Mommy-ism #3 .. Flu is no Fun

So, one of the downsides of living alone with 4 herding dogs is when you get sick. Especially when it is raining outside.

They have been going bonkers and driving me nuts. At one point I had all four of them on the bed wrestling while I was trying to take a nap.

I need to get back to some of the thinking games I used to play with them. One  is to get all four of them in a down stay in the living room, while I go hide treats around the house... then release them by telling them "find it" ... they love this, makes them have to use their self control, and works their senses. Hunting and scenting!

Another game I have in the tool box is bones filled with peanut butter, then frozen.  They have to work on those for awhile and then they chew the bones afterwards.Old trusty is just teaching them a new trick by shaping. This usually wears there brain down some.

I need some more games I can play in the house to when it is yucky outside... Anyone have any good suggestions?

Hemi-ism - Start Lines don't stink anymore

So proud of my lil girls start line stays... We have been working so hard on these at home! I put her in a stay (I call it "wait") and I leave her, with her food bowl in my hand (Yes, her food is walking away from her) I go to the back bedroom - where her crate is and then I say "ok" She runs to the door and sits. I open the door walk in put the bowl in her crate then say "Ok" - This has really paid off.

To my surprise, tonight I walked to the door and said "ok" - but the bedroom door was open, I was shocked when she sat down at the door and waited for me to release her to her crate. What a good sassy pants!

I put together this video of all our stays at this past weekends trial. I am happy to say I think Hemi-ism #4 - Start line stays stink - is well on it's way to being Awesome!

Discrimination Elimination

Tunnel/A-Frame… Dog Walk/Tunnel…. Tunnel/Dogwalk… our trial this weekend in McGreggor was filled with discrimination between contacts and tunnels! – And Lots of eliminations….

Needless to say, we probably got less that 30% of them.  Every new training session, every new trial is a wealth of knowledge on what you need to train – and this couldn’t be more obvious.

So I promptly went in the backyard and put the tunnel under my DW… I even used lattice jump uprights as “gates” to try to teach Hemi what I was asking of her. Again… wealth of knowledge…. I learned I don’t have a clue on how to train this correctly.  The training session turned into her going around the “gates” to get to the wrong obstacle and me getting frustrated, because I unmistakably was not clear on the criteria I was asking her.  

 Back to the drawing board…

Circle Work Counts!

I haven't posted in awhile, and pretty much that is about how much training I have done too. When Mother Nature has let us, we have had a few classes.
Last week during class -  Hemi started out sassing quite a bit. I was trying to ignore and just work the course, but it wasn't happening.
So, I went to the side and did some circle work. She does circle work perfectly quiet, so my "theory" is, if I continue to do a lot of circle work with her quietly - that will transfer to the agility course.
I went out to YouTube to try to find some good video's of circle work to post as a demonstration, but couldn't come with anything that I liked. Most of the video's I found were not being performed as I was taught.  I guess that means I need to get out there and video tape myself!!
This weekend we are going to the WAG trial... I really wish I had gotten more practice and circle work in this week, but it just wasn't in the cards... Wish us luck!