oh here comes spring!

and sproing!

Lovely walk/atv run at farm today with the youth! Snow is still deep for the oldies to battle through it but Yen , Sam and Sally had a blast helping us cut wood then running to the ridge for a rest ...

talk about SACKED now tho!

Wordless Wednesday - Sampson finally caves and plays with Wyn!

1, 2, 3, 4 things to do with a jump

trying something new for videos - you'll have to tell me if it works for you ... 50 jumps, 2 dogs, under 2 minutes!




had fun with the big dogs today

Sampson did a series of jump work staying engaged and happy to work ... we did static one jump work and moving work

Sally was her brilliant self - worked one jump form work, figure eights, backside, front side jumping and sends ... so much fun!

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.

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!

sometimes the challenge is ...

figuring out the non yelling, non punitive solution to a challenge ...

Sampson has come so far ... he is a delight to play with but every once in awhile he gets overwrought. When we are on a walk and he gets this way he flies at Sally and makes her cringe and screech at him. He isn't trying to hurt her but he's quite a lot bigger and heavier than her and she clearly doesn't love this enthusiasm. He basically leaps in the air around her and air snaps. He occasionally bounces off her.

It's so tempting, and easy, to yell "NO SAMPSON" at him ... but yelling isn't particularly effective at controlling his bounding from half a field away and I always worry Sally might think that she is in trouble as well even though we are simply trying to protect her.

I've tried various things on our walks. He seems to get most worked up coming out of the pond and at the end of the walks. Sometimes if I feel him start to "get full"of himself I can call Sally to me and do a little off leash attention work. Sampson often goes off to do his own thing then and I can release Sally to run again. Sometimes I simply engage both of them in playing with me. Throwing a stick or toy deflects the energy nicely.

Today I had a small dog leash in my pocket so I simply called  Sam and asked him to do a little attention work, I put him on leash to maximize our opportunities for success. It took about 1 minute for him to get engaged and work nicely - when I released him he happily zoomed off to do his own thing leaving Sally alone.

Love it when a plan works. Love it when a light bulb goes off in my or a dog's head.

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.

finishing friday fotos ...

some of my favourite pics from the summer 

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 ...