numbers mean so little...

Sally's first AAC Q was  a jumpers Q in mid July of 2010. Her last Starters Q was this weekend.
She has only had one trial that she hasn't earned a Q between the two dates...  this September's trial when she was feeling crappy (Lesson learned there maybe ~ although even feeling crappy she enjoyed it!)

We only trialed Saturday. Our first run was advanced gambles - we knocked the 4 point jump in the opening (our only rail) and even so got over the 20 required points. The gamble had a straight tunnel (on a blind entrance  to a spread - both set at the maximum distance - I stopped my motion too early and Sally peeled back to me instead of doing the spread. Good girl! Then must have been standard - Sally ran a nice course - although I had to put her back in the weaves as she came out one pole early. Her table was lovely! Snookers was hilarious ... as you can see for yourself! Sally nearly added a tunnel -but didn't, then a jump but didn't, then stopped DEAD in front of the double but leaped it from a standstill. A true Sally, character filled run!  Steeplechase should have been in the bag - she had a great run but forgot all about aframe contacts in the excitement of running flat out. Goof!

So in two years and two months we have done 8 AAC trials. She's had some train wrecks in there and she's had many five fault rounds. She's had 1 point snookers and 34 point snookers runs.   We've had fun in every single class at every single trial.

Brody's first Q was a jumpers Q at the end of March of 2007. His first day at a trial.
His ADC was early August 2007. 4 months later. He had quite a few trials where he was 1-3 OT in standard and no qs at the trial at all.  His SGDC followed at the end of November of that same year. 7 long months. Back when you had to have team as part of the title. (To be fair we earned both snookers and team the same trial).

16 months for my agility superstar; 7 months for my rockstar. If ever there was a better way to prove they are different dogs these numbers just may be it. (The fact a few years have passed made a difference too - Sally would still have earned her ADC this weekend but you needed fewer starters games Qs for that title so she would have had that in April of 2011.)

Thea was brilliant this weekend - she's hardly done any agility but when I realized she was coming with me I entered her in starters gamblers and snookers.  She was fast, furious and had a great time. Always a great reminder that Qs are not what the game is about!

Yen was pretty darn good at the trial. I'm so smitten it isn't funny.

Lovely lake house ...

It's beautiful out today - warm and sunny and another lovely day

so we headed east to  Lake House

ahhhh

it was a little windy

we tried stump shots

Sam swam (too far out!)

There was much stick action

March Break began Saturday. Lovely day for a walk exploring the "lower" farm. Ground was frozen on top but ground was wet in spots.

The unexplored path was explored today. Lovely.

Sampson ran and ran.

Sally thought running, bird watching and checking in was the best ever!

Thea flew around like the wild child she is! Brody trucked along at my feet.

We stopped to admire the view. Found two paddocks that are small but fully fenced.

What a lovely lovely start to the holidays!

Thought free Thursday ...

While I process all the most excellent reading I did yesterday on blog day I give you some cute/silly shots of the dogs to enjoy

 Don't ask why the camera is crooked, I have no clue. But I must say Sampson has really filled in. 

I think he's looking great!

 What is Brody thinking about? The balance disc. When he concentrates he sticks his tongue out. 

Very Brody. 

 Oh Sally. Not sure if I'd want to put that silly face on cue but she does crack us up. 

Working on a trick I've wanted to capture for a long time. Finally decided to try on Sunday.

Doing 2 minutes or less a day. Should finish it for Staff Talent Show. 

Should show you all. 

Thea knows the whole world exists to serve her. Princess!

Deeper thinking soon. 

When my brain recovers.

The fountain of affection: the instrument of joy

They sure put their trust in me for this silly balance disc thing ... what good dogs ...

They really are just full of joy - I love the never ending tail wagging once they figure it out!

a little dream weaving ...

another fun work out at the training hall last night

I'm missing lessons very much but my schedule is so erratic this year there is no way I could commit for 6 weeks in a row ... three chances to do agility in seven nights is a miracle!

That Thea got to play twice is mind blowing! She was very cute thinking her way through 12 weave poles! She worried on the dog walk again but for a shorter period of time than last week.

Brody had fun - we did nothing serious although we did a couple of weave entries without steadying him just letting him find the entrance. He is such a good boy.

Sally had a riot. I did the toy scattering thing which she wanted to fall for very badly - and then dropped her flyer as she was weaving - she pulled out twice then realized I was trying to trick her - that was the end of that!



The yelling you hear is Thea saying she wants another turn!!

Happy Leap Year!

lovin' my little hairy old man ...

Brody had a blast  at the hall last night. Jumped 10 inches and he was really happy to be JUMPING! He also offered multiple teeters from all over the place. Made me recall our gambling days and our multiple advanced gamble qs on the one night we were in that level.

We played on contacts and then had some fun jumping.
Thea got to play too! She did 6 weaves a few times (for the first time since April); some jump tunnel work and then lots of dog walks. She wasn't confident to start but then she was zipping along it. Nice aframes too!
Sally got to play too - many many aframes were in our picture last night. she was sticking her contact quite nicely. And finding her contacts too! We also had some fun with weaving at the end - flying through  a tunnel to get her on the "wrong" lead for an entry then getting the flying change to make a smooth entry. Took a couple of tries but she figured it out. From failure come the best successes!


Had a training buddy with me which added to the fun ( and meant we could film a little). Thanks AFJ .. if you ever trip across this - Goob is an awesome puppy!

educable moments ...

There have been many gems of training wisdom that have stuck in my mind over the years

here are a few of my favourites:

Until I learned to find the fun with my dog I found training very frustrating. Our Irish Setter Kelly had a great sense of  humour and an amazing ability to push people's buttons (as did Rufus) Once I started finding the amusement in their activities playing together progressed much faster - and was a lot more fun!

Self evident. With the caveat that if you rely on tiring your pooch out to find peace it may backfire badly as your dog will just get fitter and fitter and be harder to tire out!

Learned this in life. Apply it to dog play regularly. If there is a no stress way to accomplish something I'm in. Which does not mean I avoid stress at all costs - stress has a role in life but it doesn't need to be punitive, or negative.

Different dogs, and people, find value in different things. Brody taught me this in a way no other dog has. When he gets the point and wants in the game  he is as driven and engaged as any dog but he needs to know the value before he decides what level of arousal to bring to the court!

This is the one I get the most pleasure from ... when the dogs show clearly show me what we need to work on, or what they want from our relationship it just makes me grin!

Ottoman training fun

We actually work table in passing quite often. Today I got ambitious and spent a WHOLE 3.13  minutes building 4 dogs mad table skillz.  The video is very close to the entire session- only edited to move the bloopers to the end and cut the time it took to set up and turn off the camera! Sally really didn't want to get pulled off the table. Brody really wanted to be paid. Sam and Thea both thought the whole thing was fun. I was happy with the way all 4 dogs allowed each to be worked in turn. I suppose I should work Brody and Thea first next time!

My expectations are clear  for Sally and Brody the cue "table" means they will drive onto the table and lie down. Sampson has no cue yet  - though after this session I think he is probably ready. Thea has no real cue either - she hasn't worked table much. The table here is usually Sally's height and Thea doesn't get to work in class. Given I doubt she'll ever run a standard aac class (which has a table) I'm not too worried about saying  "table" and then "down" if the need should ever arise.

Wordless Wednesday - the crazy brown girls relax together

finishing friday fotos ...

some of my favourite pics from the summer 

Life is about timing ...

so says Carl Lewis (with 10 Olympic medals to his name who am I to argue?)

Dog training is surely about timing too. The impact of reward, punishment (if you use it) No Reward Markers (if you use them) and cues are all profoundly affected by timing.

Tom had the big dawgs out for a road walk yesterday and I wanted to play with shaping. I had nothing in mind but a happy Thea and Brody were staring at me.  I played some tug with Thea which she loved and then started shaping Brody to "go to bed". We had a friend over watching and she was fascinated by the process of shaping. She didn't understand why there was no cue. (I didn't understand how Brody has lived with us nearly 11 years and had never been taught this- it's a great great foundation behaviour).

Sally has "go to..." down to a fine art ..even when she doesn't quite fit!

I was very quickly able to get a down on the bed as Brody has done a fair bit of shaping and was very quick to understand what was paying. He had a couple of typical, for him at least, gap out moments where he stood and stared at me or sniffed the floor but I didn't fall for it. I held out for a down on the bed and sure enough I got it. Going backwards in marking behaviour (which I would have been doing if I had marked him looking at the bed after he was already getting on it) is so tempting but ultimately slows things way down. The Training Marketing Queen of Canada (TMQ?) , Susan Garret has an expression: "average or better".

I'd heard of her before but this book hooked me
The fact Sally was doing her thing as I read it probably helped
TMQ - thank you!

It's a great phrase and one that is influencing my day to day work with the dogs. Why reward something that is regressive in nature? If your timing is average or better - don't do it! Hold out and then pay well for excellence. I have always thought there was value in meritocracy, at least ideologically if not practically. Dog training is a great place to practice this principle. (So is my day job actually!)

It's pretty hard for any of us to ignore Thea

it's the end of the holidays as we know it ... and we feel fine

Lovely lovely break - lots of  farm 'gility and walks at the private dog park.

A little training.

Visitors and visiting. 

Lots of family time. 

Having fun with the camera - even when the dogs weren't!

RUNNING

and rewarding awesome recalls

Thea ran, and ran and did her best to keep up with the big dawgs!

in case you are too young to get the title of the post ...