Weaving Some More

Tibby's weave practice from Jan. 27th. Trying some different things. I asked Silvia why Tibby is so much slower now. I closed the channel one step back in Dec. and ever since then she's been much slower. She said that is normal, as the channel gets tighter the dog has to think more about weaving and then is slower.

At class on Tues. the instructor said that she never teaches right sided weaves until the dog can weave on the left. She also just presents the weave poles and lures the dogs through. I just told her "We're doing channel weaves." She said, "Ok, you can just watch this part." Interpret this paragraph as you like ;)

Crate On the Road

This is an old picture - Tibby has a much nicer fluffier dog bed in her crate now :)

Tonight we took crate training on the road.  It wasn't Tibby's first time being in a crate in a new place, it was her 3rd. 

Almost every Monday evening I have dinner at my Grandma's house, my parents also come over to her house.  It's fun!  We take turns cooking, but always have it at my Grandma's place, so she and her husband don't have to go out at night.  My Grandma's 88, but acts much younger.

Anyway, Tibby was great!  I put her crate next to me while we ate and she got to lick a yummy Kong.  Then after dinner when we were sitting in the living room she had a nice bully stick to chew on.  Oh, sure she tried to convince me that the crate was unnecessary.  Panting, a little whining, sad eyes, but I just ignored her and by the end of the evening (we were only there for 2 hours) she was happily chewing her bully stick and relaxing in her crate.

I would call that a successful training evening.

There was no barking.  Good Tibby!

Next, more nights of the same.

Then, more new places.

Finally, places with dogs.

I have plans for next year, but Tibby needs to learn to relax in her crate before then.

Flyball Practice With Videos

We went to our first flyball practice tonight.  It was fun.  Interesting.  Loud.  LOL!  That is the first thing everyone said when they met us, "Oh, it's your first time?  Well, it's LOUD!"  I think Tibby had a nice time.  We took little breaks to go outside and walk around.  She was eager to get back inside, so I think she must have liked it.....even though it was LOUD!  I think I may have lost a little bit of my hearing AND I already have poor hearing!  If/when we go next time I will bring earplugs.  2+ hours in there was a little too much LOUD.  It was fun though.

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I don't think we will become serious flyball players, but it would be fun to do every once in a while.  With Tibby's heart condition, I'm not sure if it is a good idea for her to be SO excited for such a long period of time.  With agility we can run for a minute and then she can rest and her heart rate goes down.  Tonight her heart rate was super, super fast the entire time, so over 2 hours.  I think she would eventually get used to it, but it still seems like it might be hard on her heart.  Still, I think we will do it again.  It was exciting to watch!

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She would, of course, have to learn how to retrieve.  And how to retrieve under pressure.  Tibby can retrieve.  I taught it as a trick, but she doesn't think it's very much fun.  However, she will do it if I want her too.  The things I liked about flyball that we could use for agility - 1 working around other dogs and still focusing on the job   2 - retrieving a ball.  Tibby loves her ball, but it would be nice if she would bring it back.  3 - Fast jumping  4 - Did I mention working around other dogs and people?  Very important.  And something we have had trouble with in the past.

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IF YOU ONLY WATCH ONE VIDEO - PLEASE WATCH THE 2ND ONE - TIBBY IS REALLY FAST!!

The first time (in the first video) Tibby ran away from me every single time.  They eventually had every one leave the room, but she still ran away from me.  I think she was trying to get out of the door.  The noise, the new building and all the dogs barking was a little overwhelming for her.  Also, I didn't have a very good reward for her.  As Loretta always tells me - If Tibby is running away then the reward isn't good enough!!

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After they trained all the beginner dogs (which I didn't get to see, because they had us sit in another room) they had the more advanced beg. dogs run and then the team ran.  Whoa!  They were fast!  It was fun to watch!

The last video is Tibby watching the other dogs running.  The other new dog is in the video too - behind Tibby, it's brown and white.  I thought it was funny, because for the first time ever Tibby wasn't the loud dog barking.  In fact, she was pretty quiet the entire night.  At the very end she felt comfortable enough to start barking. 

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There were a LOT of Tollers, a couple labs, a LOT of border collies, a chihuahua, a Welsh terrier, a jack russel terrier and some other ones maybe.  There were a lot of dogs and I missed some when I was taking Tibby outside a couple times.

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Then they did the new dogs again.  The other beginning dog had left, so it was just Tibby.  She did great!  I had cheese and that was DEFINITELY rewarding enough for her.  She was a monster trying to eat the cheese.  She was fast and did a great job jumping.  She also did fine putting her legs up on the box and pushing off.  She was very focused on me and the cheese.  Good girl!

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 It was a very fun night!!

Lost Baby Picture

I found these pictures on my Mom's camera.  She took them at the Foundations Class we took last winter - a million years ago.  Look at cute baby Tibby!  She was pretty good at the wobble board.  Wow we have learned so much in this last year.

This was the other picture I found.  It's not Tibby - obviously!  I sometimes wonder what happened to the other people/dogs in that class.  Maybe we will see them again some time.

2nd Trip To Petsmart Yesterday

Tibby was SO GOOD.  She walked around with a loose leash (!!!!!) about 90% of the time.  She sat down (on her own - I didn't ask her to sit) to greet a small boy and let him pet her.  She also sat and greeted a woman and 2 other children.  I was really amazed and proud of her.  After our last visit with all the pulling and whining - this was a great visit!  When we left a worker gave Tibby half of a Milkbone.  Tibby has never had that kind of treat before and this Milkbone was huge.  It filled her whole mouth like a chew toy!  She politely took it, dropped it behind a check out desk and then trotted out the door with me.  Funny girl!

Clicker Practice

So we have been practicing with the clicker.  So far we have practiced: Leave it, down, sit, stand (on hind legs), high-five, eye contact, sit on a mat, loose leash and I'm trying to get her to come to me, go behind me and sit on my right side (whatever that is called).

I'm having a lot of fun.

And I think Tibby likes it too.  Especially the treats.

I'm trying to practice everything in different places and with me sitting on the floor, on a chair or standing. 

I was at my parent's house tonight and my Mom was teasing me, because I was talking to her and click/treating Tibby for different things.  Hey!  I can multi-task.

Tibby has a lot of trouble when people come into the house - she wants to jump on them and lick them.  This evening we did a little trial.  I had my Mom come into the house and I had Tibby rotate between down and sit on the mat.  It worked pretty well!