Book Review - FREEDOM FLIGHT

For Christmas presents, I bought 3 books on Mental Management:  Freedom Flight, With Winning In Mind, and Finding Your Zone.  My son who is crazy about golf, my grandson who does cross country, and I who finally can say I "have a sport" after 60 years without one, will circulate these books among ourselves as a joint present, hopefully finding common ground by helping us all improve our games.

To help me remember the content of each one as I read it, I will blog my notes, starting with the one I read over the holidays:

Freedom Flight - The Origins Of Mental Power, by Lanny Bassham
This is a short book but carries a big punch.  Fictitious, it's also a composite of the wisdom of 3 real life people who influenced a real life Olympic champion (the author) to win Gold after many years of struggle to get there.

Synopsis: 
A soldier is captured and held as a Vietnam war prisoner for 6 years, plus spends several weeks in solitary in a 4'x4' bamboo box, without much food or water.  He pares life down to "what's important and what's not", and what he does to keep from going crazy is  to not worry about things he can't control, control what he can, and play golf in his head.  When he gets released back to the US and steps onto the golf course, he's rehearsed so many thousands of great shots in his mind, they come to pass!  He relates this story to the future Olympian on a plane flight, giving him the pearls of wisdom he needs to free himself of his self-limiting fears and attain his goal of Gold.

Summary: 

Here's the list of positive mental imaging tricks imparted:

1. The Lesson Of The Box: Until you get out of the "prison" of your self-limiting concepts, you aren't free to reach your goals and dreams. How do you do that?
   Establish a Plan
   Learn to separate what is important from what is not important in reaching your goals, and let the unimportant things go.
   What you think about AFTER something happens to you shapes the fabric of your future. Don't dwell on unimportant things.
2. It is unimportant what happens to you in life. What is important is what you do about it.  This is how you live a "purposeful" life, rather than be a "victim" of life.
3. Adversity is an effective teacher. Tragedy causes us to separate what is important from what is not.  Shows us we can't control all events, but we can control how we react to them.
4. Everything we experience in life is a preparation for our future.
5.  "To he who has been given much, much shall be required." If you focus less on your personal achievement and more on the good you could do by achieving it, you are more likely to win.  Changing your Purpose this way changes your focus, relaxes you, makes for easier performances.
6. The way you see things is reality.  Your actual environment is not reality. Perception is everything.
7. Focus on solutions to problems, not on the problems themselves.  Change your thought pictures.  Can you control your thoughts?  Do you try?  If your mind starts down a negative path, can you pull it away?  When you are in a situation you can't control, try to replace worrying with thinking happy thoughts that bring you joy.
8. Presets - We have many presets in our heads, like car radios where you press the button and it takes you to a particular station. Learn to identify your presets, and reset them to advantage.  For example, you can learn to step into the ring and all else fades but you and your dog running together beautifully. The mind cannot tell the difference between what you vividly imagine and what you actually do.  Replace "I can't run well" with "I run like a pro" and envision it, you can achieve it.
9. Every life has a purpose.  Everything happens for a reason.  Learning to see the benefits of everything that happens to you is important.
10. Every purposeful life has a God ordained plan. Once your goals are in sync with this plan, good things will begin to happen easily.
11. Even if there are no doors currently open to you, continue to think about your plan.  Doors eventually open to those who are determined.
12. The world tends to only measure accomplishment.  But you can also measure the state of your "becoming".
13. The conscious mind can only focus on one thing at a time.  Focus on what you want to happen and not what you fear might happen.
14. God endows us with weapons to fight through adversity.

Conclusion:

For years after meeting the Vietnam Prisoner on this flight, the author could not afford to train for his sport.  He set up a room in his home as a shooting range, and every day practiced aiming and shooting perfect shots.  Years later the chance came up to join a team and qualify for the Olympics, he did, and won Gold.

Upwards and onward!

Jump Training with Lucky Lucy

Jump training with Lucky is easy because she loves to retrieve.  Throw the ball, she brings it back.  Throw it over the 2 foot high garden fence, she puts 2 jumps in for every throw (there and back), and she will keep this up until your arm is worn out.  We limit her to 20 jumps a day a few times per week, and figure we could keep her in shape for years even if we were crippled in a wheel chair!  I finally got a video of this activity, and using slow motion, you can really see her powerful physique in motion.  It's amazing how much effort goes into a dog jumping obstacles.

Now if only I can transfer her enthusiasm for this game onto the agility course!

Upwards and onward!

Keeping Cool In Hot Weather

Last night at 7 p.m. the temperature reading on my car thermometer was 99 degrees (and by 9:30 it was still reading 95), so I gathered my agility students around (both classes) and took several minutes to prep them how to cope with this scorching heat.   I've been mulling over this problem since last summer when one agility student swooned and fell to the ground, when I almost had to quit taking classes myself last summer in the midst of competition season, and lately I've worried how I might survive teaching classes in temperatures approaching 100 degrees.  So today, I decided to share my heat survival strategies with everyone I can reach, because heat stroke is serious business. 

So far, my "keeping cool" methods include:

• Freeze 2 small (8-10 oz.) water bottles ahead of time.  Add these to the dog's water jug (I got an Igloo 1 gallon wide-mouth at Dollar General for about $6, but you can pay about $12 other places.).  The water bottles work just like ice, without melting fast or letting the dogs eat the ice cubes.  When you get home, just rinse off and throw the bottles back in the freezer. 
• Fill 2 or 3 16-20 oz. water bottles about half full, freeze tilted almost on their sides.  Fill the empty space with water just before class.  The ice melts slowly and is mostly gone after a few hours, but is still very cool.  Can substitute water with gator aide, freeze that, refilling the small bottles from a large one at home.
• Treats - freeze your dog treats, such as liver brownies, gizzards, Bil-Jak. Of course, keep these in a small cooler, right next to your half-frozen drinking water bottles.
• Electrolytes - preferable to water, drink Coconut Water, Gator Aide, or other fluids that replace electrolytes. Target and Wal-Mart sell all kinds of sports drinks now. Freeze them a few hours before class. Someone suggested upping Potassium in the diet, like "a banana a day keeps the charlie horses away".
• Bandana - 100% cotton, wet one down and tie it around your neck.  Use to wipe your face and arms, re-wet often, and keep tied around your neck.
• Wash cloths - wet one down to dripping wet and and wipe dog's underarms, belly and behind their ears several times during class. Rub them all over.
• Introduce the swimming pool and encourage dogs to hop in between their runs.  Keeps their feet cool.
• Spray Bottle - I have an orchid spray bottle that puts out an extremely fine mist.  Spray your face, neck, arms, clothes, between runs, even the dog if they will tolerate it.
• Sweat band - made of thick terry cloth, 100% cotton, like tennis players use.  Keep on your forehead to keep that salty sweat out of your eyes.
• Clothing - wear 100% cotton, breathable fabrics, preferably patterns or colors that look the same wet or dry.  Drench your shirt in water or lots of mist to keep yourself very cool. I can go in the grocery store wringed out wet and nobody can tell.
• Hat or cap - make sure heat can escape from the top of your head.  If you wear a cap, let it be open on top (sun visor) unless you're working in direct sun.  We give off heat from the top of our head.
• Pull hair back into pony tail, or at least up off of the neck.
• Canopy:  Stay in the shade during the day, under a canopy if no natural shade is available.  Wonderful, sturdy 10' x 10' straight leg canopies, by First-Up, are available at O-Neal Wal-Mart for around $80.  Suggested retail elsewhere:  $249.  Wal-Mart also offers both screen and opaque sides for this model, at about $40 each.  A total bargain.  One person can put this up, and it folds down for compact storage to 8" x 8" x 4', which is on wheels.  (Ingenious design).  Replacement parts are available.   I wish they made these canopies in the 6' x 6' or 7' x 7' size.  I would set mine up over my crate space at trials in cold weather, with a heater inside to keep us all warm.
• Portable fans - needed in the car, with windows open, if any dog must be left in there. Also great hanging on any wire crate. My brand is the little Ozark Trail O2 COOL, very popular, available at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc., at around $25-30. It runs on 8 D-cells, and also has a 12 volt cord for plugging into a car's lighter socket. It stands up on its own, also has a hook for hanging. Mine hangs from the passenger side visor. 10" blade.  3#. Folds small. Lo-Hi settings. I like it. There are more expensive versions now, with rechargeable batteries. Here's the link, and their ad.
  We checked into a bit larger/heavier Ryobi fan with 8 hour rechargeable lithium battery from Home Depot (+-$100), but I'm happy with my O2-COOL for now.
• Dog Cooling Coat: And then there are the dog cooling coats, which I'm looking into.  Lucky really shuts down in the heat. Jerri has ordered one for Kyra and it should be here next week for me to check out.  Meanwhile, a Google search offered one from Wal-Mart for only about $35. You just dip it in water 1 to 2 minutes, for hours of cool.   Check it out: HyperKewl Canine Cooling Coat, Blue   Do they have these for humans?

Stayin' cool!

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!

Clicker Training Ideas

Teach students how dogs feel about clicker training, by clicker training the students.  Also a great party game.

http://www.thedogtrainingsecret.com/blog/clever-exercise/

Play the Guessing Game with small puppies up thru old dogs, marking the desired behavior with Click/Yes/Treat.  The easiest way I know to teach the clicker.

One Jump Is All You Need

"One jump is all you need to learn every handling maneuver". 
So says Susan Garrett, and so says Steve Schwarz, the Agility Nerd.

So I figure, every new agility student, whether serious about agility or just looking to have some good exercise and fun with their dog, should buy or build 1 jump for their yard, den, or patio, or to carry in their trunk and assemble it at the park.  To facilitate that, I'm giving the directions for building your own jump.

Materials for a 4' wide jump:
2 10' PVC poles 1" gauge, cut as follows:
Pole #1, cut 2 4' lengths, and 2 1' lengths
Pole #2, cut 2 3' lengths, 2 1' lengths, and 2 2" lengths
Leftovers: 1.8'

4 PVC T's to match 1" gauge
6 end caps
PVC glue
(Optional) Colored masking tape to decorate the bars.

This gives you 1 jump with the bottom bar set at 4" off the ground.

You might also choose to make your jumps only 3.5' wide, in which case you can use 3/4" gauge PVC, but these jumps don't meet the regulation 4' and 5' wide jumps required in competition.  On the other hand, they are light weight, cheaper, a bit easier to fit in your trunk, and just as much fun for your dog. (I have these at home, as pictured above.)

NOTE:  You need either a skill saw, a hack saw, or a table saw to cut the PVC.  Beware, the plastic can shatter unless you cut slowly, and it helps to wrap the line to be cut with masking tape first. Protect your eyes with safety glasses.

Assembly: Glue the foot parts together. Glue the upright parts together. Glue the end caps on. Don't glue the feet to the uprights (for flat storage), and don't glue the crossbars to the uprights.

Jump Cups are used to hold the cross bars up.  They snap onto the uprights, and you vary their height along the uprights depending on the jump height of your dog (in 4 inch increments from 8", 12", 16", 20", 24").  Since I train 2 dogs and another comes to train at my house, and all are different heights, I have 6 jump cups on each of my jumps, two set at 8" for Maxie, 2 at 12" for Charlie, and 2 at 20" for Lucky.  We move the top bar up and down depending upon who is practicing.  If necessary, I could also slide the jump cups up and down, but that would be a pain in the butt.  When I get time I will make more jump cups for 16" and 22".

You need 2 jump cups to hold up each bar.

You can purchase 1" gauge jump cups (and other gauges) off of Ebay for a reasonable fee.  Go to http://www.ebay.com/.   In their search bar, put dog agility jump cups.  You'll come up with a ton of choices - a much easier option than making your own!

Making your own Jump Cups:  Yes, it can be done if you have a table saw and know how to use it, and you get the right kind of T's that don't have deep inner casting marks.  1 T makes 2 jump cups. Cut the top of the T off a wee bit before the middle mark, leaving a C shape that can clamp on firmly to the upright poles.  Cut the decapitated T in half, perpendicular to the first cut, and voila, 2 jump cups.

What You Can Practice With One Jump:

• Post Turns
• Pull Throughs
• Front Cross (take off and landing sides)
• Rear Cross (take off and landing sides)
• Blind Cross
• Sends
• Calls
• Run Bys
• Around The Clocks
• Distances
• Angles
• Go Jumps, Out Jumps, Come Jumps
• Send to Back Side
• Lateral Lead Outs

These and other handling maneuvers are described on Steve Schwarz's blog. No excuse not to practice in limited space now, or when you can't go outside!

Upwards and onward!

Treadmill Training

Trying to figure out how to exercise Joy's 6 dogs on a regular basis while she is laid up, I finally found my inspiration to learn how to train the treadmill.  Googling "Dog Treadmill Training", I came up with mostly amateurish videos. This is one of the most professional ones:


There are several different ways to train the treadmill. Some handlers train from the side.  Some straddle the belt.  Some use leashes, others not.  Some use treats and/or clickers, some not.  But most had these things in common:

1. Get D used to getting on and off the treadmill.  Reward for each behavior. Break it down as needed (reward for 1 paw touch, 2 paws on, 4 on, whatever it takes). Build value into the treadmill.
2. Get D used to the sound of the treadmill running with them nearby.
3. Have D on the belt before turning the treadmill on.  Start slow and gradually increase speed.
4. Practice daily in short segments 30 seconds to 30 minutes long.

Leashes and Treats: The above video does NOT use treats, however in another video by the same trainer, he does lure D onto the belt with treats.  He uses a leash here, but in other videos he does not.  Guess it depends upon the dog.

I found this text on one treadmill training site:
"turn on the treadmill to its slowest speed while your dog is standing on it. The dog will automatically begin walking". While mine just jump off, here's a video that supports that claim:



Once the dog is fully trained, they can exercise a couple of times a day -- great if you have no yard, it's wet, freezing or too hot outside, or you're unable to walk them.  Be sure you don't ever leave the room, especially if D is tied to the treadmill.  Some treadmills come with a magnet you attach to the control console, and a clip you can attach to the collar.  It acts like a leash but if D jumps off, it pulls the magnet off and stops the machine.

One video showed 2 Welsh Corgis walking side by side.  Another showed a dog and a cat.

So now, looks like I have a diverse bunch of dogs I can practice on, starting with mine tomorrow!  Maybe I'll get out the camera and tripod and post my own amateurish video on YouTube!

Meanwhile, you can access some other treadmill training videos from the thumbnails appearing under each of the videos above after you watch them, provided courtesy of YouTube (I had nothing to do with choosing these).

Upwards and onward!