Archives for 2007

Above: Boot Camp Sights:
“The shoe fence”…each post has an old boot on top of it.

Some days at boot camp are good and then there are the days when it is horrid. Today sucked! It took us over an hour and a half to just get out of their quarters and the perimeter fence.

Forget working on anything new–we spent most of the day on gate manners and other behaviors I hoped the duo would have maintained by now…but no such luck.

Part of the problem was the wind. If you have not noticed, certain weather conditions make animals jumpy and uncooperative. The high winds have been blowing on the camp for over 24 hours. I wore a cap and it was a good thing it was snugged down with my French braid–otherwise I would have lost it.

I put dog “A” into the remote spray collar and it worked well on her. Unfortunately, she was so bad I actually used her choke chain today. I think the last time I used such a device was in the late 1980s. As much as I don’t like them, it did the trick and got her attention and cooperation.

Once I had her attention, we took a long walk since their quarters were being cleaned out…otherwise I would have ended the session and left everything for tomorrow. Sometimes animals have bad days and don’t do well. Today was one of those days.

Speaking of which, I noticed that often, around the fifth week of dog training in group classes, that many dogs will act like they have forgotten everything they have learned. I am not sure if it is something that the humans are doing or if the dogs just go through a phase where they are testing the rules.

Today both dogs were also very pushy for attention. The frustrating thing about this duo is that they continue to make the same mistakes. They like attention and know that they are to sit and wait for it but once one gets excited and stands up–all bets are off.

They are cute but even that and the fight for attention doesn’t work for them…and they just fail to get that notion. Maybe they think cuteness and sweetness will get them what they want. NOT–that is why they are in boot camp! Maybe nobody has outlined that for them.

As I sighed and lamented on today’s shenanigans, the camp owner mentioned that she thought it was weird that they don’t use the deck to rest and relax in the sun, instead they curl up in the gravel!

These critters are really sweet but the brain power is questionable. So, both dogs were soaked by my mighty syringes by the time we were done. I keep four loaded in my second training bag and have to refill a few times during our sessions.

Speaking of soaked, why is it that dogs love to go get a good sloppy drink of water and then come over and make sure you get most of it on your clothes?

Anyway, I gave up on wearing my uniform pants a few days ago and now show up in my jeans because the dogs just soil everything so heavily–they are a little bit better but they still manage to make sure I am a filthy mess by the time I get out of there. Most of it is from their attempts to get body contact with me.

I learned early in my career to get uniforms and to wear plain undergarments, too. You have no idea how soiled you can get working animals–the dirt moves through all the layers of clothing and into the skin. My washer has been working hard and I am reluctant to get out of the shower once I am in it.

The camp staff got into clean out the dog quarters while we were out. When we came back the place was spick-and-span and reorganized. The storage cabinet, food bin, and crates were all moved.

This was not a problem for the dogs–they didn’t seem to notice or care.

I’ll save my additional whining for those who actually see me in person but so much for starting on obedience work today!

Tomorrow I have a videographer coming out to film so hopefully they will show off some of the things they have learned. I have some footage of when we began and so hopefully we can see the contrast.

Above: Shadow pic of the doggie di and the deliquent duo heeling during a windy day.

Yesterday the wind was howling at a force that I have not seen in a long while. Today isn’t much different.

On day eight I arrived at the camp to find it quiet and peaceful. Staff was off site so the deliquents and I had the place to ourselves.

As usual, they are great at some things on one day and then suck on the next. But overall the girls did very well.

We began again with the standard gating, leashing up, and crate work. Since I try and mix up the activities, we headed over to the play pen for a round of activity. I mentioned early that the two would not play. They only liked the water bottles–and to chase moving objects.

Above: Chase games in the play pen.

So imagine my surprise when dog “B” actually retreived a ball! I thought it was a fluke but sure enough, she kept bringing it back to me. To capture the behavior I bridged and then worked a little bit with dog “A” on the same behavior. The interesting shift that has taken place is that dog “B” is now more confident and won’t let dog “A” run her off the ball or just give it up to her. Mind you, she still gives in to dog “A’s” leadership but not in all circumstances now.

Dog “B” drops the ball in my lap voluntarily. She has a scar and unusual pigment under her right eye which is why it looks funny.

Okay, so they are retrievers and the behavior should be natural but with the A.D.D. this has been non-existent. So, this is an indicator that they are focusing now and able to branch out of their normal, entrenched behavior patterns.

Above: Retrieving a ball in the pen.

The other interesting thing I noticed is that when I threw two balls, each dog would focus not on the ball in front of them but on the ball in the opposite hand–or in front of the other dog. If I tossed the balls up in the air for them to catch, each would cross over and attempt to get the ball in front of the other dog.

I tried a couple of different tricks and now they do better but it was interesting to see. Their minds work a bit different from most of the other dogs I’ve worked with!

The “gentle” and no biting command is coming along…

The duo did good on the amble down the trails. We ran into horseback riders again and dog “A” still sucks. I am putting her on a remote training collar today–the citonella spray collar will hopefully help extinguish her poor behavior as nothing else has been working to get her over the hump.

Our leash work consisted of walking at different speeds and yielding to the line. Each dog has a good heel on their own but together they aren’t very good. The keep close but are two distracted by one another and external stimuli. They did manage to keep the heel position several times when asked but it is not to my liking yet. I am working on yielding to the line also–when I stop they should stop–fat chance at the moment–they still tug. Once in a while they stop and sit but it is still too early for them.

We didn’t work on other obedience yesterday as I thought we would. More of the same stuff on getting them not to run me over or crowd me for attention. They crave attention so desperately and get wild–until they remember I always withdraw during pushiness or competition between the two.

Dog “B” really understands that she should sit for attention and does. Dog “A” doesn’t really give a darn and attempts to mold my behavior more than cooperate. I worked on sitting on a hale bale, the swinging chair, and just leaning on a post. Still needs a lot of work but definately better.

Feeding went well. Both dogs ate and didn’t try and grab the others food bowl. I backed off a bit and the only thing dog “A” did was to move toward “B” and circle back to her own bowl. This is a good sign.

Alright, I am heading out to see the two for another fun day. I really enjoy these two, they are very sweet for deliquents!