Don't tell me people actually took a holiday off? LOL

Take a day off training? who, us?

I put a couple pictures on my blog of the Christmas Eve romp in the field that my dogs dogs enjoyed http://k9knitter.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-christmas.html

Other than that they had a couple of nice chuckit sessions

I did get back to business and they both did short searches inthe woods yesterday - about 8 acres.

Today all Ryuk and I did was nose games on the woodpile, we worked on both retrieving my "lost" item as well as indicating where it is barking. I forgot to give the "find and indicate" command for an item hidden deep into the pile and Ryuk actually climbed in and up a 1ftX1ft tunnel, got to the crawlspace area I'd dropped the item into (about 2ft wide, 1ft tall), got the item, turned around and came out...I was very surprised, it's pitch dark in there and Ryuk's never been in tight enclosed areas.

Gambit and I did some fun OB stuff and worked on two long downs and some heeling on inclined surfaces.

 Quote: Jamie Craig

.... Ryuk actually climbed in and up a 1ftX1ft tunnel, got to the crawlspace area I'd dropped the item into (about 2ft wide, 1ft tall), got the item, turned around and came out...I was very surprised, it's pitch dark in there and Ryuk's never been in tight enclosed areas.

That is pretty impressive!

 Quote: Mara Jessup

Take a day off training? who, us?

I put a couple pictures on my blog of the Christmas Eve romp in the field that my dogs dogs enjoyed http://k9knitter.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-christmas.html

Other than that they had a couple of nice chuckit sessions

I did get back to business and they both did short searches inthe woods yesterday - about 8 acres.

Nice pictures.

 Quote: Jenny Arntzen

Today was about handler error and recovering a loose dog. I managed, through my own fault, to pull Jethro's collar off, while he was on a long line. It didn't take him long to realize he was off lead and there was nothing I could do about it. He took off on a fresh deer scent and disappeared behind the neighbour's house across the road. He ignored my calls, so I gave up and went back to the cabin to get a less conspicuous leash and a big chunk of cooked liver.

He came back once, almost within reach, but then dashed off again. I was calling his name, so he knew where I was.

Finally, I saw him in the front yard of the neighbour's house. I held out this huge piece of liver and coaxed him in and he let me catch him. My shaking hands quickly snaked the leash around his neck and I walked him home.

The whole incident was so freaking awful and I was completely upset. I was worried he would do something absolutely terrible. He was so pleased when he came in. The whole thing probably took about 10 or 15 minutes.

The irony is that, as we headed out in the yard to play, I noticed that I only had him attached to his flat collar, I had no backup harness on him. Damn. If I had listened to myself, I would have avoided the whole incident.

I have no idea how much I have set him back with this little burst of freedom.

This kind of scare can actually work out for the best.

A couple of years ago my most recent acquisition followed a visitor when she was leaving. (The visitor was the woman who had fostered him before I took him.) He squeezed under the gate that she had closed and followed her right into the street and across the street to where her car was parked.

This was terrifying, needless to say. And it woke me up in one blinding flash how much more proofing we had to do on his recall under distraction.

100% my fault. 100% my error if he had been hit by a car. 100% stupid that I had allowed him into the yard off leash, knowing that he could fit under the gate and relying on the training we had done so far on not going under it.

He had been reliable about not going under the gate, but I hadn't proofed him with a HL distraction like a favorite human going out through the gate.

You can imagine how much work I immediately started doing on his recall and fence behavior. And how grateful I was that I learned the lesson without getting my dog killed.

" I held out this huge piece of liver and coaxed him in and he let me catch him. My shaking hands quickly snaked the leash around his neck and I walked him home."

This is where you remember never ever to correct a dog at this stage when he finally does come, no matter how many evasions he did or how long it took.

If I might make a suggestion, I would start using the recall for every single good thing in his life. I'd start indoors with him very close to me and a very HV reward in my hand. I'd think out each event beforehand so there would never be a time when he might decide not to comply when I have no backup. Outdoors, I would have him on a long line so I could reel him in if necessary, but my basic plan at the beginning would be for the dog to learn that the recall is good and complying is always in his best interest. That is, the long-line reel-in would be something I would not really want to have to use .... it's insurance only.

I wouldn't use the recall for any less pleasant events at this stage. To do a "procedure" (ears, bath, whatever) or to end a game or anything like this, I'd just go get the dog.

The recall is cemented in the dog's mind as the harbinger of good things.


I'd introduce distractions very gradually, and the rewards in this phase would be wonderful when the dog resisted a distraction to come to me.


You lucked out just like I did, by getting the terrifying lesson without losing your dog.

We worked on horse manners and how to respect cats (finally) at the new barn that allows people to bring their dogs. I had the e-collar on for voice control and he made a bee-line for the cat. My cats take off and never did lay down the law when he was a pup, and it's holy hell getting him to stop chasing and drooling on them. 10 seconds after he made contact with the cat he was running away with his tail tucked and kept shooting the cat dirty looks from at least 20 feet away after that.
He also learned that horses kick, and that snapping at them is a sure fire way to have a hoof flying at your face. He attempted to bite my horse on the face and Grant let him have it right between the ears. There wasn't full contact, but it definitely hurt!
We also worked on 'be quiet in the horse stall while I'm riding' and 'lay down right there and don't budge.' A very fun day!

Just the usual BH prep work tonight.

Last night I worked on teaching Kenzi to roll up a rug. I started out with a large cardboard tube and got her to bump it with her nose. Which was harder than I thought it would be because she wanted to grab and hold it (last pet trick we work on was retrieving random objects).

So I put it on the floor and rewarded interest in the tube and pretty quickly she was bumping it with her nose and rolling it very consistently. Tried adding in the rug but it confused her again (we've also worked on go to the mat and chill). She'd lay down near it and put her feet on it. So I went back to the cardboard tube.

Need to ponder this a while and figure out how to train switching over to the rug....