Dog Walk Woes

Well during our private lesson last night we think we have determined that Gus' problem with the DW is fear. He rushes through the thing as quickly as possible because he is afraid and the best way to deal with that fear is to get off the obstacle as quickly as possible. We spent the whole session working on back chaining the DW (full height). It went much slower than the previous session most likely because we were working on a full height DW. He really is uncomfortable with turning around on the dog walk. He especially has problems with turning around when facing towards the down side.

Our home work is to work on training the turn around on an elevated plank. I am to work this with his harness on to prevent him from strangling himself if he bails off. We will start working on this on Saturday (have to work late on Friday).

2009 Banquet Presentation

Here is the presentation as promised.

Grand Prix Course

We did a simplified Grand Prix this week. There were a few tricky areas that students had a tought time with. Specifically it was the number 6 tunnel enterance and the exit from the dog walk. The dog was looking right at the wrong enterance for the tunnel and almost every dog went off course there. As for the exit from the DW, if the handler cut laterally too soon to prevent the off course tire then the dogs were missing the contact but if they don't move soon enough then the dog was incorrectly taking the tunnel.

Gus' homework from TNC

Our last session with Debbie has me working with Gus on a "dive" under my legs to get into a down position and has hime holding it while eating. We are also working on his jumping and calming down

Flex's Homework from Session with Elicia

We meet with Elicia Calhoun to try and resolve some of Flex's escalating aggression problems and here is our home work for him:

1. When he steals something we trade the ball for instead of food.
2. Practice strangers coming over to the house.
3. Practice nose and body touch to the body wrap.
4. Work on his dishwasher issues by rewarding around the appliance and reward for the door opening and closing.
5. Reward a hand over his head.
6. Train through my legs.
7. Train under my legs.
8. Leash him for stealing.
9. Remove and crate him when he starts trying to bully the other dogs.
10. Train a nose touch to my hand.
11. One on one time.Get down on the ground with him for attention.
12. Experiment with him sleeping with just me out of the x-pen. No other dogs in the room.
13. Teach a pick up and retrieve for a reward.
14. Keep a record of any noticeable responses and any triggers for the aggression.

TTouch for Gus

So I spent the last two days working with Gus at a TTouch Seminar. All I can say is that this has been a weekend that has changed my outlook on everything. We started with Gus on edge and unable to lay down. He was hyper vigilant and barking and lunging at the other dogs. By the end of the first day he was laying down and by the end of the second he was sleeping. I was also able to put him in to a sit stay and go outside to the car. He did not move once during the whole time. People who knew Gus were amazed at his transformation. The instructor was Sage Lewis from Dancing Porcupine; she was amazing.

If you have a dog that has problems with focus or relaxation I would totally recommend this class. What a huge change in his behavior.

Important reminders for Agility

I don't remember where I got this from but this is good information to remember about Agility:

1. Run clean
2. Work every obstacle and stay focused.
3. Run my plan.
4. Trust my dog. He can do it!
5. "If you can believe it, your mind can achieve it."
6. "Concentration is the ability to think of absolutely nothing when it is absolutely necessary".

These are good to remember when you are working with your dog.

Crosses Diagram

Here is an explanation of the physical differences between the two types of crosses. The front cross moves the handler away from the dogs path and the rear cross moves the handler into the dogs path.

New USDAA Broad Jump

This is a picture of the new USDAA regulation Broad Jump. Very different from the old one. Good Dog is order new ones for the Training Locker and show trailers. We should start training this new look in the fall. We are also getting some 2 by 2 weaves to start training those.

What we've been up to...

I have been super busy with training the boys. Gus has been on a jump free agility program since our last session at Top Notch Canine. He seems to stress so much around the jumps so we are working on desensitizing him to the jumps which has been marginally successful. We continue to work on his focus and arousal levels with daily CU work. He is doing much better. We had some motion work with another dog in class last week He did pretty well but he did cut around the barrier a few times to herd Spike. I have put Gus back on the Valerian root because he was getting too excited at class again. He has responded to the restricted jumping pretty well. We have been using the manners minder device to control his problems while kenneled during Flex's class and while I am teaching the master's class. It is helping. We set it with the random dispensing feature set and he is not barking so much. I even got him to lay down and watch the other dogs doing agility. He was calm for at least part of the time.

Flex has been trying my patience in class the last few weeks. He has been unfocused and I have not been very successful in getting him back on track. We left class early yesterday because I was just too frustrated with him. Yesterday and today we have gone outside in the front yard and down to the green belt to work some CU stuff. I have also ordered a set of 12 channel weaves (from Circle S Agility) so I can start drilling the weaves in multiple locations. I am looking forward getting the TTouch class under my belt because I think that will help both of the boys.

This morning I took Flexi to the park and worked on his focus on me. He did pretty well, but the whiplash game is something we are struggling with. Gus is mmuch better at it. We need to continue workinig it. Gus and I worked on sending him to the food pouch from about 20 feet away. We worked up to that distance because at first he was not moving directly away from me to the obstacle. By the end he was doing well and there was another dog in the park which he was able to ignore it and work around. Same thing happened with Flex but I only asked for him to lay down and pay attention to me. I think it is about all he can handle just yet.

Where have I been?

I have been a the USDAA judging clinic for the last few days. I am trying to renew my judging certification and I am totally burnt right now from course designing and rules review. I thought I would take a quick break. Miss training the puppies and can't wait to get back home. Utah is very cold in April!

I will post my courses if they are reviewed positively tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Monday Night Handling Class

Well, Gus was an over the top maniac tonight. I could not get him to relax to save my life. I tried treats, massage and begging - none of them worked. He did better as he got more tired so by the last set he was doing OK - even got a dog walk contact (miracle of miracles!). Other bright spots:

1. He made all of his weave entries.
2. On the independent work set, we practiced just the weaves and he did very well.
3. Had at least one teeter performance where he wasn't sailing through the air.

What we did tonight

Well, we did some basic training tonight for the guys dinner. Gus practiced his table performance and contact behavior on the mini board. Flexi did some work on going around me and then we worked on the leave it game (from Control Unleashed). He is a very smart little Aussie.

Building Toy Drive

I found these sites on building toy drive:

http://www.clickerdogs.com/createamotivatingtoy.htm
http://clickertraining.tv/product.html?item=FREE-28
http://www.beardieagilitydiehards.org/BADagility/foodsock.html


Check them out if your dog has problems with toy motivation.

Keeping Up with Blogging

So I haven't blogged for awhile, but not because the boyz haven't been busy doing agility. Maybe it's because they have been so busy it is hard to find the time to write. We are continuing to work on the Control Unleashed program and train at Good Dog Agility and Top Notch Canines. In addition I am scheduled to go to renew my USDAA Judging certification next weekend.

I have been working on Gus' focus and calm demeanor a lot over the last few weeks. He has been having good and bad days so I have put him back on the Valerian Root but at half the dose to try and level out his behavior. This week at class we worked on weaves a lot and his contacts. We have been practicing them at home on the mini board.

As for Flex, he and I continue to work on CU at class and trying to build our relationship. I think we are making progress. A few weeks ago I won a pause table in a raffle so it is now in the family room and we are feeding meals on it lately. At this very moment, Flex is sleeping on it so I think he has developed a level of "comfort" with that obstacle.

Since my last entry I have been dealing with my retired Agility Dog's (Heidi) health problems. After a pretty big scare on the diagnosis, it was determined that she has Valley Fever this week. Her symptoms have been pain in her right rear leg. She stopped bearing weight on it a few weeks ago. Xrays revealed that she has a large calcification where her hip joint should be, a bone chip in her knee join and her fibula seems to be being eaten away. We started her on fluconaziole this week and we are hoping to see an improvement within the next few weeks. She is also on pain medication and anti-inflammatories. She was my first agility dog and there will always have a special place in my heart! The picture above is of her.

Saturday Class with the Boys

This morning was Flex's Advanced Beginner's class and then we ran a Snooker course at Fun & Games. My goal with Flex this morning was to work on his focus and attention on me rather than sniffing and paying attention to everyone else. We spent a lot of time doing mat work and I was asking him for eye contact. He complied most of the time. I also worked on the go sniff game so that he would learn that he will be rewarded for paying attention to me. This was the first time for him on this game so it is still a work in progress. By the end of class I had pretty good focus on me and when I sent him to sniff he started to come back very quickly. He did well on most of the sets, except the weaves which were a struggle again. We need to practice his weaves in other places besides the living room so he can translate this skill.

During the snooker run Gus handled like a dream! He was super attuned to my body language and followed my plan exactly. I even got a couple of weaves out of him! He was a remarkably calm while waiting for his turn. He would occasionally look at the other dogs who were running and then check back in with me. He did not lunge or bark. He was calm and let me do the t-touch on him. He has made tremendous progress in just a few short weeks.

When it was Gus' turn he was pretty calm at the start line and cleared the first jump! We took the red jump at the right of the diagram and then went over jump 4. I pulled him to the left over the red jump that was net to it and sent him into the left hand side of the tunnel by doing a rear cross (RC) there. I then pulled him around to send him out of the last red jump. I wrapped him him to the his left around that jump and then sent him into the tunnel again. Once he came out of the tunnel I turned him around and sent him back into the tunnel to start the closing. He shot out of the tunnel and i was able to pull him with me over jump three and easily around to four. He hit the Aframe hard and I was on his left so as he came off the frame I sent him over the first jump of the number 6 combo and rear crossed him there. He easily did the pinwheel with out me being into the middle of the pinwheel. He also pulled around to the 3rd jump very nicely and headed to the weaves. He hit the entry and then bypassed the rest of the poles. I called him back and though he missed the entry this time he did about 6 poles with correct footwork. We called this a success and left the course.

Gus and Flex Update

Wow! What a week. I have been super busy and have neglected to post for almost 7 days! Anyway I am making progress with both dogs on this new training regime.

On Saturday I took Flex to his Advanced Beginner's class and our goal was to work on his focus on me rather than everything else. It was a bit of a struggle at first but he settled in and did much better by the 3rd set. I forgot to bring the mat so we had to just work on laying down on the ground. I have been working hard on getting him to look me in the face since this has been a struggle for him since the day I brought him home. He is now freely offering eye contact when he is laying on his mat. After Flexi's class I spent about 10 minutes working with Gus while we waited for our turn during the Fun Run. He was having a tough time even though we were at least 40 feet away from the equipment and action. After Flex's run, i took Gus out and worked on some TTouch with him. OMG what a difference that made. We went to the line and I had a very calm Gus. I still had someone hold him (to minimize the stress) and he ran ok. Wouldn't weave and knocked a bunch of bars, but he paid attention to me and was not trying to bit me on course.

We continued to work on the ttouch and mat work through the weekend. Then Monday night I took Gus to Handler's Class and he was bananas at first. We spent a lot of time working on his down while waiting for others. He got better by the end of the night. We then worked on being quiet while I taught the Masters class. We made some small progress.

Then Tuesday I took Gus to Billie's for the Control Unleashed class. He was soooo much better this week than last. He was able to walk around the equipment and focus on me. He would look at the tunnels and jumps and then focus back on me. It was impressive. Others commented on his progress.

Control Unleashed - Part 2

So feeding time is over. Gus went first and I worked him on the mat. I required him to lay down and tried to click for relaxation. He would not relax for very long. I tried to keep the reward rate really high so that he did not have to think too much but it was hard. He was inclined to jump up after each bite, so I tried to keep rapid fire with the kibble so that he relaxed and stayed put. This is going to take a few sessions.

Flex on the other hand did pretty well. He figured out very quickly that I was going to treat for him being on the mat. Then he moved to laying down. I rapid fired the kibble for a few handfuls and then I started to shape him looking me in the face. He picked up on it very quickly. By the end of the session he was relaxing into the down and making eye contact for short periods of time (less than 1 sec). I really think that this work is going to help Flexi. He gets pretty stressed when I ask him to do some things so this relaxation work should really help him out.

Control Unleashed

OK, I am re-reading Control Unleashed after having worked with Debbie for a few months and I have a totally different take on things. The first time I read the book I didn't see Gus as having a problem. Boy was I wrong! Now, I see both Gus and Flex in this book and they will both benefit from these exercises. So effectively immediately they are on the CU Program. I have read the introduction and the first night of class work so far and we will begin to implement this training tonight at dinner. To night's plan is to train them both to lay on the mat and be calm to get their kibble. I will post again after this activity is complete.

Wednesday Training

Tonight I feed Flex and Gus their dinner for working with me. Gus' job was to lay on his mat and be calm. This was extremely difficult for him. Basically we were not successful. The Control Unleashed book arrived and I will start reading it tonight.

With Flex we worked on weaving (both on and off sides) and he was pretty successful with it. 6 poles in the living room is his thing. He did struggle with finding the entry when he is off side and needs to wrap around that first pole (see diagram) so we did quite a few repetitions of him going around that pole, C&T (click and treat). After about 5 he got the idea.

Tuesday training

So today we had two different classes for the Gus man! He started off bright and early going out to Billie's to start his Control Unleashed (CU) class. Because this was a new environment for him, we basically worked on getting him to lay on his mat in a calm fashion for an entire hour. Boy was that challenging! He was hyper alert the entire time. Billie gave me some additional reading materials and explained how the class works. She also recommended that I try giving him peanut butter to help him learn to ignore everything around him. I smeared it on his nose and muzzle (her recommendation) and he pretty much ignored everything else for five minutes.

Homework: Start reading the book. Work on his calming and re-orientation to me at home in a non-stressful environment.

After spending the day at Val's while I went to work, I picked Gus up for the trek out to Debbie's facility for his next training session. We talked about his last (disastrous) visit to Top Notch and then his class at Billie's. Debbie showed me some basics of TTouch and she spent about 5 minutes performing it on Gus to see if he would relax. For the most part he does not yet relax when this is done to him. Then we worked on his jumping and his stays. We are having problems progressing on the jump work because the stay is stressing him out so much. Debbie also introduced the single jump work for me to work on at home with him. For the most part his focus was pretty off. Debbie was not sure if this was from the set back we had at his last visit there or if his brain was fried from the early morning session at CU Class. Either way we are going to try and limit his training sessions to 2 minutes next time we are there to see if that improves.

Homework: TTouch work at home. Single jump wraps & RX from 5, 10 and 20 feet all on the same side. Continue to work his send to pouch and jump grids at 6".

Good Dog Show - Day 2

Well, today Gus had pairs with his buddy Ender and Snooker. His pairs run was fabulous! He did it with enthusiasm and worked well with me. He did have a fly off on the teeter (what a surprise) but I kind of expected that. He came flying out of the tunnel and hit his weave entry but popped out after 4 poles. I was really thrilled with his weave entry so I let him move on without forcing the issue. No point in stressing him out. Ender did well too. He refused to do the Aframe but otherwise he stayed with Kelly which was a huge plus.

Snooker was another matter! The course I planned tried to minimize his jumping which meant lots of tunnels. I lined him up looking right at the 1st tunnel and of course he knocked that first jump bar. There was no chance of me calling him off of the tunnel so we were whistled off with 0 points! Oh well. Better luck next time. I will scan and post the course maps later this week.

Good Dog Show - Day 1

Gus had 2 runs today - jumpers and gamblers. He did OK on jumpers but we had some miscues and an off course.





His gamblers run was better but I messed it up and he didn't get the gamble. As he went over the first jump in the gamble i heard him tick the bar so I assumed he knocked it. Nope - it stayed up! Of course since i thought he knocked the bar I kind have did an RFP to get him into the correct tunnel entrance but he ignored it since it wasn't a very good one and he took the wrong entrance. Needless to say that when he came out of the tunnel and went over the next two jumps with out knocking the bar I was ready to kick myself for quiting. That lost Q was totally my fault! He did beautiful. Anyway he still had enough points in the opening to take 3rd place. Go Gussie!!!

Wonder Drug?

I started Gus on Valerian Root this week and this morning I dremmeled his nails. Wow what a difference! He was calm and sat still for me while I did his nails. I can't believe how different he was this time as opposed to the last 100 times I did his nails. He was yawning a lot which tells me he was stressed about having this done but at least he didn't have a full on panic attack over it. Can't wait to see how he is over the weekend at the trial.

Monday Night Class

Well Gus and I missed class last night because I threw my back out getting out of the shower. So I watched Susan Garrett's Crate Games and then started with Phase I and Phase II with Flex. It was very difficult because I needed to bend over so I couldn't work him too long. Thankfully he caught on very quickly. We ran into problems with the addition of his leash because he gets very excited when he sees it. He also has a very difficult time with me putting on his leash and taking it off. We are going to work that for the next couple of days because he needs to be able to be calm during that activity. Gus starts his Control Unleashed class in a week and he has been happily taking the Valerian root. We see if this work helps him.

Saturday Agility

Well the morning started off with Flex's Advanced Beginner's class. We worked on the following:

1. Set 1 - weaves into tunnel or chute. Flex did OK but struggled with weaving at first. After a few minutes he settled into the excitement and was able to weave. He had no problem with the chute or the tunnel.


2. Set 2 - Send to the table. Flexi did very well on this exercise. He does a good job of downing when he gets on the table and then staying. He is still pretty velcro so I have to be moving forward to get him to continue on to the table.


3. Set 3 - Teeter entries. Flex did well with the teeter and his two on two off contact. He did not seem to have the problems that we say last weekend with completing the teeter. He is slowing down and the tip point but for the most part he does not seem to be afraid of the teeter again.


4. Set 4 - Send to a recall over 5 jumps. Flex had lost his focus by the time we got to this set. He kept running around the set of jumps rather than jump them to come to me. I tried back chaining this with him to get him more comfortable but there was not enough time in class to do this properly. We need to practice this at home.

After class I participated in the Fun and Games class with Flex and Gus. Gus ran twice and Flex I only ran once. I worked on keeping Gussie calm before his turn. He was doing pretty well so we moved closer to the first obstacle (chute - see diagram) and was able to get about 10 feet from it before he had trouble remaining calm. We backed a few more feet away and worked on heavy rewards for him focusing on me and not lunging at the other dogs. When it was his turn I started with him at the weaves, on leash so that he completed them. Then I let him off leash and ran the rest of the course. We skipped the teeter since we are retraining that obstacle. He got on the table for me which was a nice improvement and he left quite a few bars up for his run.

Flexi's run was calm and for the most part good. I ran him on the long line to ensure that he stayed with me. He did pretty well with not sniffing on his first run but I didn't want to push it with him so we did not run again.

I crated the boys farther away from the field so that it might help keep Gussie more calm. It seemed to help a little. I also started him on the Valerian root today so we will see how he does at classes this week and at the show next weekend.

Thursday Night's Fiasco

Well Gus was a complete maniac last night. We went to Top Notch for a "coached walk through" class and he was completely unable to remain calm. He started off barking while in his kennel which has had stopped for the most part while there. Then I brought him out and tried to work with him on remaining calm while the other dogs were running. I was able to get him to lay down and I clicked every time he would look away. This seemed to keep him sort of calm until it was his turn. Then he wouldn't hold his stay at the start line and refused to weave. Debbie suggested that I take off to the side and click him for looking to try and calm him down. Unfortunately this only seemed to escalate him. The longer we were off to the side the more he screamed like a banshee and lunged at the other dogs. Finally Debbie suggested I take him in the office to try and calm him down where he couldn't see the other dogs running. Unfortunately he could still hear them so that didn't really calm him too much.

At this point Gus and I left because there was no way that I could work with him when he was in such a state. Because I was treating him so heavily and he was so crazed, he got sick on the drive home. He was lethargic for the rest of the evening and got sick once more after I went to bed. This morning he continued to be lethargic. Obviously this behavior is not healthily for him. Going forward we will restrict his exposure at Top Notch to private lessons until I have done more conditioning with him. Debbie also suggested that I try him on Valerian Root and see about getting him into a Control Unleashed class that is being offered in town.

Tuesday Night Private Lesson with Gussie

This week's private lesson with Debbie went pretty well. We spent a lot of time walking Gus around the equipment and rewarding him for looking at something and then coming back to me. The goal was to get him to calm down around the toys and check in with me. He was definitely making improvements in this and started to catch on to the game. We also worked on his weaves around other pieces of equipment. He is weaving so much better and so we started to add other pieces of equipment into the mix. Gussie was definitely having issues with adding the speed into the mix and still weaving. We lower the criteria down so he just needed to get the entrance and then one pole. Debbie definitely saw some handling mistakes that I was making so we worked on those:

1. Spinning him into the first obstacle (in this case a tunnel) was getting him too excited. I am to stop doing this and we need to work on a finish command to get Gus to line up with me before a sequence rather than the spin move we have been doing. I practiced with a telephone book and a target stick.

2. I was pushing him out too far with my motion and he was going wide around a jump so Debbie had me stay still and just signal the jump with an outstretched arm. This made a dramatic improvement for Gus.

3. I also needed to signal the weaves before he took off for the jump ahead of it because he was landing and unable to collect to make the entry and the 2nd pole if I didn't.

In addition to this work we looked at the progression on the paint stick targeting that we are working on for his contact performance.

The weave exercise that we did is pictured here. It was a natural flow from the tunnel over the two jumps to the weaves.

This is a novice course that we did at Fun and Games on Saturday. I started Gus at the weaves because he does better when he is not over the top excited before he weaves. Unfortunately, it did not help at all. He was still a wild man and could not focus on the weaves. finally I put his leash on him so that he would focus and weave. we practiced his weaves off to the side between turns and he was really fighting me on doing all 12 poles. Finally I rewarded him heavily when he did it correctly. We also practiced his table performance off to the side. He did better this weekend on that as compared to last weekend. He is offering a down and staying there, except that I can't seem to treat him in the correct spot because he keeps lifting his butt off the table to eat the treat.

Flex did pretty well the first time through but he started to refuse the teeter on his second turn. After the class we did a number of teeter turns to get him more comfortable. He did ok, but I need to focus on this teeter issue so it does not become a chronic issue for him.

This is the standard course we ran last night int he Intermediate class. I brought Gus along since his class on Monday night was cancelled. He ran like a maniac as usual. The obstacle discrimination at the dog walk was terribly hard for all of the dogs including Gus. He just wanted that tunnel. I tried an RFP but it just wasn't working. In addition he had built up some much speed at jumps 3 and 4 that he was just unable to slow down and focus on the weaves. Same thing happened at the table. He just doesn't understand why I am asking him to stop and lay down when it is totally obvious that there is a tunnel over there that needs to be run through. Last night he basically stood at the tunnel entrance and refused to come back and do the table. He just looked from me to the tunnel a bunch of times. We also skipped the teeter because I have been working with Debbie to fix his teeter performance.

Class was cancelled

So we were supposed to have class tonight but we had to cancel class because the city didn't give us lights. I practiced with Gus on the weaves in the living room and we also worked on a new behavior - paw on a paint stick. Debbie had advised this is a first step towards a new contact behavior that I want to try with the Gus Man.

I am also posting a new picture of Flexi and me. It was taken at his Beginner's class graduation.