Obedience Skills

So this time last year I decided to take a step back from competing.  Stella had just turned two and we had achieved our Rally Advanced title but we had a long way to go mentally before we ventured into an obedience trial.  I have a picture in my head of what I want us to look like in the ring.  The exercises are necessary but attitude and engagement are what is most important to me. We are slowly working towards that picture and I have a very loose goal of entering late fall for our novice obedience.

While we work towards that goal we are also having a blast working ahead on the open and utility exercises.  I have been taking courses at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy and  I really like them.  I have a real life trainer that could easily teach me these exercises but I love learning about training so I like learning on-line and then working through how to apply it to Stella.  I can then work with my trainer friend and she helps keep me in line when I totally do stupid things :). 

One of the trainers I respect and enjoy following is Hannah Branigan.  She has a great DVD set on Obedience "FUNdamentals"  and teaches on line Obedience Skill Building Classes at FDSA.  She is also a Karen Pryor Academy faculty member and I got a chance to see her in January at Clicker Expo.  One of her clicker expo seminars was on "Breaking it Down" to build up exercises that our dogs understand fluently and enjoy doing. When thinking about training she wants us to be aware of our priorities.  Emotional State should be first, followed by engagement and only then can we train behaviours.   When training for competition we should start with concepts then work on skills and with those it is an easy transition to working on the actual exercises. Concepts include things like teaching dogs how to offer behaviour (operant conditioning), impulse control, speed, body awareness, focus, distance work and stimulus control.  Skills include things like targeting, jumping, retrieving, platforms, positions etc.  All her stuff is taught without force and with both the dog and handler having fun!

Hannah is great at breaking down all the exercises into little easy to manage and fun pieces.  Splitting allows focus on one thing at a time which reduces errors and frustration.  Drilling exercises is boring for both dog and handler so breaking it down lets us work pieces and makes it easy to troubleshoot problems before putting it all back together.   It helps us to isolate our challenges and identify areas where our dogs have weaknesses.

I SUCK at splitting and planning which is one of the reasons I am enjoying the on line courses at FDSA.  I find the working spots very useful as I video and review my sessions a lot more than I would without.  I have taken Obedience Skill Building 2 at bronze and 3 & 4 as gold working spots with Hannah and really like the results I am seeing.  Hannah walks us through series of skills that build on each other until you wind up with competition level exercises through to utility.  Stella is easily frustrated so breaking things down has helped both of us a lot in learning all these exercises.  There is a range of skill levels in the courses and Hannah  is very patient, encouraging and has great feedback when critiquing our videos.   She has made me more aware of back chaining, reward placement and is very helpful in keeping the exercises fun for the dog.  She is also good at busting the handlers on their unwanted body cues and movements.

I am very excited that I will also get to work with Hannah this fall when she comes to Vancouver, BC for a three day seminar!  It will be covering obedience materials "beyond fundamentals" and I am looking forward to it.  I know a few friends how attended her seminar in Oregon and they really enjoyed it.

This video is a mish-mash of working through a few of the exercises.

Ob-ility

Oh my dawg, where have the last two months gone!  Life has been very busy as we have just downsized my mother to a smaller house from the huge house that I grew up in.  Thankfully that it almost done now so life can get back to a more normal.

I have also been having great fun recently with dog training.  Stella and I have been enjoying more on-line courses with the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy plus I got to attend the APDT conference which was five days full of all sorts of wonderful dog trainers (Ken Rameriz, Denise Fenzi, Nicole Wilde, Ian Dunbar etc.).  It has been lots of stuff to learn that I now need to blog about :).

First up was the fact that we participated in August/September as a online working spot (video submissions) for Ob-ility with Denise Fenzi.  This is from the course description:

"But...what IS Ob-ility?  In the teaching phases, Ob-ility is simply a way of breaking the exercises down so that the movement parts of the exercises are separated from the other parts - this makes the work a lot more fun and "flowing" for the dog. "

Stella is not a "high-drive" dog.  She might be different if we were working in agility or field stuff but overall she is not one of those dogs that just loves to work.  She does however find movement and play reinforcing so this type of training helps me to put some fun for both of us into traditional obedience.  It has a great side benefit of helping build duration to training periods without needing to use a lot of regular rewards.

The basics of ob-ility (fly, thru)  build into the higher level obedience exercises.  Fly is used to eliminate stay positions which keeps up energy and allows lots of repetition in short time frames.  Recalls, go-outs, drop on recall, broad jump, directed jumping can all be modified to be done "ob-ility style".

I have seen good carry over so far with added in the finishing parts needed to compete in the ring.  We are still a long way from competing in formal obedience but it feels good to get some of these foundations in such a fun way.

Here is video of Stella and I training for some of the ob-ility course lessons:

We are currently a working spot for "Bridging the Gap" at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy and so far that course has been amazing. I am officially now a fan of online dog training courses.  A new session starts in December and there are many great instructors and courses I am considering for audit spots.  I still love working with my real-life instructor but I am enjoying viewing all the different teaching styles and absorbing all this great information.

The Journey

This is my 100th blog post and so I am taking a few moments to reflect on my dog training journey to date.

I did some basic puppy stuff with Lucy but it wasn't until Riley began to develop some issues as a two year old dog that I began to get interested in training.  We had already done the basics but registered with a trainer to address the problems we were having.  We "fixed" the issues in what I thought was a positive way but with my knowledge today I regret some of the choices.  I am lucky that he is your typical hard-headed labrador with high tolerance and a very forgiving personality.  I try not to dwell on past mistakes and I am thankful that this was the start of wanting to learn more about behaviour and training.

My first step was purchasing a few books to read.  Lucky for me I picked two from authors that I still think are amazing.  Patricia McConnell "Other End of The Leash" and Suzanne Clothier "Bones Would Rain from the Sky".  I have now seen both those authors at seminars and they are just as wonderful as the books they have written.  I also stumbled upon Susan Garrett and her very first online Recallers Course and she introduced me to a new approach to joyful training.

Lots more reading followed and I decided I wanted to do some more training with Riley.  The dog gods led me to working with a local Karen Pryor Academy trainer who introduced me to rally obedience and encouraged me to try competing.  I really enjoying the work with Riley and could feel how different our connection was with these methods.  My trainer has now become a good friend and we often travel together to seminars and competitions.  A strange twist on "small world" is when I discussed getting a vizsla puppy and the breeders I was considering it turned out she knew Stella's breeder and agreed to vouch for me.

My conversion really kicked in when my trainer dragged me to my first Clicker Expo.  I was now fully hooked on learning about dogs and how to apply all this wonderful positive knowledge to both Riley and puppy Stella.   I jokingly said to my trainer/friend the other day that I must be driving her crazy because I should be taking better advantage of all her knowledge on how to train our way to obedience titles but because of the world she helped me see I really want to explore things in my own way.  With Riley I was happy to follow instructions on how to train the exercises but I want to inject more of my own "style" with Stella.  I'm still figuring out that "style" so I'm not totally stupid and will take advantage of her knowledge and experience but will also have fun figuring things out.  Thankfully I know she is there to help fix my mistakes!

I will not pursue more obedience stuff with Riley as it is to hard for his body but there are other roads we will travel.  Stella is only two and we have a long way to go and will enjoy the journey getting there.

Here are a few pics from our most recent camping trip.  All this training stuff is great but really just enjoying life with these wonderful dogs is what is important.

Such good friends!

Sunshine + beach + ball = Riley Heaven

How do you like my boots?

Campground cavelleti work

Beach patrol

Heeling Games

I have been participating in some online courses with Denise Fenzi's online Dog Sports Academy with Stella. I recently completed Heeling Games at an audit (silver) level.  I am really enjoying these courses and feel that they are helping me to figure out my training path.  I want to pursue positive training by building relationship and utilizing play and energy as that is my ideal perfect "picture" I hope to have someday in the ring.

I blogged in may about a trial that had not gone well.   I posted  "We need to start to build duration, reduce the reinforcement schedule and be a lot stronger about maintaining criteria.  I also need to figure out how to do all that while keeping things fun and reinforcing for both of us".   

Further reflection led me to believe I needed to adjust my expectations.  The connection and relationship is where I need to put my energy.  The precision fine tuning and reduced reinforcement schedule will need to come much later in this process.  This is a reply from Denise Fenzi to a frustrated session I had with Stella. "Play. A tiny bit of work. Play. Work. etc. If she can stay engaged and playful in public, then she can work. And you will find that is just as hard to get five minutes of continuous play as it is to get five minutes of continuous work. That's because they are both forms of engagement, and engagement (which excludes the environment) is a big deal".

That was a HUGE lightbulb moment for me and all of a sudden I just let stuff go and got back to enjoying working my dog.  Stella also finished her season which helped a lot and I have seen a wonderful, steady improvement in our working relationship over the past few months.  She has just turned two and we have lots of time ahead to enjoy our journey.  

Heeling games has been great for us.  We have always enjoyed playing together but now we have learned to use that play and movement to create energy and reduce pressure.  Various "games" help keep things fun and interesting.  We are creating joy for working together as well as developing muscle memory for that happy healing position.  The course describes heeling as "an intense, exciting dance between engaged partners requiring absolute concentration and energy to be performed well. When heeling is practiced as a series of specific behaviors – left turns, right turns, change of pace, etc, the dance is lost. This class will teach you how to practice heeling as a game – with the end result that your performance will be sharper, more interesting, and with much improved focus and endurance".

Here is a video I have done showing Stella and I working on some our our heeling games while camping last month.  Sorry the lighting is a bit dark but it was stinking hot so I had to wait until after the sun went down to do any work.

There are lots of great online courses being offered at the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy on a wide range of dog sports.  I am currently doing our first working spot in Ob-ility and also auditing the Ring Preparation course.  I feel these courses are a great compliment to training with my wonderful "real-life" instructor.

Nosework

I started some fun training for nosework with Riley recently.  He loves tracking and searching and this is a good sport to work his brain without to much stress to his body.  It has been lots of fun getting back to working my boy and we have both really been enjoying it.

There are a few different ways to teach this sport.  Our instructor is a member of  NACSW and uses the method which first teaches the dog to hunt for food and then begins to pair the food with the required scents to participate in the sport.

Alternative methods use the scent right away and teach the dog to target the scent and then reward.  Honestly that method makes a bit more sense to me based on the other training that I have done with my dogs.  The food/scent pairing seems to me that it could be a distraction later on when distractions would be introduced but it has the benefit of being easy to teach and understand.

Our instructor is great and very passionate about the sport.  The food/scent method is working well for Riley and the instructor does have us fade the food quite quickly.  I'm not sure what method I would do with Stella as we are working on not sniffing the ground so I would worry that having her search for food would not be beneficial for our obedience training.  I probably will wait a while before I do this sport with her anyway as I am enjoying "Riley time".  She would love it and we will do it in the future but we have lots of other stuff to work on for now.

Here is a video of Riley working.  This is at a campground a few weeks ago.

Learn to Weave

I love platform training!  It is amazing how useful they can be to help train new behaviours.  I did a session with Michelle Pouliot at Clicker Expo in January where we started on a few behaviours that I have decided I need to finish up teaching.  Here is a video with Stella learning to weave.  This is a fun trick but I am also hoping to use in as a heeling game to keep things interesting for Stella.

Is That The Same Vizsla?

You know your round the previous day was really, really bad when after your round the following day the judge asks if that is the same V I was trialing the day before!

Two weeks ago we traveled with a friend to Kelowna to compete in a CARO rally trial.  The plan for the weekend was to attempt an advanced title and also a novice team title.   The first round was novice team and it went well.  Stella was a little distracted but I was pleased with some of the choices she made.  We had been working on some of the attention stuff since the trial a few weeks before that and had made some good progress.

Things went steadily down hill from there.  It was a very long day and the facility was stinking hot (around 35C).   Our first round of advanced was awful.  There were a few moments of lovely work but the majority of the round was very distracted despite the fact that we can use food (with rules).  CARO rounds are about twice the length of most CKC rally and that combined with dirt floors was to much for her.  The second round of advanced was even worse and I opted to pull us out part way through the round.

It was the end of a very long day and I'm embarrassed to admit that I ended up in some very tired, frustrated tears.  We are capable of beautiful team work and this trial and even the CKC one before that were showing a disconnect that was getting worse.  Yes I believe Stella is going through a "teenage brain" phase and she is very young but this is pointing out some big holes for us.   We need to start to build duration, reduce the reinforcement schedule and be a lot stronger about maintaining criteria.  I also need to figure out how to do all that while keeping things fun and reinforcing for both of us.  Currently her ability to concentrate in a stimulating environment seems to come in about 12-15 second increments.

So after my mini-meltdown a new plan was created.  I would do two rounds on Sunday.  The first was an on leash round for novice team.  Unfortunately my friend's dog was lame so she had pulled from competition the day before.  They found me a partner and we had a good round.  We didn't Q because our partner missed a station but I was happy with our result.  The next round was advanced and I opted to go FEO (non-competitive) and use the round for training.  We went on-leash and I rewarded good choices.  It was a very good decision as it kept her from rehearsing more bad stuff and helped to end the weekend on a positive note.  We also kept the day shorter and headed for home after that instead of waiting until the end of day for our final runs.  Bad days are never fun but they are valuable learning experiences!!!  

I will now take some time to work through all of this.  This past weekend we participated in two CKC Rally Advanced rounds where I was already registered.  The rounds went very well thanks to the practice match on friday where we were able to get some good training rounds in the facility.  I had a clear plan for our rounds and was rewarded with a 98 and first place on saturday.  Stella also did great on sunday but I screwed up and turned incorrectly losing 10 points and also had one re-do (3 points - my fault again) so ended with a respectable 87.  I hope to train in lots of different environments and practice matches over the next months and re-evaluate competition plans in the fall.

              

Teenagers

I have been a terrible blogger lately.  In my real life I am an accountant so April is very busy plus I had dog stuff (conformation shows, seminars, rally trial) every weekend so not much time left.  The good stuff is I got to attend two amazing seminars with Suzanne Clothier and Michelle Pouliot.

The Clothier seminar was on observation skills and arousal.  She also did an extra session on adolescent dogs which stuck quite a few chords with me.  Stella is approaching her second birthday soon and I have been noticing a lot of distraction and testing of boundaries lately.  When Riley was around the same age that was when everything went crazy with my "perfect" puppy and started my interest in dog training.  Teenage dogs are hard!

Suzanne is a fabulous presenter.  She has a great sense of humour, interesting stories and an appreciation for dogs that shines through everything she discusses.    This blog will talk about the information presented during the adolescent dogs portion of the seminar.  A few favourite quotes included:

"Adolescent dogs are trying to mess with your head. Like Tax Attorneys, if they can see a loophole, they'll drive at truck through it."

'There's a good mind in most of those little buttheads. I agree though that sporting breeds get their brain cells in installments. Once a month, another clump arrives.'

"Stop trying to jam it (energy) up. Utilize it."

"Dogs are brilliant negotiators. I always thought dogs would make great used car salesmen. However, if you sent a really smart adolescent dog in to negotiate with the used car salesmen, he would give you the car and write you a check for additional money. Sometimes you don't even know when you have been had."

Adolescents begins in dogs around 16-20 weeks.  Other dogs recognize it long before most people do and will start to enforce social responsibility.  People recognize this as the end of the "puppy license".  Dogs will then mentally mature gradually over the next 2-3 years.  We mainly fail our dogs in this period because we are not clear in our expectations to maintain responsibility.  We need to be aware of not just training skills but on developing connection.  Suzanne suggests we video tape a training session or other interactions (walking) with our dogs and then watch it as a silent movie.  Show the video to a friend and se if they can identify what you are working on.  Dogs guess their responses based on our actions so they care what is happening not what we intend.  We need to make the information and permissions very explicit and consistant.

That is where "even though" training and connection is important.  "Even though" that dog is walking across the street, or that nice lady has good treats or ....... you must still stay connected to me.  We often silently permit our dogs to do whatever they please and justify it using human type excuses like oh, he loves that doggie friend and is just excited.   The dog doesn't have any feedback  so assumes that rules don't apply when he sees that friend or is excited.   A good way to work on this is to make a list of thing that the dog knows how to do and a list of things we control (because we have thumbs!).  Work these things a lot and change it up.  When we do the same sequence all the time the behaviours become habituated and automated without thinking.  Give one request and have a time frame and performance goal in mind.  When the dog meets criteria then they get what they want.  It is fine to help to remind them but then no reward.  A dog's decisions need to have meaningful consequences especially in the adolescent years.  They need to understand "Why should I ...." and when we train with positive methods we achieve results by smart use of access to resources.  It isn't about controlling our dogs every moment of every day, it's about clear communication and understanding expectations. 

This isn't new information but that seminar combined with a recent rally trial with a distracted Stella has me tightening up some things.  I am trying to have much clearer expectations when we are training (no sniffing, visiting etc) and also doing things that make it easier for her to understand  (on/off behaviours) when we are working.  Day to day rules in the house are more consistant and if I get an "in a minute" response then I go and get her instead of calling a second time.  She really is a very good butthead teenager so I am already seeing some results.  Like Suzanne said ... "She isn't getting away with anything, she is just doing exactly what she thinks the rules are".

Training Technology

I am writing  this as I am killing time at the airport waiting to fly home from an amazing seminar with Suzanne Clothier.  Her book “Bones Would Rain from the Sky” was one of the first books I read that started me down the road to positive training and understanding the power of relationship with our dogs.  I had talked myself into being responsible and not spending more money as I had already booked another seminar this month.  That all went to hell a few weeks ago when I had a frustrating weekend showing conformation with Stella.   That is a whole other blog post but I decided to soothe myself with this seminar.  Luck was on my side as there was a spot available, my brother lives close to the seminar site and I could fly using airmiles.  Teehee, I can justify anything if I try hard enough!

Anyway, this has led to me to thinking about how technology is changing the world of dog training.    Many wonderful trainers world wide have developed on-line courses.  I first did Susan Garrett’s Recallers Course online about four years ago and since then there has been an explosion of on-line options.   Most courses are structured with a small number of active participants that video their “assignments” and  the instructor reviews the video and provides recommendations and lectures.  There are also audit and/or observer spots which get to see all of the lecture material, video footage and interaction with the instructors.  There are many variations on that theme as well as lots of course options that are more learning theory/classroom based.

I wonder what effect this will have on seminars?   Many “famous” trainers have produced DVDs of their seminar presentations but I personally find sitting down and watching hours of a seminar not nearly as great as actually being there.   One of the biggest problems with seminars (besides travel and costs) is that often there is not enough working time for those attending with dogs.   On-line working spots have that direct interaction plus when our dogs do that “thing” that we need to fix but the dog won’t do it in front of the trainer we hopefully have video proof that it happens.  Seminars can be very stressful for both handlers and dogs so this is a particularly useful tool for people that have situations that don't present well in a seminar setting.   It also lets those people who are still fighting old-school methods in their area have another option for training. 

I am lucky to live in an area that has good training options and usually a few good seminars in a year.  I really enjoy the atmosphere of seminars and how the dedicated immersion into the dog training world with similar minded people can inspire me to continue learning and working with my dogs.  I also value the online stuff and see that I will likely be doing more of that in the future.  There are a few courses coming up offered by Denise Fenzi's new online academy that interest me.  The online courses are also another "hit me over the head" reminder of the importance of video recording and reviewing training sessions.  Video is an amazing technology learning tool that I need to use more!

Obedience Stewarding

Recently I volunteered to be a ring steward at a local obedience trial.  I did this for two reasons.  Firstly I believe that we all need to step up and volunteer occasionally to support the sports we love.  Secondly I thought it would be a valuable learning experience.  I am new to competitive obedience and have only done pre-novice with my dogs.  I was set to go into the ring with Riley last spring for his CD but we stopped when his physical problems became apparent.  Stella could probably pass her CD fairly well currently but I have decided that I want to train more precision in her heeling and also get a good start on the Open exercises before going into the ring.  I am going to continue with Rally Obedience for now as it is fun and great ring experience.

I found my volunteering experience to be rewarding and informative.  I ended up being the table steward which meant I got to do the paperwork for all the rounds.  Our judge was wonderful, very fair and honestly wanted every competitor to succeed.  Being an "insider" means I got to see how each round was scored and also to observe the patterns and necessary setup procedures.  I find it fascinating to watch how different dog/handler teams work together and connect.  There was some wonderful working teams in all levels.  I still have a "newbie" eye and  I was working so didn't get to watch every round entirely but I picked up on the following observations:

*  Get that proper footwork on your turns.  The judge observed a lot of very bad about turn footwork.

*  Watch out for anticipating commands.  Competitors sometimes forgot to wait for the judges command and dogs sometimes acted on the judges command before the competitor cued the behaviour.

*  Be aware of your leash handling.  Competitors might not realize how much they use that leash to encourage or control but be aware that the judge does see it and it can be penalized.

*  Know and understand the rules.  Score sheets for each level are available here and have a lot of great information on them.  Understanding what type or combination of cues are permitted  (ie signal and/or command versus signal OR command) can either save or fail some exercises.  Reading the CKC Rule Book including the section on commands and signals is in my future!

*  A change of pace to fast means move it!  Lots of competitors "run" but really they aren't moving any faster than they walk and the dog doesn't shift pace.

*  Match your energy to your dog.  More and more people are using play in their training which is wonderful but realize that sometimes ring stress means your dog would prefer a gentle butt scratch instead of a muzzle push back or other high energy moves.  This is something I will need to be aware of with Stella.

It was a long day but I enjoyed it and will do it again.  It confirmed to me that my decision to wait a bit is a good one.  It also was another "brick over the head" that I need to do more video in my training sessions so I can hopefully prevent myself from some of these errors.

Clicker Expo - Kay Laurence Connect Walking

Kay Laurence is amazing.  I have decided that my current dream vacation would be to go to England to watch Crufts and then spend a week training with Kay at her facility.  Her sport of choice is freestyle and her dogs are gordon setters and border collies.  She has an appreciation and love for dogs that is evident in all of her teaching.  She also has a great sense of humour which makes for a good presentation.

I did three sessions with Kay during the expo but will blog mostly about her Connected Walking lecture.  Kay believes that many of the behaviour issues people have with dogs are because there is no connection with the owners.  Her belief is that we should be the "heart of the pack" and quit worrying about being the "leader of the pack".

She believes that connection is essential and reinforcing for both human and dog.  It underpins all communication and changes over time.  It is a two way street and it requires us to accept what can't be changed (breed traits etc.).  We build a connection by sharing positive experiences such as clicker sessions and fun times together.  When we try to suppress behaviour it comes at a high cost to relationship and connection.  An example would be the dog that goes crazy and jumps up at us  when we arrive home.  Many experts recommend ignoring the dog until they are quiet but she thinks that disrespects the relationship.  Instead she believes the behaviour can often be prevented by just taking a moment as soon as we enter the door to quietly bend down and connect with the dog.   Dogs need to reestablish that things are okay after an absence and we should respect that.

We must create trust and reliability by watching out for our dogs when they are out and about.   We must be pro-active in protecting our dogs from unwanted situations like enforced rudeness so that we can find security and comfort in each other.  Dogs have a right to say no and be heard.

Kay discussed the use of various equipment used by people when walking their dogs.  Obviously there are safety requirements that must be considered  but she wants us to be aware that all equipment is inherently punishing.   Most equipment functions on suppressing behaviour and not learning.  This can lead to dogs feeling that being on lead is bad and off leash is good.  A piece of equipment can't build a connection but it may prevent it.

Most people do not walk at a rate that promotes connection.  We often walk at a rate that forces our dogs to pace instead of walk or trot.  A pace is not a natural gait and is rarely used by a dog that can choose it's own gait off leash.  It is physically difficult for them find a comfortable stride that works on leash with our normal gait.  We can slow our rate down to make a walking gait that works for both dog and human or we need to speed up to have a comfortable trot rate for them.  This isn't physically possible for all dogs.  Riley is an example of that as with his size I need to be fully running before he can comfortably trot so he actually paces a lot.  Part of that is the structure problems he has had but I agree with Kay that a lot of it is just him conforming to what is needed.

Establishing a comfortable gait is a huge part to connected while walking.  The other is just being patient and waiting for attention from the dog before continuing.  When you get that attention take a second to connect before moving on.   Leash handles should be looped on our wrist and when a dog is distracted we need to allow that but wait until they check back in with us before continuing.  If we allow them the time to make those sorts of decisions then soon they develop a history of making good choices and it all comes together.  A lot is based on letting a dog "be a dog" and respecting their needs instead of just ticking "walk the dog" off our to-do list as quickly as possible.

I am lucky that my dogs are able to romp off-leash on local trails and most of our on leash stuff is just getting from A to B.  Although the lecture focused on connection as it relates to walking "out and about" with our dogs I felt a lot of what she said was applicable to the overall relationship I want with my dogs.  I feel I connect well with my dogs but Kay's lecture reinforced to me lessons that I learned when our Lucy was an old dog.  The only options then were to amble along at her pace and just enjoy being together and those are memories I will cherish forever.

Another lab I attended with Kay Laurence was on Duration in Moving and Static Behaviours.  I am not going to blog about it because I already found a blog that did a wonderful job describing it from last year.  I recommend anyone interested check it out as it looks like lots of great information there on all sorts of training and seminars  K9 Coach Bog - Kay Laurence .

Clicker Expo - Back Chaining

One of the lab and lecture series I attended at clicker expo was given by Cecilie Koste on chaining behaviours.  Cecilie is Norwegian and is a top level obedience/working trials competitor in Europe and also is very active training Search and Rescue dogs.  She owns clicker based training schools in Norway and her dog of choice is a flat coated retriever.  The videos we saw of her working her dogs were amazing!

I suppose I knew about back-chaining and have used it as guided by my instructor but I don't think I had ever really thought out the principles and applications.  We are pretty much set as humans to go forward from A to B so this was a valuable session for me. Cues that are clicker trained have strong reinforcement history so can actually be used to "click" another behaviour.  In a back chained exercise the next behaviour in the chain will always have a higher probability than the preceding one.  This helps to reinforce and maintain every behaviour in the chain.

Backchaining is based on Premack's principle which states that high probability behaviours can be used to reinforce low probability behaviours.  It is important to understand our dog's preferences  and use them to our advantage.  When creating a chain we need to make sure that the first behaviour we use to train the chain has a high probability.  This means the behaviour needs to be either  (a) fluent   (b) have a strong history of reinforcement   (c) have usually produced a high quality reinforcer or   (d) have been reinforced recently.  A fluent behaviour that is recently reinforced will have a very high probability.

Cecilie showed lots of video to demonstrate various chaining (retrieve, roll up in a blanket etc) and then in the lab we all did the chain she wanted first and then chose one of our own to create.  The chain she chose was for the dogs to do a foot target and then sit.  This would be how she would train a go-out for obedience.  To begin we needed to train the dogs to go to a foot target and then return to us for reinforcement.  Stella defaulted to grabbing the target and retrieving it to me so we tried a smaller target (flat coaster) and she still picked up that so we then switched to me holding the target in my hand and asking her for a paw and clicking when she hit the target.  I gradually moved the target closer to the floor and before long she had the behaviour.  Next step was to reinforce the sit which we did by resetting with a treat toss and asking for a sit.  Sit is a very strong default behaviour for Stella so this was pretty easy for her.  The final step is to do a few more foot targets with click/treat and then at the exact moment you would normally click then instead ask for a sit.  Once she sits then she gets a click/treat and voila soon a behaviour chain is created!

My chosen chain was a spin, down, nose touch (jump up).  Stella enjoys the nose touch behaviour so this was my starting behaviour to train the chain.  I worked each of the behaviours separately and then combined the down, touch and finally the spin, down, touch.  Stella did awesome!

Backchained behaviours have a high reliability because the animal always knows what behaviour is coming next so is prepared.  It is less stressful and easier learning for the dog. During training there is usually a "testing" phase where the animal will see if there is an easier way to the reinforcer.  It is important to terminate the behaviour if a mistake is made to prevent the mistake being reinforced.  Try again but if the dog continues to make the same mistake after another 2-3 tries then go back and retrain only that problem part before chaining it again.  Cecilie uses backchaining for obedience so considers anticipation by the dog to be a failure as we only want the dog to do the behaviour when it is cued.  It should be noted that some cues are environmental and not handler cues.  An example would be in a retrieve where the act of picking up the dumbbell is an environmental cue to turn around and return to the owner.

I really enjoyed this topic and Cecilie is a great presenter.  Hopefully I have presented all her wonderful information correctly.  Lots to think about with this and I think it will be very useful for me.  One of my big issues in training is I tend to not break things down enough when training a new behaviour.  I need to start physically writing down all the steps needed and then figure out how to chain that.  Since returning home I have started to backchain the dumbbell retrieve and I am pleased with the results so far.

Walk and Chew Gum

We all know that old joke about not being able to walk and chew gum at the same time.  Well the dog sport version of that is can we walk and provide the proper body cues when needed?   In class this week my instructor had us working directional obedience moves such as left turn, right turn and about turn.  She also pulled out the dreaded metronome to experiment with pace and consistancy.  Stella works well with a nice brisk pace which doesn't come very naturally for me and is even harder when we incorporate direction changes.  I need to provide clear body signals for Stella about what is going to happen so that I don't leave her behind or disconnect with abrupt movements.  It makes me laugh at myself and perhaps gives me a bit of frustration to realize how darn hard that is.  I've been walking for a lot of years but it is gonna take practice to naturally do the nice smooth movements I want.  In this instance I'm gonna need to learn more than my dog I think! 

We have been working a little on our heel work and things feel like they are starting to come along nicely.  I've been trying to incorporate lots of fun and play to create good value for heeling.  I recently discovered that one of her favourite play moves is when I walk along with her and then pretend to stalk her.  She loves that game so I am experimenting with playing and then quick easy transitions from that position into short sessions of heeling.    I am also trying to use food less and be smarter with how I deliver it.   Spitting the food for her to catch is a fun game for her so gives us a double reward (food and chase).   It is helping to get the focus from what my hands might be doing and up to my face.  Riley didn't have good food catch coordination so that wasn't an effective tool for us but seems useful with Stella.  The downside is that I have a horrible gag reflex so I need to make sure it is stuff that I am comfortable having in my mouth.  That means expensive salami and cheese instead of cheap hot dogs or other training treats but at least I can snack if I get hungry :o).

Hard Habits to Break

A quote I've heard a few times this summer at seminars goes something like "the thing you hate most about a current dog is usually the thing that will never be a problem with a new dog".  This is very true of Riley and Stella.  Riley can be a total ass when asked to give up something he loves (ball, golf ball, tugging etc.) but Stella has a beautiful retrieve to my hand and a gentle mouth.  Some of that is her genetics but it also something that was a priority in early puppy training. 

So that proves that change is possible so then why the heck do we carry over so many other bad habits!

I went to two wonderful seminars this summer and came out full of excitement and all sorts of new ideas and plans to work with Stella.   I wish it was easier to translate all of that into actual working with my dog!  I did pick up a few new good habits from seminar information but I've been reminded the past few weeks that seminars aren't a substitute for the regular hard work.   I have neglected some training lately so have started back to  working a bit of heeling and various related positions and have noticed how much my bad habits are screwing up my dog.  When I used to heel with Riley he is a very big prescence so I could easily feel where he was in relation to me.  I still had a bad habit of looking at him and dropping that inside shoulder back but was mostly able to get away with it due to his size.  Stella is so much lighter and smaller so I have a much harder time "feeling" when she is in perfect position.  She has been working to give me eye contact but I drop that same damn shoulder to look at Stella and so now she is heeling farther back than I would like.   Sigh .... back to using a target stick to get her a bit more forward and perhaps a giant thumb tack that pokes me when I drop my shoulder and screw up my part of the equation. 

In Riley news we got back the test results for degenerative myelopathy and the results were NORMAL.  Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!  We are definately not out of the woods yet though.  I sought a second opinion this week from a vet that specializes in lameness and does chiro, accupuncture, laser therapy etc.  He agrees that there is something neurological going on and actually suspects Wobblers syndrome.  We are now proceeding with an MRI and surgery is looking more likely.  The vet thinks we are still fairly early stages of whatever is happening but I can also see his condition slowly getting worse so hopefully we will have answers and a plan soon.

We have had fabulous weather lately.  Here are a few pics of the dogs enjoying a romp this past weekend.  Riley is now back to leash walks until we know what is happening but it was good to see him so happy.

Recall back to basics

A few times over the last months hubby has complained to me that Stella didn't listen to him when he walked her.   I basically accused him of being to stingy with the treats but I don't think I really believed him.  In my head I thought she just wasn't reacting as quickly as she would with me if I called her.  I am the main dog walker in our home as I have a more flexible schedule but on days that I am busy he is happy to walk them and we often walk together on weekends.

Well ...... we were walking the dogs together last weekend and I got to witness that she really does ignore him.  The dogs went racing by us and he called her and she just kept going.  I called and she stopped dead and came right to me.  Hubby was not amused so I suggested we work on things a little bit.   I watched for a good opportunity and had him call the dogs.  When they came I watched and although he did have a yummy treat in hand he asked both dogs for a sit and waited until they were both seated before he gave the treat.   I gently suggested that perhaps he was confusing Stella and she wasn't understanding that the treat was reward for the recall.  By the time he actually gave her the cookie she thought it was just because she was sitting there.  I suggested that the second she got to him to give her the treat.  He walked the dogs a lot that week as I had a horrible cold and he was on holidays and commented by the end of the week that Stella was very much improved. 

Is this bribery or perhaps even a lure?  Good dog training or bad? I really don't care.  This is an easy fix that my husband is comfortable with.  It is important for safety that the dogs have a good recall so I am more than willing to pay them for that.  My husband is like most people.  He loves the dogs but he doesn't care about perfect heel position or if a sit is crooked.  He wants a well behaved pet that comes magically trained and so far that is working out pretty well for both husband and dogs :o).

Riley update .... We have an appointment coming up to meet the veterinary surgeon and have Riley assessed for hip replacement surgery.  It will be good to have a plan one way or the other. 

We were supposed to have gone to Tofino last week before parking the trailer for the season but opted to be work and fiscally responsible instead.  Here are a few pics from last year.

Denise Fenzi Seminar

I recently attended a seminar with Denise Fenzi on Drives and Motivations.  I stumbled on Denise’s name about a year ago and then it popped up on a few blogs that I enjoy reading plus she started her own blog where she talks about raising her own puppy. I really enjoy her style of training as she advocates relationship and play with our dogs.

The focus of the seminar was on various types of drives (hunt, prey, food, pack) and how they can affect training decisions, play methods and the overall needs of our dogs. This blog does an excellent job of summarizing the same seminar for anyone interested in the specifics (drives, tugging, relationship, working) so I will just blog about the moments that “clicked” for me.

A friend and I were recently discussing the science of dog training and she made mention to me that “science is good, but putting theory into practice is an art”.  I believe Denise excels in that.  She was able to assess each working team quickly and provide information that will work with that dog.  She gives dogs a lot of credit for figuring things out and believes we often under challenge our dogs. 

When it was our one-on-one time I asked for some help with heeling.  I taught the initial heel position with a target stick and had achieved some good position but need to progress that for duration and different heel exercises.  I had been concentrating more on getting a series of steps from start in a line but felt I was losing her attention.  Denise had me heel around with her for a bit and then told me she couldn’t tell by my body language what my dog was doing.  I was basically doing the same motions if she was with me or if she was distracted.  She recommended that as soon as I start to lose her attention I remove the opportunity for Stella to be in position.  I do that by moving out of heel position towards her tail which redirects her attention back to me.  Most dogs don’t like when we stand behind them so will shift to face us and will follow if you move backward.  Once I had her focus back I could then pivot back into heel position and praise and reward for correct position.  This exercise seemed to work very well with Stella and I look forward to working this more as well as doing some video to see what I am doing.

I also need to be aware of direction with Stella and move more to the right.  I tend to want to correct position by moving to the left (into the dog) but that puts way more pressure on the dog and going right removes the pressure and will help her to drive into position.  Denise also rarely heels in a straight line while training and uses lots of twists, turns, circles etc. to make it more interesting for the dog.    A dog that forges in training would use more left turns and/or backup steps to correct.

Denise is a big fan of making sure the dogs understand the link between their behaviour and a reward.  She does this partially by sharing “missed opportunity” with the dog.    When the dog knows a behaviour but makes an error she will show the reward and communicate “too bad, so sad” that the dog has missed the opportunity, put the cookie away and then try again.  If the dog repeatedly fails then there is a training problem and the dog does not understand the behaviour. 

She took that “missed opportunity” thing a bit further when answering some questions.  A dog that doesn’t want to go in the crate gets a handful of yummy food thrown into the crate and the door closed so the dog can’t go in after it.   A dog that downs during a sit stay has the “judge” go along and feed the other sitting dogs and the empty space where that dog’s head should have been.  A dog that breaks the stay is held by the ring steward while the owner comes back and has a reward party where the dog should have been.    It sounds strange but if it works what the heck!  Stella has been going through a strange phase being reluctant to go in her crate.  I have just waited her out with the cookies in my hand until she gives up and goes in and then feeding her.  After the seminar I tried throwing the treats in and closing the crate, then left to brush my teeth while she waited to be let in for the treats.  Within two nights she was back to her normal crate routine. 

Denise also believes ring preparation routines and an on/off position while training our dogs.  Her thinking was very similar to the Michele Pouliot seminar that I recently attended.  Dogs should be put into a down stay while we speak with our trainers or prep for the next exercise.  In a trial situation she has specific routines for each dog to prep for the ring.  She says at that stage it is not about drilling the dog as you should know what to do by then.  Instead she wants to connect with the dog with some easy, quiet games.  She also has a position called “squish” where the dog stands across her legs against her body and it knows that position is just to relax and look around (take a break).  She then has a set step sequence out of that that has been heavily rewarded and it reorients the dog into a working position.

Another thing I found quite interesting was Denise’s use of praise and silence.   She believes in vocally encouraging the dog as it is working to give feedback to the dog and then going silent as the dog achieves what you want.   She then rewards with play or praise after a short silent moment.  She makes sure there is a difference in tone between encouraging and the reward praise.  This conditions our dogs that silence is an indicator of success and good things so that when we get into the ring they don’t freak out that we are all of a sudden silent and serious.

Other odds and ends include creating a love for things you can take in the ring.  First on the list is you but it can be useful to have a dog that loves a dumbbell, glove and articles.  It is important to have a solid trained retrieve first to prevent the dog from incorrectly picking up the item.  We can create a love for these items by playing hide n seek games with them and using them as rewards.  Then when these items are used in obedience trials the dog has good associations and believes it is being rewarded.  This would probably work well with Stella but Riley’s personality would likely have him obsessing on those items and distracted.

I really enjoyed this seminar and was pleased with Stella’s performance in the various exercises we did.  She is young and I am a novice so it is wonderful to get information to try and head off some bad habits.  Denise has an excellent blog  and youtube channel for anyone looking for more information.

Michele Pouliot Seminar - Part 2

This is a follow up post to Michelle Pouliot seminar part 1.

Visual cues are something I have obviously been aware of but did not give them the respect they deserve.  Michele spent a lot of time discussing how easy it is to sabotage our training with confusing signals and body language. The seminar convinced me that this is an area I need to pay more attention.  Visual cues for me break down into two main areas.  The first is the importance of clean training.  The second is the importance of environmental cues.

Before the weekend we were asked to identify our top three goals and the top problems I have in achieving those goals.  I identified my top problems as a need to improve my consistency, need to improve my mechanical skills and need to plan my training sessions better.  This basically all rolls up into the concept of clean training.

Michele's handout describes "Blocking" a marker (clicker etc.).  Blocking is anything that distracts the dog from its awareness of the behavior that it is performing.  Any action, noise or visual incident that occurs before or during the marker can prevent the dog from understanding what is actually being rewarded.  Handlers can easily block their audible marker with hand movements, a food pouch, body movenments or words spoken before or during the intended marker.   Michele only uses a bait bag when training new behaviours where she would need a high rate of reinforcement and even then makes sure that the bait bag is on the opposite side of the body.  Treats are normally hidden in her pockets and she uses toys that are easily hidden. A favourite trick of hers is to use those flat road kill toys for tugging and she hides several on her body.  That lets her pull one out, play and then put it away where the dog can see.  She then surprises the dog by pulling another toy off her body.  Her theory is that she wants the dog to think she is the source of endless good stuff even if it isn’t right in front of the dog. 

Clean training involves keeping neutral body language when teaching behaviours, marking the behaviour cleanly and THEN moving to reward the behaviour.  Dogs are very visual learners and it is sooooo easy to unconsciously give body cues that end up being the lure to get the dog to do what we want.  Haven’t we all have had those moments where we think our dog knows  a voice cue but instead stares blankly at us when we ask for the behaviour?  We need to remember to keep our bodies neutral (i.e. hands at side, standing casually straight etc.).  Mark the behaviour with a clicker or other marker and ONLY then we may move to reward the behaviour.  It is fine to praise in between the marker and the treat and that will classically condition the praise which can be beneficial.

My mechanics have really improved over the last year but I still find myself with my hands in the treat pouch before they should be or my body in some sort of luring position.  It’s fine to use our body language as a cue for behaviour (and many freestyle moves are cued by body) but we should only be using the position that will be the final clean cue for the dog.   Lures that become habitiual visual cues for the dog will evolve into required cues.  The good news is that I am recognizing my bad habits now which is a good step to stopping them.  This seminar just reinforced that I need to be constantly vigilant about keeping things clean. 

The second part about visual cues is to be aware of environmental cues.  Michele spoke of watching dogs compete the first few times in a freestyle or obedience routine and the moment where dogs that are heavily rewarded with food figure out that there is no reward coming.  Dogs learn very quickly that the presence of ring gates indicate long working patterns with no rewards.  When we throw in stressed out owners it quickly adds up to not much fun for the dog.  She believes in training the entry into the ring as a regular behaviour that is rewarded.  One exercise we did at the seminar was to enter through a set of ring gates with our dogs as if we were to start an obedience round or freestyle routine.   If you have access to someone who can act as a ring steward and usher you in and take the leash that is even better.  Do those types of actions and then stop and have a play party with your dog.  Mix up the reinforcement schedule by sometimes asking for a few behaviors and then having the party.   After the party return to exit the ring gates quietly, leash up and exit the ring.  Repeat often so the presence of ring gates becomes a strongly reinforced cue to start work and also have fun. 

These fun party moments are important ways to reinforce our dogs without using food or toys.  Be sure to note how your dog likes to “party”.  Some dogs don’t like their owners being all crazy and they should be rewarded with calm petting or other things they enjoy.   Stella loves to bounce around but that can also sometimes get her over stimulated so depending on her mood I should mix that up with butt scratches and goofy talk.  It was quite impressive to watch the seminar participants work this exercise.  Many dogs enter the ring very slowly the first time and then look totally confused at the “party”.  Pretty much every dog showed significant improvement in attitude by the third attempt.

These environmental cues are everywhere in competition.  In obedience think of two people standing with crossed arms for the figure eight or a judge following you around with a clip board.  Consider if we dress or move the same way in competition as we do in regular training?  Be aware of those sorts of things and work them to our advantage because if you don’t the dogs will figure out they are cues that another boring time in the ring is ahead for them.

I would advise anyone to take part in a seminar with Michele.  I very much enjoyed my time and hopefully these posts represent some of the information acurately.  If not it is totally my fault because she was fabulous! 

Seminar - Michelle Pouliot Part 1

Stella and I had a working spot this past weekend at a Michelle Pouliot seminar.  Michelle is a top-level competitor in Canine Freestyle and is also Director of Research and Development for programs at Guide Dogs for the Blind.  I saw Michelle at Clicker Expo and really liked her presentions plus once I viewed a few of her freestyle routines I was blown away. Anyone that can complete a long routine like that with no food or toys and a happy working dog has my utmost respect.  The focus of the seminar was freestyle but she also has a strong obedience history and adapted her information for both types of participants.

I came away from the weekend with two "aha" areas that I want to focus on going forward over the next little while.   The first was working attention.   The second was the importance of visual cues.  This really isn't new information for me but I feel that life has a way of slapping us upside the head with information when we need to revisit something.

Michelle feels that we need to train more attention and focus less on training skills in other environments.  This makes a lot of sense to me because once I have great attention behaviours in all sorts of areas then the dog will naturally be able to perform the exercises I request.  This doesn't mean that the exercises don't still need to be trained, generalized etc but the biggest first step is just to get the working attention on cue and with duration. 

I worked attention with Stella as a puppy but realized that it had fallen away as we moved onto "sexier" stuff.   When we competed our pre-novice rounds a few weeks ago we passed but I wasn't happy with her heelwork as she was fairly sniffy and distracted.  She is capable of much prettier work than we gave.  I tend to have a mindset where I still think of her as a puppy and excuse things like distracted behaviour .  She is still a young (14 months) dog but I now recognize that I need to set and maintain some better standards when we are working together.

When training attention we have the following progression of goals:
1.  Have the dog offer attention.
2.  Get duration attention. 
3.  Get attention on cue.
4.  Have on cue attention fluent. 
5.  Attention is reliable in goal environments. 

Attention is a trained, reinforced behaviour for most dogs.  We want our dogs motivated to want to work with us.  We need to have a strong history of reinforcement (food, toys, play, interaction etc.) and a mutual trust and respect with our dogs to be successful.   We can't take food or toys in the ring so the relationship will be what gets us through.  We can classically condition praise by using it after we click but before we treat/play.   Stella has a few pretty good non-food/toy reinforcers in that she likes when I clap my hands and she gets to jump/bounce but that can get her a bit over-stimulated for a ring environment so I'm going to also explore other reinforcers.   Michelle believes in using the dog's favourite natural behaviours whenever possible as rewards.  One of her dogs loves to jump straight up and down and the other loves when Michelle is laying down on the floor.  Stella does love when I get down on my hands and knees with her so that might be useful for us. 

Michelle believes one of the biggest problems we have with attention is that as humans we self-sabatoge by checking out on our dogs.  We do this to talk to our trainer or friends, to think about what our next trainings steps will be, to set up stuff etc.  This teaches our dogs to dis-engage with us and move onto other self-rewarding behaviours like sniffing.  Attention is a two way street and we need to give our dogs 100% when we are training with them.  When we get attention on cue that is our "ON" switch so when we cannot offer our dogs 100% of our attention in return then we need to use our "OFF" switch.  Dogs need to be taught to shift into a neutral off that will allow us to do things like talk to trainers/set up.  This is not the same as an "all done" situation.  With young dogs she recommends placing them in a down (sit or stand also ok), give a cue like relax etc and then step on the leash so it is very short and prevents the dog from exploring the environment.   This is generally not a rewarded behaviour as the object is to teach the dog that we are not going to interact so there is no point in doing anything other than just waiting for us to turn them back "ON".    If you need to remove your attention for an extended period then it is better to crate or tie your dog somewhere.

I did the "OFF" exercise with Stella and she went down nicely and then I stepped on the leash.  She got bored quickly and wanted to explore but while the leash would allow her to stand it wasn't a very comfortable position for her.  She struggled a bit and I totally ignored her so she didn't think this was about me.  She wasn't stressed or freaked out, it was basically a discussion between my dog and the floor and eventually she flopped down and settled.   We've done this a few times since then and each time gets better.  I can see how this will lead to a better understanding of when we are working and expect engagement.   Michelle actually takes the whole thing further and uses a set routine where she crates for a short period before and after each training session and uses a specific leash on/off routine.  This pattern becomes a strong cue to the dog that work is about to start and is also useful in a trial environment when our dogs are often crated.  It certainly works for her!  We were lucky enough to watch her work her dogs and it is impressive.  Her dogs obviously love to work with her and equally obvious how much she loves and respects them.

I've rambled on long enough now so will talk more about visual cues another day. 

Training Fun

Are we having fun yet?   Of course!

I am still very early on the training journey with Stella.  I hope to compete in our first pre-novice obedience class later this month and also to complete the final round we need for our CKC rally novice title.  Most people look at obedience competitions and must think that stuff looks sooooooo boring and they are probably right in a lot of cases.  I don't know how far our obedience journey will go but I have pledged to do my best to try to make training with my dogs fun for them.  I'm human so of course there are days that bring frustration but this is a learning experience for all of us.  I made some choices with Riley's earlier training that I'm not proud of but I was lucky that his personality is very solid and forgiving.  I learned some valuable lessons and learned to recognize his stress signs and we found better ways of working together.  

Stella benefits from that experience which is lucky for both of us because her personality is absolutely made for positive, happy training methods.   I think if I tried to use harsher training techniques with her it would probably shut her down.   It is something I will need to be very aware of as we progress in training to harder things.   Does that mean she doesn't occasionally get yelled at to get out of the damn cat litter box?  or to drop that underwear (sock, shoe, etc)? or to stop barking at the non-existant boogy-man that must be hiding in the trees behind the back fence?   I occassionally yell and she is just fine with that.  In fact it usually causes her to wiggle happily at me because mostly those things are her just looking for attention! She is still a puppy and at a year old likes to test things sometimes.  If I seriously need her to stop doing something I basically just need to hold her collar for a few moments to stop the reinforcement she is getting from whatever she is doing and that is usually all that is needed to reset her brain. 

When we are working on our formal obedience type training we work with a lot of food rewards but I am also working with play.  We can't take food in the ring so I want her to think that all this training stuff is about having fun with me.  I can clap my hands and call her my super star and that just makes her bounce with glee.  When we work heeling I sometimes just take off running from her because she loves the chase game.   Jumping nose touches and a few fun tricks are a good break between exercises.  She enjoys tugging although isn't quite the crazy tugger like Riley.  She prefers more the chasing of the tug as a toy but still can put up some pretty good moves when she catches it.  I've noticed a few times lately that she wants to prance around with her prize instead of engaging back to me so I will have to make sure that doesn't become a pattern.  I am making a note to myself to go back and review some of the recaller games and start using more of those.   I am also auditing a seminar in august with Denise Fenzi who does some fabulous stuff on playing with your dog for obedience.   I would love to hear other fun suggestions that anyone wants to share!

We are just back from a lovely, hot weekend camping at nearby Whistler.  Here is the latest "family" picture taken while visiting some waterfalls.   I think Riley was considering the 200 foot drop to the water but we convinced him that was a bad idea.

Family fun weekend camping at Whistler