Look Ma No Hands!!

Today I decided I should probably do some agility in the yard with Abbey to keep all those good distance skills she has been gaining SHARP. I tried a new tactic, though. I tried using a verbal cue only...NO HANDS.

Whenever we run our dogs a lot of us to get them to move away from us use those flying arms. I decided to see how Abbey would react if she didn't have that crutch. Abbey the totally awesome proved to me that there is more going on in that noggin than I give her credit for (and I think she's bloody smart). She took her verbal cue like she's been doing it all her life and as I pulled away she pushed out going around the cones (planter pots) and coming around to a perfect approach on the teeter.

I need to now go and generalize this at the field and other areas, but Abbey and distance are now becoming better friends which is improving her speed because it means that I can get ahead of her more often. A lagging handler never prospers.

So today, Abbey said "look Ma, NO HANDS!"

All Wags and No Woofs

What with the channel change on YouTube and school killing me everyday I haven't been able to do much blog updating, BUT never fear I didn't forget.

Abbey and I have been taking walks to park when it isn't too hot or rainy (which is not ver often because it's the rainy AND hot season here in South Florida), and last week we went to the park and there were other people there walking their dogs. Of course Abbey had been doing great not reacting to other people, but other dogs?? Eh, I wasn't going to expect much silence out of her that day. Well, Abbey shocked the heck out of me, she didn't react NOT ONCE to the other 2 dogs in the park. Lucky enough for her I felt the need to bring hot dogs with me this trip, so for her most amazing effort to watch the doggies walk by, notice them and not bark, she received some yummy beef franks =).

We also had some fun playing on the playground equipment where a lady and her baby were awe-struck over the fact that Abbey chooses to go down the slide next to her mommy. Well, of course!! She's 6 years old she knows how to do the slide by herself by now, right? OH! You mean because she's a dog...LOL. Well, just like your baby she's been doing it since she was little.

All in all, a wonderful day with my rescue baby. Also, a new note...there might be an addition to the team within the next year and a half, but you didn't hear that from me.

Poor Armani

No I am not referring to the suit at all. I am referring to the dog. Yes, yesterday evening a dog leaped into my car as I was leaving my friend's house. His name was Armani. I can't tell you how shocked I was. I took him home, but kept him in the yard because it was late and Bella really doesn't appreciate foreign dogs in her house...Abbey doesn't care. In any case, this morning I decided that I'd give him a hair cut before his owners came to get him because he desperately needed one and I was so sad at what I found. He was covered in mats and ticks. Ewwww. That's no fun for ANY doggie. That poor dog was so uncomfortable that I was even physically relived after I clipped him.

Those Pictures I Promised

Gee Abbey, what happened??

Tennis Ball Fuzz, in the mouth

Do you want the ball?!!

Ha! Of course she wants the ball.

This is what Abbey and I do when we're, well...bored!

Get Out...WAY Out

So I finally found a way to work on Abbey's distance skills right in my own backyard...literally. I have these two huge palm trees that stand right by one another...a respectable distance away...and there's a enough space where Abbey can get around them. Much like with the cones people put up when teaching puppies flatwork. So I am beginning to use the palm planters as my means to getting my dog to go "out" and away from me. Abbey is such a velcro puppy and we haven't been able to do any type of gamblers or distance game because, well, she just WON'T.

I made this discovery yesterday and started working on it. At first she did what she usually does when she's too unsure to move away from me, she looked at me and barked feverishly. After a couple repetitions, though she was in business as usual. I was very excited with how she progressed even from yesterday to today. It almost makes me want to buy a set of cones so that we can try this out in the front yard...forbidden territory. I want to go to the field and practice. That would be especially exciting. For now, though, we're kicking it in the backyard.

Abbey's teeter and DW still aren't 100% where I'd like them to be so we are going to work, work, work on that. We also need to try out more independent weaves while keeping that same speed she's got. We're in Masters now...AHHHH...and kind of have to know what we're doing. But wait, I'm still a starters level handler...shoot. Okay, we'll TRY to know what we're doing.

Anyway, right now Abbey is lying next to me completely pooped after our morning session of training. And in the next five minutes she'll want to play ball.

Oh, about those pictures...when they show up, they show up, okay? ;)

Dog Park Mayhem and Madness

Okay, I know that in my last post I promised something along the lines of photos...yeeeaaaah, I'll get to those. I took them, I just didn't upload them. I'm SORRY! Chemistry is taking over my life. Lab reports galore and homework online. Seriously, who does homework online successfully??! I DON'T!! Alright so to the story at hand that is actually what this post is supposed to be about...

Abbey, Bella, and I went to Tropical Park Dog Park this week to spend some time with one another. Also so that I could see how well my NOT training them has been going. Seriously, all I have been working on is tricks, I haven't gotten out the front door to save my life. So, surprisingly enough, I walk out of the car (dear god, that's a real mission, the little boogers don't sit still) and the first thing we 3 run into is a rather large and blonde Golden Retriever. Me? I'm like wigging out. No clicker, no treats...yeah, I really played this one up well. The dogs? Woof, woof...pull...sniff, I like this doggie, can we be friends?! WHAAAAT!!??? Maybe I shouldn't train them, they behave better. Perplexed I just tell the owner of the golden that my dogs are super friendly they just bark at first. If you consider 2 minute woofs a bark if you know my 2. Anywho, the perfect little dearlings then went into the dog park and were the picture of perfection. Bella came when called, Abbey was nice and played with the other dogs, she even ran the agility equipment no treats or anything just for kicks. Oookay guys, like, what happened??

All in all the only off point was a Husky that, quite literally, tore into Bella's back leaving an angry scratch that caused the poor thing to scream bloody murder across the entire park attracting every dog in hearing distance...which was EVERY dog. I was blistering mad at the owner because she wasn't controlling her dog and the dog not only went to pick on Abbey it went to pick on several other dogs which it also caused to scream! Abbey on the other hand was the only tough nut of the bunch she took the bullying from the husky for about thirty seconds and then turned around and clocked him in the face open mouthed just for effect. Didn't hurt him, just gave him a good strong warning. At this point, of course, I decided I would leave. As we were leaving I thought perhaps I had put poor Abbey through too much stress, her being the victim of several dog attacks as it is, but no a pit mix walked in as we walked out and Abbey with the sweetest wagging tail ever said "hi" and calmly walked past.

Yep, that's my story. The two nutcase dogs that I lived with were an upstanding example of America's dog population. Come on, is that so totally AWESOME!!! Seriously, though, I still have things to work on. =).

That's all for today. I'll keep you posted on more miraculous mishaps.

Few and Far Between

Well, I played with Abbey a bit today with Abbey working on our cross your paws trick. That's going well and Abbey is quite the enthusiastic worker. The only problem has been that we haven't quite gotten into a groove yet. Oh yes, we're getting there I swear. Chemistry class does surprisingly take up time...aaand I have the worst time management skills of any human being. For a brief time in December Abbey got to her enjoy a few days with me where she went to the dog park and went swimming. In January we had the trial...and now we're trying to adjust our busy and hectic schedules to our linking. I know I sound like a broken record. But despite the repetativeness of my words, improvements have been made. I found out Abbey likes Shetland Sheepdogs, can be clicker trained to do anything but has a mind of her own, and loves new tricks so much that she goes through spazzed offerings just to get the clicker to sound.

GOOD NEWS: Bella learned how to give her paw. Bella, the little puppy who HATES having her paws touched learned how to give her paw. Ahh the wonders of clicker training.

I'm going to upload pictures of what Abbey and I have been doing in my next blog post including her antics with the tennis ball. Keep reading about us, we'll keep blogging.