Jacy Kelley Workshop

We had the supreme privilege of attending a Jacy Kelley workshop this weekend. I am exhausted but we learned a ton!! We only managed to get a couple searches taped but here they are....

Exteriors:
She does well with the first hide, covers the area well, and doesn't care that there is a suitcase off to one side. A lot of dogs got caught up searching the suitcase before finally sourcing the hide. The second hide it felt like it took her forever to make a decision, but looking at the video it actually wasn't too bad.

Containers:
The first box is full of toys the second box is full of all our left over lunches, the third is empty and the fourth is odor. She checks the distraction boxes, but moves on quickly.

Containers take 2:
I really try to stay out of the middle because I'll invariably block odor. It pays off as she sources both fairly quickly. And is so tickled she runs her head into the pole!

I learned several things in this search. First I need to work on my footwork, while I did stay out of the middle of the containers I was tripping all over myself on the corner with the distractor bag and in a trial I may have called her back to recheck that one encouraging interest in it. Also I should have rewarded the first bag the second she whipped back to it instead of waiting for commitment, I'm really bad about that with containers. Also Jacy mentioned that moving in with a toy instead of throwing it will deteriorate her alert quickly. I have already seen that so I just need to work more on throwing it. Again containers are the ones I have the most issues with on reward delivery. Between poor timing and poor reward delivery it's no wonder containers are our worst element right now.

Preparing for NW2 - One Month Out

With less than a month before our NW2 trial in Florida where are we with prep?

So far we have worked the following
- aged from 5 minutes to 29 hrs
- on lead and off lead
- food rewards and toy rewards so we have flexibility
- multiple hides
- lots of different containers, suitcases are still our weakest link she just won't stick to it
- high hide and low hides
- toy distractions
- food distractions - steak, kibble, dentastix, bacon, nylabone snap ins, garlic bread (that was the hardest actually)
- other distractions - deodorant, detergent, vanilla extract
- interior and exteriors
- some vehicles

What we are still missing:
- leather bags
- rubber lined bags
- more random food/toy distractions
- strange places like Home Depot, or the dog park
- hides in containers that are on top of tables (we've done a few of these but need more practice)
- blind vehicle searches
- sticking with containers
- my observing the whole dog instead of just her nose and eyes

I think I've figured out why containers are hard for us, other inaccessible hides like filing cabinets and drawers we have worked a lot with pairing and reward the slightest interest and then building up from there, but with the suitcases I kind of just jumped straight from boxes to bags/luggage without starting over from scratch. For the next couple weeks I will be focusing on the "missing" list and really work on back to basics for the areas where we are weakest.

Nosework - Preparing for NW2

We haven't been totally idle even though the blog would suggest that. My actual job has been very demanding lately leaving little room for training and even less for recording that training.

Reyna's competitive obedience skills are coming along nicely thanks to remote training with Hannah Branigan and Denise Fenzi. We are only auditing classes but they do such a good job it feels like taking an in person class. If you haven't seen the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy you should really check it out...good stuff! http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com

We are also working towards our NW2 title for K9 Nosework. We are entered in the Florida trial in two months and have a lot of work to do between now and then to ensure we are ready. So last week I dusted off the odor tins and put the obedience stuff away for now. Having only a couple minutes each day to train I have to prioritize.

We started with easy stuff but Reyna quickly let me know that she hadn't forgotten a thing. In the last week we have worked several fast and easy interiors including one I thought would be a challenge...I put a q-tip in the remote and then put the remote back on the table...she nailed it in 30 seconds!!

Another cool one we did was to combine water and aged hide. It was pouring down rain one evening so I took a tin with holes in the top and threw it blindly into the front yard. Then the next morning, about 12 hours later, I took Reyna out, she took off before I even gave her the cue to find and nabbed it right away with no problems! She got a jackpot for that one and I had to retire those q-tips to the trash and dump water out of the tin. Sitting out in the rain all night clearly doesn't affect the hides for Reyna.

Today I pulled out the phone and got the video below of two searches from today. The first is an interior with one almost inaccessible hide. Honestly given how much she hates things that shift I thought it was going to be inaccessible from that side, there was an easy way in to the left but she proved me wrong and pushed her way through on the tough side.

Next was a set of two blind hides in the front yard. I love how she didn't have a lock on the odor right away and started wide sweeps. I was curious about her stopping at the stump during the search, but when she flushes a CAT halfway through it makes more sense. I swear when it happened it felt like Reyna deliberated for several seconds before deciding to resume the search, but as I watched the video it was only a split second before she decides to chase odor instead of the cat....GOOD DOG! That was a very long split second for me, and she made me proud. Don't mind the little gnome running around the search sector, Penelope's role in Reyna's life right now is to serve as a distraction in pretty much every training session.

Things we still need to work a lot on are containers in general and distractions in containers, she is great with distractions in interiors and proved today that even the neighbors cat isn't as valuable to her as Anise/Birch!

I'll try to keep more videos up, no promises though...

Reactive Reyna Runs a 5k!

When we were deciding what kind of dog we wanted on of my biggest "must haves" was a running buddy. A dog that would always be up for fun and ready to romp. We went with the high energy German Shepherd for their activity level, trainability and naturally protective nature.

When Reyna's excitability matured into full blown reactivity visions of group runs faded into the distance. We spent the next two years just trying to help Reyna cope with a world that was too stimulating for her. I remember how excited I was when we were able to go to our first doggy dash 5k in February 2012. We didn't participate, that would have been way too much. But we hung out on the outskirts and ate lots of treats for looking at the dogs in the distance.

We worked our way up to being able to go for walks and pass dogs without an explosion, and then retired the head collar as an unnecessary tool when we graduated to a flat collar.

Now we run, in a harness, with Reyna out in front Canicross style and I steer her through crowds with voice directional cues. I haven't taken treats with me in months. 

When we found out about a local dog friendly 5k I decided I thought we were ready to come in from the outskirts and really give our training a test. My husband came so that if the environment was too much with the crowds and dogs we could leave her relaxing in the car and I would run alone.

Reyna did fantastic!!!!! She had a blast and shot off the start line so hard I was afraid she would pull me off my feet. The start line wait was the hardest, all crowded together with tension everywhere and loudspeakers blaring, but we practiced deep breaths, she held her composure (except for some impatient whines to get GOING) and once we got moving she didn't give the other dogs or people a second thought, it was the two of us in the zone and working!

We blasted through the crowd and Reyna didn't slow to a trot until the 1 mile mark. The next two miles she held a steady working trot/run. She followed all the cues to navigate through the other runners and just did phenomenal.

We finished in a personal best 23:57 taking first place female finisher and being the first dog team across the finish line.. (it was sort of like cheating though since I basically ran with a turbo gear going the whole time!) All of our physical training paid off and all our behavioral work really showed as we mingled in the crowd, met with people and animals.

I am so proud of Reyna she is the dog I knew she could be. Somebody came up after the race and asked who trained her, I told her I did. She asked if I ever trained for other people because she said, "I have a lab mix that we can't take anywhere...he lunges growls, all his hair goes up and he barks at everything, he's not aggressive...he's just....nervous, crazy, I don't know how to describe it" I smiled "it's called reactivity, let me tell you Reyna's story..."

Back from the summer!

Well once again our training over the summer was pretty much nonexistent due to my work schedule. We continued the heeling class, below is a couple videos from later in the class...

We had a great time with the class and definitely learned a lot. We are now finishing up Hannah Branigan's obedience fundamentals course. Unfortunately with my schedule as the class is ending we are just now able to work on the lessons. That is one of the things I am really enjoying about the Fenzi Dog Sports Academy is that I will continue to have access to the materials and since I'm auditing nobody is giving feedback anyway so I can work when I can and not worry about class being over and not having mastered everything yet!

Patience to speed learning

Reyna and I went to vets office today to work on calm and focus in the face of distractions. Let me tell you it's easy to see why Reyna loves Nosework...all she wants to do is sniff stuff.

Initially when she hopped out of the car she gave me the standard sit and eye contact, good start. But moving any distance from the car and her nose was glued to the ground, or the bush, or whatever. I thought about telling her leave it, or putting her back in the car, but I needed to look at me goal for the day. Was I planning on working obedience? No. Heeling? No. Eye contact? Not specifically. What I wanted was calm behavior and paying attention to me. Ultimately I wanted her to feel comfortable and have a good experience too.

So instead of putting her away which would have been a punishment for not giving me focus that I hadn't asked for in the first place, I decided to go a more Leslie McDevitt route. I sat on the bed of the pickup and just waited patiently while she smelled everything within the radius of her 4' leash. When she looked at me I clicked and treated and told her to "go sniff". She quickly started giving me more focus with less sniffing until she wouldn't go sniff. So we walked a few feet closer to the entrance rewarding every step where she had her nose off the ground.

We actually got all the way to the front sidewalk before her nose hit the ground. I just sat and waited while she took everything in. It took much less time this time. Then we walked back to the truck and started over. We made it all the way to the front door almost.

By the time we got inside she was clear headed and calm. We worked on walking past people in the waiting room, sitting on the scale, sitting quietly in the waiting room, all with short bursts of running out the door to play tug and then coming back in to work. We got all the way up to starting to walk down the hall and then it looked like it was going to get busy so we headed out.

You want to know the coolest part...the front yard area was filled with dog mess and pee spots, but not only did Reyna tug enthusiastically in the face of the smells and the distraction of people coming and going....she was so focused we did a couple short heel bursts during the play breaks.

So in the end I did get full focus and obedience work in the face of distractions, all by giving Reyna the time she needed to process the environment without pressure or punishment.

P.s. I was only there 17 minutes!

Release to movement - Heeling

Okay first part of our heeling work...

Reyna already had a strong "go round" so I just worked it into heeling. It's definitely a lot of fun. We lack precision for sure so I need to work more on that, but her attitude is good.

I also need to turn right instead of left when she comes in to avoid killing the momentum.

0:00-0:28 - reinforcing the awesomeness of going around an object

0:29 - naughty puppy

0:42-1:05 - demonstrating how much more fun it is to play with me than to tear up a toy on her own

1:28 - still not stellar but much improved front the first time

1:51 - first ever "heel to fly"

2:10 - that took some brain power :)

2:52 - okay...I loved that!!!

3:17 - now she's getting it!

We are having a blast!

There is so much material in this class it's amazing! I recommend you check it out... http://www.fenzidogsportsacademy.com/