Sunday Steady!

Training alone does have its advantages, sometimes you come up with different ways to challenge dogs. This was the biggest challenge for Nugget. She was sure every release word was Nugget. Toscane is on a platform to give her clear boundries of where she should be. They all did pretty good. Reese was just being a good sport to humor me. But did like to have a turn like everyone else.

Count down to the Draft Dog Test

The count down has started to the Draft Test this weekend.  When I signed up for the "Carting with your Dog" workshop this spring, my aspirations were simple.  a) hang out with my friends and have some fun b) hang out with my dog and have some fun.  Well I can honestly say that those goals have been met ten fold. You can see by Reese's face she enjoys it to. 

It is time to change gears, dig in and pull together as a team. 

These pictures were all taken at the Draft Dog Fun match about 2 weeks ago, even little 15wk old Draft Dog wannabe Nugget was on hand to cheer Reese on.

The Draft Test fun match was a chance for us to find out what the real thing will be like.  We were all put through our paces and I came away with the knowledge of what we needed to work on. 

The big thing was the ring exercises, I was to fumbly putting the harness on and the judge found a few twists in the harness...not good. I need to make the harnessing smoother. My off leash pattern was pretty good, but there is always room for improvement . On the 1 minute stand stay, Reese sat with 5 secs left. That is an automatic NQ, so practise, practise, practise  Reese did great on the 3 minute group down stay, which has been a problem, so this was great success. . Once I was harnessed and hitched, the cart manuevering went well.  The freight haul went well except for a spot where we were going up hill.  We got bogged down, because I slowed down to decide which angle I was going to approach at.   I should have had that figured out in the walk through and would not have needed to slow down and loose momentum.

I am very happy with how Reese and I have developed as a draft team and feel that we are well prepared for the test.  I am sure there will be a few anxious moments, but I  I have a wonderful partner and that is the most important thing. 

Mind your manners

In Working Certificate and Hunt Tests, the dog is under judgment from the time it leaves the holding blind to the time it returns to the holding blind. This means the walk to the line, while waiting for the birds to go down in the field, while honoring and between marks. You can also be guaranteed that if your dog is whining, barking or digging in the holding blind the judges will not be amused. Poor line manners, not only put a dog into the judge’s bad books, but detract from the dogs’ ability to focus on the job at hand. If you hear someone say the dog had the line manners of a” goat” or that the dog “ate the judges lunch”, you know the dog was out of control.

I’ve found that, sometimes I’m so caught up in getting Reese doing marks or drills that I forget about the importance of line manners. If I allow her to drag me to the line, whine in the blind, cruise the duck pail in training, why would I expect anything different come test day.

It only stands to reason that training sessions aren’t the only place that manners come into play. Poor field or line manners can be traced to poor manners at home. Rushing the door, jumping on people, charging the food bowl or barging out of the crate the minute the door opens, are all signs of little or no self control. If the dog shows little self control in the home environment, how can they be expected to exercise control in the stimulating environment of birds, duck calls and gun shots?

At home I’ve taken a look at the little things that I’ve let slip and have decided to pay closer attention to them. At feeding time Reese is now waiting in a sit for her food bowl to be put down. She is asked to go to her designated spot to lie down when company comes or when I get home, rather then spinning in a frenzy. If she charges the gate or the crate door, I close it. We have gone back to working one of the 1st exercises she learned as a puppy called “Puppy Zen” Puppy zen is puppy self control. In the beginning we just worked at leaving a treat in my hand until invited to take it. It has all kinds of implications for everyday living. So now we are extending it to highly stimulating situations and things of high value, like the duck pail and bumper bag.

We often forget about the basics or the foundation things our dogs learned. When things go wrong in the field, it is a great time to reflect on what’s happening at home.

You have to walk before you can run!

This is actually step 2 of us getting Reese used to the bike. In these video clips I am going it alone, while my accomplice (Bonnie) video tapes. Reese is doing remarkably well considering the first time out, she barked at the tire pretty much non-stop and has a love affair with barking at moving things.

Reese is wearing a practise harness, the real one will be longer in the back and distribute any pressure more evenly. The D ring that the Walky Dog attaches to will be back further towards Reese's hind end.

The real harness is ready to be picked up and with a few more practises, I think Reese and I will be on the road.

Biking with Reese

Two of my favourite activities are cycling and hanging out with the dogs. Before I had dogs to exercise and train, I did a lot of cycling. Although I love them both, I never thought the two went together. I’ve had a couple of bicycle accidents and know it can be dangerous enough with out the added risks of biking with a dog. Secondly, I think unless done with consideration for the dogs well being and limitations it can wear the dog down more then it can benefit the dog.

I had a opportunity to try the Walky Dog, a bike accessory that can make riding with a dog safe and enjoyable. My first dog biking experience was biking with a friends Irish Setters, who are comfortable with the bike and know basic commands like Load up (get the harness on ) Whoa , Left and Right. It was a blast to say the least.

After trying it with the two Setters, we got Reese out, harnessed her up and spent a few minutes walking her beside the bike. Just walking beside the bike was going to be a test, as Reese has always been one to bark at moving objects. Weather it was the vacuum cleaner rolling down the hallway, garage door closing , teeter tipping or anything on wheels, she was sure it needed a talking to. We started by putting the harness on Reese and then attaching her to the bike and we just walked the bike. She barked a little bit, and pulled sideways a bit, but in no time she was keeping a steady distance and pace with the occasional bark. So I decided to get on the bike and ride. Once I got on the bike and started to ride Reese barked the whole time. She only let up when I picked up my speed and she had to concentrate more on keeping up then barking. Surprising though she did not try to pull forward or sideways and did understand when to slow down and turn. I gave the transitions names like “easy” and “left” and “right” but she was really cueing from the bike itself. Heaven knows she couldn’t hear me for the barking.

So I went out and got a Walky Dog attachment for my bike. My friend Monica gave me a harness to use, that belongs to one of her setters. It needs some repair, so while I am waiting for it to get fixed I will work on getting Reese comfortable around the moving bike. Tonight we harnessed Reese in an old tracking harness of Kate’s. Bonnie pushed the bike and I followed along with Reese on leash. I clicked and treated her everytime she made a choice not to bark at the tire. It went remarkably well, she did not bark once, although she did look like she was gearing up to bark, she didn’t. We ended this lesson here and will continue doing this until the biking harness is ready. As always more to come.

Caching with Ardi- Our 1st find

I had been waiting all week to get out and find my first Cache. It was December 4/09 and the temperature had dropped to -18 C. Ardi and I weren’t going to let the cold stop us, we bundled up and headed out.

Ardi in her borrowed Chillydog Great White North Coat

My plan was to walk to the Cache from home, but with the cold I opted to drive. The cache was located in an urban sub-division, about 2 km from my house. I didn’t have a handheld GPS, so headed out with the vehicle Tom-Tom as my guide.

We parked about 200 meters from the cache on the opposite side of the street. Had I read the map right, I would have known that I needed to cross the street to find it. I crossed the street a few times in both directions before I saw it. It probably took me 5 minutes and it would have been less if I actually was looking for it rather then looking at the GPS. I took the log book back to my vehicle to sign. Then drove around the block to end up on the right side of the street. We parked about 200 meters away, then Ardi and I put the log book back and proceeded to a near by park for a quick walk. Quick it was as we were both getting kind of cold.

Geocaching

I first heard about Geocaching about 5 years ago. Someone sent me an article about it and at the time I thought it would be fun to try. I had forgotten about it, until a competitor at a Rally O trial (November 2009) told me her husband travelled with her to the trial and was enjoying a weekend of Geocaching while she trialed.

Geocacing is a game of hiding and seeking treasure. What you need is a GPS and probably a PC or Laptop with internet connection to get you to the Geocaching .com website. The website helps you locate caches hidden in your area or area’s you may be visiting. It provides co-ordinates of where the cache is hidden, as well as a place to record and share your finds. Once you get to the cache there may be some trinkets, but most often there is a logbook to sign. The rule of thumb when you find a cache is “If you take something, leave something” and sign the logbook.

This is something you can easily enjoy with your dog. Both dog and Cacher (that’s you) can enjoy fresh air, exercise and some great scenery. Check out the Geocaching website at geocaching.com.

How to remove a Tick

Spring and summer bring plenty of time to train and play outdoors with our dogs. Of course the more we are outside the greater the risk of picking up a tick.

There are many ways to remove an embedded tick, but here is one that works in those places where it's sometimes difficult to get to with tweezers: between toes, in the middle of a head full of dark hair, etc.

Apply a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball. Cover the tick
with the soap-soaked cotton ball and swab it for a few seconds (15-20),
the tick will come out on it's own and be stuck to the cotton ball when
you lift it away. It's much less traumatic for the patient weather a person or dog.