The Holidays makes us lazy - New Years Resolution - Train!

There have been so many things going on in our lives right now, that training has been put on the back burner. Losing my wonderful father-in-law, the Holidays (which were not as fun this year). Training has been the last thing any of us want to tackle. Hard on the dog I think, but it will be much harder on Mike and I when we have to deal with back-sliding behaviors.

Today we start the first of the three classes I have Lady enrolled in this session. Nothing says obsession like enrolling your dog in classes. And then there is the Indoor Facility that we joined, which for the record was wonderful, just kind of obsessive. I know, I have a problem.

I am excited for tonights class however, because we are going back to basics to work on directionals. Pretty much, directionals are the whole reason Mike and I will be at level 2 for awhile. I am trying to shoot for only repeating level 2, two more times. We'll see, Mike and I do not train very well!! In addition to us learning directionals, the dog learns as well, and she seems to pick up stuff faster than her human counterparts.

Of course Lady is taking her acting classes and Mike and I have "hope eternal" that we can desensitize her to just about everything so she can take her "screen test".

Rain busts training

Well our training has been spotty lately, we have been rained out. The powers that be promised a dry mild winter and we have been hit with rain and the higher elevations with snow, since before Halloween. Normally I rejoice whenever it rains, but i have shucked out a few shekels for Lady's classes and like to be able to attend them once in awhile. We have makeup classes on Saturday, but this Saturday the forecast is ... you guessed it, rain.

The last time we went to Agility we had a very advanced course and it was quite a challenge. Of course Mike didn't really appreciate the difficulty since he was the one who had to execute the run. My surgery is in a few weeks and then I am on the injured list until the first of March. I'll have a brief window of running until my next surgery in April. I miss running Lady in Agility and Mike gets to have all the fun. Mike does not see it quite the way I do, but he is a trooper filling in for me.

Happily, I can still work with Lady in Shaping behaviors. We are working on crawling, bowing and limping. I have worked up a plan to teach her dance moves using targets. I am also planning on teaching her to shake her head no. Just have to get the other behaviors down first. Also, huge socialization. Lots of work to do. It will be easier once we are through the Holidays!

Nosey

I have been working hard to train Lady to perform the trick "Nosey". It is a really cute trick and Lady picked it up quickly. See the video.

Shaping Behaviors - Dog or Human?

I will always maintain, that all of this "dog" training has ultimately been "human" training. A person does not discover how little they know about dogs and how our behavior effects them, until they start some sort of dog training program. Lady and I started a new Shaping Behaviors class last (on Halloween of all nights) night. I love this class, because it is dog training at it's purest.

Lady did quite well, the trick we are learning is for the dog to brush it's paw across his or her nose (I think we only have girl dogs in our class). This involves taping a piece of tape on the dog's face and when they try to brush it off, you click and treat. I accidentally pushed the tape too hard and spent the next portion of the exercise wrestling the dog to get her to brush something off her nose.

Lady did do well at her sit and holds and lie down and holds. I was proud of her.

Completed Level 2

Well, I haven't posted in awhile, life had been busy. Lady just completed her first session in Level 2. We will be repeating Level 2 a few more times. Mike and I need to learn our front crosses and back crosses and then of course there are the blind crosses. Holy Crosses Batman! Lady is doing well, despite our giving her incorrect commands. I think Mike and I are directionally challenged. Mike has been running Lady of late since my knees have been messed up, and has been having to embrace Agility, despite the fact that he has no interest in the sport. That is a good man. We're clicker training him!

No rest for the wicked however, Lady will be in two classes this session; Shaping Behaviors on Monday and Level 2 Agility on Tuesdays. The best part about these classes is we will be going at 6pm instead of 8! Lady is still trying to learn enough tricks so that she can audition for the Pet Agent. Someone needs to make money in this Family!

Mike's turn at bat or dog in this case

Mike is pinch-hitting for me in agility while I am on the bench with a knee injury. Sadly I cannot say I was hurt in any other way but a stupid way. Anywhooooo...Mike suffered the front crosses like a pro, well like a pro in training. He was nervous but pulled through like a trooper. I am counting on him to actually GET front crosses so he can teach me. Lady was fabulous. I love watching that dog jump. It is an interesting dichotomy that the dog is ready for the course, but we are not. Lady knows what to do and is waiting for the cue to initiate her run. Things to work on: front crosses. If you see me run in front of you and guide to another area, I am practicing front crosses. If I fall over a dog or another person, odds are that I am drunk.

Dog Sailing

We had our "make-up" class last night because it actually rained in Phoenix and we couldn't have our class last Tuesday.

This photo is of Lady "sailing" over a 22" jump. Mike and I were talking about how far she has come in her training and it dawned on us that she has only been doing Agility for 3 1/2 months. Jumps never pose a problem and after her muscles are use to 22" we will move up to 24". Lady is at the perfect age for all this activity. For a dog her size, it takes 2 years for her growth plates to close up. From what I understand, larger dogs take longer. I am learning quite a bit about dogs in MY three months of agility.

Lady spent pretty much the first 2 years of her life in her crate and had virtually no training. I often wonder if she considers living with us "Boot Camp". I do feel somewhat like a drill sergeant, and have learned not to utter the "W" (WORK) word around Lady.

Sadly, Lady has to put up with an incompetent handler, I will call her Diane. She's a good sport and if a hot dog bit is coming her way, she is most forgiving. I, on the other hand am starting to dream about front crosses and rear crosses. I do not execute them accurately in my dreams either, in case you are wondering!

Level 2 Agility away we go

Last week Lady had her first level 2 agility class. The work we had to do just to get there. Not resting on our laurel's however, more hard work ahead I fear (or Lady fears since she hates to work).

We arrived at our class last week full of high hopes and excitement. Kama handed me a map and all excitement went flying over the field. I had flashbacks of the time Mike got me "Speed Kart" lessons for my birthday. My feelings were pretty much the same, sans the helmet. If I am nervous, I forget pretty much everything except being nervous. FC's and RC's - Whaaatttt are those? I had only done an FC (Front Cross) once and the RC (Rear Cross), well I had read about them, but hadn't put theory to practice. Crickey. Add to that, a whole course - geeze. Add to that Lady had not gone over an A-Frame and Dog Walk in weeks. With my panic and Lady's general "I hate to work" attitude, humiliation was going to be my evening.

I was listening to all the other dog wranglers and they were talking the talk and sounded like they knew so much more than my dog and I - we were toast. Proof is in the pudding my friends. Lady didn't have a great first run, but neither did any of the other dogs. Well perhaps the first dog that went, she was "okay". I felt so much better once it became evident that no one had perfect dogs. Lesson learned: Lady likes jumps and the A-Frame. No hesitations, she really had fun. Our second run was pretty darn good, not flawless by any means, but I was happy.

This dog has come a long way since March 8th (the day we adopted her). She works hard despite the fact that she would rather lay around the house. She works to please me. I am so happy that I can make a difference in this dog's life. She is a good dog; a sweet dog and she deserves to have a life of fun and happiness.

Current struggle - Freaking poles. It is hit or miss and all we do is practice, practice. Arrrrrrrgh! I love that dog!

Level 2 Agility and Lady

Well folks Level 2 Agility is in our grasps. Lady qualified for the class tonight, I was quite thrilled. Lady wanted stick around and jump at the fun run, but that little thing I like to call a job was interferring. I have to go into work on a Saturday,

I am getting so addicted to Agility, I ordered weave poles that are in a set of 6. I also felt plucky and ordered one for my mom and dad. This should help mom get over her major surgery, weaving through the poles. - Hey it could happen. ( I am sure they will make their dog Dolly use them)

I will miss our classes that we are taking right now. I sure would to take them again. Especially "Foundations for Success" I love that class. And lo and behold I love clicker training. I have learned (as I have maintained all along, the dog doesn't need training, I do) that the dogs catch on faster with the clicker. I don't know why, but they do. I experimented with not only Lady, but our old dog Maggie and the parent's dog Dolly. All are learning the power of the Clicker! Can anyone tell me what "Charging the Clicker" means, I still don't know.

Clicker training not so bad after all!

Well, i am improving on my Clicker training and not hating it so much. Lady is fighting tooth and nail - literally you should see my arms - not to roll over in the blanket. She is on board for the second class, which is Foundations for Success, a great class, but I see more Shaping Behaviors in her future.

One thing that happened was I was suppose to be training her on "nudging" a ball and Lady started to put her paw on it, so now we know how to "touch" things. It is really cute. Brianna brought her dogs over yesterday and I was giving a demonstration and asked her to touch Ari (poodle mix) and she did, it is a pretty cute trick. Lady is also perfecting her "line up", hand bump, "go", the box game etc.

During the roll-over exercises, I have Lady fighting me all the way and our old dog Maggie performing the trick behind us to get the treat. Maggie is the one receiving the reward in this scenario. I know Lady will get this trick one day, but probably not by the end of our class. Despite it all, I will not give up, if anything it makes me more determined! The dog can weave six posts now and I was sure she would never succeed. Pereerverance!

Clicker Training for Dummies, Hint: I am the dummy

Lady and I are trying to learn clicker training. Rather, I am trying to learn clicker training, but not really succeeding. At our first "Shaping Behaviors" class, we were talking about clicker training. The subject of "Charging the Clicker" was brought up, and I thought "leave it to Mike to get me the cheapest clicker, mine is manual and I can't charge it". True to my form, I vocalized that my clicker was manual, I couldn't charge it.

Apparently, after a "charged silence" and looks of disdain, I discovered that "Charging the Clicker" did not involve electricity. I am very good at being a dummy. I still do not know how to charge my clicker and the dog does not seem to be very excited about the "click" no matter how many treats I give her after the "Click". I will "charge on" in my torturous behavior modification training however.

I've got the Agility Blues - By Lady Stamp

This picture is of Lady at her last night of Level 1 Agility. We started "Shaping Behaviors" and "Foundation for Success" last night. Man having two classes back to back is tough. What is even tougher is getting up the next morning. When did I get this old?!

The classes are great and once again, it is really me that is receiving the training. In both classes the stress is taking the emotion out of the training, which is hard to do, and I have a base understanding of my behavior affecting the dog's behavior. So much to learn.

I was extremely enthused last night because, between classes I worked with Lady on the poles and she ran her Weave through six poles, six or seven times. She needs to do four poles to get into Level 2. While this delights me to no end, I also realize that with Lady when she is "on", we're good, and when she is "off", nothing will happen. I am hoping the classes we are taking right now, will teach me to teach her to always be "on"!

The end of level 1

Monday night was the end of our Level 1 class and hopefully Lady will be promoted to Level 2. I think she can do it. We received her "jumps" so we now have added those into the "poles" sequence at home. She is kicking honey at home, so hopefully Lady can repeat her performance at Club-Doggie.

I am taking she and my parent's dog to the Friday night Fun-Run to get more practice in. Dolly does Agility in Payson, so I am anxious to see her in action. We have a private Agility lesson on Sunday, so I can show Jubie how Lady does on the poles. She can do four poles by herself now and jump the jumps. Lady and I have worked so hard for this.

This week in Agility/Herding

We are fast approaching the end of Level 1 Agility, our last class is this Monday. I feel Lady is ready for Level 2, she does the weave poles, just not completely on her own, I have to run or walk next to her.

Lady had Herding yesterday and I am glad to report that the sheep that was attacked last week is doing fine. Lady seemed no worse for wear and kept breaking off whilst herding to eat sheep poop. We are so proud. I wonder if she will ever get it!

It is really hard to concentrate on all of the Agility and Herding theses day. My mother has a tumor on her kidney and the doctor is 95% sure that she has cancer. She is scheduled for surgery on August 22nd. Lots of prayers and hope for good outcome.

Our cat Harle is slowly dying of kidney failure, which is kind of coincidental. Harle is 15 years old, so she is not young, but we've all gone through a lot with her and she loves us as much as we love her. Very hard to say goodbye.

Maybe I need the distraction of getting Lady to level 2! We are taking a break from Herding because Mike is leaving for Singapore and it is too hard get everything done and get out of the house on the weekends. We are taking a "Shaping Behaviors" class and private Agility lessons. Level two or bust!

Aggressive dogs vs Herding

Lady had a Herding lesson, which she usually does every Saturday at 5:30 am. There was a Rottweiler who went directly after us and we were invited to watch him. It may surprise most people, but Rottweilers were originally used for Herding. This was the dog's first Instinct lesson and he was very aggressive. The trainer was doing a good job keeping him from attacking the sheep. She was slapping the flag down in front of him to keep him on track. Lady was about to go out of her mind because she is afraid of the flag. Suddenly (it is always sudden with animals) the dog made a lunge for one of the sheep and it took the trainer and the owner to get the dog off the poor sheep. The dog was over the top excited, the sheep was bleeding, and the humans were, to say the least, shaken to the core. The trainer was professional and kept her cool. I would have been punching that dog and kicking him, I just hate aggressive dogs. I would have not been "cool". Probably why I am not a dog trainer.

Mike and I were going over the events on the way home (and most of the day) and knew that if Lady were ever that aggressive, that would be the end. I am not a fan of dogs that have the need to kill. I just don't understand what make a person want a dog like that. I like nice dogs, so I guess I have a huge bias.

I know one thing for sure, we are not going to be irritated with Lady for wanting to eat sheep poop anymore.

Agility in the Phoenix Summer

You do not know perseverance until you, no matter what, go to Agility, for your dog, in the Phoenix summer. I guess one can take away a positive from putting oneself outside in such conditions - sweating out toxins! I am pretty sure I have no toxins in my body.

Lady did well at Agility this week. She is still being very stubborn, but I can see a noted improvement over the last few weeks. I think she will be an excellent jumper. She likes it too. Lady took to the tunnels as well. When we were going on to something else, she went over and went through the tunnel sequence herself. I was pleased, but our trainer said that we need to initiate her behavior not the other way around. Me, I was happy that she initiated some interest at this point, it showed she was getting it. I guess that is why I am not the best trainer. I am stubborn and very impatient. Maybe I am the one who is getting trained at Agility. (maybe I am not doing so hot) :).

A win in our grasp

Worked with Lady tonight on poles - what else?! She is coming along and man she is fast. I have a glimmer of hope that she will be able to do four poles at the end of her session. This means being bumped up to level two. I don't know why this is important, but it is. Lady is very competitive and I found a way to make her work: bring Maggie out with us. She ups her game if she is being competitive. Ahhhhh, I found the light. Now if I can get her to do the poles I will be one happy little camper.

I would love to start training her on the jumps, she absolutely loves the jumps and she is very fast. The only thing that would be holding her back in competition would be me. I guess I need to work on my agility too.

I am doing more research on McNabs and it is so exciting having a dog that is somewhat rare. Lady is such a good dog, I might even break my cardinal rule and buy another McNab. Yes that means a puppy - Ugh! Well maybe I'll just adopt another Border Collie from AZ Border Collie Rescue, they haven't "steered" me wrong yet.

Herding, Agility oh my

We had Herding on Saturday and Lady seemed a little too interested in the sheep poo - ugh! Other than that, she did better off leash than on, which is where the training comes in. Sorry Lady! Kama did say that the Aussie before us (egad we were there at 5:30 am) didn't intimidate the sheep. When he came in the ring, they tried to head-butt him. When Lady came into the ring, they immediately started running. At least she can command the respect!

The Herding must be paying off, I was cutting up some vegetables and didn't want our cat Shubie going out the dog door - record heat and all. Concurrently our other cat Harle was skulking around to beat up Shubie. I told Lady to get the Kitties and she herded Shubie away from the dog door and chased Harle away from Shubie. I was impressed. Baby steps!!

It was the 4th of July and we were at Agility! Sad but true. Happily we had celebrated with the family the day before. It could be said that we have no lives, but I prefer to believe that we do.

Lady did well, I thought we were going to have issues on the Cat Walk. She fell off and hit her face and was not walking on her front left paw. Kama came over to prevent me from babying her and had Lady "walk it off". She ended up being fine and went on to run the "Cat Walk" four more times. She is such a baby, I thought for sure she would refuse to go back on. The whole process taught me a lesson, because it was my fault that she fell. She wanted to jump off and I was forcing her to stay on. My impatience caused the dog to hurt herself. A good lesson for me. I can honestly say that Agility has been a learning experience for Mike and I and probably Lady as well.

Agility - Dog 1, Man 0

Nothing is more humbling than your dog being smarter than you. I had a bad night at Agility, Lady did great! I didn't get the rewards in the right place and was a complete putz!

Lady is going over the A-Frame and was not scared. She did great on the Chute and okay on the Tunnel. The tunnel was hard because people were dropping treats and she was being food squirrely.

In my defense, I will say that Agility when it is 111 degrees out, is really ugly!

The DNA Test results are in....

I just received the DNA results from Lady's test, she's a McNab! She has the Ivermectin strain. This is so cool to have a breed of dog that I had never "heard" of before. I wonder where the owner before us got her?

I wish the weave poles would be this easy!

Herding at 5:30am

Lady had herding this morning. She is still a major novice, yet she seemed more controlled and was not so eager to bite the sheep. She was more focused on guiding them. Baby steps!

I bought some more poles for agility to practice at home. We were out practicing and Lady decided she had, had enough, she went in the house. She was DONE. I tried to get our cat Shubie to go through the poles with string acting as an enticement, she just wanted to run along side of the poles not through them. I have savants for animals! :)

I am sure Lady thinks I am obsessive, I wonder why I like Border Collies?

Disappointment has a name.....

Tonight was utter disappointment! Lady didn't do well at all. I guess I need to consider that this is her third class and she has only been with us for three months. Once again I wonder about "focus". What can I do to engage her in this thing called Agility!

We worked on the weave poles, of which Lady sat looking through the poles, but didn't want go through them. She was not thrilled going through the tire, but went reluctantly. The teeter totter, was not too bad, but she was not a willing participant.

We purchased weave poles for practice at home. Lady did at home what she did in class: sat peacefully looking through the poles! Good dog!

Oh well, five more classes to go. I can guess who will will be repeating level one Agility!!!

Agility Fun Run

Mike, Brianna and I went out to Club-Doggie for the Friday night Fun Run. I want to try and practice agility with Lady and thought it would be "Fun". Wow, it was also a great chance to see some serious dogs do agility. I wonder if Lady will ever be that focused? She is smart and learns things very quickly, but some of those dogs have intense focus. We were talking to some of the "Runners" and they assured me that Lady will come around, it'll be interesting.

When Lady is with the sheep, they hold her interest keenly, but I am very motivated to get to the point where all she does is look to me for the next command. That would be amazing!

We will continue to attend some Fun Runs to get the practice in, plus we met some nice people and that is always a bonus!

Agility, 2nd Lesson

Okay, perhaps I am a little too excited about this Herding and Agility stuff, but what can you do? Lady had her Agility lesson last night and she did fantastic. She is a Rock Star! She is learning so quickly and she even went through the Shoot, which I thought she would balk at and decide to not complete. She did it! We were learning "Right" and "Left". She picked that up no problem. This dog is such a delight, she loves her classes and since she is having to use her brain and brawn, she comes home exhausted. She does not even have the urge to terrorize Shubie (our fuzzy cat). Great job Lady!

We had Herding class this morning after being off for two weeks. Lady really likes chasing sheep, but does not want to work on the leash and learn the commands. I think once she is use to Kama she will work better for her. We have the same trouble at home, Lady decides that she is not comfortable with working, and tries to opt out. I am going to have to work harder with her on the leash. We will trudge on since I would like to compete with her in Herding. We'll see how she does in Agility on Tuesday.

Agility!

We had agility training tonight. What a great group we are in. There was a border collie there that I had met at the vets, so we had someone we knew in our class.

Lady did so well and we are encouraged. I thought for sure she would be scared and not work or balk about keeping her leash on, but she did an excellent job. Probably didn't hurt that we hadn't fed her before we went.

The balance beam was probably her favorite and she didn't punk out on the teeter-totter. I threw her treat through the tire and she followed. All in all an encouraging first time. We will also take advantage of the fun runs on Friday nights. Nothing like a little practice to keep our skills tight.

We are looking forward to Herding on Saturday. Lady could smell the sheep from where we were and was whining because she wanted to be with them. Mike has not seen her in her Herding capacity. My friend Jodie is coming out to see Lady get the sheep.

All for now!

The DNA Test

Well, we received the DNA test kit yesterday and immediately "swabbed" Lady. She was very impressed! Actually I thought she'd positively freak out since she is scared of everything, she did well. The test takes three weeks upon receipt of the "sample". Waiting is the hardest part. I asked Mike if I should test him to see if he was my husband, he got a chuckle out of that I can tell you.

Agility starts tonight, I hope Lady exceeds expectations and does not perform the doom and gloom that I have been predicting! I also hope she doesn't hate it!

Is Lady a McNab

When Lady started her Herding class, Jubie (runs Club-Doggie) asked me if Lady was a McNab. I bit back my smarty pants response of "I don't know what she was before we got her, but she is a Stamp now"! In real life I responded that I didn't know, I thought she was a Smooth Coat Border Collie. When we got back to the Herding ring Kama asked me the same thing. Lady is large for a Border Collie and she is not really built like one. Her coloring is typical BC however.

I had never heard of the McNab breed, so I looked it up on the web. Signs do point to Lady being a McNab rather than a BC. I am intrigued because based on my research McNabs are pretty rare. McNabs were bred from BCs, but to be smooth coated for ranching in California. My general mystery solving curiosity was piqued.

McNabs share the same genetic mutation responsible for Ivermectin sensitivity. This sensitivity is found in Australian Shepherds, Collies, English Shepherds, Longhaired Whippets, Old English Sheepdogs, Shetland Sheepdogs and Australian Cattledogs.

Of course my next step was to get a DNA test for Lady. That will be coming in the mail soon and of course we have to wait about three weeks after I send the swab in, but it will be interesting to know one way or the other. Additionally, it will make a difference in the approach to training, since McNabs are uber sensitive and do not take criticism well (kind of sounds like my daughter during soccer - I think she needs to be DNA tested).

Of course the question begs to be asked "what is a McNab doing in Arizona and how did this wonderful dog end up in the Rescue system? DNA testing here we come!!

The new dog!

We got Lady on March 8th, which happened to be my mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary. I had wanted another Border Collie and since we had to put our old cat Binx down in February, Mike and I were primed to get another pet. Maggie our Cattle Dog, needed another canine friend. We decided on using Arizona Border Collie Rescue since we didn't really want a puppy.

Adopting a pet from a rescue organization is pretty tedious and I had conditioned my brain for a long haul. There were the phone interviews, the dog events, the home inspections, more interviews, meeting and greet with Maggie and finally meet and greet with the cats. I had actually met Lady at the dog event and really liked her, but couldn't get near her because another couple had been bogarting her. We had originally put in for Blue, but found out he had huge social issues with humans. We have too many people in our lives for a dog to be so scared. The president of AZBCR suggested Lady and I said I really liked her, but didn't get to spend much time with her at the dog event. Lady's foster mom Kristina called for a meet and greet with Maggie and I. Lady was pretty scared, but we ended up being friends. Maggie of course was in like Flynn. Next on the agenda was the meet and greet with the cats. Lady passed that test with flying colors and I had a dog. Wow! That was quick.

Lady has settled into our lives with little or no effort.

Now, how to keep a two year old Border Collie "entertained"! We did our daily walks, pretty much twice daily, but there was still something missing. Enter Club-Doggie for Agility and Herding. Lady loves Herding and is excited that she can chase sheep and nip at them and is not chastised for that! Agility starts on Tuesday. I am a little worried about how Lady will do, she is pretty flighty.