Not MIA, Just Busy.

Wow, the last couple of months has been super busy!

The last time I posted was before Reese's first agility trial. I drove all the way to Belton, TX for a USDAA trial. That's kind of unheard of for me, because usually I hit trials within 2-3 hours of home, I also usually don't trial between May-September. Puppies change that a little. Belton is a covered dirt arena, two rings. This was Zen's first trial in Masters Gamblers. YAY! The first day we had a conflict and I chose to skip our gamblers run. He needs the legs to get out of advanced, we will be in masters from here on out, so plenty of time to rack up legs there. Over all he had a great trial, everything felt really connected and he had some awesome runs (sadly one with a timer malfunction, and I messed up the rerun), but regardless, he finished up his advanced jumpers title. I think he lacks one leg in adv snooker, and still needing that silly starters standard leg! haha. Reese did fabulous, she made an aussie friend and a corgi friend, and a valhund friend and got to walk around lots and do tricks and meet people. Not bothered at all by the noise or anything. I was really glad I went, even if I had to drive until 1am Friday night to get there :P


Reese also got a quick intro to sheep, which she loved, then we attended a herding clinic in Louisiana and she got to participate in the round pen. FABULOUS! I have video, I'm just really slow and neglectful with my editing.


After that herding clinic we came home, did one day of a UKI trial (that I also entered for socialization). Zen rocked it there, too, and came home with a standard Q, so he's out of beginner UKI standard. Reese also had fun and got to meet up with her corgi friend again and played in the pool and just in general got to see the sights and sounds of agility again.


The next thing was the Larry Painter herding clinic we attend in Missouri. Reese's first week long camping trip, and she stayed in the tent (crated of course). We had a great time. Someone dropped out of the clinic due to work/home issues, so another participant and I split the spot. Reese got more chances in the round pen, and we got some amazing work in. It was nice to work her on more "dog broke" sheep than what I'm used to. We worked on stop, and "there", and walk ups, flanks and off balance flanks, call offs, attitude, squaring up her flanks. We got a lot of good work in. Again, there is video, but I'm bad about editing/posting. Zen also had a great time! I just love that dog. We really fixed his walk, and worked on his out, flanking, flanking while moving. Everyone noticed a big difference in him from our clinic there last year. I'm debating on finding time to trial later this year or possibly first of next year.


Right after our herding trip I scheduled Zen for a neuter. I had no reason to get it done until now. His being intact has never been a problem, and he's run agility around bitches in season, and done herding around the same without issue. However, now that Reese is getting older I just didn't want to deal with him being intact when she cycles twice a year. He's 6, so he's fully grown, and while I'd prefer to keep him intact, it was just the easiest option. The neuter was without issue, and he was crated (and wore two cones of shame) for about 5 days post op to make sure everything healed well. Then I started testing him without the cone for a bit. He did great, and we are over two weeks post neuter so I feel confident saying NO COMPLICATIONS. The incision is well healed, and he has resumed all activity (even herding).

Next weekend we are doing another UKI trial, gotta keep that puppy out and being social, then later this month Reese will attend her first conformation show. Probably just going to do the fun match, but we will stay the whole weekend with a friend and watch her show.


Reese turns 6 months old on July 27 and she's really growing up and making lots of improvements in just the last month or so. I had taken some time off from shaping behaviors with her because she would get a little frustrated and bark/scream at me. Which I really hate. Sometimes she would work through it,  but sometimes not, so I just took a break from that. We did a shaping session last night and she moved from behavior, to behavior, then to offering without bark/screaming or getting frustrated. I even pushed her quite a bit by making the 4-in box too small for her. So I'm thinking that work ethic and desire to work, and attention span have all finally meshed together to a point we can do more shaping. Also, I think all the baby teeth have come out, so she's back to tugging well and actually playing the toy switch game, not running off with the toy to play by herself. She is also working for her food now. As a younger pup she was not super food motivated and I'd have to use hot dogs or bil-jac or something to entice her to take the treat reward. Last night she worked completely for her kibble. I love this stage! I see lots of learning in the near future.

Reese on Sheep

First time on sheep at 14.5 weeks. (yay!)

Camping April 2016

It's tradition. We do two big camping trips a year. The dogs go, we go with a big group of friends, its a good time. Reese was initiated! She loved camping, everyone loved her. She loved them. Fabulous.


Biggest problem, EVERYONE was calling her name trying to get her to come sit in their lap or cuddle. She was usually running back and forth, chasing Zen or Gus and in general, not in a position where I would have been using her name to get her attention. So we will be spending a lot of time building value for her name again. The socialization was great though. I wouldn't let her swim in the river because it rained, literally all day and all night Friday, and the water was WAY up. Too much current for her baby swim skills.


She gets more confident every day. Her shaping sessions are getting better/easier. She does basically whine/bark when frustrated, so I'm hoping we will work through that, too. Oddly, she has a lot of traits that remind me of Rumor, maybe it's just a girl thing ;)


No video from last week, I guess I was too busy and forgot to set it up, I took some this morning though. Going to work through lesson two of our Puppy Foundations class with Silvia Trkman.


Stacked photo from yesterday. She's getting so big! I had to readjust her harness, its no longer too big for her!

Girl Dogs

Girl dogs are different than boy dogs. lol


I am still learning about Reese and what motivates her, what she does to tell me she's getting something or she's confused. So far I've been hit or miss. I felt I learned a lot from editing and watching our video from the first week. She doesn't like switching from one task to another. Which can be hard... "hey, we have been backing up all session, I can't offer anything else right now". She seems to get distracted and quit working when she gets unsure or when I introduce something new.


Last night, I tried to shape laying down on a mat, we need some kind of laying down to get the frog behavior she needs for our online class. She tried for a few seconds to figure out what that mat was doing in her training area, then she lost interest and went and looked out the window, checked out the boarder dog crates, and just generally wouldn't participate. So I got Zen out. Which went differently than I wanted. I wanted to work with him a little and strike up some jealousy and have her barge into the session. Instead Zen got to practice his mat behavior with a puppy bouncing on his head. Then she lost interest in that, worked with me on a couple of reps, then kind of fizzled out again. Zen loved all of it and got to do some conditioning work and heeling also. He thought this was great fun, and "puppy, what puppy?!" he said I can't distract him with a silly puppy.


Then I did dog nails again. Which Reese didn't care for. She fought a little more this time, but all 4 feet are done, and I'll do them again in a couple of days.


Oddly enough, this morning I get out the mat, bring it into the living room and Reese was game to play. I got the down on the mat, and even some small stretches towards frog, so I ended the session. We will do another morning session before work, probably with something different. After her tiny meltdowns, the next session is usually 100% better, so I'm hoping she can work through that and learn to continue offering even when she isn't too sure.

Week 1 Video

Settling In

Reese is really settling in and it's making it easier to get to know her personality and work with her.


She's a much more willing participant now that she's getting our routine now. She's a pretty quick learner, offering behaviors quite easily now. She's starting to get pivoting on an object.


She's been here 5 days and I have dremeled her nails twice. The first time she struggled a bit and wouldn't take treats. Last night she layed on her back in my lap and ate canned dog food after each foot was done. Success! I'll continue to do her nails weekly, or twice weekly, (or however often I need to). First of all, to keep her nails short, second, to keep her accustomed to having it done.


I have lots of video I hope to process this weekend of her training sessions.


Toy play is going well and getting more intense. She's loving the tug. Right now she likes the rubber milk inflation toys and I have a cowhide bite bar on a string that she likes a lot. She will play with just about anything, but those two are favorites.


Loves stuffed kongs and she gets a frozen recreational bone at bedtime.


Crate training is coming along and the past two nights she waited patiently for me to get her up rather than her getting us up. YAY!!!

New Puppy!

I'd like to chronicle our training sessions and progress, so I'm coming back to the blog format. I'll publish this publicly, but this is mostly for my own use, and memory, so the thoughts may be fragmented and scattered.


ACD puppy, named Reese, DOB 1-27-16, picked her up from the breeder 4-16-16, approx. 11 weeks old.


Crate training is not her forte, she settles in eventually, but she doesn't care for it. :)
She met Zen within 30 minutes of picking her up and she did ok with that. He mostly ignored her after his initial sniff, and went off to potty and stretch his legs (we did an 11 hour drive that day). Reese mostly hung out near me, she walks on a leash, and pottied without issue.


At home she met the other dogs and was appropriate, as were they, she was submissive, but not obsessively so. She has an interest in chickens, which goes from not sure about them, when they flock out of the coop all at once, to stalking them occasionally. I'm ok with that for now. Don't want to squash any interest in livestock, but if it goes beyond stalking she will be discouraged. I can't have a chicken killer :)


There is an expen set up in the living room for her, toys and blankets. Shes pretty good about chilling in there. She loves kongs stuffed with canned dog food. She does bark and carry on occasionally, but will usually settle in the ex pen better than her crate.


Day 2, she met my friend Deidra, and two of her shelties, and was appropriate. Seemed to have no problem meeting other dogs. She took a trip to petsmart and got a harness and walks beautifully on that. Shes a leash tugger, which is ok with me. I love toy drive, and she's not obsessive about it.


Also took a trip to tractor supply and did great. She's great meeting new people and walking around.


Riding in the crate was, ok. Still barking initially, but settles in.


Field time with the other dogs, she mostly sticks by me. Rumor and Zen race and bark loudly and she's not sure about that. Plus the other dogs run so fast I can see where she'd be unsure about joining in yet. She will run after them some.


Each day she's up at 6 am.


Clicker sessions are going well. Shes doing a paw touch to an object, I have used a Frisbee, metal dog bowl, and paw pod, she will work with all of them. She does get distracted at times. I'm thinking shes just not used to focusing on a task and working through. She gets better each session. Nothing is on command yet. Working on learning her name.


Some places/times she will take treats and others she wont. She's usually always game to play with toys. I think the food motivation will come. She is already improving.


Day 3, nose touch to hand session and paw target sessions. Both went well and I switched between behaviors in one session. Still not into taking treats outside while in the field with the other dogs, she will occasionally. Tugging and retrieving has improved. Shes an independent player, likes to take her toy off and chew it and play little games by herself. Restrained retrieves to a toy were good, and I like having a long hallway to use for that. Outside time is cut short due to all of the rain.


I took her in the car to work today so I could potty her more frequently and she could have more positive time in the crate. That went well, and Travis came by and picked her up when he got off work.


Today, now I'm caught up on most everything from the last 4 days. Today she woke up at 2:30 to potty, then again at 6, and I successfully had her go back to bed until 7:45, which was awesome. She wasn't silent, but her barking fits were shorter and less intense, I think we are getting there. Travis doesn't go in to work until 2:30pm, so she will have a shorter time in the crate today. I will be home my 6:30pm. I didn't do a morning shaping session, just some tugging and retrieve games and snuggling. Then she had a stuffed kong and is currently napping in the ex-pen.


We are enrolled in Silvia Trkman's puppy class, so I need to get some video for that. Hopefully I can post that soon.