What an awesome 9 month old--she is a worker

Hoot continues to amaze me in every way she can...

I taught a class this past weekend and used Hoot as the demo dog for several things.  While she was not working I just asked her to lie down, really thinking nothing off it.  After class I began to think about the accomplishment of my 9 month old.  She could lie down, no leash, stay put while other dogs/puppies were running on her agility field.  She didn't chase nor break. I am blown away by that.

Hoot In Action

When I did ask her to work in class she was spot on.  I didn't get any kind of over-stimulated behaviors, nor did I get any kind of stress behaviors.  She just got the job done and in brilliant style.

I can honestly say that none of my other dogs could have done all of that at 9 months.

No wonder I can hardly wait to get out to the agility field and work this little girl, she makes me smile.

On another front Hoot and I are still pursuing herding.  She has a lot of natural ability or so they say, I on the other hand know nothing but am trying to not ruin my dog while I learn.

In our last lesson we were working on a small round pen.  Things seems more chaotic and frenzied than normal.  I am really glad my husband taped the session.

I went back and watched the video.  As I was watching it occurred to me that the pen was too small.   Hoot normally keeps a bit more distance from the sheep and with the pen size she was forced to work close.  I think that her balance point was closer than she preferred.  It was stressing her and the sheep.

So we herd again this week and will try for the bigger pen and see if that removes the stress. 

Blown away by this girl

This puppy is fun! She is smart, quick, sweet, and always willing to play. Love her!

Hoot had some huge milestones as far as puppyhood goes. At the start of life with us Hoot had several self-control issues (not unlike almost every puppy).  But there are a few that I needed her to overcome before others. Ones that involve safety first and next, ones that involve being able to live in the pack well.

• Recall - This will always be reinforced, but I am proud to say that Hoot has earned my trust.  On our daily jogs she can/will now come to me.  She fights off the desire to herd Tangle successfully.   Her recall has been tested while camping, at Cynosport, jogging, in our front yard, and off of the agility field.  She has control of her demons and can come when called :)
• Stay -  She has had a beautiful stay for a while.  But within the last month she has been able to stay at the agility gate, the opening to all things fun, until I release her.  First it started that she would stay, but not without having a seizure.  Now she can actually sit fairly still and wait.
• Stay while the other dogs are running.  This is still a work-in-progress, but I expect it to be.  Right now Hoot can stay if I am doing semi-boring things with the other dogs.  One jump skills, just the tunnel, that kind of thing.  

Extension to collection work - we started off working this drill and it was kind of like the kids game "pick-up sticks".  Any place she had to collect coming out of extension the bar would go down and perhaps the wing too.  Just way too much for her.  So I got smart, broke down all the skills, practiced them one by one and within a week this was our progress.  Super proud of how quickly she figures it out.  I am still running rather conservatively, but the aggressive handling will come.  Notice that she complains when I ask her to collect after some extension.  Slow is not her preferred speed.

Today was a fun day training Hoot.  Sure we accomplished some things, but she revealed even more how she learns.  The incites are worth way more than what you actually  accomplish.

Hooty is a smart little girl.  She loves her motion.  If the learning is slow and methodical she is not going to be with you for too long.  She needs action! That is OK, it is fairly easy to sandwich the methodical with games of tug.

She reminds me also of my son and gifted children in some ways.  If there isn't value in the activity, she isn't doing it or won't really be in it with all her heart.  That is OK too, easy to build value with her.  Actually sometimes it is very relaxing to work on value building.

Here is a video of today's work.  Getting some distance on sends, nice wraps, learning to stay out of the tunnel until cued, getting some consecutive obstacles.  She is a "hoot" to run!

Holy cow does she love the game!

Been a while since I posted!  Probably because I am busy with a puppy and three other dogs.

As the title suggests, Hoot is CRAZY about agility.  She loves everything about it.

Today I was working with her on a running dogwalk.  We are at the stage where we are transitioning from running on carpet to learning how to run on a plank.  She does think that running on the plank is overrated since it makes her think, but she is still a very willing partner.




For the first time today, she decided that she would much rather line herself up to run the plank again then play with a toy.  She was too busy to play with that toy or be rewarded.  I won't let that behavior persist (because reward and play are too important), but I did find it interesting.

I do adore training this girl, but I am the one who has to have the self-control.  She could so easily suck me into very bad habits (not asking for self-control) because she is so fun, willing, and obsessed.

The other big item that we are working on is obstacle commitment.  No surprising she always wants to follow motion as she should.  But, if I cue it she needs to take it.  So we are doing a fair amount of rewarding at obstacles, some Linda Mecklenburg foundation work on the flat to get that obstacle commitment a bit more solid.

That being said, she will send to a tunnel from about 50 feet now (thank you running dogwalk training).

Dead Toys

This game is called Toy Races.  It is great for building drive to a dead toy, and just building drive in general.  The added benefit for you is that it is a really good workout!

I had fun watching this video.  In 7 attempts, the first time ever playing this game I had Hoot really driving to the toy and trying to beat me.



The next time we play this game I will push her back, send her around something so that I can get ahead, etc.  I will REALLY try to win.

Hoot herding for the first time

OK, this was better than going to Disney World for me and certainly it was Disney World for Hoot.

We tried Hoot on sheep about 2 months ago and she wasn't afraid, but the instinct didn't kick in.  This time instinct kicked in right away.  I had a feeling that it would.  About 4 weeks ago her disposition and confidence changed when I took her out in the world.  

Jim DeKeiffer did a great job with her.  Encouraged her the whole way and narrated what he was doing/thinking the whole time. 

Startlines while in motion--Score!!

Hoot is a fun little dog to train that is for sure!

Lately I have been working on a couple of things with her, impulse control, sends and start lines.

I try to keep each one of these skills balanced in terms of how much we work on them.  Hoot definitely has way more fun the more motion that is involved in our play.  But I need some control behaviors out of her in order to progress with her training.

Too much control she will ditch me for something more fun.

Too much action without foundation and things go south REALLY quickly.

It is a balance and we are figuring it out.