Reaction

Last night I found out how Golly's death has effected Dax. It was the first time we'd been back to Obedience class and Dax seemed happy to go. She was decidedly not happy about seeing other dogs before class and snarked at several, lunged at two and actually connected with one. I'm going to have to keep a very close eye on this girl - she needs to know that I'm in charge and I'm not going to tolerate that behavior. On the positive side - enforcing a "Down! Stay!" at each little incident vastly improved her performance on those exercises in class.

I'm a bad, bad auntie

Fridays are my day off. I have the whole house and all four dogs to myself - my two (Roc and Dax) and Fran's two (Golly and Ceilidh).
I think we've mentioned about 80 zillion times that Ceilidh is a "special" dog. She doesn't like to be petted, she's constantly on the move, she's not good at eating, is hyperactive, etc. etc. etc.
So yesterday, I took the dogs out into the backyard, let them do their thing, sniff some, lie in the sun for a while. Then it was time to go in - I had things to do!
So I call them. Golly goes back to the house. Roc is right on her heels. Dax reluctantly gives up her patch of sun and goes inside. Ceilidh's running around the yard with a stick in her mouth. Ceilidh, who is obedience-trained, ignores "Come" ignores "Go Home" and dashes around the yard some more. I'm getting impatient, so I say "Dammit Ceilidh." At which, she immediately goes home.
So it occurs to me that Ceilidh thinks "Dammit Ceilidh" means go home. Poor Ceilidh.

Call him "Mr. Spud"

I've retired Roc from Obedience. It took me a while to admit it was necessary. And to adjust to the change.

It took Roc no time at all. He LOVES his new career as Couch Potato. He's happier, calmer and altogether a joyful boy. He loved going to class and being with me, but the stress of competition was just too much for the little guy. As Dax and I head out for class, he sits there in his favorite bed; "See ya! Have a good time! Wake me when you get home."

Of course he's Johnny-On-The-Spot when I practise with Dax at home. Cookies were always his favorite part of training. Last night when I actually had the temerity to ask him to do something for his treat he looked at me with outrage. "Work? Work? I don't think so!"

When I insisted he "down" the indignation was palpable. I'd violated his new work ethic - none at all.

Dax has a boyfriend!

Daxie's in love!

For the last two weeks, a dashing young Papillon boy has come to class. Smudge is 18 months old (a younger man!), about as tall as Dax and half her weight. He's a slight thing, but all swaggering confidence and joy.

It's the first time she's tried to initiate play with another dog. She'll usually go up, sniff hello, and if the other dog wants to play, Dax's usual reaction is to roll over onto her back in the classic "I'm a puppy don't hurt me!" move. For the first time, she's got her adorable butt in the air, wiggling like mad, saying "Play with me!"

Fortunately, Smudge is happy to oblige. It was wonderful watching them chase around and play after class last night.

And, with some luck, he'll be a wonderful influence on her. Papillons are known as top-notch performance dogs. And his "mom" has, in the past, gotten advanced obedience titles on her Borzois. (She's a good example of downsizing!)

Vive l'amour!

Not your everyday obedience group

Yesterday evening at training it struck me how wonderfully diverse our group is. When we were doing the "Long Down" exercise (leave your dog in a down position and stand across, or out of, the room for five minutes) I took a look at the line-up.

• Miniature Poodle
• Black Lab
• Shiba Inu
• Yellow Lab
• Sheltie
• French Bulldog (Dax!)
• Scottish Terrier
• Doberman Pinscher
• Papillon
• Sheltie
• Cocker Spaniel
• Dachshund
• Australian Shepherd
• Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier
• Saluki

Not exactly the group you'd think of when you're thinking "obedience," is it? I guess that's why I enjoy it so thoroughly. My dog may not be the fastest to learn the exercises, but we're having fun. I particularly love Dax's "Recall." That's when I leave her in a sit, go to the other end of the room, and call her to me. When I leave her, it looks like she's not paying much attention to me; looking around, staring off into space. Then, when I call, she zooms as fast as she can down the length of the room and sits perfectly in front of me. A friend of ours does a running commentary of Dax's Recall: "Clear the runway. Flaps (ears) down. Take off!"

A Dax-filled weekend

I've decided that this spring will be Dax's debut in competitive Obedience, so as preparation Dax and I went to a fun match on Saturday. We haven't been practising too much, so I was a bit apprehensive - especially when considering off-lead heeling. Shows what I know - my baby girl did great!
Her greatest weakness is her friendliness - the Stand for Exam is just agony for her. She moved a foot on the first try, but we redid the exercise and she was perfect.
She also stood up as soon as I left her on the "Long Down." I'm not sure why, but I think she may have gotten distracted and missed my command. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt because she was perfect after I went back and had her lie down - even when the German Shorthair Pointer next to her in line almost rolled over on her! She stuck it!
Of course it wasn't exactly a perfect day - outside the ring before "sits and downs" Dax mistook my finger for a piece of cheese and took a chunk out of my right index finger, right by the cuticle. Ouch! (Thank you Betsy for dashing around to find me a bandage!) But, like everything else in obedience, it's my fault, not Dax's.
Speaking of fault - I also have to confess to being the world's worst dog-mom this weekend. I took the dogs out after lunch on Sunday and then settled in to watch some TV. Deep Space Nine on videotape, actually. An episode featuring Jadzia Dax. Which is why it's absolutely incomprehensible and unforgivable that I left my beautiful baby Dax outside for almost an hour. I just didn't count noses when I came in. The only thing that's saving me from punishing self-castigation is that fact that it was in the 60s yesterday.
Of course, if she'd come in when I called...

Big night

Tonight's a big night for us - a new training hall for our obedience club and the start of the baseball playoffs.
As a lifelong Cubs fan, I can't believe I'm not even going to be home for the start of the game - but real life goes on. If Roc is ever going to get his CDX, we have to keep training. I've pretty much decided that if we hit 15 and 0 for qualifying legs, we're going to give up. (Our dismal record is now 0 for 13.) I can't keep beating my head against a wall. Roc knows all the exercises, does them beautifully in training, but can't seem to qualify to save our souls.
And the most important thing for us to remember - we play obedience to have fun. When it's not fun, it's time to move on.

First Fun Match

I've hesitated to start matching Dax in Novice Obedience. She's been wonderful in class, but I had absolutely no confidence whatsoever that she would perform similarly in a different place.
My skepticism has good justification - I can't walk down the street with Dax at heel. She's a wild child everywhere but at home and in class, either agility or obedience.
At some point, however, you have to either fish or cut bait. So I went to a Fun Match on Saturday.
I was shocked. She was wonderful. Everyone around was absolutely charmed by my beautiful, bewildering Bully Girl. If it had been a Trial, we would have qualified. Her heeling was impeccable, her Recall a speedy thing of beauty.
Shame on me of little faith!

Golly Went Back to School

I don't know what possessed me on Tuesday. I took Golly to training class. Hope and I are members of the North Shore Dog Training Club - Hope talked about our trial last Sunday - and the club has classes every Tuesday evening. The club was also going to have a short general meeting on Tuesday, so I thought it would be a good time to go to training. And, since it had been a while since I'd taken Golly on an outing, I thought we would guest train in the Novice class. And since Golly has her Companion Dog title I figured this would be a good refresher for her (and me!). She loved it! Sure, Golly was heeling a little wide and her fronts weren't exactly straight, but it's been five years since we'd done any training!

So, now I'm thinking maybe I'll go to some Rally matches and maybe, maybe, even compete!

A feather in his cap

Roc did it! Sometimes I think it's in spite of me, but we got our third leg in Rally Novice yesterday at our own club's Obedience Trial.
Conditions were not wonderful - our site this year was not air-conditioned, which usually isn't that big a deal on Father's Day, but it was over 90 degrees F yesterday. And I stewarded in the Utility B Ring all morning before Roc and I were set to compete, so he was in his crate. I did have a semi-intelligent idea and brought a bunch of reusable ice pack thingies in a cooler. I put them under his towel in the crate, so Roc had a great morning, hanging out cool as a cucumber, watching me sweat away laying down and picking up the gloves for the "Directed Retrieve."
I suppose I could moan and complain about the weather, but in all honesty - I had a really good time.
I love stewarding for the top echelon dogs in obedience - it inspires me every time I see them work. And while the vast majority of the dogs in Utility are Golden Retrievers and Border Collies, we had a Smooth Collie, a couple of Dachshunds, some Papillons.
After the Utility B competition was done, I had some time to relax before I was up in the Rally ring. Fran was stewarding Rally all day - she was timer. So I could talk to her, but she couldn't take her eyes off the ring.
Watching Rally is very different - especially for us Obedience types. You can really tell whose background is heavily Obedience-oriented and who's just now dipping their toes into the performance events. I think that Rally's a terrific addition to dog sports - everybody can get out there and form a working partnership with their dog. And have some fun. And get some ribbons. It's all about the green, isn't it?

A change of clothes for the better

Clothes definitely make the girl! Dax has been unhappy, to say the least, in Obedience class. She would do the exercises, but you could tell she wasn't thrilled about it. A sure-fire clue was when I had to bring a drool-rag to class. I know that she's a bulldog, but it was a first for me.

I noticed how she reacted to her training collar. She ran away from it. Not the "catch me if you can" play-type dashing off, but truly a "nooooooooooooooooooo, I don't want it" reaction. So instead of the metal-link I've always used, I decided to try her with a martingale-type collar. Not only is she incredibly adorable - she loves it!

Last night at class she had her best session, ever! She was heeling with me, she was having a wonderful time. She even nailed her sit-stay and down-stay! Her Stand For Exam was rock-solid! She was having such a good time that when I accidentally dropped her leash and she went wandering off - she came when I called her, despite the fascinating smells that were drawing her into the boarding area of the place we train.

We are officially retiring the chain link collar. I've used it as a "change of clothes" to signal to my dog that we're "working" now - but a different designer was clearly called for. It's a lesson I continue to learn - pay attention to what my dogs are telling me! All the information I need it there - if I remember to listen.

Happiness is comfy shoes

Taa Daa!
I found summer heeling shoes! So exciting, you have no idea. What makes these wonderful is that they're sling-backs! (I know, it takes very little to make me happy.) One of my shoe issues has always been that I have skinny heels and walk out of my shoes. So I always wore thick old athletic socks to try to keep the shoes on my feet.
And now, for the summer, I don't have to wear socks, even in Agility and Obedience! My friend Janie in Open Obedience class said I should dye them purple and green because they look like elf shoes. I don't care. Happy feet makes for happy Hope. Tiny shoes make Roc heel closer. It's a win-win for us.
BTW - the shoes are by Rocket Dog. I got them at a local discount shoe place, but I did find them online. I did not pay that much.

You want me to what?

Dax continues to teach me the differences between the terrier-type dogs I've always had and bulldogs.

Last night in Novice Obedience class our instructor was showing us a method of teaching correct heeling position called "binding," which is basically keeping the dog at your side by using slight, constant pressure on the leash.

The instructor said "forward" and everyone in class set off at a nice brisk pace. Except me, with my French Bulldog. I tightened up on the leash and she sat down. And stayed there. I could have taken her for a nice drag, but opted to loosen up on the leash and return to my favorite Dax-training method: bribery. She's pretty strictly a "what's in it for me?" kind of girl.

We had a good time after that. We understand each other fairly well. I bring the good treats and she'll consider doing what I want. It works for us.

Happier news!

Roc's achievements over the past weekend have been shamefully overlooked. I don't want anyone to think for a moment that I'm not pleased and proud that my wonderful little boy did a terrific job at two trials over the weekend.

We were in Rally Trials on Saturday and Sunday and Roc did great! We'd never tried Rally before, although I did read all the rules and study the signs. We got two of the three qualifying scores we need for the Rally Novice title - and he was a happy little guy in the ring, which delights me.

On Sunday Roc was particularly good - but I messed up and missed one command, so I ruined his perfect score. He forgave me. He's a very good boy.

I have an idea...(be afraid, be very afraid)

I don't know where everybody was last night, but only Janie and I (and our dogs Reggie and Roc) showed up for Open class last night. So we took down all the ring gates and used the whole place to work! It was terrific, especially since our teacher this session is Susan who is a fantastic, meticulous, fun coach.

We did some straight-line heeling, since we had room to move. And I was astonished that Janie and I work at practically the same pace. When you consider that Reggie is a Saluki and Roc is a Brussels Griffon - you'll understand why I was amazed.

But it got my devious little brain working - if Janie and I both heel at similar paces - how much fun would it be to put together an NSDTC Obedience Team? Team Obedience, Susan tells us, includes the Novice exercises with the addition of a Drop on Recall. Our dogs can do that! Now we just need a couple more people for the team.

And that's the tall and short of it!

Well-deserved success!

We are just thrilled for our friend and classmate Janie and her Saluki, Reggie! This weekend they got two qualifying scores toward Reggie's CDX!!

Janie and I have been in class together forever - the trials and tribulations of competing in Obedience with non-traditional obedience dogs is a bond we've forged over the years. To put it simply - we've felt each other's pain.

But now - Janie and Reggie are two-thirds of the way there! I'm going to miss them in class (they'll be moving up to Utility) but I'm really looking forward to the treats Janie's going to bring to class. It's a North Shore Dog Training Club tradition - you get a title, you bring goodies to share!

Congratulations, Janie and Reggie! (Sorry the picture isn't better - it was taken at our club picnic a couple years ago. Both are much, much prettier in person!)

Onward and upward

Roc and I are so happy! We got our Scent Articles for Utility obedience yesterday! I ordered them last month while we were at the Kentuckiana Cluster dog shows - despite the fact that we didn't qualify at all in Open.

I figured that Roc could be getting a bit bored in training - he loves training and doing the work. So far, he just won't do it in public! So, it's time to add a little spice to our routine and add the Utility exercises to our training regime.

I picked up some kids' gardening gloves at Target a few weeks ago - they're bright yellow, so they won't do for competition, but they're fine to train with. And for only $1 per pair, I can let him (and Dax) play tug with them and learn that the "Directed Retrieve" is a fun game! I know there are people who say you should never let your dog play with the gloves and articles, but for me, obedience is my hobby, and hobbies are supposed to be fun.

Anyway, last night I couldn't wait to try out the Scent Articles. I know enough to just let the leather articles air out for a while, so I got out my extra metal article. I had no idea how Roc would react. He loves getting his plastic dumbbell in Open, and he loves licking peanut butter off a metal butter knife, but would he put it together? One of the biggest problems many people have in obedience is getting their dogs to pick up the metal article.

I'm thrilled to report that Roc hesitated for only the briefest moment and then picked up that article and brought it to me like a... well - an Obedience dog!

Back to school

Last night was Roc's and my first at obedience training for a while - since I found out Roc has no cartilage in his right shoulder and left hip. And shouldn't wear a collar cause he has a funky vertebrae in his neck.

He's not allowed to jump for another month - but he had an absolute blast! And so did I. Maybe I was getting so anxious to compete, or so tense about not qualifying, that I forgot to have some fun. And that is what obedience is all about - having fun with your dog.

I've ordered his articles for Utility work - everybody tells me that it's fun to train. I'm looking forward to it. Roc and I have been in Open for so long that he's probably a bit tired of it. And it'll be good to shake up our routine.

Justified guilt

As it turns out, Roc was reluctant to jump for good reason - his right shoulder, left hip and neck are showing the first signs of arthritic changes.

But, his obedience career is not over! Yea! We've started him on glucosamine and he'll rest up for about six weeks, letting the inflammation heal and the glucosamine kick in. Then we'll be able to start jumping again.

In the meantime, we can still work on all the things that don't require jumping and start working on the Utility exercises. I ordered scent articles for the dude while we were in Louisville (custom fit, no less) and had to put the order on hold 'til I got these results.

I'm putting that order on the fast track now!

Let the guilt begin

Where does the guilt begin?

It turns out that Roc may be reluctant to jump, run, fetch, etc. in the obedience ring because he's either injured or has something wrong in his shoulders.

Whenever we're asked about training or behavioral problems with a dog, the first piece of advice we give is to have the dog checked by a veterinarian to see if there's a physical cause for the issue. So, after struggling with Roc's worsening performance in obedience, I finally took my own advice.

I suppose that late is better than never, but I felt sooooooooooo bad when Dr. Janice was checking him out today and he started trembling when she touched his shoulders. I try to avoid guilt whenever possible, but I think I deserve some of it today.

Tomorrow I'll be taking him in for x-rays and we'll start figuring out what's going on with the little dude. I know that he loves training and working with me, so it's going to be a rude shock if his obedience career is over. I know there are only a couple of jumps, but I can't justify making him do them if he'll be in pain every time.

And I feel guilty about hoping it's an injury - because in my twisted little brain I'm thinking that an injury could heal, in time, and let us play obedience again. And if not? We'll deal. He'll always be my dog. And, as I said after every non-qualifying stint in the ring, I still get to take him home with me.