No, its not the dogs but the people. Being the only person in the house that spends the time, bonds and trains the dogs other people in the household can destroy a lot of work in a short order of time. You try to tell them what words the dogs understand but they create their own systematic approach and confuse the dog even further. They don't understand that the dogs were trained under a certain amount of words. I cringe every time I hear a new word trying to be used with the dogs without the proper structure and knowledge. I can't stand it when people try to talk to the dog as a human as if the dog has a huge vocabulary. It just does not work that way. I, at one point, printed out a whole list of words that Chloe understands last year and it goes out one eye and out the other. I ask myself what's the point?

I know some of you that train your dog know I am referring about. How about the multiple instances of repeating the command sit? You only need to say it once please. Saying the command several times is going to change the value of the command. For example, after about the fifth sit, the dog finally sits which screws up the whole point in saying the command once! Thus, retraining has to be done again and again until people which were informed willing to understand the process. Or about if someone uses a word that it means entirely different in what you use it for? I use back for the dogs to turn away from me and take the first obstacle they see. Most people say back for the dogs to back up yet, I taught the dogs, excuse me for them to back up. See the unneeded turmoil?

Other people in the household just don't have the same type of commitment for a consistency for have a well-trained dog. Its plain and simple, do you want it or not?

At the early stages of Chloe's life, I wanted her off the furniture unless invited but when you have other people with dog  that they don't train come over for a visit, its pointless because their dogs are pretty much out of control. It would spoil their visit to govern their dogs and the whole experience would just be stressing. Of course, I am talking about a full house of dogs, like 5-6. So I pretty much threw that idea out the window.

People that don't have the same passion and views on the idea of owning dog - that is of course, they are truly dog lover as some just want a dog for convenience  - can wreak havoc on dog training let alone complicate life even more.

No ifs, ands, or buts, compatibility matters!

I remember getting this phone call from an acquaintance of mine from KY several years ago and I can't just get over it because I find it funny yet really, really sad and pathetic. Everytime he would call I would be busy doing something that needed to be done. Like the first time he called me he asked me what I was going and I said, "vacuuming" and he came back with chuckle and said, "what? That's a woman's job!" So I let it go, he was around 20-21 at the time and I just chuckled. And on several days or weeks later, he would catch me doing dishes, cooking, or laundry and he would repeat that same thing. So I got tired of it and just asked him, "have you ever lived on your own?" He replied, "yes" but his mother would come over and clean his house, leave him something to eat, and he would drop off his clothes for his mother to wash. And I was like, "WTH dude, whats the point of living on your own with your mother always doing something for you?"

This sort of got to me. I am not trying to earn brownie points with the opposite sex but I figured in this day and age that men would accept some domestic responsibilities? I guess I am short-sighted in this regard.

Oh there's more. My other buddy who is the Sunshine state. He has been in this relationship since his early 20s and finally got married - Congrats - with two hellions: 9 and 11! He typically calls me up when he has problems with his other half or just wants to catch up on things. So I sat there and listen like a good friend does about his problems or in most cases what is ticking him off about his other half. And for several years, its the same complaint, she doesn't do anything or something never gets done. I had enough and finally told him what I thought solution of the problem is ...

.. it takes two! And why don't he just clean or fix the problem before it pisses him off. He came back with... You guessed it, its a woman's job!

After several phone conversations he finally swallowed his pride and started helping around the house. Now that aggravation is solved but now there's another problem and I gave him hints for a possible solution but he can not comeback with its a woman's job.

I know I don't have a perfect upbringing but damn, if some this high might proud type individuals would take her head out of their ass instead of griping and do something their outlook could change. 

I decided to rest the dogs today but I worked out although didn't run. They're resting peacefully.

We arrived at the Wags n Wiggles run thru and both dogs were so excited. I mean really excited. I did not establish heelwork - you know to establish some type of focus/bond? - with Chloe as long as I usually do and it was going to bite my in the ass. There were mainly border collies there with an exception of one Sheltie that popped in for one run and left.

Chloe gets excited with border collies running as it becomes a game of chase. So I put her back in her crate and wait for the big dogs to finish running and she is quiet. Meanwhile, Scout is howling away in the truck and getting the whole neighborhood of dogs to sing along with him.

It was our turn and we started off well and then the weaves. She either blew by them, the entry or popped out at 10. Then I saw where discrimination is an issue with the usual combo of DW and tunnel or AF and tunnel and RTH was in order. She also had an issue with distractions since at one of the jumps there was a picnic table with people and their dogs. Chloe would not follow me because she did not want to turn into the dogs and people. Again, a RTH was needed.

I wanted to run Scout but this was not the time for it. One of the dogs there did not like Jacks for some reason and I assume a Jack either picked on it as a pup or thought it was prey. Chloe did wonder a bit and this handler was stressed and I don't blame her because I feel that way just walking around bigger dogs with my dogs given our past history with them! Had Scout been out there, he is the definition of a terrier because he is fearless. He doesn't flinch at all. His first bolt out of the house showed me what type of personality he has. He literally just went into another dog's territory, stared it down and urinated. Another experience, he was fighting off the Golden Retriever attack while Chloe bolted home. He is fearless, period. He isn't a bad boy by any means but his confidence is really high. I am pretty sure that her dog would be worried if Scout was out since he doesn't back down and he isn't exactly a small Jack either, he is like the "Godzilla of Jacks". He is protective of Chloe.

So anyways, the never ending quest to learn and train continues. I'll probably upload the vids from the runs later on today. 

I am really pushing myself a lot! I worked out for 1.5 hours and did some wind sprints on the hill afterwards which was sort of funny as I was walking down the hill there was a younger female doing some running on the hill. I saw her walk down to A street and then turn around and ran up C street. She was huffing and a puffing hard. I walked past her down to A street and then crossed to the other side. She was still up at C street and she was looking me. I had a smirk and this thought came across me and she wanted to see if I could do better. So the competitive side in me looked back at her and I ran up the hill. I made it up a quarter onto D/E block and I looke back at her. She shook her head no, no, no and I shooked yes, yes then she walked up block and when home. I believe she owns a springer that loves jumping at the window. So for the remaining blocks, I did wind sprints for each block and did 30 second breaks and repeat until I was on the last street.

Boy is it humid and hot! It suppose to be raining and possible T-Storms today and even in OH. So that is a concern for the run thru since it is held outdoors. Nevertheless, I am going because they said scattered. I do plan to run Scout too! I haven't done many sequencing with him but she see what Chloe is doing. The most obstacles he has done at one time is 3. We're still doing exercises in Linda's book so I am not expecting much but I want to give him the experience in what is to come.

Well, agility class went well. We were moving at half speed and always seem to let loose after class. We worked on tighter rear crosses and earlier communication to the dog for better information even though the main focus was weave entries with the stresses of having wires and the pens all around it. 

Sasha, the fear aggressive GSD is doing better however she was lunging at Chloe on one of the runs; Patriot (Aussie) was going after Pace (Red or brown BC) and it must be a territory thing because Patriot is still urinating in the tunnel! Shadow seems to be all mellow and watching Chloe greet him is sort of cute. Being that Shadow is 28.25" at the withers, Chloe is on her hind legs sniffing and everyone seems to get a kick on how long she stays on her hind legs. Mind you, when she is looking out the storm window her eyes can barely see show she always gets on her hind legs and balances herself. She rarely braces herself against the glass. So you can see her rocking back and forth trying to maintain her balance.

I got home and worked with Scout for a bit. We ran the poles, DW, table, contact work on the AF, handling at one jump and then I wanted to advance behavior on the teeter a bit which meant he would have to go further up the board and be in the down position. I just held the board and then slowly dropped it. From there he does the 2o2o contact.  The more confident he got, the quicker I released the board. He got a fat pieces of chicken when he got to the end. Switched sides and repeat. The jump work really consisted of me working pulls, front and rear crosses. More of the latter than anything else. We played fetch for a bit and I kept on increasing the distance away from me. You know really treading the waters and see if he would bolt. Our yard is some 80' or so wide so I just kept going further and further and then into the other yard. When it was time to go, he come to me and then took off! Guess where he went?

To the front door! That boy was smiling and he was panting so I worked a bit. 

I debated to work with Chloe because of class and I figured why not since we're going to the another run thru tomorrow. We did the same routine as Scout's however, I put the lead on the Chloe for the weave work and did 4 reps and let her loose. She only got treated or the toy if she did what I wanted which was .... speed! Worked on the jumps and the new behavior at the teeter. Then with my ever wanting desire to have independent contacts, we worked on the DW. And that process is slow. If I am at the end where she does the 2o2o, she slows down. If I am at the starting end, she blows the contact to get the toy. So evidently, she isn't understanding what I want. So I am going to back chain the behavior again. I think if we get through this process the AF shouldn't be as bad or take as long.

“Fear less, hope more; Eat less, chew more; Whine less, breathe more; Talk less, say more; Love more, and all good things will be yours”

First off, it was beautiful out there! While on the fairgrounds, the run thru was basically across the street so we didn't have to pay for parking. People were coming and going throughout the day as they were just watching and moving along. There were a lot of 20" dogs and thats how the event started, big dogs first which felt enternity! The host was making sure everyone got their 2 runs, well that is how many I paid for. We must've waited for an hour and a half until they started running the small dogs (16" and smaller). I had Chloe out for a bit warming her up and playing with her but it was just taking too long becaue I didn't know they were trying to clear each class. Mind you, before each height change there was a walk through which took a lot of time and slowed the whole process down.

So I put Chloe back in the truck and took Scout out again and worked on his leash manners. He was a bit rowdy for a short stint but started to settled down as earlier he was howling away as he still has that SA deal going on. You should see how he acts when he sees me loading up a crate in the truck, he jumps, paces, howls, and whines. He'll get over it sooner or later. I am just dealing with it and as Jen puts, "That's just Scout." That is a good way to put it. After the first hour, he starts to quiet down but put a dog in front of him, he gets anxious again although not as hyper. 

Now I wasn't alone there as I noticed several other Countryside students there so we began conversing and such so it was a great way to past the time. They had a dachshund and shih-tzu/maltese mix. I was all ready to go run since my adrenaline was pumped up. I could not stay still, I know what will happen, my fasciitis in my left foot will start acting up so I have keep moving. So must've looked like I was on something to them. Haha.I noticed some of the big dogs that I have seen at trials. There was one or two borders there and they were really green or they weren't training enough. The dogs just lost focus. It would do 1 or 2 obstacles and get lost. The handler lost control of the dog and it was merely a recall to heel game. There were many dogs really walking the course and I pretty much figured that they would be over the maximum time.

Nevertheless, finally it was time for the small dogs to run and yeah, we got the opportunity to walk the course again being that it was so long ago when we last walked it. I didn't think it was too hard but I didn't see where there was an issue for Chloe. Boy, was I wrong. I broke up the course into 3 segments regardless of what level I was going to run and in this case, I was going to run the Novice/Open course first and second run would be Excellent. The end of the second segment bit me in the ass because it was all my fault since I lead out too far. I sent Chloe to weaves and ran to the end of it to get ready to send her to the table which I think they set the wrong height for the 12" class as it is suppose to 8" not 16". Anyhow, Chloe comes of the weave and I am at the DW and I send her and she runs up the DW. Ugh. I was too far out and that has been my problem. I don't know when to recollect. Continuing on, she ran the third segment flawless. The Novice had a very tight entry to the AF and you had to push the dog out some to get some momentum built up. Overall, she broke the starting line stay, so I put her back on it and she held it. She had no zoomies or stresses but of course, I had the toy in my hand but I didn't squeak it at all. I wasn't that winded. Chloe wasn't stressed at all. All my handling choices were a pull, push, and several front crosses.

After the run, people were saying, "holy crap that dog is fast! I think that was the fastest dog here today! I love your dog. Is that a Jack? How do you get them so calm?" LOL Have you seen Scout yet? Haha

Second run attempt was going to be doing the Excellent course. The difference between the two was 4 obstacle courses (15 vs 19). Again, I didn't think there was much of an issues by adding more obstacles but I broke the course down into 4 segments. But after running, you can see where Chloe and I need help on. First segment like the Novice, 2 jumps to a teeter to 2 jump and then DW, perfect and fast. Second segment, chute, weaves, to table and this time I even slowed down and made sure the recall to heel happened but again, she ran up the DW. Segment three, oh boy, there was a trap set there and I didn't even see it, like I could anyhow because we haven't dabbled much on stuff like this. It was off the table to a jump and then into an area of four jumps. The lady called it a sandwich. I, like everyone else running that section, ran the outside which pulled the dog away from the second jump. You see the jumps were arranged in a rectangle and you only had to jump two of them. But every dog would jump the first one correctly and then go straight to the handler thus doing a 270. What I was suppose to do was run between the jumps. Moving on.. After that was the AF and she nailed the contact there and then to 2 jumps with the last one being somewhat of a wrap to the tunnel which was right beside the DW thus being a trap. It got Chloe and I think my motion was the cause of it. I was diverging away from the line and pulled her to the DW. So since she was on the DW, what the hell, we have been working on the "back" command and here's a great time to use it, Back! And she ran into the tunnel and coming out blind so I position to collect at the jump and then hauled ass to the next jump. But I moved too slow so I did a rear cross instead and then told her to take the last jump which was a tired.

It was a good experience for sure. I was really happy about it. The course workers were helping me understand why she pulled to the DW and that sandwich area. Lesson learned for sure and hopefully we'll start working on those soon. Chloe wasn't stressed and thats what matters. I wonder how she will do at the last "Wags and Wiggles" run through?

Am I ambitious? You're damn right I am! I learn alot of mistakes. Do my dogs like agility? Watch their faces when they are running? They're smiling during and afterwards. They get 5 days of agility training per week. Just 10 minute sessions thats it!

Now I have to give Chloe a bath and some benadryl, she is all flush and she must have gotten in contact with something out there. 

Destination: Canfield, OH. This is a big show with confirmation, rally and obedience and we hope Chloe will get over the stresses of light coated big dogs. It will be outside with the same orange snow fence.

I plan to run 3-4 times. 

We started our second class today which is a higher level class with more course work. This class is consists of teams already performing in the ring at the Novice/Open level. We have in this class, two Springers, two Shelties, and three Jacks! (Chloe, Emma, and Scamp)

Our first run was so awesome and fast! I used some lateral and distance work. Denise setup a trap on the course which got one or two dogs but we ran so clean and fast. Although there was a hiccup which wasn't caused my me or Chloe as it was caused by Scamp. You see, Scamp seems to fancy Chloe and he gets all excited to everytime he sees her. His tail wags constantly, he is smiling and then there is his high pitch whiney bark. As we drew close to him, he started barking and it stopped Chloe's flow. So I grabbed my disc and get her all jacked up and we finished the course clean. Alright, I lied, I got complacent on the send to the second tunnel because after that was the jump. I got scolded for it but nevertheless, I was very happy with Chloe and Denise showed alot of excitement as well. 

And since Chloe was Scamp's weakness, Denise wanted to work on his start line stays. So she asked me to take Chloe out there in the ring and play with her. Scamp was locked on her and the toy. Jan - his handler - had some difficulty trying to get him focused onto her but he finally did it. Good boy! Jan and Denise kept on telling me that they haven't seen him that excited in a long time. I told Jan that Scamp has to get the OK from Chloe's brother Scout. Hehe. Boy is he in for a treat to see the "Hulk" of Jacks. Scamp may jump 16" but he looks like he is about 14" and in a smaller package when I compare him to Scout. Scout is roughly 16+" and over 20 lbs of muscle. Scamp and Chloe are somewhat similar in length.

Our second run was modified and we had to work on a send to tunnel which was a lot further than what I was working on. It was AF, jump, tunnel and then several jumps which opened up the dogs for some speed. While the first run tunnel send was marvelous this one was horrible as I was trying to get a farther send. I think the longer hold on the AF is what threw me off my rhythm as Denise wanted the 2on/2off contacts to be held a lot longer. On the first tunnel send at the first run of the day, I called out "tunnel" as soon as I called "break" off the AF however, with this delay, I was all out of whack. I had to modify the timing and basically baby her to the tunnel. So I know I am going to have to work on this more at a farther distance. I did screw up the last jumps because I was worried about hitting the wall and trust me, I ran into the column once at full speed and braced myself. Since I was worried about hitting the wall, I slowed down and convergence with the Chloe which started to make her turn towards me thus pulling her off the last two jumps. I ran it again and I hauled ass to the end and then pushed off the wall.

Denise did tell me at the rate Chloe and I are going we'll be taking the "Excellent" course/classes in no time. I still haven't told her ....

_________________________________________

I posted a video of the Novice Jumper class on the last day of the trial. You'll see Cash, Ellie, Scamp which all three are Jacks and Molly, a Pembroke Corgi that is Chloe's classmate at her first trial. Now the owners of Cash and Ellie are actually mother and daughter and I think Cash and Ellie are son and mother or daughter. I forgot. They are really small Jacks. Chloe is bigger boned compared to Cash even though they jump at the same height. Ellie is so tiny. 

Well here's the video:

http://www.vimeo.com/1431861

Back. The command is used in agility to have the dog turn away from you and head into the first obstacle they see. Its great to use when the dog is coming down the AF or DW and then into a tunnel. 

Teaching the command was rather simple since it is primarily cue from the outside hand when doing a rear cross. So I just started off with having the dog in the heel position and then move the outside as if I am about to do a rear cross and the dog just moves his ahead away from me. Click. Treat. I continued several repetitions on each side. Chloe already got the gist of it since I have been slowly working on it since we were introduced to it. Scout took a little longer but he got the idea of it. I am not looking for perfect at this point as I just want their head to move away from me. But after several repetitions they were already doing 180s. So we're moving in the right direction.

There is an AKC dog show this weekend - I think it starts on Thursday - and it will have a run thru on Saturday. We figure this would be a great time to put Chloe in a stressful situation where light-coated big dogs are concerned for some CC training in the ring to get her over the hump. The show will be in Canfield, OH which is only an hour away and check-in starts at 3:30PM.

Small dogs are being run first so we need to get there early. Hmm. I wonder if I should just drop off at the ring where all the Golden Retrievers are showing?

On Wednesday, I have been thinking about going to Frank Yang's place (Flashpoint Agility) since he is holding a run thru and his facility has both grass and dirt rings. But its a 3 hour drive. 

Then on Tuesday, we're going back to the "Wigs and Waggles" run thru as it will be their last one for the year.

Now to hope for the gas prices to continue to drop although it really hasn't affected me much

(Second attempt in writing this) 

First session was around 11 this morning which entailed working on collection and helping the dogs to understand how to adjust their stride. A course was created where two tunnels opposed one another and in between them were two jumps on one leg and a solo on the other. Chloe was first to go and she was rather peppy and fiery. While the success was high but not near the 90% percentile, it showed promised. She is fine when collecting with one jump but add another she has a problem identifying when to adjust her stride thus a lower success rate. This will be ongoing work thats for sure.

Scout's turn was OK but I started to think that this could be too much for him in which I could actually destroy his round jump form - think Chloe - so I backed off and continued working with jump, tunnel, and jump. When we started working on crosses, I noticed that Scout needs more work on the rear cross. Chloe was like this last year and we worked a lot on it. So this gets added to the list of "things to do". Also, I noticed his tunnel sends were rather weak since he was so caught with my body language. I forgot I was not dealing with Chloe so I had to literally get close the entrance. This work would continue in the second session.

I was pleased with both dogs in the first session and I see a glimpse of the old Chloe coming back to me prior to the dog attack. She seems rather focused on me and she could read my crosses and do what I asked of her. You know that feeling when you and your dog is running and making up a course on the fly, you feel that connection between you and the dog. The dog reads and listens what you ask and does it on a whim. As the connection gets stronger, the distance can start to increase and the confidence between you and your dog goes even higher. Thinking alike...

The second session happened around 8 after dinner. It entailed a course layout presented in this month's Clean Run isssue which worked on weave pole performance; speed and entries. The course consisted of 2 - 6 poles, 3 jumps and a tunnel. Chloe was still sassy from this morning and her performance showed it. She was light in her step however, I noticed she wasn't driving through the poles so that is planned for Sunday. Our intimate connection continued as I kept on making up the course as I go. She got the rewarded when she was coming out of the tunnel or about to finish the weaves not when she finished with a jump. When it was time for Scout, I did not know what to expect and for sure, his starting line stay needs work. But when he got moving he was nailing those entries and completing the poles! I was surprised and impressed by him. His success rate so far is around 80% and he is starting to "get it". Then we reverted back to tunnel send work and I use my infamous green football. I would send him from a close distance to the tunnel and then started to work further back. When he was in the tunnel I ran like a bat out of hell and then tossed the football. I am trying to get him excited to run when he is in the tunnel. Because Chloe is a like a little devil when she is in the tunnel, its like a speed rush for her because she comes out looking to hunt down something. We'll contine to work on this but in all, he did really good.

Now my kids are laid all out on the couch or recliner as they are normally taking their nap by 6-7 in the evening in which they are out for most of the night until I brush their teeth or do last call. I think Jen would be shocked to see how Scout is now. I think she'd be proud of him.

We started around 10 or so and the plan was to work on wraps or tight turns with several jumps. Actually the layout can been in Linda's DJS book but its the same layout we were doing in class since Denise wanted to work the foundation during summer. We worked on collection, post, and front crosses. 

This was Scout first time to do more than 2 jumps and I am very pleased with the results. We ran the 'clock' and a lot of recall to heel/collection drills. He is doing really well. When it was Chloe's turn, I increased the difficulty by making the last jump perpendicular to the rest and then did lead out to push and a front cross. She did really good. She hugged that upright like I wanted.

My goal was to understand how to get the kids to adjust their stride for a tighter turns and for me to initiate the correct timing for them to suceeed.

We had another session in the afternoon. For Chloe, it was mainly serpentine and threadle work. This is tough on the handler to maneuver. I was using Linda's backy uppy for the threadle and its diffcult to run sideways or backwards. The serpentine I laid out what Karen Holik had given out. That was tricky to do so I backed off of it until Chloe and I become as "one" because since the dog attack, she isn't as focused.

Scout's session entailed heelwork. And boy did he make me proud! He stuck to me like glue, we did walk the line stufff with crosses and such. I ran, stopped, spun him around, when backwards. He was there and focused on me. What a good boy! We have come a long way thats for sure. I put him in a sit-stay and walked in which I was working on some distance. I was 30' away and he held it. I ran, waved my arms and he stayed planted on his butt. Atta boy!

It has been nearly 3 years since I started running/sprinting on our neighborhood hill. Our hill is challenging because its grade is around a 7-8% and roughly an quarter mile however it doesn't stop there, it goes through the woods and into another neighborhood continues upward another quarter of a mile. The hill is such a challenge that the high school team and running enthusaists like to run on it. This hill is nasty in the winter and its one of the three bad hills in "Mudville" so prepared to wait for PennDot to show up to clear the way if you don't have a capable vehicle which really sucks! Been there, done that! FJ is here now

Now on the hill is the main road which is sectioned off with streets A-H, we're on the last street. So since I started increasing sets and reps during workouts where I had left off 3 years ago, it was time to get back to running. The last time I ran the hill, I sprinted all the way to G street and mind you, at that time, I was a smoker and a lot lighter! Since I had quit smoking I put on the pounds and now in the process of losing it. And you know, I really think the nicotine helped out a lot with the weight loss as it was a lot easier. Now, making it up to E Street is a chore itself because at that point, you are winded and your legs are burning. I was really curious to see how far I would go but I really did not want to push it since it had been awhile. I walked all the way the hill and crossed the street then stretched. Then I was off!

The first two streets go by rather easily. I am not winded at all. C Street comes, OK, there is some muscle work and D comes in and my legs are telling to stop and I am slightly winded. Now I know I could have gone to E street since this stuff is all mental. I did 3-4 deep breaths and I was fine. I guess my lungs seemed to be healed. So I walked up to E Street and then sprinted to F and took a breather to G. And then sprinted the last street, H. My heart was pounding but I didn't feel like I was dying. I sure wasn't winded. But I can tell I was running with more weight. I feel sluggish when running.

I am actually pleased with myself so far and will continue to do to this for the remaining warm days. All this was sparked because I am 75% near the capacity where I left off when I last worked out some 3 years ago. So what the hell, let's just do it! I started back up working out again at the beginning of this year. Progress has been slow because I was making it so but its now time to kick it into gear. I am pleased that not all my strength is not lost however some girth is gone that I do know. No more 18" arms but hey, doing 300 push ups now and i hope to be in the 400-450 by Fall. That's where I was.

Now ab work has always been a task because my kiddies love to attack me while I am on the ground because they either want to play or want attention.