine, then we got to our recall. Again, that stay command really threw us off. He would get distracted the minute I got more than 10' away. I did get to do two recalls with him successfully, but obviously were not ready to go into the ring.

Quinn's class

I took Quinn to class tonight. He hasn't been out in a while, and I didn't feel up to taking two dogs. Class started okay, he was heeling fine and I was calling class so we worked on attention around other dogs.

I was very pleased Lucy was there as well as Osa, two dogs Quinn feels are 'out of control'. He has a tendency to bark and growl at them.

We did stand for exams, and he did great, Georgette came over and touched him, he didn't move at all. A very good boy. I then had a gentleman watching hold his leash while I did exams for the other dogs. He did very well, and asked for some attention then just stood and watched me.

As class progressed, I started feeling ill. As my health went downhill, Quinn's behavior went downhill as well. Barking and growling, lunging at the dogs he felt were dangerous.

I had to sit down, I thought I was going to pass out. Quinn sat in front of me and just growled at anyone who came near. Obviously he knew something was wrong and he had to protect me. I put him out in the car and sat there until I felt better.

I'm very proud of Quinn and the fact he did so well in the beginning of the class.

Danny's Achievement

I took Danny to the Drop in class at the Obedience Club and tried some Open exercises. Danny has issues with other dogs, so I'm very careful about him being near other dogs.
I began to teach him the Broad Jump exercise, one of the Open exercises I haven't ever tried to teach him. He did very well, I began with the three boards jammed up together and an Agility him over them. Had him jump that for a while, then opened the boards up to the distance required. After that I pulled the bar out of the Agility Jump then removed the uprights. When we go back this Thursday, I plan on keeping the boards at the distance required, but putting the Agility jump back.
After we practiced the broad jump another member asked to come into the ring to practice. Danny's met her dog and I thought it would be okay (and it was). I continued on and practiced Off Lead heeling and the Drop on Recall. We did retrieve on the flat--he had a nice clean pick up. When we did retrieve over the high, I realized I need to proof for the jump. He anticipated several times, then he went around the jump when the dumbbell went wide. I did not practice the stays (no point). Even if he never competes, I really enjoy training him. He's not Gita (my heart dog), but he's a damn good obedience dog.

A New Year

Okay so it's been almost a full year since I last posted. The point of the blog was to keep me focused on my goals and to actually encourage me to train my dogs. Well I have been training my dogs, but I did get a little lost on the goal part, and I forgot to post to the blog!
The one goal I have acheived is Quinn is almost ready to go into the ring. I'm sending off his ILP application to the AKC today. He still is a little shaky on his stays, but he's doing much better and I hope to compete in the Seward County Kennel Club trial at the end of April.
Missy's goal of earning her NA and NAJ got sidetracked. I've still been working with her on Agility, but I postponed her Agility debut to get her RN instead. RN stands for Rally Novice title. It's an obedience title that kind of combines Agility and Obedience. I'm starting on retraining her weaves using the Susan Garrett 2x2 model.
Danny, my third dog (who I didn't have a goal for) actually earned his RN in July and I hope to get his TD in the next year.
Let's see if I can keep on track this year.