Obedience – 11/04/2011
All the pieces of her Schutzhund 1 obedience are in place and we are working on pulling it all together. Her retrieves are fast and she holds the dumbbell calm. She heels attentively. She does the send out with speed. We need to work on the platz on the send out. That is the goal for this week. I am looking forward to trialing her one day next spring.
There are very few things in life that can instantly snap me out of a bad mood and give me a better outlook on things. Laila is such a ray of sunshine in my life. She is always in a good mood and ready to work. Only, what I consider her ‘work’, she only sees as fun. I wish we, as humans, were so blessed to have this attitude. I love my Laila and hope to have many, many happy, fun years with my wonderful friend who brings me so much joy.
Tracking – 11/04/2011
Haven’t posted in a while. Laila has been very busy with a new venture that we are quite excited about. More news on that later, so check back!
I would like to trial Laila in the spring. Her tracking is very nice. We track a Schutzhund 1 length track with articles. Her article indication is very nice with a very focused, ‘nose pointing right at it’ indication. I have cut way back on the food and will continue to do so over the next couple of weeks to where there are just a few pices of food on the track.
I taught the article indication a couple of months ago off track. I would show her the article, get her excited for it, toss it on the ground. When she went to investigate, I platzed her and fed her bits of food at the article. This went quickly and we had nice article indication in just a few days.
New Pics!
It has been a while since I Laila and I have posted. I hurt my lower back over a month ago and am working on getting back to where I am able to do more. We have been working, however, despite the hinderance. She is tracking full length Schutzhund 1 tracks. She is finally doing a hold and bark! I will post some video of this soon. She is doing very well in obedience. Have gotten nearly every element in place and just need to now fine tune some things and then chain it all together.
Here are recent pics of her:
Here is her stack:
Tracking – 06/16/2011
Tracked for the first time in over two weeks.
250 paces. Food in 80% of footsteps. Two turns. Mid-afternoon track. Wet grass (rained night before). Grass about 4-5 inches tall. Mixed pasture grass. Cross tracks from mower tires. U-shaped track. Slight breeze.
She only missed a few pieces of food. I deliberately laid the track near the barn where the big groundhog lives and frequently comes out to eat and wander about. She didn’t lift her head at all or veer off the track. Her nose stayed deep and her speed was more consistent than it has ever been. She was very focused and intent. We are getting close to a Schutzhund 1 track length. When we reach that and she is very consistent on corners, speed and not lifting her head at distractions, I will start teaching articles.
Other – 06/15/2011
- Tired dog
I am an adventurous person and normally enjoy the unfamiliar, the new, the change in routine that a vacation brings. A two week stay in Santiago, Chile, however, left me in doubt of my adventurous spirit. Perhaps it was the fact that Santiago, Chile is largely a city filled with dogs… and I did not have my beloved Laila with me.
The dogs are wisened street dogs, accustomed and attuned to the noise, the cars and the people, who almost entirely ignore them, regardless of whether they are picking through the trash or instigating a fight with another dog. Some were aloof, some were goofy, some were hungry. None of them seemed particularly bonded to people.
One day a protest occured outside a Santiago news station. I couldn’t understand what the people were on about, but I certainly understood the dogs as they bounded about, barking an enthusiastic support (or perhaps annoyance) at the cacaphonic crowd.
Some dogs approached warily, perhaps hoping to garner a bit of food or, in rare instances, a friendly scratch behind the ears. They rarely lingered, but often quickly departed, lured away by the passing of another person or the enticing scent of a nearby fish market.
Fountains are their favorite bathing and watering spots. And I am convinced that it is a universal inherent genetic canine trait to bathe, approach the nearest person and shake vigorously. After all, it isn’t a bath unless you share the delight.
My family went out for breakfast one morning. When they returned, they informed me that my dog was waiting outside for me. I went outside. She lay on the sidewalk next to the entrance of the hostel. She didn’t get up to greet me. She didn’t wag her tail. As I had learned to expect of the street dogs, she remained aloof and immune to my attempts to befriend her. I went inside and returned with a piece of bread, which I lay at her feet. She sniffed it, got up and approached me where I sat. She wagged her tail, smiled, let me scratch behind her ear, then returned to the piece of bread. She had thanked me in a clear, deliberate gesture of gratitude.
I really missed my Laila that day…
Tracking – 05/17/2011
160 paces, food in 9 of ten footsteps, wind out of north 15 mph, six inch pasture grass, soft ground, slightly damp grass from rain last night, cross mower tracks at beginning for about ten paces, one corner, cross mower tracks on second leg, cloudy, cool near 56 degrees.
I used hot dogs cut to 1/2 rounds and some rolled dog food, cut to a similar size as the hot dogs. I was out of hot dogs. She tracked well for this mix.
Worked on more control at the beginning. I implemented a lie down command about thirty yards from the start of the track. We simulated checking in to the judge. This went a lot better today than yesterday. I used food in my hand to reward her for close position and not bouncing around in anticipation of the track.
Her start was smooth and controlled… much better I believe due to the calmer, more controlled approach to the field and getting her in a good, focused state prior to the track.
She took her time at the scent pad, checking every corner. Her speed was nice. Cut grass usually produces at least one sneeze on the track. This particular field has a lot of wild animal traffic. She got a whiff of something and lifted her head. I corrected for this since she has encountered this before on this field enough times that I do not want the head lift to become a habit. The turn was the best she has done yet. Smooth and no nosing out. It was even slightly less arched than prior turns.
She sped up slightly on the second leg at first but settled after a few steps.
Obedience – 05/16/2011
We worked two obedience sessions today. First session: heeling, sit out of motion, jump the one metre hurdle at full height, started the A-frame over and back at a very low height. Second session: sit out of motion, retrieve on flat, retrieve over hurdle at 3″ less than full height.
I had wanted to do retrieve over hurdle at half height, but my hurdle pins stick and I couldn’t get it to go down any further without assistance. So we went for it. She did two retrieves over the hurdle no problem. Her finish was slightly crooked, but we will work on straightening that out independent of the retrieve.
Her heeling is a lot more animated since I have shortened the heeling time. Her sit out of motion is really good. I am just adding distance now.
Overall, I am very happy with Laila’s progress. I am just taking my time and making sure we don’t rush or add too much at once, as well as keeping her drive for the work high.
At the end of our second session we played two ball for twenty minutes. I like to play hard for a couple minutes then give her a break, then play hard again. This helps build her endurance without completely draining her.
Tracking – 05/16/2011
150 paces, short/dry lawn grass, soft ground, very green, winds north at 12 mph, mid-day, one corner. First leg 110 paces. Second leg 50 paces.
The wind cut across the first leg of the track and was behind the 2nd leg. I am starting to expect control on our way out to the track. Laila still expects to get to the track as quickly as possible, however, so needless to say our fifty yard walk to the start of the track looked a little chaotic. I put a short line on her prong collar which was attached to the Bottcher harness in order to make corrections. When we were ready to start the track, I removed the short line.
Her speed was good. I am starting to slowly remove food (one footstep every ten paces has no food). She tracked a nice pace, her nose gliding from footstep to footstep. She nosed out at about thirty paces but came right back, probably due to the wind cutting across the track. She nosed out again at the corner, but not very far and was right back on the track. The second leg had several mower cross tracks. She nosed out on the first one, but I didn’t correct. She ignored the remaining cross tracks.
Protection – 05/15/2011
Laila continues to show great enthusiasm for bitework. She bites the sleeve full and hard. We are working on keeping her centered on the sleeve and keeping her drive high. When she returns to the car with the sleeve, she holds it for a very long time, calm and full in her mouth… the grip never moves. As soon as she releases it, she gets a drink of water. When she hears the crack of the whip, she is ready to return to the field.
Obedience – 05/15/2011
Laila did her first dumbbell retrieve over the hurdle!! It was set to half height. She has been clearing it at full height without the dumbbell. The first time she returned, she dropped the dumbbell in anticipation of getting her ball reward. I pointed to the dumbbell, said ‘bring’, backed up while encouraging her into front sit ‘bring’ position. She dropped it again. I repeated the command
We repeated the exercise. This time she performed the retrieve correctly! We had a little party and went ‘home’. 
This week, we will be working separate sessions. I will continue to ask her to go over the full height, but without the dumbbell. She is clearing it nicely and I want to keep up her muscle strength, muscle memory and endurance for the full height. In a separate session, we will practice retrieve over the hurdle, beginning at half height and working up to full height. I am not sure will will get to full height by the end of the week or not. It all depends on her continued consistency in correctly retrieving at the lower height and her continued ability to clear the hurdle at full height without the dumbbell. It is always best in training not to present too many variables at the same time.
Her heeling continues to improve, though she seemed to crowd a bit yesterday. This week we will continue work on correct heeling, keeping the sessions short and energetic, yet rewarding when it is correct.
Laila is one year old now. She knows heeling, sitz, platz, sit out of motion, retrieve on the flat, clears the one metre hurdle at full height, retrieves over the hurdle at half height, does voraus, flip finish and long down. We are working on the long down and need to start adding in distractions and adding distance.
