16 weeks

Puppies are ever changing, like kids.  You can always rely on change.

Hoot is 16 weeks, 21 pounds and 16.5 inches tall.  Hard to say if she is going to be a wee one or not.

This week:

• She can finally recall in the agility field
• Recall from the agility field into the main yard.  The agility field is the ultimate fun zone.
• Can send to a cone and tunnel, working on value now
• Sit and stay at the door to be let out
• Sit and stay waiting for her meals.  Working on focus forward now.
• Drop a tug toy (almost)
• A wee bit of IYC game which is NOT her favorite.  She thinks it is stupid.
• Various silly pet tricks

We took a road trip up to the mountains this weekend.  This is Hoot sitting among the willows.  She did a great job staying with her pack, riding in the car and waiting in the car while we ate lunch.

Hoot 16 weeks

Journeys are filled with micro-journeys

The reason that I write this blog is for myself.  So that through time I can go back and appreciate the journey that Hoot and I have been on.  Also, so that I can relearn and bring benefit to the dogs that come after Hoot, or my client's dogs may benefit from the lessons of our journey.

The little mico-journey that Hoot and I have been traveling lately involves her sense of proper-ness (for lack of a better term).  Hoot, like many border collies has certain expectations and needs for certain things to be done a certain way. 

Hoot on the field

Hoot believes that certain things happen on the agility field and it isn't agility.  Some mornings I let the dogs out on the field so that they can stretch their legs and run.  Hoot has developed the belief that the agility field is for herding the other dogs or watching over things.  Certainly not for playing with me. 

Am I worried about this?  Not at all.  The nice things that comes with having trained a number of dogs is patience, the knowledge that I can change this behavior, and the wisdom to know that a ton of things in a puppy's life are just phases (like kids).

I went out to the agility field knowing that I would get this same behavior out of her.  Sitting, at a distance from me, and watching the field.  I didn't bring the other dogs out to keep the stimulation level manageable.  I went to the north side of our property which is only used for playing Frisbee with the dogs (no equipment) and called her.  I slapped the toy on the ground, ran and soon she was biting my ankles :)  We played tug and chase.

We gradually moved this game into the agility field and keeping engaged the whole time.  I gave her a mini-break while I set up a cone.  (I have used the cone inside, send her around, and tug with her.)  Called her again, slapped the toy and ran.  She once again chased me.

Soon we were playing games around the cone ON THE AGILITY FIELD.

One of the many things that I love about this dog is her ability to progress in learning so quickly. 

We will play this game several more times, each time starting with more of a challenge.  I am confident she will understand that the agility field is for so much more than just herding dogs.  And that I am a valuable part of that experience.

13 weeks, can hardly believe it

Well Hoot is 13 weeks, 18.8 pounds!  So, if the rule of thumb is true (the adult weight is double the weight at 4 months) she will be a big girl (since she has 3 more weeks to go).

Not sure that I am going to totally bank on that.  Hoot is from a repeat breeding and none of her sisters are that tall, between 18 - 19 inches.  She doesn't seem like she is growing very fast, nor is she fat.  Who knows.

Hoot and I went out to the agility field to play this morning.  We worked on table games, going around a wing, and some retrieving.  Not really trying to get involved in any direct agility skills, just working on focusing on me with distractions (in this case Split was around), some retrieving skills (useful life skill).





Hoot still impresses me on a daily basis.  Love this dog!!

She is a social thing

 Hoot had several social outings this week.  Still, when she sees people she can not resist saying hi.

She got to go visit my clients this week.  She was awesome, I was pleasantly surprised.  I expected a little hooligan and repeated apologies on my way out of the office. 

We visited everyone for a little bit and then when I settled down to work she chewed on her bully stick and then fell asleep for several hours.  Of course she had to be the typical border collie and curl up in the legs of my chair.

Tangled in my chair

We also went to an outdoor mall that is VERY dog friendly.  Hoot got to go into several stores, but Eddie Bauer was her favorite.  They spent a ton of time playing with her and loving on her. 

In shaping this week, we  put "feet" on command.  She has to put her back feet on the object in front of me.  Also, we put her back up "back" on command.  Lastly we put "lay down" on command. 

Lay down and sit are both hand signals as well.  When the dogs are off lead and can't hear me (trucks, wind, whatever) I use the hand signals to keep them where they are.

We worked on putting all four feet inside of objects.  Sit at a distance.  For that I ask her to go "back" and then ask her to "sit".  Our distance is probably about 5 feet now.

Recalls are a constant training item.  Right now they are good.

When I take inventory of what we do in a week I am honestly surprise at how much material we can get through in a week.