And Now Back To Our Regularly Scheduled Training

Our break is over.  We have had no agility classes for the past month as we transition from summer outdoor classes to winter indoor (barn) classes.  I did take the dogs out to the agility field a couple times, but mostly we just enjoyed the break.  Bosley and I did a bit of open obedience over the past month, mostly just fun obedience games and a couple drop in classes.

Now it's time to get back to training.  Today starts the beginning of our winter training.  I have a lot of things I want to work on over the winter:  

In agility, I hope to get in some good distance training with both dogs as well as continue to work on motivation with Maggie.  Agility training is more difficult to keep up on over the winter because we can only train in class time - no luxury of having access to equipment during the days or weekends.  I also have a couple agility trials planned for the winter.

In obedience, my goal is to work with Bosley to have him ready to compete in Open Obedience in the spring.  He knows the basics of all the exercises, we just need lots of polishing and proofing.  Since we do less agility over the winter, I hope to be able to get lots of obedience work in.  It would be nice to get Maggie back into at least Rally practice again - she used to really love it.  I have pushed back my goal of finishing her CD -  maybe someday.

I also plan on keeping up with carting over the winter.  Not always an easy task if there is a lot of snow on the ground (unless I get rudders for the cart), but the next draft test in in April so we need to practice over the winter.  I know we can pass - we just need to keep practicing and work on getting through those tight areas.  I am also going to try to get Maggie in the cart over the winter.  This may be easier said than done, as she does not like the shafts touching her.  She is used to seeing Bosley pull the cart and she will walk next to the cart now (she used to run away when it moved) so she has made some progress.  I will try with her, but won't push her.

So, hopefully we can stay busy all winter so that winter will seem to fly by and it will be spring before we know it.

Buster Cube

Maggie and Bosley love the Buster Cube.  What's not to love - a toy and treats all in one.  I stuff  the cube full of kibbles and watch the fun.  

Maggie and Bosley have different techniques to get those kibbles out of the cube.  Maggie uses the nose rolling technique.  This is usually very successful.

She has got very good at rolling and chasing the cube, waiting for the treats to fall out.

However, sometimes she gets impatient, and will pick up the cube and . . . 

. . . Throw it to the floor, hoping some treats will pop out of the hole.

Bosley uses a more "paws on" approach.

He grabs the cube with his big paws and shoves it around.

"Hey treats . . . I know you're in there!  Come on out!"

Sometimes Bosley will try to use his teeth to break into the cube - so far this method has not worked so well.

Bosley's favorite technique, and the one that requires the least energy, is following Maggie around and grabbing the treats as they fall out of her cube.

Common Ancestor

There is a very informative on-line site called the Berner-Garde Foundation which collects health and pedigree information about the Bernese Mountain Dog.  It is an open site, which means that anyone can get access to the information.  Breeders and dog owners use this site to share information about their dogs in order to try help improve the health of the breed.

Both of my dogs came to me with a 4 generation pedigree and that is the pedigree that you see when you look up their information in the Berner-Garde database.  Tonight, I was looking at their pedigrees a bit further back using the Berner-Garde database, and what did I find?  Maggie and Bosley have a common ancestor.  Jerry V Rosiendlithal is a dog from Switzerland that shows up 5 generations back in Maggie's pedigree and 6 generations back in Bosley's pedigree.  I never expected to find a link in Maggie and Bosley's pedigrees, but I should not be too surprised, as Bernese have a very limited gene pool and Jerry V Rosiendlithal shows up over and over in many pedigrees.  Jerry is an FCI International/World/Swiss/Nordic/Danish Champion.  No wonder he was so popular.

Rally Obedience Fun Match

This morning, SAWHDA hosted a Rally fun match.  It was a very good turn out - there were even 2 other Berners there.  

I took both dogs today.  Maggie has not done any obedience outside the house in over a year.  She was getting too stressed in the ring and would shut down at the slightest hint that she was performing so I quit doing any obedience with her.  I thought I would see how she would do today, and she did great!  She was happy the whole time in the ring, tail wagging and focused.  Maybe she will be able to get back in the obedience ring yet.

Bosley did good today too.  We haven't practiced any Rally stuff in a very long time, so we were both a bit rusty.  I need to get better at memorizing the course and not reading the signs so much.  When I stop to read the signs (or get lost) I take my focus off Bosley and then he quits focusing on me.  We had fun.

It was a very fun way to spend the morning.

7 Groups - Dream Dogs

Amanda at ManyMuddyPaws blogged today about what dog she would pick from each of the 7 CKC/AKC groups and why. The rules of the game are that you cannot choose the breed(s) of dog that you currently own.  Here are my picks:

Group 1 - Sporting:  This is a tough group to choose from as there are so many great sporting breeds.  As much as I love some of the breeds, I would not choose a dog that loves the water.  I am not a water person (can't swim and am a bit afraid of water), so it would not be fair to have water loving breed.  So, I think I would choose one of the Setters - most likely the English Setter but I really love the Irish Setter as well.  I love the way they look - their soft expression and all that feathering.  They are also just nice, sweet dogs with calm and gentle personalities.  

Group 2 - Hounds:  I don't have too much experience with many of the hounds breeds, but of the ones that I have met or known, I would choose the Whippet.  They are such fun dogs and I love how graceful they are.

Group 3 - Working:  Oh my, this is a hard group for me to choose from.  There are so many dogs in the working group that I love  so it is hard to narrow it down to just one (beside the Berners of course).   I think I would have to choose the Doberman.  I love, love, love the look of these dogs - which is weird because I usually like the fluffy dogs - but I love the regal look of the Doberman.  I also love watching them work.  They are so focused and intense and they always seem to have an amazing connection with their owners. 

Group 4 - Terriers:  There are so many of the terriers that I really admire but I don't think that I would be the right owner for a terrier.  They say that people are like their dogs, and I don't think that I am feisty enough to own a terrier.  That being said, I would choose the Border Terrier.  I love their scruffy faces and their spunky personality.

Group 5 - Toys:  I had to think the longest about this group.  There is a lady that I have met at a few agility trials that has a really awesome long haired Chihuahua.  If I could get a dog just like hers, that is what I would choose from the toy group.

Group 6 - Non-Sporting:  I think I would choose the Keeshond.  It is my favorite of the Spitz breeds.

Group 7 - Herding:  This is another group that is very hard to choose from.  There are so many awesome dogs in the herding group - there are only a couple that I would not consider.  It is a very close decision between about 5 breeds, but I would choose the Australian Shepherd - tri-colored of course!  I like the Aussie because they are super smart and have good working drive without being too over the top intense.  They are also very beautiful.

It is fun to stop and dream about all the different dogs that I would like to own.  What would you choose?

Positive Reinforcement

This is very funny!!!  Positive reinforcement at work.

Positive Reinforcement Clip

. . . clip from the TV show "Big Bang Theory".

Pictures Of The Draft Test

Basic Cart Control Exercises

Preparing to do a right turn around the tree.

Just finished a left turn through the trees.

More basic cart control.

A "Halt" command.

Getting ready to do the figure 8 exercise.

The figure 8.

Made it through the figure 8 pattern!  What a good boy!

Ready to back-up.  Notice the back-up stick in the snow next to the wheel?  Bosley backed up 4 feet, with no problem.

Leaving the cart control ring.

Freight Haul Exercise

Getting ready to begin the freight haul.

Part of the course.

Loading the freight - 40 pounds of water.

The judge making sure the load is secure.

The narrow area where Bosley's wheel bumped the post as we were trying to make the sharp turn to the left while going down the incline.

A big thanks to Pat for taking all the great pictures!

Draft Test

Today was our Draft Test day.  We drove to Bragg Creek early this morning where we were greeted with a ground covered in snow.  Bosley's eyes almost popped out of his head when I took him out of the car. "It's Snowing!  It's Snowing!"  I wasn't sure how the day was going to progress with all the snow on the ground and falling from the sky, and Bosley's apparent joy at all the white stuff.  We have never carted in the snow and we certainly have never done obedience in the snow.  

The Draft Test is broken down into 3 parts and is a pass/fail test.  All 3 judges must give you a passing score on each section of every part of the test in order to earn a draft title. 

The first part of the test is Basic Control which involves an off-leash heeling pattern, a 1 minute stand-stay and a 3 minute group down-stay.  With all the snow on the ground, I had visions of Bosley taking off on his heeling to go roll in the snow.  I was able to keep his attention and he did some nice heel work.  His stand-stay and down-stay were perfect!  So, we passed the first part of the test.

Part 2 - basic cart control.  Harnessing and hitching - your dog must stand still while you get the harness, put the harness on then bring the cart and hitch the cart and then wait for the judges' command to continue.  We have been struggling with this part as Bosley gets excited when he sees the harness and cart and will move towards me or he will start to go as soon as he is hitched, without waiting for a command from me.  Today - he was perfect!  Next is a carting pattern with left and right turns, halt and slow commands.  The turns were around trees and over tree roots but Bosley did great.  His halt was very good, but his slow wasn't as nice as I would have liked, but it was good enough to pass.  Next is a figure 8 pattern which Bosley did no problem.  The last part of cart control is the backup.  Your dog must backup 4 feet, and should be fairly straight.  Bosley's backup was perfect - no hesitation and very straight.  We passed the second part of the test.

Part 3 - Freight Haul.  This section of the test was done over rougher terrain, up and down hills and through heavily treed areas.  We followed a course through the varying terrain until we got to our "freight"(which in today's test was a large water cooler filled with 40 pounds of water. Your dog must stop and not move until you load and secure the freight. Bosley did great with this part. We continued on the course with our load and had to go down a slight incline that was very narrow and curved sharply.  It had a post on one side and a dip on the other that lead into some trees and heavy shrubs.  I tried hard to get Bosley lined up properly, but his wheel hit the post.  Running into a solid object with your cart is a fail.  Since we were the first team to go, we didn't have the advantage of seeing the other teams negotiate this tough area.  The next two teams after us failed at this spot as well.  The last two teams managed to make it past this area but it wasn't easy for either of them.  You needed to have very good control of your dog in this freight haul section.  We finished the course and Bosley stood nice to be unloaded and unhitched.

I am so happy with how Bosley did today.  All of the things that we have been working hard at he passed easily.  I was very proud of how he did.  The Bragg Creek test seems to be known for it's higher level of difficulty (at least everyone tells me it is a tough test) so I am very happy we did so well, especially considering this was my first draft test.  Although we didn't pass this time, I am not disappointed at all.

One dog passed the test today - a very nice Bouvier who did a wonderful job.

A Spring In Her Step

It has officially been autumn for a couple weeks, but it now actually feels like autumn.  The cooler fall weather makes Maggie very happy and puts a little extra bounce in her step:

Draft Confirmation

I received our Draft Test confirmation today.  No backing out now.  I am nervous and excited at the same time.  I am excited because I really enjoy doing draft work and I am looking forward to seeing all of the other teams perform.  I am nervous because I have never even seen a draft test before, so I am not sure what to expect and I have no reference as to how well Bosley and I are doing.  To make the nerves a little worse, we are team #1 - so we get to be the first team out there.  

We won't do any hard training this week - too late for that, but I do need to work on a couple things that are giving us problems.  Mostly having Bosley stand still for the harnessing and hitching.  Since draft is a pass/fail test, even one thing like moving while being hitched can cause you to fail the entire test.  Bosley is very happy to get in his cart, so much so that he sometimes does not remember to stand still until I tell him it is time to move.  Other than that, whatever happens, happens.  I am really happy with how well Bosley has taken to carting, especially since we have been basically doing all of our training on our own.  

Precious Cargo

Yesterday, the Lethbridge and District Kennel Club hosted RDog (Responsible Dog Ownership Day).  There were many different demos going on including agility, disc dog, freestyle obedience and a demo of the Canine Good Neighbour test.   Bosley was asked to do a carting demo, which he happily agreed to.  Now what good is a carting demo, if you don't have something to pull in the cart.  Gyp graciously volunteered to to be Bosley's "freight" for the day.

(Thanks to Sarah's brother for taking the photos)

Thanks for helping us out with our demo Gyp!

What A Weekend!

What a weekend we had!  We were at an agility trial in Medicine Hat and in addition to lots of fun and some great runs, we had very hot weather on Saturday (I thought I was back in Vegas)  and then cold, windy and rainy weather on Sunday.  A total of 7 'Q's and I am still on cloud 9!

The weekend breakdown:

Bosley:

I will start with Bosley since it was his AAC debut this weekend.  He was such a good boy this weekend and had nice focus the entire weekend.

Saturday:

Starters Gamblers - 28 points in his opening.  He completed the final gamble which included a 11' send to a tunnel, but he just ran out of time.  I was thrilled with his closing, even if we didn't 'Q'.

Starters Standard - 1st and a 'Q'.  A very nice smooth run and he was 5 seconds under time despite the extreme heat.

Starters Snooker - 22 points.  We had just began our opening sequence and when I tried to wrap Bosley around the tire jump, he ducked in-between the tire and the frame.

Starters Jumpers - it was about 35 degrees celcius when Bosley was doing the jumpers course, so need less to say he was not too fast out there.  He was over time on his run, but stayed with me the whole course.

Sunday:

Starters Standard - 1st and a 'Q' and 14 seconds under time. It was cold and raining and Bosley loved it.  He was one of only two Starters dogs who qualified this run.  So many dogs had trouble with the cold wet table and the wet contacts so the 'Q' rate was low.

Starters Gamblers - Bosley had a great opening, getting two of the mini gambles.  He had 40 points in his opening!  The final gamble was quite hard for a starters course and it involved a turn away into a tunnel.  I turned Bosley away from me and he headed out to the tunnel - he looked right in it and then he started to come back to me.  I redirected him he went in the tunnel and finished the last jump, but had run out of time.  I was so happy that he did that hard gamble though - he really worked hard to figure out what I wanted him to do.

Starters Snooker - 1st and a 'Q'.  A very nice run with a total of 47 points and we made it all the way through 7 in the closing.

Maggie:

Maggie, Maggie, Maggie.  I don't think I have ever been happier with the way she has ran at a trial.  She was "up" all weekend even in the heat.  Only a few months ago she was really struggling with her jumping and even 16" was a struggle.  This weekend she only dropped one bar (which I will talk more about in a bit).  I cannot express how good it felt to run her this weekend - she was excited to be out there and was fast.

Maggie ran in 6 runs this weekend:

Saturday:

Advanced Gamblers - Maggie was a wild one on this course and we only had 13 points in the opening and the closing was a write-off.  She had fun!

Advanced Standard - 2nd and a 'Q'.  Nice run, nailed the weave pole entry.  She often struggles with time issues, but was 3 seconds under time in the heat.

Advanced Snooker - 1st and a 'Q'.  She racked up 41 points and we got to the end of the 6th obstacle.

Sunday:

Advanced Standard - it was cold and rainy and Maggie was wild!  She started out OK then got the zoomies and she even made the judge laugh with her silly antics.  

Advanced Gamblers - 2nd and a 'Q' - 66 points.  The final gamble was a serpentiny thing that involved a 16' send to a tunnel, a call a back to a jump and then a push away to another jump.  Maggie did it!  I was so amazed, I still can't believe that she did it!

Advanced Snooker - 1st and a 'Q' - 51 points. Wow!  I still can't believe this run.  This had to be the best run that Maggie and I have ever had.  I had my plan all set and then Maggie dropped the first red bar.  Crap!  Now I had to make up my opening on the fly.  Maggie was amazing on this run.  She was super fast and responded very well to my direction.  Since my original plan was out the window, all I could think was that we needed to do 3 7's (which was the teeter).  Maggie was on fire as we raced around getting our red jumps and teeters.  We headed for the closing sequence and Maggie was really moving but I was worried the time buzzer was going to go at any second so I was running faster than I think I have ever ran.  We did it!  We made it all the way to 7 with time to spare.  I can't remember ever feeling better after a run - it was really amazing to see Maggie move so fast though a whole course.  Maggie now moves to Masters Snooker.

So a good debut for Bosley and a great weekend for Maggie.

No Dogs On This Trip

Late last night, we got home from a trip to Las Vegas.  This was my 4th time in Vegas and it is always fun.  I wish I could say that I won the big jackpot and came home rich, but I just came home tired.  This time on our trip, we took a drive out to Red Rock Canyon.  It is a very nice drive through the park with lots of hiking trails.  There is even rock climbing areas for those who are a lot more adventurous than me. 

These rocks have very cool patterns in their formations.  I didn't have my camera with me on the trip, so these were taken using my Iphone, so they are not the best.  If you click the photo to make it bigger, you can see some of the patterns in the rocks.

The land goes from flat and dry to suddenly having the large rock formations seem to come out of no where.  There are supposed to be wild burros living out here in the parkland, but we didn't see any.

It was about 100 degrees when we left Vegas to drive to the Red Rock Canyon.  When we got to the park (about 1/2 hour drive) it was raining on one side of the park and only about 77 degrees.  The change in temperature was amazing, even from one side of the park to the other, there was about a 10 degree temperature change.

The dogs spent the weekend at home with Amy.  I tried not to call too often to check up.  No need to worry, the dogs were well and happy when we got home.  When we left on Thursday, their cookie jar was full because I just bought them some new treats.  When I got home last night the cookie jar was completely empty except for a few crumbs, so I guess they got spoiled when I was gone.

ACDCC Agility Trial Adventures

This weekend the Australian Cattle Dog Club of Canada hosted a CKC agility trial near Edmonton.  Amanda and I loaded up the dogs Friday afternoon and headed out.  The trial was quite small but it was fun and the weather was nearly perfect.

I was very pleased with Maggie this weekend.  She had a couple of pokey runs, but didn't try to leave the ring and she didn't refuse any jumps just because she didn't feel like jumping.  She tried hard and got a Intermediate Standard 'Q'  (1st place) on Saturday and an Excellent JWW 'Q' (1st place) on Sunday.  She should have had another Standard 'Q', but apparently when you are following the numbered cones on course, there is a number between 11 and 13.  Who knew?  Yup, I messed up her beautiful run by missing a jump.

Bosley had a good weekend too.  On Saturday he 'Q'd 3 out 4 runs, finishing his Intermediate Standard title and his Intermediate JWW title.  On Sunday he moved up to Excellent and he got a Standard 'Q' and a JWW 'Q'.  He placed 1st in all his runs except one, where he placed 2nd.  I was happy with the way he ran and except for a couple times that he gawked at what was going on  outside the ring, he was really focused.  He was a good boy and is doing really well for only his 3rd trial.

I guess I can't blog about my weekend without mentioning the ambulance ride.  Yup, that was me - hauled off in an ambulance to the hospital.  It wasn't even an agility related injury or anything.  We were packing up to leave for the day and I got stung by two wasps.  I had an allergic reaction and someone have me benadryl, but I started to feel like it was hard to swallow and my tongue felt swollen.  Luckily, there was a paramedic and nurse at the trial and they called the ambulance.  I started to feel much better while in the hospital waiting room, so I didn't wait to see a doctor - I just wanted to get home.  Thanks to everyone who helped out at the show grounds.  A big thanks to Julia and Pat who got Amanda and I safely back to Calgary.

I hope I don't have any more adventures like that.

Sharing

If Training Was Easy . . .

Maggie is not the easiest dog to train.   She is a very smart dog, but has a wild stubborn streak that goes all the way back to her puppy days.  She is also a "what's in it for me" kind of dog. It takes a lot of work on my part to keep her motivated while we are training.  

I have been having a tremendous amount of frustration with her in agility lately.  I know that she has the spunk and heart to be a good agility dog, but you can't force a dog to do agility.  Many nights I came home from class with the thought that maybe she just isn't cut out do it.  Maybe I should quit making her do agility.  But I know she can do it and I know she has fun doing it - you can see it in her face when she is running full out on course. 

 I just need to change what I am doing.  I have created a dog that thinks she needs to have a reward all the time.  If she doesn't get that reward, she doesn't see the point of playing.  So I have been changing things up in our training. 

 First, I have stopped having food rewards on my person.  Instead, I hide stashes of food around the field, and we run to the food for her reward.  This way she never knows where the food is coming from or when.  I also make sure I have a good variety of treats -some plain ones like cheese and some high value ones like stinky tuna.  

Second, I have stopped keeping her in her crate so much.  Maggie does not like to be in her crate.  She is very social and is happiest when she is out with everyone else.  When she is in her crate she just mopes.  So, how motivating is it for her when after a good run she gets stuffed back in her crate, isolated from everyone?  Not very.

Third, I need to quit comparing her to other dogs - to both the other dogs in our class and more importantly to Bosley.  I need to remember that each dog is different and everyone comes to class with their own set of issues and goals.

So far what I have been doing seems to be working.  Our last 2 agility classes have been the best classes we have had in a long time.  I am also learning when to quit training her and give her a break.   Last night, everyone in our group wanted to work on distance exercises.  I knew that this would frustate both me and Maggie, and since she had been doing so well all night, I didn't want to end on a bad note.  So we skipped that and did a bit of weaving instead.

I hope I am on the right track with her.  I don't want to give up on her - she deserves so much more than that.  

Agility Demo

Today our agility club was invited out to put on a demo for the annual Humane Society's Dog Jog.  It was a lot of fun.  We had a mini course set up, a relay race, a course with just tunnels and weaves and a 24 pole weave pole challenge.  Maggie was in the mini course and the relay and Bosley was in the mini course, the tunnel weave course and the weave challenge.

Bosley on the teeter - his feet barely stay on!

Here is Bosley in the weave challenge.  He did really well and didn't even seem to notice the extra set of 12 poles.  We didn't win however - you can't beat those Corgis and Border Collies! He did however, finish the poles in a respectable 10.7 seconds - not bad for a big boy.

A cheer for Bosley as he finishes his last pole of the challenge.

No pictures of Maggie today, but she had lots of fun - especially in the relay race.  We came oh-so-close to winning the relay, but lost by a hair in the tie-breaker 3rd heat.  Thanks to Sarah and Sarah's mom for taking the pictures today.

I video taped the 24 weave pole challenge and put together this video of all the participants.

Shoe Fetish

Bosley has a serious shoe fetish.  He absolutely adores them.  I always find shoes on his bed or on the couch.  Many mornings on my way out the door to go to work, I am searching for a shoe that Bosley has taken somewhere to admire.

He loves to hold shoes.

He loves to smell shoes.

He loves to cuddle shoes.

He loves to lay on shoes.

He thinks shoes make a great chin rest.

Bosley loves shoes.

Bad Dreams

I had a lot of trouble falling asleep last night (I am sure it had nothing to do with the long nap I had yesterday afternoon, or the can of rootbeer I drank right before I went to bed).  When I did sleep, the dreams I had were bad.  Not nightmares, but not good either.

I was at a hotel somewhere because Bosley's draft test was that day.  I couldn't find the place that the test was being held at and I was getting very stressed that I was going to be late or miss the test.  I finally found the right place, but then realized that I had forgot Bosley at the hotel, but when I went back to get him, he wasn't in the room.  I finally found him and went back to the test site, where I found everyone getting on a bus.  I made it there just in time, but I had no bungee cords to tie down the freight load and there wasn't enough time to go get them from the car. At the last minute before I got on the bus, someone told me that the cart I had was illegal to use in a test.

Do you think I am stressed about the upcoming draft test?  

Another Birthday!

Today we celebrated Go!Dog!Go!s 4th Anniversary with a fun match and pizza party.  Maggie and I started to take agility lessons not long after Sarah and Amanda started offering classes.  I have to say we were very lucky to find such a great group.   Sarah and Amanda are amazing instuctors and I couldn't imagine taking lessons anywhere else.  

For pictures of the day visit the Go! Dog! Go! Blog and the Paws On The Run Photography Blog

Happy 4th Anniversary Go! Dog! Go!