Mark those Novice agility titles off my to-do list!
At the beginning of this year, I wrote but did not publish a post on this blog about a bunch of stuff I wanted to accomplish in 2013. I just revisited the list, and I’ve got to say I haven’t made a dent – yet. Nevertheless, we can mark 2 things off the list – finish Hendrix’ AKC Novice Agility and Novice Agility Jumper titles. We had 1 Q each in Standard & Jumpers going into the year. So, we got 2 more in each to wrap things up. She’s also got her first Q in Open Jumpers. We have 3 days of trialing before the summer lull. If she’s darn near perfect, we might finish an Open title before her 2nd birthday. She is such a funny dog, and I enjoy all the changes & new hobbies taking her in has brought into my life.
Puppies & Rainy Days
I suppose Hendrix is still a puppy at almost 17 months. Since she’s small breed, she seems pretty mature already. Cooper is at 18 weeks now. Honestly, he’s clearly very much puppy- but he’s no wild child. It seems the hormones are just kicking in for adolescence – so we’ll see if he gets a little more riled up or not…
This past weekend presented some special challenges! It rained most of the weekend, and that provided for some pretty stir crazy puppies. Hendrix generally is pretty energetic, and has several opportunities to train agility during the week. So, she can get amped up or settle down pretty quickly. On her own, I think it would take weeks of rain to really get her bored. However, Cooper is very young and that means he can easily get bored being cooped up all day. His first line of entertainment is to mess with Hendrix…and then the crazy running in the house games are off! By Sunday afternoon, our dynamic duo was about to make us crazy. Thankfully, both my pups like to play free shaping games with the clicker. I love that the mental challenge seems to wear Cooper out as much as a walk. Hendrix just loves clicks & treats period.
So, here’s a little video we made featuring Cooper learning the “speak” command. Training for puppies and playing with iPhones for Ronald & I = everyone is less bored! (I love the iMovie app for iPhone…they have some fun trailer templates that you can just fill in or customize.)
Just a typical morning with the dogs…
I think we’ve gotten into a rhythm now with the morning routine. Cooper usually wakes to have his morning outing and eat around 5am. I keep hoping as he gets older this can start happening a little later… Funny thing is – as soon as he takes care of business and is fed, he goes RIGHT back to sleep. Can’t complain too much – at least he sleeps pretty much 7-8 hours through the night. Hendrix just goes with the flow – she knows food, exercise, etc. will all happen in their own good time.
About an hour and a half nap – Cooper’s ready to get up and have some activity & Hendrix is happy to join in. This week, I’ve been trying to walk the two dogs together*, and then give them a little run around time. This morning, in lieu of the walk – we went to the dog park. As long as they get a little rowdy play time, they seem to settle in between 8:30am and 9:30am. Fortunately for me, they’re pretty much chill the rest of the day…until dinner time of course.
Earlier this week, Cooper picked up a discarded water bottle on our morning walk. We were on our way back home, and it was just a few houses down – thankfully. This has become THE featured play toy in the backyard.
I can’t say I used to be much of a “morning person”, but I think the dogs might have converted me. It’s so nice to get up when it’s still dark and get stuff done before some people even leave their houses. Shhh…don’t tell my Dad I said that. My little Hendrix & Cooper sure help me appreciate a lot of the simple pleasures! I love them for that!
*Training note- Although walking the dogs together requires some diligence and special leash configuration on my part – it really seems to have smoothed out some of the rough edges between Hendrix & Cooper. I’m a little worried about these walks impact on Cooper’s learning to heel properly. Even though I have not started him with a formal heel behavior, he walks very nicely on a loose leash on my left. He’s received reward/reinforcement when he’s making eye contact at my immediate left, and he’s realized the value in staying there and checking in with me. When we have our little “pack walks”, he’s a little more focused on keeping up with Hendrix & she’s a bit of a forge ahead walker. Interestingly, walking with him adds some complexity to the walk that slows her down and keeps her from forging too much. So, I think the group walks do a lot of good, but I’ve got to make sure I keep reinforcing Cooper on walks with just him. I’m actually thinking to get a back attach harness for him for the group walks…so he associates that set up with have a little more freedom on the walk.
Hej Hej, Puppies!
On our trip to Stockholm last year, we learned that “Hej!” is the endearing and very common Swedish greeting equivalent of “Hello”. It sounds a lot like the English “Hey”. Sometimes, you hear “Hej hej!” which sounds like “Hey hey!”
I think my last blog was about our new puppy Cooper meeting our existing puppy Hendrix. I had really hoped to keep a sort of diary on the blog of our progress with Cooper, but it seemed it took the last 7 weeks just to get things going smooth enough to be able to sit and type a new post! I’m happy to say as we’re nearing the 16 week mark – we’ve got potty training and a lot of house manners firmly in place. The title of this post comes from the fact that my “command” (more like a call) to get both dogs attention (usually mid puppy wrestling) and have them come over to me is “Hey Hey ,Puppies!” It reminded us of the Swedish greeting and became (informally) “Hej Hej, Puppies!”
I recently purchased a DSLR camera, and I’ve started playing around with Photoshop this afternoon. Hopefully, I can make some visually appealing updates to this site.
So, hang in there with me…there may finally be more content coming soon. In the mean time, here are some of my favorite recent puppy photos. (Clicking on the photo will make it larger.)
Hendrix & Cooper, an introduction
So, there’s lots written (and *gasp* even conflicting opinions) on how to introduce new dogs. Initially, I really wanted Hendrix to travel with me to Louisiana to pick up Cooper. I thought it’d be great for them to ride home crate by crate. However, it was such a long drive & it’s July hot. I thought trying to juggle both dogs on such a long/hot trip might break us all. So, Hendrix got a long play day at Rover Resort on Monday. Then, she hung out part of Tuesday (while we were driving back) with dad as he worked from home.
As we neared home, I asked Ronald to walk Hendrix to one of the parks near our home. I met him and Hendrix there with Cooper in tow. Hendrix was thrilled to see me. I think we’ve actually only spent one other night apart. She was a little more suspicious about the little black fur ball I had with me. I set him down, and he enthusiastically went for her. He was sniffing and licking submissively at her muzzle and under her neck. She stood sort of still & indifferent, but tolerated this behavior pretty well. So, then Cooper, Hendrix and I took a short walk together (about a block) back to the house. Hendrix was aloof and sort of led the way…she seemed slightly like “Mom, WHAT have you done?!” Cooper enthusiastically trailed along. When we got home, I took everyone in the back yard and we had a little short off leash visiting time. We should’ve known to be armed and ready with the video camera. There was more submissive & calming behaviors displayed by Cooper, and Hendrix seemed to accept him and started to give some play postures.
We did capture this footage, but we missed the cute doggy donut laps Hendrix started doing around Cooper & the yard. She kept buzzing him as she whipped by, and he looked truly impressed with her speed…maybe thinking “Whoa…none of the litter mates could do that!”
For now – they seem to be pretty accepting of and interested in each other. I don’t think it’s age appropriate for them to have more than a few play minutes here and there. Hendrix has staked her claim to higher rank, and she is clearly rating her play to be more gentle with the puppy. Cooper currently accepts this scenario, but I’m sure it would only be days before he started to test her. In the last 2/3 days, he has gotten a lot more comfortable in the new setting and has shown increased “feistiness”. I’m sure she’d put him in his place…but I don’t want to be constantly managing that rank game. More importantly, I don’t want him spending TOO much time bonding with the other dog in the house because I want him to believe all the awesome stuff comes from me.
So, *I* think we had a successful introduction. We’ll see how it goes…I’m convinced the toughest part of this whole scenario is going to be juggling the two dogs at the same time. Wish us luck!
Agility Fun Match Take 2
What a night! Little Ms Hendrix is already snoring… We just got back from our second ever agility fun match. We arrived just as the sun was setting, and the weather played pretty nice (for once). We made a bee line for the sign up table, and I decided we’d do only one run on the standard course. Next time, we may do jumpers, too. I think we should since most courses are primarily jumps versus other obstacles. I also signed up for the 12″ height because it would happen earlier than the shorter heights. 12″ will probably be Hendrix’ competition height, and she generally has not problem clearing it (I’ve recently started always practicing at 12″ or 14″ anyway). Then we made the rounds saying hello to all our What A Great Dog! friends. Ronald & I set up camp…just a few soft chairs & a water dish initially. 
Then, I decided we should bring out the crate & see how Hendrix would behave crated in all the hubbub. The hour or so we waited for our turn, she was mostly good. She made sure to throw in the occasional stranger bark; but overall, I was really pleased with how she was behaving in the crate. Our crate game work has definitely paid off! There were moments where I could even leave the door open and she would not rush out. She did get a little anxious if she saw I was paying attention to other dogs while she was in the crate (jealousy?).
As our group (jump height) approached, I took Hendrix over to practice a start line stay & jump just outside the ring entrance. She stayed…and I said “jump”…she looked at me…and then ran for me…then ran off. Fortunately, some friendly dog owners nearby helped me corral her pretty quickly. So, we went back to watching from the crate. After that, I was prepared for the worst…I thought she was bound to just run off & zoom. When our turn came, I opened the gate & entered. It’s nice that this fun match features dog proof fencing around the ring. I took her slip lead off immediately, but I realize now – I should’ve waited until we got situated in front of the first obstacle. She wouldn’t budge from the corner by the gate for sniffing the grass. Now, I had REALLY LOW expectations. No attempts on my part seemed to redirect her attention. So, I went over and picked her up, and set her down in front of the first jump. I think I saw an honest to goodness doggie lightbulb. She practically beamed with “OH! THIS is what we’re doing! A-ha!” So, I asked her to stay, and led off. I returned & rewarded her for the stay. I asked her to stay again, and led off then we went jump and full height dog walk. She nailed those. I hesitated thinking what I wanted to set up next. Since this is only our second time in a “real” course, I was not really following the course as directed. I was just picking and choosing for the sake of real competition like experience. In my moment’s hesitation, I lost her to smelling the grass again…but only briefly. I got her back and I was able to send her over a jump and then bring her over another. Then it was A-frame, tunnel, tire, and table. Those were all in a pretty straight line (or curve) so she nailed those. Because I liked her energy on that sequence, I sent her back through after the pause on the table…tire, tunnel, A-frame and we got the two jumps again. At that point, I heard “30 seconds”, and I said “We’re good!” We headed toward the gate, and Hendrix started mugging with the crowd. It was a crowd of WAGD! folk and Ronald…guess that’s why she was interested. I got her attention and her slip lead on & off we went.
Here’s a little video clip of tonight’s action –
It’s clear this little gal loves her agility! I’m really proud of how she stayed with me (ON GRASS!!!) and didn’t get the zoomies. I loved seeing that she LOVES the big full height contact obstacles, and LOVED that I was able to handle her through the turn in the 2 jump series (both times). I think it’s only a matter of time before we can run a full course. Honestly, I think it’s more about me learning footwork and handling skills than Hendrix learning anything. Once I set her on a course, she’s a fast little booger! This time we skipped the weaves (Hendrix hasn’t done 12 poles yet) and the full height teeter (though I think she might’ve done that one).
All in all – a great fun with the little four legged one & all our training friends!
Can’t believe it’s been 1 year!
Ms. Hendrix “Voodoo Chile” Liu celebrated her 1st birthday on May 13th, but it was a year ago today that I actually brought her home.
Here’s Hendrix moments after I met her:
And here she is on the ride home:
She was a sleepy angel the whole way home…even though we had to stop and avoid a hail storm. I can’t believe it’s already been a whole year. I’m so glad she came to live with us!
Return of the Road Show
When Ronald & I first met, I was driving an Explorer Sport Trac. Because I lived so far from where I worked, trained BJJ, and socialized- I frequently had a change of clothes, toiletries, and a host of other gear in the back seat of my vehicle. At some point, it began to be jokingly referred to as the “Roxanna Road Show”.
This morning, I packed up 2 jumps
, a set of 6 weave poles, and a small tunnel to take Hendrix for some practice in the fenced in tennis courts at the neighborhood middle school. Now, I ask you – Would this fit in the back of a MINI Cooper? Actually, I think it would (especially if I broke down the jumps all the way). However, would it all fit AND still have room for a metal crate for Hendrix. Nope. Bonus- I haven’t even begun to take up all the available room. I love this truck! I don’t have to worry (other than being OCD about a new vehicle – see towels pictured) about scratching up the inside of my car with those metal weave pole bases.
So, I had to kind of laugh to myself when I realize we had embarked on the “Return of the Roxanna Road Show”.
This mornings agility practice went really well. We practiced the two jump front cross drill we did in yesterday’s class. Hendrix is LOVING that drill. I can see she’s getting a better idea about going ahead of me and taking a jump. I even changed it up and had her take both jumps then wrap around back to me. The tennis courts at the middle school are right next to the track/football field. This morning some teenagers (maybe 50-60) were on the field & track working out with coaches. So, it was actually kind of nice to get Hendrix to work while tuning out that distraction. Twice a bird flew in & out of the courts and briefly took Hendrix’ attention, but she was having so much fun she quickly came back to me when I called her back. We also worked on weaving a bit. I put out one jump then the weaves. She got it the 1st time, but I noticed as she got to where she was wanting to go faster through the weaves it looked like she was annoyed that the effort slowed her pace down. It was like she hadn’t quite figured out how to transfer her weight and navigate to her preferred speed. I need to ask about some drills to work on this. This is a new thing and I think it has to do with the weaves in sequence & being outside. When we do weaves inside, she never really pops in and out. I could tell (even at 7:30am) she was already starting to get a bit hot and tired (I had a light sweat going myself). So, we packed up the show, and took a spin around the track. Speaking of packing up, every time I would put away or bring out a new obstacle – I asked H to get in her kennel. I’m SO SO SUPER PROUD of how good she has learned to be in her kennel. A few weeks ago, we played some crate games, and they definitely had a good impact on her behavior. She vocalized a tiny bit when she began riding in the crate in the new truck, but now she’s in and relaxing immediately. She’s also not jumping out when I open the door. She will let me put on her lead and then come out when I command. She patiently waited in between setups until I came to get her again. WHAT A GOOD GIRL!
Dog Agility Blue Belt?
Quick reminder – my husband and I met training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Strange, huh? We basically wrestled the first time we met, but it seems to have worked out ok. Anyway, hubby still trains BJJ and I gave it up some years ago. We still talk about it, and use BJJ training analogies. I remember one Christmas we were talking about present wrapping and I joked “I’m pretty sure I’m an advanced purple belt in present wrapping…you’re a white belt.”
I think it was 2006 when I earned a blue belt in BJJ. Typically having a blue belt means you’ve spent adequate time on the mats gradually learning escapes, defending attacks, and gaining technical knowledge of various submissions. Everyone begins BJJ as a white belt. When someone is no longer simply a beginner with limited experience- they progress on to the rank of blue belt. A good way to think of a blue belt is as a bridge between beginner and intermediate ranks- maybe like advanced beginner. Of course, across various training academies and individuals the actual skill level of blue belts can vary pretty widely.
Anyway, I give all this back story to say this – I feel like Hendrix and I are just on the cusp of the equivalent of earning a blue belt in our agility training. Of course, there really isn’t a ranking system in dog agility. I remember from BJJ that white belt phase generally felt like I didn’t know what I was doing, but gradually I built up some knowledge and skill. I started to understand how to do things and then start putting things together in a sequence. Finally, it became pretty apparent that I stood apart from true beginners in BJJ. This lead to moving from training primarily with white and fresher blue belts to training more with advanced students. All of a sudden, I felt like I didn’t know anything again. Obviously, that was not true – I clearly knew more than when I started. However, training with the more advanced partners upped the challenge and many weaknesses were again exposed.
Basically, I feel like the same thing is currently happening in our agility game. I started Hendrix in agility right before she turned 8 months old (sometime in January 2012). At that point in time, she was still VERY MUCH a puppy. We had already completed puppy and intermediate obedience classes, and we earned AKC’s Canine Good Citizen certificate some time after Thanksgiving. Puppy class revealed Hendrix had a lot of enthusiasm for the beginning agility obstacles (tables, planks, wobble boards, etc.) Seriously, you could tell jumping on those things & being rewarded was very exciting for her. Our intermediate class revealed Hendrix would likely continue to benefit from additional socialization (around people with good dog sense and dogs with general good manners). So, having NEVER done anything like agility before – we jumped right in. We’re almost finished with our fourth agility class. (Incidentally, we train at What A Great Dog! Training Center in Prosper, TX – soon to be relocated in Frisco. I HIGHLY recommend What A Great Dog…HIGHLY.) Since January we’ve pretty much had a weekly agility class – that makes about 5 months of learning agility.
Back to my analogy- I took Hendrix outside to practice her weaves this morning. I’m hoping to get another set of 6 weave poles soon so she’ll be up to 12 poles total – but for now she’s still running 6 poles. She pretty much nails it 90+% of the time when the weaves are inside. Also, inside she’s almost more excited now to play for a game of tug than for a food reward. Outside presents some different challenges. Hendrix being part beagle is very nose oriented, and constantly wants to smell her way around the outdoors. Our success outside with 6 poles is a bit hit or miss. This morning she nailed the first 2 for a toy, and I added 2 jumps prior to the weaves. She’s definitely done this before, but today she was not getting it. She would get the jumps and pass up the weave entrance or get the jumps and enter the weaves past the correct entrance. So after a few attempts not getting it right – I thought I’d break it up. Jumps – reward then weaves – reward. She basically decided to forget how to do weaves at that point looking at me like I was asking her to fly to the moon. Ok…I get maybe she got a little worried. She’s not worried that there will be punishment- but I can tell she’s doesn’t like when she doesn’t get rewarded. She loses her motivation to attempt. In an effort not to end on a confused note, I put away the jumps all together and went for some straight forward weaves. She was still kind of entering late or popping out early. So, I went inside and got a spoon of peanut butter & the Kong toy. I sat down and let her see that I had a Kong with PB, and I waited for her to weave on her on. She did and I tossed the Kong as her reward. So, we were able to do that correctly 3 or 4 times and I finished on that note. It’s a few incidents like this that make me feel like I’m asking her to do things that she doesn’t want to or that she’s not that interested in…or that she’s just confused and I need to figure out a way to help her understand better.
I feel like we’ve hit this spot on several occasions in the last month, and that’s why I wonder if we’re actually entering into the equivalent of BJJ blue belt territory. Clearly we’re not beginners, but we’re also not really intermediate either. I guess we’re advanced beginners: we can tackle individual obstacles (tunnels, tables, jumps, chutes, A-frames, dog walks, tire jump, and teeter) and we can put some in a sequence. The sequencing and me actually handling/directing her is where it gets a little tricky though. I’m hoping it’s just a growing pain that we’ll be able to work through, right now the idea of being able to complete a full course of obstacles seems like a pipe dream. I guess we will just have to keep plugging away and experimenting to find out what motivation techniques work the best for us.