Videos and Time

I
I realized I hadn't posted these 2 videos from our last last class, which was over a week ago.  Life has been getting in the way.  The weather is amazing - Tibby and I are back to our multiple walks a day.  Morning, after work and evening - more on week-ends.  There is endless yard work and garden projects I should be working on.   Family stuff has also been taking a lot of time.  Plus I'm starting to work full time hours.  Hopefully that doesn't last too long - I like my days off!  So after a long day on my feet, when I get home and after our walk, a few tricks are about all the training I have energy for.  Sorry Tibby :(

Someday we might get to do agility again.  Hopefully soon.  And a break is good every once in a while.

In? How 'bout Out?

Last video from last Tuesday's class.  Good startline stay!  Tibby's version of tunnel with a detour.

My Fans Are Feeling Lonely

I love the look Tibby gives to the crowd, "Oh, my fans look lonely over there!  I'd better go say hello and cheer them up.  Be right back Mom!"

Then she comes right back and does the sequence perfectly.  I remembered to spin her - he he he.  Better to do that then what I was thinking about! 

First Teeter In Class

Probably not my best training choice.  I was just so tempted to see if Tibby would do the teeter.  Bad me.  She did it, but some how it didn't really make me happy :(  I want her to like the teeter, but I keep messing around.

Points for Tibby though.  She went on a new teeter - not rubber (which is the only kind she's been on before).  Good job baby Tib.

I could just not show the stuff that we mess up, but I think it's important to show everything....boo boos and gold stars.  Otherwise it's not very realistic - is it? 

Annnnnnd poor Zoe.  It looks like Zoe's Mom pulled her off the teeter with her harness the first time??  That was an accident, but poor Zoe.  If Tibby is hesitant about it, Zoe is super freaked out about it.  She's scared of everything about agility.  She shakes and pants the entire hour.  Although she does go right up that teeter the second time.  And she went over the A-frame on her own twice, soooo maybe she's starting to like it?  Tibby got to play on the table for a second too.  Again I'm pushing for too much too fast.  Bad, bad me.

She Tugged!

Tibby tugged at class tonight!!!  It was even near the end of class, when she was tired.  This is the first time ever that she has tugged around other dogs in a stressful environment. 
For most people her tugging wouldn't have even really counted as actual tugging, but I saw some excitement in her for grabbing the tug.  She pulled for like .5 seconds!!!  And she did it more than once!  I was just planning on pairing look at the toy with a treat, but when I brought the toy out she grabbed it! She even chased it a little when I pulled it around on the floor.

With all the worrying I have been doing lately about her being possibly 'scared', this made me VERY happy.

This is what I get all night long.

Staring.

Hey, I can't complain, I trained it.

Video will have to wait, because Mr. Flip decided that charging batteries is for losers.  And the big camera is complicated.  It took me almost 2 hours to figure out how to get the video off of the camera on to my computer.

And anyway the video isn't all that exciting - except for the tugging we had a pretty un-fun night.  What is with people and start line stays?

I finally said I was just going to run with her.  Yes, Tibby can do a start line stay, but it's boring and how am I supposed to get any exercise?!?

I tried to put Tibby into as many tunnels as possible, even when they weren't in the 'course'.  I don't want her to be afraid!  Only on time she went 1/2 way in and then came out.  I laughed at her and goosed her back into the tunnel.  Otherwise, she did fine with the tunnels. 

There were run offs, but she came back. 

She did the teeter twice and then I said we weren't doing it any more.  I think she did OK.  It's not the way I want her to do her teeter, so we are working on it.  I might lower my teeter all the way to the ground again and start over.  I just don't see Tibby ever doing a fast sliding teeter.  She's cautious.  Will she always be like that?  I don't know.  Should I train what I have or push for what I want? 

The tugging made me happy.

Some people are happy when they win Nationals - I'm happy with a 1/2 second tug  LOL!!  Funny isn't it :) 

The Weaves! Awesome Hair! Run offs!

We had a fun night at agility class!  At the beginning of class there were only 3 of us - Tibby, Zoe and Blondie.  It was so relaxed.  Then Cort arrived late.  It was still pretty relaxed.  You'll have to scroll down a little to read the rest.  I took a few ( ok a lot!) of pictures of Tibby's hair style before we left for agility.  I think I like this style the best.

"Are we just going to take pictures of moi all day?"

"Agility?  Did you say agility?"

*sigh*

"Let's get this show on the road.  I have some agility to run."

Game face: on

Below you will find our best run of the night, followed by our 'worst' run, followed by a quick peek at our classmate dogs. 

This was our BEST run!  Even though it wasn't perfect or anything.  It was so much fun!  It had 14 obstacles.  That's a lot.  It also had the weaves.  Tibby did the weaves!  She did them perfectly, but in the wrong direction.  Oh, well all I wanted was an effort to do them.  We haven't worked with closed weaves yet at home, so all I wanted was to see her recognize that they were weaves.  She offered to weave a bunch of times when we were just walking around near them earlier in the class.  I finally had to stop her from trying to do them.  Someone knows what pays - hmm? 

I'm thinking she refused the tire, because I wasn't supporting it?

I have been trying to cue the next obstacle earlier.  It was harder tonight, because she was faster.

Speaking of fast.....

I discovered just how fast Tibby can go.  Waaaay faster than me!  She ran off 3 times in this run - to see Cort.  The 1st time: I had to go get her.  The 2nd time: She recalled to me.  The 3rd time:  She went wide, like she was going to run off again, but then she came right back to me.  YAY!!!!!!!

I know it's hard to see all that - ahem, videographer try to get the dog next time and not the floor.

From my angle it was beautiful LOL!

I really felt like she got it.  Running off - not fun.  Running with Mom - fun!

Here is a little peek at our classmates.  First is Blondie and then is Cort.  The commentary is Zoe's Mom trying pretending to be 'casual' - like we're not taping you at all! 

Cort actually fell off the dogwalk tonight.  And then he got yanked around so much that he peed on the floor.   He wears a choke chain and he was dragged up with all four feet off the ground when that happened.  If anyone ever touched my dog like that they would never be touching anything again. 

 Just a friendly warning.

When Cort runs - Tibby and I work on focus/attention.  She's getting very, very good.  Distracting dog running over the dogwalk behind you?  Stare at Mom!  Dog falling off the dogwalk 2 feet away from you?  Stare at Mom!

The next part is a little graphic.  If you have young puppies, you might want to take them out of the room.

"Oooo, dog.  That was a rough night of agility.  Whew!  I sure am tuckered out.  Agility is pretty tough on a young dog like me."

And then a cute picture, just so you know I didn't break her!  I just tired her out! 

It was a really fun night.  I like RUNNING with Tibby. 

Considering that we've been doing this for less than a year - I think Tibby we are doing pretty good!

Ready Or Not!

Ready or Not here we come!  They had the jumps set at the wrong height and I didn't see that they were trying to change them until Tibby was heading toward the tunnel.  I was like, "Move out of the way!  We are coming through!" 

I wasn't going to call Tibby off and start over!  She was doing such a good job :)



This is the last video from last week's Tuesday class.  I thought I should post it, since it's almost time for class again. 

Wipe Out! Almost

Class was fun tonight.  We had some simple exercises.  It was all good :)  Except for me almost wiping out on our very first time out!  I seriously almost hit the floor!  It was extremely humid in the building.  Dripping wet, nasty and gross.  I didn't realize that the floor would be so slippery, but it was.  Very slippery.  I was really careful the rest of the night.  Not the greatest for running.  Tibby didn't seem to have any trouble.  Must be those furry paws.

She was really hot though.  So was I.  I HATE humidity!  It was really nice outside, but inside the building was like 85-90F +  humid.  They had turned all the heaters on to dry it out.  It was like a rain forest.  Yuck.
I took her outside a few times just so we could cool off.  She drank more than a cup of water.  She always drinks quite a bit at class.  I suppose it's all the treats.  She had meatballs and garlic hotdogs for treats tonight.  I cut them up really small.  I'm learning! 

When I was making treats for class, I ruined two hotdogs.  They turned into tiny black cinders in the microwave.  Hmmm, less time next...time. 

I did a little video showing the way she focuses on me when the other dogs are running, but it isn't uploaded yet.  Maybe tomorrow.  I don't care if she looks at the other dogs, but I want her to look back at me.  When we were at the Pigs Fly seminar - Jane said distractions should be a cue for attention.  We're working on it.

  I had forgotten that Tibby ran off at the beginning of this exercise.  I thought we hadn't had any run off.  Oh well, it was a little distraction.



I was trying to find the song Wipeout, because I thought that would have been super funny!  But I couldn't find it.  Now I can't even remember what song I put on here!  I must be tired LOL!!

Tibby Says, "A-frames Rule!"

Tibby really likes that A-frame.  This is one of the courses that keeps me up at night.  I was thinking a lot about it last night - how could I have handled it better.  Fay said we all had to do a RC after the serp.  I would have liked to try it with a blind cross and a front cross.  A rear cross just didn't work - because there wasn't enough room??  That's what I think.  We have been able to do a RC, but there was more room for Tibby to see the tunnel and commit to it and then I crossed.  I don't know maybe a FC would have pushed her to the A-frame any way.
I thought this course was TOO advanced for our group!  I felt bad, because I wanted to do a better job on the serp, but I was so worried about making it to the tunnel with a RC.  Ugh. 

Hey at least Tibby stuck with me the whole night :)  There were fewer dogs, but still she did a good job of working.  We also did a panel jump for the first time.  Tibby jumps it very high!  You can't be too careful of tricky jumps ;)

Take a Trip

Another video from Tuesday's class.  I didn't know how to get Tibby to the dogwalk without running right up to it.  She tried to weave!  So cute!  She got the entrance and one weave, but it was good enough for me!   I was happy that I could get so much distance laterally for the tire and the tunnel.

Perfect Or Not So - Not So Please!

So here are 2 videos - The first one was the first run of the night.  Tibby was super flying high!  I was a bit lost.  But it was still really, really fun.  Even though there is a minor visiting episode.  I love how she is following my body language, even when it is all wrong and mixed up.  She is a very good little pup.   She's smarter than me!! 

I did a FC after the tunnel, because I thought it would be hard to pull Tibby into me.  It's usually easier to push her.  But being that it was opposite night she was very easy to pull!  At the end of the night we ran the course again.  Tibby was a little calmer, but I also started out slow and she stayed with me.

Which run do I like better?  Um, well the first one was more fun ;) 

P.S.  I have to say that I get a huge adrenaline rush from running Tibby.  In normal life I'm an extremely calm person (probably good for my work), so it takes a LOT for me to get an adrenaline rush.  It is really FUN and exciting to run with Tibby!!!

Tuesday Agility Class Now With Added Friends

Another fun agility night. I was pretty wiped out from a very busy stressful work day, but I think we still did pretty good. I saw plenty of things to work on and plenty of good things.

I think it's funny that we take 20 seconds to run a course and then the next team takes 5+ mins. I know this because I taped some of their runs. So it would be more fun if we got to run more, but it's all part of the process.

Zoe's Mom went with us and ran Zoe. It was their first agility class ever. I have tried for the last almost 2 years (since I got Tibby) to share what I was learning about dog training with Zoe's Mom. It hasn't gotten me any where, so I just leave it alone. Everyone has to figure things out for themselves. If she wants to pull Zoe over jumps and push her into tunnels - after I explained that that was a bad idea - that is her own choice. I'm gonna guess that Zoe will eventually get it. Of course, I want more.....but like I said everyone makes their own choice.

It is nice to have someone to ride along to class with. I wasn't planning on continuing to go to classes after this one ended, but I guess if Zoe's Mom wants to keep going - it won't hurt us to go to class once a week. I find the 'advice' given in the class - odd and almost funny. For ex. :run like you are a one winged plane, keep your arm out pointing at each jump and don't say go, go, go, because your dog will think you are saying no, no, no. I said, "Tibby has never heard the word No." hee hee hee

Tuesday Training Part II

This is the second part of Tuesday Training part I here.

It was horrible.  It made me literally sick, I was shaking all the way home and sick to my stomach.  I let Tibby chew the next lesson plan into little bits.  WE WILL NEVER EVER GO BACK THERE AGAIN.

Why did I go? All week long I waffled back and forth, should we go to the first class?  I finally decided to go, because I wanted to see it.  When I first thought about taking Tibby to this training school I asked everyone I met in town if they had ever gone to her classes and what they though about her.  People said, "She makes owners cry."  "She is very strict."  "She is a drill sargent."  I don't have a problem with strict.  If you show me a better way of doing something and hold me to reaching a goal I'll try to do it. 
In other words, I decided to go to the class, so that when people ask me, "What is she like?" I can honestly give them my opinion based on facts and tell them about my experience.

What was the class like? Imagine Hell.  Populate it with frustrated reactive dogs.  Then add their owners yelling at the dogs, jerking their leashes and hitting (yes, actually hitting!  It was encouraged by the 'instructor') their dogs.  To top it all off you have an angry woman yelling at people to control their dogs and 'What's wrong with you?!?  That's not heel-sit position!'  IT. WAS. INSANE.  Did I mention that the class space was only 50'x20'?  And that there were 17 dogs!!!

 Tibby was the 4th smallest dog.  There was a tiny 10lb mini Australian Shepard.  2 Boston terriers.  A 4 mo collie. 2 4 mo Bernese Mountain Dogs.  A pit bull.  A few labs.  A few mixed breed dogs including mixes of greyhound/golden retriever/spaniel/St. Bernard/German Shepard.  Those were the breeds I could pick out.  AND there was a Toller.  That was just for Laura. 

Did I mention that the space was tiny?  And that there were 17 dogs?  What do you think happened?  Well, it was chaos.  There were 4 actually dog fights that the 'instructor' had to break up.  There was a screaming Boston Terrier.  There was a lab/St. Bernard cross that left early, because it wouldn't stop "breathing loudly".  The 'instructor' yelled at the owner to make it stop and it wouldn't, so the guy left early.  She told him to wrap the leash around the dog's snout, to get it to quiet down.  When the guy left, she ripped him down about that too, "You can't just leave!  How do you expect him to ever learn if you give up on him?!?  And just leave!?!  Well, I'll talk to you about this later.  I'm not done with you!"  Honestly, the dog was not breathing that loud and she made a big deal about it! 
The mini Aussie growled through the whole class.  The Bernese tried to make themselves disappear into the floor - kind of hard for 75lb dogs. 

I got yelled at for circling my dog.  When Tibby wasn't sitting in heel-sit position (!!!) I would circle her around me, so she would be in the right spot.  I didn't want to jerk her around like everyone else was doing!  Whatever.  She only yelled at me, because other people saw what I was doing and started to do it too. 

Tibby did an awesome job through the whole class.  Considering it was a fiasco, she was amazing.  I did bring some treats and would give one to her every once in a while.  I had the only dog with good eye contact.  Tibby was really, really trying and she was amazingly (considering the distractions) paying attention to me. 
Most of the time...........oh, by the way according to this 'instructor' if your dog makes a mistake and you laugh at it, you have rewarded your dog.  Really?  Wow.

Mostly, I felt really, really sorry for the other dogs.  There was one woman with a greyhound/something cross that had a fit when her dog was too excited to sit.  She was yelling at it and smacking its butt.  I have never seen anything like it.  And the 'instructor' didn't stop her - she encouraged it. 

The choke collars were quite the experience too.  I've never actually seen anyone use one before.  In our other class the instructor had us use Gentle Leaders.  The choke collars don't work.  The dogs don't have any idea what they are supposed to be doing.  Forward or back and the dog is getting choked all the time - even when the 'instructor' was demonstrating how to use the collar.  Didn't work.

So, in conclusion to this huge post:  1 Glad I went 'cause now I know what NOT to do.  2 Tibby did a great job, even though it was a horrible experience.   3 Our ed/rec class was better.  And that's not saying much.  4 There are going to be some very unhappy dogs owned by some very mean people if they stay in this class.  5 It made me feel sick.  Like going to a shelter and seeing all the dogs you can't save.

Tuesday Training

I wasn't sure if I should write about this, I didn't know what kind of reaction I would get, but I decided it is part of Tibby's life so I would include it.  I'm not going to say it is part of her training.......well, you'll see.

So, I'm taking Tibby to a Beg. Obedience class.  Tonight was the first orientation class (without dogs).  I didn't agree with anything the instructor said.  HOWEVER, I don't think it will hurt Tibby to go once a week for 45 mins.   We can practice in a different environment, she can meet other dogs and people and it will make me REALLY, REALLY work hard at home on our clicker training.  In the spring, we'll go to the school that I want to take her to.

So, what didn't I agree with?
1- She thinks clicker training is a gimmick, that doesn't work.  Um, NO!  I took Tibby to (and graduated from) an 8 week traditional training method course.  Tibby learns more in one session with the clicker than she did  in a month without it.
2- She uses chain training collars or 'choke chains'.   Do I really need to explain why I don't like that?  I don't think there should be an opportunity to "correct" Tibby by choking or "tightening" (as the instructor says) the collar.
3- She doesn't allow treats.  The dogs should work for voice praise only.  No petting allowed either.  OK that's dumb.  Would she teach the class if we just all stood around and said, "Great job!  Nice teaching!"?  I'm thinking she wouldn't.
4-She doesn't want us to feed the dogs the day of the class, because they will poop on the floor.  So, you have a room full of hungry, excited dogs and you want them to work for verbal praise?  Remember, no touching!  Can anyone else see a problem with this? 
5- She tried to sell us a dog food full of corn.  It didn't just have corn as an ingredient - it touted corn as a miracle food.  This was after listening to her complain for an hour about all the heath problems her dogs have.  Huh?

The plan:  I will teach the week's lesson at home using a clicker.  Then I will use the weekly class session like a practice competition.

The problem:  Tibby is going to get bored really fast.  This week we are working on 'sit', sit in the heel position and 'be quiet'. Tibby knows how to do those things   The instructor asked if our dogs knew sit 100% of the time.  She didn't believe me when I said Tibby does.  She does!

I would much, much rather go to a clicker class.  Why can't someone teach a clicker class out here.  There is certainly a demand for teachers.  In the 2 classes that I've taken - there were 30 dogs in the first one and there are 12 dogs in this one. 

So I'll be an undercover clikerite in this class.  Hopefully Tibby will show her that clicker training is not a gimmick.