Puppy Recalls and Tug Training

PUPPY RECALLS:  Per the video below, it's easy to train a very young puppy to do a reliable recall.  I start with 10 Cheerios, wait until the dog is away, then call "Dogs Name, Come", while holding out the Cheerio where they can see it.  When they come to my extended hand, I give the treat.  Then, no more treats until they go away again.    At first they offer other behaviors, but quickly catch on they have to "go away" before you will call them back for a treat.

After this is working well, vary it up by extending an empty hand, eventually not even extending a hand.  Just call "Winston, come".  After they come, immediately reach for the cookie and give it.  They quickly learn to hang around for the treat without seeing a treat, or a hand.  After awhile, they learn to stay at your side while you walk over to get a treat somewhere else, like on top of the TV.

Vary the locations for this training, indoors, outdoors, from across the yard, from another room.  Eventually you just keep a pocketful of treats handy, and do a single recall, several times a day.  Maxie, my 3.5 year old Papillion, now routinely runs to the far side of our yard, sits looking at me, waiting to be called.  Sometimes I call.  Sometimes I don't.  Sometimes I treat.  Sometimes I don't.  It amazes me how much mileage I can get out of just the hope of getting a plain old Cheerio. A cheap treat, low cal, and dissolves down to nothing.

DESENSITIZING PUPPIES:  Working Recalls is a good time to also be desensitizing a puppy to being petted, fondled, squeezed, grabbed in various places, etc.  Papillons especially can become a bit skittish and snappy if not accustomed to lots of varied handling.  With proper training, they can be handed off to just about anyone, lunged at by children, poked and prodded, etc., without excessive fear.

TUGGING PRACTICE:
Tugging is fun, bonding, and great conditioning exercise, especially good for developing strong neck, shoulder and back leg muscles, but it is also an important motivational tool in agility for getting the dog warmed up, revved up, focused on you, and ready to run a course with enthusiasm.  As much as possible, owners should encourage their puppies to tug. One very cheap tug toy for small dogs is a knee-high stocking.  You can buy a pack of 12 of these at Dollar General for just a few bucks, and each one lasts through several 5 minute sessions.  They tuck neatly into a pocket without any bulk, stretch far out, give good resistance, then recoil back to you when the dog lets go.  Here's Winston doing this exercise with me.  Notice how he loses interest when I let go, indicating he is really playing with ME, not with the toy, which is the case with most dogs.

NOTE:  I am partially taking these videos of Winston because I don't have any videos of Maxie at this age, and I want to track how Papillon's develop, when their feathers start filling out, how their features and markings change.  Thus the comments on Winston's tail, nose, ears, etc.  I am sorry to have missed Maxie's early development. I might have one old YouTube video of him playing with FoohFooh.  I'll look that up tomorrow.

Upwards and onward!

Mother's Day Weekend Surprises!



Michele and Winston (5.5 months old)

 As I reported at the beginning of this blog, I didn't get Maxie until he was 6 months old, so I missed out on his early puppyhood.  I've been making up for that now, thanks to my cousin Lois's gift of two 8 week old Papillon puppies to raise and/or sell back in January, and by staying in touch with their new owners I am able to learn more about Papillon puppy development, how fast they grow, how smart they are, when their feathers fill in, temperament, training, etc.

The first surprise?  Kathy called me Friday morning asking if I would keep Winston over the weekend.  Her husband offered her a Mother's Day weekend getaway but the hotel didn't take dogs.  I had told both new owners I would  puppy sit "any time", and suddenly, it was time.  I leaped at the chance provided I could take Winston with me while I managed the Crawfish Boil on Saturday (previous post).  She said yes, I made a few adjustments to manage a puppy (set up the Xpen outside, put up a baby gate at the kitchen, put newspaper in Lucky's big crate where the puppy could spend the night, and a dog crate in the car), and within a few hours, I was a puppy mom again!

Winston at 9 weeks.

Winston (previously "Roku") seemed to remember us and all our dogs, and was properly indignant when fenced off in the kitchen or Xpen.  I quickly became confident to set him free, and he just ran with the pack like he had never left our house. They seemed to remember him, too.  WOW!  This brought back so many memories of Maxie's first weeks here.  I forgot how full of "piss and vinegar" little puppies are!

Knowing he would be picked up Sunday afternoon, I spent my Mother's Day morning doing a bit of puppy training and taking videos of Winston while I had the chance.  More on that in the next post.

Second surprise?  Nathan and Allison came over around 4 p.m. with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, a tub of goose pate, and a lovely card.  I got to download Allison's ivideos of Jonathan's wrestling matches, which I uploaded to my family web album here.

Third surprise?  I called Jonathan and actually got him live, and we had a lovely chat.  He says he looks forward to seeing me this summer.  Boy, I am so looking forward to seeing him, though I have no idea what to do with a teenager.  He says "Just feed me.", but I think we'll take him to Avery Island, some plantation tours, maybe camping on a river somewhere. The phone book, I recently discovered, has a long list of tourist sites I've never even heard of.  We'll work that page over.  Sounds like a plan.

Okay, so now to post the training videos . . . . . . .



LCCOC Crawfish Boil/Mother's Day

Nedra's back yard, with ample shade.

 My dog club held its Annual Crawfish Boil/Family Picnic on Mothers Day Saturday, and this worked out perfect for me in every way.

40 people attended, the weather was awesome, I got to eat my favorite food -- boiled crawfish -- and everyone seemed to have a good time.

Thankfully, it was in Nedra's back yard, so I didn't have to spiff up my house or yard ahead of time, nor clean it up afterwards.  How did I love this day?  Let me count the ways.

John

• First, John's Mother's Day gift to me was to take Saturday off from work and help me put the event together, and to boil 100 lbs of crawfish (3 sacks) in our 60 quart pot while the rest of us ate and socialized.  It was a gift only he could give, and my favorite kind of present in this world.  What a guy!
• Second, I got to eat all the crawfish I wanted, seasoned to my own taste (not too salty nor so highly seasoned they singe your fingertips).
• Third, I got to spend some quality time with Nathan and Allison (my son and his wife) on Saturday, partaking of good food together, then freeing them up to spend time with Allison's Mom on Sunday without rushing around. This worked out perfect for us all.
• Fourth, I got to spend some quality time with Audrey (my sister-in-law) so we could celebrate our Mothers Day together (she works on Sundays), and we got to eat crawfish together (our favorite food).
• Fifth, the weather was gorgeous and I prefer being outdoors whenever possible.




Allison, Nathan and Winston


• Sixth, I was dog sitting for the weekend with Winston, one of the Papillon pups I recently sold, and got to show him off to everyone.  He was passed around, kissed often, kissed back, and seemed to have a blast.
• Seventh, I invited Laura to serve as our DJ with her iTunes playlist all worked out for parties, and her daughter Portia to watch over the puppy.  Portia is a natural with dogs and I wanted to introduce both of them to our club. Another mission accomplished.

Everyone seemed to have a grand time, and I've posted the party pix  here.

Winston and Portia

Next, I'll blog about Winston's surprise Mother's Day weekend visit and the videos I took of him.  What a joy!  I spent Mother's Day, while John was at work, fiddling with Winston and my new video editing program.  Another spoonful of joy!

Upwards and onward!

USDAA Trial - Lucky's First Trial

Lucky jumps 26" with room to spare.
She is a jumping maniac.

Lucky Lucy
4 runs, 3 Q's, 4 1st places
Videos posted here

Last weekend was Lucky's first ever trial, and my first entry in a USDAA trial.  I entered her as Lucky Lucy (to distinguish her from another dog named Lucky that runs in just about every trial), running twice on Saturday and twice on Sunday.  She earned one leg each in SStandard, SSnooker, and SJumpers, that's 3 Q's.  But she got 4 1st places!  I found this very confusing, even picked up a 4th Q Ribbon because I got a sticker and assumed that meant a Q, but apparently in USDAA, one can "place" and get a sticker without Qing.  One can also knock a bar, as she did in her 4th run, and still Q.  Exceed course time, though, it's an automatic NQ. So different from AKC.

Her NQ in our first run, Starters Standard, was due to being 4 seconds over SCT, but her run was clean.  By Sunday I figured out how to make her go faster by locating the straight sequences, getting further ahead and running them faster myself.  By her last run she was 8 seconds under SCT.  Also by Sunday she was more used to being in the ring, running on sand.  By reviewing the videos I can see she needs a lot more speed.  How can she run like a border collie at home, and lope along like an old nag in the ring?????????

Here are her scores:

2/26/2011
Starters Standard - 26 Inch - Judge: Jelinda Pepper
Distance: 137 yards SCT: 63.00 seconds
Score: 4.08 (NQ) Time: 67.08 seconds 1st Place

Starters Snooker - 26 Inch - Judge: Jelinda Pepper
Score: 40 (Q) Time: 37.75 seconds 1st Place

2/27/2011
Starters Jumpers - 26 Inch - Judge: Jelinda Pepper
Distance: 119 yards SCT: 33.00 seconds
Score: 0.00 (Q) Time: 31.91 seconds 1st Place

Starters Standard - 26 Inch - Judge: Jelinda Pepper
Distance: 145 yards SCT: 67.00 seconds
Score: 0.00 (Q) Time: 58.85 seconds 1st Place

It was a very laid back trial, at Parker Coliseum in Baton Rouge, with only about 50 dogs entered.  The ring stewards and staff were very attentive, helpful and supportive, which I appreciated.  Due to so many teenage volunteers, I didn't ring crew.  I got to relax between runs, go home and sleep each night, all way relaxing.  The RV spaces, though, are flat, nearby, and suitable for my pop-up camper.  No nighttime bathroom facilities though.  No showers. No freezer.

I ran into a handler with a dingo.  Third dingo I've ever seen, second one at an agility trial.  Another stab of guilt that I never did agility with FoohFooh, except at home.  He would have been so awesome in the ring!

Roku (left) and Jitsu (right), at 12 weeks old.

I brought the two Papillon puppies I have for sale, and they got a lot of attention. Teenagers and college students held them all day, both days. Both puppies seemed perfectly relaxed, no whining, barking, etc. They weren't as playful as usual, no doubt a bit of stress, but after the trial ended we closed the arena doors let them out and they tore all over the place. I was afraid for awhile we would not be able to catch them.

Roku caught the eye of a local couple who came to my house a few days later and bought him. They renamed him Winston. He is going to a wonderful home, with people who train in agility, and who live nearby so I will get to watch him grow up. All this makes me very happy.

I had time to video all the newbie dogs, including Lucky, and got inspired to put up a new web album on Red Stick's photo gallery, called Doggie Debuts.  It will feature Red Stick Agility students who are running their first trial, also seasoned trialers who are running a new dog.  This weekend, these included Alyce and Ro, Bonnie and Luna, Kay and Toozie, Michele and Lucky.  As time permits, I will go back to videos I've taken from previous trials and see if I can transfer the "first runs" of other students, too.  That should be fun and inspiring for them to watch.


Our crate space, behind the raffle table.

I crated us along the wall, in the arena fartherest from the ring, behind the raffle table.  There was very little traffic so it was less stressful on the dogs. Lucky behaved beautifully when crated -- no barking, whining, or wiggling around.  She seemed to enjoy her crate time.

My red wagon came in handy again.  I was able to pack my entire crate space, including the wire X-pen for the puppies, in one load.  Afterwards, I was able to help Meg, the trial secretary, load up all her office stuff in one load, and then Tracey's crate space in one load.  They were impressed with the wagon, too, especially since it folds up small and fits in the trunk.

I tried to encourage Tracey, Trial Chairman with the sponsoring local club, OverCome Agility, to put on a second trial in Baton Rouge each year, but she said there is too little help. They don't actually solicit members to join, but I'd agree to spiff up their website to attract more members and/or volunteers in exchange for a second local trial and free runs. It would be well worth my time and effort not to have to travel to the next nearest USDAA trials.

Lessons Learned:

• In USDAA, dogs run without their collars.  Thanks Tracey for stopping me at the start line from running our debut run with Lucky's collar still on, and keeping us from getting whistled off.
• It's less taxing to video the runs from a hand held position in the crowd, and other people are more willing to help out, but the videos are a lot more shakey.

Lucky and her first ribbons

Unfortunately, I didn't get a good picture of Lucky with her ribbons.  But here's the best I've got and it will have to do until I can stage a better one.  And I'm so darn busy these days, that may never happen.

Meanwhile, upwards and onward!