You Are What You Eat!!!

If this it true, our dogs should be oinking like pigs, and clucking like chickens!!  Hum, now that I think about it, they do make some pretty interesting noises at times. 

 (Maned Wolf)

On Saturday, Cheryl Morris came in from Western Iowa (Council Bluffs) to give a presentation on feeding our canine companions.  Cheryl discussed the 'evolution' of our canines diets, as they adapted to living with humans.  A fascinating discussion on the Canidae (the biological family) in which our family dogs are included, as well as the amazing differences of diets within this group.  From pure carnivores (meat only), to those that east very little meat, even those that eat insects only. 

She talked on both raw (premade/commerical/home) and kibble diets, stressing that you can feed kibble and do it well!  The key is in knowing what you are getting for your money.  Also the importance of adding water to your dry kibble when feeding.  I've now started this with my 'farm' cats that eat kibble, yep, getting the eye roll from Bill.  What can I say....I LOVE my Kitties!! 

Our main focus was getting optimal performance in the ring, but truly, it was a discussion of our dogs diet, throughout all their life stages.

Also discussed were the vitamins and minerals your dog needed, as well adequate hydration.  Hydration is especially important to watch when we travel.  Some dogs don't drink as much as they should when away from home, so she provided us with an awesome 'Keegan' water recipe.  I'll be taking this with me to the next trial!

I would strongly encourage your club, or group to reach out to Cheryl and set up a presentation in your area, it is truly worth the time.  My personal experience with Cheryl is a personal consult on a senior diet for Kruz.  I feed raw, and she tweak his diet a bit, adding a few more carbs, some additional supplements and he's doing great!  

HUGE THANK YOU to Cheryl for coming!!

If you're interested in more information, including Cheryl's e-mail address, please see below:

Cheryl Morris, PhD, has been the Director of Comparative Nutrition at Omaha’s Henry
Doorly Zoo since 2005. She is responsible for formulating and managing the diets of the entire
collection ranging from insects to mammals. Her nutrition laboratory and research focus have
been in the area of raw meat diet formulations for carnivores and utilization of whole prey in
carnivore diets. Cheryl also oversees the Training, Environmental Enrichment, and Interactive
Animal Programs at the zoo. Cheryl completed her Ph.D in Nutritional Sciences at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign focusing on dietary factors affecting intestinal health
in the canine. When she’s not thinking about nutrition, Cheryl plays AKC and USDAA agility
with her Toy Fox Terriers (Keegan, Leia, and Shadow) and her rescued Border Collie, Karma.
Cheryl also conducts private nutritional consults for individuals seeking specific advice for their
performance dogs through Evolve Animal Services, LLC (www.evolveanimalservices.com).

I want what I want!!

Gee, now I'm sounding like the Honey Badger!!!  G

Nettle is doing well on her weaves, 

and I'm sure I 'could' add the second set at this point.

I'm going to wait however, until I get the footwork I want. 

The poles she's using in this sequence are 24".  

The 2 X 2's I use, are 22". 

USDAA still allows 22" poles, so I want to be 

sure she understands how to handle the difference.

It's surprising, or maybe not, how that 2" can make a difference. 

Anyway, back to Nettle's footwork.  I want her to one stride her poles.  I think this type of striding is more efficient and faster. Nettle is about the same size as Mad Dog, (a bit over 19") and Mad single stepped her poles, thus I don't see any reason Nettle can't.  Structurally, she is very nice, so I'll put a plan in place to 'get what I want'!  

How?  Well, I'm going to go out and dig around in my 'old' equipment to see what I can find.  I know I have at least 2 sets of 6 poles at different spacings, 18" and 20".  The plan is to dig out the 20" later today, and work with them until I get the one striding I want.  Then put her back on the 22 or 24s" to see if she can maintain it, before I move to second set of 6 poles, and then 12.  My feeling is, why increase the level of difficulty (multiple poles), before I get the striding I want at 6.  

Let the games continue!!!

Nettle at 6 Poles Plus a Distraction!

No, not quite ready for chickens!!  Yet! 

Kruz wanted to come play too, so he 'supervised'.  

This might have been a bit too much at this point in her training, 

but Nettle worked through it.   She had to dodge around him a couple times.  

Maybe he was the 7th pole?

We'll spend a couple days at 6 poles, to gain some confidence

in her striding.  I'll wait to add Kruz back in a bit later. 

This is so crazy how this actually works!  

Who'd have thunk!!  

Who's Training Who?

Nettle has recently begun her weave pole training with 2X2’s.  She’s catching on quickly, and we’ve progressed to 4 poles, with some pretty difficult entries.  She’s been able to work through all of the challenges I’ve given her, and that makes me very happy! 

It's 6 am - and 50 degrees outside with a north wind - Yep, I'm dressed up! NOT!!  (':

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from our other dogs is, ‘Don’t make things easier after a failure!’  Let the dog work through it, or they will learn to be helpless.  They learn we’ll come and ‘save the day’!  I wish I would have learned this sooner!  Or at least, really taken it to heart.  I know I’d heard it before, but it never truly sunk in.

Just like people, every dog learns at a different pace, and in different ways.  This doesn’t make one dog smarter than any other, it just makes them different. 

For instance, Seeker blasted through 2X2s in about 7 days, it just made sense to him, and he LOVED doing whatever I wanted to do.  Thus his name “Hail Yeah”, because any time you ask him if he wants to do something, this is his response!  His failures are easy to work through; he’ll keep trying no matter what.  He loves the game so much.  His attention is just on figuring out the puzzle, not about the outside reinforcements.  This is why he can weave through poles with chickens in them; he’s not thinking about the birds, he’s thinking about the game!

Nettle on the other hand, is very distracted by her surroundings.  She likes the game well enough, but doesn’t LOVE it,’ yet’.  Sometimes she’s like the joke, “How many kids with ADHD does it take to change a light bulb? Let’s go ride bikes.”  That’s okay, that’s who she is, and although it makes some things more challenging, it also makes the ‘breakthroughs’ very rewarding. 

Nettle likes to do what pleases HER!  Gosh, who doesn’t!  So, one of the challenges we’ve needed to overcome was ‘bringing a toy right back’ when it’s thrown.  This might not seem like a big deal, but ‘self’ rewarding by sprinting around with a toy isn’t very good ‘team work’.  It’s also difficult to throw a toy with a line on it.  Yep, been there, done that!  Stepped on the line, tripped on the line, and couldn’t throw the toy far due to a knot being in the line!  Trust me; it’s a comedy of errors, that lucky only the neighbors will see!  Honestly, they have probably already seen enough for a life time! 

So, our retrieve work has become no direct return, no cookie.  I might play some tug if we were working on 2X2s and she did a wonderful job…but, no cookie!  Or, as Tracy P says, “No Soup For You.”…which is way more fun!  It’s amazing how this works!  In the video clip, Net does a really nice job with her weaves, but decided a small victory lap was in order.  No cookie, although we did tug.  The next time she came right back.  Good Girl!

I’ve also been very diligent about not making things EASIER!!  This is really hard!  We want to help them understand, but what we are really doing is teaching them by failing, we’ll make it easier!  UGH!  So, I do video tape my sessions, then go back to make sure I’m not moving in such a way to make it easier.  In fact, I try to remain where I released her at this point; just to be sure I’m not tempted to make it easier, knowing I need to add some movement to these difficult entries as well.  I’ll do that tomorrow. 

There is one point in this video that she fails 3 times in a row; she’s looking for something else to do.  Yes, she’s stressed, but she needs to work through it. She sniffs the ground, eats some grass, and at one point finds a leaf that she thinks about grabbing and running with.  In the end, she came back and did a nice job!  It may not look like a hard entry on the video, but I was at pole #3 (second to the last), on the left side, she had to go search for that entry.  I would bet few experience weaving dogs would be able to do that.  This is the one she did the small victory lap, no soup, but we had some play time.

If I would reward those ‘victory laps’ with a cookie, I think I would be increasing the likelihood that she would repeat the behavior.  Now, none of us really knows what our dogs are thinking, but I have tried rewarding for what I thought was ‘finally’ coming back.  Guess what, it just kept getting worse!  Instead of a small lap, I was getting the “Triple Crown” lap around the 120’ by 80’ training yard.  Yep, “I’ll Have Another”!! 

By withholding the cookie reward whenever there is the ‘slightest’ victory lap, those have become less and less likely to occur.  I’ve also been able to ‘unleash’ the toy, which makes tossing into these high winds MUCH easier!  Double bonus!!

Bottom line, if you are one that rewards your dog after they’ve run off to see someone and then comes back, you might want to rethink that.  Verbal praise, sure…but does it really deserve a cookie?  Are you only increasing the likelihood that will happen again?  I guess that’s only a question you can answer for yourself. 

HAPPY TRAINING!!!!

Dog Trainers should be Ambidextrous!

You might think I'm kidding, but I'm really not.  Now, I wouldn't expect anyone to become totally equal in their abilities to use each hand, but being better at it can sure help!

Being timely, and rewarding in the proper area is very important to dog training.  In agility, we really don't want to be reaching across are bodies with our right hand to reward a dog on the left, and visa versa.  Why?  You are encouraging your dogs rear end to swing out, and you are no longer facing in the same direction.  It's just not good placement of reward. 

Same for tugging rewards.  You want to when possible to reward at your side, facing the direction in which you're going.  Now, I'm not saying you can never reward in front, but think about the game of agility, you are 'generally' heading in the same direction, side by side.  It's a bit hard to run a course if the dog is facing you in front.  So, by becoming more ambidextrous, you can successfully tug on both sides of your body.

Good news for right handed obedience trainers!!  You are likely pretty good at delivering food rewards with your left hand.  Sorry Lefties....you might not be as proficient on the right, since the majority of obedience work is left oriented.  Reminds me of the days when dogs only weaved on the left!  Yes, it's true!!

Ambidexterity is  a skill we all can improve at.  It would be nice to be able to deliver, tug, throw, (okay, so I know a couple people that can throw with their dominate hand!!) rewards of all kinds with equal accuracy.  Luckily, it's not hard to do!!

Each day while you're doing a task, simply switch hands!  Unscrew a lid, wash the dishes, unload the dryer, etc.  At first you'll need to think about what you're doing, but it can seriously become a natural habit.  EAT with your non-dominate hand!   Trust me, almost all my friends are borderline 'food aggressive', you WON'T STARVE!  I promise!!  It's a great way to improve your dexterity for your 'off hand'.

Another great benefit is if you ever have an unexpected accident, like your horse steps in a hole and you both take a tumble into a ditch, you'll be able to eat with no worries!!  Lucky for me I'd already been practicing!!  I would bet wrist fractures are up there as the most common! Be prepared!

Play kids games, horse shoes (okay, maybe not), bean bag toss, Pictionary, "Operation" is a blast using your off hand!!  Deal cards, make coffee, put toast in the toaster, slide your credit card!  There are so many things we do everyday without even thinking about it, it's clumsy at first, but you'll be surprise how quickly you become good at it.

Running A-Frame

Okay, this is what I'm going to do, PROMISE!!!  

No turning back, no chickening out, no making excuses!!  

This WILL HAPPEN!!!  

Be GONE "STICKY ICKY ICKY A-Frame"! 

Now for planning the strategy!! 

When teaching any behavior, you need to know what you want.  It's not enough to say, "I want a running A-Frame.", although I'm sure some people do, and are able to get it.  For myself, I need to know exactly 'what I want'. 

So, my first question is, what do I 'personally' think of when I think about a running A-Frame.  First is confidence, a dog that runs up and over without hesitation.  Independence, the ability to complete the AF no matter where the handler is.  Along with that, however, a dog that can turn tightly off the AF to accommodate turns as needed on course.  A dog that skims over the top.  I don't want 'air', air looks cool, but wastes time IMO.  Leg separation, striding naturally up and over.  Let the number of hits on the way down "go" and focus on comfort for the dog.  Able to maintain the above criteria in the 'face' of an extremely rewarding tunnel at the end, or any other piece of equipment!!  Able to hit a 90 degree weave pole entry from the AF.  I'm probably missing something...but, those are my thoughts for now. 

I took Silvia Trkman's running contact class last year, in preparation for Nettle, so time to dust that off and go back to the introduction material.  Now, Seeker will only be working on a running AF, so I won't be using a plank, just the AF itself.  

It's also important to keep track of successes and failures, so I have a notebook.  Video is great too, so I have my flip taped on the bottom (now top of course) of a 5 gallon bucket. This will help me watch my criteria, and give me ideas of areas to focus on in future training sessions.  

So, this morning Bill helped me lay the AF flat in the building, just waiting for the games to begin!  I got Seeker's favorite toy, his 'Squeaky Ball', and out we went.  Okay, it was pretty simple this morning, the AF was flat and I tossed the ball out about 10' past the exit.  Released with a 'go' and clicked when he hit in the yellow.  Not terribly complicated.  Worked about 8 reps and stopped.  This afternoon I might put a tunnel on the approach side, just to give him something else to do.  The plan on this point is to move up one chain link at a time as long as I feel the criteria is being meet.  I'll also need to be sure to work front crosses, rear crosses and turns sooner, rather than later. 

My one concern (if you want to call it that), is I have a trial the first weekend in June.  I wanted to pull, but Bill didn't want me to.  So, I told him, "I'm not even looking at my AF, you've got to accept I will say 'go' and what happens happens."  You can't start this, and then not follow through at trials.  That's just not fair to the dog.  

I know it will take time for him to trust that he can run through.  It will take time for me to trust he will run through....and, it will take time for him to figure out the stride he's most comfortable with.  In the end, I know we can be successful at this.  There are so many teams out there with lovely running AFs, so, there's not reason we can be one of them too.  

HAPPY TRAINING!!! 

Sticky Icky Icky A-Frame!! UGH!

Well, back to the 'drawing board' with our A-Frame work.  Just when you think you have it licked...the last two weekends have shown that Seeker still has massive confusion when it comes to the criteria for the a-frame.  Let's be honest here, it's NOT HIS FAULT!! 

In DSM over the weekend, he ran so well, but we lost 3-5 seconds per run on a sticky a-frame.  It's going to be difficult to compete at the USDAA Nationals this Fall losing that much time.....

So, back to the drawing board!  First I need to decide, what do I REALLY REALLY WANT!!  2o2o, or running.  Then I need to focus on making that happen. 

Time for some soul searching.  Then time to write out some lesson plans.  Bottom line, it needs to be something that is very black and white for Seeker.  If there is any question as to what I want, he will stick.  Got some great ideas over the weekend, THANK YOU!!!  Now it's time to decide what direction I want to go and stick with it!