What We've Been Up To…

 

We've been up to quite a lot. We walk on the Fort Lewis training areas or lower acreage of St. Martin College several days a week. Gimme enjoys that a great deal, as do I. Here is a recent picture.

We are training in several performance disciplines at once, as well as continuing our work on life skills. I'm fortunate that she is the canine genius that I thought she'd be when I picked her, since bouncing from one thing to another is pretty much the norm for people with adult ADD.

 

Tracking:

Gimme is doing great with tracking training. This picture is our first tracking adventure in her pretty blue harness.  Cute eh...

This is Gimme's first time actually following a scent.  She has a phenomenal nose and loves following it.

We are using the serpentine method. We are fortunate to have access to Fort Lewis' training areas, which is where many of the local tests are held.

 

There is lots of different terrain and cover to play in. Gimme is currently doing tracks with multiple turns soft curves of about 45 degrees.

We tracked in snow once just to try it out and she was great. I hadn't noticed any breeze, so was surprised to see her nose just inches to one side of my foot print. When I did the wet finger check, sure enough she was right.  Unfortunately I didn't get a picture - maybe next year.

Our next goal is to start aging the tracks a bit more.

Our only area of difficulty was article indication, but we did some training to address that and, as you can see, she is doing fine now.

Obedience & Rally:

We are working on basic skills and she's doing well. Some things she picks up so fast it makes my head spin, others take a little longer. She starts rally classes tomorrow night. We have enough of the basics that I expect her to do good. 

This picture is what I see when I look down at her sitting in heel - any question why I love working with her so much.  Who could resist that face?

I think the biggest challenge in class will be dealing with distractions. Interestingly and quite unexpectedly, stay seems to be her strongest behavior – which I'm surely not complaining about. I'm also noticing that she seems to generalize the things she has learned much faster than other dogs I've personally trained or taught. Another thing which I'm surely not complaining about.

Agility:

We continue to work on her basic behaviors. I'm in no hurry to get her in the ring, being much more concerned to protect her joints and baby body so she can have a nice long trouble free career. She learns everything I teach her so fast and is quite happy to show me how smart she is all the time. I have a baby dogwalk in the front yard and whenever she sees me coming she likes to get on it so I can see how well she hits her running contact. She also likes to stand on the cross plank and pose for those who are walking by on the sidewalk.

I spend all my free time with her, training, cuddling and playing. We are also working through the dog_read_study_group study of "Control Unleashed". I am learning a lot and I think it will benefit Gimme over time.

She is a treasure and I am blessed to have been adopted by her.

My View

[Editorial Note:  I had this ready a month ago, but somebody chewed up my last 3.5" floppy disk and I've been trying, unsuccessfully, to get another to format.  I've since resorted to setting the laptop next to the desktop and typing in the entry anew.  Such devotion - I should get a medal...]

I started this entry before Christmas, but it has taken time to think through what I wanted to say. I want to keep on topic for my blogs – about the dogs – rather than whining endlessly about life. This time of year we ponder the year past and plan (and dream) for the year to come. What a year it has been. I was going to call this blog entry "Gains and Losses" because the year has been one of those. I changed the title because I hope it will express, "My View".

The biggest loss was the recent death of my nephew Joshua Baker.  Josh has always been a special person.  As the family was reminiscing, I remembered how my sister used to complain about going to mall with Josh in a stroller.  Strangers would impede her progress because they just had to meet this tiny tot.  This friendly attraction stayed with him throughout his life.  At his funeral, I learned so much I didn't know about him as a fire fighter, a husband and a father.

His best friend spoke about their trips to Alaska for fishing.  He said, "When the fish were biting, Josh was very, very happy.  When the fish didn't bite, Josh was very, very happy."  He brought complete happiness to any situation.  Josh leaves behind a lovely wife, two wonderful children and a host of family and friends who miss him dearly.

Also this year, I faced the unavoidable – it was time to retire Michael.  It was easy to avoid the decision while he was having fun and still dragging me into the building to play agility.  If the run wasn't successful and even when it was ugly, it didn't matter, as long as we were having fun.  Then one weekend Michael avoided multiple jumps for the first time, and I immediately knew that the fun was gone for him.  It was very sad.  He's been a faithful and enthusiastic partner.  Suddenly he looked old to me.

Lesson:  Life is always too short and often unpredictable... so hug the ones you love and let them know how you feel.  Remember, spend time with those you love and keep building memories.  It is inevitable; the day will come when memories are all you have left – make them good ones.

I also learned this year that I have Adult ADD.  At first I was sad because I realized that I'll never completely conquer some of the issues that hold me back.  Still after I accepted it, I found the diagnosis liberating.  While part of me heaves giant sighs for living with so much criticism and guilt; I also see that some of the traits that hold me back are behind other successes and behind things I love about my life and myself.  I am now making some better decisions because I can recognize some impulses for what they are – just impulses.

Lesson:  Know yourself, strengths and weaknesses.  When you know, you can build on them to be the best you can be.  No one is perfect... let go of the pains and aggravations and move on.  You'll be happier for it.

Lesson:  Know your dog's strengths and weaknesses.  When you know, you can build on them so your canine best friend can be her best.  I don't want to imply that I promote setting limitations on your dog; rather recognize the ways her path to success may be different.

We've all seen the poem that goes around about friendships – how they are for a Season, a Reason, or a Lifetime.  In our culture, we value friendships very highly (though this too seems to be changing), so it can be hard to let go, even when the people have changed and the time has passed.  Some were never really friendships to begin with, but only gave a surface appearance of friendship.  The interesting thing has been that as I've let go of these, other friendships have sprung up to take their place.  By "losing" the old, time has become available for other friendships to blossom and grow.  It has been an odd and wonderful mixed blessing.

This got me to pondering the nature of friendship.  Any real friendship requires trust.  How each of us defines trust is highly individual.  For me I really need my friends to be honest and to allow me to be honest.  Betrayal of trust is a death knell that most friendships do not survive.  I believe friendship needs to have give and take to it;  if there's no balance, it cannot really survive over the long run.

Lesson:  All the qualities that are essential to a good friendship are also necessary between you and your dog.  You need to balance between your wants and the dog's needs.  This has been so apparent with Gimme.  As I teach her things, some lessons come easy, some don't.  When she has difficulty with something, I move on, work on something else and come back to the other days later.  Gimme and I spent much time trying to "get" heeling and were having no luck -- so I decided to let it go.  A couple of days later, I took her for a potty walk and right after taking care of business, she turned to me and said, "Mom, pay attention cuz I don't want to have to repeat myself.  Today we are going to learn heeling -- allow me to demonstrate."  And demonstrate she did.  You just never know what is percolating on a back burner.

Lesson:  Just as trust is essential to any friendship, it is equally important to our relationships with our dogs.  Years ago I attended a seminar with Chris Bach.  I have to admit some of her ideas have taken me years to wrap my mind around, but one thing she said I immediately accepted.  She talked about people and dogs having a "trust history".  Good or bad, you have that kind of history in any relationship.  If you have a good trust history with a dog, you can do things that might be uncomfortable for the dog.  Because the history says you won't hurt them, they will accept it (such as changing a wound dressing).  If you have a bad trust history a dog will look at you with some measure of suspicion, no matter how sweet you are or how many cookies you offer.  And the most important thing she said was, once trust is broken, you can seldom, if ever, really get it back.

Lesson:  And lastly on friendship -- it takes time and effort to build and nurture a relationship.  Likewise our dogs need and crave our time.  The are so forgiving and will survive on whatever crumbs of time we give them.  They thrive on quality time; they deserve quality time.  I am always saddened by how many dogs live much of their lives separated from the people they love.  I always thought this was something that only backyard-dog-people did.  Unfortunately, I am also seeing it among performance people.  I don't think they know, or they've forgotten, what they are missing.  I love snuggling with my Spottie Dotties.  Call me crazy, but every night is a three-dog-night for me.

Of course, the biggest gain in 2010 was Gimme's decision to adopt me.  She continues to bless my life.  I have this vision of introducing her to someone when she is seven years old as, "Gimme, the cutest puppy on the planet."  Is it any wonder that despite the losses of the last year, I look down on this view and I see only joy...

Lessons: How to Open Your Christmas Stocking

Step 1:  Locate your stocking...

Step 2:  
Ensure your stocking has been filled, as there is no point in proceeding to step 3 if the stocking is empty.

Step 3:  Take your stocking down from wherever it has been hung.  This step really shouldn't be necessary, but for some reason that remains unfathomable - humans have this weird tendency to display Christmas stockings hung on the front of things.

Step 4:  Get a good grip on the stocking with both front feet and look inside to survey the contents.

Step 5:  Getting the contents out of the stocking is the goal of all stocking opening.  Sometimes contents will be stuck in the "toe" of the stocking and you will need to pat with your paw to dislodge them.

Step 6:  Other items will get lodged in the cuff and you will need that firm grip on the stocking while you grab them with your teeth to pull them out.

Step 7:  While it looks a bit unladylike, there may be moments when you have to put your whole head in the stocking. 

Step 8:  Persistence is the key.

Step 9:  And more persistence... 

Step 10:  Make sure you have gotten all the toys you want before you stop looking.

Lastly, if you believe you stocking contents were inadequate, it is sometimes effective to take up a stance near the stocking, with head hanging low, using your most pathetic look.  Humans are really soft-hearted and can sometimes be persuaded to make it right once you appeal to their guilt.

Merry Christmas

Have a Joyous New Year

Cutest Dang Picture...

My friend took this picture and I just have to share it...  I'm using it as the background on my computer.  I get charmed all over again every time I see it...

Isn't that just to die for? 

BTW the same friend created our Christmas video.   We went to a Christmas lights display in a nearby town and Gimme had a great time exploring.  She was fascinated to discover there are truly beautiful things in the world, without being a reflection of her lovely self.  Who knew? 

A nice little girl gave her a really cute toy, but Gimme graciously gave it back when she realized the girl didn't have another one to keep for herself.  

Gimme's First Christmas 

Assumptions...

The very best advice I can give about assuming is "don't".  No matter what you assume, you will surely be wrong far too often.  So what does this have to do with the dogs?

Recently someone I know well suggested I do something with Gimme that I didn't think my puppy was ready for and I said as much.  Later she asked if she could hold Gimme and I handed over my precious baby.  I had no more than turned away to answer questions about liver spotted Dalmatians than she proceeded to do what I had already said no to.  I assumed she meant "hold" as in "I wanna cuddle the cute puppy."  I assumed she understood and would honor my objection.  I was wrong on both assumptions.  Perhaps she assumed that I would be pleasantly surprised to see that Gimme handled the situation better than she assumed I expected -- if that was the case, she was wrong.   I had a number of reasons for not wanting to do what she suggested; she didn't have the full story.  I've written to her about my objections and her response indicates that she had a number of assumptions about what I wanted from the meet and greet experience. 

The point is much larger than this one experience AND its not the only experience.  I described in another blog entry a person who asked if her dogs could meet my puppy.  First she said one of her dogs was "great" with puppies, but would have to get in the puppy's face first.  Obviously I can't assume that people understand dog behavior or that we have the same standard; her dog was not "great" by my way of thinking.  Then she went on to say that she wanted to try out her other unknown dog on my puppy, because she was getting a puppy.  I'm thinking that assuming someone has common sense may not bode well either.

I've had other experiences that made me question assumptions.  You can't assume that people will be careful about their dogs and yours.  We've all had the experience of someone letting their dog get in our dog's face or crowding, or staring down.  Often just running over you and yours in their haste.

Also having played pass the puppy, I was surprised (to say the least) about how rough some are when handling a baby puppy.  Fortunately Gimme has a real strong sense of self and made it clear what she didn't like.  My own father is one of those people who handles puppies roughly, with a little country ear-pulling thrown in.  He flat out adores Gimme - having completely fallen for her spottie dottie charm.  I was able to intervene in these cases, but with a more sensitive puppy, it could have caused lasting distrust.  Gimme adores my father in return and has become accustomed to his ways, but still doesn't accept it from anyone else. 

Lest it appear that I'm completely inept when I comes to sizing people up -- in correspondence with another person (not a novice either) who has a puppy from this same litter, she is experiencing the same thing.    She described people who seemed to have what she called "their own agenda", who ignored her instructions and wishes regarding her puppy.  Similar stories have turned up in conversations with friends .

While attending an Ian Dunbar seminar, my friend played pass the puppy.  This is an environment filled with experienced dog people who presumably are interested in reward based methods.  One of those experienced people allowed this young puppy to eat an earring right off her ear.  C'mon, do we need to do a TSA screening and pat down to make sure people aren't harboring harmful objects?  Again with my earlier comment about assuming people have common sense.  Another person, who presented herself as a reward based trainer, when she got puppy-nibbled, grabbed the puppy by the jaw and shook her.  How nice to have planted in this show puppy's baby brain the idea that some people aren't nice to your mouth.  If that's her idea of reward-based, let's all thank God that she doesn't do what she thinks is punishment, eh. 

It sure doesn't help that one service dog at the same seminar snarled every time the tiny baby Dal got within ten feet of her.  Fortunately there were other people who were appropriate and took exquisite care of this baby and another service dog had a sweet and gentle play session with her.

This time around I haven't experienced (or lately even heard of) these issues with the general public.  I believe it may be that we are much more careful with people that aren't dog people because we assume (correctly) that they probably don't know how to interact with puppies.  Unfortunately we tend to assume (wrongly) things about people in the dog community, and its those assumptions that get us in trouble.  Remember, in the dog community, people have varied backgrounds, experiences, knowledge and training styles.  As such they approach everything from their own perspective, viewing everything through the prism of their own assumptions about right, wrong and appropriate.  When we assume that we're all on the same page - we stand a good chance of being wrong.

I don't want to leave this sounding like I've had one horrid experience after another - most people and most interactions have been delightful and have added positively to my baby's learning base.  The point is all about assumptions - that every experience I preferred to avoid could have been prevented had I (or the other person [or both of us]) not made assumptions. 

Also, not all assumptions led to negative experiences.  I practice with someone who is a steadfast traditional trainer (jerk and pull).  I assumed that he might not be the best choice for Gimme to meet and thus it was not my intention to let them interact.  She had other ideas and took matters into her own paws.  Their meeting was wonderful, she likes him very well and thinks he has a stunning expertise at treat delivery.  So you see how it is about assumptions - nowadays you can't even safely assume that traditional jerk and pull trainers are awful evil spawn who will do dastardly things to your puppy.  What is the world coming to???  <e.g.>

All foolishness aside -- we each need to remember that our puppies are our responsibility, so decisions about them are also ours to make.  No matter how much you think you know someone, your future with your baby is resting in their hands every time you give up control, even for a moment.  Small actions can have big consequences.  Vigilance and being ever ready to step in is essential.  We cannot worry about hurting someone else's feelings or about how we might seem when we intervene or just say no. 

Put succinctly:  My Puppy, My Rules -- and Never Ever Assume Anything...

Return to Sanity

After getting home from a great seminar about dog health (stretching and strengthening, with a strong focus on the abnormal stressors to an agility dog's joints), I suddenly realized how inappropriate the behavior I was encouraging is for a pup of Gimme's age (three months). I was about to email the breeder about some thoughts I had and, I kid you not, just as I sat down to email her, there in my inbox is an email from her on the exact same thing. Great minds think alike.

Gimme is a real jumper and bouncer and I know we don't need to worry about it when they do things on their own, because its not a repetitive stressor. But we should set their environment up to make sure it doesn’t become a repetitive stressor. I initially thought to reward the cute behaviors from time to time, just to keep them in her repertoire, but not enough that she repeats them to any great degree. I subsequently decided not to reward them at all - "airs above the ground" is her default, so I feel confident the behaviors will be there when I want them.

I found I needed to change how we do the food bowl self control exercise. Gimme's reaction to not getting the bowl right away is to do the razzle-dazzle (jumping straight up). And to make it worse, that is in the kitchen on linoleum. I've been positioning her where she doesn't have the room for jumping and that seems to do the trick.

Now that I'm freshly re-sensitized to this issue, I am shocked at all the respected agility people that are really pushing agility prospect puppies with little evident concern for the safety of their joints. I’ve been doing a lot of reading on the internet to see what other agility people are doing and there seems to be a recurrent tendency for people to fast track their puppies teaching things that are real joint stressors. I don't intend to do that with mine. One instructor is teaching tight turns to puppies. Between the 30-40 repetitions in class and all the practicing at home, that really concerns me. Just yesterday another respected agility person posted a video of her new puppy playing an indoor chase game with her adult dogs. The chase circle involved a jump, that while doable for the puppy, was set up at the puppy's elbow height!

I'm thinking canine genius Gimme and I will have to do another creativity session and find some other cute (and much safer) behaviors to put cues on. I encourage everyone to really think about what they are doing with puppies.

As someone I love and respect just said, "Go slow to go fast." There is so much we can do to further our end goals without risking injury to their joints. Let's all give our kids time to grow up.

Some good sites to look at, include:

www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html
www.agilityability.com/bone-growth-and-health-in-agility.html
www.woodhavenlabs.com/documents/PuppyPlay.pdf 

Did I Mention?

I just had this amazing training session with Gimme and I'm absolutely certain she's a canine genius.  Gawd I love this pup.  She's been cooped up all day and so I wanted to do something to work her brain, so she could let off some steam.  I decided a little creativity session, which we haven't done before, would do the trick.  It took her all of four clicks to figure out that she was getting clicked for anything different.  She was throwing behaviors at me so fast I could barely keep up. Did I mention I think she's a canine genius?

Then she did the cutest behavior I've ever seen.  Its a leap straight up, where she sort of wriggles her butt as she is coming back down.  It reminded me of the razzle-dazzle move I learned in military drill team about a hundred and twenty years ago.  I soooo want to capture that and put a name on it.

Then she immediately did another behavior that I love, its a two-bounce-spin.  She bounces and lands 180 degrees, with an immediate repeat, ending with her facing me again.  This had a little bit of the razzle-dazzle wriggle to it.  I soooo want to capture that and put a name on it.

Then she immediately chased her tail, first in one direction and then the other.  Naturally I want to capture those and put a names on them too.

She puts sooooo much style into these that they'd be ten kinds of wonderful for musical freestyle.  Basically for the rest of that session (until I ran out of treats), I treated all of them.  Any one that seemed to be lessening in frequency, I jackpotted. 

Did I mention I think she's a canine genius? 

Speaking of the canine genius, she is really mad at me right now.  We had about a 100 treats and when they were gone the session was over and she had to go in a crate so I could let the others in out of the rain.  So she is, not very patiently trying to explain to me how incredibly inappropriate it is to end her training session when SHE is having fun.

So, did I mention I think she's a canine genius?