A bad home video...

I shot this myself. Not that you can tell. lol

The boys were jealous that the girls got videos...they wanted to show you how smart (and cute) they are..
:)

Utility!!!!

I put Wicca in Utility today at the funmatch- and she was awesome. It gave me goosebumps and choked me up a bit. Utility. Seriously Awesome. I have never had a Utility dog. Never even gone in the Utility ring before. Wicca has known the Utility exercises forever but I have never put it all together. Until today. And she was great. :) I love this dog to bits.

Her routine was far from Perfect. But I haven't trained some of this stuff in a long time (because we can't get out of open....) But for not having much training she did pretty great!  I had to double cue her for the directed jumping. (but she did the hard part of the go outs!!!!!) She needed some help with the articles, and her signals weren't really there. But she did it all. And pretty well. I am so proud of this dog.



Now if only she could get some confidence on those stays for Open, or maybe they will get rid of the stays all together....and then we could seriously train for Utility and not just dabble in it...although I must say it has been fun to train!

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This was Pixel's first time doing everything all together for Open and it blew her little brain. :) She tried though. Her heeling was great- she was up, and excited, and focused- and that is awesome as we have had to work very hard to build that! But she was slowly losing it throughout the routine. By the time the broad jump came around she was done. It is very apparent though that as much as we have worked on fronts they aren't fixed...Anyone have any ideas of what I can do for better fronts? I've done a bit of Chutes, and tons of feeding in position, etc. But still she doesn't seem to get it... I am happy with her though- and it gave me an idea of where she is and what I need to work more on....



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I brought everyone so Boone did a run through of Rally too- he had fun although was a little stressed by the end of the course. It was long  and pretty twisty. He sure likes his pivots though! Vito came out and did some socialising (sticking to his meeting new people rules..). And Brit came out and amazed everyone with her cuteness. :) She jumped up on everyone, and mooched for cookies, and practiced her sits, downs, and hand touches...Oh, and she tugged. Like a mad woman. It was awesome. I think it may be time to reinforce some manners though...

So now I have very tired dogs, and we've been hanging out all evening and just chillaxin'...

Are you a Pez Dispenser???

The seminar today was great- Carolyn is a fantastic speaker, and had lots of valuable information to share. 

Carolyn is a former obedience person turned Schutzhund trainer- so drive and motivation is very important in her sport. She uses mostly toys as rewards and had some good ideas for everyone as to how to play with the dog, when to reward, marker words, and just general training stuff.

 The morning was all lecture and videos. We talked about the different types of motivation, and examples of why/when they would work. After a yummy lunch we got to work our dogs- each person/dog team got the floor for some individual feedback.

One of the things she talked a lot about is the fact that we often become "Pez Dispensers." Handing out food for the dog even if she doesn't deserve it, and often without much thought. The dog quickly becomes completely reliant on the sight of the food to perform, or starts acting out in an effort to get the food. Not to pick on her, but my friend Jo is having problems with her Collie Kort in this aspect. He demands cookies, and in the ring of course you can't have any- so then he starts flaking off, or biting her, or barking, or being silly in an effort to illicit a response...It is a vicious cycle, and I am happy that Carolyn talked about the steps to get away from that. I think that lots of us are quilty of this.

Carolyn demonstrates a way to get a good tug from Kort

We also talked about changing the dogs lifestyle to increase drive. When Pixel was younger I took away all the toys in the house to increase her toy drive. I blogged about it and many of my readers were horrified about it. lol. But it works. If the dog has free access to toys, why on earth would they work hard for one? I am a big advocate of that, I know that it worked for Pixel. And now that Brit is here and is learning how to play all the dogs are on a toy diet aswell...Also- working for food. How many of us just put the bowl down and leave the dog to eat in peace? I try to make the dogs work for their food as much as I can, although probably not as often as I should.

Everyone in attendance got some great one on one advice, and I learned a lot just watching the other sessions- it was nice to hear that I am on the right track as lots of what she said and does I already do. I think it was great for my friends to hear some of the same stuff from someone else- sometimes just hearing it from someone new is enough to make it sink in.

She had some good advice for me with Pixel- I use play a lot already in training, in fact I rely on that to get her "up" before I train. Carolyn suggested that I start asking her to do simple things before the play to help wean away/reduce the amount of play Pixel needs to be "up." It makes total sense- can't believe I didn't think about that before! Pixel is an awesome worker- when she is in the mood, and I won't always have the opportunity to play before training so I have been struggling with how to fade that a bit...

This is Daisy- who belongs to Wicca's breeder. She is super duper cute, and a very happy worker- but had no idea how to play.
This is Lore "Making Prey" as the germans say...lol. I took lots of photos of her as I think she is adorable. I will post them later this week..

And the reason I brought Wicca was for a photo op. I am sick of the same scenery, and knew that the tracks in the small town where the seminar was would be awesome. I didn't anticipate just how cool though- with the snowy backgroun it turned out pretty incredible!

Spring Flowers...

I bought this giant flower a few weeks ago and promptly forgot about it. I found it when I was searching for something else...

The dogs had a BLAST playing with it this afternoon. They each took turns (well, except Brit who doesn't play with toys yet) running around the yard with it. Boone was the funniest and spent a lot of time just laying on it...

Vito shook the crap out of it, Pixel fetched it, Wicca rolled on it, and then they decided to play tug and the head fell off. :) Here are a few of my favorite photos of the event....



Recalls, Shaping, and Fun

Brit has been a busy girl since she has come to my house. Every day we go somewhere new, and every day we train something new, and practice stuff she knows. She is a sponge and seems to absorb information at an fast rate.

She likes to learn, and seems to enjoy the challenge and thoughtfulness of clicker training games. She starts jumping and wiggling when the clicker comes out and then starts offering all the behaviours she knows to see what I want.

She has been to the daycare building and has done recalls and attention work. She has been to the arena and has done recalls, some shaping games, and even more recalls. She has been to both of the parks I frequent and has done recalls, the first stages of circle work, and some shaping games. She wasn't phased at all by the new places or people, and seems to be a very well adjusted dog.

She was spooked by the horses at the arena, but I think they surprised her more than anything. And the hairdryer makes her nervous too- she will leave the room and watch from a distance. Once it is off she comes running back over to make sure I am okay. It makes me laugh. I am not too worried about as I think that once she hears it every day it will stop bugging her....

Her people skills are great- she is not nervous to meet people and is very friendly and waggy. She is learning that often people will have cookies for her so she went around at class last night sitting in front of everyone for food, and when that didn't work she'd start poking them...she's just a little pushy...

The gentle leader is a regular part of her life already and she doesn't mind it. She is still very excited by motion so it is a good way to control her excitement and focus. She sees it now as a signal that we are going to do something fun.

I think that she is going to be a very fun dog to train- she is very eager that's for sure! I have gone back and read through Pixels' training plan and journals to see what I will do again, and what I could change or improve on. There is lots that will stay the same, but some things I will change, or do more of, or in some cases less of.

One thing that will be the same is teaching the toy drive and tugging. I have her tugging now- but not 100% and not reliably. So right now we are focusing lots on play.

Running, Play, Recalls, and Shaping will be the focus for the next little while! I want to create another dog who loves to learn, run, and to play with me...

Bring on the green beer...

I mostly use holidays as a way to torture my dogs. :)

Brit

naming her was SO hard!
I am sure in part because she already had a name, and after you've called a dog by a name it's a little hard to think about a different name. She came with the name Amy. Which is just not my cup of tea. But there are so. many. name. out there. Seriously. Millions of name sites and search engines. I even resorted to looking through breeder websites to see if there was anything that caught my eye. In the end I went back to one of the first places I looked and found it...

 I like Border Collies to have Border Collie names- usually one syllable, and easy to say. I chose Brit in the end because it sounded pretty, and it means freckled or spotted. And she has freckles and spots, so it fits.  Also it is not a common name, I don't think I've met a dog with this name before.

We will spend a few days learning the new name together and then we should be set. It is hard to do much training when the dog doesn't have a name. :)

Fetch- the real thing

Fetch- the real thing, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

Pixel is not sure of Vito's love for the ball thrower- but she sure likes the ball. :)

Boone wishes he had a ball too. lol

Fetch

Fetch 3/12/Vito, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

Vito is not a great fetching type dog- he often gets the ball and then will spend 5 minutes rolling around on it. In this case he stole the ball thrower and paraded around with it for half an hour while the normal dogs played with the ball....

Names are Hard...

, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

I am really not very good at naming. At this rate she'll be stuck with the name she came with....

Things she learned today
-Sit means Sit
-Down means Down
-Okay is a release
-Also chasing Wicca is a bad idea.

Things I learned about her today
-That she Woo Woo Woo's when she plays with you
-That she likes very physical play (pushing)
-That she needs a halti
-Oh, and that hotdogs are the best thing ever...



Five

A few weeks ago I got a rescue email from a family who were looking for a more active home for their young dog. I asked for more information and photos. As we talked about the dog it occurred to me more than once that this dog sounds like a perfect dog- for me. I tried to stop myself as no one really needs five dogs. But the more I learned about her the more I liked her. She has many of the qualities I love in a dog.. And then they said the'd be happy to bring her for a visit. They were going to visit family near here and wouldn't mind dropping her off. I met her on Friday.

I don't need five dogs. But when she jumped up and smiled at me I melted just a bit.
I don't need five dogs. But she walked in the house and the dogs were instantly calm
I don't need five dogs. But she has lots of great things going for her.

Still I didn't want to jump into this without knowing the dog.
I am known for my spur of the moment, rash decisions (sometimes bad), in the dog department. I blogged recently (about Dave, the foster dog) about the difference of choosing with your heart vs. your head.  I have learned from those I assure you. If this dog didn't have everything I wanted I was set to send her packing. I think I've done pretty well not falling in love with every dog that comes through my door. Dave was very hard, but I knew that he wasn't the dog for me. I know that this is it for me. There will be no puppy in a year- but that's okay because I think that this dog is the right one.

After spending a day (now two) with this dog I know that she is the dog for me. Well, at least I think so.

Most importantly she fits in my house. Wicca likes her. Which is odd. Boone thinks she's cute, Vito still pretends she doesn't exist, and she and Pixel almost played. My dogs are first and formost my pets- so how they mesh is important.
She is very happy, very friendly, and loves everyone she meets. She hasn't met a stranger yet.
She is smart. Learned how to down in five minutes. She has caught on to the clicker already, and we are learning how to offer behaviors now.
She is cute. Good looks are important. :)
She is not sound sensitive or spooky.
She is not soft. This is important to me as I struggle with the super soft dogs and wanted a tougher temperament.
She wants to please.
She is great in the house.
She is atheltic and fast.
She wants to play and has plenty of drive. (I may be sporting a black eye from her enthusiasm...)
She has long legs. :) I had decided that my next dog was not going to be a corgi. I needed a better balanced dog to play agility with, and wanted a tall dog to do obedience with...

She is not without her faults though. Her life so far has been one as just a pet. Her previous owners let her chase/herd dogs for exercise. She won't be allowed to run off leash with the other dogs for a while. She needs to learn to control herself when dogs are moving. Already she is way better in the house.  The other thing is that she has no idea what to do with toys. She is interested, but has yet to pick one up. We will be working on this. Toy drive isn't a neccesity although I don't think I will have trouble teaching her to tug and play.

There are many reasons why it isn't ideal for me to have another dog right now. But in my heart I believe that this dog is mine. Sometimes these things just happen. And sometimes the best things in life are the ones we haven't planned for.

p.s She needs a name. The name she has is not very good. lol

At the dogpark

The Leader 10/52, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.
We went to the dogpark for the first time since fall today. We do run off leash every day, but at "unofficial" off leash areas...

I remembered why we don't go there almost immediately. I wasn't even out of the car when a lab jumped all over me. And then jumped in the car while I was trying to get my guys out. I keep my guys on leash in the parking area now so once we were past the lab, and the parking area they were off like bullets. While the dogs were off sniffing and running around my dad and I had our eyes to the ground- the amount of dog shit was disgusting. Seriously. It was everywhere. No wonder people have issues with dog parks and off leash areas....
We quickly left the main area and then I was able to at least get some photos of the dogs without worrying where I was stepping. Vito, Pixel, and Wicca had a blast. Boone not so much. Reason number #200 why I don't like this dogpark- it's right next to a shooting range. Boone does not deal with that well and had to stay on leash. My dad is so great with him though and while I played fetch with the crazies he cuddled with Boone. :)




Although we won't be walking there anytime soon it was nice to have a change of scenery! Oh, and in case you didn't notice almost all of our snow is gone!!!! So excited for Spring!

Obedience Update

Pixel did a three minute out of sight sit the other day at class. I was so stoked! She did the down aswell but apparently was a bit sniffy. We will have to work on that. The stays have always been this huge stress for me- Wicca was never solid, not even in sight- and having them at the end to make or break your Qualifying score just adds to the stress. With Pixel it is different. I don't have the stress or hang up about it. I just expect that she will do it. And how awesome is that.

In other Obedience news our fronts are getting good- almost awesome actually. She still is a bit crooked now and again but is close and that's what I've been rewarding for up until this point. Even with the dumbbell in her mouth her fronts are good.

Heeling has been good- I haven't been doing a ton of patterns but rather have been doing short bursts of heeling followed by big time reward. We have been working on our left pivots still- and they are improving. She still will stall out a bit, but with encouragment will stay in position. It's coming.

Wicca is re-learning how to stay in one position and be calm about it. Our placemat is now half the size and she is comfortable in the house for up to five minutes. "Place" is the cue, and so far it has been working well. It will still be a while before we are ready for the Open ring, but I am excited about the prospect of her doing those stays.

Back on Track 9/52

Back on Track 9/52, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

At 7 years old Wicca is as physically healthy and fit than she ever has been. Due to her insane speed, and intensity on the agility course she has had some pretty big injuries in her career. She was often lame after a weekend, and sore or stiff after training. I took even more weight off of her, started supplements on a regular basis, took her to a rehab vet and do the prescribed exercises religiously, and bought a Back on Track coat for her. The coat is made of a ceramic fabric that reflects the body heat back into her, increasing blood flow, and helps to prevent stiffening muscles. It has made a world of difference and she wears it most of a trial weekend. I've had it now for a few months and although she hates to wear it (she doesn't like to wear stuff) it makes such a difference in how she feels I make her.


You can read more about the coats at- www.backontrack.com
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I am fighting a wicked cold right now and wish there was some magical thing to make me feel better. Two nights now of almost no sleep due to coughing. I hate being sick, and it seems that this winter I have been sick a lot. Maybe I need to move somewhere warmer...

Camera Happy Part II

As promised here are some cute pups!!!!

This is Ty, an Australian Kelpie. Yes, they are allowed to come in that color. :)  I <3 this puppy...

and Arcade, a cute baby border collie...

and finally Wheeler, a sassy little Sheltie boy who was opposed to standing still...

Camera Happy

So this past weekend was the new cameras first road trip. :)

I had lots of opportunity to take photos of some cute dogs....

We'll start with Sunar because she is awesome and I love her, and she's related to Wicca. :) She and Wicca have the same Dad. Oh, and she played with Boone which was very cute. Boone is a "special" kinda guy and lots of dogs don't like to play with him- Sunar didn't seem to mind though!

and then we'll move on to Sniper- a merle Border Collie who is very handsome. :)

He and Boone come from the same Breeder. (Different breeds obviously...lol)

and that's it for now...stay tuned for the cute puppy pics later!

Weekend in Review

I put off writing this post until I had time to really think about how to express what I mean well enough.

I had a great weekend- it was awesome having all of the dogs there, I went for long walks with them each day, and got some obedience training in to boot! The courses were fun and interesting, and presented some good handling challenges. The girls ran well, and overall I was happy with them.

We had some pretty great runs this weekend that I am very proud of despite the lack of Q's. We came home with no clean runs at all this weekend- each run there seemed to be something, usually caused by me. lol. I got lost or nearly lost on almost every run. I hate that. Nothing I seem to do makes it better. It is a bit frustrating. And the more I try to remember them the worse it is...I have tried everything and the thing that works the best is shadow handling and visualising the course, but even that is not fool proof. I am confident in my handling abilities, and don't doubt my dogs ability. I am not worried, or stressed, or nervous when I step to the line, so I am pretty puzzled as to why I can't remember! The last trial was great- I didn't get lost at all. This trial not so much.


Wicca was very wound up on Saturday- she had some good moments of course, but lots of flinging herself around the course, flicking away or shooting out to off course obstacles. The jumpers in particular was awful. I was pretty frustrated with her, but know that in part it was my fault. I obviously was not clear enough, or quick enough, and she has lots of bad habits that come back to kick us in the ass once in a while. Sunday was much better- she was listening, and I was able to get some good handling in.  I am working hard to be in a better state of mind with her- stop focusing on the bad, and try to laugh at her more, enjoy her for who she is, and what she does. Wicca is certainly not going to change much- at 7 years old she is how she is. I do however take note of issues, and will continue to try to improve them but I am not going to obsess about it so much anymore. P.S I was SO stoked that she got that tunnel entrance...yay for me..




Pixel was great- any errors course wise are mine. She continues to do exactly what I say, even if I don't mean it. lol. She is very sensitive to my motion, or lack of, or the direction my feet are facing. She is a good dog. Although I am not a very good agility trainer apparently as she still does not understand that target means you must stop. She didn't have a solid 2o2o performance on the DW all weekend. I did get a chance to reinforce it twice though- but it isn't enough. I am looking forward to moving outside and getting to train more. Her weaves were great though and she got some really tough entries. She also was fast- I watched the videos and she was moving along at a pretty good pace.



So a good weekend- not the best results but still happy with the bits and pieces.
We had a huge group of Go Dog Go'ers at the trial and everyone did so awesome! Our students are really coming along and there were some huge improvements. I leant Wicca out to Jenilee for a standard run and it was great to watch. :) I think both Jen and Wicca had a good time. I love Wicca's face as she comes out of that last tunnel. LOL.



Oh, and I got to run an Aussie- twice! Which was fun, and I took a crap load of cute puppy pics which I will post tomorrow...

I promise

White Out, originally uploaded by manymuddypaws.

to post more later on the weekend news, but for now here's a cute photo of Wicca in action. :)

Snow, and bring on the weekend...

photo by my friend Liz. 

It is snowing again. Seriously. It's like Winter is never letting go. It's March! Usually we are hovering at the 0 by now...not -30 C.

In any case, not much we can do about the weather. We are off to an agility trial this weekend so that will be fun. This time all the dogs are coming, although just the girls are running. Boone is still on holidays. lol.

Pixel had a great class on Tuesday and I got some amazing distance out of her. I am so impressed with her. I am hoping for a gamble this weekend- as we seem to be stuck right now on that. Her dogwalk was also pretty good although not perfect. We will see how the weekend goes. At the very least I am aware of the issue so can handle for it...

Wicca was wild. The weekend should be interesting. I can feel that we may be sacrificing some runs this weekend due to naughty start lines...It should only take once, but still- it's so hard to do!!! I will stick to my guns though.

:) have a good weekend, and for all my alberta friends- stay warm!

A-ok :)

I got Wicca's results back today and as predicted it is just a sebaceous cyst.