Here lies Smudge, the Texas Pug.
Here is a proper grovel if I ever saw one. The mistake that triggered this was totally forgiven.
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Pictures from the Fallston Maryland BT School
Here lies Smudge, the Texas Pug.Here is a proper grovel if I ever saw one. The mistake that triggered this was totally forgiven.
Monday, August 14, 2006
More on the Big Apple trip
Pam Loeb has been kind enough to give another perspective on Sanity's first trip to a truly big city.
______________________Pam Loeb's view_________________
Okay, I'm gonna attempt to do this in a narrative sort of way, but may wander off from that and start to speak in sentence fragments. May turn into stream of consciousness, as long as I'm conscious!
***********************************************************************
The day started dark and early.... I was awakened at 3am (no sun yet, so couldn't be bright and early!!) by a quick lick on my nose by an unseen assailant. I can only assume it was Sanity. I was a visitor sleeping on the couch, but she's known me practically since her arrival in MD, so this was more of an unexpected surprise for her, it would seem!
At nearly 4am there was a knock on the door, and Al Marx was standing on the other side. We loaded our small totebag, some snacks and Margot's scooter into his van. Then, we loaded Margot, Sanity and myself and off we went to the Big City!
Sanity has taken many a car ride, and this was a piece of cake. She settled right in to the back of the van, with an occasional attempt to make herself more comfortable by using the center console as a pillow. We only made one quick pit stop, to allow us all to make our bladders gladder. Margot and Sanity joined me on line at Starbucks for the obligatory breakfast pastry. Rest stops are pretty vacant at 6 or 7am (too bleary eyed to remember what time we were there!), so it was an uneventful stop and we were quickly loaded back into our respective seats and back out on the road.
We arrived in NYC around 9am, and after locating the church that was our destination we found a parking lot with a space to offer us! We all piled out of the van, and watched it disappear into the depths of the garage. Poor country dog Sanity. She looked around and knew we weren't in Maryland any more!
BUT, this was definitely a place worthy of exploration. So as we moved along looking for a place where we could actually sit down and eat (as opposed to the typical morning NYC cart offerings of pastries, coffee or fruit) Sanity drank it all in. We encountered several other dogs during the 4-5 block walk. She glanced at them, and then back to looking at the tall buildings and fast-walking passersby. Wow!! NYC is a very fast place! Sanity just barely fixed on one approaching stranger when another jostled past! And, it's a good thing she knows where 'heel' is, 'cause the sidewalk was beginning to feel rather narrow, between the scooter, the dog, and all those people rushing past in either direction.
We found a McDonalds that offered seating, so we headed in. Sadly, it was not really an accessible location. Margot managed to get the scooter in the front door, then was confronted by 2 steps. We left the scooter in a corner just inside the door, and seated ourselves at the nearest table. George and Al held our table, while Margot and I chose to use the restroom to change into our more appropriate clothing.
As we moved toward the restroom, a McDonald's employee tried to stop Margot, by saying, "Ma'am, you can't bring a dog in here." I explained that this was an Assistance Dog, and the dog could go everywhere her person was allowed to go, by law. We kept right on moving, so I never heard a reply.
Once again, we found out the building was NOT accessible, as the restroom was on the second floor! At the top of an escalator, which was not on. So, we slowly trudged up the stairs. Between her cane and Sanity, Margot was able to scale the very tall flight of stairs the escalator had become. It was actually a good thing the escalator was off, as it is unsafe to take a Service Dog on a moving escalator.
We changed into our nicer clothes in the ladies room, but Sanity just watched. She was already in her fancy dress collar and working attire of shoulder packs.
After breakfast we walked back to the church. There were all new people to watch as they ran off to work, and Sanity was drinking it all in. So many new aromas! So many different people! And all of these tall buildings!
We arrived back at the church, and settled in outside to wait until it seemed time to go in. Another less-than-accessible building, so part of our time was spent trying to figure out how to get in! But, as we waited, several other dog-and-handler teams arrived. One man using a Guide Dog waited nearby. His dog lay quietly by his side, as Sanity did the same next to Margot.
We finally got everyone into the church and found a seat. This was definitely Sanity's first time in a church! Although it was rather loud and echo-y, nothing fazed her. The service began with bagpipes, something many dogs might react to. Then the bugle played Taps, and still, none of the dogs inside uttered a peep. (I counted 5 dogs at the service). We stood and we sat, and we stood some more, then we sat again. If I hadn't known Sanity was sitting two people away from me, I never would have guessed she was there.
When the service ended, rather abruptly (there was a mass scheduled for noon, and it started late!), we all moved into a community room downstairs in the church. Once again, Sanity handled herself like a pro. Curled up under the table and kept an eye on all the feet passing by. She did let Bonnie Brown know she was there when she began licking Bonnie's toes, but I think she was just trying to make a good impression on this new person.
One of the few small favors on this trip was that the ladies room was located on the same level as the community room (almost, there were two steps to get in). We stood on a modest line for a very small bathroom. There were two stalls, but there really should have been only one they were so very small. Margot wasn't sure she and Sanity would both fit, so I offered to hold Sanity while Margot used the restroom. Then, it was decided this was a good training exercise. So they very carefully worked themselves into the tiny enclosed space. I heard lots of praise and encouragement, and the next thing I know, we're working out way back out of this little space and into the main room.
Soon, everyone had shared their stories, as well as their tears, and it was time to head home. We all loaded back into the van, and followed the signs SOUTH. Sanity fell into a deep sleep pretty quickly, as I did later that night.
All in all, it was a pretty amazing trip for a 13 month old dog! I've known an awful lot of Assistance Dog puppies, and not one that could have handled the trip with such aplomb. In fact, I think it's safe to say that there wasn't a soul who would have guessed that Sanity was such a youngster. She handled herself and all of her duties like a seasoned pro. The long ride, the bagpipes in the church, the Lilliputian ladies room, and all the strange new sights and sounds that are NYC.
I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world!
________________________________end______________________
Actually Sanity is now 15 months old. I am so accustom to my dogs behaving a certain way in public by the time they are 6 to 7 months old that I sometimes forget my ideas just don't mesh with most of the world, when it comes to dogs and their behavior.
And before I totally forget, thank you to Al Marx and George Cockrell for all their help. Without them, I don't know what I would have done about all the stairs. Stairs to get into and out of the church. Stairs to get down to the community room and then back out again. Thanks guys for making the trip possible.
______________________Pam Loeb's view_________________
Okay, I'm gonna attempt to do this in a narrative sort of way, but may wander off from that and start to speak in sentence fragments. May turn into stream of consciousness, as long as I'm conscious!
***********************************************************************
The day started dark and early.... I was awakened at 3am (no sun yet, so couldn't be bright and early!!) by a quick lick on my nose by an unseen assailant. I can only assume it was Sanity. I was a visitor sleeping on the couch, but she's known me practically since her arrival in MD, so this was more of an unexpected surprise for her, it would seem!
At nearly 4am there was a knock on the door, and Al Marx was standing on the other side. We loaded our small totebag, some snacks and Margot's scooter into his van. Then, we loaded Margot, Sanity and myself and off we went to the Big City!
Sanity has taken many a car ride, and this was a piece of cake. She settled right in to the back of the van, with an occasional attempt to make herself more comfortable by using the center console as a pillow. We only made one quick pit stop, to allow us all to make our bladders gladder. Margot and Sanity joined me on line at Starbucks for the obligatory breakfast pastry. Rest stops are pretty vacant at 6 or 7am (too bleary eyed to remember what time we were there!), so it was an uneventful stop and we were quickly loaded back into our respective seats and back out on the road.
We arrived in NYC around 9am, and after locating the church that was our destination we found a parking lot with a space to offer us! We all piled out of the van, and watched it disappear into the depths of the garage. Poor country dog Sanity. She looked around and knew we weren't in Maryland any more!
BUT, this was definitely a place worthy of exploration. So as we moved along looking for a place where we could actually sit down and eat (as opposed to the typical morning NYC cart offerings of pastries, coffee or fruit) Sanity drank it all in. We encountered several other dogs during the 4-5 block walk. She glanced at them, and then back to looking at the tall buildings and fast-walking passersby. Wow!! NYC is a very fast place! Sanity just barely fixed on one approaching stranger when another jostled past! And, it's a good thing she knows where 'heel' is, 'cause the sidewalk was beginning to feel rather narrow, between the scooter, the dog, and all those people rushing past in either direction.
We found a McDonalds that offered seating, so we headed in. Sadly, it was not really an accessible location. Margot managed to get the scooter in the front door, then was confronted by 2 steps. We left the scooter in a corner just inside the door, and seated ourselves at the nearest table. George and Al held our table, while Margot and I chose to use the restroom to change into our more appropriate clothing.
As we moved toward the restroom, a McDonald's employee tried to stop Margot, by saying, "Ma'am, you can't bring a dog in here." I explained that this was an Assistance Dog, and the dog could go everywhere her person was allowed to go, by law. We kept right on moving, so I never heard a reply.
Once again, we found out the building was NOT accessible, as the restroom was on the second floor! At the top of an escalator, which was not on. So, we slowly trudged up the stairs. Between her cane and Sanity, Margot was able to scale the very tall flight of stairs the escalator had become. It was actually a good thing the escalator was off, as it is unsafe to take a Service Dog on a moving escalator.
We changed into our nicer clothes in the ladies room, but Sanity just watched. She was already in her fancy dress collar and working attire of shoulder packs.
After breakfast we walked back to the church. There were all new people to watch as they ran off to work, and Sanity was drinking it all in. So many new aromas! So many different people! And all of these tall buildings!
We arrived back at the church, and settled in outside to wait until it seemed time to go in. Another less-than-accessible building, so part of our time was spent trying to figure out how to get in! But, as we waited, several other dog-and-handler teams arrived. One man using a Guide Dog waited nearby. His dog lay quietly by his side, as Sanity did the same next to Margot.
We finally got everyone into the church and found a seat. This was definitely Sanity's first time in a church! Although it was rather loud and echo-y, nothing fazed her. The service began with bagpipes, something many dogs might react to. Then the bugle played Taps, and still, none of the dogs inside uttered a peep. (I counted 5 dogs at the service). We stood and we sat, and we stood some more, then we sat again. If I hadn't known Sanity was sitting two people away from me, I never would have guessed she was there.
When the service ended, rather abruptly (there was a mass scheduled for noon, and it started late!), we all moved into a community room downstairs in the church. Once again, Sanity handled herself like a pro. Curled up under the table and kept an eye on all the feet passing by. She did let Bonnie Brown know she was there when she began licking Bonnie's toes, but I think she was just trying to make a good impression on this new person.
One of the few small favors on this trip was that the ladies room was located on the same level as the community room (almost, there were two steps to get in). We stood on a modest line for a very small bathroom. There were two stalls, but there really should have been only one they were so very small. Margot wasn't sure she and Sanity would both fit, so I offered to hold Sanity while Margot used the restroom. Then, it was decided this was a good training exercise. So they very carefully worked themselves into the tiny enclosed space. I heard lots of praise and encouragement, and the next thing I know, we're working out way back out of this little space and into the main room.
Soon, everyone had shared their stories, as well as their tears, and it was time to head home. We all loaded back into the van, and followed the signs SOUTH. Sanity fell into a deep sleep pretty quickly, as I did later that night.
All in all, it was a pretty amazing trip for a 13 month old dog! I've known an awful lot of Assistance Dog puppies, and not one that could have handled the trip with such aplomb. In fact, I think it's safe to say that there wasn't a soul who would have guessed that Sanity was such a youngster. She handled herself and all of her duties like a seasoned pro. The long ride, the bagpipes in the church, the Lilliputian ladies room, and all the strange new sights and sounds that are NYC.
I wouldn't have missed any of it for the world!
________________________________end______________________
Actually Sanity is now 15 months old. I am so accustom to my dogs behaving a certain way in public by the time they are 6 to 7 months old that I sometimes forget my ideas just don't mesh with most of the world, when it comes to dogs and their behavior.
And before I totally forget, thank you to Al Marx and George Cockrell for all their help. Without them, I don't know what I would have done about all the stairs. Stairs to get into and out of the church. Stairs to get down to the community room and then back out again. Thanks guys for making the trip possible.
Wednesday, August 09, 2006
For those of you who knew and either loved or hated Cap Haggerty I share a few of the pictures I took yesterday at his memorial service. A service complete with pipes, horn, flag service took place yesterday to remember and honor "Cap", The Captain, Mr. Clean, Art, Arthur Haggerty.
The memories were as varied as the man himself. Most all of the memories being shared seemed somehow bigger than life. As each cluster of people stood up to remember Cap a few things began to stand out. We all remembered him as argumentative, fun loving, strong, honest, with a depth and breath of knowledge of a sort very few have. He was a warrior, an author, an actor, a dog trainer, a husband, a father, a grandfather. Any one of the careers are considered to be enough for most people. The fact that he did them all and did them so very well tells us just what sort of man he really was. He was one of the gifted and blessed ones and I am so grateful that I got to stand in his shadow for a short time.
Cap'n and self taken about 3 years ago. We were just finishing up an excellent argument. Who know on what, didn't matter, he was such an excellent opponent all arguments were most satisfying.(If you enjoy a good, solid argument.)
Al Marx waiting outside the church for the service to begin.
Pam Loeb on the phone and George Cockrell just coming down the steps. Don't they clean up well?
Looking up at Bob Maida. Sorry, but I couldn't back up any further for this shot because they already had me backed into a corner.
Julia McDonough coming into the church and by george, I do believe that is the cleaned up George Cockrell right behind her.
These next three were taken in the church social hall. Look closely, for you just may see either yourself, if you were there, or someone you know if you weren't there.
Martin Deeley shares a memory of Cap while Dawn Wolfe can be seen taping and Bob Maida is in the background. The entire affair was taped so it could be shared with good friends of Cap's who were unable to travel due to illness. 
In this next picture, you can see Dawn taping and for some reason the only shots I managed to get of Mordecai Siegal were of his back or the back of his head. Not real sure just what that means, then again, maybe it just means he was always ahead of me. 
The fellow standing more or less beside me told a wonderful story about how he wanted to have a guide dog and none of the Guide Dog Schools would give him one because he was a street singer. Cap came along and said "no reason why a blind, street singer shouldn't have a dog same as anyone else" Trained a dog for him and then helped him learn how to train his own dogs so that he would never have to be without a guide dog just because he didn't fit the criteria the schools set. And with the end of the story I was once again reminded why I admired that loud, brash, abrasive, giant of a man known as Captain Haggerty. Oh and sadly that's me standing off to the side. I can't make up my mind as to just what I was doing. That open mouth may have just been in the process of catching a fly. I am still wishing I could learn to keep it shut, cause open has caused me more grief. Who knows? Someday that is likely how I will be remembered. "Oh, her? Wasn't she the one who was always talking when she should have been listening?"
In this picture you can just barely see his guide dog. You can see Sanity peering around my leg and on my left is Sydney Miller. Oh dear, I do hope I got her last name right. For some reason I just seem to remember her as Cap's student from long ago. How I hate it when my memory plays those types of nasty tricks on me. Anyway, I do know that is Martin Deeley you can see standing in the background.
Remember, this is Sanity's blog and so it is important to see just what she was doing behind/under that table.
As you can see, she was busy sucking up to Bonnie Brown of the Dog Trainers' Connection. Any and all naked human toes should be washed, is her motto.
How did she do? This young Doberman from a small town in Maryland on her first trip to the Big Apple? She would have been happier if we had walked slower and given her a chance to smell, taste and really study EVERYTHING. But since that was not be, she managed to take in as much as possible. All in all she handled the city as just another interesting day.
The memories were as varied as the man himself. Most all of the memories being shared seemed somehow bigger than life. As each cluster of people stood up to remember Cap a few things began to stand out. We all remembered him as argumentative, fun loving, strong, honest, with a depth and breath of knowledge of a sort very few have. He was a warrior, an author, an actor, a dog trainer, a husband, a father, a grandfather. Any one of the careers are considered to be enough for most people. The fact that he did them all and did them so very well tells us just what sort of man he really was. He was one of the gifted and blessed ones and I am so grateful that I got to stand in his shadow for a short time.
Cap'n and self taken about 3 years ago. We were just finishing up an excellent argument. Who know on what, didn't matter, he was such an excellent opponent all arguments were most satisfying.(If you enjoy a good, solid argument.)
Al Marx waiting outside the church for the service to begin.
Pam Loeb on the phone and George Cockrell just coming down the steps. Don't they clean up well?
Looking up at Bob Maida. Sorry, but I couldn't back up any further for this shot because they already had me backed into a corner.
Julia McDonough coming into the church and by george, I do believe that is the cleaned up George Cockrell right behind her.
These next three were taken in the church social hall. Look closely, for you just may see either yourself, if you were there, or someone you know if you weren't there.
Martin Deeley shares a memory of Cap while Dawn Wolfe can be seen taping and Bob Maida is in the background. The entire affair was taped so it could be shared with good friends of Cap's who were unable to travel due to illness. 
In this next picture, you can see Dawn taping and for some reason the only shots I managed to get of Mordecai Siegal were of his back or the back of his head. Not real sure just what that means, then again, maybe it just means he was always ahead of me. 
The fellow standing more or less beside me told a wonderful story about how he wanted to have a guide dog and none of the Guide Dog Schools would give him one because he was a street singer. Cap came along and said "no reason why a blind, street singer shouldn't have a dog same as anyone else" Trained a dog for him and then helped him learn how to train his own dogs so that he would never have to be without a guide dog just because he didn't fit the criteria the schools set. And with the end of the story I was once again reminded why I admired that loud, brash, abrasive, giant of a man known as Captain Haggerty. Oh and sadly that's me standing off to the side. I can't make up my mind as to just what I was doing. That open mouth may have just been in the process of catching a fly. I am still wishing I could learn to keep it shut, cause open has caused me more grief. Who knows? Someday that is likely how I will be remembered. "Oh, her? Wasn't she the one who was always talking when she should have been listening?"
In this picture you can just barely see his guide dog. You can see Sanity peering around my leg and on my left is Sydney Miller. Oh dear, I do hope I got her last name right. For some reason I just seem to remember her as Cap's student from long ago. How I hate it when my memory plays those types of nasty tricks on me. Anyway, I do know that is Martin Deeley you can see standing in the background.
Remember, this is Sanity's blog and so it is important to see just what she was doing behind/under that table.
As you can see, she was busy sucking up to Bonnie Brown of the Dog Trainers' Connection. Any and all naked human toes should be washed, is her motto.How did she do? This young Doberman from a small town in Maryland on her first trip to the Big Apple? She would have been happier if we had walked slower and given her a chance to smell, taste and really study EVERYTHING. But since that was not be, she managed to take in as much as possible. All in all she handled the city as just another interesting day.
Friday, June 23, 2006
More Columbia MO
This is a picture of Sanity trying to get George to give her a pigeon. 
This is a picture of some of the class trying to get in some work between the storms.
Here Sanity and I are getting ready to demo the beginning of the broad jump training. We had to be very careful, because as you can see the floor excelled in shininess and failed in traction.
Here's a group of students just getting settled in for an afternoon session. What you can't see is just how hard it was raining outside.
The next three shots are of Sanity and I on the ATV just before we started a run. These runs were super fun for Sanity. It is the first time in my life I have ever had a dog literally jump for joy. That is exactly what she did the third day I came around the corner of the kennel building on the ATV. All thought I didn't get a picture of it, she also decided to go for a swim and proceeded to jump in said lake at the end where there was no gradual slope. Boy was she surprised when she had to swim back to the shore.
This is a picture of George's little lake. Sanity and I are just a tiny speck on the other side of the lake. It sure was pretty and riding that ATV was fun, fun, fun.
This is a picture of some of the class trying to get in some work between the storms.
Here Sanity and I are getting ready to demo the beginning of the broad jump training. We had to be very careful, because as you can see the floor excelled in shininess and failed in traction.
Here's a group of students just getting settled in for an afternoon session. What you can't see is just how hard it was raining outside.
The next three shots are of Sanity and I on the ATV just before we started a run. These runs were super fun for Sanity. It is the first time in my life I have ever had a dog literally jump for joy. That is exactly what she did the third day I came around the corner of the kennel building on the ATV. All thought I didn't get a picture of it, she also decided to go for a swim and proceeded to jump in said lake at the end where there was no gradual slope. Boy was she surprised when she had to swim back to the shore.
This is a picture of George's little lake. Sanity and I are just a tiny speck on the other side of the lake. It sure was pretty and riding that ATV was fun, fun, fun.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Columbia MO (continued)
The following pictures were taken on the second leg of our journey. I made the mistake of thinking the first plane was small. Little did I know that the second plane would be even smaller. In this first shot they haven't closed the door yet. There is so little room I couldn't figure out where to put my feet and one of them is actually in the aisle.
As you can see in this picture, there really isn't any room at all under the seats. Passengers were not allowed to have any carry-on items on this plane because there simply wasn't any room.
Once they closed the door it seemed as if there was even less room and then we just sat on that runway and sat and sat. 
It was as if we were sitting in a tin can doing a slow broil. Sanity isn't one to pant and as you can see she had to sit up and try to cool off. Her panting got pretty serious before we were finally underway and they turned the AC on.
Thankfully it was a short 45 minute hop to our final destination.
My way of dealing with the steep stairs necessary for disembarking was to leave her on a sit/stay and negotiate them by myself and then call her to me after I got seated in the wheelchair the airport provided. This is a shot of her waiting next to the air line attendant.
As you can see, it was hot enough to cause my "I like it warm" girl to do a wide open pant in an attempt to keep cool.
The next two shots show some of the other planes on the runway.
and this shot 
No, we didn't' do a jump back in time. They were having an air show when we arrived.
Once on the ground we met up with George and headed back to his lovely home and a week of hard work. More pictures to come. Sorry this is taking so long, but you can blame it on Blogspot.com for not letting me post pictures except via the most difficult of routes AND worse yet, sometimes they just plain aren't accepting any new entries at all. Gotta do something about setting up a blog site on my web page.
As you can see in this picture, there really isn't any room at all under the seats. Passengers were not allowed to have any carry-on items on this plane because there simply wasn't any room.
Once they closed the door it seemed as if there was even less room and then we just sat on that runway and sat and sat. 
It was as if we were sitting in a tin can doing a slow broil. Sanity isn't one to pant and as you can see she had to sit up and try to cool off. Her panting got pretty serious before we were finally underway and they turned the AC on.
Thankfully it was a short 45 minute hop to our final destination. My way of dealing with the steep stairs necessary for disembarking was to leave her on a sit/stay and negotiate them by myself and then call her to me after I got seated in the wheelchair the airport provided. This is a shot of her waiting next to the air line attendant.
As you can see, it was hot enough to cause my "I like it warm" girl to do a wide open pant in an attempt to keep cool.
The next two shots show some of the other planes on the runway.
and this shot 
No, we didn't' do a jump back in time. They were having an air show when we arrived.
Once on the ground we met up with George and headed back to his lovely home and a week of hard work. More pictures to come. Sorry this is taking so long, but you can blame it on Blogspot.com for not letting me post pictures except via the most difficult of routes AND worse yet, sometimes they just plain aren't accepting any new entries at all. Gotta do something about setting up a blog site on my web page.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Our trip to Columbia MO
Well, the trip to Columbia, MO has come and gone. I have managed to get caught up on almost all the jobs that seem to magically appear anytime a person goes out of town for more than a day and now it is time to report and get back to the daily log.
Best to start in the middle and tell about our trip. This picture was taken by a very sweet flight attendant. It was on the first leg of our trip.
This series of shots gives some idea of just how little room we had and we were sitting in bulkhead which, in theory has the most room.
The flight attendant was trying to take pictures for me when we hit a rough patch. Right after this shot the seatbelt sign came on and it was a while before any more pictures could be taken. It was so dark that Sanity's head doesn't even show up in the picture, but she was actually peeking around the corner and watching. I wish there had been enough light for her to show up.
I give up. One of the reasons why you haven't heard from me in so long isn't just my being busy or tired from the trip. It is that the blog site itself has been down more than it has been working. When I logged in to start this up date it appeared to be finally running correctly. Not so and I really don't have the time to spent when the darn site makes me do it over and over and wait forever for the pictures to load. Will try again tomorrow.
Best to start in the middle and tell about our trip. This picture was taken by a very sweet flight attendant. It was on the first leg of our trip.
This series of shots gives some idea of just how little room we had and we were sitting in bulkhead which, in theory has the most room.
The flight attendant was trying to take pictures for me when we hit a rough patch. Right after this shot the seatbelt sign came on and it was a while before any more pictures could be taken. It was so dark that Sanity's head doesn't even show up in the picture, but she was actually peeking around the corner and watching. I wish there had been enough light for her to show up.
I give up. One of the reasons why you haven't heard from me in so long isn't just my being busy or tired from the trip. It is that the blog site itself has been down more than it has been working. When I logged in to start this up date it appeared to be finally running correctly. Not so and I really don't have the time to spent when the darn site makes me do it over and over and wait forever for the pictures to load. Will try again tomorrow.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Day 324
Having allowed Sanity to take a serious break from any and all training, based on her starting to request training I figured it would be a good time to start up again. We will continue to rough in the utility exercises while building the open exercises. For those of you who are wondering just where I am going with all this, its actually easy.
After I finish roughing in Utility I will go all the way back to Novice and in effect, start all over again. The major difference will be my insisting on a more precise working style. I think it is necessary at this point to begin to stress the fact that one of the things I am forced to do now that is totally different from how I have ever trained before is that my dog, in this case Sanity, simply must learn to work in a rather slow, deliberate manner. I simply can't stand the pain associated with being bumped by an silly/happy dog nor will my current level of stiffness allow me to move fast enough to even consider one of the popular styles of movement. Doesn't matter since slow and deliberate get the job done in a very comfortable, reliable manner. I'm pleased with the results and so is Sanity and as we all know that is what is really important.
During the evening "Bits and Pieces" class I managed to have Sanity do a directed retrieve to the #1 glove. She is moving about half the distance necessary and moving with complete confidence toward a hidden glove. I also worked her on articles and had her do metal and leather as two separate exercises. We only worked with 2 taboo and one correct article. She did well on both.
After I finish roughing in Utility I will go all the way back to Novice and in effect, start all over again. The major difference will be my insisting on a more precise working style. I think it is necessary at this point to begin to stress the fact that one of the things I am forced to do now that is totally different from how I have ever trained before is that my dog, in this case Sanity, simply must learn to work in a rather slow, deliberate manner. I simply can't stand the pain associated with being bumped by an silly/happy dog nor will my current level of stiffness allow me to move fast enough to even consider one of the popular styles of movement. Doesn't matter since slow and deliberate get the job done in a very comfortable, reliable manner. I'm pleased with the results and so is Sanity and as we all know that is what is really important.
During the evening "Bits and Pieces" class I managed to have Sanity do a directed retrieve to the #1 glove. She is moving about half the distance necessary and moving with complete confidence toward a hidden glove. I also worked her on articles and had her do metal and leather as two separate exercises. We only worked with 2 taboo and one correct article. She did well on both.
Sunday, June 04, 2006
Tyler at Lauren's5
As each day goes by he is doing better. He knows what he is suppose to do. I keep reminding myself he is just a puppy, but some of the things he does has Sanity written all over it. Don't let me get on the phone or give him too much slack.
He is good at stealing things in plastic bags like food and treats. He is at the stage where everthing must be tasted and eaten if no one is looking. When he does that I call him "HOOVER">
Bitsy and him have been ok except if she happens to have food stuck in her fur. He will pester her until the cows come home. They both like ice chips and he has made a game out of it so we have little wet spots all over their sofa, etc. If he does anything he thinks he is getting in trouble for he immediately runs to me and get up on the seat of the scooter and looks at me with that "WHAT" look. See I am being good!!!??? Right!!!!
Today we took another traffic and road trip to the drug store. I run him up part of the way and then put him on the bottom of the scooter. He whines when he sees other dogs, but other than that he minds his own business. I know he is still a puppy and he misses all the doggie friends.
He is getting lots of different experiences.
The hardest part is he is so friendly and wants to say hello to all Don's nurses. Alot of them are afraid of "Black dogs" as they say "I can't see his eyes" superstitions from other voodoo countries. So I try to either have him on the flexie or on my seat on the scooter when they arrive. They never come the same time, so it has been difficult from that standpoint. He is doing much better this week.
I have gotten a few pictures, but Don can't manage the camera. Will get more this week before I bring him back.
BLT (Bitsy,Lauren & Tyller)
He is good at stealing things in plastic bags like food and treats. He is at the stage where everthing must be tasted and eaten if no one is looking. When he does that I call him "HOOVER">
Bitsy and him have been ok except if she happens to have food stuck in her fur. He will pester her until the cows come home. They both like ice chips and he has made a game out of it so we have little wet spots all over their sofa, etc. If he does anything he thinks he is getting in trouble for he immediately runs to me and get up on the seat of the scooter and looks at me with that "WHAT" look. See I am being good!!!??? Right!!!!
Today we took another traffic and road trip to the drug store. I run him up part of the way and then put him on the bottom of the scooter. He whines when he sees other dogs, but other than that he minds his own business. I know he is still a puppy and he misses all the doggie friends.
He is getting lots of different experiences.
The hardest part is he is so friendly and wants to say hello to all Don's nurses. Alot of them are afraid of "Black dogs" as they say "I can't see his eyes" superstitions from other voodoo countries. So I try to either have him on the flexie or on my seat on the scooter when they arrive. They never come the same time, so it has been difficult from that standpoint. He is doing much better this week.
I have gotten a few pictures, but Don can't manage the camera. Will get more this week before I bring him back.
BLT (Bitsy,Lauren & Tyller)
Monday, May 29, 2006
Tyler at Lauren's4
Today was quite eventful. It was 91 today and very hot. We all had to go to the Giant as we were having Noah and his mom Kim over for a cookout. I ran Tyler for a while, but felt it was too hot, not only in degrees, but the asphalt on his tender feet. So then nestled him in for a long ride to Giant. Across New Hampshire Ave. and thru many streets in the street. Tyler got a little antsy, but all in all did good for his first food store and long scooter ride in the heat.
Then Mr. Felisano came and we worked in the garden for a while. Dogs took a nap and then Noah and his mom Kim (my neice) arrived and we visited and ate. I put Tyler on the seat of my scooter and have him lie down while we eat as it is way too tempting for others to feed him and I will not have them break the training. After we ate we all played with the toy retrieve and tired all of us out. Now all are resting and getting ready for bed. I would say it was an eventful day for a dogs point of view. (mine too)
Then Mr. Felisano came and we worked in the garden for a while. Dogs took a nap and then Noah and his mom Kim (my neice) arrived and we visited and ate. I put Tyler on the seat of my scooter and have him lie down while we eat as it is way too tempting for others to feed him and I will not have them break the training. After we ate we all played with the toy retrieve and tired all of us out. Now all are resting and getting ready for bed. I would say it was an eventful day for a dogs point of view. (mine too)
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Tyler at Lauren's3
Dear Margot: After I spoke to you, I saddled up both dogs to take on a long hike. Bitsy on the seat and Tyler on the flexie. The destination was a fruit and veg. stand one street over. There are no side walks. We went up my street in the street, sidewalk along New Hampshire Ave. (wth traffic) short distance (one street over). We toured the veg and fruit stand all gravel, then completely around the block to our street. Tyler man was tired and trotted along most of the way. We stopped for a few rest periods and then back into full trot.
I did this to get him use to traffic noise and for building up his leash trotting with the scooter. This is what I did with Delta to build up his legs, etc.
Later in the day. I had planned a cookout. Tyler was like a little kid, but no one fed him. He did manage to pull a skewer of meat off the plate, but we got it in time. Sounds like a Sanity thief trick to me???? We stayed up till midnight and even when I tried to settle him down and we all went to bed, he did not want to go to sleep. He was so wired from all the attention and excitement. He is really getting alot of different senero's to deal with, but I think he is doing good.
L
I did this to get him use to traffic noise and for building up his leash trotting with the scooter. This is what I did with Delta to build up his legs, etc.
Later in the day. I had planned a cookout. Tyler was like a little kid, but no one fed him. He did manage to pull a skewer of meat off the plate, but we got it in time. Sounds like a Sanity thief trick to me???? We stayed up till midnight and even when I tried to settle him down and we all went to bed, he did not want to go to sleep. He was so wired from all the attention and excitement. He is really getting alot of different senero's to deal with, but I think he is doing good.
L
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Tyler at Lauren's2
Dear Margot:
Started the day with sitting outside for a very long time. He finally pottied. Brought them both in and figured he earned some time not attached to me while I made a cup of coffee as I was freezing from sitting outside waiting.............. He ran right in my room and did #2 again in the same spot. (I guess it was my fault) Good thing that dog food makes it easy to clean up.
Put him back on the flexie and sat outside again with him playing . I threw a stick and he brought it back to me. I was pleased, so back inside for a little while.
Don went to the store and when he returned told me about the strawberry festival up the street. The county has it annually there and my high school buddy works there. (She is head of Recreation Dept. for Montgomery County) So I had to take both of them since Don was going. Besides everyone takes their pets, so I know we all need the practice. What a hoot. Bitsy in the seat and Tyler down below. It was mostly rough on me. The dogs did really well.
I am still trying to figure the best way for Tyler to get use to riding in the car with me having to access the passenger side getting in and out. He does not know enough commands yet to do it as smooth as it will be later, but he sure is being good about all the new stuff we are doing.
All was tired, so we took a rest on the bed. All three of us. Tyler sleeps in his crate at night, but if I rest during the day, I let them rest with me. I wrap the string around my hand and he lays on me like I am Sanity. Bitsy usually stays on the floor, but she has been getting up too. This too shall pass.
I took them all out after our rest and he does everything else but potty. I brought him in to feed him his dinner in the crate. After dinner back outside for 1 and 1/2 hours more. I had no more charge left. I was not about to bring him in to go in my room again, so Don blocked one side and me the other and I let him off leash. He ran right to the back fence and did #2. I waited for a while to see if he had to do #1, then I called him and he came right to me. I praised him and now we are in.
So I will try back on the leash tomorrow. I was desperate tonight with no more charge. I want him to be able to potty on the leash also. All I do is untangle him as he gets so frustrated about being on the leash and having to go potty.
All in all, I think we all did good.
Started the day with sitting outside for a very long time. He finally pottied. Brought them both in and figured he earned some time not attached to me while I made a cup of coffee as I was freezing from sitting outside waiting.............. He ran right in my room and did #2 again in the same spot. (I guess it was my fault) Good thing that dog food makes it easy to clean up.
Put him back on the flexie and sat outside again with him playing . I threw a stick and he brought it back to me. I was pleased, so back inside for a little while.
Don went to the store and when he returned told me about the strawberry festival up the street. The county has it annually there and my high school buddy works there. (She is head of Recreation Dept. for Montgomery County) So I had to take both of them since Don was going. Besides everyone takes their pets, so I know we all need the practice. What a hoot. Bitsy in the seat and Tyler down below. It was mostly rough on me. The dogs did really well.
I am still trying to figure the best way for Tyler to get use to riding in the car with me having to access the passenger side getting in and out. He does not know enough commands yet to do it as smooth as it will be later, but he sure is being good about all the new stuff we are doing.
All was tired, so we took a rest on the bed. All three of us. Tyler sleeps in his crate at night, but if I rest during the day, I let them rest with me. I wrap the string around my hand and he lays on me like I am Sanity. Bitsy usually stays on the floor, but she has been getting up too. This too shall pass.
I took them all out after our rest and he does everything else but potty. I brought him in to feed him his dinner in the crate. After dinner back outside for 1 and 1/2 hours more. I had no more charge left. I was not about to bring him in to go in my room again, so Don blocked one side and me the other and I let him off leash. He ran right to the back fence and did #2. I waited for a while to see if he had to do #1, then I called him and he came right to me. I praised him and now we are in.
So I will try back on the leash tomorrow. I was desperate tonight with no more charge. I want him to be able to potty on the leash also. All I do is untangle him as he gets so frustrated about being on the leash and having to go potty.
All in all, I think we all did good.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Tyler at Lauren's1
Dear Margot:
After our morning conversation of Tyler not wanting to potty on a leash, I proceeded to go outside and sit. After one hour of trying different spots, I came back in to get warm. I continued to go to different spot, but all he would do is eat grass, sit and get himself wrapped around something. I ran in and out so much, I used all my charge by 12:00 noon. I went back out for a final attempt before I had to charge the chair. He did one #2. I was grateful and brought him in. I had to lay down while the charge was charging for a couple hours. Tyler lays on me like he does Sanity.
From 4:oo till 6 we did the same thing, but to no avail. I brought him in again and fed him his dinner.He did not eat all his dinner tonight. So back outside. Finally at 7:30 he pottied a river.
We all had a party and I brought him in and let him free from the chair and leash while we ate and I came back to the computer for 10 minutes and he went #2 in my room. So now he is attached to my chair again. He is a stubborn. I don't know how he held it from 1:00 yesterday till 7:30. (especially a male puppy). He does not want to potty on a leash. Tomorrow is another day!
Now the good news. He is getting better about coming. He in behind me now and I have been working on him coming up on the chair. He is bringing the toy back to me every time with a play retrieve. He also found a dental pic on the floor and he picked it up and brought it to me without me seeing him pick it up or asking him to "get it".
He is walking behind the chair on the flexie and is really watching the chair. My chair beeps when I back up and he is becoming aware of the noise also. Don still has to watch with his chair when Tyler is free.
All in all he is doing really good for a puppy. Plus its a new adjustment and I think he is handling it well.
After our morning conversation of Tyler not wanting to potty on a leash, I proceeded to go outside and sit. After one hour of trying different spots, I came back in to get warm. I continued to go to different spot, but all he would do is eat grass, sit and get himself wrapped around something. I ran in and out so much, I used all my charge by 12:00 noon. I went back out for a final attempt before I had to charge the chair. He did one #2. I was grateful and brought him in. I had to lay down while the charge was charging for a couple hours. Tyler lays on me like he does Sanity.
From 4:oo till 6 we did the same thing, but to no avail. I brought him in again and fed him his dinner.He did not eat all his dinner tonight. So back outside. Finally at 7:30 he pottied a river.
We all had a party and I brought him in and let him free from the chair and leash while we ate and I came back to the computer for 10 minutes and he went #2 in my room. So now he is attached to my chair again. He is a stubborn. I don't know how he held it from 1:00 yesterday till 7:30. (especially a male puppy). He does not want to potty on a leash. Tomorrow is another day!
Now the good news. He is getting better about coming. He in behind me now and I have been working on him coming up on the chair. He is bringing the toy back to me every time with a play retrieve. He also found a dental pic on the floor and he picked it up and brought it to me without me seeing him pick it up or asking him to "get it".
He is walking behind the chair on the flexie and is really watching the chair. My chair beeps when I back up and he is becoming aware of the noise also. Don still has to watch with his chair when Tyler is free.
All in all he is doing really good for a puppy. Plus its a new adjustment and I think he is handling it well.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Day 296
Saturday and only one lesson that Sanity, Tyler and the board and train dog all managed to share. Didn't want to leave anyone out. Did a quick pass at doing articles and sort of worked on that awful stand of hers. Then I discovered that she seems to have totally forgotten how to do the active sit.
And I realize that we are now entering the redo period in her training. Sometimes I wonder why I insist on starting my pups so young when I know I am just going to have to go back and do it all over again. Then I remind myself that I just can't stand trying to live with an untrained dog and puppy sloppy manners are better than no manners at all.
And I realize that we are now entering the redo period in her training. Sometimes I wonder why I insist on starting my pups so young when I know I am just going to have to go back and do it all over again. Then I remind myself that I just can't stand trying to live with an untrained dog and puppy sloppy manners are better than no manners at all.
Friday, May 12, 2006
Day 295
Well since I did promise I would share some pictures of Miss Sanity wearing her fancy pants, here they finally are for your viewing pleasure.
This is the pair I ordered for her. They fit ok, but it was clear they really weren't very comfortable.
One day a package arrived in the mail and it was addressed to Sanity. When I opened it for her out fell not one, but 4 pair of red, hot, chili pepper britches. They really fit. She didn't mind wearing them at all. And I finally found out that her sister Chili sent them to her. Thanks, Cathy and Chili.
This is the pair I ordered for her. They fit ok, but it was clear they really weren't very comfortable.
One day a package arrived in the mail and it was addressed to Sanity. When I opened it for her out fell not one, but 4 pair of red, hot, chili pepper britches. They really fit. She didn't mind wearing them at all. And I finally found out that her sister Chili sent them to her. Thanks, Cathy and Chili.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Day 294
Rain. Rain drove the morning lesson inside. Rain chased me inside when I tried to work Tyler. Rain chased me inside when I tried to work the Board and Train dog that is here. Rain chased me inside when I tried to work Sanity on jumping. I realize we desperately need the rain, but oh how I wish it would only rain at night.
Night. Evening classes. Rain, only now it is really hard rain with thunder and lightening. So much so that the class ran over by almost thirty minutes. Since no one wanted to even try to get to their car in the downpour we just kept on training.
Night. Evening classes. Rain, only now it is really hard rain with thunder and lightening. So much so that the class ran over by almost thirty minutes. Since no one wanted to even try to get to their car in the downpour we just kept on training.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Day 293
Wednesday, my morning student rescheduled, it is a beautiful day and I am stuck inside. Did not get to do a single worthwhile bit of training, didn't get to work in the garden. Shoot, I didn't even manage to get outside long enough to clean-up the yard. Why?
Because I spent the entire day working on the Power Point presentation I will be using when Sanity and I fly to Columbia, MO to teach a 5-day school on blending the use of the modern ecollar into a traditional training program. Seventy-five slides put together, and that means the school workbook with be 75 pages long. I sure hope people are coming to work rather than for a vacation.
The one truly funny thing that happened was toward the very end of the day. Diane, my Thursday evening helper and Saturday assistant came in to pick up her dogs and we started chatting. She took a seat on the loveseat and as we continued to chat, Sanity carefully stepped up on the loveseat beside her. Then came the funny/strange part. Sanity carefully sat and while studying Diane appeared to be trying to position herself in exactly the same position Diane was in. We both stopped talking to watch these unusual maneuvers.
By the time she was finished she looked for the world like a dog trying to mimic a human behavior and doing a darn good job at that. She was leaning her back against the back of the loveseat, spine straight and get this. She had wiggled her butt down and slightly out so her hind legs stuck straight out, you could see her belly and the real kicker came when with a final look at Diane she carefully placed her front feet on her rear legs. Diane was sitting with her hands resting on her legs. At that point, we both lost it and I am sorry to say started laughing so hard we were both almost crying. Poor Sanity, it really is mean to laugh at someone who is trying so hard.
Because I spent the entire day working on the Power Point presentation I will be using when Sanity and I fly to Columbia, MO to teach a 5-day school on blending the use of the modern ecollar into a traditional training program. Seventy-five slides put together, and that means the school workbook with be 75 pages long. I sure hope people are coming to work rather than for a vacation.
The one truly funny thing that happened was toward the very end of the day. Diane, my Thursday evening helper and Saturday assistant came in to pick up her dogs and we started chatting. She took a seat on the loveseat and as we continued to chat, Sanity carefully stepped up on the loveseat beside her. Then came the funny/strange part. Sanity carefully sat and while studying Diane appeared to be trying to position herself in exactly the same position Diane was in. We both stopped talking to watch these unusual maneuvers.
By the time she was finished she looked for the world like a dog trying to mimic a human behavior and doing a darn good job at that. She was leaning her back against the back of the loveseat, spine straight and get this. She had wiggled her butt down and slightly out so her hind legs stuck straight out, you could see her belly and the real kicker came when with a final look at Diane she carefully placed her front feet on her rear legs. Diane was sitting with her hands resting on her legs. At that point, we both lost it and I am sorry to say started laughing so hard we were both almost crying. Poor Sanity, it really is mean to laugh at someone who is trying so hard.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Day 292
Sanity and I are back to team teaching and it is now starting to feel the way I want it to feel. I had a week 2 to teach and that covers the beginning of the sit and an introduction to the more formal heel command. More formal than just stepping off on the left foot and going or asking the dog to sort of "come along" or "let's go".
Anyway she started out by acting as the loose dog in the park. Wandering around the yard, sometimes strolling past the student and student's dog and never making eye contact with the dog in training. She really is learning and I am so pleased with how she handled this borderline dog aggressive dog I could just bust. She would move in ever so smoothly and then slide away to vanish from the scene. Her timing was such that the problem dog would become aware of her, start to do a focused stare and then poof! like a puff of smoke she had silently moved to an out of sight position. Totally cool to watch and did cause me a few moments of distraction when I started to slip into a trance just watching her work. After I pointed out what was going on, even my student became somewhat engrossed in the interplay between the two dogs.
We worked on sit. I needed Sanity to help me demonstrate some of the finer points and all I had to do was say, "Sanity, I need you." I was then able to go on with my teaching and sure enough in just a few seconds there she was, standing in heel position, looking up expectantly. We demonstrated hand motions on the leash, how to hold the ecollar transmitter and how, why, and when to touch with a gentle touch and a soft voice. Once the demonstration was over, I simply thanked Sanity and told her I didn't need her for a while. She wagged her tail and took off across the yard to chase a trespassing squirrel away. Meanwhile we continued to work on the sit.
A bit later I needed to demonstrate just where the random sit was heading, if and only if the student really did her homework. "Sanity, come." I called out the come command in a fairly loud voice since I had no idea where she was and I pointed this fact out to my student. It was maybe 15 seconds or so before either of us saw her.
She came tearing around the end of the kennels going full bore, in one of those ground eating gallops that takes all four feet off the ground every fourth beat. Man, she was some kind of traveling and it was beautiful to watch except...
If she continued at that speed and didn't slow down I was about to be toast. When she was about 75 feet from us I called out, "Sanity, sit" and at the same time tapped the momentary button one single time. Miss Sanity literally plowed a deep furrow in the soft ground as she hit the breaks and slapped her butt into a sit. How I wish there had been someone there handling the camcorder to get it on a DVD.
I glanced over at my student and she was just standing there with her mouth hanging open and her eyes round as saucers. "Is there another way of calling so they don't come so fast?"
"Not for my dogs. A fast recall means they don't take time to smell the flowers, chase a bunny or get into trouble. Besides which, as you can see it is possible to put the brakes on when you need to." And all this time Sanity is still sitting out there. She is sitting as straight and tall as she can possibly stretch herself, her ears point straight to the sky and the wonderful, proud look on her face. "Sanity, come", and in she trotted as proud as you please. Gave me a nice sit front, a good finish and then when I told her "Okay" she flew up in the air and planted a kiss on my cheek before buzzing the student's dog and vanishing again.
That buzzing cause the student's dog to explode into a frenzy of gnashing teeth, snarls and growls. They were quickly brought under control by the simple expediency of giving a sit command and then enforcing it. Of course, this also gave the owner a chance to work on the necessary handling skills and actually learn what to do when a loose dog in the park does the same sort of thing. Damn, she is shaping up to be something the stuff of dreams are made from.
Later, we worked on finding a hidden leather article. She is starting to figure out that the nose knows more than the eyes in some cases.
Tyler has begun to have the same sort of recall as Sanity. The only problem right now is he still needs way more practice on that sit command. I am having a small amount of trouble getting him to see the negative space in the same way he sees the place board. I saw the same thing in Sanity and have sort of concluded that it has to do with their vision and how they use it.
Right now I have a big push on to teach him went and were jumping up is an acceptable thing for him to do. That is one hard nut to crack open. I know he will get it, it's just a matter of time.
And their drive Margot mad continues. Tyler hauling the inside toys outside and leaving them scattered all over the yard and Sanity hauling all the outside toys inside and dumping them in the middle of the living room. I would like to get mad at them and hard as I try I continue to fail.
Anyway she started out by acting as the loose dog in the park. Wandering around the yard, sometimes strolling past the student and student's dog and never making eye contact with the dog in training. She really is learning and I am so pleased with how she handled this borderline dog aggressive dog I could just bust. She would move in ever so smoothly and then slide away to vanish from the scene. Her timing was such that the problem dog would become aware of her, start to do a focused stare and then poof! like a puff of smoke she had silently moved to an out of sight position. Totally cool to watch and did cause me a few moments of distraction when I started to slip into a trance just watching her work. After I pointed out what was going on, even my student became somewhat engrossed in the interplay between the two dogs.
We worked on sit. I needed Sanity to help me demonstrate some of the finer points and all I had to do was say, "Sanity, I need you." I was then able to go on with my teaching and sure enough in just a few seconds there she was, standing in heel position, looking up expectantly. We demonstrated hand motions on the leash, how to hold the ecollar transmitter and how, why, and when to touch with a gentle touch and a soft voice. Once the demonstration was over, I simply thanked Sanity and told her I didn't need her for a while. She wagged her tail and took off across the yard to chase a trespassing squirrel away. Meanwhile we continued to work on the sit.
A bit later I needed to demonstrate just where the random sit was heading, if and only if the student really did her homework. "Sanity, come." I called out the come command in a fairly loud voice since I had no idea where she was and I pointed this fact out to my student. It was maybe 15 seconds or so before either of us saw her.
She came tearing around the end of the kennels going full bore, in one of those ground eating gallops that takes all four feet off the ground every fourth beat. Man, she was some kind of traveling and it was beautiful to watch except...
If she continued at that speed and didn't slow down I was about to be toast. When she was about 75 feet from us I called out, "Sanity, sit" and at the same time tapped the momentary button one single time. Miss Sanity literally plowed a deep furrow in the soft ground as she hit the breaks and slapped her butt into a sit. How I wish there had been someone there handling the camcorder to get it on a DVD.
I glanced over at my student and she was just standing there with her mouth hanging open and her eyes round as saucers. "Is there another way of calling so they don't come so fast?"
"Not for my dogs. A fast recall means they don't take time to smell the flowers, chase a bunny or get into trouble. Besides which, as you can see it is possible to put the brakes on when you need to." And all this time Sanity is still sitting out there. She is sitting as straight and tall as she can possibly stretch herself, her ears point straight to the sky and the wonderful, proud look on her face. "Sanity, come", and in she trotted as proud as you please. Gave me a nice sit front, a good finish and then when I told her "Okay" she flew up in the air and planted a kiss on my cheek before buzzing the student's dog and vanishing again.
That buzzing cause the student's dog to explode into a frenzy of gnashing teeth, snarls and growls. They were quickly brought under control by the simple expediency of giving a sit command and then enforcing it. Of course, this also gave the owner a chance to work on the necessary handling skills and actually learn what to do when a loose dog in the park does the same sort of thing. Damn, she is shaping up to be something the stuff of dreams are made from.
Later, we worked on finding a hidden leather article. She is starting to figure out that the nose knows more than the eyes in some cases.
Tyler has begun to have the same sort of recall as Sanity. The only problem right now is he still needs way more practice on that sit command. I am having a small amount of trouble getting him to see the negative space in the same way he sees the place board. I saw the same thing in Sanity and have sort of concluded that it has to do with their vision and how they use it.
Right now I have a big push on to teach him went and were jumping up is an acceptable thing for him to do. That is one hard nut to crack open. I know he will get it, it's just a matter of time.
And their drive Margot mad continues. Tyler hauling the inside toys outside and leaving them scattered all over the yard and Sanity hauling all the outside toys inside and dumping them in the middle of the living room. I would like to get mad at them and hard as I try I continue to fail.
Monday, May 08, 2006
Day 291
It was just a little too wet for this person to be willing to work outside today. So we were back working in the training studio. Sanity actually worked 4 taboo and one correct article with very little problem today. Makes me wonder if the problem is one of being outside more than anything else. Time will tell.
Meanwhile, I discovered that I am going to have to go back and re-do the stand exercise. I went to set her up to do the drop from a stand that is a part of the being drop on recall drill, only to discover she turned into a pretzels every single time I tried to stand her. DUH? And just where did that come from, I wonder.
I was asked why I didn't use a "jolly routine" when I discovered Sanity was having a problem when we went into the dim, noisy and somewhat smelly fish department at Petco. The reason is actually quite simple. I see the "jolly routine" as demeaning, belittling and totally unbeneficial to any self-respecting dog. I did not belittle her fears, I simply insisted that she needed to focus more on the task as hand and less on the thing that was worrying her.
My approach to solving the problem of the "killer fish" meant I gave her the time and support necessary for her to come to terms with what was bothering her. I didn't feed into her fears or make light of them and actually it is easy to see and feel when a fearful dog has finally gotten a handle on the fear. You can see and feel them relax. It is pretty easy to do with a dog who knows a sit/stay since you can insist they are responsible for sitting is a very specific manner and location and holding that position for a, to them, unknown length of time.
When I realized what the problem was I was fully prepared to stay in the fish department for several hours if necessary. There was simply no way I was going to leave there until I could see and feel her muscles relax into a long term sit position. To do any less would just have made things worse rather than better. In the end I was able to whisper a soft word of praise for a job well done and we were then able to go on about our shopping without any fuss at all. Personally, I think the whole jolly routine idea is demeaning and harmful to the poor dogs who have to deal with it as well as whatever is troubling them. Not something I want to do.
Meanwhile, I discovered that I am going to have to go back and re-do the stand exercise. I went to set her up to do the drop from a stand that is a part of the being drop on recall drill, only to discover she turned into a pretzels every single time I tried to stand her. DUH? And just where did that come from, I wonder.
I was asked why I didn't use a "jolly routine" when I discovered Sanity was having a problem when we went into the dim, noisy and somewhat smelly fish department at Petco. The reason is actually quite simple. I see the "jolly routine" as demeaning, belittling and totally unbeneficial to any self-respecting dog. I did not belittle her fears, I simply insisted that she needed to focus more on the task as hand and less on the thing that was worrying her.
My approach to solving the problem of the "killer fish" meant I gave her the time and support necessary for her to come to terms with what was bothering her. I didn't feed into her fears or make light of them and actually it is easy to see and feel when a fearful dog has finally gotten a handle on the fear. You can see and feel them relax. It is pretty easy to do with a dog who knows a sit/stay since you can insist they are responsible for sitting is a very specific manner and location and holding that position for a, to them, unknown length of time.
When I realized what the problem was I was fully prepared to stay in the fish department for several hours if necessary. There was simply no way I was going to leave there until I could see and feel her muscles relax into a long term sit position. To do any less would just have made things worse rather than better. In the end I was able to whisper a soft word of praise for a job well done and we were then able to go on about our shopping without any fuss at all. Personally, I think the whole jolly routine idea is demeaning and harmful to the poor dogs who have to deal with it as well as whatever is troubling them. Not something I want to do.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
Day 290
While I normally insist on taking Sundays off and not training, I am so far behind schedule that I dare not take a day off for right now. So work we did. First Tyler and then Sanity worked on the place command. I really must get Sanity going much further than she is right now. Gave Tyler a turn with come, sit and heel. He has come and heel all muddled up in his mind.
Then I worked Sanity on scent work. My plan was to do metal articles and then work on the retrieve over the high jump and come back to work leather articles. That was the plan, however by the time I had managed to get two successes on the articles (I was using 2 taboo and 1 correct)I figured we were both too tired to do much more than 5 retrieves over the high jump and I called it quits.
About the high jump, I have it set at 16" and I place the dumbbell on the ground where I want it. I then step back to her, give her a jump command and once she is in the air I tell her to fetch. Once she is lifting the dumbbell from the ground I give her a jump command again and so far I have had nothing but success with the exercise. I just wish I could run her over the jumps more often without having to add the retrieve. I fear I am going to pay for this training gap when we really get going on the directed jumping exercise.
Then I worked Sanity on scent work. My plan was to do metal articles and then work on the retrieve over the high jump and come back to work leather articles. That was the plan, however by the time I had managed to get two successes on the articles (I was using 2 taboo and 1 correct)I figured we were both too tired to do much more than 5 retrieves over the high jump and I called it quits.
About the high jump, I have it set at 16" and I place the dumbbell on the ground where I want it. I then step back to her, give her a jump command and once she is in the air I tell her to fetch. Once she is lifting the dumbbell from the ground I give her a jump command again and so far I have had nothing but success with the exercise. I just wish I could run her over the jumps more often without having to add the retrieve. I fear I am going to pay for this training gap when we really get going on the directed jumping exercise.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Day 289
Saturday and Sanity found herself upstaged by Tyler. This is most definitely not the best way to start a day. Towards the end of the lesson when I needed a dog to demo the longer distance place command, her response was to go 6' and stop.
Never one to be willing to let a dog down, I told the student to be prepared for some yelling since there was no way I would allow something like that to slide. Sure enough, when I sent her again she was planning to stop at 6' and I very quickly disabused her of that idea. With the ecollar set at the correction level, I calmly escorted her the full 15' to the place board. We then set up to do it again, and did she ever fly. In fact, she was trying to be on her way before I could give the command.
After the lesson was over, I asked Alison to be kind enough to run Sanity over all the jumps for me. I have come to the realization that I am simply not going to be able to do a good enough job myself. Gimping along just doesn't cut it where the jump training is concerned. This was just one more thing to piss Sanity off. The idea of having to actually work beside someone else was not at all acceptable in her mind. I told her she would just have to get over it, cause while I didn't much like it either it was just one of those things that would have to be.
Later, we had an interesting set-up for the advanced dogs to do their scent work. Basically they had to enter a U shaped area. The sides of the U were made up of the other dogs doing down/stays or people sitting in chairs watching. To top it off, we had just finished eating lunch in the same area. All the dogs were having a problem keeping their mind on the task at hand. When it was Sanity's turn, she pretty much insisted that she didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about and didn't the food scraps smell wonderful? No, they didn't and yes you will work was the constant answer she got from me. So back go her ears, on goes the pout face and she went out and proceeded to lay down in the middle of the article pile.
Yes, she still had to do as told which meant I was out there and making a correction via her ear rather than the ecollar. This was one of those times when I wanted to be very "up close and personal" with my statement. She was working 4 metal articles and not well, so I removed 2 of them and backed her up. Still she claimed she didn't have a clue or the air was too full of good food smells or the other dogs were too close or all those humans being so close or who the devil knows what her excuse was, cause I sure didn't. The end result being that I removed another article and took her back to the beginning and just 2 articles, one correct and one taboo. She finally figured out I wasn't kidding and shot out, grabbed the correct article and brought it back. Guess you might say we finished on a good note.
Never one to be willing to let a dog down, I told the student to be prepared for some yelling since there was no way I would allow something like that to slide. Sure enough, when I sent her again she was planning to stop at 6' and I very quickly disabused her of that idea. With the ecollar set at the correction level, I calmly escorted her the full 15' to the place board. We then set up to do it again, and did she ever fly. In fact, she was trying to be on her way before I could give the command.
After the lesson was over, I asked Alison to be kind enough to run Sanity over all the jumps for me. I have come to the realization that I am simply not going to be able to do a good enough job myself. Gimping along just doesn't cut it where the jump training is concerned. This was just one more thing to piss Sanity off. The idea of having to actually work beside someone else was not at all acceptable in her mind. I told her she would just have to get over it, cause while I didn't much like it either it was just one of those things that would have to be.
Later, we had an interesting set-up for the advanced dogs to do their scent work. Basically they had to enter a U shaped area. The sides of the U were made up of the other dogs doing down/stays or people sitting in chairs watching. To top it off, we had just finished eating lunch in the same area. All the dogs were having a problem keeping their mind on the task at hand. When it was Sanity's turn, she pretty much insisted that she didn't have a clue as to what I was talking about and didn't the food scraps smell wonderful? No, they didn't and yes you will work was the constant answer she got from me. So back go her ears, on goes the pout face and she went out and proceeded to lay down in the middle of the article pile.
Yes, she still had to do as told which meant I was out there and making a correction via her ear rather than the ecollar. This was one of those times when I wanted to be very "up close and personal" with my statement. She was working 4 metal articles and not well, so I removed 2 of them and backed her up. Still she claimed she didn't have a clue or the air was too full of good food smells or the other dogs were too close or all those humans being so close or who the devil knows what her excuse was, cause I sure didn't. The end result being that I removed another article and took her back to the beginning and just 2 articles, one correct and one taboo. She finally figured out I wasn't kidding and shot out, grabbed the correct article and brought it back. Guess you might say we finished on a good note.
Friday, May 05, 2006
Day 288
After getting my nails done, Sanity and I stopped at Petco to pick up some goldfish for the newly cleaned up pond. We headed into the fish department and Sanity pretty much freaked out. She went from heeling to lagging and finally activelly pulling back. She wouldn't sit and she kept on trying to hide behind me.
It took me a little bit to figure out what the problem was. Turns out she was AFARID of the FISH!! I couldn't believe it, but there it was right in front of my eyes. She would stare at an eye level tank of fish and the instant they started to swim her way all she wanted to do was get OUT OF THERE. So what was supposed to be a quick trip turned into a long, drawn-out series of enforced sit/stays. She finally settled down and agreed that she had been pretty silly about the entire thing. We then went on to pick up a few other things without a hitch.
When I started to really think about it, I finally realized that as many times as we had been in that store in the past, never once did we go in the fish section. It just never occured to me that there would be a problem. But in thinking back I realize that I never had a problem with Wrap because I don't think her vision ever was very good. Frankly, I don't think she even noticed there were things in the tanks. I should have realized Sanity would be different since she sometimes watches TV and Wrap doesn't even know it is in the room.
Then in the evening I decided I wanted to review one of the DVD's I had shot earlier in the week. Well, you could hear my voice loud and clear. At one point I happened to call Sanity. When that happened on the TV, Sanity just about when crazy. She jumped up and charged the TV. Then she tried to get around behind it and all the time she was crying and barking and then she would run to me only to turn around and rush back to the TV and stare at the picture. I finally had to send her outside so I could watch in peace and not worry about her knocking the TV over, smashing the camcorder or just plain having a nervous break-down.
Overall, I would say she had a very trying day.
It took me a little bit to figure out what the problem was. Turns out she was AFARID of the FISH!! I couldn't believe it, but there it was right in front of my eyes. She would stare at an eye level tank of fish and the instant they started to swim her way all she wanted to do was get OUT OF THERE. So what was supposed to be a quick trip turned into a long, drawn-out series of enforced sit/stays. She finally settled down and agreed that she had been pretty silly about the entire thing. We then went on to pick up a few other things without a hitch.
When I started to really think about it, I finally realized that as many times as we had been in that store in the past, never once did we go in the fish section. It just never occured to me that there would be a problem. But in thinking back I realize that I never had a problem with Wrap because I don't think her vision ever was very good. Frankly, I don't think she even noticed there were things in the tanks. I should have realized Sanity would be different since she sometimes watches TV and Wrap doesn't even know it is in the room.
Then in the evening I decided I wanted to review one of the DVD's I had shot earlier in the week. Well, you could hear my voice loud and clear. At one point I happened to call Sanity. When that happened on the TV, Sanity just about when crazy. She jumped up and charged the TV. Then she tried to get around behind it and all the time she was crying and barking and then she would run to me only to turn around and rush back to the TV and stare at the picture. I finally had to send her outside so I could watch in peace and not worry about her knocking the TV over, smashing the camcorder or just plain having a nervous break-down.
Overall, I would say she had a very trying day.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Day 287
I keep meaning to post the pictures of Sanity in her different britches and just keep on getting distracted by the wonderful weather. I am beginning to suspect that I am going to have to move the new laptop to the top of my want list if I am to get much more blogging done. I will be happy to sit in my outdoor office and write, where I am not at all happy about having to sit in the inside office and write.
Best news right now is that I finally got my camcorder and have been busy learning how to use it. In time I actually hope to be able to add a link from blog to MPEG site so I can really share what happens here. Listen here! A gal is allowed to dream and I figure if I am to waste time daydreaming I might as well dream big.
Sanity went back to class this evening. What a waste. All she wanted to do was sleep. Guess all that time in jail reset her clock or something. Tyler was so mad at having to stay home that he tried to get out under the fence and follow us and so he ended up in jail. Guess I am going to have to start taking the both of them.
Lauren, Bitsy and Don came over for a while today. Lauren got in some more work time with Tyler and we all just plain enjoyed the wonderful weather. Even though I had promised to go to lunch with them, it turned into a go get carryout so we could eat in the outside office. I needed to stay around since my answering machine was broken and I was waiting for the new one to be delivered. Besides which, truth to tell, I really didn't want to go someplace and sit inside when it was so nice outside.
Best news right now is that I finally got my camcorder and have been busy learning how to use it. In time I actually hope to be able to add a link from blog to MPEG site so I can really share what happens here. Listen here! A gal is allowed to dream and I figure if I am to waste time daydreaming I might as well dream big.
Sanity went back to class this evening. What a waste. All she wanted to do was sleep. Guess all that time in jail reset her clock or something. Tyler was so mad at having to stay home that he tried to get out under the fence and follow us and so he ended up in jail. Guess I am going to have to start taking the both of them.
Lauren, Bitsy and Don came over for a while today. Lauren got in some more work time with Tyler and we all just plain enjoyed the wonderful weather. Even though I had promised to go to lunch with them, it turned into a go get carryout so we could eat in the outside office. I needed to stay around since my answering machine was broken and I was waiting for the new one to be delivered. Besides which, truth to tell, I really didn't want to go someplace and sit inside when it was so nice outside.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Days 278 to 286
What can I say? It's spring and the garden called and called and finally I had to answer. Now with the pond cleaned and waiting new fishy residents and beds readied for flowers my mind comes back to dog training and blogging.
Sanity is finally out of jail and definitely a new gal. Her entire demeanor has changed. Even the expression her face is different. She has also just had her first birthday. So many changes for her in a short space.
Just all of a sudden she "knows" how to pick up my cane. She "knows" how to pick up the dirty food pans. Her stand is ever so much better. Her nose works again, so scent work can be resumed. Her down is better and less grudgingly done. So once again I have been proven right when it comes to letting maturity follow a natural progression. Will I spay her now? Nope. Why? For starters because I still harbor hopes of her doing well in the breed ring. Besides which, going through one more season will just settle and mature her that much more. Jail and a leash work quite well as contraceptives, so breeding is not even a factor in the consideration.
Sanity is finally out of jail and definitely a new gal. Her entire demeanor has changed. Even the expression her face is different. She has also just had her first birthday. So many changes for her in a short space.
Just all of a sudden she "knows" how to pick up my cane. She "knows" how to pick up the dirty food pans. Her stand is ever so much better. Her nose works again, so scent work can be resumed. Her down is better and less grudgingly done. So once again I have been proven right when it comes to letting maturity follow a natural progression. Will I spay her now? Nope. Why? For starters because I still harbor hopes of her doing well in the breed ring. Besides which, going through one more season will just settle and mature her that much more. Jail and a leash work quite well as contraceptives, so breeding is not even a factor in the consideration.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)