tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64463085919306307722024-03-19T10:04:01.999-07:00Good IntentionsJaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-75517978280775918092024-03-06T12:26:00.000-08:002024-03-06T14:19:07.703-08:00Process or End Product, is it a question of attitude?<h1 style="text-align: left;"><br /></h1><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> </span>As a dog trainer, I am often struck by how much easier it is to teach dogs than it is to teach people. People are so very hard to train. I have spent a lot of time thinking about how best to teach humans. I really think a lot about the different ways people learn to get across my message. How many different inputs can I give them? How can I quickly assess the style that works best for the student. How can I have a broad stroke approach for a group of people? How do I deal with a student who actively resists what I am teaching? How do I tailor my message to sway the resistant? Maybe I think too much about this...I should just use puppy dog eyes to sway the humans...</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm25swP20lXaYEE3dIg8-uLH0L3-4IoFZRYXKArzcsEs8eomHKcEYwrIb6MOsXBYuXvnENDpQzERWNwTAR5Q7C7onn-9HRgKRHleUXg_GiSH19S2OyF6mBy82-MP440D6FfzfXD5JRwJyNOJMdZgDuxuyhZ4iz2Al3u7vlagb7mvUj3VmULnDAWlD5UYJS/s2589/April-04508%20(1).jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1726" data-original-width="2589" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm25swP20lXaYEE3dIg8-uLH0L3-4IoFZRYXKArzcsEs8eomHKcEYwrIb6MOsXBYuXvnENDpQzERWNwTAR5Q7C7onn-9HRgKRHleUXg_GiSH19S2OyF6mBy82-MP440D6FfzfXD5JRwJyNOJMdZgDuxuyhZ4iz2Al3u7vlagb7mvUj3VmULnDAWlD5UYJS/s320/April-04508%20(1).jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sway, begging you to listen & giving "the look".</td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;">One of the great things about gaining a little knowledge about dog training is that you think you know a lot. And in some ways, that's very true, if you know a little more than someone else, you are more knowledgeable. A friend and I were chatting recently about how much we THOUGHT we knew during our twenties and thirties and how much we now know WE DON'T KNOW at the ripe old age of let's just say, over 45ish. I did know some stuff when I started volunteering to teach classes, but the education I got from teaching what little I did know...priceless. All the books, classes, seminars, and personal experience you have only kinda help when you have to stand in front of a human and actually teach.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> </span>I quickly learned to read the humans, the puzzled faces, the people attempting to go thru the motions when they only kinda understand, the questions, those who confront you, or those who build walls rather than try. I naively didn't realize that people could be highly invested in their dog being a BAD dog. Or a STUPID dog. Or a STUBBORN dog. It never occured to me that people would want to blame the dog because they didn't want to feel inadequate as a human. I get that human trait now, but I also don't get that concept personally. Certainly some issues can seem too daunting to overcome. Label it impossible and it 100% is. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><span> So back to this Process vs. End Product shit Jayne. Seriously, I ramble, it's a problem. </span></span><span style="font-family: arial;">I was at my gym, fighting the good fight to remain upright. My trainer and assorted buddies were talking about University of Iowa Women's basketball phenom Caitlin Clark and I had to tell them about my half time demo experience. We did a flyball demo at the half time of a Iowa Hawkeye Men's and Women's basketball game. I had a liasion who told us when to go in and out as the set up, demo and tear down has to happen in about 8 minutes. The men's game was pretty chill, half filled arena. Once the half time buzzer rang, the guys walked off the court. When it was all over they meandered back. The very next night, the women's game was popping! My liason was like okay, just so you know the women are going to move much quicker on and off the court. When half time is over they'll be running back onto the court. It was indeed a different game. A full arena of screaming fans. Caitlin & crew were killing it. When the buzzer rang, the women moved quickly off the court. We did our thing and then they came running back onto the court. I was struck by the difference in attitude. The women's team was killing it, they played so intensely, and then they hustled on and off. The men played basketball and they walked on and off. No hurry. No urgency. Mentally I thought, wow, that difference right there is mind blowing. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">My trainer, super cool dude Brendon, was like yup, that says everything. The sport fans in our small group launched into a discussion about the sporty differences between the Men's and Women's coaching styles etc and Brendon noted that some of it is just men vs women and their overall trainability. He's spent a lot of time as a strength trainer for high school athletes and he said the girls will ask if they are doing the parts of an exercise correctly, and the boys will be focusing on the end product of how much they can lift. He noted that the few boys who focused on the process had far better gains than the other boys. The girls had better gains as a whole. Now I've definitely noticed gender differences in dog training classes. Not all guys, but many are impatient, they don't want to do the small things, they'll try to do the BIG LIFT with their dog before they are ready. Sigh. I mostly assumed they didn't respect me as a woman trainer, telling them what to do. Now I'm thinking maybe it's more complicated.</span></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBtPSimwXwTRtHmuw8e499E4DKRNraKYfVS3lRbYo8xLkLCmMqJL-oip6qdVZmGzEb3v_lRSMb8ACMv0f08sbjrfci5iG7P2e2o98uU5aGkmfA0b5w-ch8tPW7oRMJFLYsZQBqQrDT6Q0QS-wy5JDcrp_BXer2QjWCYquSv2ohUvk5ud6jDXlrcNqDF3n/s1364/Pixar%20Face.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1364" data-original-width="1364" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvBtPSimwXwTRtHmuw8e499E4DKRNraKYfVS3lRbYo8xLkLCmMqJL-oip6qdVZmGzEb3v_lRSMb8ACMv0f08sbjrfci5iG7P2e2o98uU5aGkmfA0b5w-ch8tPW7oRMJFLYsZQBqQrDT6Q0QS-wy5JDcrp_BXer2QjWCYquSv2ohUvk5ud6jDXlrcNqDF3n/s320/Pixar%20Face.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do you even lift Brah? - Pixar</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">Why is this relevant to anything? Well, while doing single leg glut bridges, I had the epiphany that I am 100% about the process of training. About mastering all the steps right along the way. While we all value the end product of whatever training behavior, the process is vitally important to me. I thought I was just very detail oriented and persnickety. My lesson plans focus on trying to getting people to work the process with their dog. I have tried to condense things down for non training nerd consumption. It's a struggle because I have so very many more details I could put into each lesson. It can feel like a battle to get people to understand and value the opportunity to work on the process pieces. I suppose in some ways, it's an overall attitude. Are you slowly walking toward the end product or are you purposefully putting effort into every step in the process to get the end product? Do you push for the end product, that BIG LIFT vs making sure the process was clean and productive? Do you have confidence that you can do more than just that 1 BIG LIFT? </span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">In dog training what is the BIG LIFT? What about all those other muscles and moves. Flexibility, functional movements, versatility, and endurance. What else can you do? Are you confident that your dog can do more than just the BIG LIFT? What about with additional challenges, with extra competiton, travel, noise, adversity, stressed out tired humans? I know that I want to give my dog's everything in training. To practice every possible scenario our dogs might face. I want to personally give it my all when competing and look at challenges as a positive thing. Something I want to tackle. I am not walking slowly off court and slowly back on court.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><b>Here's some video of Caitlin discussing her process to get that end product: </b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhP1_mpcLxk"></a></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhP1_mpcLxk"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XhP1_mpcLxk" width="320" youtube-src-id="XhP1_mpcLxk"></iframe></a></span></div><span style="font-family: arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhP1_mpcLxk"><br /></a></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: arial;">As Caitlin said...she practices making those long shots, she had to get strong enough to make those shots, she has been investing in the process to get to this end product. And in spite of being a phenomenal athlete, with plenty of ego and accolades, she could have walked slowly off court to the roar of 15,000 Hawkeye fans. That same person who out scored everyone the night of that half time demo, was hustling off court and back on because the process is as important as the end product, and your attitude towards both is everything. </span></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-73660160394988521262022-11-30T14:20:00.001-08:002022-11-30T20:32:54.261-08:00HARD KNOCKS<h2 style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Resilience, Acceptance and Moving On...</span></h2><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span>Talk about a crushing blow. Or maybe a ripping blow. Either way, things were blown. September 30th was a beautiful fall day. It was a Friday, I had off work, I ran errands and came home to enjoy the day. I swam the dogs and decided it was definitely the last time for the year. The water was chilly even if the air temps were great. Then I headed out to walk the gang around the yard. They were overjoyed, I was enjoying the great weather and their antics. The dogs ran off toward our hiking path. Nothing out of the ordinary, until it wasn't. I watched as Valley switched direction to cut from the right side of a tree to the left side. In the blink of an eye, it was over. She clipped her right shoulder on the tree. I saw it. I heard it. Instantly she was screaming in pain & crumpled to the ground. I knew it was very, very bad. She could not stand or use her right front leg at all, she was struggling and in pain. I picked her up and rushed back to the house. I was yelling for Steve to come help, while trying to call the clinic and text my friend who works there at the same time. I rushed her to the emergency clinic, where we got the good news, nothing broken, no pneumothorax, nothing except she was in shock, probably had a concussion and a brachial plexus injury. There was no sensation in her leg. I had been thinking about the next week and what my lovely puppy would get to do at CanAm. The next moment I was just hoping she didn't have permanent brain damage and devastated to see her in pain.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"> I was able to bring Valley home that night. It was very hard to see our sweet girl struggling to move, but with meds her pain was under control. The prevailing advice was wait two weeks to let the swelling go down to see how extensive the damage was to her nerves. To complicate things, we had to leave on Tuesday to set up at CanAm. The logistics of having a puppy who was struggling to walk, while camping and surrounded by concrete was emotionally overwhelming. I am incredibly fortunate, that my wonderful vet offered to watch Valley. So Valley spent a week, chilling and worming her way into their household. She made a mysterious man, we'll only call Jimmy her new daddy. It was an incredible weight lifted. She could easily get out to potty. No carrying her in and out of the camper. Not carrying her thru a huge building to potty. Moreover, not having the mental burden of explaining to people over and over what happened, not having to rehash the horror of seeing her hit that tree. I was still processing what happened. Over and over I would hear Valley's screams in my head. It was a lot to deal with. I felt like a zombie for a lot of the week. I could not give flyball 100%. I knew that, but I tried very hard. I felt guilty for knowing my head wasn't in the game. I felt guilty for feeling guilty because I know I'm hard on myself. Valley, meanwhile, was learning how to get around on 3 legs just fine.</span></div><div><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Valley - the 1st few weeks</i></span><a class="style-scope ytcp-video-info" href="https://youtu.be/FDa0O4qgvDM" style="background-color: #f9f9f9; font-size: 15px; text-decoration-line: none; white-space: nowrap;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FDa0O4qgvDM" width="320" youtube-src-id="FDa0O4qgvDM"></iframe></div></span></a></div><br /><div><span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span> When we got back, Valley was still within that 2 week recovery period but it wasn't looking good. We hoped we were seeing some improvement but it wasn't much. We tried some therapies but the recommendation was to see a Neurologist. Ha. Anyone tired to get into any veterinary specialist lately? Strings were pulled, connections reached out to...and on October 17th we squeaked into a Neuro appt. I hoped they had some magic wand to wave, but we already knew there was a strong possibility that amputation would be the end point. Her leg was still dangly, it was in her way, but we kept hearing wait 6 months, wait 6 months. For what? Would she have any return of function? What kind of function? The neurologist had bad news and again mentioned waiting 6 months, but that it was unlikely that she would regain function. Valley did a really good job when she hit that tree. No one wants to tell you there is no hope. I wanted to know that there was no hope. I pressed him hard for answers. When dogs do recover from this type of injury, did they look like Valley did now? The answer was no. I was fine with amputation, I knew the deal, dogs end up injuring the leg they can't feel. You have to protect it. You have to keep them from eating their own leg too. I mean...it's a real thing that happens with this type of injury. We already saw that the leg was in her way as she adapted. Many tears were shed as I accepted his answer that she would not regain any function. It was better knowing that than being in limbo for 6 more months. Then still amputate. Better to do it now while she's younger and get on with life. It was time to accept a far different path for Valley, but in many ways an easier one. The next day, Valley's amputation was scheduled for 10/27. </span></span>Not what anyone wants to happen to their 5 month old puppy, but it is what it is. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> Off to U-Fli Champs, my head was like 80% in the game. That was better than 2 weeks prior. Valley got to go back to Daddy Jimmy & the land of cuddles. She certainly made some fans at my vet's house! Amputation scheduled, things no longer up in the air. I began to hope again. Hope that Valley could have a pretty normal life. Valley has never thought she couldn't have a fun life. Me, well Valley is my long planned for puppy, the culmination of a lot of dreams. She had so much potential for sports, and now, we shift our expectations. It's a loss, but lost potential isn't really quantifiable (except in physics...very quantifiable). Most importantly, we didn't lose her. Valley is still the same silly, happy girl. I struggled so much with what happened to her. How could I have prevented it? Why didn't I go a different direction on the walk. Maybe I should chop down all my trees? Never let the dogs run free? Accidents happen. Shit happens. Doesn't make it easier to know that. It doesn't make it easier to see your sweet puppy struggling. So we dropped off Valley and we picked her up Valley, minus the dangly leg, plus a lot of staples. She had to stay quiet initially, but you could instantly see that she was moving better without that leg. </span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Valley 3.0</i></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><i>Just after amputation & restarting training</i><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ep_HCLMu85U" width="320" youtube-src-id="ep_HCLMu85U"></iframe></div><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> Life moves on, we have let her figure out how to run again, to play again, to tug again, to live her zestiest life. Now when you see her run, you do a double take. Nope, still 3 paws, but she's making the most of those 3. I worry about teaching her to play flyball safely. I know I can, it's just an extra worry. I worry about her long term stress on that remaining leg. We got some great advice on how to help her avoid overuse of the remaining front leg. How to prepare her for possibly needing a cart some day, hopefully long in the future. Valley healed well, she's adjusted very well. Sometimes she trips or falls but she gets up and gets back in action. It'll likely take me longer to let go of the what ifs, if only, doubts and worries. It certainly has been a wild few months, and I need to remind myself that I can be as resilient and accepting as Valley is. Recently a teammate said, this would be so sad, except that Valley is so happy. And she is, Valley loves life, she doesn't care. That's really all I want for her. That's really what I want for all my dogs. </span><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><br /></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span> As a sports competitor, it's easy to get wrapped up in what dogs can do. Flyball...is all about speed. Valley was impressing me even as a young puppy. However when this happened, my dreams for her crumbled. I felt crushed. Then I slowly rebuilt those dreams. She is happy. She is super fun to train. She is exactly the same as she has always been. For that, I am so grateful. She is still my dream puppy, we just have some new challenges in how we move forward. Valley doesn't crumble under a challenge, and I won't either. </span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span><span><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: verdana;"><span> </span><br /></span></div><div><span><br /></span></div>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-43099649490979789682021-04-20T16:17:00.003-07:002021-04-20T16:17:50.096-07:00Talking Dogs, Space Oddities, Communication Breakdown<p> What the hell kind of title is that? Well, it's not what you think. </p><p>I have a whole Bachelor's degree in Speech & Hearing Sciences that I'm really not using. Except it has taken on a fascinating new twist as I work to have a better relationship with my dogs. I want to know more about what the dog can tell me. Not with a fancy word button board, because while an interesting concept, I'm not lugging one with me to competitions. I also don't know how you'd put emotions on the board. I have been paying a lot of attention to Pixar's communication with me. Partially because I didn't think about it a whole lot with Wire, but also because Pixar has had far less exposure to dog sport settings. (Cue the violin as we sing about poor pandemic puppies). In reality, I should be this attentive with all our dogs. </p><p>Since my hamster sized dog Betty, I have not had a truly fearful dog. I had some dogs go through fear periods, but nothing like Betty's global fear. Where I had to continually monitor the situation as well as constantly looking to see what Betty noticed in the environment. Now, some of it was nutty. Like a folding chair. A cat picture on a wall of a training facility. A tree stump in the yard. You just never knew what might scare her, and while it was totally illogical to me, it was terrifying to her. I had to respect that her fears were just that...hers. You might have some irrational fears yourself. Spiders? Snakes? Flying? Heights? Fear of missing out? Whatever your fears are, they are yours. Someone out there keeps tarantulas & snakes as pets. People love flying & even jump out of perfectly good planes too. And there are levels to your fears right? A little spider, no big deal. A dark room full of spiders...that's a BIG DEAL. </p><p>We were off to a new Toss & Fetch disc venue for Pixar. Now Pixar is usually uber friendly with other dogs. Too uber. We've worked on not visiting and I've paid heavily for attention to me with treats & toy play. And he LOVES disc. But this time, we were going to the training yard of a dog park. All the park areas converge at one entrance point. There are lots of well meaning park goers who will let their dog get in your dog's face. I had some challenges getting there, and I arrived RIGHT at our start time. There was an incident with a metal tool spiked into my van tire. Ugh! That's the dog mobile! It has crates & all my stuff in it. Plan B, take my husband's truck! It's got a extra cab, but now I have 3 dogs loose in the truck vs kenneled. Ugh Ugh. I threw 3 dogs, gear bag, extra gloves into the truck and almost forgot treats. Dang it. No treat bag. Then couldn't find a treat bag, so I grabbed my daughters treat bag. It's got a belt that was sized for a 9 year old's waist. Better than nothing. We roll up to the parking lot & Pixar is super amped seeing all the dogs. And he's loose, in the truck. Wire & Sway were like WTF dude! I wanted to get my gear in the training yard, I knew Pixar was at the beginning of the run order. I wisely got out of the truck alone first and grabbed my stuff. I flailed around frantically changing the belt size, wrong way, shit, make it bigger. I talked to my friend Peggy about the minor vehicle catastrophe & that helped me calm a bit. Then I took a breath and just told myself to RELAX, and then magically I stopped fumbling. I got the treat bag belt sized properly, put it on, grabbed my gear bag & then got Pixar out of the truck. </p><p>Pixar was still very amped. He wouldn't take treats, he would sniff them or grab one and spit it out. I still marked if he checked in with me, even though he wasn't taking the treats. He was dragging me as we walked vs our nice loose leash walking. I let that happen because I knew I wasn't going to have the mindset to work on that without frustration on both our parts. Sometimes perfect isn't going to happen...Let it go! We negotiate the oncoming dogs with a short leash & made it into the training field area. Then I got out a disc to use to reward him. We found out we had to wait a while so we played some fun cued disc grabs and then he calmed down & could take treats again. I was really proud of him for connecting with me and not focusing on the dogs playing disc in our immediate area. He also was not paying attention to the general dog park melee on the other side of the chain link fence. He was excited but functional and I knew we were connected. We did our practice throw and I made sure to call him & play tug when he brought back the disc. Then we did our turn. He was focused & played hard, never noticing the dogs in our area or in the big dog park. We leashed up & left with lovely walking, lots of cookies, several sniffs & pees. It was great! I will take that all as a huge success, especially with a young dog & a whole lot of chaos. </p><p>After Pixar I worked thru Wire and Sway's turns. The girls were both excellent. Wire has been at this field before & practically led me in. Sway was just happy I picked her to be the one for this round of disc. She is 7.5 years old and steady as can be amongst chaos. Now thunder...that's a nope. But all this, no biggie, give her the disc or treats, whatever but let's go do some work! Gotta love older trained dogs! Pixar got to watch the girls go courtesy of the truck's lack of crates. He was pretty exhausted after his turn, and I didn't even see him as I took Wire in. When I swapped to Sway...he was recovered and made some mournful noises while watching her and I. When we came back he was quietly watching from the driver's seat. He was rather surprised when I asked him to come back out for his second turn. </p><p>This time, he was perfect walking to the field, took treats, didn't pull. He was aware of the dogs but not excited by them. I had the disc & treats he took both easily. Then I saw THEM. Great. There are several dog park regulars that we've run into before in past disc seasons. Big dogs who like to case the fence line while we do disc. They bark fiercely and you worry a bit about them going over the fence. The start line is like 25' from that fence line. It's a big distraction. We weren't up yet, so I hoped they'd move on...though I was pretty sure that was a futile wish. There owner is slow and doesn't care that they are jerks. Sure enough...they stayed put. I think they'd love a good fence fight. Pixar might like a good fence fight too...UGH. <b><u><i>UGH!</i></u></b> Well. Time to find out. </p><p>I kept Pixar engaged with me but I also didn't want him to be totally unaware. What had been a safe, happy space, now had a new, different & intense vibe to it. We walked to the line engaged, getting treats. I asked him to sit at my side and he promptly did as asked. However, he was looking a bit wigged out. Big eyes, worried face scrunch. He was sitting but his body was tense. The dogs were behind him. He started throwing Auto Check Outs at those big scary dogs. It was CLEAR that he was worried about them. Those dogs. RIGHT THERE! I marked his Check Outs, rewarded him with treats. He kept throwing his head toward them, more marks & rewards. Then I saw the moment he relaxed. It was like he said to me. "I believe you will keep me safe, I trust you mom." It all happened in less than a minute. It felt like I was delaying everything, but I also knew that my fellow disc mates would understand. They know these big scary dogs are a huge problem. Then I gave the nod and we did it. 1 minute, 4 throws, done, a nice long tug with the disc and then collar back on & lots of cookies as we walked away. Think about it, every time he carried the disc back to me, he was running headlong towards those dogs. He could see them pacing and carrying on. It's very threatening behavior to other dogs. I was so proud. I was super proud of Pixar. I was super proud of me for letting Pixar talk to me. I listened, I reassured him and we persevered. </p><p>So I don't have a panel of buttons for dogs to press. Sometimes we just aren't going to communicate when the environment is too exciting. But I have given them a way that they can talk to me. I can pay attention and let them tell me when there is a problem. There can be space oddities and communication breakdowns, that doesn't mean you and the dog have failed. I listened. He was too excited & I wasn't prepared enough to get nice loose leash walking our first time entering the field. Everything aligned the second turn, I was ready, he was ready, but the dog park fairy threw something unexpected at us. I helped reassure him, I helped him know it was okay to do the fun thing, even with the jerks behind the fence yelling at him. </p><p>Those kind of dogs are exactly why I don't go to dog parks. Now, is Pixar a fearful dog? Nope. Trust me...sooo NOPE. If I had let that be a bad experience or asked him to perform under duress, I might be dealing with a new problem. Instead we had a huge win. Will I continue to be watching, listening to him and making sure we are connected? You bet. Think how confident he must feel knowing we are partners, that he can tell me something, that he's not trapped in a situation where he has no control. I sure feel better knowing he can talk to me. He was exhausted that evening. He worked very hard...for 2 whole minutes of disc. Good boy Pix, good boy! </p>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-84778445601820842712021-03-03T14:56:00.295-08:002021-03-29T14:06:04.152-07:00What's in Your Toolbox?<p style="height: 0px; text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;">As a dog trainer, I've jammed my training toolbox FULL of lots of tools. To be honest, it's a messed up jumble in that toolbox, but my most used tools stay at the top of the heap. There are some extra bits of junk in there though. Like <b>Despair, Excuses,</b> and some extra vials of <b>Ego</b>. So it's really good to sort thru your toolbox every once in a while. What is useless? What's just garbage getting in the way? Why are there so many cheese stick wrappers in here? Those kind of hard questions need to be asked as you sort. Maybe Marie Kondo that toolbox! </span><span style="font-family: arial;">I thought about her "does this item bring you joy" concept a lot in the last 24 hours. </span><span style="font-family: arial;">The problem is I see a lot of people who hold <b>Despair, Excuses, </b>and<b> Ego</b> in their hands and it DOES bring them joy. So they put it back in the toolbox. Maybe they leave it right on top, covering up all those really useful tools. </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></div><span style="font-family: arial;">I put a lot of thought into reorganizing my toolbox. We had a new session of Toss & Fetch, a distance disc throwing league start yesterday. I cajoled the organizers into organizing it. As one of my favorite tools is <b>Organizing Shit</b>. Since I am not the organizer, I had to just use my powers of persuasion to annoy the organizers. However I did show up early and stay late, help set up and helped the whole night. My <b>Organizing Shit</b> experiences helps me know that many hands make less work. And organizers are more likely to organize if they have ready help. So definitely use your <b>Be A Helper </b>tool a lot more often. Now you might say, Jayne, why is your toolbox a mess? Especially if you love <b>Organizing Shit </b>so much! Well, um, good question. The Shit, in this instance, is opportunities, not my tools. If you want more opportunities in life & don't want to organize them yourself, use that <b>Be A Helper </b>tool! </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">I used some other tools last night. <b>Be Prepared </b>was the one I grabbed right away. I made sure I had treats, treat bag, leashes, water, bowls, my discs, a towel for wiping my hands/the disc, a mask, a spare mask. I often use my <b>Fly by the Seat of your Pants </b>tool which is frankly, an inferior tool. You should only use that in emergencies. Like when life stomps on your <b>Be Prepared </b>tool. Just put on your <b>Fly by the Seat of your Pants </b>& hope for the best. In this case I took my <b>Be Prepared </b>tool out extra early and thought about how I'd incorporate that into my training plans. I have 6 dogs, and I like to work with all of them. Sometimes that means I get out the <b>Spread Too Thin </b>tool and all get some, but not all that much. To avoid having to use that, I opted to work with only the two youngest dogs. </span><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Wire is 2.5 years old, and lives to work. Any work, all the work. She was an obvious choice of dog to bring. Plus she rocks. That's for me. I have been working on training myself to do longer distance throws and she is a fast, accurate dog. So a bit of <b>Ego</b> on my part helped me match the dog to my personal goals. Pixar is 15 months old & had been in few novel places in those 15 months. Covid obviously altered a lot of our opportunities in 2020. But he also hasn't been a lot of places because I have my own training facilities. That's a <b>Good/Bad Thing </b>tool. While it is a luxury to have a facility, it also means I have to get my dogs to other places for novel experiences. Luckily Pixar is a stable, happy dog. He's not environmentally sensitive and if anything is overly friendly with people and dogs. But opportunities are meant to be seized, <b>Be Prepared </b>to grab them!</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">The <b>Be Prepared </b>tool also meant I thought about who I wanted to work first. I knew if I started with Wire, my youngster Pixar would be rather peeved. I don't know what a peeved Pixar would be like alone in a soft crate. So I worked him first. Then I recognized that I had an opportunity to walk him out & then go right back in. I had pulled out this great tool called <b>Be Flexible</b>. <b>Be Flexible </b>is one of the best tools, remember to grab it often! It can be used in conjunction with all your other tools. Useful for adjusting attitudes and when dealing with problem people. It also can grease wheels with organizers! Because I had used the <b>Be Prepared </b>tool, I could easily switch plans. I had my treat bag on, discs already in the building, a disc carried out with me to get Pixar. I wanted to set expectations coming out of his crate and then be 100% focused on him and his emotions. I wanted to react quickly if he was too high, stressed, or just perfect! I was ready to use <b>Connection </b>to quickly bring us together. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Now <b>Connection </b>is an amazing tool, and like a socket wrench, there are parts that attach to it, that make it more useful in many of situations. I used a whole bunch of my <b>Quick Connect </b>tools to tighten the <b>Connection. Auto Check Ins, Auto Check Outs, Loose Leash Walking, Sit, Patience, and Humor. </b>As we got into the building my people loving boy had already been rewarded handsomely. I tightened that <b>Connection </b>with<b> </b>my <b>Be Generous </b>tool. So when he saw people and I suggested mobbing them wasn't the right choice, he took that pretty well. He was sniffing & looking around happily. Then I saw him get a little nervous. It wasn't much of a signal, but I didn't want to ignore it. I quickly cued a <b>Sit</b>. That's one of his default behaviors, he sat, and I rewarded. He pointedly did a <b>Auto Check In</b>. Reward. He pointedly did an <b>Auto Check Out. </b>Reward. He kept doing <b>Auto Check Outs, </b>I kept rewarding each one. I noted that he did more <b>Auto Check Outs</b> on the building staff that were doing weird things. They clearly were not Dog People. We did some tricks and he was visibly relaxing and it paid off, because I can <b>Be Generous. </b> Then he saw his most favorite Person. I knew it before she got close. He did an <b>Auto Check Out</b> & wiggled with glee. Reward. Ah, Emily must have walked in. Emily = FUN to him. Reward. She had his buddy Sweep with her. Sweep = FUN. Reward. Butt Wiggles galore and we moved towards his buddies. Reward. In the few minutes after we had entered the building, he probably gotten about 30-40 rewards. All for good behaviors. All that rewarding reinforced how strong those <b>Quick Connect </b>tools are. I did almost no cueing except an initial sit command and to tell him he couldn't mob people. I marked every good behavior he offered. I used <b>Patience </b>to quietly observe his emotional state & see what things caught his attention. I used <b>Humor </b>to enjoy the process & see what made him happiest. I could have ignored him, he was behaving nicely enough. I could have used <b>Excuses</b> and skipped all of this. He is young & will do silly things. But, in just a few minutes, I told him what was rewarding, I maintained <b>Connection </b>and learned so much<b>. </b>Then it was our turn to go! </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">As we walked ringside, we were asked if the building staff unloading equipment at the far corner of the building would be a problem. I confidently said, no. Not only because I can <b>Be Flexible, </b>but because I already used my <b>Be Prepared </b>tool. Pixar & I walked to the entrance, he was rewarded many times for his <b>Loose Leash Walking</b>. We took off his collar, hung it up, rewarded. I offered the disc to tug on, tugged, asked for an out & I said the magic word "Ready". He threw himself into his Around behavior & he was off after our practice throw. Then he came back, got lots of praise, some rewarding tugging with the disc. I gave the drop command, then the <b>Sit </b>command. The Timer gave us the nod & it was on. I had no doubt he would perform at that point. I knew he was clocked in, on the job, and ready to party with me. You could say that was my <b>Ego </b>talking. But it wasn't. I had every possible signal from him that he was focused. I had every confidence that our <b>Connection </b>was tight. 90 seconds later, w</span><span style="font-family: arial;">e ended our turn with some fun tugging on the disc, I asked for the out, praised the hell out of him as I put his collar back on. We walked back out & I immediately started using our </span><b style="font-family: arial;">Loose Leash Walking </b><span style="font-family: arial;">tool. Rewards! We did stop to greet a few people, because that is rewarding for him & the job was done. Plus his wiggles of happiness for people crack me up.</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Obviously my toolbox is pretty full. But unlike earlier last summer, when I was using 1 tool, <b>Be Prepared</b>, and using it poorly. This time I used lots more tools! <b>Be Prepared </b>is really handy, but I just kind of threw it at the problem. Kind of like I was trying to use a Hammer instead of a Compound Miter Saw. It was a tool, but not the right tool. I had plenty of tools in my toolbox. I didn't even need to dig for them. Instead after wildly swinging <b>Be Prepared </b>around rather uselessly. I grabbed <b>Despair</b> to beat myself up, used <b>Excuses</b> to blame others, and let my <b>Ego </b>cover up the problems. Eventually, I used those same 3 tools to break down the problem. I pushed aside my <b>Ego </b>so I could see where I had failed. <b>Despair</b>, pushed me to delve into the problem instead of wallowing in it. <b>Excuses</b>, actually told me exactly what I hadn't planned for. Damn it. Using the wrong tools had only made the work really frustrating. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">So I rearranged the toolbox. <b>Despair, Excuses & Ego...</b>firmly at the bottom. They have a use, but only in helping you carefully examine the problem and look for solutions. I put some important tools back on top. <b>Experience </b>&<b> Knowledge </b>are now right on top. <b>Forgiveness </b>is too. Even with all my tools, I will occasionally grab the wrong one. It's okay to let it go and move on. Use <b>Patience </b>with yourself and your dog. Dig deep for some <b>Humor </b>when things go wrong. Next week, I'm going to use all these tools again. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;">Now, where's that roll of Duct Tape...</span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: arial;"><br /></span>x<p></p></div>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-14136721612045807852020-10-07T13:12:00.004-07:002023-02-01T14:04:32.081-08:00MORE THAN A NUMBER<p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">So, my lovely dog Wire contributed to Skidmarkz running a blazing team record of 14.333. However, in our first race that day, Wire ran a 3.396, clean pass, great ball carry. You may not be a flyball person, so why is that significant? It's a damn rare gift to have a dog that can put a 3.3XX on the clock in tournaments. The 14.333 is the 2nd fastest time ever run in the sport of flyball. Both things are super impressive. Especially in 2020, with limited to zippo tournaments. It is downright stellar given the circumstances. I have grown more & more reluctant to brag about my dogs in general. As we have gotten faster & more eyes are on us, it can put a lot of pressure on the humans and the dogs. It can set the expectation for your dog to always perform flawlessly. I don't expect that from my dogs, I know they will have ups and downs, bad and good days & they will eventually slow down. I also don't want it to be about me. It's Wire The dog is amazing. I am just along for the ride! And my whole team is on the ride too. I don't want my brag to water down the fact that this took a whole orange village!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyzXLUw_S1JlHPQaDPKqdxnPDpvMMNJxCQRb-3d322J3yisxDYFaLPiLjhFIPrecqCJ28JRHKzolQK57KckO4I7CvAvEDc6n-UDVyv7xsml6UoahhYiUW5tXqpNGFLGWeVakDRghEO3e_/s960/14.333+clock.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTyzXLUw_S1JlHPQaDPKqdxnPDpvMMNJxCQRb-3d322J3yisxDYFaLPiLjhFIPrecqCJ28JRHKzolQK57KckO4I7CvAvEDc6n-UDVyv7xsml6UoahhYiUW5tXqpNGFLGWeVakDRghEO3e_/s320/14.333+clock.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span><div style="text-align: center;"><span> </span><span style="font-family: verdana;">Oh look, it's real...there's a picture!</span></div></span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">You could argue the 3.396 is solely Wire's achievement. I would argue otherwise. You see, Wire was running second when she posted that time. She was passing Trix, one of our amazing height dogs. Trix is hands down one of the easiest dogs to pass on our team. She is extremely consistent. Trix was NOT easy to train. We knew what to do because of every dog before Trix. We knew to throw away the flyball manual and work with what Trix brought to the table. I could not have done that pass without the training that made Trix consistent.</span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs07ukxO9IoJLmOW3KytxbAmtFG6QQp1xiuEKjejATbyC90_3yHc9MZt9oJM4ohZ4sTkdTBzjttdM6RCtCqBpuvXtOD6xQXaRAKttfGekmCE1EM6kXdJg3gccQHICBdZpGB3iDAM5HGlIy/s562/IMG_9725.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="472" data-original-width="562" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgs07ukxO9IoJLmOW3KytxbAmtFG6QQp1xiuEKjejATbyC90_3yHc9MZt9oJM4ohZ4sTkdTBzjttdM6RCtCqBpuvXtOD6xQXaRAKttfGekmCE1EM6kXdJg3gccQHICBdZpGB3iDAM5HGlIy/s320/IMG_9725.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Oh look...another real picture.</span></div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wire IS fast on a whole 'nuther level. We have fast dogs on Skidmarkz. Wire and her brothers are Fffffast. It is challenging, but training every dog before her meant that we knew where to insist on good technique, and where to just let her rip. She does not follow the flyball manual. She does 2 strides in & 2 strides out. She uses a squishy ball instead of the far cooler regular tennis balls. I don't show her tug to her on her return. She has no props. NONE. Not in warm up, not in practice. We are 100% doing it all wrong. We are 100% doing it all right, for Wire. And that's a big WE. The entire Skidmarkz team trained Wire. Every dog on our team is the product of the efforts of every human on our team. So THANKS Skidz!! </span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4btv1i_kpws">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4btv1i_kpws</a><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: helvetica;">Hey, video of it, so it actually did happen, with a ball, at a tournament...</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Wire taught me some things recently too. Compared to my other Border Whippets: Sway who is quick & graceful, Ping who is super chill & powerful, Wire is demanding & intense. She commands your full attention or you will be sorry. There is no casually running her. Wire reminded me of this by biting my finger, through my Mechanix glove at a tournament. I pulled off the glove hoping the tip of my finger was still attached. (It was, just bleeding & numb). Message received! I stopped trying to multitask and just watched my dog. I realized I wasn't playing tug the way she likes. This tournament, I focused on what she wanted and how she wants to tug. Eyes OFF the lanes, Eyes ON the dog. Thank you Wire, I'm sorry I wasn't listening before!</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Now after you have read all this, please know, I am truly, insanely proud of Wire. But I really want you to know that I love this dog for everything she is, not for the time she runs. The time she put up was faster than anything she has run before in practice or a tournament. It is super cool. But, we may never see it again. We are not training Skidmarkz dogs to be 3.3XX dogs. I will not be disappointed if she never runs it again. Because PERSONAL BEST TIMES DO NOT MATTER. Average times do. Consistency matters. Finding where she best fits in the lineup matters. Finding out what her weak areas are matters. Yes, she still has some, she's just over 2 years old. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">My ego is not tied to Wire's times. If that is what your dog is to you, reconsider what you are asking of the dog. Is the dog in the lanes to bolster your ego or so your dog can PLAY a fun and super complex game of fetch with you? I want happy waggy tails, and dogs enjoying this GAME. Because...it's just a time, it was only 3.396 seconds of her life with us. It meant nothing to her, she was just playing. A blink of an eye & it was over. Their time with us is short. Make it fun, make them love to play silly games with you, to the best of their ability, as safely as possible.</span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; text-align: left;"><i><span style="color: #ffa400;"><b>Finally - Some top secret training advice...</b></span></i></span></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; text-align: left;"><i><b><span style="color: #ffa400;"> Question your training</span></b></i></span><i style="font-family: verdana; text-align: left;"><b><span style="color: #ffa400;">. Why do you do it? What is the purpose? What is the result you expect to see? What are you trying to teach the dog? If the answer is "I don't know.", rethink your training. </span></b></i></p><p style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana; text-align: left;"><i><b></b></i></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1MvP7sJ0h8bGHAhm5VNstOqT3PjWjc23uaLh9JRNWgFmns88CrY4cNwgIcPf3eEUWhRjfUOdMHTcFO7aGP35YjGZJdJ9BtInvmC0sswzKZb21-ro274E-jeXnmaHF1wgv9IMaDEOI5Bb/s2016/IMG_9722.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx1MvP7sJ0h8bGHAhm5VNstOqT3PjWjc23uaLh9JRNWgFmns88CrY4cNwgIcPf3eEUWhRjfUOdMHTcFO7aGP35YjGZJdJ9BtInvmC0sswzKZb21-ro274E-jeXnmaHF1wgv9IMaDEOI5Bb/s320/IMG_9722.jpg" width="320" /></a></b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b>Humans with all their blah blah blah. </b></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><b>- Wire</b></i></div><i><b><br /><span style="color: #ffa400;"><br /></span></b></i><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"> </span></p>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-48552666962392252062016-08-17T14:27:00.002-07:002016-08-17T14:27:21.972-07:00It's My Choice!<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"The
work involved to reach this level of competition is not work for me or Kris,
it's a passion, it's a passion for oneness in a sport that requires so much
from the both of us. It's my choice to do this game, it's my duty to make this
worth doing for Bratska and all the others in our family."</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Chris Tucci</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">I saw
this facebook post a week ago and it contained a lengthy recap by Chris
Tucci about his experience competing with his amazing agility dog Bratska at
the European Open. These two lines really struck me. They struck me hard! </span></b><b><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Obviously
dog stuff is a passion for me, I love the sense of connection you get from
training anything with a dog. Agility takes that to another level,
flyball less so but also more so. Daily life, tricks, basic house
manners, well they are all about making a connection with your dog. Enough
about passionate oneness. What about that choice part?</span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The
way I see it, most everything related to dogs is about the human's choice.
You chose the dog (for the most part), you chose what you will allow the
dog to do, what it eats, how much it eats, where it sleeps, hell I even teach
mine where to potty & where on the tug they can bite. It's a lot of
choices to make...and almost none are made by the dog! </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Over
the years I've really striven to accept dogs for who they are and not try to
mold them into something of my choosing. So Nikki, my wild child, is
embraced for her wild...but molded to be obedient and make the most of that.
Betty, fearful and shy, is embraced for her weirdness...but molded to be
able to function in the world. Nikki is an obvious dog to channel into
dog sports. Betty far less so, and I've had many internal debates,
frustration, and big doubt about choosing to make her go to classes, to compete
etc. How do you make those choices for a dog whose happy place is under
my bed? It seems to be a complex balancing act. I've done my best
to make leaving the bowels of my bedroom a worthwhile choice for Betty. I
pledged never to leave Betty alone at the startline, I promised not let Nikki's
barking anger me if she's doing everything else I've asked of her. I
tried to honor their choice to play with me by making sure I don't forget their
individuality. They have needs damn it!</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lately
I've been struck by the number of people who make a choice and do not consider
the dog in the equation. The more choices I give my dogs, the more they chose
to do what I want. That sounds contrary but I've also endeavored to make
working with me such AN ENJOYABLE choice for them, that they just about glue
themselves to me when it's training or work time. The rest of the time
they can "go do dog stuff". Aka, stand down dog, you are off
duty! (Thanks to Ron @ Pvybe.com for that term!)</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">So
how do we balance our choice and the dog's choice and frankly, our human desire
to make those choices their choices? Overall, I want every part of
training with me to be clear, concise and rewarding. I'm not trying to be
their leader, I'm trying to be a coach, who brings out the best in you and
teaches you how to continually advance. I also understand that there will
be communication break downs and frustration on both our parts. I'm not
going to punish the dog who is trying very hard to figure out what the human
wants them to do, especially when the human is clearly an idiot! If I was
your math teacher and kept tell you to solve this quadratic equation.
Now. Do it now. Now, no don't look over there, solve it!
Now. What would you do? I'm betting you'd clam up, cry, run
out of the room, yell at your teacher, or maybe just nod & smile while
pretending to write down an answer? Well a lot of dogs do that.
They sniff, look elsewhere, get up and walk away, do something else, or
just freeze up entirely. Hum. But a good teacher would explain each
step of the way how to solve that problem, and how to apply that solution to
future problems. So when faced with the same situation you know how to
solve for X! I want my dogs to feel smart & in control. If you
felt smart and in control, what would that translate as? I'm betting you
would be mighty CONFIDENT in your abilities! </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dogs
pose a special problem though, they don't speak our language and just like us
humans, they can all learn differently. So an extra challenge is learning
how they think. Setting aside their emotional issues (um, Betty), just
learning how they learn requires patience. For Betty, I had to calm her
fears so that she could learn. For Nikki, I had to help her learn to
control her enormously explosive energy level so she could learn. For
Sway, I just had to make sure she understood what I wanted, the first time! She is easily frustrated by repetition. For Ping...oh Ping. Let's
just say he'd be riding the short bus. So things had to be even simpler
and not change quickly for him to get it. All this requires patience on
the human's part. Most humans have no patience. So how about we
just get some compassion? </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Compassion:</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span style="color: #3b3e41; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: 1.15pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Helvetica;">1.<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><i><span style="background: white; color: #3b3e41; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: 1.15pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">sympathetic <a href="http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consciousness"><span style="color: #ae0015; letter-spacing: .5pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">consciousness</span></a> of others' distress
together with a desire to alleviate it</span></i><span style="color: #3b3e41; font-family: "Helvetica","sans-serif"; font-size: 13.5pt; letter-spacing: 1.15pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>Remembering
that our dogs have no choice but to live with us...let's keep some compassion
in how we train them. Let's make it worthwhile for the dog to choose to
work with us. Then let's be patient so they can build confidence and attack any problem we throw at them!</b></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><b>PS - I don't know why this is highlighted. Sorry!</b></span></div>
Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-52859487791131479882015-10-07T13:43:00.000-07:002015-10-07T13:52:05.984-07:00One Door ClosesToday was the end of a very important chapter in my life. I have been involved with rescue groups since I was 22 years old. 18 years later, I'm closing that door. I worked 8 years with big national rescue groups, and 10 years with the rescue that I started. Protege Canine Rescue. I have never been paid, never had a salary, never wanted one. I wanted rescue to be about the dogs, not endless fundraising. I was able to do that thanks to the incredible dedication of volunteers who were similarly committed to that mission...DOGS! Of course I'm not really done, we promised to be a safety net for our dogs for the rest of their lives. So maybe in another 13 years I can consider Protege really done. <br />
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This was not a rash decision, it was over a year in the making. I've had some big guilt trips, some self-induced and some from well meaning people. Trust me, you can't top my own guilt trips. So, I am sorry, sorry to disappoint, sorry I just can't keep it going. I can't just take a break and deal with my burn out. </div>
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So why have I heartlessly closed down Protege? Well, I've always firmly believed that if you weren't fully committed to something you would do a crappy job. As the president of Protege, many things were ultimately my responsibility, and I was starting not to care about doing a good job. I didn't want the quality of our work to suffer because of my attitude. You see, there are many behind the scenes things happening, and since the buck stops here...it's pretty vital that I be 100% committed. Running Protege was essentially a unpaid, part time job. It got to the point where Protege was becoming really intrusive in my family life, which I greatly resented. The most intrusive things were dealing with a never ending revolving door of problems to solve. I was essentially always on call. If you traveled with me, it became a running joke that if I was doing something for myself, sure enough, something major would happen. I was never, ever not on duty. I'd call it compassion fatigue, but it's more than that, I still have lots of compassion, but I have little patience or tolerance for the continual problem solving required. The joys of rescue, the happy stories, they amazing transformations, they just weren't enough to get me through the grinding obligations. Maybe I will feel differently after some time has passed, but if so, there are plenty of shelters, groups etc I can work with, without such heavy responsibility. And yes, I've tried very hard to farm out that responsibility over the years, but ultimately, I have to make sure things get done, make tough decisions, figure out other options etc. I debated handing over the reins, but I wanted someone as committed as I had been, and in the end I felt that I couldn't ever rest if Protege existed. </div>
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My regrets:</div>
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I regret that in 18 years, I got exactly the same behavioral calls over & over & over. There will be a blog post about this, it really deserves it's own attention and I want something to refer future callers/rescuers. </div>
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I regret that I haven't developed a better Crazy Radar. Crazy people seem highly attracted to animal rescue work. Oh the stories I could tell you...</div>
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I regret any dog we have placed that developed serious health or behavioral issues. We try so hard, and while health is always a crap shoot, I wish we could better determine which dogs would be truly problematic. All I can say is we TRIED & if we had known, we would not have placed the dog. </div>
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I regret that some people never got the idea of rescue, of carefully placing a dog. They just saw a commodity to purchase and they wanted it now, now, now! </div>
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I regret that I didn't tell off more people. Calm, cool and steady is the reasonable way to react, but ohhhhh, it would have been nice to smack some people upside the head!</div>
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My delights:</div>
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I delight in every update we get from adopters. I know how much my own adopted dogs mean to me and I'm glad that we were able to provide you with family member. Many times over the years, those updates kept me going. </div>
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I delight in all the amazing volunteers, rescuers, shelter workers and veterinary staff we have worked with. There are so many smart, reasonable animal lovers out there, it gives me hope.</div>
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I delight in the fact that Steve Branin has supported me every step of the way. He is the best husband and a true animal lover. He has been a great sounding board and coped with many, many rescue related interruptions in our lives!</div>
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I delight in Jo Pearson, who I met through the adoption of one of my earliest rescue dogs, who led me into flyball (my obsession). She has been a steadfast rescue supporter who devoted as much time as I did to keeping Protege's T's crossed, I's dotted, websites running etc etc! She did more for Protege than any other volunteer, and did it really, really well! Jo's efforts kept this rescue working from a regulatory & a functional sense! </div>
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I delight in knowing that something will come from this. Doors shut, windows open, maybe you just tunnel a hole thru the wall. It might be good or bad or who knows. I'm okay with that and when I made the decision, I knew it was right, and the time was right, and I knew a huge weight had lifted off my shoulders. </div>
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I delight in this dog, Zoe. My first, terrible dog of my own. Because of her, I developed an interest in dog training, in rescue work, and is why all of this happened. She was the smartest, most loyal, most devoted dog I've ever met. She wasn't an aussie, she wasn't a rescue, but she was the catalyst in my life that turned just a dog owner into a dog rescue person. I hope that everyone has something in their life, like Zoe, that makes them more than they ever knew was possible. <br />
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Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-79220124089335874492015-08-20T10:54:00.003-07:002022-05-18T08:17:25.096-07:00The Pee of 3 - AKA Teaching Potty on Command <div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_52667" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; padding: 0px;">
<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_52764"><b>The Pee of 3</b> is a catchy title, the three applies more to boy dogs than girl dogs, BUT it can hold true for girls too. </span>I have housebroken a LOT of foster dogs, a lot of my own dogs & even a friend's dog who had lived in a kennel run & just didn't give a $#&% where he went. None of this is rocket science, it just requires some time, patience and persistence. </div>
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<b><u>If the dog is peeing super frequently or in their sleep, go to a VET first! Make sure the dog doesn't have a urinary tract infection or incontinence issues, both issues need medication! </u></b> </div>
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<span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_52765"><b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_54063">1. Limit freedom </b>- if you can't watch them, crate or barricade them. ALL THE TIME. Until they are reliably going outside. Yes this is a pain, but it's temporary, and it's for a good reason. </span>The dogs typically learn that if they are caught going potty, they get in big trouble. So they will get sneakier and sneakier about doing it out of your sight. Some have been punished so much they won't go around a human at all! Do NOT scold, punish, rub face in their accident etc. This will make them MORE intent on doing it away from people. If you catch them in the act pick them up or interrupt them and get them IMMEDIATELY outside saying "Let's go outside" and then proceed with the steps below. Some dogs may have an accident inside, get caught and not have finished the job. Some may hear you coming & stop going, so you find 1 turd and then while you freak out about that turd, they aren't done & go again. So leave the mess & rush them out make sure you give them an additional opportunity outside. DO NOT SCOLD, PUNISH ETC when this happens, just calmly get them outside, then crate them again before you clean up.</div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_54064">2. Monitor intake </b>- If you free feed, you are doomed. I recommend feeding twice a day, at fairly consistent times. Knowing that will create about 2 poops a day, and usually shortly after they eat. If they are peeing inside, make sure that if they are doing things like tanking up on water after a play session that they get to go out again w/ no option to play. This is a bigger problem with dogs who love to fetch, they play & play, then drink a ton inside and a few minutes later...PEE! After you've gone back in & are convinced that the hour outside right before should have given them plenty of time to get the job done! </div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_53189">3. Don't be lazy </b>- go outside to potty with them EVERY TIME. I say, "Let's go outside" and off we go. Try to go to the same door each time. The first thing they need to do is their business, not play, not run around, not goof around with housemates. You may need to have them on leash, and stand a long time being super, super boring. If you can't keep them from running around/outta your immediate observable area, leash them. EVERY TIME. If the dog is cautious about doing their biz with a human around, you might want a longer leash and to turn your back (pretend to ignore, watch outta the corner of your eye). <span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_53095" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">Couple this watching with a simple training exercise, grab a couple small cookies, and right when you see them squat or lift a leg to go, I say "go potty" (once), they finish and I immediately give a cookie & start praising them up like crazy, lots of "good potty" and give them a cookie. Then I will go back to ignoring them and tell them "Go potty" again. Yes, this means when it's snowing, cold, raining, hotter than hot, you go with them!</span></div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_53207">4. Pee of 3 - </b>mostly for boys, but girls can do little pees/poops too. So wait, wait, wait, again being BORING! Boys - I make sure they pee 3 times before we are done. Yes 3, they seem to have infinite reserves! For girls I monitor based on the length of the pee, if they are do a short squat, then I'm going to wait for another one. If the poop was a little turdlet, WAIT! Once I feel they have REALLY emptied out, then we can commence play/take off the leash/go back inside etc. I do not then let them run free, they will be again, monitored inside or crated.</div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_53648">5. Still don't be lazy - </b>For dogs who are habitual inside pee/poopers & this indeed means every time, all weather, middle of the night, YOU go out there with them. I will take them out every two hours at a minimum, puppies, it may even be more. If they are with me and start losing interest, looking around, looking a bit frantic, then I'm going to take them outside immediately. Typically I see results in a 1-2 weeks. What I'm doing is putting potty on command, rewarding it OUTSIDE and only when they have JUST completed it, not when we go back in the house. </div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_53647">6. Busy Dogs - </b>I continue to monitor and gradually allow more freedoms once dogs GET the command and start immediately pottying outside when I give the command. Busy dogs & puppies especially can forget, so make sure when it's potty time, it's the first thing they do. It's easier once it is on command, to give the command, make sure they go sufficently, then commence play. </div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_54238">7. Side Effect </b>- This will create a dog who goes on command & keeps going. I've trained countless, countless rescue dogs this way, two boys that were supposedly just "IMPOSSIBLE", one had lived in a kennel run for 6 months, then peed inside for another 6 months! Both would pee multiple times, and even FAKE a leg lift if they had nothing left in the tank. It also means who you have to stop along the road, in a rainstorm, at a creepy looking gas station, at 11pm, those dogs potty immediately! Yeah. I train ALL my personal dogs to do this from day one & it makes life soo much easier. </div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_53838">8. Consistency - </b><span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_53888"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_53887" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">The more strictly you do this at the beginning the faster you will see progress. I know it's a pain, but so is stepping in dog shit at 3 AM or frantically cleaning carpets right before your judgmental, dog hating, relative comes over.</span></span></div>
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<span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13.3333px;"><b>9. Why Not - </b>Reward inside? Because then the dog will be motivated to get back inside and many dogs will skip the potty part to get on it, or do a cursory potty attempt and rush back in, then piddle after. You also loose the immediacy of the reward to the actual potty. You wouldn't teach a dog to sit from 20 ft away or tell them sit & then jog 20 feet away to give them a reward...you'd give it in close proximity to when & wherever they were sitting! </span></span></div>
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<span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif"><span style="font-family: arial; font-size: 13.3333px;"><b>10. Kennel Run Raised/Pet Store/Piddle Pad trained dogs - </b>They have no concerns about keeping their area clean. So, you may need to take some of their poop/pee outside and create an area where they "do their biz". Then leash them & take them there. If they are always going on a piddle pad, you may need to take that outside at first, then take them to the area & eventually you can stop that. Yes, I have literally taken a pee soaked paper towel outside and rubbed it on the ground or carried a poop outside and planted it in the "potty area". C'mon where do dogs go...where everyone else goes! I will also not allow any material in their crate, no pads, newspapers, no towels, nothing, so they can't piddle and wad it up away from themselves. Yes, this sucks, but it tends to be temporary. So suck it up buttercup & give lots of baths, keep that crate spotless. Puppymill dogs...yeah, I'm sorry, that can be another issue entirely.</span></span></div>
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<b id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_54245" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.3333px;">Submissive Peeing</b></div>
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<span face="arial, helvetica, sans-serif" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_54296"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1440084842184_54295" style="font-size: 13.3333px;">This is not about potty training. Submissive peeing is just that. If your dog submissive pees, they are trying to appease the great and mighty human or just overjoyed to see you or both. If you were another dog you would appreciate that a whole lot more! Shy/soft dogs tend to do this more than bold/pushy ones. The best thing to do is to be very calm when greeting them, don't fuss over them, don't loom over them, don't gush effusively. If you want to greet them crouch, turn sideways, and let them come up to you, don't go to them. Speak quietly to them. Most dogs will grow out of it if they are doing it as puppies, but they may still do it if they think they are in trouble as adults. The best course is to ignore the dog when they are super excited and pay attention to them when they are calmed down. Don't make a big deal about the piddle, just ignore the dogs's wiggling and appeasing gestures, clean it up & move on with your life. If you yell at the dog or punish it, they will very likely pee more! You can try to have greetings or exciting wiggle times on hard surfaces or outside. Or if they do it coming out of a crate, quietly release them & walk away or quickly leash them and take them outside before greeting them. </span></span></div>
Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-21119331913786218252012-08-07T19:42:00.001-07:002012-08-07T19:42:05.999-07:00The worst blog ever...Lame, lame, lame. I guess I've had nothing noteworthy to say in the last 2 or so years. <br />
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Oh, I had a baby. Caroline. She's freaking adorable. The baby gods gave me a super laid back baby. Phew. She's much bigger now. I'm enjoying all the similiarities between training dogs & training a baby. I'm also putting the large chunk of child development stuff I studied in college to better use. I'm also trying not to panic, freak out & scar her for life (I'm sure I'll do that later).<br />
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Hum, I started writing about the dogs, but it was very sad. Not in the mood for sad. So I will leave off with just a serene baby photo. Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-69532789360350688302011-02-28T14:02:00.000-08:002011-02-28T14:39:08.120-08:00Hi, Remember Me?After a lengthy break from blogging I'm back. Sort of, we'll see how long I maintain my good intentions! So first I'm going to brag. Nikki, is awesome, we have worked very hard for a long time and things are coming together. Can I say I love this dog. She's so fun to work with even though not perfect and we still have a lot of behavior tweaks to work on. I'm glad we haven't pushed. But now it's time to be pushing, we hit our first agility trial for the year next weekend. Should be interesting, but I try to keep low expectations & remember that we are looking for our training weaknesses. Namely that I'm not probably training enough agility with her, as I have been really lazy this winter. But when we work, I know I have a teammate, we try to read each other, she's in tune, for the most part. It's a great feeling. I've worked so hard making sure she never knows that when I screw up she's doing something wrong. As a result she just keeps trying & having fun even if I'm working something out on the handling side. Love that! <br /><br />For flyball, she has really made some amazing improvements in the last few months. Some of our issues, well they aren't issues any more. I made a tough decision to hand her over to Steve, his other flyball dog, Jester, turned 10 on 2/13 & is likely to retire soon. I keep saying that but he will have to eventually and Bridget runs best for me & Betty NEEDS me. Sigh. So I hand over my rocking awesome flyball dog to Steve. Steve has done a good job handling her and listening to me on how to handle her. I'm sure the knowledge that I will be VERY angry if he screws her up is a lot of pressure to deal with! Sorry Steve. I have high hopes that she will run under 4 seconds this year, we are just gearing up for our 1st tourney of the year. It is on turf, so I'm not sure if that will make a difference. Given her agility performance on the same surface, I suspect not so much! She ran a 4.02 in practice w/ no opposing dog to provide competition, first time we've timed her since November. She also performed at a UI basketball half time show, her first and usually a nerve racking experience for a new dog. Not her, she was flawless, even with Herky running along side of her...idiot! On the bright side, Steve now gets to deal with the intense tugging, slobber producing Naughty Nikki in the lane. It's a bit exhausting! <br /><br />Betty continues to plod along. I think it's important to have an exceptional dog to show you that you need to make exceptions. Fellow classmates seem to enjoy watching me run Betty & Nikki back to back. Some say oh I see you have Nikki because of Betty, others say, I see you have Betty because of Nikki. I have Betty because she's still the most entertaining dog we own. I should not say plod b/c Betty does have sa lot of fire in her. We have a lot of amazing moments when she is running fast & happy. She really likes agility but it can be frustrating when her fear issues pop up in the middle of a splendid run. When she is ON I'm RUNNING hard to keep up with her, when she's OFF I'm walking & encouraging. Luckily I've got experience running multiple dogs so at least when Betty decides to be slow I can cope with it. On the other hand, she challenges my abilities in a totally different way than Nikki and it's kind of a nice change of pace. I hope to start trialing in NADAC so I can train in the ring for several trials & see how she does. And I'm going to take a leap of faith and really push her in flyball. C'mon Betty, you been doing this for almost 2 years...fly little doglet, fly! <br /><br />Jester & Bridget continue to be steady and products of earlier training methods. Jester is retired from agility. Bridget is not & sometimes it's just so, so, so pleasant to run a trained dog. Even though her training has big gaps in it, I know where they are and accomodate. With Nikki & Betty, it's always a big ? <br /><br />Zoe, hum, Zoe continues a slow decline in health but overall is happy. So it is with a almost 15 yr old dog. I love her so much, but hate to see her slowly drifting away.Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-47633007623627385412010-06-16T11:01:00.000-07:002010-06-16T11:20:04.098-07:00ShrimpI have a bag of frozen shrimp in my freezer. I bought them last year to give to my Dad on Father's Day, and he came several times to visit over the summer & fall and I kept forgetting to actually give him the bag of shrimp. Such are my good intentions, I bought them in time, just never followed thru. In case you can't guess, he LOVED shrimp. So since he died I keep seeing those shrimp in my freezer and thinking about how sad it was that I didn't get that bag to him when he could have enjoyed them. And I haven't been able to do more than move them around the freezer, they certainly have freezer burn (they aren't in my deep freeze). I debated giving them to my dogs to eat but I could do it. I kept thinking of my Dad and imagining him saying it was a horrible waste to feed good shrimp to the dogs, even if they probably aren't that good anymore. Not logical, but the shrimp remain, frozen indefinitely. Steve has offered to dispose of them and I said no. I don't know what I will do with the shrimp. I think I will know when the time is right, what to do with them, I mean besides the obvious.Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-47184413979738464032010-05-27T10:58:00.001-07:002010-05-27T12:02:12.025-07:00Zen & the Art of Flyball Training*Warning, this is about flyball, a weird dog sport, ignore if you are not a dog person!<br /><br />I like flyball, I love training for flyball. So simple, yet sooo complex a sport. However I get a little too invested in things I can't control. So in an effort to stop bitching and achieve more balance in my life, I've adopted a Zen approach to flyball practice. I will not yell, except for my dog or emergencies. I will attempt to stop being bossy. I can not control things, so I must let go of my desire to manage & push practice forward. Ohhmmm. Ohhmmm. Repeat after me, patience is a virtue. It's not one I particular espouse though, so I'm trying to embrace patience!<br /><br />This goes along with my general philosophy of flyball training, slower is better, at least as far as training goes. I think it's important to train the dog, not the just take the dog to the training. Looking at each dog's differences & making the training fit the dog's needs is important, and I'm not sure how to convey that importance to others. I love the tiny details that go into getting the most out of the dog, I love that I've been patient with Nikki & Betty. The clicker has worked phenomenally with both of them. Even when Betty was flaking out I figured if I just parsed down enough of the training & was patient she would come along nicely. With Nikki, the clicker helped shape a nice crisp turn & helped her know exactly what I wanted her to do. I'm really looking forward to the next tournament & hope I can actually get her running in the lineup. We'll see how her passing practice goes. And if not well she'll just keep improving and becoming more enlightened! I'm also anxiously patient to see if Betty's big advancements means we can start adding in more distractions for her.Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-14236490440638142802010-03-02T11:30:00.000-08:002010-03-02T11:44:45.036-08:00Slow Down, You're Moving Too Fast!I'm rushing, rushing, rushing to get the young dogs up & online for flyball & agility. And I have to remind myself to slow down & not push them too fast. Betty has a way of putting on her own brakes since she's not confident. Nikki's got excess confidence...so much she'd like to have everyone hear about it and if you aren't careful she'll jump all over you & put confidence all over your face. I know especially with Jester & Bridget's agility training that in many areas we pushed too fast and now I deal with those consequences. So I'm giving kudos to myself (& Steve) for doing lots of extra work with Betty & to myself for holding Nikki back in her agility class. She got the go ahead to move outta beginner class, but I'm reminding myself to slow down, she's not ready for full sized contact equipment, she needs to learn to stop barking and just execute, and I'd like a rock solid stay on her before we advance. Plus I kind think sometimes it looks like she knows more just because I know a bit more than the average beginner student. Nikki did well at her first flyball fun match too, but again, I have to remember to slow down my very fast dog! So her first tournament will be run backs only, there I said it, I'm pacing ourselves!! I also still don't think she's solid enough to go head to head against another dog yet. I'd like to see her do more head to head w/o a barrier before I trust her. So much easier to tell someone else to not push their dog, than to listen to myself!Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-42205943892414362072010-01-30T11:13:00.000-08:002010-01-30T12:14:08.441-08:00JOY, in spice format.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYkOzT2SVM-RtwyFxOeXyb59iqJbUkjIP-xvgCCiLQiPY6uXXc4IJZSpEn1qtQRY17O16KBusSyGLiZUJuaKDyQ5f2buSvag0hOi_6VGylVVP_5ELvaXrteUgP4N8J2ACqCClyUJnQcyA/s1600-h/51dP2uiTvoL__SL500_AA280_PIbundle-4,TopRight,0,0_AA280_SH20_.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 280px; FLOAT: right; HEIGHT: 280px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5432614562316545138" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwYkOzT2SVM-RtwyFxOeXyb59iqJbUkjIP-xvgCCiLQiPY6uXXc4IJZSpEn1qtQRY17O16KBusSyGLiZUJuaKDyQ5f2buSvag0hOi_6VGylVVP_5ELvaXrteUgP4N8J2ACqCClyUJnQcyA/s320/51dP2uiTvoL__SL500_AA280_PIbundle-4,TopRight,0,0_AA280_SH20_.jpg" /></a><br /><div>I wish you could smell this spice. (try to scatch-n-sniff your screen) It is so fabulous. My friend's mom gave me a tin of this several years ago & I thought whoopdee doo, the only thing you do with paprika is sprinkle some on deviled eggs, for a dash of color. Except it smelled really good. Really, really good. Did I mention the friend's mom is a Cordon Bleu trained chef & taught me how to make souffle? Nonetheless, it sat in my cupboard for some time, as I finished off a tiny container of the dash of color paprika. I should have had more faith in her gifting abilities. So the first dish I put it in was a boneless pork rib recipe, I'd made it before and it was good, I really thought that the paprika in the recipe was just to add a dash of color & the cumin & chili pepper were doing all the work. This time it was phenomenal! The tin went from sitting in the cupboard, to my new favorite spice. I was adding this special paprika to everything I could think of, then tragedy...I realized I was almost out!!! I hoarded the last 1/4 of the tin. Now the gift giver lives in NYC and I knew she could get it easy. I combed the higher end grocery stores and couldn't find it, only the lame american color dash version. I had an awkward conversation with a store employee, who was like but we have paprika, right here. No, no, smoked spanish paprika! It's different! Then I turned to the internet and found success. But do I order just 1 tin? And there were 3 versions, hot, sweet and bittersweet. Who knew, what kind did I have, panic? Luckily, I had saved the tin, and figured out I had the sweet version. Available in a 4 pack, phew, that way I wouldn't run out!! Then foolishly I shared my stash, and ended up with only 2 tins for myself. Silly me. But at least I had a source. Now why is this so good? I mean essentially it's just bits of dried red pepper. Well apparently the spaniards do it old school, like hand smoking those peppers over only oak logs. In short if you sprinkled this on your deviled eggs, the eggs would thank you! </div><div> </div><div>So why the ranting & raving about this precious, delicious spice. Well, seriously, it's that good. The alchemy it does when mixed with pork should be illegal. And today I got a new 4-pack in the mail. Oh JOY! Amazon.com, I love you. </div><div> </div><div> </div><br /><div></div>Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-18510687084703591332010-01-30T09:21:00.000-08:002010-01-30T11:12:45.060-08:00AwardsSo last weekend I attended an awards banquet for the dog obedience club I'm a member of. I hadn't bothered to send in my dogs awards for the year. Partially I was too lazy, partially it was during the fog of December, partially while proud of my dogs, I'm not that into titles. The ones that meant the most to me were Zoe's flyball ones, because they were so hard to earn during the first part of her flyball career. Not because she wasn't trying but because of the team we were on. For the rest of the dogs titles came easily, almost too easily. We'll see if Nikki & Betty challenge that trend! In any case I thought I'd post all my dogs titles in a fit of vanity. <br /><br />Zoe 1996 - still kicking - Retired<br />CGC<br />HTD-1sg, RTD-c<br />FD, FDX, FDCH, FDCH-S, FDCH-G, FM, FMX, FMCH, ONYX, FGDCH, FGDCH-4oK<br />TF, TFI, TFII<br />NAC, OAC, NCC, NJC, OJC, TN-N, TG-N, TG-O, WV-N, Novice Versatility Award<br /><br />Ruby 1998 - 2009<br />FD, FDX, FDCH, FDCH-S, FDCH-G, FM, FMX, FMCH, ONYX, FGDCH, FGDCH-40K, FGDCH-50K<br />TF, TFI, TFII, TFIII<br />NAC<br /><br />Jester 2001 - kicking<br />FD, FDX, FDCH, FDCH-S, FDCH-G, FM, FMX, FMCH, ONYX, FGDCH, FGDCH-40K, FGDCH-50K, FGDCH-60K<br />TF, TFI, TFII, TFIII, TFE, TFEI, TFEII, TFEIII<br />NAC, OAC, EAC, NCC, NJC, OJC, EJC, TN-N, TN-O, TN-E, O-TN-E, TG-N, TG-O, TG-E, WV-N, WV-O, HP-N<br /><br />Bridget 2003 - kicking<br />FD, FDX, FDCH, FDCH-S, FDCH-G, FM, FMX, FMCH, ONYX<br />TF, TFI, TFII, TFIII, TFE, TFEI<br />NAC, OAC, NCC, NJC, OJC, EJC, TN-N, TN-O, TN-E, O-TN-E, TG-N, WV-N, WV-O, WV-E<br /><br />Nikki 2009 - in training<br />Betty 2009 - in training<br /><br />And so there they are, all the titles my dogs & I have earned. It represents a lot of time, training, sweat & frustration. It represents friendships, partnerships, and a whole lot of money spent on classes and trials. It's also a bit of a misrepresentation, since typically in flyball you only list the last title earned. But there they are in all their glory. Maybe next year I'll send them in and get them listed in a little booklet for the banquet. But I guess I don't see them as milestones, but as mile markers along the dogs too short journeys with me.<br /><br />BTW, Jacci if you want me to post more you could at least sign up as a follower so I feel like someone's reading my blog :)Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-38832409022590689162010-01-20T15:10:00.000-08:002010-01-20T15:24:31.832-08:00Power FailureI secretly dislike electricity, sure it's nice & all, but today the power was out for about 2 hours. I stayed home from work since I don't have a set schedule and Steve said the roads were treacherous. So I was checking emails, watching bad TV and then blip-blip no power, so no internet, not tv, no noise. It was rather peaceful, and since I had nothing much to do, I took a nice little nap. I was plenty warm w/ 3 dogs snuggled up with me on the couch. It was great, until Nikki brought me a toy and shoved it by my face. She was done napping. But the power outage was a nice chance to listen and to just be. Nothing was distracting me, I couldn't do the things on my to-do list! <br /><br />The ice was pretty, but rain was puddling up in the ice/sleet in front of the garage, so I put on my rubber boots and went outside to make a path for the water to drain off. Then I was less than thrilled with the ice storm. Luckily the building wasn't flooding, but I prepped for the potential by pulling back some mats. Interesting day, hopefully Steve makes it home from work. In the meantime I get to entertain myself by watching the dogs scurry out of the house and then go skidding across the ice. That's just good fun!Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-29731198500944366742010-01-18T12:43:00.000-08:002010-01-18T13:09:35.873-08:00A new yearWell my last year was not ideal, in fact I'll rate it as one of the worst I've had. Aside from my 2 failed attempts at becoming a student, (I shall content myself with 1 degree). My grandma died in February, and then my Dad died unexpectedly in November. September, October, and November seemed like just a fog of sadness. December was just foggy for me mentally. While I'm normally pretty sharp, I found things totally slipping off my mental radar, so if I let yah down, I apologize. I managed to hold up for the Holidays and focused on doing less to make my life a bit less complicated. Maybe I was just maximizing my minimized mental resources. It helped in any case. Now I'm treading water comfortably, and the water is less deep versus flailing around the deep end of the pool!<br />My good intentions for the next year are:<br />To focus more on my family & friends. <br />To train my dogs in a more efficent manner.<br />To not overextend myself, even though I'm really good at overextending!<br />To loose 10 lbs, at least.<br />To give up grudges, anxiety, guilt and all the shit I can't do anything about anyway.<br /><br />Hum, that's plenty of things to work on right.Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6446308591930630772.post-45460341309442957102009-10-17T18:31:00.000-07:002009-10-17T19:31:18.015-07:00The best laid plans...What a day, I'm not sure why today's flyball tournament was rather um, disappointing. The errors were all over the place. I try to put together lineups that can really get clicking, but only 1 of the lineups really rocked consistently all day. Which leaves me disappointed with the lineups I put together. We had such totally random things happen it's hard to pinpoint a particular issue to try to fix or swap dogs. I wonder if we just needed today to shake things out, or do we just need more alcohol. Probably more alcohol.<br />On the bright side I was thrilled with Bridget's performance, she was rocking last night with some 4.6's and 4.7's, and today she ran very strong all day in start position. I wish I knew why small squishy balls are the current cure for her box confidence issues, but thankful that it's working. Also happy she's finally lost weight...a difficult thing to accomplish when she's constantly sneaking food. La la, the best intentions to get your dog trim and in shape are easier said that done. I wonder why the sneaky rat hasn't figured out how to counter surf. Jester's certainly showed her how it's done. Jester didn't run a ton, but he's happy to be out there. It's hard to remember what a complete nut he once was. Time flies for sure. I hope to share a champagne toast to all the canine friends we've lost this past year. Some really great dogs have passed through our lives. Sammy, Ellie, Ruby, Arrow, Amber, such characters. The old dogs remind me of all the fun days of doing flyball. I really miss traveling for tournaments, I don't know that we'll ever do that again. I'm not sure how we lost nearly all interest in traveling, granted money, family, jobs, gas prices etc interfere greatly with that, but I think I'm the only team member who really wants to do lots more flyball. I guess I will have to focus more on agility and savor my memories of flyball days gone by. Ah well, as with all my good intentions, I must actually make sure I follow through on training the pups & reworking Bridget's contacts instead of just blogging about it.Jaynehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17356533946586733897noreply@blogger.com0