September was a calmer month for us! We are fully moved into the new house, and resumed more of our normal training.
Ravioli also started a new extra fancy food, Elemental, to help with his IBD and *knock on wood* it is going very well! He continues to eat it and *mostly* is opting in to training with it. Huge difference from the hydrolyzed dog foods we have tried.
I think it will be awhile before we know how much his struggles with training are due to associations with not feeling well vs how much is *just* being a sensitive little guy.
Ginny's dogwalk broke, so we are working on a quick retrain.
And Loot got to train at an obedience fun match, where I was really proud of him for recovering, but it also gave me important feedback that he is absolutely not able to do an obedience/rally trial for real. He is still incredibly worried about dogs barking, especially any higher-pitched noise. And while he is handling it really well in agility with the help of wearing his earmuffs outside of the ring, the long duration needed for obedience and the slower pace just isn't feasible.
Oh, and we picked up a new service dog foster, Breezy! She is here for an evaluation, mostly around her home manners and crate training! So far, she has made some pretty huge progress, so we are optimistic about her future.
Ring Confidence Group
In case you've missed it, I have a Ring Confidence training group on Facebook! (Please remember to fill out at least one of the questions when joining so I know you're not a robot.)
This post was on how to lower dog's arousal and whether your dog will do better with stillness or with motion.
Click here to join the group and read!
This post was on dogs who start out trialing well, and then things start to fall apart as they keep trialing. Click here to join and read.
This post was on testing our dog in run-throughs versus building up skills. Click here to join and read.
September Training Videos
Here are 8 videos from the past month's daily uploads of training. Just click on the picture to be taken to youtube. (And if you prefer the non-music versions, head to facebook or instagram!) I hope these videos give you some helpful tips to try or inspire you to train something new!
This video looks at Ginny's acclimation and ready to work check before training. She needs this every time, even though she has been here x1000 times!
Does your dog move towards the cookie when you reach to feed? I have a different hand position as just one small way I can help them with understanding that the treat comes to them.
Ravioli started to learn a pop stand! (And I will be teaching another class on it this winter!!)
New foster service dog in training, Breezy! Here was her assessment on her retrieve. Nice understanding of finding my hand for delivery, but zero concept of a stationary hold! That's ok! It actually matches the order I teach my own dogs how to do a formal retrieve. (And I will teach both parts in my TEAM2 class running now!!)
This video with Ginny isolates the return over the high jump. She knows angled returns pretty well, but I discovered that setting her up pretty close to the jump with her back to it is a much harder challenge for her to think jump thoughts after the turn!!
And Ravioli is resuming some agility training. We started the aframe and he is working on being brave and taking out the extra strides. Still stuck with teeter foundations, but getting there on sends to a jump wrap!
Here, Miss Breezy is working on her ability to do her chin rest while my zen hand is out. This teaches her to leave the food in order to get the food. I primarily want this as a foundation to help retrain her hold of a retrieve item.
The food flick game was my Vito's favorite game years ago and I often did it while waiting to go into the ring when I got him out to early. It helped keep him "up" without actually using up his energy. Loot loves this game too!
Freya Kitty is resuming some training! Much less rusty than I expected!!
Classes
Class is starting for TEAM 2! There should be 1 working spot left! Up Your Game opens for registration Oct 22nd, mark your calendar!
Teach a retrieve from step 1. Have fancy fronts and heeling through pivoting. Teach the foundations for marking a line, and more! Obedience is fun!
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Obedience can be intense, it can be fast, it can be creative, and most importantly it can be joyful for both you and the dog!
In this class we will look at using a few simple games that you can build into a variety of training exercises to bring more engagement, creativity, and joy into your training.
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Follow me on the social media platform of your choice to try and catch all my daily training videos. I hope they inspire you to try something fun with your dog! And join my free facebook group on building ring confidence for dog sports!
