Up at 5:00am to track Danni before I go to work at 7:30. Gonna be an extra coffee day!

 Quote: Katie Finlay

Up at 5:00am to track Danni before I go to work at 7:30. Gonna be an extra coffee day!

Those 5 a.m. FST days ..... my dog knew (I assume from the very early arising) that it was his day to go do FST with just him and me, and he'd wait by the door as soon as breakfast and potties were done.

 Quote: Jenny Arntzen

Not only that, but he stopped barking and lunging at a regular dog we pass who charges and barks up and down his fence. Jethro actually stopped and looked at me for direction and we walked away with our dignity intact.

Soon he will just sneer condescendingly at the fence-fighter as he marches on by.

I swear that my "recovering reactive" rescue holds his head higher and looks superior when he's marching past the dogs he used to flip out over.

It makes my day every time, and it always will. Desensitizing work is (IMO) never wasted work.

Obedience class tonight. It's Rally Obedience this time (we rotate between traditional obedience and rally every other week).

Spent the entire day in petco working on public OB with both Ryuk and Gambit. Practiced a lot of long downs with distraction. I had Ryuk on a harness with the double leash clip attached to Gambit's flat collar (to help remind him to stay in place when I ducked around a corner. By the end of the day Gambit was doing long downs with distraction on his own (I played tug with Ryuk while Gambit downed, then told Ryuk to "out" and down and released Gambit for a tug reward and kept switching off). We also worked on "I don't care who peed on the display right next to you you are to keep your eyes and nose in my direction when you are in a down" with Gambit.

Ryuk and I did a lot of heel work, Gambit got a few more loose leash walking lessons with marker training on a flat collar under distractions. I also (for fun) told Ryuk and Gambit to heel at the same time and was very amused watching them try to figure out how to both fit in the heel position (Ryuk settled for heeling "under" Gambit in a crouched position with his head poking out between Gambit's front legs).

We also worked on loose leash walking with the leash splitter (which is the best invention EVER). At this point it's no longer like hooking up sled dogs (though I admit, I'm tempted to stick them in harnesses, hook them up to a bike and see what happens) and they've stopped jerking each other around. We also practiced bathroom breaks with it on and no one's peeing on anyone else's head or legs which is nice *cough* GAMBIT *cough*

It's scary what low standards people have for "well behaved dogs" around here. This woman was completely amazed the both dogs sat when I told them to and one of the store associates could not believe that both dogs would take turns squeezing into a to small crate when asked (actually, the first time I was having Ryuk do it, but Gambit thought it was a fun game so we did some games using a 28 inch long crate that was part of a "what is the right size of crate" display). People were also shocked when neither dog reacted to getting barked at by a puppy.....that's all it takes to impress people....geesh, I should start my own dog trick show....

overall Ryuk was spot on today, Gambit did very nice as well (with a bit of expected puppy selective hearing early in the day).

FABULOUS!!!!

I want this: " We also practiced bathroom breaks with it on and no one's peeing on anyone else's head or legs which is nice" ....

Jamie, Gambit struck gold when he 'found' YOU!!!

It's so wonderfully heart warming to hear happy, fun, loving posts about this puppy. FINALLY!

A very Merry Christmas to you & 'the boys'.


NOW TO STAY ON TOPIC topic.....

Worked on heeling backward & brushing up on downs on send outs with the boy & heeling & downs in motion with the girl and just fun fetching their balls for both. All while under distraction of the middle school gym class...some of which were jogging the perimiter of the field around us & others running screaming & kicking soccer balls past us. We were in the center of the field. Love the fact that my dogs could care less about any of that going on while working.

I feel like such a slacker now - especialy after Katie and Jamie...

I was gone all day long (family event) and all the dogs got today were two short runs. I will make it up to them tomorrow.

I'm super proud of myself tonight. It is a dark, windy night and we are on this island with lots of strange sounds as things squeek and toss in the shadows. I have started watching Grischa Stewart's Organic Socialization: BAT for Aggression and Fear in Dogs. She suggested using part of the dog's food allocation for treats and use them freely in high distraction situations. So, instead of putting the MM allocation into the dogs' dinner, I boiled it up and cut it into bite size chunks. I tried to apportion the treats 1:4 Skipper:Jethro.

Our whole after-dark potty break was training in the windy dark. I had Jethro on a double lead, Skipper didn't need any lead because he knew I had the treats. My success was getting Jethro to take a big pee (modest, but progress! : ). We walked around the yard, getting from one tree to another, and then back to the cabin. I used the Touch game - with my open palm. I put them both in a Sit, Wait, and backed up to the end of Jethro's 12' training leash. Then I put my palm face front on my thigh and said, "Jethro, Touch" and both dogs came running up to touch for treats. This activity definitely kept Jethro's attention and reduced his imaginary ghosts and ghoulies in the dark.

And now he is flat out on the floor, as if we just ran a marathon. I feel so much better.

 Quote: Anne Jones

Jamie, Gambit struck gold when he 'found' YOU!!!

This is a fun thread. It's nice to hear what everybody doing and a real treat to read about Gambit this way. What a wonderful thing you've done Jaimie.

I haven't contributed yet but have few minutes tonight so here goes:

Vince -Handshake command. I've never been more in tune with training a dog (or husband) than I have with this command.

Hubby is now at an acceptable level (I swear he has ADD and Vince thinks he’s just a big play toy). When I finally did get Bob acting stoic and stranger like (a few weeks back) it was so interesting.

The first concerted effort Bob made, he finally got it and said, "Ummm, he's staring me right in the eyes and it looks like he's going to get mad." Of course I'm thinking, no kidding Clouseau, what do you think we're working on? I really didn't think it was going to be this strong with Bob but Vince has had him pegged from day one and Bob's never really presented, what Vince considers, a confrontational position. I told him to just stand there, stay calm and look at me.

I could go into a lot more detail if anyone wants to hear it but we're at a point now where Vince sits calmly by my side as our hands connect and Bob is staring right at him. Vince still does not take his eyes off him though (and he likes Bob). We’re continuing to work on this. I can get Bob engaged every second or third day but not for more than 2 or 3 minutes, he is coming along nicely though. Vince could easily work on this every day.

I'm thinking about introducing his "Look" at me with this, but I've got to think that one through. Do I want him looking at me or calmly looking at the stranger before and when the hands connect in order to produce that end reward? He's still quite intent on the hand connection too.

In any case, the most intriguing (to me) command I've ever worked on. And it's probably just the dog I'm working with but I think we're hitting the nail right on the head with this. I owe you big time Ana.

Echo - 138 lbs, is learning that all Jack Russell's are not uncontrollable little demons and you don't have to go into a submissive crawl when one approaches. There was a really nice little female therapy dog he met at the assisted living home today and we didn't even lose the tail. He's never had any kind of altercation with a dog, but he just doesn't understand the energy these little guys bound around with.

He also learned that Santa's knee is not a squeaky toy. You'd of thought I was telling him to "Touch" with the little nose punches Santa's knee got. I brought him up to him because he was showing some curiosity and sure enough, just as I thought, the fuzzy suit would translate to a stuffy. Santa ended up with a kiss though (you'd have to understand Echo).

Garrett - he often gets to ride in the front seat of the Xterra, (short jaunts around town, it's quite safe). Much roomier than the Jeep and because he's such a fanatically clean little guy. We call this "Shotgun". I give him the command and goes straight to the passenger side door but we're working on a little more effort in getting in. I don't mind helping the butt end up onto the seat (he's not too coordinated and pretty feeble) but he can easily get on the floor. So "Shotgun Up" is saving a lot of wear and tear on my back.

I think that's it for the highlights this past week.