Lots to say

Well it's been a very, very long time since my last post and I have lots to say but not so much time to write it all!

PUPS
Firstly the pups are all doing well and are loved and adored in their homes. We went to a 'balance and co- ordination workshop' run by Hannah Banks. Also in attendance were Yvette with Munch and Tracy/ Sue with Ajaxs. The puppies were so good, all very confident and focused. None of them worried at all about the ladders/ wobble boards and such like. With the shaping stuff I have done with D, he really gets that whole value transfer thing and was pulling to over to the wobble boards and ladders after a very short time.

DETOUR
I cant belive he is five months old already! He is such a sweet boy. We have had a few little issues with him nervous woofing when we are on a walk but some recall tug games seem to be fixing that. He has done very little training really since the last post but has concentrated on being a pup.

HOAX
We are finally getting back into the swing of training and I am revisiting a few things. Contacts have been a difficult thing with deciding what action to take with training for more independance and speed and she felt like she was lacking the confidence she should have. I have brought her target back in for a bit to help her focus on her position but changed her criteria to the most simple thing I can think of which I think will counteract any confusion she had. Weaves are slowly improving, I need to keep challenging her but she is feeling much sounder in them now. Pull throughs are still cr*p- must practise them!!! I am very aware of Cruft looming at the beginning of 2010 and really dont want to let my team down. I know that Hoaxey is the weakest link, not only is she the only non G7 dog (two of which are AGs) but we have way less experince than the others. Chances are it will be us that messes up but as long as we put some training in and do our best I will feel ok about it. My team mates are lovely so I know they will all be nice to us... except maybe that Toni.. (only joking before long discussions about 'over competitive' top handlers start on the forum)!

GOLDEN BALLS
Boo is always lovely, he seems sometimes to be struggling a bit more with turns and things so I am keeping an eye on him. I have done so little with him some of our basics are weak right now. I like to try and give my dogs a good rest each year. Hoax had had plenty of time off with puppies and seasons etc so I will keep her going the whole winter bar her season. Boo however hasnt had a good rest for a while so he will get the whole of December and January off.

Thatcham UKA

I was helping at this show so didnt get many runs done.

Detour and Ajaxs were both at the show and we setup the puppy pen in the secretarys tent, the pups had some initial disagreements but soon settled and played mad, crazy play games until they got grumpy and tired and we seperated them to sleep :) The show did BabyD the world of good, he has really started to come out of his shell and has loved the people, cuddes, attention and been confident meeting other dogs aswell.

I also managed to get a chance to rehearse some of his training in the mad enviroment of an Agility show, we played the 123 game and despite a few failure he held his sit while I moved away so I was really pleased with him.

Ajaxs is very well and is such a happy little man. He is looking really good and has batfink (A Riley quote)! ears and a huge coat! I have also had good reports from the other puppy owners and an update from Kim and Dan that Buzzy is doing great and Munch is naughty as ever!

Hoaxey worked well at the show, she still isnt up to full speed despite being measured into Midi there now. She bunny hops some jumps and I know when she does this that she isnt jumping at speed and is unsure. I know she jumps pretty well, fast and flat at training so I am hoping with more time in the ring, and the consistency she will get now she jumps 17"everywhere, that she will improve. She still feels like a different dog in training and in competition, my timings vary as she doesnt have the same speed in the ring but I am sure it will come without pressure. She was a good girl though winning Novice Steeplechase and moving upto Senior Steeplechase and winning that too but I know she has a lot more in her tank than she is giving.

Boo is broken a bit and will be visiting our wonderful Mctimoney Chiro: Melanie D'Avignor Hamilton tomorrow :)

Weaving on the road

Not Literally!

Hoax has been working her weave entries pretty much without faliure in the garden so I decided to take it on the road.

We went to the local park and I worked entries from both sides with the guides for a few attempts. I took the guides off and she still got fab entries whoohoo!

By no means are they fixed. Different sets of weaves affect her a lot. A small bitch without a long reach that single paces her poles is affected by the distance between each pole a lot. Her stride gets thrown out easily.

I am hoping to borrow someone elses weaves so she can practise on different gaps. We have a uka show this weekend so I am looking forward to seeing how she performs in the ring.

1-2-3 game, beautiful Munch and a rant!

Well I might be biased but I think Munch is looking fantastic :) He is definately a mini Hoax and I think is going to be quite like Grandad Kruise. He is beautiful Yvette x

Detour is definately not a beauty. He is very plain but so lovely. He makes me warmand fuzzy coz he is so sweet and thoughtful.

His training is going well and I am enjoying the challenges. I have re-read some of Susans stuff and she uses the 1-2-3 game for a prelude of waits. The idea being they hold their position until you give them a new cue, i.e. GET IT- for the tuggy toy. We are enjoying playing the game and D is starting to understand it well. I'm starting to be able to move away and taunt him a little and I can see his nose twitching and ready to get the tug- he is so funny! His failiure rate is quite low and he likes to be right but I am making sure I ask a little more after each success so he does fail still which is good :)

Susans Ruff Love book and Shaping Success have the games in in case you were wondering!

I have heard so much 'trainer bashing' lately it's quite sad. From well known trainers themselves to people who have attended their seminars or even just heard gossip through the grapevine. I'm not trying to feign total innocence, I have had a good whinge at times but as I get older and hopefully wiser I realise that no one shares their ideas because they have to. Yes they make money from it (Good on them). They have different ideas and aims. Different lifestyles with their dogs and different ways of working them. Every single one though has belief in their training. They advise, share and help as they can and they enjoy it.

We need to remember that we can read, listen and implment whatever we choose as trainers, take a bit from here and a smidgen from there. Find what works for you and enjoy it. If you don't like it, don't use it! Different isnt the same thing as wrong.

rant over!

Detours Training

I really am enjoying training Detour and trying as much shaping as possible. He isnt a bold pup by nature but odly doesnt have the same with training. He is really bold to try different things and doesnt switch off easily. I have to make myself keep the sessions short as he seems quite happy to keep going.

Each session is about two mins long if that. We do different things each session, sits, down, perch work and he is just starting hand targets athough we need to increase pressure of nose now.

He has picked up the perch work fast, after two sessions he is keeping his front feet in contact with the box and is happy to walk round with his rear feet with me walking into him although its by no means perfected yet, I am trying to move things on much faster with him as I think with my previous dogs I got stuck on rewarding each stage too much and it confused them. This time I try to ask a little more all the time, as soon as he sniffed the box I rewarded the behaviour twice, next he knocked his foot against it accidentaly so I rewarded that, so then he had to figure out how he got that last cookie and repeat the behaviour and so on. I am loving watching it all click with him!

I think that I am going to find things harder once I start training for agility with shaping things, I suspect I will mix shaping with some luring especially for speed work over straight lines and stuff.

Anyway, I am still struggling a little with shaping waits as I dont feel I am moving on fast enough. I ask him for the position then am delaying the reward. The problem is if he moves Im not really sure what to do. I say Uh oh then wait for him to offer the position again and then hold it for a bit and reward but Im note sure this is clear enough for him... hmm