Weighing the Dog Beasts

SUMMARY: How to do it?

Over the 27 years that I've owned dogs, I've kept track of their weights by picking them up, standing on the bathroom scale with them, and then subtracting my weight. Works great. As long as you don't have, just for example, say, bad back, bad knees, bad shoulders... any one of which makes it painful to hold even a mere 35-lb dog. (I seem to recall that Amber, my first dog, was over 50 lbs...  I wonder where I'd have that info recorded? Being the obsessive data-recording wonk that I am.)

I've been saying for several years now that I need to teach the dogs to get onto the scale themselves and stand there long enough to get the reading. I started once, using the scale on the floor, and realized that it's flat enough that they don't seem to get the idea of standing on it instead of walking across it.  (A dedicated trainer would work through that. I'm not that, in the last several years.) So I gave up.

But now:  Zorro has clearly gained weight. Chip's diet changed 6 weeks ago and now he's clearly losing weight.  And they've both old enough to start thinking seriously about their weight gain or loss. (Yeah, can weigh for free I think at Pet Club, but that involves driving there, taking the dogs one at a time...  yeah, no.)

Figured I needed something about the size of the scale that is elevated and sturdy for them to learn on. Couldn't think of anything all this time, but this morning my little sturdy step-stool that "holds up to 300 lbs." caught my eye. Aha!

Videotaped my *first* training session with them.  Notes:

• Have never taught them specifically to get up onto something small.
• They are both operant enough to know that, if I put something in front of them, they're expected to do something in relation to it (could be to touch it, could be to deliberately not touch it...).
• I wanted to shape this, with a little luring if needed.
• Today I use "yes" instead of a clicker to mark desired actions. (I'll check my timing--last video I did, I saw that I was late every time!)
• Both immediately went to putting their front feet on it. Marked any action that got them closer to getting and keeping both feet on.
• Back feet: Marked any movement of a back foot towards the stool. (I should have placed the camera for a side view so that these movements were visible. Oh, well.)

Results:

Easy success with Zorro, reasonable success for Chip who thinks things through much more and whose body is longer and less compact.

Next steps: Reinforce getting on; add a command; practice holding still; can I get them to sit there? switch to scale instead of stool (it's larger, so maybe easier?)...

... hang on, posting on YouTube, come back in a few  minutes...  should be up by 10:45 AM today:

Trying to be motivated: weaves

SUMMARY: After class, after New Year’s, after who knows what, but something clicked…

Zorro's agility class worked on weaves again today. We have been practicing in class off and on for however long I’ve been taking classes, since last July? So… That’s once a week, maximum, with a lot of outages on my part for one reason or another. And Z is doing fairly well today... got the spread poles all the way in (so they're no longer spread), but with 2 guides still on. We struggled a bit with that, but looking pretty darned good! But not so good for having started maybe 5 months ago! Because--

--today, while the other dog kids were weaving, I kept thinking: I taught Tika the weaves in 3 weeks. I taught Boost the weaves in two weeks. Doing it in my own backyard, because I have actual weave poles. But I have not done that with Zorro. And why not? I don't know.

Also, in class, I use treats with Zorro, because he won’t play with a toy there. This has been a problem in every class we’ve been to: He won’t even play with his Jolly Ball or his Flat Ball or his Squeaky Snake, and those are his favorites. So today I thought, I think I know how to get a dog to start playing with toys in places other than at home, such as at agility class. He sure loves playing with toys here. He seems to enjoy class, but I'm sure would enjoy it more if there were more play. So, why haven't I worked on it? I don't know.

That has been my question for the last four years: Why am I not interested in doing anything with these dogs? I mean, they’re good boys. They’re smart. They are eager. Chip worries some and Zorro gets over-eager, but they’re perfectly willing to do things with me if I actually try to do things. Oddly, for some reason, today, I thought: well, it’s a beautiful day, the weaves are right there outside the back door, let’s go home and practice some. So I went out in the yard…

...last week I dug out the old rope toys, which I've never played with with these dogs, because… For whatever reason. Today in the yard I played tug and fetch with Zorro with the rope for a bit to get him excited about it. He tried switching to his flat ball a couple of times, because it was there in the middle of the yard, but I got him back onto the rope, and then we played with that for a while. So, that’s step one on the toy parade.

I tried that with Chip, and he turned and ran away. "I don’t know what you want from me, mom, I’m stressed." So I just played with him a little bit, no toys or treats, and left it at that. (He doesn't play with toys much, even with his favorites.)

Then I started working on backchaining weave poles. I have used that in the past for training the weaves, using the hand in the collar method with a toy or treats. Which I’m not going to try to explain.

Anyway: I started backchaining at the end of the weaves with Zorro with treats for now. He didn’t quite get it at first, but he is now driving forward from the next-to-the-last pole through the last pole, which is what I want! Personally I think this is a better method for teaching them, so we'll see whether I can get all the way to the beginning of 6 weaves before class next  week.

Tried some of the same with Chip, with whom I have never done any weave poles, because… For whatever reason. With him, I also have to work on training that it’s OK for me to pull him around by his collar, nothing terrible is going to happen, whether I pull back or forward, he just needs to go along for the ride, and get treats constantly as I’m doing it. I have worked on that off and on the whole time I’ve had him. I need a lot more on and a lot less off.

And then I managed to get a very few attempts at back chaining the last two poles. He seemed a smidgen more relaxed each time.

Then I was tired all over, and it wasn’t even that much work. Reminds me of several things:

• When I taught Tika, I was 19 years younger. With Boost, maybe 15. And they were 2 years old and about 1 year, respectively, and I had been doing pretty much daily training of all kinds with both from the day they came home, with toys. Meanwhile, Zorro is 5 and a half, and Chip is 8 and a half.  
• It feels good to work confidently on something and seeing achievement quickly. That was something that appealed to me about agility originally.
• It feels good to  be tired--not exhausted or in a lot of pain--all over my body. I'm really out of shape, I'm aware of that, but I was able to do these things today. That also was something that appealed to me about agility originally.

Sometimes I think, so many years of opportunities wasted for having more fun with them and building more of a relationship with them.  And then sometimes I think, OK, for whatever reason--depression or grief or pain or training fatigue or maybe all of those, dunno, I've had lots of excuses--for whatever reason, I've needed a break. 

Not sure whether the break is over, but today was good.

Zorro Gets the Weaves!

SUMMARY: A wee liddle bit of agility class.

I've been doing stealth agility classes with Zorro. At Fetch Sam (a small indoor facility closer to downtown, with solid rubber mat flooring). Not instructors I've worked with before, no one I know in our class, etc. Not deliberately avoiding anyone, but Fetch Sam is perfect for us at the moment: My knees are so bad that all I can do is hobble with him. A small "ring" and a smooth surface are ideal for me. And it's indoors, so no wet surface to slip on. And it's only 10 minutes from my house (traffic willing), which isn't true anywhere else.

Started at the end of June, mostly for something to do with him to get him around other dogs more often, in a controlled environment, and to take an edge off his energy since I'm doing nothing else with him. Really, doing pretty much nothing else but a little bit of throwing a toy in the yard when I feel like it. Class was "Jumps and Tunnels" and I figured I could just keep enlisting in that. He does tunnels in my yard all the time on his own, and will send to them all the way across the yard.

In class: "Come ONNNN Human Mom!!"

Turned out that sending to tunnels that have been in exactly the same places in my yard since he arrived 4 years ago does not translate to going into unfamiliar tunnels from even a few feet away (go figure! Doh Human Mom!), so that has been an ongoing challenge.  Here's just jumps, tire, tunnel, from July, when he actually DID go into the tunnel (this was our 2nd or 3rd time trying this sequence).

I feel as if I'm completely relearning how to get around a course, too. I know exactly how I want to "run" it with him--my brain  and yet then am nowhere near where I intended to be, even with the small field and courses with only 3-7 obstacles. Different when you can't move well or fast--I mean, after nearly 2 decades of living and breathing agility with 4 different dogs, I still know where I need to go, what I need to do: But doesn't translate when I start moving! Yikes!

Despite owning a full set of agility equipment , I just stopped doing anything after Tika & Boost stopped, so everything he has learned has been in class once a week (or, on average every 2 weeks, I suppose, given time I've been gone for Reasons or when classes were called due to heat).

And I didn't stick with Jumps and Tunnels class: We went ahead to Contacts and Weaves and that's essentially where we've been after the 6th week.

They teach weaves there using using offset poles with channels (guides) on only one side of only the first 4 poles on a set of six. We've not made rapid progress--weaves are the most challenging thing for dogs to learn, I think, particularly without plenty of practice--and the class hasn't covered them every week, either.

Then I missed several weeks due to my planned absences, unplanned illnesses, and such. We just went back last week for the first time since mid-October. He was still not really getting the weaves, although he has slowly managed to get from widely offset poles to gradually narrower ones, but usually taking several attempts to get through even 6 in that situation.

I tell you this to tell you that today, in class, he did the first time through on the wide-ish offsets as if he's been doing them his whole life. We narrowed them; ditto. Narrowed them again, ditto. Narrowed them yet more, and I went a little fast so he popped out, but then did them fine. Not flying through them, but at a low trot, anyway, and clearly getting the weaving idea, and, like, boom! Dog is getting weaves! He's so smart. If I'd ever once done a whit of training with him outside of class, he'd be super by now.

I'm so happy with my little guy. And, BTW, he loves class and has loved it pretty much since we started doing contacts there (wow, running and climbing AND treats at the end?!?!). Maybe someday he'll be able to do enough to put him in a fun match.

He's five and a half already, and has gotten overweight this year, shame on Human Mom--*I'm* not feeding him anything more or different, and not sure whether I can chalk it up to all the Squirrels he ate during the year... But, you know, not an insurmountable issue.

No videos to show. Maybe next week I'll ask someone to film us doing something.

Eine Kleine Agility Training

SUMMARY: New dog, new handler, new class, some pondering

Today Zorro and I started with the first session of a 4-week class of agility-for-fun, Jumps and Tunnels. I felt so clumsy with even basic things, and it occurs to me: It has been 14 years since I last started a new dog in agility. (Discounting a very few previous class sessions with Zorro.)

New agility dog in 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005... I sort of figured it would keep going on like that. But nooooo--  Even had I been healthier, Chip arrived in 2014, so a big gap there. And Zorro in 2015. It should be time for me to be thinking about a new agility dog because my current ones would be getting up there in age!

Funny how things work out.  Instead, today I fumbled over how to get a leashed dog over a jump, how to use treats to lure a dog to turn with me, and how to do anything without bending over and waking up my back or my knee.

Today's lesson was nose touches to your hand (we had that down already), following your hand to circle with you as you move and turn into you as you turn (ditto), standing perpendicular to a jump and having your dog go over and back while tossing treats, then the same thing at an angle, then "around the world" from different angles. Then going through a very short tunnel, then a gradually longer tunnel, then jump-tunnel. Whooo!

I had to jam a treat in front of his nose as he blasted out of the tunnels to get him to not just keep going. Toy, even filled with treats, didn't cut it.

Zorro still won't play with toys anywhere but here at home, where he's crazy about them. Have known this for 4 years. No good excuse for not having worked on it. Should do so. Because it's a very fun feature to have in a dog.

BUT other than being super-excited to start with, he was really a Good Boy, willing to do All The Things for Zukes Minis and never running after any of the other dogs. And it all wore him out, which is really what I had in mind all along.

Bell-Ringing Dogs

SUMMARY: A trick we've worked on occasionally.

Backfill: Dec 18, 2018

The command is "Smash".

Circus Dog Class!

SUMMARY: Tricks, week 1

Fetch Sam is a dog-training indoor facility near downtown San Jose. Main focus is dog agility, but that means that it's plenty big enough for a group of dogs to work on tricks, too.

Mackenzie and her Human Mom, Zorro in his crate. Mackenzie is a tres wee dog.

Saturday was our first class out of 5 spread over a month and a half. I had asked whether I could do both dogs at once (paying for both of course), but the instructor suggested that I could maybe alternate weeks, but not both at once. When class got going, I could see what that wouldn't have worked with 2 dogs, one handler.

Had to decide whom to take to week 1 and opted for Zorro.

He did very well even with other dogs around; only one brief HEY STOP LOOKING AT ME barking session, but mostly seemed comfortable to be there, not too overly stimulated, and briefly met a 6-month-old lab nose to nose. Mostly we were all maybe 20-30 feet apart from each other, working on the assigned tricks.

First week we did an intro to clicker training (which I've been using for ages) and the following:

• Target training: (which this week was really "go to your mat" for which she supplied towels) I've been doing "go to your bed" with the dogs with a bit more than casual intent for a while, so they have the basic idea and Zorro had little problem with this from up to a few feet away.
• Shake: Both dogs already do "shake" (with right paw) and "shake left" (with left) very well.  So in class I worked on getting him to give me both paws first with shake, then with shake left; he was reluctant to get both paws off the floor at the same time although lordy knows he does that often enough at hom.
• Spin: Both dogs do "left" and "right" spins already; zorro has "right" on voice command almost all the time and "left" almost on voice command; Chip isn't there yet with just voice command, but the finger reminder is almost faded away. During class, I worked on having Zorro do 2 or 3 in a row before getting a treat (so, like 2/treat, 1/treat, 2/treat, 1/treat, 3/treat, 2/treat, 1/treat...)
• Take it: Haven't worked on this with these dogs ever. Zorro of course will grab a toy in my hands when I tell him to Get It at home, but he has no interest in toys at all away from house/yard, so this will take some work; in class, he was starting to open his mouth instead of just butting it with his nose, yay.
• Roll over: I think I worked with them a bit on this when Zorro first arrived, but not much and not since then, so we're really at square One, or maybe one and a half. But much more willing to go over than, say, Remington, with whom I had to start by first lifting one foot slightly and rewarding, and going very very very piecemeal.
• Sit pretty: Definitely worked with them a few times, again, back when Zorro was new here, but not really since. He was getting it in class after initially wanting to stand up on his hind legs, not sit up.

Mackenzie and her Human Mom (friend Arlene) also already knew some of the tricks but were just learning others.  I think that some of our other classmates also knew one or two of some of these ahead of time, but we all have things to work on.

Like, for example, THIS vast display of naughtiness, Mr. Zee!!!, which I found this evening on my effing kitchen table, my beautiful all-white CLEAN kitchen table, after being gone all day:

So SOME of us have a few more things to work on outside of class than others.


Ya think we're dog people? With mostly nonpurebred dogs, both?

Class Activites This Week

SUMMARY: What we worked on in class yesterday.

Raw notes primarily for myself and a classmate. Gives just a flavor of what we've been working on since June.

1. Loose leash walking in a circle, both directions, dogs on both sides for each direction.
   Keep dog's attention on you--if attention wanders, your rate of reward is too low.  If dog moves away from you, turn 180 from direction he's going and walk.  Remember to release and play pretty often.
2. Always always maintain criteria for exiting the crate. 
   (I've been 99.5% consistent with Zorro.  Lately he seems to have decided that sitting to wait for exit isn't as good as lying down to exit. I think he's just experimenting. We'll get through this.)  (Oh, realized that he doesn't send to his crate very well from more than a couple of feet away--confused because we haven't worked on it. I'll work on it. Maybe.)
3. Periodically stop and ask for a sit or a down. Work on getting fast responses.
   (Zorro is pretty good on the down almost all the time, but for some reason is confused about sitting and turns it into a down.)  Keep working on gradually introducing distractions (food descending in your hand slowly, etc.).  (Oops. I haven't been.) This week Penni walked closer and closer to the dogs, giving us warning so that we could up the rate of reward.  (Zorro did pretty darned good at paying attention to me after a quick glance away.)
4. SIDE NOTE: Watch for your dog's brain frying.
   If looks like he's had too much, work loose-leash walking back to the crate for him to get a little rest. (Zorro survived until just about the end of class.  My brain, however...) Per Moe, young dogs are still forming pathways and being shaped by all of their experiences. SHORT training sessions. Can easily do 3 or 5 or 7 sessions through the day of 2-5 minutes depending on your dog.
5. Step-behinds.  Dog in sit. Stand next to him. Feed treats in front of him. Step back beside his thigh. Keep feeding in front of him. Step quickly across to his other side, keep feeding in front of him, but not if feet move or stands up. Fine if dog's head swings to follow you, but you want dog to always be focusing forward (and it's easier for them to keep their balance).
6. Line-ups--dog standing, sitting parallel to you, not at an angle or in front or off to the side.
   Moe just demonstrated this, didn't assign or have us do. Goal is to have dog move rear end back towards you.  Hand in collar, keep head in position close to you just as a pivot point, step across (into) muzzle so has to turn head, which should swing butt. Keep stepping across until he moves butt and then reward.
7. Restrained recalls, 2 each acceleration, deceleration, shoulder turn, front cross into dog, one of each on each side.
   Agility is about fun and fast. You don't want dog walking or trotting to you, but running full out. So quickly get to position and quickly release the dog. If dog won't let you go very far, work on those durations for sit and meanwhile release ASAP just before they're ready to break on their own.  When you throw toy on accels, don't just watch, run to meet dog.  (Zorro is now at least chasing a "lotus" toy with cheese in it. Still won't play with it or anything, but that's progress, and he didn't take off on his own to go exploring.)
8. Contact trainer board; wobble board or bang game.
   Trainer board: Try to get dog to hop on right up at the end, not in the middle and step/walk to the end.  The instant that all 4 feet are on the board, feet quickly on the end of the board, before the dog has a chance to look up at you; want him focusing on the end of the board.  Ditto bang game.  (Zorro was doing fine then started skewing his back feet away from me off the board. Waited for him to fix it, which he eventually started doing again.)
9. HOMEWORK: Work on strong touch to target held in your hand.
   

No class next week. It's USDAA Western Regionals Championship Weekend hosted by The Bay Team, as it is every year.  I have signed up to work just one day.  

Class for Zorro

SUMMARY: Foundations for Agility, mixed results

(The shadows--see what I did there?)

Three or four months ago, I signed up me and Zorro for a Foundations (of agility) class in Morgan Hill with instructors whom I know pretty well, but this is the first time I've taken classes from her/them.

First, let me say that the primary and backup instructors are wonderful. Their instructions are clear, their demo dogs are useful in demoing what they are trying to convey, they work their way through all of the basics in a careful, methodical, rational way so that in theory the handlers and dogs come away with the best possible foundation for becoming agility stars or at least fun companions.

I say theoretically because I'm a lazy, slovenly, excuse-ridden participant. More in a bit.

Second, let me say that the class is intended for (older) puppies. Zorro was 2 when we started, although I sure have seen a lot of puppy in him. Some of the students have never done agility or similar basic obedience training. Some students have trained and run multiple agility champions. So it's a mixed class of people, but the instructors are careful to make sure that the *dog* gets the information that he needs, and to remind us that every dog is starting from scratch even if we think that we know what we're doing.

Which is lovely for Zorro; just being there, in fact, is wonderful training for him as he learns to be around other dogs and to pay attention to me in an environment that's interesting in every direction. We've seen a lot of improvement in him in these 3-ish months.

In short, it's a great class and I feel privileged to be part of it.

Chip comes along for the ride and gets to get out for a while before class (if I'm early enough) and after class to practice some of the things that I practiced with Zorro in class.  Apparently the field is plenty interesting.

However, for me, here are the things:

• I really wanted a Saturday morning class because weeknight evenings can be frantic after work, with traffic and stress and all, and so much else goes on on weeknights. However, this class starts at 8:00 a.m., sharp, and it's 30 minutes from here. Sooooo I'm getting up at 6:45 to the alarm, with barely enough time to dress myself, collect my stuff and my dogs, and be on my way.
  
  BUT: I had grown to despise getting up early to the alarm for dog agility after 18 years of it, and now I find that I still resent it deeply despite a long break from agility.  It was my choice to sign up, but, ugh, dragging myself out of bed, bleah.  Affects me more perhaps because I've not been sleeping well.  (That's a different story.)
  
  Also, if I've had a rough week physically and am particularly painful Friday night, I'm just not going to get up and go. Also, if I've had a very bad night and am awake until 4 in the morning, I'm just not going to get up and go.  Also, well, hmm, surprise, there are other things that happen on Saturdays sometimes that I really want to do but can't if I don't get home until 10 a.m. So maybe Saturdays and/or 8 a.m. are not good for me personally.
  
  I realize that I am WAY WAY WAY over the excitement of being out and about before most of the rest of humanity, on the road, in the early light--at least, for dog-related things.  The other day, I did it (up at same time on Saturday, drive 30 minutes) for something new and different, and it felt so much better.
• I had been neglecting my dogs' trainings. Chip has been here over 2 years, Zorro over a year, and other than shaking hands and doing nose touches to my hand, they barely know more than when I brought them home.  But it was tough to do much with them, because my damaged bodily parts start hurting so quickly. At least, I think that was my excuse. I dunno, I would get excited for a day or 2 and then back to, eh, whatever.  SOOOOO I thought that going to class would be perfect for me. I've always been a bit competitive (duh) and I've liked being able to go to classes having done the homework and maybe more, over all these years.
  
  BUT: Turns out that it hasn't motivated me much at all, telling my that my reluctance is pretty deep (already knew, but just thought this would help). I think that some of it is how much I still miss my Merle Girls themselves and also all that they could do.  Maybe something else in addition to the physical aspect, but dunno what. Dunno. Dunno. I come home from class feeling excited and energized, but within a few hours, it's gone.  I occasionally practice some things.  Some things more than others.  But very little of any of it, in truth.  Zorro's amazing improvements in class have more to do with what I said earlier, him just learning to be in that environment and how to pay attention to me.

I haven't decided whether to drop the class.  I feel in some ways that it's my only chance to drag me out of my doggie doldrums and my training truancy.  Still, now I'm starting to feel that I'm behind so many other people with their little tiny cute puppies who now already do more than both of my dogs put together.

Well, OK, maybe not that much or for everyone, but some people, you know who they are, the people who go home and do their homework and also have experience training their previous dogs.

Instead of going home and blogging. Reading facebook. Editing photos.  Napping.

Mine are such smart, active boys, though, and deserve and need more intellectually and physically than I'm giving them.  So I can feel badly about it and still not get up and do anything about it.  Tsk.  Humans.  Yet I'm paying for a class that I'm attending barely more than half the time.  (That wouldn't have happened in the olden days, either.)

This isn't even what I was going to blog about.  So that will come in a separate post.

Well, OK, some improvement: A year ago I wouldn't have been able to get this photo at the park at all.  This time I barely got it; every time I moved away to set my camera, Chip sat up. And then start to move. And so then Luke would move. BUT I did get this, and they didn't run off while I wasn't holding their leashes here, and that's an improvement.