Here is a couple of new pictures of Vivre. I think she might actually look like a dog now.
After years of working with rescue dogs, I got bit by the sports bug. So I got a schutzhund puppy. I guess we'll see how it goes.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Vivre meets Darren
Last night Vivre and I headed up to Lexington to work with Brydon and her helper, Darren. I am very grateful that Brydon set this up since my club basically shut down when the T.D started a new job. As a result Vivre hasn't done any bitework in about a year. I like Darren, he talked to her the whole time he was working with her and he has a very playful manner with the dogs. Vivre definitely enjoyed herself and I love being around dog people. Around here when I start talking about dog stuff people get this glazed over look in their eyes.
I also got to see Brydon's boys while I was there. You can tell that Vivre and Wicked are related, they share a lot of traits especially behaviorally. Wicked is surprisingly not that much bigger than Vivre though he has a lot more fur than she does and of course has filled out more.
I had to swing by petsmart and pick up some crickets for my aunt's frog, so Vivre also had her first trip to a pet store. She has gone to the feed store with me in the past, but last night made it clear that I haven't take Vivre out to work in new places lately. That last couple of weeks it was because she was in heat, but even before that we had been mostly working around the mountain. I couldn't even get her to heel from the car to the door of the pet store. Pathetic.
The seminar with Denise is in a couple of weeks. So I need to get her out working in new places again or she will be totally worthless at the seminar. I am also going to try and pretend to be an organized individual and make a list of things I have to work on, train, or fix. Off the top of my head...
Front - I accidentally trained a wonky orientation. She doesn't want to sit directly in front of me but canted to the side.
Impulse Control- I have done a fair amount of impulse control with the tug and am usually glad that I live alone when I do. I would hate to have to explain to somebody why I am bouncing on the bed, singing (badly) and swinging the tug around my head like a lasso. What I haven't worked on is impulse control when I throw things (like a dumbbell)
Duration and Distance- I need more duration on the down, if it is apparent that we are actively working she holds the down, but I haven't built the duration that I need, especially if I am not looking at her. I also need more distance than the down and sit out of motion.
Tracking- I really, really need to start tracking. We have done only a handful of tracks.
Revier- We have had a couple of shaping sessions teaching her to go around buckets, but I haven't gotten it solid and we will need that behavior for the blind search.
Stand- This is just stupid on my part. I totally forget about stand. I am putting this on a fairly high priority because I don't want to get a lot of reps of sits and downs out of motion then try to add stand later.
Retrieve- I have started back chaining the retrieves but the retrieves make up a lot of points in a schutzhund trial that I am a little paranoid about messing it up.
I need to fine tune my heeling, especially right about turns where she gets a little wide or occasionally forward. Now I remember why I don't like to make lists. I start thinking about everything I need to get done and think... well I won't use that kind of language here. Of course if I made lists then I might be more organized and more likely to get things done. Stands, Fronts, and added distance and duration on downs are the top three things on the list. I also need to get a jump so I can start training that as well. I might take a shot at building it. I will need to build the a frame so the jump might be good practice for me. Of course watching me attempt to hammer anything is amusing, but I figure that is why they invented drills.
I also got to see Brydon's boys while I was there. You can tell that Vivre and Wicked are related, they share a lot of traits especially behaviorally. Wicked is surprisingly not that much bigger than Vivre though he has a lot more fur than she does and of course has filled out more.
I had to swing by petsmart and pick up some crickets for my aunt's frog, so Vivre also had her first trip to a pet store. She has gone to the feed store with me in the past, but last night made it clear that I haven't take Vivre out to work in new places lately. That last couple of weeks it was because she was in heat, but even before that we had been mostly working around the mountain. I couldn't even get her to heel from the car to the door of the pet store. Pathetic.
The seminar with Denise is in a couple of weeks. So I need to get her out working in new places again or she will be totally worthless at the seminar. I am also going to try and pretend to be an organized individual and make a list of things I have to work on, train, or fix. Off the top of my head...
Front - I accidentally trained a wonky orientation. She doesn't want to sit directly in front of me but canted to the side.
Impulse Control- I have done a fair amount of impulse control with the tug and am usually glad that I live alone when I do. I would hate to have to explain to somebody why I am bouncing on the bed, singing (badly) and swinging the tug around my head like a lasso. What I haven't worked on is impulse control when I throw things (like a dumbbell)
Duration and Distance- I need more duration on the down, if it is apparent that we are actively working she holds the down, but I haven't built the duration that I need, especially if I am not looking at her. I also need more distance than the down and sit out of motion.
Tracking- I really, really need to start tracking. We have done only a handful of tracks.
Revier- We have had a couple of shaping sessions teaching her to go around buckets, but I haven't gotten it solid and we will need that behavior for the blind search.
Stand- This is just stupid on my part. I totally forget about stand. I am putting this on a fairly high priority because I don't want to get a lot of reps of sits and downs out of motion then try to add stand later.
Retrieve- I have started back chaining the retrieves but the retrieves make up a lot of points in a schutzhund trial that I am a little paranoid about messing it up.
I need to fine tune my heeling, especially right about turns where she gets a little wide or occasionally forward. Now I remember why I don't like to make lists. I start thinking about everything I need to get done and think... well I won't use that kind of language here. Of course if I made lists then I might be more organized and more likely to get things done. Stands, Fronts, and added distance and duration on downs are the top three things on the list. I also need to get a jump so I can start training that as well. I might take a shot at building it. I will need to build the a frame so the jump might be good practice for me. Of course watching me attempt to hammer anything is amusing, but I figure that is why they invented drills.
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