Handler moves session

We took four jumps to the park to practice some front crosses, but when I unpacked the bag one had a broken bracket. So I set up some three jump exercises, moving one jump to make angles more or less acute.


For Thommo I held his ball and tossed it for a lead change. With Dusty I lured with a treat hidden under my thumb for the first run, then tossed a treat container to tighten up the turns.

Play Fight

Green Eggs and Ham

One of the things I forget in training is to vary the circumstances. We train at home, in the park, at at training venues. But usually the circumstances are very similar.

Suzanne Clothier has an amusing reminder of the importance of varying the conditions:

I do not always heed commands
My dear but often silly man.
I might not sit if near a goat.
How could I lay down on a boat?
Perhaps I'd lay down in the house,
But not if I have seen a mouse.
Don't tell me "heel" when I've smelled fox
Or found the biscuits in the box.
I'd find it odd to hear words said
If you were standing on your head,
And wonder if "stay" means "do come here"
If you said it to me from a chair.
I cannot always just obey
Whatever silly words you say.
'Cause if I'm staring at the cat
I will not hear you - that is that!

We tend to see the verbal cue and/or hand signals as the cue for a behaviour, but our dogs may recognise other cues as being the important ones - body language, subtle movements, familiar settings ...

Obedience Trials

Dusty and I have started to go to obedience training at a local club. Most of the training is still done by jerk and shout methods, but there are a couple of instructors who offer 'motivational training' for small groups. Needless to say I knocked people over and trampled them when they asked for handlers who wanted to try positive methods.

We have enjoyed the couple of sessions we have had. The grounds are beautiful, and the weather has been marvellous. Dusty is in with the mainly six month puppies which she loves. I get asked why I didn't start her earlier, but the classes are large and there are lots of them so I though it was just too busy an environment for a young dog. Besides she was in class for show dog training and herding, and in the last few months agility.

Thommo got very bored with obedience, whenever he had the opportunity he would go hide under the car! So with Dusty I'm careful to mix it up. If she heels nicely then we have a game of tug. Our instructor is good at giving us all short turns and encouraging jackpotting or games between turns.

I've been using a variation of Alex Kurland's 300 peck system. One step in heel position / reward. Two steps / reward. Three steps /reward. Four steps / reward. Oops forging ahead. One step in position / reward. And then build back up again. This system can also be used for stays or any skill that requires duration.

We have been doing our homework. I've been working on the computer so it is good for us all for me to get up on the hour and do a minute or two training the dogs. But most of my classmates do little between weekly sessions. I'd find it very frustrating being a volunteer instructor for a club. I think I'd be giving detention.

The ANKC obedience trial rules will change in July. There is a new beginner's class Community Companion Dog Class so we might work towards that:

1. Heel on Lead
2. Stand for Examination on Lead
3. Recall
4. 1 minute Sit Stay
5. 2 minute Down Stay

Swimming Fiend

After all my efforts to coax Dusty to swim, I am now expending an equal amount of energy stopping her from swimming. We were on our way to a dog show a couple of hours from home, so I stopped at a park just before the venue to let them stretch their legs. Dusty leaped straight into the storm water drain, and swam up and down while I waved treats onshore.

Luckily she is a cattledog, and grooming is not a huge task. A brisk application of a chamois and she was show ready. At shows I'm usually camped beside border collies, shelties, and the like and their owners are brushing and powdering in a flurry of activity while I read a book or teach Dusty a new trick.

Our pre-show grooming routine goes like this:

• Brush with a rake to remove loose undercoat,
• Bath a couple of days before the show with Fido's Shampoo and finish with Fido's Herbal Rinse,
• Fluff dry the tail, let the coat dry naturally.
• Rub through a tiny amount of Dog Polish, and brush.
• Show day brush with bristle brush,
• Slick with a chamois,
• Polish nose and nails with Dog Polish.

Course Design

Computerless, I didn't have access to my Clean Run Course Designer. Some of the programs I have bought came with rights to load onto a second computer, but not CRCD. So I went searching for an easy to use program that was cheap or even free.

Flexitrack is a Swedish PC Windows application, and the only limitation on the freeware version is that you get a label on the page advertising Flexitrack. It had some neat features, and was easy to use. The Help actually helped, which is unusual in a computer program.

Stock Ramp

I'm back online!! Lots to catch up with as Dusty approaches her first birthday. Will post regularly over the next days/weeks with her progress in herding, agility, conformation and obedience.

Ttouch for Dogs

Dusty and I had a consultation with Andy Robertson in Galston (Sydney) who outlined the procedures that would help Dusty with her back pain, and with her shyness around strangers. Andy wrote up the program after our visit and emailed it, which was a great help in remembering the specifics. Linda Tellington-Jones book, Getting in Ttouch with Your Dog, gave us the details.

The program has three elements:

1. the ttouches,
2. The leading exercises,
3. the confidence course.

For Dusty, Andy recommended:

TTouches

• the Ear Ttouch, which calms and soothes;
• the Lying Leopard Ttouch in waves, approaching closer to her rear end as she built up a tolerance, which is relaxing and confidence building;
• the Mouth Ttouch, which influences emotion;
• the Tail Ttouch, which reduces fear;
• the Tarrantula Pulling the Plow, which desenitises skin and improves circulation;
• and Leg Circles, which improve gait and balance.

Leading exercises

• The body wrap

Confidence course

• Cavaletti
• Wobble board / see-saw
• Ladder
• Labyrinth
• Slalom with cones

The confidence course is very much like a pre-agility program. We did a lot of this work in the early days, so it's good to have a reminder that this work should be ongoing.

Canine Chiropractic

Dusty was very reluctant to stand for examination at a recent show. My neighbours at the ring said she was being willful and I should come down hard on her, or I'd never get her to behave in the show ring. But I decided to rule out all other possible causes first. A key symptom was that she didn't like me touching her back, even relaxed at home - which suggested a physical problem. Her tail also didn't hang straight as it usually does, but curved off to one side.

I take Thommo for regular chiropractic adjustments, to keep any agility derived injuries at bay.

"Agility and obedience dogs need regular chiropractic care to restore their flexibility and to achieve and maintain peak performance. Performance activities like jumping jumps, attention heeling, and leash corrections place additional stress on the competition dog's spine and limbs, leading to loss of spinal and limb joint mobility. Most of these dogs will be asymptomatic except for subtle signs. Many behaviors (e.g., hesitation or reluctance to jump, failure to maintain attention while heeling) that are often ascribed to unwillingness to work can be caused by chiropractic problems. Conformation dogs who consistently refuse to stand square (stack) frequently have spinal flexibility problems which cause the stack position to be uncomfortable. Gait problems like crabbing, lack of rear drive, and inadequate reach can also be symptomatic of chiropractic problems." Chiropractic.

So I booked Dusty in with Peter Schofield in Sydney. As it turned out Dusty did have a number of sublaxations of the spine, and was probably in a good deal of pain from pinched nerves.

She was a little reluctant to trust Peter, but he won her over. She is shy of strangers, and we have been working on that. I've called her to me and asked dog people to gently approach her; and I've asked total strangers to toss her a treat without looking at her or speaking. But I'm now going to start a Ttouch program with her. She is so confident about life in other respects. And I don't want her shyness to develop into a fear of people she doesn't know.

I'm still computerless. I'm reluctant to believe that Dell are punishing me for not taking out a service agreement with them by not rushing to supply parts to my repairer, but ....

Canine Mulcher

Canine Mulcher
Originally uploaded by marj k.

I am currently computerless after a lightning strike, but Dusty continues to grow and learn and modify her environment.