With the busy day yesterday it took me a bit to get videos processed and uploaded.
Here's Teller working on his obedience:
And Kipling working on Figure-8's and speed circles:
Showing posts with label Kipling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kipling. Show all posts
Sunday, January 29, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Friday at the Barn...January 27th, 2012
It was another obedience night for Teller at the barn this afternoon - Of course I left the camera at home tonight because both boys had sessions I would have liked to watched...Teller is so brilliant, he's heeling like I've actually worked obedience with him recently - just right there where I want him to be. Fronts are great, drops are fast and clean and his up attitude is just perfect!
Decided that Kipling should do some speed circles and variants of speed circles - something he hasn't done yet. I mention to folks that he's a pretty clean slate - he's got some fundamentals on-board, but he hasn't gotten a lot of formal agility training, my philosophy is that there is still so much time to do that when he's more physically and mentally mature.
Nevertheless, one of the next things I want to help him with is looking for the next obstacle. He's at the stage where he has his favorite things 'to do', the things he's gotten a lot of reinforcement for doing (the dogwalk, tunnels, etc) and he's at the stage in his understanding where he's offering equipment a lot. That's great Kippie, but I haven't introduced you to the whole a-frame, kindly get your furry bottom off it please :-) On the one hand you applaud the enthusiasm, but you need to interject a bit of control into the situation.
So when I setup said circle I delibrately put jumps near the dogwalk ramps, tunnels and a-frames. I broke down the initial speed circle into about four pieces, clicking and treating for working WITH me. Tough lesson Kippie! In typical Kippie fashion he figured out the new game pretty quickly and had some nice sequences - I'm particularly impressed with his ability to SEE the tire in a pinwheel. In the process I also introduced some baby-rear crosses (you want me to do what while you almost run me over?) and a few blind crosses as well. No biggie says Kippie.
Here's what we worked today:
Decided that Kipling should do some speed circles and variants of speed circles - something he hasn't done yet. I mention to folks that he's a pretty clean slate - he's got some fundamentals on-board, but he hasn't gotten a lot of formal agility training, my philosophy is that there is still so much time to do that when he's more physically and mentally mature.
Nevertheless, one of the next things I want to help him with is looking for the next obstacle. He's at the stage where he has his favorite things 'to do', the things he's gotten a lot of reinforcement for doing (the dogwalk, tunnels, etc) and he's at the stage in his understanding where he's offering equipment a lot. That's great Kippie, but I haven't introduced you to the whole a-frame, kindly get your furry bottom off it please :-) On the one hand you applaud the enthusiasm, but you need to interject a bit of control into the situation.
So when I setup said circle I delibrately put jumps near the dogwalk ramps, tunnels and a-frames. I broke down the initial speed circle into about four pieces, clicking and treating for working WITH me. Tough lesson Kippie! In typical Kippie fashion he figured out the new game pretty quickly and had some nice sequences - I'm particularly impressed with his ability to SEE the tire in a pinwheel. In the process I also introduced some baby-rear crosses (you want me to do what while you almost run me over?) and a few blind crosses as well. No biggie says Kippie.
Here's what we worked today:
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Tuesday at the Barn - January 24th, 2012
A light agility day for Teller at the barn today - it's been months since he's worked any formal heelwork (or any of the open/utility exercises for that matter). If my goal is to get that CDX this year I need to train a bit of obedience here and there. So here is a very rusty Teller-Woo pretending to be an obedience dog. He loves to play the game - any game...this dog is such a huge piece of my soul.
He did get to play a bit of agility after all that 'work':
He did get to play a bit of agility after all that 'work':
Kipling got off easy tonight - no obedience for Kippie, but probably the hardest sequences he's seen to date. He was particularly amazing in the baby sends to the jump #1 while I moved away for crosses. Don't quite remember teaching him that trick :-)
And Kippie the video:
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
How Kipling rolls....
Or...how to make a 2.5 hour car ride FEEL LIKE a 10 hour car ride:
Thankfully we were able to divert his attention with a couple of baby carrots and the squeak-a, squeak-a stopped shortly there after. Gee, it's too bad that my puppy is so stressed on long car rides eh?
Thankfully we were able to divert his attention with a couple of baby carrots and the squeak-a, squeak-a stopped shortly there after. Gee, it's too bad that my puppy is so stressed on long car rides eh?
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Then and Now...
Every so often I stumble upon a picture of Teller at exactly the same age Kipling is now, yesterday was one of those 'so oftens':
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| Murphy (3 years) and Teller (8.5 months) |
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| Murphy (7.5 years), Kipling (8.5 months) and Teller (5 years) |
Friday, December 30, 2011
Kipling's barn session
Finally had another set of hands to tape Kippie's work tonight...People AND dog distractions in the arena tonight!
Weird iPhone resolution this afternoon (yes, it was light outside still), we really weren't training in the dark, but this video came out like we were training in a closet....note to self, don't use the iphone camera at the barn.
Weird iPhone resolution this afternoon (yes, it was light outside still), we really weren't training in the dark, but this video came out like we were training in a closet....note to self, don't use the iphone camera at the barn.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Kipling's Dogwalk - December 23rd, 2011
My dogwalk isn't adjustable - it's super-safe, it's very sturdy, there's no wiggle in the frame, ramps have a pretty innovative suspension system in lieu of separate ramp supports and the hinges are 2" thick pipe (similar to the traditional A-Frame joint). The down-side is that it's one height only - competition height or bust. This is fine for 99% of the training that I do - but it also means that I've had to considerably change the way that I teach the dog-walk to puppies and beginner dogs.
It's not better or worse - it's just different. We spent much more time than I typically would with planks on (or nearly on) the ground. I used some cinderblocks and I actually worked a couple of sessions where I wanted Kipling to come off the side of a slightly elevated plank. We all know that the great thing about a low dogwalk is that a dog can learn to fall off if necessary, control the fall, land and get up. It's a lot more stress falling from 4' feet. In between formal plank sessions (we 'planked' every 7-10 days or so) he would often get a quick 10 reps of getting on the side of the full-height plank and getting into his 2o2o. I will continue to do more contact reps than full dogwalks with him (Teller does the same contact rep exercise as warm-up).
This learning path put Kipling on the dogwalk for the first time last week and he did beautifully! Here he is on his second session of the full-height dogwalk. As you'll see he's very focused on his end behavior and he's very deliberate about where he puts his feet - he knows where the plank is under his feet and he's controlling his body as he goes up and over. That is a very hard skill for a puppy to master with a growing body!
It's not better or worse - it's just different. We spent much more time than I typically would with planks on (or nearly on) the ground. I used some cinderblocks and I actually worked a couple of sessions where I wanted Kipling to come off the side of a slightly elevated plank. We all know that the great thing about a low dogwalk is that a dog can learn to fall off if necessary, control the fall, land and get up. It's a lot more stress falling from 4' feet. In between formal plank sessions (we 'planked' every 7-10 days or so) he would often get a quick 10 reps of getting on the side of the full-height plank and getting into his 2o2o. I will continue to do more contact reps than full dogwalks with him (Teller does the same contact rep exercise as warm-up).
This learning path put Kipling on the dogwalk for the first time last week and he did beautifully! Here he is on his second session of the full-height dogwalk. As you'll see he's very focused on his end behavior and he's very deliberate about where he puts his feet - he knows where the plank is under his feet and he's controlling his body as he goes up and over. That is a very hard skill for a puppy to master with a growing body!
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
A matter of fairness...
Sometimes in the course of training dogs, or teaching humans we have to take a step back and evaluate what we've taught and what we need to teach with critical eyes. I think I've taught X, but the dog has interpreted that as Y, but I have expectations of X - didn't get X, generalized that dog should know X and perhaps become a little annoyed that dog didn't do X, when the dog clearly thought his response was correct. Clear as mud?
I had one of those mea culpa moments today with Kipling. Kippie had broken through the baby gate in the kitchen for about the tenth time this week - in less than 20 seconds actually - on a mousetrap I thought was pretty well put together. Kipling usually only challenges the baby gate when I'm on the other side, though on a couple of occasions it was the cat who enticed him to jailbreak. It doesn't appear to be anxiety, and when he moves the gate, he clearly thinks he's pretty clever. Hey! Look at me, I figured it out!
I'm in the kitchen, he's supposed to be not in the kitchen - and suddenly he's right there at my feet - or in the dining room harassing the cat under the dining room table. This morning the setup was similar, I left all three boys in the den while I went through the kitchen and into the living room to put outgoing mail in the mailbox. By the time I had closed the gate and turned towards the front of the house, there was Kippie right behind me.
His yellow-ness got marched back to the den and into his crate for a time-out. Yes, he did probably need some downtime (and he immediately settled down for a nap) - but it got me thinking about the fairness of my expectations. The same puppy not 24 hours earlier had maintained a 10 minute downstay in the den while I took a shower in another part of the house...certainly we've proofed those stays. What's the deal with busting down baby-gates?
I think the answer is pretty simple - I haven't put any value or reinforcement into staying behind the baby gate. Murphy and Teller respected the gate from day one around here - Kipling isn't identically programmed and indeed, Kipling has gotten a lot of reinforcement for problem solving - how to get cookies by cramming himself in a box, how to balance on an exercise ball for his core conditioning. Lots and lots of reinforcement for thinking outside the box and coming with me - no reinforcement whatsoever for hanging out with the other dogs without actual direction in the den while Erica takes a shower.
So the question of fairness - and the fairness of expectations - sometimes when our dogs 'fail' we really need to go back and look at what criteria we've taught and to make sure we've taught what we think we taught. This is true for dog sport as much as it is for every day life of dog. Is it fair of me to expect a 10 minute out of sight downstay for my 8 month old puppy? In my house, with normal distractions - you betcha. Is it fair for me to take him to PetSmart and proof a 10 minute downstay? Of course not. It's up to handlers and trainers to work very hard to make training and expectations fair - and to recognize when they're not fair.
As for Kipling, he's getting some remedial lessons on how to stay behind a babygate and some extra credit for novel application of escapism.
I had one of those mea culpa moments today with Kipling. Kippie had broken through the baby gate in the kitchen for about the tenth time this week - in less than 20 seconds actually - on a mousetrap I thought was pretty well put together. Kipling usually only challenges the baby gate when I'm on the other side, though on a couple of occasions it was the cat who enticed him to jailbreak. It doesn't appear to be anxiety, and when he moves the gate, he clearly thinks he's pretty clever. Hey! Look at me, I figured it out!
I'm in the kitchen, he's supposed to be not in the kitchen - and suddenly he's right there at my feet - or in the dining room harassing the cat under the dining room table. This morning the setup was similar, I left all three boys in the den while I went through the kitchen and into the living room to put outgoing mail in the mailbox. By the time I had closed the gate and turned towards the front of the house, there was Kippie right behind me.
His yellow-ness got marched back to the den and into his crate for a time-out. Yes, he did probably need some downtime (and he immediately settled down for a nap) - but it got me thinking about the fairness of my expectations. The same puppy not 24 hours earlier had maintained a 10 minute downstay in the den while I took a shower in another part of the house...certainly we've proofed those stays. What's the deal with busting down baby-gates?
I think the answer is pretty simple - I haven't put any value or reinforcement into staying behind the baby gate. Murphy and Teller respected the gate from day one around here - Kipling isn't identically programmed and indeed, Kipling has gotten a lot of reinforcement for problem solving - how to get cookies by cramming himself in a box, how to balance on an exercise ball for his core conditioning. Lots and lots of reinforcement for thinking outside the box and coming with me - no reinforcement whatsoever for hanging out with the other dogs without actual direction in the den while Erica takes a shower.
So the question of fairness - and the fairness of expectations - sometimes when our dogs 'fail' we really need to go back and look at what criteria we've taught and to make sure we've taught what we think we taught. This is true for dog sport as much as it is for every day life of dog. Is it fair of me to expect a 10 minute out of sight downstay for my 8 month old puppy? In my house, with normal distractions - you betcha. Is it fair for me to take him to PetSmart and proof a 10 minute downstay? Of course not. It's up to handlers and trainers to work very hard to make training and expectations fair - and to recognize when they're not fair.
As for Kipling, he's getting some remedial lessons on how to stay behind a babygate and some extra credit for novel application of escapism.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
It's a bird...it's a plane...
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| From 12/3 |
So - here's the hard part, go out and create the same conditions and get the same shot AGAIN. You talk to 5 photographers and they all have one of 'those' shots that they wish they could get again - a little more light, a little sharper focus, a different background, better exposure - you name it. One of my good friends has such a shot (for her it was sharpness) and has been back to the same place six times to try to catch that shot again - without any luck. Could I get another 'airs above the ground' with Kipling?
Well of course not - the expression plus the pose plus the light - It's so hard to duplicate every variable - though I certainly think it's easier with landscapes than with living subjects...
Here's the best one:
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| 12/12 - kind of a grown-up expression, but there is still glee! |
And some other shots:
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| Kipling Come! The Pre-launch. |
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| Good wait. |
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| Good wait. |
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| Teller supervising from a sit-stay. |
Monday, December 12, 2011
Puppy Playtime!
We discovered a fenced in play area at the trial this weekend - Kipling took good advantage of a playgroup on a chilly Sunday morning:
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| 12/11 - Tail caught mid-wag; nice striding though... |
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| 12/11 - Kipling with his friend Aero. |
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| 12/11 - I'll caption this one 'Young and Foolish' Yes, in true Kippie form he has all four feet off the ground. |
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| 12/11 - I'm trying to get another shot with Kippie running right at me with all four feet off the ground....pretty close! |
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| 12/11 |
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| 12/11 |
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| 12/11 |
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| 12/11 |
Saturday, December 03, 2011
Saturday in the Park...
Certainly not the 4th of July....but nevertheless, still no snow here in Vermont and with temperatures in the upper 30's with brilliant sun we HAD to make good use of the day. So I packed up everyone headed to morning run-throughs with Teller and then stopped for a 'run' on the way home.
Three dogs are hard in the event that we run into kids, bikes, random unfriendly dogs, etc - especially if I also have a camera. So the boys played in groups of two - Kippie/Teller and Murphy/Teller - much easier for me to keep an eye on everyone. PLUS, it was really good for Kipling to have a good tantrum at being the one left-behind in the car for a little while (think toller-screams) - he will need to learn to be in a crate near an agility ring (and be quiet) while I run Teller - might as well work through this disappointment now. Advantage power doors, from 50' away I have the ability to open and close 'his' door. It's pretty simple when he screams the door closes...When he's quiet the door opens (and he can watch). I think he had three closures before he settled and watched quietly.
Three dogs are hard in the event that we run into kids, bikes, random unfriendly dogs, etc - especially if I also have a camera. So the boys played in groups of two - Kippie/Teller and Murphy/Teller - much easier for me to keep an eye on everyone. PLUS, it was really good for Kipling to have a good tantrum at being the one left-behind in the car for a little while (think toller-screams) - he will need to learn to be in a crate near an agility ring (and be quiet) while I run Teller - might as well work through this disappointment now. Advantage power doors, from 50' away I have the ability to open and close 'his' door. It's pretty simple when he screams the door closes...When he's quiet the door opens (and he can watch). I think he had three closures before he settled and watched quietly.
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| AND....They're OFF! Down the backstretch! Pentax K-r |
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| "Playful and Foolish" Pentax K-r |
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| Teller in full gallop. Pentax K-r |
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| And Kipling at full speed. He's looking like a 'yearling' now. A bit gawky. Pentax K-r |
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| Teller with the inflation Pentax K-r |
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| Portrait Pentax K-r |
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| Another Portrait Pentax K-r |
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| Levitating Puppy. Pentax K-r |
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| They have THREE acres to gallop on...and they choose to be 2" apart. Pentax K-r |
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| Somebody packed their 'crazy eyes' Pentax K-r |
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| And another portrait. Pentax K-r |
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| Murphy's turn! Pentax K-r |
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| Murphy practicing his hunter-pace trot on the forehand.... Pentax K-r |
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| Look at this angle in this light you can't see the giant bald spot on his face! Pentax K-r |
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| Air Murphy Pentax K-r |
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| Murphy Pentax K-r |
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| Murphy Pentax K-r |
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Murphy settles in to graze, all the udders have been retrieved. Must be time to go home now.... Pentax K-r |
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