Friday, July 30, 2010
Border Collies...
Border Collies are so much fun. They are not dogs. They are their own species, but I like them. And Goose is a frisbee star, except I can't throw. Also, in earlier posts I talked about Goose learning to fetch and how I wanted to make sure I didn't have the first Border Collie who didn't like fetch...well...he's obsessed. He is now flinging tennis balls at me in true Border Collie fashion. He can go from dead asleep to fetching in 1 second. His recall is AWESOME because their might be a game of fetch on the line. That'd be the difference between Billy and Border Collies. Billy thinks fetch is awesome... sometimes. He thinks tug is awesome...sometimes. He thinks food is awesome...sometimes. Therefore he comes when I call him....sometimes (he was doing awesome but since puppy I have been slacking and he has a HIGH maintenance recall). Goose thinks fetch, tug, and food are awesome ALL THE TIME...so he comes flying at me no matter what else he is doing (at least for now). Two very very different dogs. Yet so similar in some ways. Love them both no matter if they like fetch or not:)
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Flyball Billy
Billy had class tonight and I got to stay after to watch flyball practice and try out a flyball class. Had tons of fun in Billy's class. I found out that he can weave six poles as long as I run on his right side, but if I run on his left side he can barley do four that aren't even closed. Oops! When we worked a little bit on weaving I practiced a lot of entries but I always ran on his right side. I think deep down I just wanted to see him weave, even if he could only do it with me in one position. We will work on that!! Billy was a speed demon over the dogwalk. I could barley stay in front of him. It's all so much fun. I was worried about Bringing Goose and Billy together to class, but Goose had no problem being in a crate in the building during Billy's class. I did cover it and give him a kong , but even with dogs barking he was quiet the whole time. He was a lot more comfortable today, overall. I think because people actually paid attention to him instead of ignoring him. He got to meet a lot of friendly dogs and was very good with all of them.
After Billy's class I was planning to take Goose to watch Flyball and do the class (whatever parts were puppy friendly). I ended up watching the practice with Goose who got to meet 3 baby BC's and then doing the class with Billy! They said Goose was too young for most of the things we'd be doing. I never planned on doing flyball with Billy, because he's so big and I just didn't know if he'd like it, but he did great! We did restrained recalls over jumps and he was into it and wanting to tug. We also did some hind end on the box work and "dead ball" retreiving, which is where the dog retrieves a still ball and brings it back for a tug reward, rather than chasing a moving ball. Billy was even able to do a little bit of that. He was really tired and hot so he could have been better, but who can blame him after 2 classes in a row! He was pretty non reactive all night too, besides freaking for a second at a little lab. But overall he had a great night! I think I will practice the things we learned and look into actually taking him through a class. I love team sports, since I've played them all my life so I know I'll love flyball. I just hope my dogs love it too!
Doggy's are all sleepy now. I'm watching Layla so she is here. We had to call animal poison control earlier because when I picked up Layla she had gotten into and ripped up a heating pad. (the kind like hand warmers that have iron in them and get hot when they hit air) The package had a ton of warnings on it so I called to be safe. They said she'd most likely be fine and probably didn't ingest enough to hurt her. They said feed her bread with her meals for a while for extra fiber. Animal poison control is cool. They let you talk to real vets who tell you what to do and let you call back anytime. It costs money but A LOT less then an unneeded trip to the emergency vets.
I'm alive!
Sleepy sleepy flyball boy
Look how cute I was!
After Billy's class I was planning to take Goose to watch Flyball and do the class (whatever parts were puppy friendly). I ended up watching the practice with Goose who got to meet 3 baby BC's and then doing the class with Billy! They said Goose was too young for most of the things we'd be doing. I never planned on doing flyball with Billy, because he's so big and I just didn't know if he'd like it, but he did great! We did restrained recalls over jumps and he was into it and wanting to tug. We also did some hind end on the box work and "dead ball" retreiving, which is where the dog retrieves a still ball and brings it back for a tug reward, rather than chasing a moving ball. Billy was even able to do a little bit of that. He was really tired and hot so he could have been better, but who can blame him after 2 classes in a row! He was pretty non reactive all night too, besides freaking for a second at a little lab. But overall he had a great night! I think I will practice the things we learned and look into actually taking him through a class. I love team sports, since I've played them all my life so I know I'll love flyball. I just hope my dogs love it too!
Doggy's are all sleepy now. I'm watching Layla so she is here. We had to call animal poison control earlier because when I picked up Layla she had gotten into and ripped up a heating pad. (the kind like hand warmers that have iron in them and get hot when they hit air) The package had a ton of warnings on it so I called to be safe. They said she'd most likely be fine and probably didn't ingest enough to hurt her. They said feed her bread with her meals for a while for extra fiber. Animal poison control is cool. They let you talk to real vets who tell you what to do and let you call back anytime. It costs money but A LOT less then an unneeded trip to the emergency vets.
I'm alive!
Sleepy sleepy flyball boy
Look how cute I was!
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Nobody likes puppies
I took Goose on a walk with my friend through her neighborhood tonight after his agility class with the hope that he could meet some friendly dogs and people to help him be less worried about seeing strange people from a distance. Well, it would have been perfect because we passed a lot of people, but EVERYONE ignored him. Poor puppy. When we got close enough that he started his happy dance people wouldn't even look at him. Some of the people he would bark at and others he would just slow up a little until we got close, but he was always happy when we got close and was always ignored. Finally I told my friend to wait a second and I walked Goose up about 25 feet then turned around and he thought my friend was a new person. So he slowed up at first then started wiggly butt dancing and finally got pats! I guess it was a good experience but I wish that it could have been more positive for him. Oh well! Maybe next time I go there will be less puppy haters out.
Growing up
Dogs don't generalize
Welp, I just tested Gooses resources guarding on my sister and its back to square one with people other than me. I have been doing a ton of trading games but mainly with me. I had a a friend of mine work with him a little once or twice but besides that it was mostly just me. I gave Goose and Billy each a rawhide chew and they went off to chew them. I gave my sister a little piece of what I was eating and told her to go up to Goose take the bone, give the treat, then right away give the bone back. As soon as she started walking towards him snatched up the treat and ran away! So we made a training session out of it. Got really good treats (pieces of chicken) and first just had her walk near him and toss him chicken. Once he got used to that I had her go up to him slowly and just feed a treat from her hand without taking the bone. Then once he was comfortable with that I had her take the bone and feed the treat right away and give the bone back right away. Finally she was able to walk swiftly up to him, take the bone, wait a second, feed the treat, wait another second, and then give the bone back. This was all within probably about ten minutes or less. He picked it up quickly since its the exact same game I play with him. Just like a dog will learn a trick in a new environment quicker then it took them to initially learn the trick in the first environment. So hopefully Goose will generalize that any person coming towards him when he has a toy or chew is a good thing not just me. I'm gonna make it a point to have as many people as I can play the game with him. OHHH Gooey AKA Thug as he was known at the breeders:)
AT LEAST HE'S CUTE!
Note the ears:)
Note the ears:)Sunday, July 25, 2010
Goose can catch
I've been wondering when the coordination needed for catching a ball was going to come to Goose. Today I told my friend that he couldn't yet catch a tennis ball so she threw him one...and he caught it! Yay Goo!
Ball catcher and lover of fetchWe've been having a ton of adventures lately especially ones that involve swimming. Yet somehow Goose is still doing laps around my family room.
Lots of running was done by allToday's adventure was to a park surrounding a lake and yesterdays was to a fishing/hiking/boating place. Both were a lot of fun. Aside from Billy disrupting a fisher and Billy, Goose, and Layla all almost drowning in an attempt to save me. Even though I was just swimming.
Not the best rescue squad. (except Billy! He will pull you around if you hold his tail)
During our outing today it started to storm to we had to take cover under a pavilion. It was fun to watch the storm from somewhere safe. Goose is surprisingly unfazed by thunder. Some squeaky toys scare him, but big booms of thunder he acts as if he doesn't hear. Goose also learned or developed some serious alarm barking. Anytime Layla barked at someone that she saw in the distance Goose would start barking and acting very worried while having no idea what he was barking at as far as I could see. A few people came up to the pavilion that we were under and he barked at them all the way up to until they were about 8 feet away then started doing his wiggly butt dance. (then jumped on and got paw prints on two sets of white pants) He LOVES everyone he meets as long as they are close. The same way he is with dogs. EXCEPT last night he met his first pug. He did not know what to make of it and never figured out that it was a dog. I think that we need a few pug play dates. We should probably get some Boston Terriers, Bulldogs, pekingese, and other different looking dogs to come too.Also, we tried to make another fun doggie webisode/minimovie but failed in a scene where Goose needed to stay while Billy got up from next to him to run after Layla. Goose's stay is not nearly good enough and Billy's stay is TOO good (as a result of training with a remote collar.) We will try again soon though!
I sat on my backpack and the easy cheese can emptied itself.
Lemonade stand?
Goose gets a lot of real life stay training with all these photo shoots.
Tired Willy
Tired Gooey
Tired LaylaYesterday's Pics:
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=28805854#!/album.php?aid=2111431&id=28805854
Today's Pics:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=34215150&id=28805854&ref=notif¬if_t=like#!/album.php?aid=2111535&id=28805854&ref=notif¬if_t=like
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Billy can weave!
I had SO much fun at agility tonight! Billy was amazing! He is such a cool dog. The class is a contacts class and today we practiced our 2o2o behaviors which Billy really generalized from waht he have been doing with the stairs. Only issue is that when he is on my right side he will a lot of times only have one foot on the board. The new thing we did today was just running a lowered dog walk and a-frame with out any contact behavior just to get used to being on them and having fun. The first few times on the dog walk Billy jumped off in the middle but after he started to get it he was flying over it! I never thought he'd do anything fast in agility, even though he is a really fast dog. The a-frame was so cool to see him figure out. The first time over he was a little cautious because it was creaking loudly, but the second time he FLEW over it! I was so impressed. He is such a super confident dog, when it comes to things like that. No noise or surface or weird scary new thing ever gets to him.
He was a bit of a pain when we first got there, however. We played the "look at that game" with the other dogs, but a few times he couldn't contain himself and started barking. He was also tense and puffed up. He calmed down pretty quickly though and after a few minutes I was able to take off the leash and he totally ignored the other dogs. Only once he went away from me to say Hi to a Sheltie, who he totally freaked out. He did it very playfully though so it was okay. He wasn't being a jerk just saying Hi. He really is good with other dogs, but acts like a nut when he is on leash around unknown ones.
ANYWAY, so the big news of the night... Billy weaved twelve straight poles! I have worked with him a decent amount on 2x2 weaving, but we only got up to 4 straight poles. We did 6 like maybe 2 or 3 times. I always have such a hard time when I do weave training with him because I've always made my own weaves out of pvc and they are not sturdy enough for Billy. I had some success when I used about 20 garden stake things to hold them down, but he would still rip them up and sometimes break them. I bought stick in the ground ones that he just bent. This is all on top of the fact that he would only be in the mood to work on them every now and then. So anyway, tonight just for fun I told him to weave a line of twelve straight and he went though them all! I couldn't believe it! I asked him to do it a few times and he didn't always do it perfect but one or two times he did and the other times he just came out early or came out and and then went right back in. So clearly we still have a lot of work to do on them but it was cool that our work with 4 poles somewhat transferred onto 12. GO BILLY!
Goose is working on some new tricks... Cross paws, pray, be shy, holding stuff, and leg weaving. All going pretty well! He is so much faster with his behaviors for food. When I use a toy reward he is in slow motion. Until I trow the toy that is the he's speedy! I guess that comes with maturity? I don't know!
As for a resource guarding update... Goose is doing GREAT!! He looks up at me and drops whatever he is chewing anytime I come near him in anticipation of a treat. He eats kibble off the ground with Billy. He shares water bowls. He lets Billy lay next to him while he chews. I haven't seen or heard him tell any of our dogs off for coming near chews or toys in a long time. He takes food right next to Rook (his puppy friend) and doesn't get mad if Rook goes for treats that were meant for him. He shares toys with Rook too. So far so good!
He was a bit of a pain when we first got there, however. We played the "look at that game" with the other dogs, but a few times he couldn't contain himself and started barking. He was also tense and puffed up. He calmed down pretty quickly though and after a few minutes I was able to take off the leash and he totally ignored the other dogs. Only once he went away from me to say Hi to a Sheltie, who he totally freaked out. He did it very playfully though so it was okay. He wasn't being a jerk just saying Hi. He really is good with other dogs, but acts like a nut when he is on leash around unknown ones.
ANYWAY, so the big news of the night... Billy weaved twelve straight poles! I have worked with him a decent amount on 2x2 weaving, but we only got up to 4 straight poles. We did 6 like maybe 2 or 3 times. I always have such a hard time when I do weave training with him because I've always made my own weaves out of pvc and they are not sturdy enough for Billy. I had some success when I used about 20 garden stake things to hold them down, but he would still rip them up and sometimes break them. I bought stick in the ground ones that he just bent. This is all on top of the fact that he would only be in the mood to work on them every now and then. So anyway, tonight just for fun I told him to weave a line of twelve straight and he went though them all! I couldn't believe it! I asked him to do it a few times and he didn't always do it perfect but one or two times he did and the other times he just came out early or came out and and then went right back in. So clearly we still have a lot of work to do on them but it was cool that our work with 4 poles somewhat transferred onto 12. GO BILLY!
Goose is working on some new tricks... Cross paws, pray, be shy, holding stuff, and leg weaving. All going pretty well! He is so much faster with his behaviors for food. When I use a toy reward he is in slow motion. Until I trow the toy that is the he's speedy! I guess that comes with maturity? I don't know!
As for a resource guarding update... Goose is doing GREAT!! He looks up at me and drops whatever he is chewing anytime I come near him in anticipation of a treat. He eats kibble off the ground with Billy. He shares water bowls. He lets Billy lay next to him while he chews. I haven't seen or heard him tell any of our dogs off for coming near chews or toys in a long time. He takes food right next to Rook (his puppy friend) and doesn't get mad if Rook goes for treats that were meant for him. He shares toys with Rook too. So far so good!
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