Fields of Gold

We went on a walk in a park today. I didn't take many pictures because we did some behavior mod work for the first time in a long time (which was really no more than doling out cookies as jogging men passed by, but still!), but have these from a stroll down a golden grass-filled trail. It was pretty.

And, my favorite of the bunch...

This trail was quiet, but some other parts of the park were pretty busy. There were a lot of walkers and joggers around, mostly men, some coming within feet or inches of my scaredy girl. The main road just feet away roared and added to the commotion. Marge did well - we did some short on-leash recalls (just basically calling her back to me as she walked ahead) and she was slow, but that was the only sign that she gave of being uncomfortable.

I'm really excited for our practice session tomorrow. It's indoors at a totally private training facility, which means nothing else will be going on other than the small run-through group I'll be a part of. One of the other teams will be an agility classmate of ours, so I think that will give Marge some comfort. I hope it lives up to my expectations and Marge has a good time.

Bright and Lazy Days

It is with great pleasure that I announce that MY INTERNET IS FIXED! The technician wasn't able to fix it when he came yesterday, because the problem wasn't in my house, but apparently Verizon got their act together and repaired it. Let's cross our fingers it stays this way. I'll be around to visit all of my favorite blogs tonight and tomorrow - I owe all of you a whole lot of comments!

Just briefly, I'll mention that Marge did very well for the hour-plus that the technician was here. I initially kept her in the backyard in her crate, with a cup of kibble in her brand-new Premier Kibble Nibble, but she started to get antsy after emptying it out and even tried to break through the zipper... so, I decided to let her inside. The tech really didn't bother with her, I fed her lots of cookies and all was well. Big step for Marge!

I had a busy day today and had to go run a couple of errands. I was surprised that when I looked outside to see what Marge was doing during her last pottybreak before my departure, I found this:

She had found a little patch of January sunlight and took a snooze. She does this often in the warm months, but seldom gets the chance to do so during the winter because the sun just isn't strong enough. So, it was a nice treat!

I felt bad to call her in right away (she isn't allowed outside unsupervised), so I let her hang out for a bit.

Showing off her bald belly.. little hooch!

Though I like the flexibility to go wherever we please during the winter (versus the summer, filled with lots of scary stuff), I'd be lying if I said I didn't appreciate the sunshine today.

(We've got something pretty exciting coming up over the weekend in terms of agility - a chance to practice at an all-new location! We'll see how it goes and I'll report back here once it's all over.)

Tuesday Training 21

My internet issues have still not been fixed. A technician from Verizon is supposed to coming to my house on Wednesday morning, but I'm honestly finding it hard to be optimistic that the issue will be resolved then. My dad is adamant about not switching to a different service provider, so I'm hoping that this doesn't drag on forever (especially given the fact that school's coming back and I'm going to need internet access for that reason, too).

Basically - to sum it up - my upload speeds are quite high, running as usual. This is the reason I'm able to upload with no problem to Youtube and Photobucket. However, my download speeds make dial-up look like high speed internet. For you computer nerdies, if there are any of you out there, I'm getting an average 14 Kbps when downloading files. Youtube videos will not load, regardless of how long and complex they are. Some sites will not load simply because they time out. We've tried all of the usual stuff and Verizon has run a few tests, but they can't find the problem. It's not a computer or virus issue, as it's happening on two PCs and two laptops, all with different operating systems. I'm really hoping the answer lies somewhere within the wires that they'll be looking at tomorrow. If not, I'm just about ready to rip my hair out over this one.

To limit my frustration, I'll just blog about our agility news for this week's training update. There sure is enough of it!

A-Frame Contact Criteria

Well.. looks like we're going with a four on the floor. During our lesson, Marisa watched Marge run over the A-Frame a couple of times and she really has absolutely no contact performance. It is totally contingent on me being right there with her to tell her "zone" for the 2o2o - if I'm not there or I run past her, she doesn't get into position.

Since running contacts take a lot of work and a lot of repetition, I decided against them. Though I wouldn't have to worry about Marge slamming her shoulders into the ground, running the A-Frame so many times could be problematic itself. Marisa suggested four on the floor before I said anything about it - so, we're giving it a try.

Right now, I need to work on Marge dropping and downing at my side. She does it in heel position if we're going slow enough, but I need to gradually build up to speed. She sort of gets it and she's consistently in the yellow, so we're off to a good start. Many times she was crooked, but she is dropping into the down and hitting her contact. I know some people use poles as guides at the bottom of the A-Frame, so I could look into that as well - maybe do some back-chaining, starting with a down between the poles, then a down between the poles at the bottom of the A-Frame, then a down between the poles after going over the A-Frame. Hmm. Just a training musing.

Marisa said it may not be as 100% reliable as a 2o2o, but she said she really didn't think the 2o2o was going to work for her and also said that her stride shouldn't ever change so drastically that she totally misses the yellow. I brought up the possibility about Marge leaping from high up and still dropping into the down, but she said that if it happens, we'll worry about it when we get there.

I just got the idea into my head that maybe using a zone honor (as you'd do if you were training running contacts) in addition to the down might help solidify the criteria for Marge. Hmm. I'll have to ask about it next time.

Of course, if you have any experience training contacts this way, please, please, please, let me know! (Kathy, I'll be shooting you a message once this dang internet starts working again!)

Agility Class

Class was a LOT of fun. The course was really cool - it was flowy despite being pretty twisty-turny. Here's a (very) approximate course map.

Here is the video (thanks, Louie!):

Some notes:

• Allow me a brag.. I was the only one to run the opening sequence correctly on the first shot! We originally all walked the course with the jumps on our right hand side, but at the last minute I went back out and walked on the other side. I got out there and knew I had to be on the wall-side of the jumps. It worked. Marge did this absolutely wonderfully and her send-ahead to the dog walk was awesome.
• 2o2o on the dog walk was fine, she hits it pretty consistently. Like I said, it's pretty contingent on my motion, but I feel like I can correct that a bit easier on the dog walk then I can on the A-Frame.
• The table.. Marge still isn't "sticking" to the table. I worked on some sends to the table while I was waiting for my lesson to start, and she's just "eh" about it. She hops on and off sometimes, and others, she just releases herself (usually after getting a treat). I'm trying to make my obstacles a little bit more independent, so this is something I'll work on as well.
• The red tunnel was tricky.. I didn't get it right, initially. I had to bring her across my feet to get her into the tunnel and, at first, used the wrong hand. Over all, I thought we'd have a lot more trouble with it but Marge seemed to be paying perfect attention and knew where she had to go.
• Her weaves were BEAUTIFUL! Fast, accurate! I barely even looked to see if she made her entry because she was totally on the ball.

Okay, now, the second half.. what is up with that tunnel suck by the A-Frame? There were two reasons I didn't front cross in front of the A-Frame (which would have blocked the tunnel). One, I figured in a real trial, I wouldn't have the time to get there. Two, I wanted to be close to the A-Frame to enforce the contact. The only reasons I can think of for the tunnel-suck are either Marge not paying attention or me being ever-so-slightly in her path. What do you think?

• As you can see, her A-Frame is very much a work in progress.. on this run, she preferred bowing to downing. We'll work on it.
• Figuring out the last line of jumps was actually pretty difficult. I had to be in the perfect spot to ensure that she took the jump right next to the tunnel, but not far enough that she took a different jump. Then, I had to send her out to the triple but then decelerate and stay close to ensure that she didn't go barreling up the dog walk (which she did a few times). Once I figured out the mechanics of it, it was nice.

I'm really upset that we ran out of time and couldn't run the whole course. This was such an awesome course and Marge seemed absolutely thrilled to be running it.

Starting next week, I'm going to have an hour at the building all to myself before class. I anticipate that this will help me with the contact situation and also give me some time to practice with my instructor. In a few weeks, we won't be able to attend most of the classes anymore (at least 'til April) due to my college schedule, so I'm really happy that I got this time.

The Beach at Sunset

Just as the title implies, Marge and I made our way down to the beach late in the afternoon. I had wandered down there the other day and was instantly struck by the beauty around me; because I didn't have a camera with me on that occasion, I knew I'd have to go back soon. Thursday was the day.


As I marveled at the sunset, Marge found things that were beautiful in a different way - they SMELLED beautiful, at least to her. Yuck!

We walked on, the low and setting sun splashing everything with a dash of gold. It was so picturesque - except, of course, for Marge's glorious pile of litter pictured above - and ridiculously relaxing. Internet trouble has had me stressed out beyond belief for the past few days - a resolution to my horrendously slow speeds and inability to navigate most websites (the reason that my comments to those I follow have been sporadic, at best) doesn't feel within reach. Making this very blog post is an arduous task. So, it was a welcome to be able to get out of the house and walk on this mild winter day.

Do you remember a picture like this from over the summer? The inspirational graffiti still stood tall among the old ruins, and it called for yet another photo-op. I hope that I have made Marge's life "good" since I made that vow over the summer in this very spot.

We reached our destination at the end of the beach. The sunset was magnificent!

Yes, Marge got her picture taken, too.

A short while later, we turned around and headed for home.

Another day gone, another walk complete - how lucky I am to have such a secluded and peaceful place to walk with an equally great companion to accompany me. No matter how slow my internet connection is, nothing can take away from such an exhilarating experience.

Thinking of Nick

A few months before Marge would make her way up to New York from Georgia and ultimately wind up coming home with me, there was another dog who had won my heart like no other had done before.

I volunteered at our local no-kill shelter since the summer of 2007 up until its unfortunate close at the end of 2008. After my previous life filled with horses suddenly became merely a memory, a figment of my past (something that STILL causes me grief, but that's for another posts), I needed a new way to fill my life with animals.

Dogs came and went at the shelter quickly, most to good homes and happy endings. I fell in love with many of them, wondered what they had been through in their lives, why they had wound up here. Though I formed attachments to them, I never got too close, since most of them left rather quickly, anyway. It wasn't a bad setup - after my massive losses in the equine world, I was in no hurry to get myself emotionally wrapped in any animal of any species (except for my wonderful boyfriend, Louie, who came into the picture around that time).

All of this became null and void when I found myself making great friends with a Shepherd mix from less-than-desirable beginnings in his life. Nicholas, or Nicky, as I often called him, came into the shelter right before Christmas of 2007. Though I was not there when he was brought in, I was told that his previous owner had kept Nick outside in the yard for the entire first two years of his life, and that it would be impossible to get too near him. And, for three days, or so the story goes, no one could get near him. He barked and lunged and spun in his cage when ever someone got to close - he did not know how to trust.

A little while later, I'm not exactly sure when, Nicky had calmed down enough to be able to walk with the volunteers. He became an absolute model citizen - well, except for his fear of men, which was probably explained by his bad situation earlier in life. I remember taking him on endless walks, and I remember how he'd get the zoomies any time I'd try to jog with him. I used to sit beside him, locked into his cage with him, with absolutely no fear in the world - there was not a mean bone in this dog's body. He just wanted love.

I remember the time he got loose from the leash and ran up to an innocent bystander barking like a lunatic - a story I kept to myself out of fear that I wouldn't be allowed to walk him anymore. On the other hand, I remember seeing people out on the street and having Nick pass them with ease - if only I knew then what I know now about reactivity and fearfulness, I could have helped him so much more. But, he grew on his own and really was a lovely dog.

Yet, no one wanted him. His stint at the shelter was about 8 months long - he soon became the dog who had been there the longest. He saw the least number of potential adopters. Why? Probably because he was a big old black and tan Shepherd mix, two or three years of age, and simply wasn't as eye-catching as the young wiggly puppies or purebred dogs who filled the nearby kennels.

One day, my sister and I got it into our heads that we could convince my parents to bring him home. Looking back, I feel like we schemed like two 5-year-olds who wanted something they couldn't have - and, as you probably have figured out by now, it didn't work. My dad was more open to the suggestion, but my mom was afraid of Nicholas, despite the fact that he adored her. his dislike for cats complicated the issue even further - how was I going to bring a boisterous, barking dog into a 10-year-old cat's quiet home? It was not meant to be, and, for a little while, I was VERY upset.

I came to terms with the fact that he wouldn't be coming home with me, and, as if by luck, that's when Marge came into the shelter. In fact, I think he left for his own home within one week of Marge coming home with me.

I could not bring myself to say goodbye to him when I heard the news he was going to his new home. I didn't want to be there when he left. I would not go into the play pen with him to play, because I knew I would break down into a thousand tears. So, I silently wished him luck in his new home, gazed down at his beautiful, smiling face for one last time, and knew that it would be farewell.

Before the shelter closed, I heard that he was doing very well in his new home - that his reactivity problems had virtually disappeared, he was able to attend family barbecues and events mingle with dogs and people that would have scared him during his stay at the shelter. Some of the employees even got to see him again, too. I sure wish I could have seen him.

Though I am obviously happy with how things worked out, as I got to bring home a wonderful little black dog named Marge who pours her heart into everything she does with me, I do admit to fantasizing about what could have been. What would Nicky have been like in my home? What if I could have adopted both him and Marge? I suppose the only answer to that is that everything happens for a reason, and those scenarios will never play out anyway except in the confines of my nostalgic mind.

I hope that Nicky is out there, still enjoying what ever home he wound up in. I hold out hope that one day I will see him again. He won't remember me, I'm sure, but it would be so nice to see the smiling Shepherd who was probably the first dog I ever really felt close to. Thank you, Nicky, for being such a good friend through all of that time we were together.

Tuesday Training 20

Forgive me for all of the training news lately - it's all I've got! It's been so cold (and WINDY) here lately that we haven't done anything else, besides our usual walks in the neighborhood.

Ready to Rally

The Rally run-throughs on Saturday went smashingly well. Aside from one growl at one woman, Marge's behavior was absolutely wonderful. There were only a handful of dogs there and Marge wasn't forced to be near any of them, so it worked out perfectly. She mingled with old human friends from the club and lay down right outside the ring, waiting for her turn and watching other dogs play the Rally game.

I did not get my first run on video, but it was flawless - we would have Q'd for sure if it was a real trial! Marge really seems to get into "work" mode when we're at events - it brought back memories of how she strutted her stuff during her CGC evaluation last April. I did use treats, but pretty sparingly, for she didn't need them. I tried to stick to the APDT rules of only treating after a "halt" exercise - and still, Marge did great!

It prompted questions from friends about whether or not we were entered in the APDT trial next weekend, but, the answer is no. Though I considered it in December, I feared we were not ready and also that my APDT registration wouldn't have made it in on time. Neither of these are apparently true, based on Marge's performance and the information from other knowledgeable people about APDT registration, but that's okay - there will be other times.

Here are our third and fourth runs of the day.

You may notice that Marge is wearing a slip chain collar. However, as a disclaimer, I feel it necessary to make sure that all of my readers know that I am NOT NOT NOT a correction-based trainer - such would be a horrible mistake when working with a fearful dog. The collar is always loose and is not used to punish for bad behavior (I use verbal no-reward markers). In fact, I am using the chain collar for the opposite reason than most do - I like it because it is light. Marge's best Rally actually happens offleash, and, since the collar is slack around her neck, I have found that it simulates the feeling of offleash the best. Though I plan on buying a leather collar for obedience work (since some venues only allow leather or fabric collars), I wanted to use the equipment Marge is familiar with for now.

Back to Class

It's been two weeks since our last agility class, so it was nice to get back into it on Monday. Though we were pressed for time, we did one large course and one small course, both skills-filled.

Tunnel/A-Frame discrimination did not prove to be much of a problem, as I thought it might. However, seeing the A-Frame reminded me that we really need to start solidifying our contact criteria - she really has no contact right now on the Frame. Dog Walk is currently a 2o2o and will stay that way, and the teeter is a running, because I know my dog is not brave enough to try any crazy fly-off stunts.

Otherwise, the course worked some crazy front crosses, some of which I had trouble executing. It was a lot of equipment in a little space.

Her weave entries were great and she did not break early from the poles at all - I'm crossing my fingers that our weave issues are behind us now.

One other thing to note is that Marge's table performance was almost non-existent - she would not stay on the table! We haven't worked the table in a while, so I guess that's just a cue for me to drag it out during our next practice.

Other Tidbits

The @#%^$ people in my neighborhood did some fire works over New Years. I was out walking at about 4 PM on January 1, thinking that it'd be safe, but there were still some around. Marge wasn't nearly as bad about it as she was over the summer - took treats and didn't pull home like a freight train - but they also were not particularly loud, so I'm not sure if I can count that as improvement. Either way, I'm hoping we don't hear those darned things for a long, long time to come. Really, where is the appeal in making noise, anyway?

We've kept up somewhat with our night walks. The holidays have thrown us off, but we're getting back into the swing of things slowly but surely. Monday night's walk was a little odd - there wasn't much around but the wind was blowing - Marge had her head up the whole time and was not really stopping to sniff as she usually does, but instead was making very frequent eye contact with me. One explanation I can think of was that I had very very high-value treats with me, and "watch me" is a very very reinforced behavior, so those two things combined led Marge to want to get the cookies instead of sniff around.

I'm hoping to get out and do some doggy-dog stuff this week, but temperatures are expected to drop even further, so I'm not sure how likely that is. How I miss the park, beach, and, most of all, the woods!

Switching Gears

Tonight, we brushed up on some old Rally Obedience moves. We took Rally class in May and June, but haven't done much since then. Rally class was a very stressful environment for Marge, with 6 or 7 other dogs in a room smaller than this one, so I didn't exactly have a good first experience with it.

Now, since there's only so much agility one team can do, I'd like to start working on Rally again and maybe even do some trials at our home club building (this one). We have a run-through tomorrow with a few other dogs, so tonight was in preparation for that.

I set up a 19 station APDT course that was previously used at a trial (our instructor gave us sample course maps when we were in Rally class, and I found them the other day). Though we didn't work on everything, we did a lot of turns and some cone work.

Though Marge doesn't look as enthused as she does when we do agility, she does seem to like Rally. Turning is her weak spot, but she loves fronts and finishes (as shown by her assumption to left finish at the third station when I hadn't given her any direction yet). She's gotten pretty good at the cone exercises and pivots as well. She lagged a little bit in a couple of spots, but I think she did well over all.

Tomorrow, I'm going to use better treats, be more motivational and see where it gets me. I'm hoping that Marge will have no problem doing Rally with others around, especially since the number of entrants is much smaller than I expected it would be.

(I did drag out two Agility jumps after we ran this a couple of times. I couldn't help it! We worked on go-outs/distance, 180s, 270s, some crosses, an easy modified threadle, and just some fun speedy stuff. I figured it'd be a good way to end the night.)