Leash Up and Go

I did more dog walking today than I have ever done in my life.

Mable's mom is away, so I am walking her several times a day this weekend.  We walked this morning and this afternoon.

Spirit and Bailey take walks with me twice a week.  We walked for a long while this afternoon.

And my own girl, Marge, got to go on a spur-of-the-moment, 45-minute, approximately 2 mile hike this afternoon!  We decided to venture to a brand-new location.  Instead of driving to the park and starting out there, we parked on a street and picked up a section of the White Trail.  We plan to traverse the entirety of the nearly 8-mile trail once the weather gets cooler, but today decided to acquaint ourselves with a small portion of it.

We were initially worried - the trail was much too narrow for our liking and was littered with downed trees.  I thought we were going to have to turn back and find somewhere else to go. We took this picture on our way back, but we had to cross through this mess and several others to continue on the trail.

But, alas, the trail widened, there were no more downed trees, and we followed the trail markers down the trail.

We had to cross several small streets.  This portion of the trail runs right alongside a busy avenue, which intersects with several almost desolate roads.  Marge did not mind the asphalt whatsoever. We even had to pass by some houses, but I guess she was in hiking mode, and barely gave them a second look.

Marge chugged down the trail, with my sister leading the way.

Then, as usual, I posed her on a boulder.  Most of these boulders were supposedly left behind from retreating glaciers at the end of the ice age.  There are many of them in these woods.

We reached a footbridge.  I see this footbridge every time I travel in my car down the road that runs parallel to this trail.  It was cool to see it from a different perspective.

We continued on for a while into completely new territory, the trail twisting and turning, and at this point, joining up with the yellow trail (hence the multi-colored blazes on this tree).

We reached a point where several trails converged, and our trail, the White Trail, veered off into completely desolate and very dark (note the camera flash) woods.  Though I am excited to explore this trail in the near future, I didn't plan on going this far, so stopped we here for one last pose, and headed back the way we came.

We retraced our footsteps, hidden below the treetops.  We didn't see a single soul on this trail.  If not for the sound of traffic, it would have been completely silent.

I pointed out this fungi on a tree to my sister.  She took a photo-op.  She was a bit disappointed in this trail, since there was no wildlife or bodies of water to photograph.  It was a bit blasé, I'll admit, but I'll take even the most plain of forest trails over sidewalk any day.

 Marge eagerly looked ahead at my sister, who was, once again, leading us down the trail.  Marge likes everyone to stay together when we're out in the woods, and always keeps a close tab on all the people accompanying her.  After a short time, we were back at the car.

Except for a short potty walk for Mable tonight, no more dog walking for me today!  Suffice to say, I am pooped!

Fahrenheit and Fear

There are two big things in this world that Marge does not like.

Heat is one of them.
Noise is the other.

Heat produces a sluggish, unenthusiastic, not-so-food-driven Marge.
Noise produces the same.

How, then, do I tell a hot Marge from a scared Marge when we're out walking?

In the wake of our recurring summer troubles (thanks mostly to 4 PM fireworks one afternoon), it's really been difficult to tell the difference.  She is always somewhat hot - either it's the sun beating down on her black coat or the oppressive humidity that gets her panting.  I'd walk at night, but the risk of fireworks is just too great.  So, when does Marge cross the line from being just hot, to hot and scared at the same time?

I have been trying to wake up earlier in the morning to beat the sun and the sounds in my neighborhood.  This morning - an overcast, rainy morning - was perhaps the best walk we've had all week.  I wanted to keep walking her, but I cut it short after about 10 minutes because I really didn't want to end the walk with Marge getting scared of something.  There was some noise, but it didn't really affect her much.  Head down, tail up.  That's the Marge I like to see.

Yesterday afternoon, we walked across the field.  It was HOT. She was on her long line.  Her tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth, but her tail was down (droopy, really).  She was taking bits of string cheese, and was more than happy to go sniff the trees on the other side of the park.  When we turned for home, she was sluggish, somewhat responsive to me, but definitely not happy and definitely looking to get inside.

Of course, there is no doubt about what a panicky Marge is feeling.  We have had a couple of panicky walks, too.  But could it be that her reaction to what ever bothered her was brought on by the fact that she was hot - in other words, that her fear threshold was somehow lowered by being uncomfortable in the heat?

Her summer noise fears are definitely intertwined with the temperature.  On a cold day, she reacts a whole lot less to her triggers.  The question is how they're intertwined, and to what degree.  Is she reacting simply because the summer is noisier?  Or, does the heat itself play a role in her behavior?

Interesting questions, for sure.  If any one has any thoughts or similar experiences, I'd like to hear about them.

In the mean time, here's Marge this morning lounging on her spot on the couch.  I wish we could have walked more, but quality time bumming around with each other does have its perks, too.

Tuesday Training 38

I actually have a ton of training news to talk about - from walks, to teaching class, to training Marge - but I'll just stick with a couple of things for tonight since it's so darn late.

Rally Practice
Walks have been few and far between lately (I'll get in to it some other time - let's just say that the summer has started to catch up with Marge a bit), so I took a ring rental on Monday before I helped out with the pet agility class for some training and exercise time.  Marge and I covered a little bit of everything - worked on some fronts/finishes, some handling stuff in agility, and ran an APDT Level 2 rally course.  Here's one of our attempts at the rally course.

As you can see, I rewarded her often and carried the treats in my hands.  Since Marge will be off leash at our next trial on August 14, I really wanted to reinforce her staying close to me and keeping her attention on me.  She hasn't been formally trained to heel, but she is getting closer and closer to doing so (I still do ponder about a career in Novice Obedience for Marge, but that's for another day, too).

Her only error was on the Call Front - Finish Right sign.  She anticipates the finish. I don't want her to get in to the habit of doing something before I cue it, so that's why we went back and did it again.  Her turns were absolutely lovely, though!  I still need to use my hands and exaggerated body motions to cue the turns, but still. Look at those 360s at the end of the course!

O Little Playmate
Marge waited very patiently in a crate for about an hour while I taught the class.  Afterwards, I invited one of the students (a fellow club member) to stick around for a few minutes to let her Chihuahua, Napoleon, play with Marge.  They have met before and absolutely adore each other (and I REALLY like Nappy, he is an awesome dog with a very bright future in agility), and I thought some off leash playtime would be good for Marge.

They did very well together.  Marge allowed herself to be chased - she's usually the one doing the chasing - and did lots of play bowing.  I saw that after five minutes or so, Marge started to get tired; Nappy still wanted to play and tried to egg her on, but good girl Marge just ignored his behavior.  Seems like they might be really good playmates for each other - perhaps we'll do the same thing again in a couple of weeks.

Mozying Down the Trail

There is nothing quite like a walk in the woods, I'm convinced.  We got to go on another hike this morning.  My mother came along with us this time, which was a little challenging because Marge and I practically power walk, while my mom and sister wanted to walk slowly and look at everything around them.  We did hear some construction noises which slightly bothered Marge, but I don't think it ruined our outing completely.

My sister spotted this guy sunning himself at one of the ponds.  Marge actually did a fair bit of wading, but I didn't snap any pictures.  She also threw up while there, perhaps from ingesting a bit of pond water (she's fine now).

Posing alongside the pond.  I can't wait to return to this spot in the fall, when vibrant shades of yellow, red, and orange frame this body of water.

There were many butterflies and moths around, too.  My sister waited patiently to get a perfect shot of this one that was hovering over swampland (Marge and I were not so patient, and wanted to continue!).  We also saw snakes, frogs, and a chipmunk.

We didn't walk too far, since my sister and mom felt hot.  Marge and I could have continued, but we'll be training later, anyway, so heading back early wasn't a big deal.

I snapped this shot right before we left.  Marge had just had a blast chasing my sister down the trail (on leash, of course.. did I mention that we met THREE rude hikers with offleash dogs?).  Shortly after, we left the park, just as an enormous group of camp kids were coming in.  Perfect timing.

Later, we'll be practicing some agility and rally before I teach class at the club.  But, for now, Marge got some more much-needed exercise!

Saturday Morning Entertainment

This beats watching cartoons, I think.

Birthday Hike

I don't have much time today, but I wanted to get this post up before the weekend to show you all these lovely pictures.  Seems like a lot of people have been gone this summer from their blogs, and that only gets worse on the weekends!

The weather gods finally convened and gave me a good afternoon for hiking this Thursday, one day before my birthday, which is today.  My sis, Marge and I all hopped in to the car around 3.  We knew we couldn't stay too long, but a later afternoon hike was better than nothing.  The majority of these pictures were taken by her.

We made the short trek down to Walker Pond.  I really wanted Marge to wade in the pond, but the banks are unbelievably muddy - they're practically quicksand.   She perched up on this rock instead.  Not a great pic, but look at all of that mud behind her!

Definitely not ideal for swimming.

We gave up on that idea for the moment, and looked up as a blue heron soared over us.

One more pose along the trail (look at the mud on Marge's legs!) and we left for yet another body of water.

We had her pose in the woods, too.  Do you recognize these ruins that Marge is standing on from a post last year?  We visited them the first time we ever went on a hike, which, unbelievably, was almost a year ago.

We reached paradise.  The lake! You could feel the temperature drop a few degrees as we approached this several-acre lake.

We did get Marge to wade in this water.  She got her legs, face and body wet, which helped to keep her cool.  I saw a few sandy banks in the distance - you might be able to spot it in the above picture, over towards the right - I'm thinking that they might be a little bit better for wading.

We had company, too.  These guys were friendly (mostly, they were looking for me to drop bits of dog cookies in to the lake for Marge).  Any one know what kind of fish they are?

Marge posed on the little wooden barge that they keep on the lake for fishermen, with the beautiful scenery behind her.

We meandered along the lake for a bit more.  Marge took one final dunk, wet her face (and blew bubbles with her nose) and then we decided to head back.

It was really nice to take an hour to get away from it all.  It was the best birthday gift I could have received - a nice day out and a dog who was able to fully relax and enjoy her wooded walk.

Tuesday Training 37

Rally and Manners
Here's Marge hanging out in the car before we went in to class.

I was completely determined on Sunday at Rally to keep Marge from barking at our Golden Retriever classmate.  So, we waited waaaay back away from the door as he came in, to prevent Marge from being right in the line of Golden-happiness fire.  It worked!  We enjoyed a very peaceful class and I rewarded Marge every time she showed interest in him (she even snuck in a few sniffs).  Marge gave a lip curl to one of our other classmates, but it was my fault for putting her in the situation, any way.  She "redeemed" herself later on, by sneaking away from me when she was offleash to go over to him and play bow.  Silly girl.

We also had one really huge moment.. Marge was in a down-stay across the room while I was helping to clean up the Rally equipment with the rest of the class.  One of the handlers' significant others (a man) walks in to the room, and Marge begins to growl and her hackles raise.  But, she did not budge.  She was obviously threatened by the situation and may have felt even more restrained by the fact that she was in a stay, so I quickly went over to her, fed treats, and released her.  She had no problem after that.  Despite the growl, I think she handled herself very well, and I think I handled the situation correctly, too.

The Rally itself was very good - her best so far in the class.  She is doing pretty well with being offleash.  We've learned a lot of new signs, and nothing's stopped her so far.  We'll be back in the APDT Rally ring on August 14, in hopes of accumulating some points in the 1B class and debuting in the 2A class (which is off leash).

Training, But Not Marge
We began our second session of the Pet Agility class this week, which I am assisting in.  Because we've got a full house of dogs (seven) of different sizes, we split the room in two.  I had three big dogs that I was working with - a Gordon Setter, the fearful Mix from last time (who has absolutely blossomed), and a reactive Shepherd Mix.

It's a lot of fun teaching people new skills and showing them ways to bond with their dog.  Marge stayed home this time, because I didn't think the excitement of a brand new class of dogs (new to both her AND me) would be a very good thing.

We did have one incident where the Shepherd Mix suddenly broke from his handler and went off to the other side of the room, which really scared the hell out of a poor Dachshund, but thankfully a scuffle was avoided.  His owner was really upset, but I told her that I'd been down the reactivity road before.  I'm going to help her out and teach her some clicker/conditioning games so that we can curb this behavior using positive methods.  He seems to have a bit of a chase drive, and doesn't have much tolerance for rudeness from other dogs. But he is also very in-tune to his mommy, and has a superb recall. Honestly, he's a bit like Marge (I say that a lot, don't I?).

The dogs got to practice recalling over 8" jumps and running alongside their handlers.  They also learned  how to go through a short tunnel and picked their legs up through my agility ladder.

Back on the Field
We finally had agility tonight.  Marge was just as happy as I was to get back out there.  The time off was really good for her - she was definitely a bit worn out from agility after our last trial (Marisa even said the same tonight).

Nice little course.  Very flowy (probably what we needed to get back in to it)...

• Started with Marge on my left, pushed out to 2 and then ran down the line to 5.
• Front cross 5-6, ran ran ran to the tunnel.
• Up and over the A-Frame just fine.  Hit her contact BEAUTIFULLY (and didn't creep too much, either)
• No problem out to the double, and hit her weave entrances each time.  She did weave a little bit slowly, though, and popped out once when I got too far ahead.  Weaves are something we'll work on during our next private lesson.  My hunch is that Marge is not liking having to switch back from 24" weaves at trials to 22" weaves while practicing.
• No other problems what so ever on course.  Lots of pulling.  The 18 tunnel wasn't bad at all.. she only missed it once when I changed direction before she committed.

She was a little speed ball tonight.  Didn't sniff, didn't wander off or make up her own course.  I think it helped a lot that there were only two other people there (her PWD friend, and Spirit, a Golden who I walk a couple of days a week, who Marge is mostly tolerant of). I got to run Spirit, too, and we did really well together.  She's such a neat dog!  

And I will now end this post with a picture of my dear cat checking out a foot-long zucchini that we grew in our backyard.  It was tasty, and we've got more of them on the way.  Notice she is sans cone - finally, the nose has healed!