Pirouette's Pool Party Wrap-Up

Pirouette's Pool Party Wrap-Up

I had no idea what to expect yesterday when I took I took Miss P to a Corgi Pool and Pizza Party, hosted by Judy Neuhaus of Zephyr Corgis, and breeder of my first Corgi, Star. This is an annual event for the puppies she has bred, and their owners. It was held at the beautiful home of the Hicks in Cotati.

Pirouette likes other dogs, to the point that I have to stop her from going up to say "Hi" to dogs she doesn't know. But to be presented with 10-15 Corgis running around off leash was too much for her! It was a nice group of dogs with no fighting...just a few tiffs which owners were quickly on top of. Maybe if she had met some of them one at a time...but not as a group! And so she spent most of her time sitting on this lawn chair where I had put my things. She did investigate one other chair one time. And my little girl who has a one-jump lead out in agility, was content to occupy her chair, while I left her, walked around the pool and up onto the deck, to get food. So if I move a lawn chair into the agility ring I can get really good lead-outs!

I wanted to see if she might like to swim...so I got into the pool and put her on the first step...which is as far as she would go...and couldn't wait to get out! Later I tried getting in and putting her next to me on  pizza-slice floaty. Before I could move she leaped for the deck, kicked the floaty out, and ended up in the water! The girl at the other end of the floaty grabbed her collar and pulled up, as I got there. For awhile Pirouette did not want to come near me, being convinced that I had thrown her into the pool!

So, I have flunked that part of puppy parenthood. It is probably a good thing I did not have any human kids. Mine probably would have been the one in my lap, sucking his or her thumb, and watching all the other kids play!

Training Without Treats - Can't go "Cold Turkey"

My favorite way to start my day is doing something with my dogs. Yesterday I set up a Rally course at a nearby library parking lot,  to take turns working each of my 3 dogs, Daisy Mae (GSD), Pirouette (PWC) and Gunny (GSD). Unfortunately I forgot to check my treat supply before I left home...and found out I had one chicken jerky stick total for the three dogs.

Okay...so I would work with lots of praise...and very few treats. This, I found out, was a recipe for disaster! I started with Daisy Mae, my little female GSD who has her Novice title and is almost ready to show in Advanced. She quickly let me  know that without treats...it wasn't happening! Wow...how had she gotten so spoiled?? But then I asked myself...how much time have we spent doing Rally...as opposed to agility?

Next came tiny Pirouette, my Corgi puppy (19 months old). She was raised with a work ethic, and started training the day I got her...at 10 weeks of age.
She did the best of the 3! She worked well for few treats and lots of praise.

Next came Gunny, the newest of the 3, at 3 years of age. He had the best excuse...he was new. He is the biggest and has the attention span of a gnat! He could not do a thing without a treat stuffed in his face.

So..back to the drawing board. We will be doing a lot more Rally and obedience! And using less treats!

Pirouette-What we have to work on!

Pirouette is: Very fast, very obstacle focused, and very sensitive

These are the things I keep in mind when training her. I have found, in my last 2 trials, that she turns wide and does not refocus on the obstacle in front of her. I have to really work to bring her back in. Twice, in trials, she has missed the a-frame. At first I thought it was a-frame avoidance, is actually a lack of focus when she is running full speed and turning. That was evident in her UKI run; she was not pointed directly at the a-frame and missed it. The same thing happened at the NADAC Trial last weekend. We will try working on an RFP to see if that will bring her in.

Pirouette's UKI Run - "Nursery Agility"

Pirouette's Day at the UKI Agility Trial

Yesterday we attended a local UKI  Agility Trial-my first time showing in UKI. It was a beautiful venue, at a horse farm on the outskirts of Sebastopol. My goal was to run her on different equipment, a different facility, and different footing, to help build her confidence. She comes across as being very confident and assertive...but she is also very sensitive.

I realized after setting everything up, and bringing her in, that this was the first time Pirouette had gone to a trial without either of her fur-sibs, Daisy Mae and Gunny. She was definitely worried for awhile, but finally settled in. It helped that two of my friends were next to us, and took time to pet her!

Her first class was Speedstakes, which is only jumps and tunnels. She took off over the first jump with with great enthusiasm...then had to sniff the river sand we were running on. Parts of her course were beautiful...and parts she missed. But the f\last 6 obstacles were spot on...and she was happy!

The second run was Nursery Agility, which is like standard without weaves or teeter. She was unsure of the A-frame and it took us several tries, but the rest of the course was great! she missed a couple of jumps near the end, but we just kept running!

If you want to learn more about UKI Agility, here is a link to the website:

Working On Connection - Relationship Building

Having a 1 1/2 hour commute (each way) gives me a lot of time to think...and a lot of that thinking is about dog training...my 3 dogs-Daisy Mae, Pirouette and Gunther- as well as student dogs. I think about the things I have worked on and what is and is not working.

Last night I trained my "baby dogs", Pirouette and Gunny. Tonight we went out again to train agility. Last night I did my usual warm-up with Gunny, the did jump-dogwalk-tunnel. He had no contact on the dog walk, and took off for the tunnel...only to go around behind it. I yelled "Gunny, COME", got him back and started again. That was not a good start. I was not happy with myself, and tried to figure out why I had no attention. I came to the realization that although we had warmed up, he was not engaged with me. How could I change that?

The first thing I did was load up on food and his favorite toy...the WUBBA! The second thing was to ditch the prong collar and put his leash on the buckle collar. Once we got onto the training field, I took the leash off completely. One big problem with Gunny is he wants to sniff...and then pee. Every time he sniffed, I yelled let's go and took off away from him at a run. I gave him a treat for coming back to me. After a couple of times he came immediately...and we played with Wubba. We did jumps in a half circle, then threw the toy...then went the other way. At first gunny only wanted to look at the toy...not the jumps. He had to start from a sit, with the toy away from him, and understand that the toy would "appear" after he did his job. We worked 3 sessions and he was awesome!

Sharing the hour with him was my Corgi baby Pirouette. She is very sensitive. If she thinks she made a mistake she tends to wander away and sniff. We did a lot of tugging with her tennis ball and throwing it for play. she worked stress-free and was fast and happy. Tomorrow she is doing 2 classes at a UKI Trial. I am hoping this session helped her stay engaged!

Last weekend we participated in a local agility trial, where I showed Daisy Mae. She is working on points and double Q's for her PACH 2. Gunny and Pirouette always go with me, as trials are excellent places for training of many kinds. Right now I am working on getting Gunny more comfortable being around a lot of dogs that he doesn't know. He does not have to make friends, just not be reactive under normal circumstances.

When I first got Gunny and he started going to trials, he was very worried about all of the dogs. I suspect that he never went out of his back yard in his previous home, so he was never exposed to dogs. We started with lots of yummy treats, and getting him to focus on me. At first we had to stay way back from other dogs...it was easy to see where his comfort level stopped and started. We worked on "look at that", then turn and refocus on me. We worked on back up and come. He has come so far in a short time.

But last weekend we had a set-back and I realized how hard this whole thing is to explain to my boy. We were about 10 feet away from a crate, when the dog inside went off on him, growling, barking
and going at the front of the crate. It didn't help that it was a soft crate...so Gunny wasn't the only one who was worried. It didn't help that the owner said, "She is just worried." I said, "But we are 10 feet away." She said, "yes, but she is worried." That is not what I would call it! She finally threw a cover over the front of the crate and we were able to go by, maintaining our distance. From that time on, Gunny was on alert, and I couldn't blame him!

I am asking Gunny to trust me to keep him safe, in a place where it feels dangerous. How can I tell him how to sort out all the barks...he assumes they are all aimed at him. How do I tell him the dog can't get out of the crate when I am not sure? How do I explain that the dog we are passing is barking because the owner is in the ring, running their other dog? Or that the other dog is barking at another dog and it is unrelated to him? Why do some dogs seem oblivious to all the sounds, or most of them?
I think it will take me a long time to help him sort it out. I really understand his feelings!

However, he did pass his barnhunt instinct test. This did require me to take his leash and collar off to work him in a semi-fenced area, with 3 other people in the ring. It meant he had to take some direction from me, without any treats involved. I was thrilled that he did his work and came back to me for leash and collar. So,he really is making amazing progress!

Beginning My Journey With Gunther (aka Gunny)

Gunny is my new boy and has been with me 6 months as of Jan 20, 2016. He came from  shelter in Marysville  CA. He is approximately 2 years old, and was found running loose in a field. Sadly, he was at the shelter for 2 weeks and no one came to find him. But that was lucky for me, as I was able to adopt him. After spending a day at the shelter's vet being neutered, ears cleaned and a major check-up, he came home with me.

He was very groggy on the drive home, so that went without any problems. He did not seem to mind the car ride or being in a crate. When we arrived home, I left him in the car for a short time so I could go in and say Hi to his two new sisters, Daisy Mae, a 7 year old female rescue German Shepherd, and Pirouette, a six month old female Pembroke Welsh Corgi. I said Hi and put them in safe places while I brought the new boy in, through the house and out to the back yard. Since I already knew that Gunny was a "runner" and had already cleared a six foot fence before he was in the shelter, I was fearful of letting him off-leash. So, I put him in the run I had prepared (6' X 12 "), so he could walk around and relieve himself. I went into the house for a moment, and came back out to Gunny loose in the garage. It took him less than 5 minutes to break out, and this was the most secure of my runs. He pushed right through the bottom of the gate! Luckily I had no problem catching him...he was just interested in checking out his new environment.

Since I did not know how he would be with the other 2 dogs, I took him in and put him in the crate in my office. He proceeded to destroy that crate, an older very strong wire crate. He also managed to pull in the plastic  I had put under the crate and rip it up into little pieces. Within 48 hours I started to get a very clear picture of why this dog was in the shelter...and the previous owners had not come for him. This dog was strong and seemed determined not to be contained. Had i bitten off more than I could handle?