Weekend Report

  The dogs and I were at an earthdog test this weekend, held in Elizabeth CO. On Saturday, Jackson The Wonder Dog got his first leg in Junior Earthdog. We tried again on Sunday morning, but Jackson didn't enter the tunnel right away and so we NQ'ed. I didn't try again on Sunday afternoon, because I have a good idea he would have done the same thing.
  Wager had one try at JE. He went right in the hole, but won't make a sound when he's there. Then he will NOT come out.
  Jackson makes me look so good, and Wager keeps me humble.
  I have all winter to work up an earthdog training plan for the two Scotties. They were shaped to go in the hole, but that was only one quick session about 18 months ago. Next spring we'll work on that again.
  Next weekend we are back at agility, so that's what we will work on this week!

Evie was my assistant secretary this weekend, along with her chauffeur Dawn-Renee Mack.

In the beginning, there was foundation work....

  At the DOCNA trial last weekend, I talked with a very nice lady who was spectating. She had just gone to her first agility class, and was very excited to watch the sport that she hopes to compete in someday. She was also very excited that her dog had "done the weaves" at his first class. Weave poles? At the first class? Are you kidding me? Oh dear, she was not kidding.
  Ten years ago, when I was training Cozy, we did that sort of thing. Agility training meant getting your dog on the equipment, and little else. Cozy's performances show that lack of foundation skills, even though I have worked to fix the deficiency. Times have changed, agility training has made huge advances.
   Thank goodness for a couple of Really Great Instructors, Susan Anderson and Jen Shaul, who moved to Colorado a few years ago and showed me The Path To Agility Success. The Path to Success starts with the foundation that you teach your dog. That foundation needs to be strong to withstand the stress that competition puts on the performance. Watch the novice class at the next trial and it will be pretty easy to see the dogs who had a good foundation and are ready for competition, and it's also easy (and often painful) to see the dogs who did not have foundation skills in place before starting equipment training, sequencing, and competing. Very often, those are the dogs who quit competing after a few months because "he doesn't like agility."
   A solid foundation produces a confident dog who ignores distractions and works with his handler. A solid foundation produces a dog who knows that agility is always safe and fun!
   In the last few years, many books and DVDs have been produced to give details on foundation exercises. Some good ones are "Agility Right From the Start," "The Focused Puppy," and all those Susan Garrett books and DVDs. (Susan, can I PLEASE have a commission?) YouTube is a terrific resource for anyone who doesn't have access to a great instructor. And Sue Ailsby's Training Levels is a wonderful resource for dog training. Sue's program is free, fun, and fabulous. And it's FREE!

  Here's Border Terrier Tucker running AKC Excellent Standard, under judge Linda Kipp:



I'm still learning.....
 
  

More Scottie Training Tips

  I was asked this week what kind of agility training I did with the Scotties when they were young puppies. First, we worked on Susan Garrett's Crate Games. I wish I made a commission on that DVD. I recommend it to everyone, whether or not you ever want to compete in anything with your dog.

  I worked short sessions with the Scotties on relationship building exercises like Hand Touches, Recalls, and shaping tricks, and lots of body awareness exercises like perch work, walking backwards, and riding a skateboard. Of course, I taught them the basic obedience cues of sit and down. I use a clicker for most of the early training of all these skills.

  Finally, because Scotties have such a bad reputation for being snarky with other dogs, I worked a lot on preventing that issue. With Wager, I succeeded partially, because now he thinks other dogs are WAAAAY more fun than playing with me. I am now working on building Wager's desire to work with me! With Jackson, I feel I achieved the goal- he thinks other dogs are fine, but playing with me is much more important. I really can't tell if it's a difference in training, or primarily a difference in their temperaments. I suspect it's just the way they are.

  I train all my dogs in short sessions, about 1 or 2 minutes. I use a stopwatch, because training is so fun it's easy to get carried away. I work on one thing in that time. I keep a detailed training journal of each session, so we can continue to move forward and so I can keep track of what each dog knows, what each cue is, etc.

   This post is titles Scottie Training Tips, but as you can see, all of this can apply to any breed of dog.

Wager, who knows watching the mama pays really well

Weekend Report

  On Oct 16-17, Jackson and Tucker competed in DOCNA agility. We love DOCNA, but I have reservations about recommending it to everyone. Only because one of the things I really love about DOCNA is the small, laid-back trials. I don't really want the "win at all costs" competitors to discover DOCNA.
  Tucker had a great weekend, partly due to the quiet atmosphere of the trial. He had three qualifying runs: Jumpers, Standard, and Specialist Snakes and Ladders. I played "Look At That Dog" with him before each good run and DIDN'T play it before each stressed-out run! Hmmmm, I think I see a pattern! If you aren't familiar with "Look At That" read "Control Unleashed" by Leslie McDivett. It's a ground-breaking program for reactive/stressy dogs like Tucker. I also used the Manners Minder in his crate, which is like doggy crack.
   Jackson, on the other hand, is not stressed at agility trials. He qualified all six times he ran. Jackson is an agility gift from God. I am grateful for every run with him.

Tucker, Jackson, and Wager (in 2008)

Training Scottish Terriers

  My Scotties have taught me a few things about training Scotties. Here is what I have learned:  

 Step 1: Throw away the myth that training a Scottie is difficult, or that a Scottie is incapable of learning the exact same behaviors that other breeds learn. Any healthy Scottie can learn to do the same behaviors that any healthy Golden Retriever can do. A Scottie is just as intelligent (if not more so, in my experience) than any other dog.

  Step 2: Shape! I've heard lure trainers complain that shaping is very difficult, takes too long, and/or is too hard for the trainer to learn to do correctly. OK, shaping takes practice for the trainer to learn. But Scotties have a great ability to figure out solutions to puzzles, and that is what shaping is! If you take about 8 weeks to learn to shape, and to teach your Scottie to play shaping games (everything you train is Just A Game), you'll have a very easy road to training ANY behavior. And you'll have a fantastic relationship with your dog.

   Step 3: Vow to stop using corrections. Instead of teaching a dog to what to do, corrections only suppress "bad" behavior. And undermine your relationship with your dog.

   And one more thing: when training and competing with a Scottie, it's OK to laugh!

Wager, Rally Novice!

(Ranscot's Day At The Races)

Weekend Report, Part 2: RallyO

Kilda went to a UKC Rally trial today, her 5th birthday. She worries about being in the ring, so the laid-back atmosphere of UKC is where she needs to be. She didn't Q today, she worried about the stranger carrying the clipboard and watching her (judges are allowed in the ring, too, Kilda!) BUT she didn't COMPLETELY shut down. She just kept an eye on that lady with the clipboard. Can't "sit" with clipboard carrying strangers skulking around.
   A friend suggested taking her to conformation classes since there are very few rally classes available. That's a great idea! We'll do that.
  Here's Kilda, doing her Most Favorite Thing In The Whole World-

And here you can see how cute she is-

If she never gets another Q in anything, I'll still love her!



Weekend Report, Part 1: Agility

Jackson competed in Open AKC agility today, in Brighton, CO. Here's the Jumpers run:



That's his second JWW leg. He also qualified in Open Standard for his first leg there. The Jumpers course was nice, not too tricky. The Standard course was a little more technical, but Jack held a nice start line stay for a Lead Out Pivot, and stayed in the weaves. The club uses short (seemed like 21 inch) weave poles. Long-bodied Scotties get hung up in those unless they really concentrate!

A Hairy-er Terrier

Wager got groomed today. This is the "Before" picture. I didn't get an "after" pic, but I found his eyes under all that!!

WEEKEND UPDATE

Tucker and Jackson competed in the All Colorado Agility Team's USDAA trial this weekend. Here's the quick version: Jackson (the Scottie puppy) got legs and completed titles in P1 Snooker, P1 Gamblers, P1 Jumpers, and P1 Pairs. He also got his first leg in P1 Standard!

This is the Standard run:



And this is the Jumpers run:



Tucker (the Border Terrier who barks at running Border Collies) stayed in the ring for both Gamblers runs. He didn't Q in either one, but it was still a victory in Control Unleashed management and training. He managed a good, clean, fast P2 Pairs run and got his third leg for the title. I pulled him from one standard run, because the BCs were running in the other ring and it was just too risky.

The weather was perfect, and the park is very nice except for the train tracks and consequently the TRAINS that blast past every hour or so.