I found out yesterday that there would be a CGC in CT late this afternoon. What's another try, right?? Decided to give it a shot.
Drove down to an amazing field dog training kennel, such an incredible property: long dirt roads for working dogs, fields with cool patterns cut into them for bumper work, a stunning outdoor agility ring.........yeah, just what makes a dog trainer say "do you take tent reservations???" :)
The test was being held outdoors, in the agility ring. For once, I was thankful that Fizz has no clue about agility! Knowing that it was outdoors, I needed to make sure she was well exercised. Ugh. I figured no problem........and then we walked, and walked and walked. In the funky cut field, up and down the dirt road............and 20min later, I was getting attention heeling and no pottying. Doh! Finally took her into the field, with permission to let her off, and an acceptable spot was found in the back corner. Boy did we have fun going up the diagonals and across the cut grids (in otherwise waist-high field grasss). Makes an awesome place to play 'hide n seek' and watch yer puppy go blasting past! :)
Greeting strangers went well, she held her sit as asked. "Vet exam" was fine as usual. Out for a walk, something smelled good on the weave pole bases. Right as "about turn" was called, she caught a scent. In order to not tight leash, I went an extra step closer to the weave poles, whirled about and set off at pace. She came right with me, head up, attentive and happy. Finished with a lovely sit at halt, still with strong attention. YAY girlie! :)
Next we had to greet another dog. She was showing strong interest in the completely neutral CH/MH GSP bitch......so I spun around in a quick/tight 360, got her back with me, and approached with a dog at my side, under control, being attentive and not looking at the other dog. :) We shook hands (I didn't even look at the other handler........boy did that feel wrong!), and then continued on. PASS! :)
Sit, down, stay and recall were spotless, and supervised separation........the CT State trooper holding my dog told me I wasn't allowed to take her back home. :) He even picked up her paw and had her wave "bye bye Mommy!" HAHAHA! :)
We stayed so I could be "crowd" for several other dogs (met my first Black Russian Terrier!), and at the end, I got to play with 9wk old GSP and Lab puppies. What a wonderful finish to an awesome evening!! :) :)
Fizz, CGC :)
Friday, July 13, 2012
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
DWDH
DWDH......don't wanna, don't hafta. You know......when you're trying to get your awesome dog to do something (any particular thing) with you, and they decide they'd rather do something else (prefer a 'better toy', sniff a fascinating new smell.......anything).
Yesterday afternoon, Fizz had a second-hand bone with plenty of good chewing in it. And as this had originally been Vikka's bone, it's even MORE exciting. She brought it out of her crate and right outside. I was trying to get her to play fribbee (a FAAAAAVORITE pastime) with me before the chickens came out in the yard for a few hours.
Puppy lying and chewing on her treasure, me with a frisbee, trying to entice her. She watched, and finally paid me enough attention to lift her head away from her chewing. DWDH. Not playin' fribbee mom, sorry. I gots a good boney.
So, what else is there to do but go play frisbee by myself!?! :) And so I did. I even gave myself a good solid "readyyyyyyyyyyy, steaaaaaaaaaadyyyyyyyyyyyy............GO!!!!!!!!!!" Toss and dead sprint at the frisbee where it had landed.
Still chewin' this boney.......but that was pretty interesting!
"WAHOO!!!!!!!!! Look what IIIIIIIIIII have! I have a friiiiiiibbee! Wanna get it?? YEAH!!!!! Reaaaaaaaaaaady?????? GO!!!!!!!!!!!!"
At this point, Fizz has an E.T.esque neck and has no clue what my problem is, but it's VERY interesting! :)
"You waaaaaaaaaaaant it?? GO!!!!!!!!!!" And yet again, I'm sprinting across the yard to the frisbee that I just threw about 40yds away. This time, as I go to pick it up, I hear the feet pounding behind me.
Here I are!! Me-n-my boney! Wanna play??
Needing a bit of a break from sprinting about the yard (I'd already done a 3mi run that a.m.), I started tossing the frisbee in the air, and catching it, running away and hooting with joy. She followed me around, very interested in playing, but completely unable to put her bone down. She was offering me interaction: jumping up on me, trying to cut me off, but still not willing to take the frisbee and play tug.
So I started shoving her away from me, and taking off. When she caught up to me, I was doing rapid changes of directions and slapping her on the butt as I took off. The frustration was coming off her like steam........but still couldn't bring herself to part with the bone.
Another shove, and take off, and being VERY excited about the best frisbee ever........and suddenly she's coming at me, ready to grab the silly thing........no boney! Hoorah, success. or not. B/c right as she gets there to grab the frisbee (which I'm now holding out at her level).........she throws on the brakes and tears back to the bone she left behind. Doh! BUT....I've made a break through on some level, which means its time to up the game.
We continued racing about, me shoving her away, teasing her with the frisbee. She set the bone down several times, would come near me, but then turn back to it. Such conflict for a Wuppy!! Finally, she came over, and grabbed the frisbee hard! SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We played a short game of tug, and then I sent her back to her bone, and took off for inside, yelling about my awesome frisbee the whole way in. She came trotting quickly behind, with bone, but didn't want to miss out on any fun. :) In all, I had probably spent 12-15 minutes trying to get her to drop that bone and come play tug with the frisbee. I knew I wouldn't get a game of "go get it" in, the bone was too valuable, so I was looking for tug: choose my game over your favorite bone, and play with me. We did it! :)
So this afternoon, we're outside again, and the bone is still a treasure. I grab the frisbee, show her I have it, and take off across the yard, and then head to the other side of the garden (lawn wraps all around a garden island). She came tearing after me, and as soon as she got near me, I ripped off in the other direction. She's trying hard to play: jumping on me, sailing past me in the air, body slamming me. Sorry, but that's not the game we're playing today.
I took off, and hid, and she came tearing after me, and sailed right past. She realizes I'm not where she thinks I am, drops the bone and comes flying back to find me. Thankfully, I still had the frisbee, b/c she's coming in fast, mouth open. :) Game ON!!!!!!!!!!! And it's MY game, not hers. She CHOSE to play with me (and not her bone). :) :) :) :) :) We played tug with the frisbee for a bit, and then I threw it for her. She was absolutely on fire to play with it, and as she flew back to me, I decided to toss some obedience into this game.
I asked her to 'set up' and she was all cockeyed across the front of me. Nope! Her poor puppy brain wasn't giving up though, and as I moved off somewhere else and asked again, she stuffed herself into position and tried really hard to put her chin in my hand (a side effect of chin heeling! a rather funny one actually!). I threw the frisbee and she exploded after it. We played more tug as she came back, and I worked 2 more set ups.
And in all this, she hadn't once looked for the Blessed Bone. Not even a thought of it. I found two other toys in the yard, and quickly changed up to playing with them. One was higher than the frisbee, and one was definitely not. But at this point, she was so riled up about playing games, that she was willing to play with anything I tossed out. After she brought me the low value footless-cuz (it's now low value b/c it doesn't honk), I sent her to find the bone. It actually took us a minute or two to find the silly thing. :)
I am THRILLED for the payoff in sticking with it last night, working through the DWDH attitude. It was physically tiring, but pouring energy into that silly frisbee convinced her that I was worth choosing over something which her inner being wanted (a marrow bone to chew on). We're in a teenage phase of grand proportion right now, but I refuse to give in to it. Time and effort now, to work through, and reinforce what I want (a team) can do nothing but pay off in the future, of this I have no doubt. :)
Don't accept no, and don't force "have to." Convince the dog to choose you.........and be sure you're worthy of that choice. No half-heartedness allowed, you must pour yourself into it........if you expect your teammate to do the same. :)
Yesterday afternoon, Fizz had a second-hand bone with plenty of good chewing in it. And as this had originally been Vikka's bone, it's even MORE exciting. She brought it out of her crate and right outside. I was trying to get her to play fribbee (a FAAAAAVORITE pastime) with me before the chickens came out in the yard for a few hours.
Puppy lying and chewing on her treasure, me with a frisbee, trying to entice her. She watched, and finally paid me enough attention to lift her head away from her chewing. DWDH. Not playin' fribbee mom, sorry. I gots a good boney.
So, what else is there to do but go play frisbee by myself!?! :) And so I did. I even gave myself a good solid "readyyyyyyyyyyy, steaaaaaaaaaadyyyyyyyyyyyy............GO!!!!!!!!!!" Toss and dead sprint at the frisbee where it had landed.
Still chewin' this boney.......but that was pretty interesting!
"WAHOO!!!!!!!!! Look what IIIIIIIIIII have! I have a friiiiiiibbee! Wanna get it?? YEAH!!!!! Reaaaaaaaaaaady?????? GO!!!!!!!!!!!!"
At this point, Fizz has an E.T.esque neck and has no clue what my problem is, but it's VERY interesting! :)
"You waaaaaaaaaaaant it?? GO!!!!!!!!!!" And yet again, I'm sprinting across the yard to the frisbee that I just threw about 40yds away. This time, as I go to pick it up, I hear the feet pounding behind me.
Here I are!! Me-n-my boney! Wanna play??
Needing a bit of a break from sprinting about the yard (I'd already done a 3mi run that a.m.), I started tossing the frisbee in the air, and catching it, running away and hooting with joy. She followed me around, very interested in playing, but completely unable to put her bone down. She was offering me interaction: jumping up on me, trying to cut me off, but still not willing to take the frisbee and play tug.
So I started shoving her away from me, and taking off. When she caught up to me, I was doing rapid changes of directions and slapping her on the butt as I took off. The frustration was coming off her like steam........but still couldn't bring herself to part with the bone.
Another shove, and take off, and being VERY excited about the best frisbee ever........and suddenly she's coming at me, ready to grab the silly thing........no boney! Hoorah, success. or not. B/c right as she gets there to grab the frisbee (which I'm now holding out at her level).........she throws on the brakes and tears back to the bone she left behind. Doh! BUT....I've made a break through on some level, which means its time to up the game.
We continued racing about, me shoving her away, teasing her with the frisbee. She set the bone down several times, would come near me, but then turn back to it. Such conflict for a Wuppy!! Finally, she came over, and grabbed the frisbee hard! SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We played a short game of tug, and then I sent her back to her bone, and took off for inside, yelling about my awesome frisbee the whole way in. She came trotting quickly behind, with bone, but didn't want to miss out on any fun. :) In all, I had probably spent 12-15 minutes trying to get her to drop that bone and come play tug with the frisbee. I knew I wouldn't get a game of "go get it" in, the bone was too valuable, so I was looking for tug: choose my game over your favorite bone, and play with me. We did it! :)
So this afternoon, we're outside again, and the bone is still a treasure. I grab the frisbee, show her I have it, and take off across the yard, and then head to the other side of the garden (lawn wraps all around a garden island). She came tearing after me, and as soon as she got near me, I ripped off in the other direction. She's trying hard to play: jumping on me, sailing past me in the air, body slamming me. Sorry, but that's not the game we're playing today.
I took off, and hid, and she came tearing after me, and sailed right past. She realizes I'm not where she thinks I am, drops the bone and comes flying back to find me. Thankfully, I still had the frisbee, b/c she's coming in fast, mouth open. :) Game ON!!!!!!!!!!! And it's MY game, not hers. She CHOSE to play with me (and not her bone). :) :) :) :) :) We played tug with the frisbee for a bit, and then I threw it for her. She was absolutely on fire to play with it, and as she flew back to me, I decided to toss some obedience into this game.
I asked her to 'set up' and she was all cockeyed across the front of me. Nope! Her poor puppy brain wasn't giving up though, and as I moved off somewhere else and asked again, she stuffed herself into position and tried really hard to put her chin in my hand (a side effect of chin heeling! a rather funny one actually!). I threw the frisbee and she exploded after it. We played more tug as she came back, and I worked 2 more set ups.
And in all this, she hadn't once looked for the Blessed Bone. Not even a thought of it. I found two other toys in the yard, and quickly changed up to playing with them. One was higher than the frisbee, and one was definitely not. But at this point, she was so riled up about playing games, that she was willing to play with anything I tossed out. After she brought me the low value footless-cuz (it's now low value b/c it doesn't honk), I sent her to find the bone. It actually took us a minute or two to find the silly thing. :)
I am THRILLED for the payoff in sticking with it last night, working through the DWDH attitude. It was physically tiring, but pouring energy into that silly frisbee convinced her that I was worth choosing over something which her inner being wanted (a marrow bone to chew on). We're in a teenage phase of grand proportion right now, but I refuse to give in to it. Time and effort now, to work through, and reinforce what I want (a team) can do nothing but pay off in the future, of this I have no doubt. :)
Don't accept no, and don't force "have to." Convince the dog to choose you.........and be sure you're worthy of that choice. No half-heartedness allowed, you must pour yourself into it........if you expect your teammate to do the same. :)
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