February was a long month for Loot. I will link to a post I made in the ring confidence group of his obedience trial last weekend where he was heavily stressed outside of the rlng. And managed to pull it together for very nice work IN the ring, including a 200 score on sunday. But based on this trial, and some signs of his panic associations starting to generalize to different locations and different noises not at all connected to dogs, I set up behaviorist appointment. About a 2 month wait....
about 1 month ago • 4 min read
This is the last reminder for my obedience followers for my TEAM to Trials: Novice Obedience class. If you have been meaning to work on heeling, fronts, exams, finishes, or some trial prep then don't forget! Thic class runs once a year. All levels welcome! If you are new to obedinece, the main skill you will want is a pivot on a perch. If you are super experienced, then you also know that heelwork and fronts require lifelong maintance ;) TEAM to Trials: Novice Obedience Ginny's Magic Wand...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Let's just skip right over January. Happy new year? Ring Confidence Posts I have a Ring Confidence training group on Facebook! This last month, I posted was a bit busy but still a few good posts! 1. Work on focus through cookie toss patterns! Teaching the dog to expect running back to you fast for another treat! This makes it easy to diminish sniffing between reps and makes it easier for us to be clear on when we are still "working" and when we are cuing the dog to take a break. Click here to...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Heeling is tough. Ridiculously tough. It's easy to get bogged down in the mechanics of it and feel overwhelmed and unable to progress from the pivots you taught on a perch to any type of real forward heeling. We feel stuck. And then I see the opposite issue even more- so much lumping and trying to fade the reinforcement when the dog doesn't yet have that value and joy of heeling built up. I realized in my training that while I love working on precision heeling and really splitting it down,...
2 months ago • 1 min read
December is done! We ended the month with a bang as all 3 dogs (my 2 and Grace, my mom's dog I occasionally train!) went to a CDSP obedience trial. All 3 dogs did great. The biggest win for me was that Ginny did one round of Starters Novice. Her very first obevience trial. And possibly the highest level she will ever go as SN is the only obedince class she can enter that doesn't have an exam. The stand only has the judge walk around her. But she did it!! Very confident! And lots of forging. I...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Obedience folks- If you are looking at your position changes at a distance, check out this blog I recenty wrote! Some fun games to help prevent your dog from creeping forward. In my Open class, we are really diving in deep to discuss styles of position changes. The foldback down vs a "splat", kickback stand with front feet still, or teach a "step" of front feet still? These are really tough concepts to grasp and some of you want to care deeply about it but are confused! And others of you will...
4 months ago • 1 min read
Loot was supposed to have another novice obedience attempt today. We had been working really hard on his stay around dogs, with lots of practice on sitting with his back to the agility ring, sitting by people, and as much as I could with sitting by another dog. But not as much as I'd like with other dogs. On Friday I had opportunity to have him do a stay by a new dog and he was quite stressed. Doing his best to sit but obviously not the happy emotions Iove been trying to build. I decided not...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Sarah Kurtz Photography Quick link here to a blog I wrote on how to get the most out of run throughs and matches! I don't think it is surprising that I don't handle matches like a trial and go through the course or all the exercises! I want to set my dog up to practice all the "trial prep" pieces I've trained for at home and different environments, and reward heavily in this setting!! Show them that they can do it here too, and get a party! Click here to read! Upcoming December Classes...
5 months ago • 1 min read
October is a big month for me! Loot's 2nd obedience trial, but sadly no Qs as he stressed with the other dogs in the group stay and melted into a puddle on the sit. But the good news is that my work this past month on "panicked halts" paid off for both of us as he sat every time, and I only panicked with my footwork once! Ginny also earned her 1st agility championship in UKI! And even better was her happiness on all 6 runs that weekend. Lots of confident off courses, and I didn't see any...
5 months ago • 2 min read