Can you believe this picture? This is the blasted chunk of wood that Sanity has taken such a liking to. Look closely at the upper portion of the picture. That is her licking her lips as she worries that someone else just might want to taste the nasty thing.
Has you can sort of see in this picture she was not going to let that thing get away.
Much happier now that I finally let her have it back. She took it back to the mulch pile and buried it. Don't know if that was to protect it or help it grow.Anyway, once it was properly buried, she was off and running. Trevor, the GSD had decided to take position of a rope tug toy and his goal was to do the troll number. You know, where they put the object down and stand back just a little bit. They are waiting, hoping that another dog will come by and try to even look at it. When that happens they rush in noise and teeth threatening to do all sorts of bodily harm. It was interesting watching her work him out of the behavior. She would sort of slink and slither in, he would rush her, she would dive and twist and some how be tearing off across the yard with it in her mouth and him is hot pursuit. Some times she would let him catch up, grab the other end and a tug of war would go on for a few minutes before she would all of a sudden let go and take off.
After she did this to him four or five times he just gave up on his guarding. So she quit teasing and went off to pull Sage's tail. And so went the morning until it was time to leave for our normal Friday activities. Not a single thing to report there other than she did manage to retrieve my cane, but oh my the faces she made about having to do this particular job. You would think I was asking her to burn her chunk of wood.
Back home I thought things were going very well, since it was a totally beautiful day. Pam stopped by for some lunch and after lunch we happened to step out on the porch to head down the ramp for something. Sanity suddenly pops up from a direction she shouldn't have been. That damn bitch was in my flower garden again!
I'm telling you, I don't think she is going to get to live to see her first birthday. And to add insult to injury one of her short buddies, a Westie named Butchie was in there with her. If that wasn't bad enough they had been in the goldfish pond and had managed to kill the last of the goldfish. While Sanity jumped through a small opening in the ramp railing, Butchie had managed to dig his way under the new gate. So this weekend the opening will be sealed with lattice work or wire or something and I will figure out a way to fix the area under the gate so there can be no more digging. Maybe I will just put concrete down, that would fix them.
After that I didn't do a lick of training. Sigh Tomorrow is going to be a very busy training day, so that sort of makes up for today.
And for those of you who are wondering, Tyler was a very good boy all day long. So there!
Yesterday was going to be my first day working articles outdoors. I had decided to skip it due to the wind and dry conditions. Not a good day to start outdoor scent work I thought. Then, I read you made Sanity do it. If Sanity had to, Fable would too. He didn't think he could do it, I convinced him he could, and I think it was a good training experience. Went a little smoother today, but still some standing over the pile and two mistakes. Thanks for being motivating.
ReplyDeleteSorry about the goldfish, I hate to lose mine to the herons, cats, and raccoons. I'd be really mad if the dogs got them.
Myra Miller
Thanks for the sympathy on the goldfish loss. I had managed to keep three of them going for 4 years. They were really getting big, so it was sort of a bummer. I am just consoling myself with the fact that spring cleaning and set-up will be a whole lot easier since I won't have to catch them and put them in a bucket while I drain and clean the pond. Still, I was getting rather fond of them.
ReplyDeleteAre you trying out the clock exercise or are you way past that point?
I do start with a clock type method I guess. Two articles and moving it around until I can tell the dog is understanding that they have to scent and regularly chooses the right one. I started this dog on the metal, because he doesn't like it and it took a long time to get a reliable metal retrieve. I then start adding metal articles, still making sure to move it all around and also straight lines, chevrons, as well as clock faces. Then I start over again with the leather. Then start over again with mixed. He now is doing mixed. It sounds like you spend much longer on the two articles. This is only the second dog I've taught, and in both cases I just moved on when the dog seemed ready. I tried the tie down method with the first. He was an eager retriever and just brought back the whole dang contraption. I figured if I just started with the two, I could get him to figure it out. That dog took a while, this one seemed to get it and start scenting very quickly.
ReplyDeleteDo you have a prescribed time frame for moving around the clock and adding more?
Myra Miller
I always figure it is going to take me about four weeks to make it all the way around the clock. My taboo article is always the center point of the clock face and the correct article is the one that moves.
ReplyDeleteSee 3/12 post for a more complete discription.