Christmas eve 2009, 2-min. dog training tasks

It’s the morning of Christmas Eve and “all through the house, not a creature is sturring, not even a mouse …”

Are you kidding?  I live with 8 dogs, one of which is a 10-month old BC pup!  Right now, as I prepare for the day, he’s enlisted his cronies in a game of wrestling.

Our 10-year-old Dash and 12-year-old Ringer are Kory’s favorite wrestling buddies. I think this says something for the mental maturity of the modern canine, and their capacity to remain puppies forever.

I set up a large, soft, crate near my desk, with plastic on the floor underneath and a heavy plastic sheet inside. I layered a soft quilt and 2 dog beds, hoping to make a great environment for Banner to be comfortable in for these long winter days.

She leaks a good bit and no amount of medicine keeps that from happening if she gets into her water-drinking mode. So I gave in, stopped the meds, and made an old dog playpen for her. She hates it.

On the other hand, the rowdy boys find it’s perfect for a doggy cage match. Two dogs go in, they wrestle, and wrestle, and wrestle, and one comes out (the other one is probably dozing off by now).

So, the dog for whom the environment was designed has to be forced in, and everyone else loves to go in for a quick nap or a long, lazy snooze with a best buddy. There’s plenty of room for 2-3 dogs.

This afternoon we head into town for a Christmas Eve party with my sisters’s family and my Mom. I’m taking the left-over pepperoni rolls from last night’s agility classes, and my blackbean stoup (thanks, Rachel Ray!) which we eat as a dip for corn chips.

Janice, my sister, isn’t planning a big meal, just tons of food strategically placed where folks can get to it. Shooting pool, a couple of beers, some food, and home before dark probably.

Having dogs means never having to say ….. “sure, I can stay as long as you like!”  Potty and feeding schedules keep us from wandering too far afield unless we’ve arranged for a dog-sitter.

One of these days, though, these wonderful old dogs will be gone. We’ll be able to pack up the remaining dogs and be more footloose. In the meantime, heading into 2010, we have three 14-year-old dogs, two 12-year-old dogs, one 10-year-old dog, and two relative youngsters.

The approaching new year has me thinking about goals for 2010. So far I’ve come up with:

1) Get Dash back into Rally training and finish his excellent AKC title.

2) Get Hazard into Rally training at mealtimes and get her entered in her first novice AKC trial.

3) Prepare Hazard for the January 23-24 TDAA trial in Columbus, Ohio.  She needs 13 Superior Standard Qs (4 of which must be first-places) and ONE Games 3 first-place for her TACh3. In the past the first-places have been difficult because we weren’t a solid team yet and Hazard was a bit shut-down on course. She’s coming back to her old self, however, and things are going to get exciting for us, I hope. Vicki and Jackie want to practice Futbol … should be fun!

4) Prepare Hazard and Dash for the February 13-14 NADAC trial in Zanesville, Ohio.  I haven’t done NADAC since Fall 2002, when Dash earned 3 novice titles at 20+ inches. He’s now entered as a Veteran (running 16″) and Hazard debuts in the 8″ novice classes. Bud’s created the hoops and our early training indicated neither dog has a problem understanding their performance of the hoops.

5) Continue working with Kory on little, helpful behaviors that won’t interfere with Bud’s agility training protocols. Last night we worked on “lie down” and “relax,” with Kory quickly figuring out I wanted him to roll onto one hip. We also played the box game and he quickly got his two front feet inside for the click/treat. He’s not quite coordinated enough (and is too large for the box, perhaps) to fit his whole body into the box. Of course, we were playing with the box while agility was going on behind us, so a bit of distraction training as well. For a pup, Kory’s capable of an amazing amount of focus. He’s also capable of figgeting and whirling continuously for what seems a tremendous amount of time.

6) Keep up with my dog-washing schedule. I’ve been quite disappointed with the performance of Frontline Plus this year. I’ve heard it said that our local fleas have built up a tolerance to it.  We had a series of regular rain storms in the spring and summer, so the ground stayed moist. I’ve noticed that it’s not as oily as before so perhaps they’ve altered a good delivery system so that dogs don’t have that oily spot on their shoulders. And we’ve been beseiged with flea-ridden rabbits in the dog yard this year. All in all, a horrible year for fleas and (YUCK!) tapeworms. So I’ve gone old-school — washing dogs, washing bedding, putting down flea powder, vacuuming often, dumping out (or burning) the sweeper bag often, washing more dogs, giving tapeworm meds, applying flea powder, etc.

Time to feed dogs and prepare for my day.  Today I’m going to do some straightening, burning cardboard, picking up recycling that’s blown amuck, cleaning some in the training building for Sunday’s workshop, and bathing Hazard.

2-Min. Dog Trainer – early December chores

Bud’s been out of town doing his judging assignment, attending the NADAC judging clinic, and currently being tested on his NADAC judging skills in Oklahoma.

It’s been an interesting week here and I’m pressing forward on several fronts.

1) Our holiday open house and cookie exchange is next Saturday from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. (Dec.12). 

I actually established this party deadline to force myself to decorate the house for Christmas.  It’s too easy to forego holiday decorations when you work at home. I’ll say to myself, “who am I decorating for?” But then, in late December, with no decorations to lend a festive spirit to the least-light days of the year, the absense of glitter is a bit depressing.

With all the disruptions to my family in the past 3 years we’ll not be hosting the big Martin family get-togethers I envisioned when we moved back home and bought this place but I need to get over that and move on. So I’m decorating.

I’ve got a big tree in the living room with every available piece of tinsel I had (and I had a lot — did I say I’m a magpie?) and a small tree in the bedroom where it can be seen down the long hallway from the dining room. I’ve got 2 trees on the deck with old sleds and wagons stacked nearby. Mom and I hung garland and bows from the deck railing. Even the poop-bag rack has wreaths on it. <g>

Sometime this week I’ll be paying a visit to Mom’s American Holly tree and hacking away enough branches to drape the upper hall railing and the kitchen.

Sidebar — I’ve wanted a holly tree of my own for many years but Bud hates the prickly leaves and the mess they may. Also it’s difficult to transplant the tiny holly trees that spring up under the mother tree. If air touches their roots the little tree will die. And you can’t just plant the seeds — I’m thinking they have to pass through a cedar waxwing to become trees. Also, you actually need a male and a female for the female to bear the red berries, so you need to transplant a lot of little holly trees to get the one you want for the future. So I’ve come up with a plan. I’m going to line with plastic and fill 5-6 medium-sized pots with soil and set them strategically around the seed-drop-zone of Mom’s holly tree. If and when seedlings pop up in these pots I’ll remove them and plant the entire ball of soil. I’ll watch these youngsters and thin them to get the one male and one female I need. Well, that’s the plan anyway. Someone reading this will probably comment on the error of my thinking — my readers are a well-educated and brilliant group — but we’ll see ….

2) Our early-bird discount on 2010 camp registrations ($50 off !!) is  Dec.15, 2009. 

Our mailing for 2010 camp registrations didn’t go out until November 1st, so folks have had just 45 days to put together their camp plans for 2010.

And, like Bud and I, our campers have been busy with other things for the first 30 of those 45 days.

Beginning December 1 I’ve had several requests for spring 2010 dates for private camps and breed-specific camps. Our vision, when we created this dog training resort, was of a group of friends traveling together, sharing cottages, supporting each other in their training efforts, and making an annual event of their agility vacation. I’m convinced our vision has merit in today’s busy world.

In the meantime, most private camp coordinators are choosing a traditional camp format with group training both morning and afternoon, with an option for group meals and private lessons if anyone wants them.

3) Our Thursday night classes for December and January are proving to be interesting from an instructor’s standpoint.

The most interesting class is the masters class. This past Thursday was mine to teach and Bud had provided four sequences.

I think the group was startled when I explained we were going to attempt to do all four sequences. For this group that means starting on time and little or no course-walking. I gave them 1-2 minutes to walk a sequence, then we ran it.

The last sequence of the four was the most challenging, but we spent about 15 minutes on each sequence and ended our class right on time. League play had good attendance Thursday night. I, once again,  managed to NQ Hazard’s run.

Sidebar:  Hazard is gaining confidence in the presence of big dogs and was REALLY ramped up Thursday night. We all laughed as she jumped up in the air in the middle of the dogwalk. It was all terribly exciting from the viewpoint of a little agility dog who had spent an hour hanging out in an ex-pen.

4) Our winter workshops run Dec. 13 and 27, Jan. 10 and 24, Feb. 7 and 28. 

I expected the Thursday night class to take some pressure off the Sunday afternoon workshops. Frankly they were getting too big for our taste and folks were not exhausted at the end of the 4-hour session. They should be exhausted, right?

This week has been a busy time for workshop registrations as well. I’d love to save 2-4 slots in the advanced workshop for folks who aren’t local. The 4-hour workshops are great for maximizing travel expense, and the cottage packages (including overnight stay and private lesson) make for a fun weekend with dogs.

In the meantime, today Mom and Janice and I are mixing cookies for the cookie exchange next weekend and we’re getting our first real snow of the season. I’ve got folks arriving this afternoon for an overnight stay in the red cottage, so I’m heading off through the snow with a load of firewood for the cottage’s woodburner.

We have propane furnaces in each cottage but one of our guests tonight is from North Carolina, and she’s going to find our 30s temps a little chilly, so I thought the woodburner would be an added comfort.

2-Min. Dog Trainer, 50 days of writing

Today I’m beginning 50 days of writing. I’m reworking all the 2-Minute Dog Trainer brochures, converting them to the unfolded, 2-sided, version.

I’m hopeful this will make copying and storing the 2-Minute homework easier.

Additionally, I’m working through the overall structure of the document. I’ve got four categories of handouts, each with its own audience, and I want to enable folks to purchase individual chapters as well as the entire book of handouts.

Basic Obedience, formerly the shelter package, will be enlarged to include more exercises to encourage ongoing training of the family pet.

Sport Foundation package never actually got posted to the webstore. I’ve e-mailed a few copies of this package to our supporters, and have been using the homework for our students, but it’s had limited exposure. I want to expand the sport foundation package to include more agility work, some tracking, some freestyle, and some retrieving (ball-fetching).

Advanced Obedience, the skills covered in Go Rally Training Manual, will have 30+ handouts to accompany the training manual used by instructors.

Advanced Agility, including some of the handout material Bud (Houston) created years ago for our beginner agility classes. The advanced obedience and agility homework handouts will build on the presentation in the sport foundation chapter.

Additionally, I intend to blog each day for the next 50 days. We’re setting up our 2010 camp schedule including instructor’s camp and (perhaps) rally camp. I want to wrap my head around our new “deconstructed” camp price schedule and will be describing different options.

In other news, my sister and her husband drove to her son’s new home in Martinsburg, WV, for Thanksgiving. Bud left for a judging assignment in Jacksonville, FL.

That left Mom and I on our own for Thanksgiving and we decided to help serve dinner to local folks at Norwood United Methodist Church. Norwood is a neighborhood in Marietta where my parents lived for a year or two, over 50 years ago — that is so hard to absorb.

I’ve seen pictures of myself somewhere around ages one or two, dressed for Easter, in the front yard of a house in Norwood. By the time I was three we’d moved to another rental property. By the time I was four we’d bought a house in Williamstown, WV.

I’m trying to picture a world in which I would be moving every year with FOUR children. This must  have been an exhausting time for my Mom. When they finally moved into the house they purchased she was 9 months pregnant and actually went into labor with her fifth (and last) child as the family was moving. Sheesh ….

Today I’m housebound, catching up on chores. I’ve also trimmed Kory’s toenails and helped him relax during that process. He was actually very good, enjoying the belly rubs that occurred during the grooming session. He’s actually acting more and more like an adult dog.

2-minute dog trainer, last camp of 2009

Today we start the first day of the last camp of 2009!

This camp is followed by about 3 weeks of frenetic travel for Bud including two 3-day trials, a NADAC judging clinic, and 3 days of NADAC judges testing. He’ll be flying from here to Kansas City, home, then to Florida, then to Texas, and finally home again in early December.

Because of his busy schedule in the next month I decided to have him bring the big Christmas tree from the basement. My Mom and sister helped me assemble it and get most of the lights working.

This tree came with the house. No one in my family wanted it, so it stayed with the house for which it was purchased.

It’s a pain in the butt, frankly. I decided about 5 years ago to not buy “pre-lit” trees anymore. When one light goes a whole branch goes. The manufacturers give you all these instructions and extra light bulbs, but who in their right mind is going to try to follow the cords on a 300-light tree to find the one bulb causing all the problems.

What most folks do, of course, is buy a cheap strand of lights and add them to the tree. So wouldn’t it just be easier to buy the tree and the lights separately? That way, when a string of lights is broken you just replace them, rather than leaving them on the tree and adding more lights.

Anyway, bottom line, it’s November 15th and I think I’ve broken all my previous records by actually having my Christmas tree up in the living room. I even had it lit for a few hours yesterday, just for kicks.

Our campers arrived before dark so they didn’t notice the lit tree in the living room. They’ll see it tonight when they come to dinner. Their comments will be interesting.

This group of campers are all friends and most of the dogs working in this camp will be Brittanys. One camper’s aussie injured himself 2 weeks ago (chasing a cat and ran into a framed picture leaning against a wall — I have aussies, so I can picture the lack of impulse control that started the whole scenario).

She’ll be working a Houston loaner dog, my 9-1/2-year-old Dash. I still think of him as a youngster but I’ll have to keep an eye pealed to any signs of exhaustion on his part.

With only 4 dogs working in camp they’re sure to get a lot of work. On Tuesday, with evening classes coinciding with camp dinner, we’re going to give our 2010 camp schedule a test run.

Our 2009 schedule is all group training — 9-to-noon and 2-to-5 — with dinner at 6:00.

Our 2010 schedule is part group training — 9-to-noon — then private lessons or small groups — 1-to-5 — followed by an optional group meal at 6:00 p.m.

I’m really intrigued with the idea of being able to deconstruct the elements of a camp and allow folks to pick the events they want.

By pricing camps as components a 2010 camper may choose to do 2 or 3 days of a 4-day camp with their friends. They may, as a group, choose to fix their own meals in one of the cottages rather than coming to the log house for dinner.

And they may choose to join our Tuesday night classes and league play while here as well.

This Tuesday, with classes from 6-8:30 p.m. coinciding with campers dinner, we’re going to test out the 2010 camp schedule.

We’ll work group exercises from 9-to-noon, take a 1-hour break, then have either private lessons (friends are welcome to stay, videotape, take notes, whatever) until 4, take a short break, and meet for dinner before classes.

I’m looking forward to a busy month, followed by winter with lots of writing projects (including all the 2-Minute Dog Training homework for “Go Rally Training Manual”), some dog training, lots of swimming, and a few evening classes and workshops.

I’ll be reporting in DogSports magazine the results of my sport foundation training class. Hickory (aka “Kory”) will be my primary guinnea pig, though Hazard is going to be learning obedience and rally through the winter as well.

The 2-Minute dog trainer, retrieves

Bud and I spent 4 hours yesterday morning in the parking lot of a local Tractor Supply store, talking to people about dog training and handing out our brochures.

Things started out slowly. Then, in an effort to get Hazard into the warm sun, I set her sherpa bag on the table and let Hazard curl up with her face to the crowd.

From that moment on we were mobbed by people and kids. Note to self — if you want to draw attention put a dog in a box where people can see her. <g>

We took 3 dogs and all of them had a great time.  Hazard got all sorts of petting and attention. She came out of her sherpa bag for kids and, as soon as they were done with her, whirled around and darted back into her safe zone.

Dash, my 9-year-old aussie, slept for the first hour on the back seat of the Tahoe. Then, when he heard a pack of kids, he hopped out and made the rounds. His next few hours were filled with schmoozing and butt scratches, occasionally returning to the comfy interior of the truck. Dash had some bad experiences with kids in the past, so I’m pleased to see that he’s finally feeling more confident around them. Perhaps it was the knowledge that he could always retreat to the truck that enabled him to be so brave and outgoing.

Kory, Bud’s BC youngster, spent much of his time lying quietly in a crate in the back of the truck. Bud got him out often for some walks and retrieval work, and Kory got his share of attention from the kids.

When we’re working with a young dog I always keep a mental post-it-note of “what is most important for him to learn today.” This is part of the 2-minute dog trainer philosophy, by the way, that each interaction with a dog is a learning experience for that dog as well as for us.

Kory’s most important lesson yesterday, and his biggest success, was to stay in the crate with us nearby and to refrain from tearing up his bedding.

He also got to work on retrieving with Bud though I must say, proudly, that Dash is the retrieving king in our house.

When my first competition dog, Banner (now nearly 14 years old) was beginning her obedience career I was learning about positive reinforcement training methods. She learned to heel using Dawn Jecs “choose to heel” methods, eating treats and working without a choke or prong collar.

My training path separated from the AKC obedience club with which I was training and Banner earned her CD without much assistance or support from our instructors. I was determined to find another way than the one I’d seen at our weekly training sessions.

I taught my old girl, Banner, to retrieve 13 years ago using Sue Sternberg’s Inducive Retrieve method. A friend gave me a little brochure containing Sue’s typed instructions and her hand-drawn illustrations. Sue has since created a new brochure which is much fancier than the original photocopied version, with pictures instead of drawings, available at http://www.greatdogproductions.com/ppp/images/InduciveRetrieve.jpg

During the time I was training Banner to retrieve my club’s training followed one of two paths — the ear pinch or the collar twist. In our open class our instructor began dumbell work with “hold, hold, hold,” fingers clamped over the dog’s mouth.

Having taken ownership of my dog’s training in novice class I felt comfortable taking a separate path in open as well. I read Sue’s brochure and began training in little 5-minute increments at home.

In class, while everyone else was learning how to force the dumbell into their dog’s mouth, Banner and I went into a corner where we worked on the inducive retrieve.

At the end of 8 weeks my classmates were able to have their dog sitting in heel position holding the dumbell, mostly. Banner, on the other hand, could fetch the dumbell and return to front, holding the dumbell, giving it to me.

It was shocking to my instructors. Their response was the same tired response we hear today when we train with rewards instead of punishment, “what do you do if she refuses to pick up the dumbell?”

My response was, “she’s never refused to pick it up!   Why would she?  She is constantly rewarded for returning the dumbell to me, so the toughest part of the exercise is staying by me while the dumbell is tossed.”

At a monthly meeting the club asked for a demonstration of the method and I decided to make it a real test of inducive over forced retrieve. If their real question had to do with my response to a refusal, I needed to demonstrate that a refusal wasn’t likely, and that a refusal was a result of confusion, not willful disobedience, and should be met with encouragement, not force.

At the outdoor picnic meeting I turned a very excited Banner (I was, afterall, holding her dumbell!) away from the group and had a friend hide her dumbell near a member’s feet, under a table. I turned Banner back toward the crowd and told her “take it!”

Banner ran away from me and searched for the dumbell. She didn’t stop for petting, attention, or food. She searched and searched, occasionally looking back to make sure I was still waiting for her. I kept smiling and encouraging her.

After about 90 seconds of searching she dived onto her dumbell and ran as fast as she could back to me. It was the first time I got that thrill of having a demo dog do exactly what was expected. <g>  My first “I told you so” moment.

Jaws dropped. I hadn’t repeated the command, hadn’t restarted my dog, had just given her encouragement and continued smiling at her. Her drive to find the dumbell was created by the rewards I’d been giving her for bringing it back to me.

Bud and Kory have been working on a play retrieve so yesterday, in the tractor supply parking lot, I encouraged Bud to go to the inducive foundation work.

Within 30 minutes Kory was not only chasing the dumbell, but picking it up and returning to Bud with it. I doubt if Bud will ever want an obedience retrieve, he just wants a fetch for agility training, so there was no real need for the front-and-give dumbell work.

But I’m thinking that, with the foundation training being put in place, an obedience retrieve isn’t far off for this youngster, if either of us are so inclined.

Sport Foundation homework, 2-min dog trainer

We begin our sport foundation class tonight and I’ve chosen three topics for training and homework:  Heeling (my version of Dawn Jecs “choose to heel” program), stand/stay, and start-line stay.

There will be 2-minute dog training homework handouts for each of these skills by 5pm today.

I’m planning to work Hazard in this sport foundation class, let her be my demo dog and get used to being brave around strange dogs. Everyone should be on-lead, so there’s little danger to Hazard in this 6-7pm class.

Following sport foundation class is our Tuesday league play. I’m encouraging EVERYONE from the sport foundation class to join in league play.

There will be some folks who just stay and watch, I’m sure, as we’ll have a couple of beginner agility dogs in our foundation class.

I put the Tuesday night schedule in place with Hickory and Bud, as well as Hazard and Marsha in mind. It’s SO easy to develop instructor syndrome (the instructor’s dog never gets worked) or private lesson syndrome (the instructor’s dog always works in an empty building with no other dogs to provide stimulation and distraction).

The two syndromes result in a dog who attends their first trial with two strikes against them:  1) they’re under-trained and lack the hundreds of hours of foundation training that leads to a good first experience in the show ring,  and  2) they’re over-stimulated and unused to the carnival atmosphere of the trial site.

Tonight’s class will be an investment in our young dogs’ agility and obedience careers and I hope our students get as much out of it as we will.

League play will be our first C-Wags agility session for 2009. I’ve handed out some dog registration forms but will need a dozen-or-so more forms for new students tonight.

When dogs are registered with C-Wags the organization will begin tracking Qs and titles, and providing certificates for achievement.

We’re charging a whopping $5 per run starting tonight. Part of that fee will be passed on to C-Wags. Students will pay for their scribe sheet, add their dogs’ names and C-Wags numers (or “pending” if applicable), and hand the scribe sheet to the scribe before their run.

This is a new experience for us but I believe these weekly matches will be good practice for me, in preparation for our first actual C-Wags trials in 2010 (dates to be determined).

We’ve been a C-Wags club for a year or so now but haven’t put together a trial committee, established set dates, applied for trial weekends, etc.

Now that C-Wags offers obedience, rally, AND agility, it becomes a weekend certainly worthy of our attention.

Hopefully our students will agree …

In other news, DogSport magazine is featuring lots of coverage of the TDAA Nationals, our 2009 Petit Prix in Racine, WI, in the upcoming issue.

Additionally they’re creating an on-line forum for trainers and instructors (students as well, I’m sure) who are interested in discussing dog training.  The link is: 

http://www.dogsportmagazine.com/?p=658  

I’ll be posting about our sport foundation class, as well as bits of information from our new Thursday night masters classes. An interesting new way of distributing information!

New camp plan for 2010, new weeknight classes

Bud and I talked on the way to and from Wisconsin about revising our camp program to answer the needs (both time-wise and money-wise) of agility enthusiasts.

Since 1999 we’ve done camps as “package deals.” Like seminars or workshops, the camper paid a flat fee and everyone got the same product. Four days of agility, 6 hours a day, plus a meal, accommodations extra whether campers stayed in a motel or stayed in our cottages.

I’m convinced that today’s agility exhibitor wants more flexibility. Our 2010 camps are going to be sold as components, with every camper getting to customize their training experience.

Instead of having 6-7 people check in on Sunday night for a Monday-through-Thursday camp, some people will arrive Sunday, some perhaps Monday, some may leave on Tuesday, some stay until Friday, etc.

Instead of having accommodations be a block fee it will be based on the number of nights you need a bed.

Instead of assuming everyone wants to attend a group dinner in the evening we’ll offer that as an option and let people opt in or out of group meals.

The biggest problem is probably going to be explaining this system to folks.

For example, in order to give Bud some sort of regular schedule during camps we’ll keep the morning (9am to noon) group session. If folks want to participate in that group training the cost is $35 per dog.

Beginning at 1pm we’ll have 1-hour blocks set aside for private lessons. Cost will be $65/hour. Friends training and traveling together may bundle their private lessons and turn them into a group event.

A camper may choose to arrive Monday, have a private lesson Monday evening, attend the group session Tuesday morning, have a private lesson Tuesday afternoon, attend a group dinner Tuesday evening, work 2 dogs in the group session Wednesday morning, have another private lesson Wednesday afternoon and depart for home.  This example would cost $290 ($40/night for bed x2, $35/group class x2, $65/private lesson x2, $10/meal x1).

Another camper might want to do the full package — 4-5 nights in a bed, all 4 morning sessions, 4 private lessons, 4 group meals, depart on Friday morning.  This example would cost $640 ($40/night for bed x 5, $35/group class x 4, $65/private lesson x 4, $10/meal x 4).

Additionally, we’re rethinking the entire deposit process. We’ve gone from a $100 deposit in 1999 to a $200 deposit in 2009. We’re going to roll back the deposit to $100, and give a $25 bonus to early-bird registrants (before 12/15/09). We’ve offered this discount before, but the discount was always off the balance due rather than the deposit. Now, if you register early, your deposit is only $75.

Deposits will still be non-refundable, but transferrable (portable) once in the calendar year. So, if you put a deposit in early for a week in May and have to move it to June you’re not penalized.

This lower deposit will reflect the decrease in camp fees paid by folks wanting 2-3 days of vacation. Instead of making all our camps weekday camps we’ll also be doing some long weekend camps — Friday through Monday.

I’d really like to see a camp season where every day sees campers arriving and campers departing, and every one of them getting a customized vacation.

This will complicate my “chambermaid” duties a little, but there might be a time when your clean sheets are folded neatly on top of your mattress, rather than having every bed pre-made and sitting ready for you.

Most camps will become a bit “free-form.” No real roster, people coming and going, groups growing and shrinking.

However, we’re going to put our THEMED camps again, with topics including distance, foundation training, teacup, masters, and novice.

We’ll also be encouraging breed-specific camp registration … how fun to train with 4-5 others who share your love of your special breed!

While we’re rethinking the whole camp process we’re also instituting weeknight classes. When we moved here we swore off weeknight classes but they’ve gradually crept back into our schedule.

On Tuesday evenings we’re expecting a flexible and ever-changing group of people and dogs. We’ll start the evening with a 6-7pm foundation training class with homework from my 2-Minute Dog Trainer protocols. At 7pm we’ll break off to be briefed for the week’s game, walk and run the game. At 7:30pm Bud or I will teach a sequencing class, probably based on the league course and the challenges it presented. Cost per event, per class, per dog, is $5 — pay-as-you-play.

On Thursday evenings we’ve sold class slots in a 6-7 masters handling class, followed by a 7pm league play (same course as Tuesdays), followed by a 7:30 intermediates-to-advanced handling class. Cost is $35/month regardless on whether there are 4-or-5 Thursdays, with no make-ups for bad weather, and no prorating (that means, if you join for the last 2 weeks of the month the cost is still $35 to claim that slot).

We’re looking for students on Thursday nights who are serious about doing homework and seeing improvement.

We’re hoping that the Thursday night classes will take some of the pressure off the Sunday afternoon workshops. When Bud’s here we’re able to do split group work but his travel schedule has him gone for 1-2 workshops per quarter. By myself I’m hard-pressed to wear out 12 handlers and their dogs.

We going to adding THEMES as a training option for the Sunday workshops as well including, teacup, distance, masters, etc.

We’re eager to see how all these changes will play out with customers, campers, and students.

An interesting thing about being judged

Once you reconcile to the fact that you will be judged, to your face and behind your back, then the only questions become,  1) is the person doing the judging cognizant of all the facts? and  2) is the person doing the judging a peer to whom I must answer?

I wanted to record here, for posterity, an e-mail I received from a total stranger. In an attempt to judge me behind my back, Lori accidentally posted the comment to my e-mail address only. Ohhhh the horrors of e-mail. Can’t snatch ’em back, can’t delete them, they’re out there forever. And, once a message is sent to an address, the recipient owns it.

Lori’s accidental post to me read, “Why is Marsha still on HSOV   I think a Anyone that DUMPS their own dog at the shelter should have their name reMoved. Sent from my iPhone”

When I let her know her post had come just to me, and informed her that the adoption agreement I signed with HSOV 2 years ago stated that Blue must be returned to HSOV if she didn’t work out in my home, I received this judgement from Lori ….

“Marsha, I’ve not met you, you’re correct in you don’t know me. I did know who the email was from, it was obvious from your blatant advertisement regarding agility training at the bottom of it. What I didn’t realize was that you were the ONLY person I was replying to in the email.

I’d like to clarify what it is that bothers me.  I know what the contract says and you’re right…you did as the adoption contract requires, for that I applaud you. However, I also know that EVERY animal that comes out of that shelter is hoping to find it’s “FOREVER’ home, not a home that will keep it until ‘something better’ comes along as in the case of the dog you returned.

I have had dogs that fight, I have been bitten numerous times by dogs I foster or my own when they were in a fight. They still have forever homes, I would no sooner ‘return’ or give up one of my dogs than I would a child that has ‘issues’.  I take the time, and have the patience to work through the issues unless they are ‘unworkable’ (I’ve had only one that was unworkable and it was a foster that ate it’s 9 week old babies and tried to attack me when I went in to remove the last living baby). 

As a trainer, I would have thought you would have been willing to work through whatever issue you felt Blue had and if you couldn’t then you should have sought the help of a trainer that had the experience to work through it. If I were looking for a trainer for my dogs (I’m not, I already have an excellent one) I would not use one that I knew returned their own dog because they couldn’t or wouldn’t work with it.  I had heard that Blue had many certificates in agility which also makes me wonder even more why he was ‘returned’ as he obviously is a very intelligent dog.

Again, it’s just my opinion, I speak only for myself.  But I don’t feel that someone who adopts and then returns an animal to a shelter is stable enough to adopt again, nor be associated with the group they represent and returned their dog to at the same time.  If your association with the shelter is monetary, I’m sure they’re grateful for your donation, if you spend hours volunteering, I’m sure they’re grateful for your help. Please continue both donation and hours as the HSOV needs that kind of help.

 Shelters and rescues need the animals to go to forever homes, not have a revolving door back to them…it’s too expensive in emotional commitments and money and time to not have adopters you can count on for forever homes.

Just for my own closure I’m going to respond to a few of Lori’s points in this blog posting. I hope to address some of my disagreements with commonly-held beliefs, and also some of the social graces lacking in today’s youth. To repeat Lori’s letter, interrupted with my insertions this time …

“Marsha, I’ve not met you, you’re correct in you don’t know me. I did know who the email was from, it was obvious from your blatant advertisement regarding agility training at the bottom of it. What I didn’t realize was that you were the ONLY person I was replying to in the email.

Time to get out the directions for that Blackberry, huh?   Yes, advertising is blatant. And I’m guilty of advertising. We run a business.

I’d like to clarify what it is that bothers me.  I know what the contract says and you’re right…you did as the adoption contract requires, for that I applaud you. However, I also know that EVERY animal that comes out of that shelter is hoping to find it’s “FOREVER’ home, not a home that will keep it until ‘something better’ comes along as in the case of the dog you returned.

Anthropomorphism at it’s finest. Dogs hoping for forever homes. The resting place of the purist. Well, sorry, but my 13-year-olds were hoping to get to retire without being beat up every day. My dogs were hoping to not have Blue’s teethmarks on their muzzles.  Most troubling in this is Lori’s contention that I kept Blue until “something better” came along. She’s ignorant of the fact that Blue was going to be my agility and obedience dog. That no one could replace her. I’ve no idea what other dog came along to displace Blue. Right now I’m without a performance dog.

I have had dogs that fight, I have been bitten numerous times by dogs I foster or my own when they were in a fight. They still have forever homes, I would no sooner ‘return’ or give up one of my dogs than I would a child that has ‘issues’.  I take the time, and have the patience to work through the issues unless they are ‘unworkable’ (I’ve had only one that was unworkable and it was a foster that ate it’s 9 week old babies and tried to attack me when I went in to remove the last living baby). 

Lori doesn’t get real specific here about just what happens to her foster dogs (must assume she doesn’t keep every foster) or dogs that eat their own babies. Either she does work through every issue or she does not. It sounds as if, at some point on the continuum of behavior, Lori chooses to cut her losses and remove the dog from her home. If she fosters she may even choose her own pack over the foster dog, putting the good of the many over the good of the one. We’re left with more questions than answers.

As a trainer, I would have thought you would have been willing to work through whatever issue you felt Blue had and if you couldn’t then you should have sought the help of a trainer that had the experience to work through it. If I were looking for a trainer for my dogs (I’m not, I already have an excellent one) I would not use one that I knew returned their own dog because they couldn’t or wouldn’t work with it.  I had heard that Blue had many certificates in agility which also makes me wonder even more why he was ‘returned’ as he obviously is a very intelligent dog.

Blue was a “she,” so I’m even more convinced than ever that Lori has never met Blue and is making a blanket judgement on me without getting all the facts. Dog trainers are no different from other dog people. Just because we train dogs doesn’t mean we’re more able to maintain a stable of fractious, dangerous dogs. My belief is that Blue’s perfect, “forever,” home is waiting out there for her. Keeping Blue put my pack at risk and kept her from ever finding the perfect home. Whether Lori feels I’m a poor dog trainer is of no consequence to me. In my heart I know I do what I can, more than most folks, to ensure that dogs are healthy, cared-for, loved, and cherished — whether they’re in my home or in a student’s home.

Again, it’s just my opinion, I speak only for myself.  But I don’t feel that someone who adopts and then returns an animal to a shelter is stable enough to adopt again, nor be associated with the group they represent and returned their dog to at the same time.  If your association with the shelter is monetary, I’m sure they’re grateful for your donation, if you spend hours volunteering, I’m sure they’re grateful for your help. Please continue both donation and hours as the HSOV needs that kind of help.

An interesting bit of adoption information is that “open adoptions,” as practiced by many shelters including HSOV, are designed to eliminate just this sort of judgement on adopters. The rule of thumb for shelters is this — you adopt a dog or cat and, if it works out that’s perfect — if it doesn’t work out please return it to us so we can try again. The most important lesson I’ve learned in the last 20 years (and clearly a lesson Lori has yet to learn) is that there is no home that is perfect for all dogs, and that there is no dog that is perfect for my home. There are project dogs, there are lovely dogs, and there are dangerous dogs. Each relies on a situation to create either bad news or good news.

Open adoptions are designed to ensure that dogs are not dumped on back roads, shot in the head, or confined to a pen for eternity. Open adoptions allow people to give a dog another chance, in another environment, in  another home, without being labeled “unstable.”

So Lori considers me unstable, though is willing to back-pedal and accept, on behalf of the organization for whom she clearly does not speak, my donations of time and money.

 Shelters and rescues need the animals to go to forever homes, not have a revolving door back to them…it’s too expensive in emotional commitments and money and time to not have adopters you can count on for forever homes.

Again with the blanket statements. All warm and fuzzy, with no real content. Blue went to the Ohio Cell Dog program, to be trained by an inmate who may have a life-changing experience with this brilliant little girl. This inmate may decide that his or her life is worthwhile, that improvement is possible, and that the future holds promise. The people who adopt Blue from the program may provide her with the one-on-one home life Blue so needs. Blue’s brilliant obedience and agility behaviors may influence them to continue her training, thus moving them into the world of “dog people.” Hopefully all this will happen without the judgements of the ignorant and/or pure.

The final message with which I’d like to leave the Lori’s of the world is this … before you judge someone  1) put yourself in their shoes,  2) decide if you’re really qualified to judge them,  3) examine your own life,  4) determine if this is how you would wish to be treated, and  5) be as kind to people as you would be to an animal.

In the end we’ll all be judged on how we treated others in our lives. Were we kind?  Did we do unto others as we would have them do unto us?  Were we encouraging, or did our holier-than-thou attitudes create a sense of anger or inferiority in others?

for the love of Red, our hard day

Today is Red’s last day. I’m trying to make it special, trying to let her know that she was loved deeply by her family. I’m also trying to think of all our options and make sure the choice to euthanize Red is the right one.

Red came to us four years ago with baggage. The details are unknown. By ten months of age Red was already an accomplished fence fighter due to a natural propensity and, probably, due as well to her breeder’s dog management system.

My purchase of Red was a mistake. Could her life have been better without my intervention? Perhaps.

If Red had been purchased by a woman who stayed at home 24/7, who lived on 100 acres with cows and sheep, and who trained softly her life would have been lovely.

If, on the other hand, she had gone to a man, to a person who worked outside the home, who practiced herding or trained intermittently, or who punished to modify behavior, Red’s life would have been worse.

In many ways we gave Red the best four years possible for us. We could certainly have done more and I’ll forever carry with me the knowledge that I failed Red in some way.

But the baggage she brought to our home at 10 months of age proved to be too heavy a burden over time. And now she has to go, and I have to take her to her final destination.

The thought of someone beating or punishing Red to alter her inate behavior is beyond consideration. It’s impossible to think about simply rehoming her, knowing that someone will be hurt and someone will have to make this same hard decision.

For two years I’ve recognized that Red had problems we could not solve. In addition to the elusive physical issues, Red displayed symptoms of mental illness. Whether these were treatable anxieties, or clinical insanity, we’ll never know.

Though purchased to be an obedience and agility dog, Red became a stay-at-home companion who accompanied me on all my cottage visits, sneaked out of the yard to wait for me by the road when I went swimming, jumped the fence to accompany me on mowing tasks, and went insane.

Though it sounds horrible, I must say good riddance to the attacker of the aged and infirm dogs in her pack. But also a loving goodbye and be at peace to the sweet Red who woke me every morning with a gentle nudge of her prematurely gray muzzle and happy trails to the wiggle-butt who clearly loved me more than life itself.

Dear Red, please don’t make a pain in the ass of yourself at the rainbow bridge. Your great-grandmother, Belva Woodburn, is my guardian angel and will sit with you. I’ll be there before you know it.  All my love, Mom

the dog leash, part 2

Some random observations which may later be compiled into a handout or paper for students.

I believe the leash is the most over-used and miss-used piece of equipment in the dog-training universe. It has at least three working parts:  1) the handle, designed to fit over or into the human hand,  2) the length of material, designed to determine the distance from the owner the dog can comfortably travel,  and  3) the collar around the dog’s neck, or the attachment to an existing collar around the dog’s neck, designed to control the part of the dog nearest the brain.

First, the handle for the human hand should be defined and assigned limitations. 

The leash handle is not supposed to hurt your hand, so those decorative leashes with such a tight weave that the edges cut into your fingers should be left on the rack at the discount store. Same for the leashes with leather handles and chain instead of fabric. About 10% of my basic obedience students show up with horribly painful (for the handler) leashes.

For my own dogs I prefer a heavy leash easily grasped by my fingers, soft cotton or leather. I’ve used rubber leash-handle inserts which keep fingers from being crushed and those are great for those wild-assed-shelter-dog walking episodes.

The leash in the human hand, more importantly, is not meant to harm the dog. Some of the behavior associated with the human hand and the leash handle includes:  1) the cheap shot, where the dog is standing next to their human, looking at activity in their environment, and receives a jerk to the neck as their first or only cue to pay attention to the human,  2) constant pressure, where the dog never gets to make the right choice of walking nicely beside the human because the leash is forever taut and controlling,  3) too many choices, where the dog is permitted to make all the decisions as to where the team will go, how fast, and whose space they’ll invade,  4) too rarely used, where the dog meanders off lead while the leash hangs from the human hand or sits on the kitchen counter, allowing the dog to poop in the neighbor’s yard, hike its leg on our rally obedience signs, or generally wreak havoc with the property of others,  5) walking calmly as a team, with the dog enjoying interaction with the environment but attentive to the movement of the human.

Second, the length of material between the leash handle and the dog’s neck should be defined and assigned limitations.

The length of material is meant to limit the area occupied by the dog, so an invasion of the personal space of other people or other dogs is controlled and calculated by the human part of the team. A flexi-lead, made of 10-15-feet of cord, allows the dog to invade more space than is prudent or safe. Also, that 10-15-feet of cord is incredibly dangerous and painful if it manages to wrap around your leg, ankle, or fingers while you attempt to extract yourself. Flexi’s should be outlawed at trials and are, generally, not permitted in our building. I actually own one, specifically for walking young dogs around motel parking lots, but most folks use them as a method for allowing their dog to poop in a spot where they can’t find it to pick it up. <g>

Additionally, that length of material shouldn’t be so short that the dog’s front feet are pulled off the ground. I watch conformation dogs gait down and back the ring and notice how “light on their feet” the dogs appear to be.  Seriously, those handlers are holding that line so taut and high that the dog’s front feet are barely touching the floor. Being judged on movement? Well just pull the leash up so hard that the dog’s feet aren’t weight-bearing and you show true movement, right?

With my dogs I prefer a 6-foot lead so they can walk as a group without getting under my feet.

The length of material, more importantly, is not meant to harm the dog or human. Some of the behavior associated with the length of material includes:  1)  humans wrapping the leash around and around and around their hands so that the dog, originally on a 6-foot leash and having 6-feet worth of choices, now has no choice but to be dragged about,  2) humans injuring their hands by wrapping the leash around their fingers so that every pull by the dog results in a crushed finger,  3) dogs circle the human legs creating a trip hazard, or 4) dogs put their front and/or rear legs through the leash loop, making the walk stop and making their human reach down to fix the tangled leash.

Third, the slip collar or attachment to the dog’s neck should be defined and assigned limitations.

It should not kill or maim the dog. It should not cause the dog to get caught on agility equipment, fencing, or any other element of their environment. It should include some sort of identification if the dog is visiting a strange place and if there’s a chance the dog might get lost. The slip collar or attachment shouldn’t be buried so deep in the dog’s coat that it takes longer to detach the leash than it does to run an agility course. A slip lead or infinite slip collar should not ever be left on the dog when unsupervised, or when the dog is not in training with a human. The possibility for injury or death always exists with an unlimited slip collar.

With my dogs I prefer a 6-foot lead attached to a martingale (limited slip) collar which is removed when the dog runs agility. Kory has a really neat collar made by Canine Buddy (“A professional lead for everyone”) which has a woven martingale neck-piece, attached to a rubberized “shock absorber” collar tightener, both of which get attached to a regular clip leash. (www.caninebuddy.com)

The collar around the dog’s neck, more importantly, is not meant to harm or kill the dog. Some of the behavior associated with the dog’s collar includes:  1) use of a choke chain or prong collar (aka “pinch” collar) and jerking the dog’s head, regardless of prudent training methodologies recommended by the manufacturer’s of these devices,  2) leaving fixed collars too tight or too loose, allowing the dog to slowly strangle or allowing the dog to slip out and disappear,  3) putting slip chains on puppies or adult dogs as their full-time apparel, leading to countless deaths by strangulation every year. (I once witnessed a treasured black lab puppy put in a vehicle for a nap and found, an hour later, strangled with his own choke chain. So very, very sad.)

In other news — Erica is right — the 2-Minute Dog Training homework handouts for Go Rally Training Manual should be single sheets, front and back, with 3-hole punch potential, rather than landscape-style brochures.