Monday, August 29, 2016

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!

Thursday, August 25, 2016

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!