Oreo's mom

I love this idea - thanks for the training sequences. (Sorry I didn't notice this post when I responded to your other one)

We have two - a three year old male who's just starting to compete in agility and a 2 year old female. She actually seems to learn better by watching what Oreo does. Please post the steps you used to teach your dogs these behaviors - they sound like fun. I agree, mental challenges are a good way to use up some of their energy.

Not sure if this is the same injury. Oreo will be going in for surgery next month on one of his rear legs. His tendon slips off the kneecap or whatever it is called in dogs, which draws up his leg and makes him hobble around. My understanding is the surgeon opens the leg/kneecap and re-positions the tendon and staples the leg back together. I'm dreading it, but decided it's best to do this while he's still young (3 years old).

I wish I could get my border collies to do all those different things. I'm pretty sure they could learn them w/out a problem, it's just me taking the time to teach them. We took a "creative intelligence" class (tricks) with Oreo and had to pick 4 tricks and come up with all the steps to teach him these tricks. We taught him to carry a plastic sword, to pray, to play dead and balance and then toss a plastic ring on his head. One of the suggestions was to teach your dog to open the frig. Why on earth would I want to do that? The microwave and the frig are about the only places left the dogs don't get into.

Thanks for all the feedback - I really appreciate it. By trial and error, we have decided that I should stand with my daughter and Oreo at the start line. That way he knows where I am. I stay there until they are well underway and gradually move slightly towards the finish line - where I hope to see him. We don't have another trial till mid August, but since he's actually improving each trial, we are getting hopeful and starting to have fun. There's a local photographer who goes to most of the trials and then posts the photos he takes. He took a few of Oreo and Oreo looks like he's having a blast! It's fun for us to know HE's having fun. And his new favorite obstacle is the sway bridge - it'll pull him to it nearly every time.

All I know about emu oil is that if my dogs find the container, they will eat the whole darned thing. I have gotten two bottles from sitstay.com and Oreo and Lucky have found them, chewed the lids off and consumed all 2 fl. oz in one session. My third bottle came today. I think I'll buy a child proof medicine vault to put it in.

Thanks for the quick response and the insight. I haven't trained or worked with Oreo since we decided my daughter would be the one competing. He also sleeps only in her room and at home he gets most of his attention from her. I've have tried totally ignoring him at home but it's no fun for either of us. I don't interact with him at trials either - I'm just the chief go-fer and equipment toter. I do know that I could never roughly shove him away from me though.

Hi. Just an update from a very old post of mine (re: Oreo peeing on agility equipment). Oreo and my daughter have competed in 3 agility trials so far. Two UKC and one NADAC. Thankfully, Oreo has done NO peeing on the agility equipment at the trials. Apparently he is either too busy or realizes it's not his to pee on. Our major problems with him are keeping his focus so that he finishes all the obstacles and to keep his focus on my daughter and not me. It seems that no matter where I stand when they're competing at some point he has to run over and check on me. I don't talk to him or look at him and actually turn my back on him when he does this. If I'm not in the spot where I was previously, he runs around looking for me - once he even went out of the arena and into the bleachers. My daughter has become very determined that they WILL finish the course, though, so by sheer will power she pulls him back to focus on her. Several people at the trials mentioned that members of their family can't even come to the trials because the dogs are too distracted. Has anyone else experienced that? That said, I've decided we will have to work through this because I'm not going to stay home or go hide.

Wow. All this time I thought we were progressing too slow. We're in this for fun for Oreo and my daughter and lately, I admit, it has not been. And I had no idea it would be best to not train on a fully set up course. I believe the aim for our present class of setting up the course in a park is in part to get the dogs used to being outside and being distracted and to be able to do the obstacles anyway. You all have given me lots to consider and I appreciate everyone's input. It's been a real eye-opener as to what's going on with Oreo. Thank you, thank you.

And Laurie, thanks for your good analysis and thoughtful suggestions about easing back on the competition aspect and focusing on the rewards and joys. Fortunately (I think) my daughter is not highly and intensely competitive and driven. We just feel like we are delaying the other people's training and maybe disappointing our trainer / coach.

Thanks so much for your continuing suggestions, all. Oreo is 3 years old. We have done only clicker training with him. He does get rewarded while we're training (clicked and treated) or a quick game of tug. He doesn't like to QUIT tugging, though, so that's another delay. My daughter actually stays fairly composed these days, though of course she has some stress and no doubt Oreo picks up on that. She's been training him for nearly three years and they do have a loving relationship and she's very good about keeping her emotions under control for the most part. I know, I know, she's still a teenager. He also needs distraction work because the park where we train is very appealing to him and not a place where he normally gets to go. We use all the distractions (dogs, bikes, people walking, etc) as chances to get his attention back on my daughter and he always gets rewarded for that, so it does all have value. One problem that has just occured to me (d'oh) is what happens just previous to practice. We train at a park about a mile from our training facility. We have to spend about an hour and 1/2 loading the dog walk, a-frame, weaves, tire, teeter, etc etc into a pick-up truck, mini-van and subaru. Then we drive to the park. We are all exhausted by the time we get to the park where we then have to unload all the equipment and set up the course. Thank God we have one male in our class because my daughter, I and the other woman student could never do this alone. During all this time the dogs are just hanging around either kenneled or tied up. So it seems we are in many ways setting ourselves up for failure because we are all (dogs probably too)hot, tired and cranky. Hmmm, lots of room for thought...not sure how that situation can be changed in the near future tho. Our small class is pushing for purchase of a trailer, but we're the only ones having to lug equipment, so no one else is interested right now in chipping in. Sorry for the babbling.

Yes, he does ALL of that! We never thought it was stress related. We assumed that it was a dominance and defiance issue. My daughter, who practices with him and will be the one competing with him, is 13 and we thought it was all about Oreo "dissing" her. Also, in the attempts to get each obstacle correct, we've been doing a lot of stopping and starting to correct contacts, etc, so there's not a sense of flow. I'm saying this badly, but it's like he doesn't know that running the complete course is the goal. Thanks for all the input and suggestions -please keep it coming.

Thanks for responding. He does know "leave it" when it comes to the cat, food he isn't supposed to have, the trashcans, etc., etc. And he is neutered. Are you saying to tell him "leave it" as he nears the tunnel and then say "tunnel" immediately after so he will enter the tunnel instead of peeing on it? Or to try to catch him in mid-leg lift and then "leave it"? It seems like there's only a split second or so of time after he reaches the tunnel and then pees. Our trainer always tells him "Oreo, that is MY tunnel, not YOURS!" so I think she's seeing it as a possession thing. Plus, he's in the habit now and who knows if other dogs are peeing on it when we're not around. He always has plenty of opportunities to pee while there in the park, it's just he never seems to run out... Pulling him off the course immediately seems very appropriate but how long will it take before he gets the idea of WHY he was pulled off? We only train for about an hour and 1/2, once a week and we rotate turns with two other dogs. I appreciate your responses. If we don't get a handle on this my understanding is he will be instantly disqualified and besides, it's just plain annoying and rude of him.

We plan to have Oreo begin to compete in agility competitions this summer. Unfortunately, he has developed the habit of peeing on (and sometimes in) the tunnels whenever we are training. How do we stop this? Would spraying some kind of "Begone" or other doggy repellant on the tunnels work? Since he's faster than my daughter (who will be competing) it's tough for her to get ahead of him to verbally call him off of lifting his leg. And I don't even know if that would work. We've never trained him to STOP peeing on command. Our trainer has suggested immediately pulling him off the course until he gets the idea, but since we only train for a few hours on Saturday that means we get in very little practice. Is this a common problem with male dogs or is Oreo the major goofball we suspect he is?

Hi. I just now read this thread. Please put your tuggy back up for bid. I like the looks of it!