Root Beer

Hello, all!! Haven't been around in a while - life . . . you know how it is!! But the dogs and I have been busy! Tessa and I have worked our way all the way up to Level 4 Grand Champion track in All Dogs Parkour!!! This has become quite the challenge for us now because 4 Advanced level exercises are required in each entry, and Tessa only has 3 of them really solidly. And when we get to Level 5, we will need 5 Advanced exercises per entry. We have spent much of our winter working on others. I love that it has become difficult and we have to work at it. It is extremely fun tackling a challenge in a discipline for which Tessa has a very strong natural love. I think we are enjoying it even more than Agility right now!! Tessa's most recent ADP Entry: I also submitted for her IDPKA Championship and we earned that!! Bandit has also joined in the Parkour fun. We did a really fun Christmas themed entry for his Level 1 at home (that is an allowed location). He has now earned his Level 1 and Level 2 ADP titles. I am eager to go back outside with him this spring to see what we can do "out there". Bandit's Christmas Themed ADP Entry: Bandit's focus is more Freestyle right now. We are getting ready to try for our Level 1 Title in WCFO at the end of April, and I am planning to put together a DCD Challenge entry for him for March! I think we are starting to mesh as a Freestyle team. Some recent Doodling: http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ej7sB6AMIpM And Dean has not been left out. He is going through All Dogs Parkour in the Special Division. He earned his first Q in Level 4 in a cool entry that we did with Agility equipment at the training building. The rule in ADP is that if you use Agility equipment, you cannot use it the way it is normally used in Agility, so we got to be very creative with the different pieces of equipment. Dean was so happy to have a chance to play with Agility equipment again! Dean's Agility Equipment ADP Entry: Our big news is that we have a new addition. But . . . . not a Border Collie!! He's a Beagle/Terrier mix. I never would have chosen such a dog, but he seems to be a perfect fit for us right now. I almost hit him on the road coming home from church on New Year's Eve!! His only ID was a rabies tag, so we had to wait until the following Monday to get in touch with the vets office to find his owner. By that time we liked him . . . . a lot. We were shocked when we got hold of the owner and the man asked my husband, "do you want him?" The owners run a really nice farm. They had the dog housed in a shed on the property, and he had a hole through which he ran in and out to do whatever he pleased. He kept running off. They tried tethering him, but "he didn't like it". (Well, no . . .) They were afraid he would get hit by a car, and they didn't want that, so they asked if we wanted him. He had really bonded with my husband, and we had been talking about a 4th dog for a while (although, we were thinking Border Collie or Border Collie mix!!), so we officially purchased him for a nominal fee, and he's ours. We named him Rocky. Bandit had a bit of difficulty adjusting to him, but he worked through it, and all is good now. My husband, who has been home due to elbow surgery, has been taking him to basic class, so I get to work with Rocky on all of the really fun stuff while Ben teaches him to sit, down, come, walk on a loose leash, etc. That is a really nice arrangement for both of us!! A sampler of fun-stuff with Rocky: I don't know what all we will do with him sport-wise, but he is a natural Parkour dog and I have already starting working with him on some of that!!!! So . . . . life!!

Dawn uses a cardboard box, a mat, and a hoop for the running contact training. If I recall correctly - I don't have the book with me right now, but I did read through it and it seems those were all of the items used. I still haven't decided.

I haven't read any of the replies yet, so I beg pardon if I repeat anything. I ran into a bit of this with Bandit. I found with him, very early on, that more than two repetitions of the same behavior quickly demotivated him. He either started offering something else, or he would start to tune out on me. What I basically did was to stop all repetition. After one or two reps of something (unless it was something that was clearly "building" to him), I would break off and either play with him, toss treats for him to chase, or just switch up what we were working on constantly. That did the trick. Over time, as we built a strong reinforcement history, he became far more resilient. Now I can repeat things much, much more - he has the mental wherewithal to handle it constructively. We take Rally class, and at first, we could not work a whole course without me completely breaking off to play with him, with a toy, several times. He has built up to being able to go through an entire course with just food, no breaks other than stopping for a treat, and now we are reducing those. It took a lot of time, though, and a lot of working things in teeny tiny bits.

I have not found that using OK in everyday conversation has affected its strength as a release. Nor that my dogs hear "OK" in everyday conversation and start releasing from whatever they are doing. Dogs understand context - sometimes better than we do. My husband and I talk about our dogs in front of them all the time. We say their names in conversation to one another constantly. And the dogs don't get up and come to us or anything when we do that. Sometimes one of them might look at us with interest, but they clearly understand the difference between being spoken of and spoken to. But the dogs can still tell when they are being spoken to and respond to their names accordingly. I have found conversational "OK" to work in much the same way. The dogs ignore it. Or, if anything, maybe look at whoever said it with interest. The only place I have had an issue with "OK" as a release is in class where I might say "OK" to an instructor who has just said something to me and I inadvertently release my dog. And then we all laugh, the dog gets a treat for responding correctly to the release, we set up and start over.

It depends a lot on the dog, I would say. Bandit was more mature at 6 months old than Speedy was at 6 years. It was just different brain development in different dogs. Speedy was 5 when we adopted Dean, who was 10 months old. It wasn't too long before we started referring to Dean as Speedy's "big brother!", and not just because of Dean's size!! Different dogs . . .

I would not use two cues that start with that very distinct "OH" sound, and especially not two that have "Ok" at the beginning. I take great care to try to make my cues sound distinct, unless the cue is clearly supported by a distinct physical cue at all times. When we got Bandit, we actually named him Diego. Within a few days, when we spoke to Dean, calling him "Dean Dog", he looked away when he heard his name! He had figured out that "Di" from "Diego" did not mean him, and he tuned out his own name. The puppy's name was changed immediately. It helped that Diego was really not resonating with us for him, but even if it had, we would not have kept it. I do the same with cues if I realize that I have chosen one that is too similar to another and it is confusing the dog. It is interesting to me that Bandit has no trouble distinguishing between "Ban", which I often call him when speaking to him, or even his full name "Bandit", and "Ben" which is my husband's name, but he doesn't have any problem. Sometimes it's hard to predict when one thing will sound too close to another for the dog to distinguish.

Right. 'Cause recognizing where Border Collies excel is, de facto, a put-down of other breeds which may or may not excel, as well, or perhaps excel more, but are not being discussed.

The same could be true of almost anything, though. My idea of the perfect Agility dog is quite different from that of others. I like: moderate paced, able to compensate for my handler errors, more of an artistic bent than an athletic one. That's not what most people are looking for, but it is my ideal.

Honestly, I find that they excel as companions. They are active companions - they put their whole heart into companionship when that is their role. Lately I appreciate my Border Collies for that most of all. And my working bred boy excels at it!! (Yes, we are still into sports and training and all - I just have a new appreciation for this aspect of our lives)

Cool!! Glad that is working out for you!!

I think in the end what works for me is to figure out what is going to work best for the individual dog. And that may happen through some trial and error, and that's OK.

No, but I will put a festive fall bandana on the dog if we have training class. Bandit goes tonight, so he will have one. I will try to remember to get a picture.

My limit is typically three runs per day per dog and, on the very rare occasions when we go back for a second day, I usually cap off at two. I stretched this a bit when Tessa and I were getting close to our C-ATCH and we had categories that needed to be finished, but normally I stick to that. This means that I don't progress through the levels as fast as most people, but I don't really care about that. We get there in due time.

That makes sense to me, although it is not something that you hear often in training contexts. Coming from a Freestyle background, I need my dogs to be versatile. They need to understand the concept of "sometimes". Sometimes I want paws up on me. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I want heeling on the left and sometimes I want it on the right. Sometimes I want a string of leg weaves, and sometimes I want a single leg weave. Sometimes I want a circle around a pole. Sometimes poles (in a line) mean weaves. So, the idea of "sometimes I want you to stop and wait and sometimes I will release you early" just seems logical and reasonable.

That is very true. Some do interpret "drive" as "high energy". But, having worked with a dog who was high energy, but easily overstimulated (that could be seen as hyper), I would never have called that overstimulated "high" as drive. It was actually a problem, not an asset. Personally, I think of "drive" more along the lines of a high level of inherent desire. Not necessarily "natural" desire, although it can be, but drive can also be built in some dogs in some circumstances. I would actually say that my Tessa has a good amount of drive for Agility, although she is a moderate paced dog. I don't have to do a thing in the ring to keep her head in the game, I don't have to convince her that she should want to play - she really has something inside of herself that gets her "in", so to speak. We can just go out and run. People would not look at her and call her a "high drive" dog, but in a sense I consider her to be one because she has an innate desire to run Agility. She isn't intense about it, she isn't running like a bat out of you-know-where, but she does have drive. Others would say, "absolutely not, what you are talking about is not drive". OK. Really, we do all kind of define "drive" in different ways. I believe that Bandit is shaping up to be a high drive dog, but he is definitely not hyper, and his focus is a work in progress. Still, I see that innate desire to be in the game starting to develop in him. This is more than just, "I want it", although it can start that way - the desire is more to be an active partner in the game. Really, I find drive to be difficult to describe. It isn't the same as focus, desire, energy, attention, speed, biddability, or independence, but it can include any or all of those in some sense . . . . It is interesting to consider. Still, I say to any dog and handler team who enjoys Agility and can play safely - don't ever let anyone tell you that Agility isn't for you because your dog doesn't have "drive". Go play for your enjoyment. When you look back at the end, that is all that really will matter.

It definitely keeps Tessa engaged. She never gets tired of it.

If you need to keep him interested, you can change up the treats you put in the Lotus to keep it interesting.

I concur wholeheartedly!!!

Absolutely!! The Lotus Ball is the only toy-like thing Tessa cares about. She LOVES pushing it open to get the treat. I had no distance on her until I started using the Lotus Ball. Now she does really well when we train with it. I also use it to maintain her running contact behavior on the A-Frame. Very, very helpful for a dog who loves it. Bandit doesn't care for it much. He would rather use an actual toy. I have taught him to push the Lotus open for the food inside, but he doesn't really get excited about it.

I think I'm just odd like that. I really am able to keep most of the details straight. Granted, it's not like I jumped into all of this all at once. Most of it happened kind of step by step, and usually when I started I didn't really know what I was doing. But experience helps. Some of them I got started in with friends and we learned together, some I went into by myself, either with Tessa, or with a previous dog. The video venues probably require the highest learning curve because they not only require the performance, but proper setup of the ring/area/etc. With Parkour there is the aspect of finding appropriate environmental features, as well as proper performance of the exercises. In live venues, all of that sort of thing is done for you! I don't always remember details if I've been out of something for a while, but it usually comes right back when we get back in. I guess Tessa and I both enjoy the variety.

Well, on paper I would only list the highest title in each one - I wouldn't typically write out all 50!! But . . . for the fun of it. I will put the highest title (the one I would list), and then the titles that preceded it in parenthesis, and explain what they are - briefly. C-ATCH (CL1-H, CL1-R, CL1-F, CL1-S, CL2-H, CL2-R, CL2-F, CL2-S, CL3-H, CL3-R, CL3-F, CL3-S, CL4-H, CL4-R, CL4-F, CL4-S): Explanation - CPE Agility, all four category titles (Handler, Standard, Fun, Strategy) at Levels 1 - 4, and then the Championship title at Level 5. P-CRO-II, CH-CRO-I (CRO-I, CRO-I(2)): Explanation: Cyber Rally-O, Level 1 Title, Level 1 Title (2) (Now defunct, but we did earn it when it was being awarded), Level 2 Performance Division (Meaning: Dog works on both sides), Level 1 Champion Title RL-1 Explanation: World Cynosport Rally, Level 1 D-CRO-Pre-Bronze (D-CRO-Preliminary), First and Second Levels of Cyber Rally-O Dance Division DCD-CH2, DCD-CF2, DCD-Ent3, DCD-MI2 Explanation: Dogs Can Dance Challenge - Championship, twice, Classical Freestyle, twice, Entertainment, 3 times, Musical Interpretation twice (so, this is a total of 9) WFDM-MF, WFD-HTM (WFD-MF, WFDX-MF) Explanation: WCFO Freestyle titles Beginner, Novice, and Intermediate (WOOT!!!), and Heelwork to Music Beginner RFE-X, RFE-Alt-X (RFE-N, RFE-Alt-N), Explanation: Rally Free, Novice and Intermediate in both Regular and Alternate Divisions ETD (NTD, ITD, ATD) - Explanation: Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Expert Trick Dog PKD-N - Explanation: Novice Parkour Dog, International Dog Parkour Association ADP-4 (ADP-1, ADP-2, ADP-3) - Explanation: All Dogs Parkour - Titles, Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4 We have had way more fun than should ever be allowed!!!!!

Confession time: I enjoy sitting on the sidelines with Tessa (my even-tempered girl) and watch the Border Collies run at trials. Some of them (not all), are a bit frantic and they sometimes take whole jumps down or make up their own course. I sit there and give Tessa a hug and say, "I LOVE that I am here with you". (Of course, I also seriously appreciate watching the Border Collies who are fast and have their head in the game!!) I am going to get my just deserts for that sometime very soon, but give me a dog who can think while running Agility any day of the week!!!

Do what you both enjoy. There is no rule that says that Agility dogs have to be "frantic". In fact, I absolutely adore Agility with my moderate paced - even tempered girl. I'd say explore and find what you both love and run with it.

Yesterday, Tessa and I earned her 50th Title!! I had hoped that we would get results from her latest CRO Dance Division entry, as well as her latest All Dogs Parkour entry before the end of this month. Next Wednesday is the 6th Anniversary of Tessa's adoption. Most of you know this already, but Tessa was a street dog of unknown origin. I don't even know if she is actually a Border Collie (I tend to lean toward English Shepherd, but she is officially listed as "Border Collie" with all of the sport venues because I didn't realize this at first and I want to keep it consistent). She was terrified of me at first, and it took a very, very long time to gain even a shred of her trust. I started training her at first because that's what I do, and I wanted to give her the chance to see if she would like it. She did like it, and we have never stopped since!! I will shamelessly admit that I adore "title chasing" with Tessa, but there is a particular reason for that. She loves it as much as I do. She thrives on the challenge that comes with trying to meet a particular standard in whatever kind of ring we walk into. I am not a high-pressure handler, but with Tessa I can focus as much on success as I do on her when we are performing in a particular discipline together. We have all kinds of titles, too. Some are from live competition venues, some are from video competition venues, some are from non-competitive video venues. To me, they all have the same inherent value because all of them present their own challenges to Tessa and me as a team. Of course, my favorite of her titles is the one we worked toward for 5 years - her CPE C-ATCH. That took more work and training and preparation and dedication and pure effort than any title I have ever earned with any dog. But, Tessa being Tessa, it was also the source of absolute joy for both of us most of the way. Her Freestyle titles mean a lot to me because Tessa is not a natural Freestyle dog, but she has been willing to put herself into that because I asked her to. And Parkour has become our newest love. She and I have been going into the woods together for years - earning Parkour titles with her out there is perfection!! I never set out to earn 50 titles with any dog, but I will always be glad that the dog I did this with was Tessa. All of those titles are tangible signs of the work and enthusiasm and commitment that she and I have put into this together, starting from the day I held at treat over her head to train "sit" and she ran out of the room!! We have come so far!! Next Wednesday is the 6th Anniversary of Tessa's adoption, and this was a cool way to celebrate!! We finished three of them off this month. Sharing her two latest qualifying performances: CRO Dance Division - Pre-Bronze (This is the Walk-Around Tango) And - woot woot - an All Dogs Parkour entry from one of my favorite places to hike - Colonel Denning State Park. And we aren't done . . . . !!! Fun times!!

It's funny to me that you say that. Every one of my Agility dogs: Maddie, Dean, and Tessa, have had a running A-Frame, and Dog Walk. Tessa's DW is more of a "run through", but I don't ask her to stop. That's 10 years of "trend" for me. When I think about it, for me the running contacts are "the norm", and training a stop would be a departure from what I always do. As for that handling system - I'm not over the moon for it, and I am less than appreciative that it has pretty much taken over everything. But I will say that I have picked up some useful skills from it - particularly for Snooker openings.