Puppy Class - Week TWO!

Guess who got a SKATE BOARD!!!

GOOD GRIEF!!

Our Floors and Base Boards will NEVER be the same! G

Night Two of Puppy Class was action packed!

First off, a review of the first 3 Phases of Crate Games.
It sounds like several of you need to spend a little more time on
Phase I – Building Value for the Crate.

Seeker did a Demo of Phase 3 – Yer Out Yer In and the ‘Collar Grab Game’.
You should all start playing this as soon as you have graduated through Phases 1 & 2.
Remember not to play too many back to back games of ‘Yer Out Yer In’.

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We moved on to our “Clicker” Training/Shaping behaviors.

Key things to remember –

DO not try to help the dog! What I mean by this is mindless chatter while the dog is 'thinking'. He should be working out what you want by trial and error. He'll know he's right when he hears the click and gets the treat. Think of it as if you were trying to figure out a math problem in your head, and someone is continuously chatting at you and asking your opinion. It would be hard to focus, right? The same is true for your dog. Let him think!

Shaping creates a better problem solver.
It also creates a confident and happy worker.

Split the behaviors into their smallest components. (vs. lumping it all together)

• Body awareness (yours and your dogs)

How will this help Agility?

It will help your dog learn -
• How to get on an obstacle.
• How to get across and obstacle.
• Control body at contact. AKA – rear end awareness.
If something goes wrong you can split out the key pieces.

The Down side of clicker is that you can accidentally teach a behavior you didn't want.
Only the dog knows for sure what he thinks you are clicking.

Criteria – the more specific you can be, the easier the behavior is to define.

You can ask for 'more' from your dog, if you are getting an 80% success over 2 consecutive training periods. If less than 80%, give it more sessions and possibly ease up on the criteria. Sessions should be very short.

Too much work time without a cookie = a puppy that quit trying.

If your puppy is struggling, then you are probably asking for too much too soon.
You'll want to break your components down further.
You'll also want to get a behavior you can "PAY them for" to get them back into the game.

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Our first exercise involved getting our puppies to put their feet in a container.

We had some pretty great success with this.
As your puppies become more successful, your box can get smaller!



Why do this exercise?
You get to interact with your puppy.
It’s a great relationship builder!
It’s a great shaping behavior!
Body awareness for your dog.
It’s fun!
The most obvious reason for me...
I've got 5 cookies, 30 seconds and a clicker...and...
….Because YOU CAN!

Seeker can actually get into a smaller container!
He likes this game.
He's funny like that.

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Next we played our Dumbbells.
No, not the weight lifting kind!

YES as in OBEDIENCE!!
We began shaping the behavior of a dumbbell retrieve!
These puppies did BRILLIANTLY!!
It was so EASY!

Why pick up things you drop on the floor when you have a perfectly
willing 4 legged friend that’s able to do it for you!
Not to mention they are closer to the ground than you are!

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We also played another Susan Garrett Game.
It’s Yer Choice.





What a wonderful way to teach Impulse Control.
It fits in so well with Crate Games and the whole ‘getting your dog to think’ process.

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Finally we ended the evening with some chase games.

Remember to work on your tugging with your puppy.
Be careful not to over power them and be careful of the puppies that are teething.
We don’t want them to associate tugging with pain.

Remember you need to have a NEW trick ready to show us next week!

Seeker will be demoing his Skate Boarding Skills!

Seeker says,
"This would be easier if I could just chew these round things OFF!"


Have FUN with that PUPPY!!!!

AKC Muscatine - Sunday Results

It's all fun and games until....someone 'breaks a knee'!!!
You think I'm kidding?

Well, I'm probably incorrect about the knee, I 'heard' it was a dislocation, but it did NOT sound pleasant. It occurred in the first class of the day, 24" Exc JWW. NO, it was NOT an Orange person as I'm sure you are all thinking JEFF and BEA! It did involve a 'cougar', yellow lab however. Hum...First off, the gender was wrong, secondly, Bea is in the 20" class. She left the trial in a stretcher and seemed to be in good humor. Her husband had her dog and seemed to be leaving to follow them to the local hospital. There lies the difference between a nice loving husband, and one that will "catch ya later", as there was still Standard to run yet.......hum....would Bill go or stay?? Good Question!

We really hope she's okay and back to running her dog really soon!!!

Title results today!

Jet and Mary Beth finished a MACH 2!!



Wendy and Dervish - AX!




Melinda and Phoenix - AXJ

RUN MARTHA RUN!!! FANTASTIC JOB!



Let's not forget PAULY!!!
LOOK AT THIS RUN!!!!

So many really nice runs this weekend.
The audience was really 'into' the runs!
It was a lot of fun to hear the cheering!

For Seeker, we came away with some homework.
We need to gain more confidence in our wraps and rear crossing the A-Frame.
I just need to keep my head in the game for the entire 25-45 seconds vs.
taking the occasional NANO-NAP!
We had fun, bottom line, that's what matters!
Out next event is USDAA in KS.

I'll continue to work on some videos this week.

AKC Muscatine, IA - Saturday Results

The Muscatine Agility Club held their first AKC Agility Trial today and did a WONDERFUL job! Maybe it was just the zillon cookies Laura made!! WHO CARES!! They were delicious and we had a lot of fun.

A couple new titles to report, which is always fun!!
Coz and Barb finished their AX today!! GOOD JOB YOU!!!
Seeker and I got out of the Exc A JWW class! YIPPEE US!!

There were many Q's today!
Terry and Rippy had a couple FABULOUS runs for a DQ!!

Everyone had some wonderfully positive things to take home.
We also have some 'take aways' that will help us get BETTER!

Here's a clip of some of Saturday's runs.
Okay, so no clips from Saturday....my file was too big!!

I'll work on it Sunday night!

SORRY

First one....

Number Two!



Number Three....

Puppy Class - Week One

The first night of puppy class was an active one.

Following introductions we talked about what makes a great companion dog and a great performance dog. Interestingly enough, they are almost exactly the same things. When you think about it, you want a dog that is well behaved at home and in public. One that is quite in a crate, will walk politely on a leash, and probably most importantly, come when it's called!

We broke up into pairs to play the "Human Clicker Game". I find this very helpful for those that haven't worked a lot with Behavior Shaping or Clicker training. In this exercise, one person is the dog, the other the handler. The 'dog' gets to choose her 'rewards'. Last night our 'dogs' had a choice of peanut butter m&ms or skittles. Our handlers randomly selected a 'trick' to teach their 'dogs'. We learned the importance of timing and placement of reward. Some 'dogs' were much more 'clicker savvy' than others. Meaning they were much more willing to 'offer behaviors'. This would indicate a solid understanding of shaping. Try something until you get it right!

Here's Kathy showing that "She can be TAUGHT", sitting nicely on her mat!

Meme showing us how you should use "Placement of your Rewards"!
Becky being a "GOOD DOG" is following the cookie with her mouth!
Meme wants Becky to place the bar on her forehead.
GOOD GIRLS!

This game is really a lot of fun.
Not only that, it really shows you are BRILLIANT our dogs are!

It was time to begin the first 3 phases of Susan Garrett's Crate Games!
One thing I did notice is the quality of treats being used.
You do not want to use the "same old" training treats for crate games.
You want something truly TASTY for your dog!
Not necessarily something 'new', but SPECIAL!
A treat your dog would walk on hot coals to get to.
Disclaimer........
(we will not be walking our puppies on hot coals)

Phase ONE - I Love my Crate

Your hand goes on the door, puppy will learn to sit.
Reward, high and to the back.

Here's Beth and Jeep.
Jeep is so smart!
Hand on the door, he is sitting.
GIVE ME THE COOKIE LADY!!!

Phase TWO - Be a Gambler

This stage involves challenging your puppy just a little.
You want him to be successful.
Open the door confidently and feed a cookie.
Work up to being able to put your leash on without
the puppy coming forward in the kennel.
Puppy moves forward, door gets shut.

Phase Three - Yer Out, Yer In

We're finally ready to let the puppy out of the crate.
Clip on leash and reward puppy for staying sitting at back of kennel.
Release the puppy - you might have to encourage him out.
Standing on leash, wait for him to decide to go back in.
When he goes in, HUGE PARTY!!
Do not play back to back games of this.
Do more Phase Two in-between.

Here's Carol -
"I don't know what all the fuss is about? My puppy is PERFECT!"


Next week we'll move to phase FOUR and some other fun foundations games to play with your puppy. We'll also Name our Crate! We haven't called it ANYTHING up until this point. We're letting them make the decisions to go in on their own.

See you next week! Remember to bring a pop or water flat.

AKC Height Card Policy Change!!

Photo from - starsandstripesagility.com

Effective January 1, 2010, AKC changed the Jump Height Card policy. Jump height cards (including copies) do not have to be submitted to the trial secretary nor are jump height cards required to be shown during check-in. If a measurement is necessary, it is the exhibitor’s responsibility to have their dog(s) measured prior to running. Please advise if your dog needs to be measured.

Puppies are MAGIC!

They are also TERRIFYING!!

How can that be?

You bring home your new puppy with visions of
what you'll 'accomplish' together.
Those dreams vary from person to person.

There's always one common thought however.
"I don't want to 'Screw it UP'"!

RELAX!!

There's been so many changes in regards to
animal training and methodology.
Much of this training involves finding
what's reinforcing for your puppy.
I personally think these changes are GREAT!

Puppies are like a lump of fuzzy clay.
You can actually mold what they like.
Be creative!!

Seeker LOVES toys.
He'd take a toy over food any day!
So, in order to create more food drive
I turned to my handy dandy clicker.

I would play a short intense game of tug.
Then click/cookie about 5 times.
Then play more tug.
More Cookies, etc.
Maybe two - three sets a session.
The cookies/tug toy were in my hand the
whole time we played tug or click/treat.
This way I could switch back
and forth any time I wanted.

IT'S WORKED!
He'll now happily work for
both food and toys!

On Monday I'll be starting a new 4 week puppy class.
I'm really excited to see how it goes.
We'll be working on
Impulse control and shaping behaviors.

Hopefully I'll have a few posts
to share along the way.

During our first class we'll tackle the first
3 phases of Susan Garrett's Crate Games!
How Fun will that BE!!

Our Newest Orange Crew Member

Zachary 9/22/09

10 lbs 13.6 oz and was 22 1/2" long

The newest member of the Orange Crew!
Yes, he DID go home in this outfit!

He's now 5 weeks old and up to 13lbs!!
He's a strong little guy and we're
pretty sure he'll be running one of the
Shelties at the ICDOC trial in December!

BTW, that shirt is a 2T!
It's for a 6 month old.
Way to go Zachary!