Scout Meetings

Presentations to scout groups recently were on our canines' calendar. We took both to my sister's Girl Scout troop and Cub Scout pack meetings - on the same day! Afternoon with the GS, dinner with cousins and then to the cub pack. Too long a day for Amanda's energy level; she did the minimum by evening. Dogs enjoyed almost everything - except crate confinement while we ate dinner.

The girls in Amanda's troop are older so I discussed therapy dog visits as well as other dog activities - agility, rally, etc and we talked about dog training. Both Noche and River did tricks. River was in his element and Noche handled the attention quite well. I discovered that I can talk about dog activities for quite a long time LOL

Kept it a bit shorter for the younger boys - a little intro about therapy and activities and right into demos using volunteers. Finished up with a line for each dog as all the scouts and some family members got a turn to greet each dog and have them do a trick - although River was a bit sick of play dead by the end and I had to take that off his repertoire near the end. Noche only had to "boing" to be a hit there!

Used a chair as a walker to demonstrate walking with a dog. Made a tunnel with a child leaning agaisnt a physio ball so River could do under and then holding a hula hoop for jumping - using as many volunteers as we could. Had to limit jumping because of the slippery floor.

This week I visited a Brownie GS troop with River, along with 3 other KPETS teams. The previous experience gave me some confidence about this presentation. I knew River would do his part, as long as I could handle the talking. Amanda was originally planning to participate, but got a last-minute babysitting job. As this was an official KPETS visit, Noche was not eligible to go; certainly I couldn't take both dogs anyway.

They had seen the KPETS video just beforehand ( although it's been over a year for me, so I had to wing that part), so I reviewed very basic info. Then talked about other dog activities. Golden owner mentioned breed ring and demonstrated "stacking"; Rottie owner explained carting (no demo), other team has a St Bernard. She coordinated the visit as her daughter is in the troop. Other teams fairly new to KPETS, so I got the talking gig. And River is a great demo dog. Touched on rally, obedience, agility, freestyle in the demo. Mentioned other acitivities, too - used a helpful KPETS-provided outline that I expanded. Tried to use volunteers for similar demos as with the Cub Scouts. Wish I had remembered to have "posts" for a figure 8 heeling - next time?

Interesting difference between Cub Scouts and Brownies appraoch to the dogs - the boys wanted to individually give them a command to do a trick and reward with a treat - the girls mostly wanted to crowd around and pet the dogs - River enjoyed both types of attention.

Allergy notes - the peanut butter game suggested in the outline was a no-no due to peanut allergies; we also banned peanutbutter flavored dog treats. There were also 3 Brownies allergic to dogs who were not allowed to get close and pet - one was quite tearful. I did have River do a trick for her that she could tell him from a little distance using a hand signal. One girl insisted that she could pet the hypoallergenic coated one - River, so I think she pulled that off. When we took a group shot - carefully separating the dogs with Brownies in between, one girl asked me about Shih Tsus and beamed when I told her they have coats that don't shed.

This was our second presentation event with another team, since the - "maintain a distance between dogs" ruling. I do prefer that. I must admit there was some growling when certain dogs got too close. With age, River has gotten less tolerant of dogs in his face. (although, he wasn't the one growling).

It was great to have a variety of breeds represented and others to share their experiences as well.

I had also done a Daisy scout meeting at Patty's a while ago - before we even had Noche. That was an outdoor meeting, which made it even easier to do demonstrations.

Dog, treats in pouch, water for dog, his vest, leash, hula hoops, kids tunnel, exercise ball. I've also taken a step stool, toys ( although River usually will not retrieve at these - go figure?), toy piano, balloon on a string, target, extra leash. Music and a freestyle routine would be something to add. I did have River off leash for some - jumping, freestyle, tunnel - he was extremely well behaved - of course, I had food. And he always gets a laugh when he makes a mistake - should actually plan that into the presentation. And some nosework would be fun, too.
He does get a little demanding initially if he isn't getting treats fast enough! he is excited and eager, whining in the car when we arrive, but he did lay down and chill when I was talking for a while or someone else was talking, smart dog!

Playing CatchUp

Seems to be a common pattern in blogs, enthusiasm and frequent entries, then dwindling posts, a break and hopefully, a return with renewed energy.

Noche and River are both still training in agility; private lessons with Karen Sage. We also added classes at Flexible Flyers Agility in Honeybrook for a while. Amanda's health issues have necessitated a break from those for the moment. They were certainly a valuable learning environment. Both dogs had an adjustment to make dealing with a new location and other dogs. It is especially challenging in the cooler weather; classes are held in a 4H building, unheated, mostly dirt floor and port-a-potties ( Amanda dislikes!) and did I mention the 45 minute drive? Classes are a reasonable size, but of necessity, there is taking turns for runs, so it is scheduled as an hour and a half class time. Excellent teacher and lots of experienced competitors, although she was in an advanced beginner class. I'm optimistic that she'll get back to it, perhaps in warmer weather?

She discontinued the Novice Obedience class she disliked - preferring when she can talk to the dog, not the style of traditional competition. River has also enjoyed some classes in Nosework at Wendy's.

Our other adventure was attending a flyball tournament in York where we got a tutorial from Kim & Eric and watched several of their teams run. Lively atmosphere is an understatement! Amanda was interested enough that we took Noche to one of their team practices. He did pretty well after some adjusting to the new location. It was an eventful practice with one injury to a team member - no gloves and a dog caught her hand. Amanda decided against further participation at this time. Health constraints, combined with a full schedule, and again, a long evening drive to the location ( although they do have heat and real bathrooms). Not ruling it out for the future - Noche would really love it, in my opinion.

Noche is making progress in Rally. Also improving his focus overall. Still some challenges with reactive barking. Amanda contends he is fearful of big black dogs and so barks at them. We are also working on getting him comfortable with new people; getting better there, too. Maybe we'll make a therapy dog of him yet!

After Rally

Now that River has earned his Rally Excellent, what next for training? There is a higher level that can be earned by qualifying in both Advanced and Excellent at a show ten times. Amanda is not interested in pursuing this; fine by me. So she is starting Noche in a Beginning Rally class Thursday. River is in a Novice Obedience class; Amanda says she does not want to compete, but is interested in learning to train some of the skills. Directed retrieving, drop on recall could be fun in therapy work and she can just learn more about training in general.

Last weekend we attended an agility trial at In The Net, Palmyra, and she really wants to compete in agility next. Her agility teacher thinks that River can be ready for Novice level soon. She also think Noche, with some control - he has none now - has the potential to do well in agility - he is speedy. She has been out this summer with health issues and Amanda has missed her; first time back for River only tomorrow. Let's see what he remembers. Weave poles, hmmm?

Rally Advanced Title Somehow....

Amanda put a Rally Advanced title on River, finishing his third leg at the Lancaster KC show in Lebanon. A nice show to do so, as they provide a title finishing rosette, so we had a professional photo taken as well.

She was almost embarrassed to raise her hand during awards as having finished - his score was 73 (70 is the minimim) and she certainly did not think they had qualified when they left the ring. I didn't believe it until I checked the posted score myself. He certainly did not act like the dog she had been training. He was distracted from the moment they entered the ring. He left her at least twice - once to visit the stuffed dog distraction and another time to wag his tail at a young child ringside. Amanda worked very hard to get him back - everything but singing and dancing. I was surprised that the judge did not excuse them. And looking back, perhaps Amanda should have asked to be excused. But, she was persistant and the very kind judge rewarded that. She lost points for redoing signs and probably out of position, but he didn't leave the ring, he did do the exercises, although not well, so....

Now, the question is how to handle this going forward. Is he ringwise and won't work because he knows there is no food and no corrections in the ring or was he having a bad day? What kind of training can overcome this?

Attention work was suggested to us, but another trainer thinks he has excellent attention. Still another suggested working with treats not on person - going to get them after an exercise or 2 and gradually working up the length of time, keeping it random, making a big deal of "let's go get treats". I guess this is the "jackpot" method and I think Amanda wants to try this. Plus lots of on leash training. Excellent level is off leash also, plus has restrictions on clapping, slapping your leg and the added challenge of the honor exercise. Amanda wants to avoid the potential distractions of outdoor shows; so the next possibilities are in July. Plenty of time to prepare!

Rally Novice Title and 2 legs of Advanced

March -Rally Novice title earned in a 3 day show cluster in York!!!! Rah!!! for River and Amanda. Scores of 87,9?, 97 Placements of second, 1 point out of ribbons and first to finish. Now if I could just figure out how to add photos.

April - I started this a while ago - they now have 2 legs towards Advanced, earned with scores of 94 - a first and second place in Harrisburg. Headed to Lancaster KC show in Lebanon May 15 - maybe to finish Advanced.

"Even there, River got to be a therapy dog." wrote this part earlier, Hmm, wish I remember where I was going with this.... maybe that people petted him as opposed to ring- prepped dogs who couldn't be touched. We took him with us when we shopped the vendors so he got lots of attention which he enjoyed.

March KPETS Roundtable - Dogs & Doorbells

River could "crawl/under" the bridge made by a child leaning on a therapy ball. Don't step into the ring until the judge calls you (DQ!); don't step even one foot out until your dog is leashed (-10 pts). Tips we learned today - one for AAT visits; the others (hard-earned) applied to rally competition.

The challenges of training your dog's reactions to the door were also discussed. The best tip from a trainer - teach them to come to you when the doorbell rings. The best story - the doorbell that produces multiple animal sounds.

Hmmm, we don't have problems with River. He will announce visitors and quiet on command. Noche is another story; he is very vocal in many situations and sometimes entices River to join in. His vocalizations range from "singing" along when I play violin ( and River has been making that a duet lately); to frantic barking when we return from an outing - it translates as "please release me from my crate now!and how could you ever leave me". He also has happy barking - morning greetings as the family comes downstairs, play barking - when he is chasing River for a toy and alert barking - "I heard something and I want everyone to know it!" Excitment barking - when he is watching River run agility and he wants his turn - this reaction to a flyball demo got him an invitation to train when he is a bit older. Noche has quite a vocabulary of barks and they are all quite loud for his size. Our goal is to get it a bit more under control. His bark needs an "off" switch.

Limping Along

That could describe the frequency of my blogging here, but today it refers to River. About 15 minutes into his agility class, the instructor and I noticed that he was limping, so no more jumping or training for him today.

She checked his nails and pads wihtout finding anything. We hadn't observed anything happen. He had been doing a series of 2 low jumps, with the goal of driving through the jumps to a target bag that Amanda was throwing. He tends to look at Amanda after each piece of equipment, which slows him down overall. He was making good progress on focusing on the bag and heading for that after 2 jumps. So then, he started from the pause table, took a bar jump and then turned to the 2 jumps in sequence. Coming back after the second time of this was when we spotted the limping. He put weight on it and moved fine at a walk, but with a little more speed, favored his left front. So, clipped the leash back on him and he got to rest. We got to help Wendy play with her 8 week old border collie puppies; gotta love that puppy breath smell.

River was still limping earlier at home and we have been discouraging running and jumping the rest of the day. It's late evening as I write this and he is walking without a limp right now. We're ignoring his requests to throw a toy so he won't run. I prefer to err on the side of caution and at least wait until tomorrow. Hoping this is the equivalent of a turned ankle, that maybe he just took a jump awkwardly, and will recover quickly.

Door Ajar

So since my nephew was able to train their Corgi to close a door in only 2 days, I had to give it a try with River. 20 minutes and quite a few BilJac liver treats later, he has it!

Nephew used a clicker and a post-it note as a target and started with his dog targeting the post-it with his nose and then moving it to the door, then holding it there longer and eventually pushing it. Smart dog figured out that his paw works better and usually chooses that method.

River already knew "touch" with nose and "paw" touch with paw, so I started with "touch" on the basement door - which swings easily and closes with a satisfying click. We moved pretty quickly to using a paw - much easier to push the door. I still use a hand signal of pointing at the door to indicate "paw the door" but am also using verbal "close the door" with the goal of telling him to "go close the door," which might be handy to keep the puppy from the basement steps.

He can do cabinet doors, too although I am limiting this due to concerns about scratch marks. He can do interior doors, but so far our exterior doors are too heavy and don't swing as easily - maybe he could do a "double high five" and jump against those stubborn ones.

Still not quite caught up to the dog in the Youtube video who picked up laundry, turned on the coffeemaker, retrieved both the paper and the remote, etc ... nephew's goal- his dog to bring him a soda from the fridge. Heck with that, I want him to do laundry.

Escape Artist

River is pretty adaptable which has been handy, because we never know what physical space we will be in there. They have been rearranging things at Acadia- including the entrance, so sometimes we have a closed room, sometimes not. We have shared space with exercise equipment - which River always inspects. Open space can present another challenge. Sometimes River decides to go exploring/visiting. He is pretty deliberate about it, waiting until we are not focused on him and then he makes a dash for it. It's not a problem to retrieve him, but he is NOT doing a recall when he takes off. So, yes, we do drop the leash or even take it off, depending on what he is doing. It's in the way for roll over and jumping. If the space is open, I try to leave it on, to simplify nabbing him and minimizing the embarrassment of our "trained" dog taking off.

We are easily able to get him and he probably would return on his own after briefly exploring. Still, we could do some more work on recall, just not drop the leash, stick to only closed rooms or all of the above.