In many ways this is a bittersweet day for me, as this is the first Valentine's Day since 1998 that I haven't been able to celebrate Flash and my anniversary with her. We have both come a long way from that day 12 years ago when my little bundle of trouble came home, but I can honestly say she was the best Valentine's gift I ever got (and probably ever will!). She really is an awesome dog, and hopefully next year we'll be able to eat cookies and sit around together.
I was, however, able to go up to Syracuse for an agility seminar with Tracy Sklenar, where I met Mom and Queezle. The Q was very happy to see me, and we had a good time and learned some things we need to work on with her jumping style and confidence (Mom didn't bring Flash because it was too cold for her to be outside and she would have just barked like crazy the whole time if she was inside).
Happy Valentine's Day everyone!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
February Already?
Sigh... I've been slacking. In my defense, I was attending 3 extra classes on top of my actual 5, so the world will just have to forgive me. The good news is, after two weeks of going to four different Creative Writing classes, I got in three! I was then able to pick the time slot that made the most sense for me and politely declined the other two offers. So I am now down to 5 classes and 18 credits, and I'm even enrolled in all of the classes I'm going to!
In other news, I finally found a reason to be glad I don't have any dogs with me. Yesterday coming in after my last class I discovered that there was barbecue sauce all over my sneakers - by sticking my hand in it as I went to take them off. I washed most of it off but they still bring back memories of summer picnics, and would be very enticing to any canine companions.
I haven't seen my own beasts since January, but I did have a brief run-in with an elderly Border Collie near one of the dorms. When I first saw her she was moseying around in the open area between two buildings, and then she headed to one of the doorways. She looked kind of lost and there were no other people around, so I went up to her to see if she had contact information on her collar. She wagged her tail and smiled at me, and as I checked out her star-studded collar a man talking on his cell phone opened the door, said, "That's mine," called the dog in and shut the door. Granted, I was not going to steal his dog, but a college campus is NOT the place to leave your dog unattended! I haven't spotted them since, so I don't know if they live in that building or if they were just visiting.
In other news, I finally found a reason to be glad I don't have any dogs with me. Yesterday coming in after my last class I discovered that there was barbecue sauce all over my sneakers - by sticking my hand in it as I went to take them off. I washed most of it off but they still bring back memories of summer picnics, and would be very enticing to any canine companions.
I haven't seen my own beasts since January, but I did have a brief run-in with an elderly Border Collie near one of the dorms. When I first saw her she was moseying around in the open area between two buildings, and then she headed to one of the doorways. She looked kind of lost and there were no other people around, so I went up to her to see if she had contact information on her collar. She wagged her tail and smiled at me, and as I checked out her star-studded collar a man talking on his cell phone opened the door, said, "That's mine," called the dog in and shut the door. Granted, I was not going to steal his dog, but a college campus is NOT the place to leave your dog unattended! I haven't spotted them since, so I don't know if they live in that building or if they were just visiting.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Workin' Hard or Hardly Workin'
Well, I survived Week 1 of Semester 2 at Cornell. Apart from Queezle's hysteria at being left behind, moving back in was painless, and I am taking full advantage of the heating - let's just say my dorm room is the tropical paradise that Ithaca, NY is most definitely not. I have an awesome schedule: 9th Century Baghdad on Monday/Wednesday, and The Gothic Novel, Renaissance Poetry and Chaucer on Tuesday/Thursday. I love this stuff, and having Fridays off is extremely exciting.
The one complication in my schedule is Creative Writing. Apparently everyone and their mother wants to be in it. I didn't get in during the initial enrollment period, but the day that Add/Drop began a spot opened up. I immediately sent an email to the department, and after that yielded no results decided I would just show up at class on Monday and claim my spot.
Wrong. Firstoff, the class is actually capped at 18, rather than the published 21. Second, 43 people showed up for those 18 spots. That session's professor said that we should get on as many waiting lists as we could (there are 13 sessions of the class at different times and on different days), so I took up a new hobby: stalking any and every Creative Writing class that I could possibly fit in my schedule.
Amazingly, 9 different sessions fit my schedule, in 6 different time slots. On Monday I attended two sessions, and emailed the professors that I had missed because I hadn't realized just how desperate the situation is. Tuesday only had one class that I could fit in, but go I did.
I was gearing up for 5 sessions on Wednesday, 4 of which were right in a row, when I started to get email responses. Several professors said that there was no hope for me, especially since I'm a freshman. This was probably a good thing, as it saved me from getting an overload - I only had to go to 3 different sessions. By the time the second class had rolled around, the numbers had dropped to more reasonable dimensions - ranging 21 to 27. I decided I'd stick with it through the first two weeks.
The catch to all this is that I'm doing work for three versions of the same class. Combined with my "real" classes, I'm doing the work for a 24 credit schedule! My friends think I'm nuts, but if I get in, it will have been worth it. It's a good thing I enjoy writing!
The one complication in my schedule is Creative Writing. Apparently everyone and their mother wants to be in it. I didn't get in during the initial enrollment period, but the day that Add/Drop began a spot opened up. I immediately sent an email to the department, and after that yielded no results decided I would just show up at class on Monday and claim my spot.
Wrong. Firstoff, the class is actually capped at 18, rather than the published 21. Second, 43 people showed up for those 18 spots. That session's professor said that we should get on as many waiting lists as we could (there are 13 sessions of the class at different times and on different days), so I took up a new hobby: stalking any and every Creative Writing class that I could possibly fit in my schedule.
Amazingly, 9 different sessions fit my schedule, in 6 different time slots. On Monday I attended two sessions, and emailed the professors that I had missed because I hadn't realized just how desperate the situation is. Tuesday only had one class that I could fit in, but go I did.
I was gearing up for 5 sessions on Wednesday, 4 of which were right in a row, when I started to get email responses. Several professors said that there was no hope for me, especially since I'm a freshman. This was probably a good thing, as it saved me from getting an overload - I only had to go to 3 different sessions. By the time the second class had rolled around, the numbers had dropped to more reasonable dimensions - ranging 21 to 27. I decided I'd stick with it through the first two weeks.
The catch to all this is that I'm doing work for three versions of the same class. Combined with my "real" classes, I'm doing the work for a 24 credit schedule! My friends think I'm nuts, but if I get in, it will have been worth it. It's a good thing I enjoy writing!
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Queezle's Back in Blue!
Between the litter, losing coat and my starting college, Queezle didn't get in the breed ring much in 2009. Literally, we got to two days of shows! This was a huge drop compared to the previous two years, where we showed enough for her to be ranked as one of the Top 25 Belgian Tervuren in the US. So you can imagine that I was excited for the three-day Nickel City Cluster in Hamburg, NY.
It felt so good to be back at a show. As Queezle and I walked in the building, I relaxed, and I could see her go, "Oh! A dog show!" and settle into the routine. She is very good about walking through the crowds - either she follows me or goes straight ahead, not bothering any of the other dogs and occasionally sniffing people's pockets to see if they have food. We crated with some other Terv people, caught up on how everyone's dogs were, and settled in for the weekend. On Friday one of the male specials (term for dogs that already have their Championship), Wayne, took the breed. I cheered for him in the Herding Group with all the other Terv people while Queezle snoozed in her crate.
The next morning Tervs were on early. Though I don't like mornings much, I can handle them for dog shows. Queezle just needed a quick fluff and puff after her thorough grooming the day before, and we were ready to roll. In Best of Breed there were three male specials and the Q. After going over all the dogs and having us gait around the ring several times, the judge pulled Queezle and I out to the front! He then called out the Winners Dog (the best male who doesn't have his CH yet), choosing him for Best of Winners. Next he pointed to one of the male specials, intending him to go in the third slot as Best of Opposite. Instead, the handler tried to bring his dog up in front! Queezle and I both puffed up, but luckily the judge corrected him before I had to. In the end Queezle was indeed given Best of Breed, which meant we could go on to the Group!
Queezle and I both love showing in the Group. For the Groups they open up two of the rings, so there is plenty of room. This is great for large dogs and ones with good movement, as you have tons of space to stretch out. And to me at least there is very little pressure - once you've gotten out of the breed, anything beyond that is icing on the cake. You have already gotten a stamp of approval.
So in we went, making sure we were behind the larger and faster dogs such as the German Shepherd and Bearded Collie. As it turned out, our position in the lineup put Queezle and I at the corner, where there is a diagonal strip of matting that meets the two long mats. I like getting the corner as it allows you to set up your dog so that it can be seen well no matter which side of the ring the judge is looking at - and in the Group ring getting noticed is often the hardest part. I also sometimes tell Queezle to stay and then step back so I am hidden by the dog in front of us, which draws attention because it looks like she is in the ring all by herself. After the first look, the judge started going over the dogs and Queezle and I settled down to wait, which consists of doing tricks to entertain both Queezle and the crowd and, whenever we were at a good point in the matting, posing the Q so the judge would see her while watching another dog do its down and back.
When the dog ahead of us went for the down and back, I stacked Queezle for her exam. Our judge, Janet Turnage Nahikian, asked us to do the down and back going the long way of the ring. As Queezle is very clean coming and going, we went all the way down. When we got back to the judge I had Queezle freestack. Her front was off, so I told her, "You can do better than that!" She fixed it and the judge laughed, then sent us around to the end. After that we were on break for a few more dogs.
The final look is when the suspense really builds, with all of the handlers trying watch their dog and the judge at the same time. She went down the line slowly, pulling out some of the dogs. She pointed to Queezle! Glad to have at least made the cut, we joined the other selected dogs at the other side of the ring. Once she finished her cut, the other dogs were excused. She looked the six remaining dogs over, then sent us around again. After looking at the dogs a moment more, she pointed at Queezle and I and said, "One." I beamed and we flew out to the little Number 1 sign, Queezle leaping in the air and our friends outside the ring screaming!
Though Queezle and I have won the Group before, it is still incredibly exciting, and I was on cloud nine. I had been hoping for any placement, and never would have expected getting first! After doing our photo I put Queezle in her crate to rest up while we waited for Best In Show. All of our friends were thrilled, and I called my mom at home to let her know the good news.
Sadly, we did not go Best In Show. The judge ended up going with the very nice Rottie. Queezle didn't mind - in her opinion she is always Best In Show. One of these times we'll get it.
The next day Queezle took the breed again, and while everyone else packed up to go home we lounged about waiting for Group. Just because we did well the day before didn't guarantee anything, so I didn't have my hopes up too high as we entered the big ring once again. After examining all the dogs, the judge pulled out the Australian Shepherd, Queezle, the Old English and the German Shepherd. After looking at the lineup once more, she said, "That's how I want it - one, two, three, four!" The only thing better than getting the Group II was seeing the face of Bryan, a friend of ours who was showing the Aussie. He couldn't believe it! Since it was getting late, Queezle and I ended up heading home after wishing him luck in Best In Show. The results still aren't up, but I don't think he got it because there haven't been any posts to our local Aussie list.
Two Group placements, and one of them a Group I, was a fabulous weekend. In honor of her stardom, I got Queezle a large roast beef sandwich on the way home. She says it's about time she got some appreciation!
It felt so good to be back at a show. As Queezle and I walked in the building, I relaxed, and I could see her go, "Oh! A dog show!" and settle into the routine. She is very good about walking through the crowds - either she follows me or goes straight ahead, not bothering any of the other dogs and occasionally sniffing people's pockets to see if they have food. We crated with some other Terv people, caught up on how everyone's dogs were, and settled in for the weekend. On Friday one of the male specials (term for dogs that already have their Championship), Wayne, took the breed. I cheered for him in the Herding Group with all the other Terv people while Queezle snoozed in her crate.
The next morning Tervs were on early. Though I don't like mornings much, I can handle them for dog shows. Queezle just needed a quick fluff and puff after her thorough grooming the day before, and we were ready to roll. In Best of Breed there were three male specials and the Q. After going over all the dogs and having us gait around the ring several times, the judge pulled Queezle and I out to the front! He then called out the Winners Dog (the best male who doesn't have his CH yet), choosing him for Best of Winners. Next he pointed to one of the male specials, intending him to go in the third slot as Best of Opposite. Instead, the handler tried to bring his dog up in front! Queezle and I both puffed up, but luckily the judge corrected him before I had to. In the end Queezle was indeed given Best of Breed, which meant we could go on to the Group!
Queezle and I both love showing in the Group. For the Groups they open up two of the rings, so there is plenty of room. This is great for large dogs and ones with good movement, as you have tons of space to stretch out. And to me at least there is very little pressure - once you've gotten out of the breed, anything beyond that is icing on the cake. You have already gotten a stamp of approval.
So in we went, making sure we were behind the larger and faster dogs such as the German Shepherd and Bearded Collie. As it turned out, our position in the lineup put Queezle and I at the corner, where there is a diagonal strip of matting that meets the two long mats. I like getting the corner as it allows you to set up your dog so that it can be seen well no matter which side of the ring the judge is looking at - and in the Group ring getting noticed is often the hardest part. I also sometimes tell Queezle to stay and then step back so I am hidden by the dog in front of us, which draws attention because it looks like she is in the ring all by herself. After the first look, the judge started going over the dogs and Queezle and I settled down to wait, which consists of doing tricks to entertain both Queezle and the crowd and, whenever we were at a good point in the matting, posing the Q so the judge would see her while watching another dog do its down and back.
When the dog ahead of us went for the down and back, I stacked Queezle for her exam. Our judge, Janet Turnage Nahikian, asked us to do the down and back going the long way of the ring. As Queezle is very clean coming and going, we went all the way down. When we got back to the judge I had Queezle freestack. Her front was off, so I told her, "You can do better than that!" She fixed it and the judge laughed, then sent us around to the end. After that we were on break for a few more dogs.
The final look is when the suspense really builds, with all of the handlers trying watch their dog and the judge at the same time. She went down the line slowly, pulling out some of the dogs. She pointed to Queezle! Glad to have at least made the cut, we joined the other selected dogs at the other side of the ring. Once she finished her cut, the other dogs were excused. She looked the six remaining dogs over, then sent us around again. After looking at the dogs a moment more, she pointed at Queezle and I and said, "One." I beamed and we flew out to the little Number 1 sign, Queezle leaping in the air and our friends outside the ring screaming!
Though Queezle and I have won the Group before, it is still incredibly exciting, and I was on cloud nine. I had been hoping for any placement, and never would have expected getting first! After doing our photo I put Queezle in her crate to rest up while we waited for Best In Show. All of our friends were thrilled, and I called my mom at home to let her know the good news.
Sadly, we did not go Best In Show. The judge ended up going with the very nice Rottie. Queezle didn't mind - in her opinion she is always Best In Show. One of these times we'll get it.
The next day Queezle took the breed again, and while everyone else packed up to go home we lounged about waiting for Group. Just because we did well the day before didn't guarantee anything, so I didn't have my hopes up too high as we entered the big ring once again. After examining all the dogs, the judge pulled out the Australian Shepherd, Queezle, the Old English and the German Shepherd. After looking at the lineup once more, she said, "That's how I want it - one, two, three, four!" The only thing better than getting the Group II was seeing the face of Bryan, a friend of ours who was showing the Aussie. He couldn't believe it! Since it was getting late, Queezle and I ended up heading home after wishing him luck in Best In Show. The results still aren't up, but I don't think he got it because there haven't been any posts to our local Aussie list.
Two Group placements, and one of them a Group I, was a fabulous weekend. In honor of her stardom, I got Queezle a large roast beef sandwich on the way home. She says it's about time she got some appreciation!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Exercise in Humility
This weekend reminded me why I haven't done any serious obedience with Tia in a few years. She got her Companion Dog (CD) title a few years ago, with terrible scores mainly because she refused to sit on the heeling. Tia's theory is that there's no point in sitting if she's just going to have to get back up again. Otherwise she did a pretty nice job, but those no-sits cost us a lot of points. Each run was also always a trial as she feels she shouldn't have to do anything for free (and unlike Flash or Queezle, she doesn't feel obligated to do something because I asked her to). But we got through it.
After that, we took a break to concentrate on more fun things like agility and herding. I gradually started teaching her the exercises for Open - she thought the dumbbell retrieves were pretty fun and has a fabulous drop on recall. This fall when my mom's dog Hokey got lymphoma, she was looking for dogs to work in obedience. Queezle was pretty much ready for Novice, so she entered her and got her CD. Next project - Tia. So Mom brought her out and had her do all the Open exercises, which she did beautifully! So we signed her up for a class to get more experience and started seriously working on it, mainly with me handling while I'm on break. This past weekend was our local club's (Syracuse Obedience Training Club) obedience trial. Since Tia knew everything and had been doing fabulously in class, we entered her. I figured she may not qualify because she hasn't been doing Open for very long, but was expecting a semi-decent performance.
She was awful. As soon as we entered the ring, my cheerful, perky Aussie deflated into some sort of furry mush. On the heeling she was barely with me, wandering around the ring looking lost. On the figure 8 she goosed both of the people acting as posts, which she thought was hysterically funny (they didn't). The judge's comment was, "It's like she's never seen people before!" Setting up for the drop on recall, she refused to sit, and even braced her hind legs when I tried to push her down. Once I finally got her to sit, she did do the drop correctly. On both of the retrieves she refused to sit, and needed a second command for one of them. When I said, "Over!" for the broadjump she just stared at me blankly.
In Wildcard Open - where you don't earn legs toward a title and can choose one exercise to get full credit for without actually doing it - she was even worse. I opted to use heeling as my Wildcard, but to do it onlead so she would be forced to stay with me. She didn't do anything the first time. For the retrieve on the flat, she just sort of meandered around the ring. For lack of a better idea, I ran up and "stole" the dumbbell, a technique often used to make dogs be quicker about getting their dumbbell. She didn't care and just sort of looked at me like she was saying, "Why would you want that?" When I finally got her to move on the broadjump, she zombie-walked over and through the boards. When the judge pinned the class and came over to give us our score, he said, "Ah..." and sort of trailed off. I smiled and said, "Yes, we were the disaster." He laughed and just left it at that.
Her only redeeming quality for either run was her stays, which she did perfectly, even casting disdainful looks at any dogs that got up or moved. Despite this minor victory, we did not show again Sunday.
By classtime on Thursday I'm sure I will have the attentive, eager-to-work Tia back. However, it will be a long time before I'm fooled by her cute face again and take her out in public. While Flash and Queezle can be taught something and be able to fairly quickly do it in a competition setting, Tia is clearly the type of dog that has to go through much more training and proofing and drawing-the-line-in-the-sand before she'll quit the mind games and work. My dignity in shambles, my wicked grinning dog at my feet, I am going to do what any self-respecting obedience handler would do in my situation -
Go to a conformation show. With Queezle.
After that, we took a break to concentrate on more fun things like agility and herding. I gradually started teaching her the exercises for Open - she thought the dumbbell retrieves were pretty fun and has a fabulous drop on recall. This fall when my mom's dog Hokey got lymphoma, she was looking for dogs to work in obedience. Queezle was pretty much ready for Novice, so she entered her and got her CD. Next project - Tia. So Mom brought her out and had her do all the Open exercises, which she did beautifully! So we signed her up for a class to get more experience and started seriously working on it, mainly with me handling while I'm on break. This past weekend was our local club's (Syracuse Obedience Training Club) obedience trial. Since Tia knew everything and had been doing fabulously in class, we entered her. I figured she may not qualify because she hasn't been doing Open for very long, but was expecting a semi-decent performance.
She was awful. As soon as we entered the ring, my cheerful, perky Aussie deflated into some sort of furry mush. On the heeling she was barely with me, wandering around the ring looking lost. On the figure 8 she goosed both of the people acting as posts, which she thought was hysterically funny (they didn't). The judge's comment was, "It's like she's never seen people before!" Setting up for the drop on recall, she refused to sit, and even braced her hind legs when I tried to push her down. Once I finally got her to sit, she did do the drop correctly. On both of the retrieves she refused to sit, and needed a second command for one of them. When I said, "Over!" for the broadjump she just stared at me blankly.
In Wildcard Open - where you don't earn legs toward a title and can choose one exercise to get full credit for without actually doing it - she was even worse. I opted to use heeling as my Wildcard, but to do it onlead so she would be forced to stay with me. She didn't do anything the first time. For the retrieve on the flat, she just sort of meandered around the ring. For lack of a better idea, I ran up and "stole" the dumbbell, a technique often used to make dogs be quicker about getting their dumbbell. She didn't care and just sort of looked at me like she was saying, "Why would you want that?" When I finally got her to move on the broadjump, she zombie-walked over and through the boards. When the judge pinned the class and came over to give us our score, he said, "Ah..." and sort of trailed off. I smiled and said, "Yes, we were the disaster." He laughed and just left it at that.
Her only redeeming quality for either run was her stays, which she did perfectly, even casting disdainful looks at any dogs that got up or moved. Despite this minor victory, we did not show again Sunday.
By classtime on Thursday I'm sure I will have the attentive, eager-to-work Tia back. However, it will be a long time before I'm fooled by her cute face again and take her out in public. While Flash and Queezle can be taught something and be able to fairly quickly do it in a competition setting, Tia is clearly the type of dog that has to go through much more training and proofing and drawing-the-line-in-the-sand before she'll quit the mind games and work. My dignity in shambles, my wicked grinning dog at my feet, I am going to do what any self-respecting obedience handler would do in my situation -
Go to a conformation show. With Queezle.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Educating Queezle
In light of obedience class with Tia, I was inspired to get back to teaching Queezle to hold and then eventually retrieve a dumbbell (plus, after she finished her Companion Dog title in three straight shows in November, we need to start seriously preparing for Open!). As the dumbbell that will be hers was MIA, I just pulled out a metal article - they are the same basic shape and size, and dogs tend to like the metal less than the plastic, so it's good practice. Plus this way I can say that I'm training her for Utility, the highest level of obedience, as well!
I had started her out with the article a couple years ago, so tonight's brief work session was mostly review. For teaching the dogs to pick up a dumbbell or article, I use a clicker. The clicker is used to mark when the dog is doing something right, and each click is followed by a treat. The article starts out on the ground, and at first I click if she touches it at all with her nose or paw. After a couple repetitions, I get pickier, and only click if she touches it with her nose. From there she has to touch the centerpiece of the dumbbell, and then eventually pick it up. The amount of time spent on each step varies dog to dog - Flash likes to pick up and throw things, so with her I got that far really fast. With Tia it took a little longer. The idea with clicker training is for the dog to figure out what you want, and then perform the action to "make" you click and treat.
Queezle already knows that I want her touching the middle of the article with her nose, and now we're working on actually picking it up. She is being very sneaky about it - she has figured out that touching the article with her teeth (and the resulting noise) gets her a treat, so she will just click her teeth on the metal bar and wait there until I click and give her a treat. I'm starting to be stingier with my clicks, and often only clicking if she moves the article with mouthing it. If we work on it a little bit every day, she'll get it very quickly - she loves the game, and gets very excited whenever she sees me pull the clicker out.
As for the other Open exercises, Queezle already has a good foundation. She knows heeling, though that can always use more polish (especially because both the dogs and I are bad and tend to work more on the exercises that we find more fun - like the retrieves!). She already knows the drop on recall, and stays are coming, though we have to work on out of sight stays (where the dog is supposed to hold position even while the handler goes out of the room). Once she has mastered take and hold with the dumbbell, retrieves will be very easy to teach as she loves to play fetch. The broadjump will take a little work though she has seen it in an agility setting. For now Tia is my main focus for obedience, but the Q is off to a good start!
After we put away the clicker and article (much to Queezle's dismay), I came into the living room, which is where my laptop is set up. A little while later I heard my mom in the kitchen say, "Take this to Kate." A minute later Queezle came trotting in and brought me a rubber peppermint dog toy. She was very pleased with herself, and I told her how smart she is and thanked her for the gift. Of course, she then expected me to give it back - I guess we still have some work to do on the theories of sharing and giving.
I had started her out with the article a couple years ago, so tonight's brief work session was mostly review. For teaching the dogs to pick up a dumbbell or article, I use a clicker. The clicker is used to mark when the dog is doing something right, and each click is followed by a treat. The article starts out on the ground, and at first I click if she touches it at all with her nose or paw. After a couple repetitions, I get pickier, and only click if she touches it with her nose. From there she has to touch the centerpiece of the dumbbell, and then eventually pick it up. The amount of time spent on each step varies dog to dog - Flash likes to pick up and throw things, so with her I got that far really fast. With Tia it took a little longer. The idea with clicker training is for the dog to figure out what you want, and then perform the action to "make" you click and treat.
Queezle already knows that I want her touching the middle of the article with her nose, and now we're working on actually picking it up. She is being very sneaky about it - she has figured out that touching the article with her teeth (and the resulting noise) gets her a treat, so she will just click her teeth on the metal bar and wait there until I click and give her a treat. I'm starting to be stingier with my clicks, and often only clicking if she moves the article with mouthing it. If we work on it a little bit every day, she'll get it very quickly - she loves the game, and gets very excited whenever she sees me pull the clicker out.
As for the other Open exercises, Queezle already has a good foundation. She knows heeling, though that can always use more polish (especially because both the dogs and I are bad and tend to work more on the exercises that we find more fun - like the retrieves!). She already knows the drop on recall, and stays are coming, though we have to work on out of sight stays (where the dog is supposed to hold position even while the handler goes out of the room). Once she has mastered take and hold with the dumbbell, retrieves will be very easy to teach as she loves to play fetch. The broadjump will take a little work though she has seen it in an agility setting. For now Tia is my main focus for obedience, but the Q is off to a good start!
After we put away the clicker and article (much to Queezle's dismay), I came into the living room, which is where my laptop is set up. A little while later I heard my mom in the kitchen say, "Take this to Kate." A minute later Queezle came trotting in and brought me a rubber peppermint dog toy. She was very pleased with herself, and I told her how smart she is and thanked her for the gift. Of course, she then expected me to give it back - I guess we still have some work to do on the theories of sharing and giving.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Lots of Indoor Fun
Today we went to Diane's for another agility session. She had us doing lots of contacts and weaves, which was excellent practice for my girls. I worked Queezle again and brought Flash to do mostly contacts at the end. As Hokey had chemo this week, my mom worked Tia. All three dogs were thrilled to be there and had a blast. Queezle and I had some lovely runs and - knock on wood - Flash hit all of her contacts. We have until mid February until our next trial, but the more times she does them right the more likely she will be to succeed at the trial. It never ceases to amaze me how much energy she still has at 12 - even now it takes about a full course for her to settle down and focus.
Once we got home, Tia started throwing toys around the house and in general playing around. Eventually she ended up on the footstool. One of her favorite things to do when getting off a couch or bed is to put her front feet down and then slowly drag her hind legs off - it's quite a production and she always looks very proud of herself once she is finally off (she is capable of jumping off like a normal dog). So today she was trying to do that on the footstool - the problem is that the footstool isn't even a foot high. So, as you can see from the picture, she kind of got stuck. She would probably be horrified if she knew this was going on the internet.
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