Tor really is quite a twirp. He can be so charming and turn around and be a complete and total punk a heartbeat later. But, I guess that's why puppies are so cute :-)
Before I forget, his right front pastern seems fine again. I can't say for sure that it was Panno but suspect that it may have been. He is just growing like a weed and is all legs.
We went for a nice long walk this afternoon rather than working. So both dogs had a bit of an excess of energy. Had them both on front pull harnesses and flexis - probably my first mistake was taking them together. Everything was going well. But it became clear about 1/3 of the way into our walk that Tor's ridiculously high prey drive is creating some confusion for him. He is happy to see people now but seems to think that men are bite objects, probably because most of the men that he gets to meet end up playing tug with him. He didn't bite anyone and it was clearly an attempt to initiate play but I'm not sure that the guys that he jumped at would have thought it was much fun. So time to spend more time on that stuff again.
He also really wants to chase bikes/bicyclists. It didn't help that we were over by Google and most of the bikes over there have colored inserts in their wheels that really catch the eye.
So, I guess we will be going out in public more and making a particular effort about socialization again. Funny how that has changed. He used to be just a little edgy around people in a very different way. Now he is quite happy and confident and that creates another problem. I guess I will have to do this without Gata along. Need to really pay attention to him during this work.
Gata's pad is still quite sore and she licks at it quite a bit. It's definitely getting better but this one was pretty bad. A friend of mine is going to loan me a pair of "skid boots" to try on her. We'll see if she'll wear them. If she will, I think they might really help her heal up and potentially even prevent more injuries like that.
Showing posts with label Socialization. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Socialization. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Sunday, January 9, 2011
TGIF :-)
I think we're all happy about that :-) I'm definitely liking the new job but we all needed the week to come to an end so we could enjoy more training and time together :-)
Took the pups to the MPSC field as soon as we were done at work. Had plenty of daylight left to work both dogs. Started with Tor and finished with Gata. Thought about doing 2 sessions with each but decided it would be easier all the way around to do a single seesion with each of them.
Tor - just puppy play stuff, lots of outing his tug, position changes on the field, and we even started working on running the blinds. Started on the right side blinds. Will teach him to run high side on all blinds, that means right hand turn on right side blinds and left hand turn on left side blinds. Since he naturally turns left handed, it will probably be harder to run the right side blinds though he's so athletic I'm not really worried. Just did a couple of little luring him around the blind. When he did the turn in the correct direction I threw the ball for him. I then ducked into the blind and called him into me there. If he came from the correct direction, I quickly rewarded again. Did that a few times and enough for his first session on blinds. Will get the right handed turn pretty solid but not entirely finished before starting left side blinds and then start working on distance and stringing them together.
We ended up by running through the big culvert drains that are kept out there for no apparent reason. Good puppy exercise plus it teaches him to run away from me to get his reward. His default is to stare at me and will his ball/tug into his mouth ;-) Tor had a great time running through those and didn't seem to care that they are a little slippery :-)
Gata - position changes and heeling. Worked on reinforcing the concept of "silence". Decided to make it a little less tedious for both of us by changing the consequence from being put in the car to backing up (away from where we were heeling). This works really well when heeling onto the field (thru a gate) and heeling into start position to run blinds; where there are very obvious visual markers. I liked what I got with it but am not sure that it will work as well if she starts talking once we're on the field. I think I will try it for awhile though and see if it works. It is definitely something that could be used in competition between exercises without being noticed as opposed to taking my dog to the car. So, definitely worth playing around with a little.
Ended by running blinds with her. She just loves that game and was flying around the blinds :-) Both dogs were very happy and tired at the end of their sessions. A tired dog is definitely a good dog :-)
Stopped by club for a little bit in SJ. Needed to drop some stuff off with a friend there so we hung out for awhile. Played around with Tor near the clubhouse. Have not been focusing on his socialization as much lately and could see a subtle difference. If that's what he ended up like it wouldn't worry me, just didn't like the idea that he was sliding backwards a little. So will have to make sure that I continue to work on his socialization. I think it will just take a little more work than I expected to make sure that he remains neutral to friendly. Just want to make sure that he doesn't continue sliding backwards, he has come such a long ways. Definitely don't want him to end up a sharp dog given my lifestyle.
Took the pups to the MPSC field as soon as we were done at work. Had plenty of daylight left to work both dogs. Started with Tor and finished with Gata. Thought about doing 2 sessions with each but decided it would be easier all the way around to do a single seesion with each of them.
Tor - just puppy play stuff, lots of outing his tug, position changes on the field, and we even started working on running the blinds. Started on the right side blinds. Will teach him to run high side on all blinds, that means right hand turn on right side blinds and left hand turn on left side blinds. Since he naturally turns left handed, it will probably be harder to run the right side blinds though he's so athletic I'm not really worried. Just did a couple of little luring him around the blind. When he did the turn in the correct direction I threw the ball for him. I then ducked into the blind and called him into me there. If he came from the correct direction, I quickly rewarded again. Did that a few times and enough for his first session on blinds. Will get the right handed turn pretty solid but not entirely finished before starting left side blinds and then start working on distance and stringing them together.
We ended up by running through the big culvert drains that are kept out there for no apparent reason. Good puppy exercise plus it teaches him to run away from me to get his reward. His default is to stare at me and will his ball/tug into his mouth ;-) Tor had a great time running through those and didn't seem to care that they are a little slippery :-)
Gata - position changes and heeling. Worked on reinforcing the concept of "silence". Decided to make it a little less tedious for both of us by changing the consequence from being put in the car to backing up (away from where we were heeling). This works really well when heeling onto the field (thru a gate) and heeling into start position to run blinds; where there are very obvious visual markers. I liked what I got with it but am not sure that it will work as well if she starts talking once we're on the field. I think I will try it for awhile though and see if it works. It is definitely something that could be used in competition between exercises without being noticed as opposed to taking my dog to the car. So, definitely worth playing around with a little.
Ended by running blinds with her. She just loves that game and was flying around the blinds :-) Both dogs were very happy and tired at the end of their sessions. A tired dog is definitely a good dog :-)
Stopped by club for a little bit in SJ. Needed to drop some stuff off with a friend there so we hung out for awhile. Played around with Tor near the clubhouse. Have not been focusing on his socialization as much lately and could see a subtle difference. If that's what he ended up like it wouldn't worry me, just didn't like the idea that he was sliding backwards a little. So will have to make sure that I continue to work on his socialization. I think it will just take a little more work than I expected to make sure that he remains neutral to friendly. Just want to make sure that he doesn't continue sliding backwards, he has come such a long ways. Definitely don't want him to end up a sharp dog given my lifestyle.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
It has finally happened ...
... I knew it was coming, and dreaded it ... Tor beat Gata to the ball this morning ... TWICE. It is indeed a sad day ;-( Gata is no longer the fastest dog on the block or even in her home ;-(
Stopped in a park near work on the way home this afternoon. LOTS of activity - swimming, tennis, basketball, baseball, kids on the playground equipment, bikes and skateboards on the ramps. A very busy place. Took each dog out individually and worked them a little. Both did great. Really pleased with that, as each still has some triggers that were present in the park.
Tor - just little stuff; positions, retrieving, tugging and outing, pre-heeling stuff on both sides. His focus was great; didn't pay any attention to anything but me. Worked for the ball, the tug, and treats and switched easily between them. Kept him on leash but gave him plenty of line to have some nice retrieves and throws. He did fantastic - really impressive focus; paid no attention to anything else - dogs, kids, skateboarders, none of it mattered to him. He has come a long way in the last 2 months. There was a time when he would not have done very well at all in that sort of environment. Really pleased with that.
Gata - Did fantastic; didn't bat an eye at the skateboarders even when one was headed right for her as she was chasing the ball. I batted an eye at that one hoping that she wouldn't go for the skateboarder. She didn't, but she has definitely thought that they looked like fair game in the past. Did basic OB drills - heeling is fantastic. Working on getting her head straight up is helping with that little bit of crabbing that she does sometimes. Did some out of motions. Sit was good, not surprising that the down was slower again in a new location with so much going on. Also did a couple of down on recall exercises - also a little slow. Just have to keep working those downs. Her fronts were beautiful.
She had a really good time. A side effect of having Tor is that my value has gone up some, especially when it comes to play time. Plus, in our after work sessions, Tor generally goes first because I know that he is close to his limit in terms of potty training. I know he can go longer but he's still young and there is no real reason to make him.
It is really fun taking Gata out in a situation like that and playing with her. She seems to work even harder and more intensely because of the distractions, like I set it up just to test her :-) She's such a fun dog to start with and between the weather and the new job and the puppy, she thinks she hasn't been getting enough fun or attention!
It's funny. Having dogs like these 2 makes me appreciate how lucky I have been when it comes to my dogs. No question that I work at it and do lots to socialize them and spend time training them, etc. But, I can't discount the luck of getting 2 such fundamentally sound and stable dogs to start with. Very, very lucky :-)
Tor, thinks that he's not so lucky tonight, though. When we got home and I was in the bathroom he shredded a pillow from the couch. I think I gave him a pretty good impression that the end of the world as he knows it was near and put him in his crate. He's been in there eating his dinner. Now he's done and is complaining. However, he has not started barking yet. So maybe we are getting somewhere with the demand barking. It's really tough to a be a 6-month old puppy ;-) So much to learn and those pesky rules about not destroying things ...
Stopped in a park near work on the way home this afternoon. LOTS of activity - swimming, tennis, basketball, baseball, kids on the playground equipment, bikes and skateboards on the ramps. A very busy place. Took each dog out individually and worked them a little. Both did great. Really pleased with that, as each still has some triggers that were present in the park.
Tor - just little stuff; positions, retrieving, tugging and outing, pre-heeling stuff on both sides. His focus was great; didn't pay any attention to anything but me. Worked for the ball, the tug, and treats and switched easily between them. Kept him on leash but gave him plenty of line to have some nice retrieves and throws. He did fantastic - really impressive focus; paid no attention to anything else - dogs, kids, skateboarders, none of it mattered to him. He has come a long way in the last 2 months. There was a time when he would not have done very well at all in that sort of environment. Really pleased with that.
Gata - Did fantastic; didn't bat an eye at the skateboarders even when one was headed right for her as she was chasing the ball. I batted an eye at that one hoping that she wouldn't go for the skateboarder. She didn't, but she has definitely thought that they looked like fair game in the past. Did basic OB drills - heeling is fantastic. Working on getting her head straight up is helping with that little bit of crabbing that she does sometimes. Did some out of motions. Sit was good, not surprising that the down was slower again in a new location with so much going on. Also did a couple of down on recall exercises - also a little slow. Just have to keep working those downs. Her fronts were beautiful.
She had a really good time. A side effect of having Tor is that my value has gone up some, especially when it comes to play time. Plus, in our after work sessions, Tor generally goes first because I know that he is close to his limit in terms of potty training. I know he can go longer but he's still young and there is no real reason to make him.
It is really fun taking Gata out in a situation like that and playing with her. She seems to work even harder and more intensely because of the distractions, like I set it up just to test her :-) She's such a fun dog to start with and between the weather and the new job and the puppy, she thinks she hasn't been getting enough fun or attention!
It's funny. Having dogs like these 2 makes me appreciate how lucky I have been when it comes to my dogs. No question that I work at it and do lots to socialize them and spend time training them, etc. But, I can't discount the luck of getting 2 such fundamentally sound and stable dogs to start with. Very, very lucky :-)
Tor, thinks that he's not so lucky tonight, though. When we got home and I was in the bathroom he shredded a pillow from the couch. I think I gave him a pretty good impression that the end of the world as he knows it was near and put him in his crate. He's been in there eating his dinner. Now he's done and is complaining. However, he has not started barking yet. So maybe we are getting somewhere with the demand barking. It's really tough to a be a 6-month old puppy ;-) So much to learn and those pesky rules about not destroying things ...
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