Whiskey Creeks Precious Mettle

Nugget @ 7 wks old

It seems like a lot has happened since I last posted in June.  Of greatest note is that a friend and I made a whirlwind trip to Wisconsin to pick up a very sweet Chesapeake puppy  to add to our canine family.  Nugget is her name and she is a spunky wee Chesapeake that comes from Whiskey Creek Chesapeakes in North Carolina.

Nuggets  registered name is “Whiskey Creeks Precious Mettle”  The definition of “Mettle” is:  ability to cope well with difficulties; of extraordinary spirit and resilience.  Kathy Case gave Nugget this name, because at 12 days old, Nuggets 11 litter mates were gaining ounces while she was only gaining an 1/8^th of an ounce.  After a vet visit confirmed there was nothing wrong with Nugget, Kathy took her home and began bottle feeding her.  She remains a small girl with a  ton of spirit and resilience.

Nugget’s arrival here seemed rather unexpected, but there are no coincidences and everything happens for a reason.  She fits in well and it feels like she has always been here.  She truly is a wonderful gift.  Thanks to Kathy Case of Whiskey Creek Chesapeakes, she arrives well loved,socialized and ready to take on what every comes her way.

A little Bliss

Here is a video of Bliss on the last night of Canine Fun 201 class. She is playing with her handler Deb and is 1 year old. Rather cute, wouldn't you say?

Retriever Training Season is Open!!!

Last week the weather was nice enough to get out to the Retriever training grounds . The roads were too wet and muddy to get anywhere, but the paved road and roadside were dry enough to get the dogs out for a walk. With Reese on a long line we practised coming in to the whistle and found a nice dry sandy hill to do restrained recalls up and down. After Reese was done Ardi did some lining drills down the hill.

Ardi's 1st Retrieve of 2009

This week all the snow has disappeared, but there is still ice on the ponds. We were able to get close to the ponds today and do a little obedience training and practise the hold under the distractions of geese and ducks on the open water.

Reese watches the ducks and geese on the mostly frozen ponds.

Reese taking the show on the road and practising the hold with distractions.

Rear End Awareness - More Puppy Stuff

In all we do with our dogs we ask for some very precise movements. It only makes sense to take some time to develop their back end awareness . I like ladder work as well as different pole configurations to help dogs of all ages develop co-ordination and rear end awareness.

With the ladder the dog should step in each rung. Speed is not important and the dog should not hop through the ladder. The poles are one of my favourite things, this configuration came from a Tellington Touch book. The book uses cavelletti poles in all different configurations to develop confidence in horses and dogs, the confidence comes through body awareness and shows up in movement and carriage. This particular pattern (I call it the star) can be made more challenging by lifting the poles to rest on the tunnel. The handler can actually stand inside the tunnel and have the dog walk the raised portion of the pole. This would be pretty advanced for a puppy, not to mention too easy for the handler.

The video below is of a typical training session with 17 week old Reese. She is loosing teeth left and right, or we would normally tug once we completed an exercise. For this session we used praise and treats. It works , and I think it is good to alternate motivators and reinforcers.

To Tug or Not To Tug

Tug of War is a good game for teaching a puppy to switch between Crazy Dog mode and Thinking Dog mode. It can help teach the pup self control and puts good behaviour on cue, even when it is more fun to do all the natural things puppies do like, grab, shake pull and growl.
Tug of War should only be played under strict rules. Here is a summary of the Rules of Tug taken from the San Francisco SPCA Behavior and Training Department.

1. Dog must out on command
2. Must only tug with designated object and when invited to take
3. No uninvited takes or re-takes
4. Frequent Obedience breaks
5. Zero Tolerance for Miscues or any broken rules. If the pup contacts skin, Screech “OUCH” even if it didn’t hurt and promptly end the game. Even if the miscue is an accident, the dog must go out of their way to avoid skin contact or face a game misconduct (game ends)

Important: Children should not play Tug of War with dogs, unless they know and can uphold “ALL” the rules.

The Rules of Tug

demonstrated by 16 week old Reese.

Puppy Stuff - Foundation Training

So the foundation training begins for young Reese. In Puppy K this week, we did an impulse control exercise to nip jumping up, while greeting, in the bud. In this exercise the pups leash is looped to the door knob, the handler walks away, then returns to greet the pup, the pup usually jumps up to greet, the handler stops the approach and waits for the puppy to sit, then quickly marks the behavior with a yes (or click) and treats the pup in a sit.

In the 1st picture, you can see Reese came out to the end of the lead before she sat, but in the next picture, she did not strain to the end of the leash and sat before she got to the end of the leash without jumping up.

This week at home I have been trying some exercises from a book received at Puppy Camp a couple of years ago. The book is From the Ground Up: Agility Foundation Training
for Puppies and Beginner Dogs by Kim Collins. The exercise we worked on this week is called Stool work. It is an exercise designed to help the pup gain back end awareness. The idea is to have the dog come up onto the stool (which is only about 6 to 8 inches high) with their front feet and then move their back legs around the stool. Reese likes to balance herself on the stool, but does stand with her front feet on the stool and rotate her back feet around the stool.

The other exercise we have been working on at home this week is the nose touch to the hand. This can help bring the pup back into focus. I like to use it as a hands off approach to getting the pup where you want them.

Schedule of Reinforcement- Weaning from treats.

I'm reading a book right now written by Patricia B.McConnell called Family Friendly Dog Training -A six week program for you and your dog.
We are just working on week 2 with Reese and are already being encouraged to begin a random schedule of rewarding, which to my surprise is working really well.
I really like to keep the dog guessing where and when the reinforcement (treats, toys, praise or quick game of tug) will be coming from. But am really surprised to find that you can start randomizing the schedule of reinforcemtne this early with some things like the sit and recall in a 12 week old pup.