Time flies!

Puppygirl Rivet is five months old now. Inconceivable!

First, a photo from when she was still a baby.



Next, here she is the day she turned 5 months old.



A couple of weeks ago Peggy brought Reggie came over for a romp. My camera settings were off, and I actually managed to break the camera (well, child #2 knocked it over, but I left it where she could do that), but here are some could-have-been great shots.











And lastly, pretty girl Reggie, taking a break!

Is there anything cuter than a sleeping puppy?

Puppy nose.


Puppy toes.


Rivet, out like a light.


And a close up, just because...

Puppypuppypuppypuppy!!!

While I could chose to be embarassed at how thoroughly I fell off the training wagon after starting this blog, I've done it too many times to do so. I've trained my dogs since February, if only sporatically, but I didn't record anything.

The newest beast arrives later today. Countdown has begun! She'll be landing at the airport in just over 4 hours. Since this journal exists, I hope to use it to record at least some of our adventures.

Feb 19 2007

Stand stays today with both dogs - measured out their breakfasts but ran out of patience before I ran out of kibble.

Caiman
1 handful - 1 sec pause
1 handful - 2 sec pause
1 handful - 3 sec pause
-break-
1 handful 3 sec pause
1 handful 4 sec pause
1 handful 5 sec pause - sat 3x
-break-
1 handful split in thirds - 4 sec, 5 sec and 6 sec pauses. Moved 1x
1 handful yo-yoing between 4, 5, and 6 seconds. Moved 2x

Kona
2 handfuls 1 sec pause. Sat or tried other things at least 7 or 8 times. Watited for stand and rewarded that each time.
-break-
Modified Sue Eh method:
5x 1 sec 5x 2 sec 5x 3 sec 5x moved
3x 1 sec 3x moved
3x 1 sec 3x 2 sec 3x 3 sec 3x moved
3x 1 sec 3x 2 sec 3x 3 sec 3x 4 sec 5x 4 sec 5x (end)
3x 1 sec 3x sat
3x 1 sec, repeated for handful
3x 1 sec, 3x 2 sec, 3x moved

I am thinking that Kona needs a more random reinforcement schedule. I leant my Morgan Spector book to Heather or I could use his tables, but I think I can probably wing it.

Feb 17 2007

Both boys have been to rally class this week. Two sessions today. First was short and distracted, so I quit until I had more patience.

Second session, in basement, using kibble. Need to work on Stand Stay with both dogs so tackling that. Tried 300Peck method first - noted time in seconds until dog moved.

Caiman
4,5,5,4,3,5,5,5,5,4

Kona
2,3,2,1,2,2,2,3,6,4

So, that isn't working. Perhaps we aren't ready for this yet and should get the basic understanding before moving on to this. Tried again using Sue Eh?'s method of rapid firing treats and then pausing for a second before repeating.

Caiman
5x, 1 sec, 5x, 2 sec, ... got up to 5 second pause and ran out of treats.
Repeat exactly, ran out after 5 sec
Repeated using 3x. Got to 7 second pause, repeated 6 sec, then he moved.

Kona
5x, 1 sec, 5x, 2 sec, 5x, 3 sec, 5x, he moved.
Repeat, got to 4 second pause and I dropped kibble so he moved.
Repeat, using 3x, failed at 3 sec.
Repeat, using 3x. Yo-yoed around between 2 & 3 seconds for a bit, then got to 4 seconds once, back to 3 seconds and quit. There's hope!

Feb 8 2007

Caiman
10x Lure stand beside wall. 4x difficulties, next 6x textbook
10x No lure. Laid down 2x
10x Same. Had to lure 3rd time but rest good.

Kona
10x Lure stand beside wall. Perfect kickbacks from my dog that walks into a stand!
10x No lure. He is creeping forward ever-so-slightly and I got distracted and tried to fix that.
10x Same. Kids very disruptive so lured first 2x

Feb 6 & 7 2007

On the sixth I had a quick mini-session with each dog. 5-10 cheerios, no planning, no particular results.

On the seventh:

Caiman
20x Misc rally level one exercises just to see where we are. Need to work on fronts, around finish, and stand.

Kona
20x fronts. I was mostly pivoting and he was having to move to new position. If I pivoted left he did okay, if I privot right he wants to go to heel.

Feb 3 2007

Cleaned the carpets today, and thought that it might be a good time to video the boys while there was more space open.

Kona's video is here and Caiman's is here on YouTube. I think the sound is off because while my timing is bad I really don't think it is THAT bad.

Caiman
20x Moving sidestep. This was the first time I've really tried this with him - aside from a couple of Lets See What We Have experiments. He really tries to hold his position much better than Kona ever does, but the bouncy feet help I think.
20x Repeat. M videoed for me.

Kona
20x Moving sidesstep. He is doing better just moving sideways than when I try to incorporate the heeling too.
20x Repeat. M videoed for me. Kona's brain fell out of his ear, so we didn't do so well.

Feb 2 2007

Caiman
20x down at heel position. Just needed something quick I could do with him.

Kona
20x moving sidestep. Left hand starting from heel every time. He's getting it - GOOD DOG!

Feb 1 2007

The first day of the new month. I have fallen off the training wagon slightly this last week but I'm trying to climb in again. Brief session today on the grounds that anything was better than nothing.

Caiman
20x LUturns in hallway. 1x good, 5x attempted to sit so no c/t, then the next 19x were good.

Kona
20x Moving sidestep. Worked on my hand signal transitioning from heel position to back in a "get back" style movement. Used the verbal "get in", although I doubt he differentiates it from "get back".

Jan 29 2007

Four days without training! I've been a little obsessed with a linocut this week.

Caiman
20x LUturn in hallway. He's anticipating the reward on the butt swing so I think we can move on.

Kona
20x Moving sidestep, food off my body. Going pretty well, so I tested it afterwards while heeling. No go. My hands need to switch places - I think we'll have to figure out some transition steps from what we've been doing to incorporating it into heeling.

Jan 24 2007

Caiman
20x LT around island
20x L Uturn in hallway
20x Repeat previous. He will start to sit if I hesitate on my turns (happens because he's still in my way a bit) but that will lessen as we work out the kinks.

Kona
20x Moving sidestep. Did not reward any counterclockwise turns - he had to have his head near me and be trying to keep his rear in the right spot as well.
20x Repeat. The slightest change (location, direction we face, treats in my hand) throws him off, so I need to be careful to repeat this sixty five million more times.
20x Sphynx down, lured first 5x and then no food in that hand for the rest.

Jan 23 2007

Caiman
20x LT around the island, c/t for swingin his butt around. Repeated twice more.

Kona
We had class last night. He still needs work on L turns and L pivots but that is really just polishing. Need to practice the Around finish - mostly my leash handling during it. Moving sidestep is new to us, but in class he was able to move his rear over while standing beside me so I think we can build on that.

20x Working on moving sidestep. He is figuring out that he can do the LT movement with his butt, without sitting down, but wants to toss his head to the left as well (pivoting himself counterclockwise). Can't have food in my hands to lure the head or he totally loses his brain.
20x Repeat
20x Repeat, but only c/t if his head was pointed forward or towards me. He's getting it!

Jan 21 2007

Caiman
20x db on floor about 3-4 feet out. Helped him get closer on his front almost every time. I think I need to fix his front before continuing on with the retrieve because I'm now working on two things at once.
20x Sue Eh's FrontRay training with c/t for passing the line at my toes. He tended to stop, but if I waited he moved forward again. Next time click for movement.

Kona
20x L Uturn in hallway with lots of kids distractions.

Jan 19 2007

Caiman
10x pick up db from floor, no sit required
10x pick up db from floor, sit cued
20x pick up db from floor about 2' in front of my toes. Tossed treat to reset him each time. He offered sits most times and had no problems except for one time that he started to choke on the treat and had to spit the db out. He re-picked it up without a prompt from me.

Kona
20x L Uturns in the hall (2 were actually greater than 180 degrees)
20x 270 degree LT doing a circuit around the main floor, turning left all the way.

I have decided that if I can maintain this record keeping & training momentum going for a month then I will buy myself new training journals for the boys. I figure that a month of note taking will use up most of the rest of the current book anyway, and a reward may keep me motivated. My goal is at least three recorded training sessions a week, not counting our Monday night class. There are five classes left, so if I can keep this up until approximately the last class I will reward myself.

Jan 18 session three

At some point this afternoon I realized there was no point in me meticulously copying out my entire training journal. It should be enough to summarize each session, and that is much more likely to be kept up. I alternated dogs, as usual, but want to see how the record looks if I separate them.

Caiman, kitchen, Orijen kibbles, dumbbell
20x pickup from floor, asked for sit before delivery if he got up
20x pickup from floor, tossed treat each time to cause him to get up, asked for sit if he didn't offer it before deilvery. Most times he did.

Kona, various rooms upstairs, Orijen kibbles, down at heel
20x lured down in heel position, sometimes with food in luring hand, sometimes without. At class on Monday he was downing in a big curve around and in front of me, so we need to work on the concept of downing beside me, and staying straight.

Jan 18 session two

Kitchen/hallway. Orijen kibble. Alternated dogs.

Caiman
20x - db at mid-shin. 1x he didn't raise his head (about rep 5). I waited, he dropped db on my toe. Said "ouch!", picked it up, held behind back for several sec. and then retried. No other probs.

Kona
20x - LT around island. C/t for swinging his butt around.

Caiman
20x - db held just over toes. 2x errors in a row around rep 10 but no other probs.
1. Dropped db. Recued "take it" and he picked it up and raised head nicely.
2. Downed while taking db. Cued "sit", he did, and raised head nicely.

Kona
20x - L U-turns in the hallway

Caiman
20x - db on floor in front of my toes. Too big an increment - he had real problems with first three reps - multiple ignored cues (physical & verbal), lots of whining and attempted eye contact. Waiting him out didn't work but eventually got him to pick up the db each time. Next 17 reps went smoothly - almost rapid fire - although he was standing and I didn't ask for a sit.

Kona
20x - repeat prev.

Caiman
20x - repeat prev. All good. Next time ask for sits again.

Jan 18 2007

Caiman, kitchen, Orijen kibble. Sitting in front position. Cued "take it" every time, and c/t when his head was raised to normal height and I could put both hands on the dumbell.

20X - db held at normal height. Minor variations on my part as far as what my hands did and when I clicked.

20x - db at knee level. NO PROBLEMS getting him to raise head so I could take db - it was a non-issue.

20x - db held just below knee level. Good!