2x2 Weave Poles ~ $19

I have faced a major hurdle in Reyna's weave training...I don't have any weave poles. Until NOW!

After looking around and price comparing I couldn't find anything that I could afford. I was actually looking up plans to try and make single stake-in-the-ground weave poles which took me to this website where I stumbled across these

Those looked super simple to make, but they required that dadgum 4 way elbow that I would have to order. Then it struck me...I jotted down some notes, drew it out, ran to Home Depot and voila...2 hours (including shopping time) and about $19 later I had this...

Luring is just for the photo op I promise

A set of 6 (one off camera) 2x2 weave poles!!!

The braces are 18" which may prove to be over kill, but I worried about Reyna knocking them over and it's way easier to trim shorter than it is to glue back together :)

It took four 10' SCH40 3/4" PVC pipes chopped up like this...

1 = 3 36" weave poles (12" leftover)
1 = 3 36" weave poles (12"left over)
1 = 6 18" braces (12" left over)
1= 3 20" center spacer bars (60" left over)

Then you just get 12 end caps, 6 3/4" 3 way elbows (I couldn't find what I wanted so I had to go with a 3 way elbow that had two 3/4" slip openings and one 1/2" threaded opening and then get an adapter to screw into the threaded section)

Put it all together...the adapter part facing up to slip the weave poles into and TA DA! a 6 pole set of 2x2 weave poles for under $20!!!

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Miles to go before we sleep

We went out to John Tanner park today for a family picnic and a little fishing. We never got to the fishing part but the intent was good. The picnic went well, Reyna was a bit nervy and scanning when we got there. We settled down and ate lunch and she did okay, not great, she wouldn't settle, she didn't bark or lunge but she just sat a looked OT a lot. Part of that was because she needed to potty, forgot to take her before we left, oops, but I am again reminded of how much I enjoy having a dog who eliminates on cue. Walk up to a tree...hurry up Reyna...she does her thing, we go back to the playground no big deal, and now I KNOW she won't poop in the sandbox instead of just having to hope :)

We walked to the playground with David and really she was okay, but again not great. She barked once at a guy walking with a goat, didn't see that one coming! She did not bark or even react at all really except to look over when a little dog swore at her from the nearby picnic table. I understand but it's still a little frustrating that the same behavior out of Reyna and we probably would have been asked to leave the park.

Then two little girls came running up behind us and Reyna jumped over to say HELLO!!! I stopped her before the knocked either one over. They were very eager to pet her. I said no but that they could each give her a treat. I walked them through how to hold the treat in their fist. The first little girl did okay, she didn't drop the treat on the ground when Reyna backed up, but she at least didn't wig out when Reyna slobbered on her hand taking the treat. I think he next girl learned by example because she did it perfectly, treat in fist...wait...Reyna lies down...she drops treat on the ground. Overall they were tickled to death that they got to help train and for Reyna it helps create a default down when present with kids, treats, or kids with treats. Several other kids during our stay asked to pet Reyna, I just said no but thank you for asking to everybody else. I find that Reyna is sort of like a pied piper, if I let one hundreds more will follow us around. She is big and fluffy and smiles like a clown, I see the appeal.

Later we were walking by a car and didn't notice the little papillon inside until we were about 3" from the dog. They touched noses through the window but neither dog reacted.

Really she did pretty well as far as not reacting to anything (except that goat), and she was way more chill at the end than when we first got there, but never truly relaxed the whole time we were there, and was pretty borderline most of the time. She is light years ahead of where she was even a few months ago, but today reminded me that we still have a long way to go. I would love to make a road trip to NC for a private with Karen.

Busy relaxing

We have been super busy lately, plus the kiddos haven't been going to bed on time so my nightly walks and training have sort gone the way of the dodo bird. I have been trying to reinforce any calm behavior especially when I first get home from work. Yesterday she relaxed on cue for like 3seconds in midzoomies so that is pretty huge for us.

I am trying really hard not to rush through the last few behaviors in level 2 because I know it will just come back to haunt me later.

I am also still working on Reyna's homework from our agility lesson. She is up to a 20" jump so that is pretty major progress for us. She is also driving to the target with a lot of enthusiasm. We haven't started anything else. I can't wait for out next lesson!! I need to build a travel board and figure out a weave pole solution to be able to start Susan Garrett's 2x2 program.

That's about it for now...off to bed!!!

Right on target

Had our first private agility lesson last Saturday!! It was AWESOME!! We worked basic foundation stuff, attention, walking on a board, and then also foundation jumping skills from the Mecklenburg handling system, driving to a target as a base for contacts AND the very first steps of Susan Garret's 2x2 weave training.

If that sounds like we covered a lot for one lesson it's because we did! I really enjoyed the instructor, and I learned a ton!!!

One of the big takeaways from the lesson for me was that I need to be way more present with Reyna. I was marking and feeding her for calm behavior, but the instructor pointed out that I really wasn't interacting with her. I started being actually THERE with her and suddenly her stress level dropped , her focus went way up and we had a blast!

Great experience overall, super pleased with the instructor, the environment, and well...everything!

We have a ton of homework to do before we go back again. Yesterday I was working on her driving to a target, I think I'm getting the drive I want, but it's a little tough to tell. Or at least it was until I called it a day set the target On a hedge so we could just play and Reyna tried to climb the hedge to get to the target! I think I would call that enthusiasm :)

Reyna Relaxing?!?

It's true! Reyna is not only relaxing on cue, but she can also relax after being mildly excited AND she passed her test for a one minute relax today! The next step is to get excited for one minute relax for one minute excited for one minute and relax again for one minute. A month ago I would have said never in a million years, but now I have no doubt that given clear expectations and patience it's only a matter of time.

In the midst of working on relax we also been checking off steps in other behaviors, like handling. Reyna is pretty cool about just about everything...except being brushed. I have spent the better part of her life chasing her around with the brush, fussing at her when she gets up, leashing her so she can't leave...you get the idea.

Then I actually decided to stop complaining and start training.

It was simple chutes and ladders. I measured out her dinner in the evenings and plopped myself on the kitchen floor...One brush stroke, yes/treat, two brush strokes, yes/treat and so on. At first I was doing more marking than brushing and I had to keep the rate of reinforcement even higher on areas like her tail that she especially disliked. If she got up I just sat there and waited. The first session she got up four or five times, but always came back, the next couple of times she only got up once and after that she hasn't gotten up mid brushing at all...a HUGE improvement considering it's a behavior that has annoyed me for almost two years!

I made sure to consider any whining the same as getting up and walking away...chute back to one brush stroke or even half a brush stroke.

Now after just a few weeks I have what I've wanted all along...a dog who lays still while I brush her all over, head to tail, with no fidgeting or whining. AND this evening I got sidetracked while brushing her and hadn't given her a treat for a long time...she looked at me pointedly, and went limp...RELAX!!!...she just defaulted to relax when she wasn't getting enough feedback!!! Mind-boggling!

Teacher and student at once

We checked off a few more levels steps over the last few days, nothing major....most of handling. I decided as a come after to see if she would hold a stand/stay while a touched her head tail and feet. She was sitting so I cued her to stand. She lifted her butt like an inch off the floor and plopped it right back down triumphantly...weird.

I cued stand again...same response, a very enthusiastic repositioning of her sit

I cued it again but with the hand signal this time...she laid down

Without a pause or even thinking about it I lowered the criteria all the way down as if I was reteaching from scratch. Asked for back up, as soon as her rear popped off the ground I marked and rapid fired ten treats in position, then released her, rinse/repeat two more times. The next time I did the same thing, but waited a beat before marking. Then I asked her to sit, yes/treat. Asked her to stand and her rump came off the floor BAM! mark and rapid fire treats. Down....treat...stand (she does) 2 second pause....yes and she got the last of the kibble.

So we didn't get done what I was hoping for which was a stand for exam type behavior, but I was halfway through the remind, reteach process before I realized that I had not gotten frustrated, I did not correct her, yell at her, or throw objects around the room. I just recognized that she was very confused and took the time to clarify what I wanted. 6 months ago I would have been irritated and would have killed off the enthusiasm she had in offering what she thought I was asking for in my attempt to tell her she was wrong. Instead this time she remained In The Game, I was enjoying the process and in the end she was still cheerfully sitting, but now she was also enthusiastically standing.

2 Years Old

WOW Reyna is 2!!! Where did the time go?

When we were first talking about getting a puppy I told my husband that it takes two years of hard consistent work to create a "good" dog. Now that Reyna is two it's amazing to see where we are now...

-She hasn't soiled in the house since she was 10 weeks old
-She doesn't destroy stuff when we're gone
-I can walk her pretty much anywhere on just a flat collar, I don't even know where her head collar is
-She is even more calm and careful around Penelope than she is around David
-She has a pretty darn solid recall, even off of dogs, cats and an armadillo
-She is still VERY excitable, but I would now call her base reactivity mild
-Her motion reactivity is still moderate-to-high when it comes to other dogs
-I am learning that I never have to settle for halfway focused, with a few minutes of work I can go into a building on relaxed loose leash
-I have learned that a calm focused foundation is way more important than a list of fancy tricks she can't do because she's too distracted or stressed

We have a lot of work to do on her over excitement and a good bit left on her reactivity if I want to compete in dog sports. I missed a major window of opportunity by not addressing either of these issues until well into adolescence, but we are making up for lost time.

Even if we never win or even enter a single trial I have learned more from raising Reyna than I did in all the previous years and dogs combined.

Thank you Reyna, and Happy Birthday!!!!!!