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there are definitely a few things I miss about doing that downtown gossip column
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Nov. 22nd, 2009 @ 10:15 am sunday before thanksgiving
The college kid is back, but I'm off to a swim meet with the younger, well, first we will be stuck in traffic on the BQE and LIE... but then the seal will swim the 100 fly, 200 back, and 200 IM... and when we get back we will start the salsa lessons...




then a whole family dinner with pie
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raybans of course
Nov. 20th, 2009 @ 10:58 am one theory
My kid tells me her english teacher last year told her that Writers Block is like opening a box and finding an octopus when you were expecting a kitten... and everytime you go to open the box and think its going to be a kitten the octopus is still there.
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raybans of course
Nov. 20th, 2009 @ 01:01 am ha ha ha
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laughing girls
Nov. 19th, 2009 @ 12:02 pm things that seem to be helping the dog develop better focus
1) Warming the dog up...
Before running a sequence... getting her out of the crate early but not too early (so she doesn't get too wound up over lots of other dogs running) and doing a few things, tricks, stretch exercises, flat focus work--like small figure 8s, keeping her on one hand then the other or inside then outside... all of which gets her attention, ready for some fun
2) Off leash play and work and work and play...
Mornings, working on flatwork or with a few pieces of equipment in a low distraction area of the meadow in the park for 15 or 20 minutes BEFORE releasing her to the free for all run-and-wrestle with her friends... breaking up the free time, calling her in to do a few things, tricks, whatever, and releasing her to her buddies again---she thinks this is fun not work and the residual effect during the day is she keeps looking at us to see what else we might want her to do...
3) Year round commitment...
Continuing with classwork in the city... in two very different but both very positive venues with strong and flexible teachers who know their stuff, seem open to a variety of types of dogs, caring or taking an interest in their students progress... actively helping us with the focus issue, which for both B and myself, is confidence building and just makes it easier to learn handling skills as well as giving Stella double the practice...
(at some point down the road, we will probably have to deal with the issue of being under the tutalidge of two different handling methods... Derrett vs Mecklenberg)
4) meatballs!
5) teaching tricks... working with the clicker... and expanding Stella's repertoire (go hide and happy tail are the most recent) just seems to make her more interested in WHAT ELSE we might ask her to do


Meanwhile... our adventure in running contacts continues... last week Sassie cautioned me after taking a look at our recent Urban Agility youtubes--"you're not going to like what I am going to say" -- that our walk-its! on all kinds of walls in Bay Ridge were possibly training her to jump off at the end... and in fact at Sassie's class last week, Stella WAS jumping off the Aframe when we worked on it with Dawn... not every time, but she WAS jumping... because I don't think 2o2o works for Stella, Dawn suggested we teach the One Rear Toe On... which, even if we don't end up using it, I'm thinking its a good "trick" for her to learn, increase her hind end awareness, which she could really use... and later that night at SNAP Lise had B working with Stella's Silly Rubber Chicken on a leash to encourage her to run all the way to the bottom of the Aframe... it WAS getting her all the way down the contact to the bottom, but it looked like it was also just teaching a sloppy stop off the Aframe... Lise suggested we change-up what we do at the bottom of the Aframe, she is wrestling with this with us, she says she usually doesn't teach running contacts and she'd like to get "on the same page" with our other teachers... but we are still kind of feeling our way, researching, not having the luxury of adhering to any one teacher's method/approach... its a little hard training this way, summer teachers, winter teachers, both of us handling her in different classes, different teachers, different places, but I think its actually really good for us and anyway, its what we have to do if we want to try to train all year...

Below is B's commuter TRAINing session last week on the Aframe at SNAP with the silly rubber chicken toy on a leash...




The Dog Walk contacts aren't a problem... not yet anyway... Stella has made so much progress with sound desensitization that even this noisy Dog Walk doesn't faze her...


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raybans of course
Nov. 19th, 2009 @ 08:22 am too bad...
I can't believe we forgot to bring the camera to B's class last night---B and Stella were AWESOME! It was a difficult sequence looping through and around jumps in a Derrett "double box" and then out some distance to a tunnel one one side and then back in and around the "box" and then out to a tunnel on the other side. Lots of obstacles out there that were not on the course and -- It was all about speed and collection and Stella the ace stuck with B, that kind of handler/dog glue telepathy---you know like a BC. Then, Lise changed up the end sequence for them, added a couple distance send and pull jumps out the other side of the box so B could feel how when and where she stopped would either extend or make Stella turn back toward her. Stella only had one imperceptible stumble stride when she thought she was going to do the same sequence she had just done, but then read B's cue, did exactly the right thing without hesitation, angled right instead of left, to the new end sequence. (Its possible, thats just what a sudden lead change looks like and I'm not familiar enough with it.) There were so many bad choices Stella could have made, not to mention the delicious night animal smells and spooky shadows and strange new dogs and new affection for yet another new teacher, but she is really getting this handler-focus thing without losing her concentration for the obstacle. B said she felt it was the best team work they'd ever done and it was FAST. Every time, Stella flew and stuck every run. So SOMETHING we are doing with her training is paying off. Lise said "THAT was beautiful!"
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going places
Nov. 9th, 2009 @ 10:19 am Urban Agility
There are a series of benches right outside the Natatorium where B is at swim practice to work on Table!



She's actually being very good here because her mind is on the soccer ball I hid in the bushes for a break from playing...
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summer stumping
Nov. 8th, 2009 @ 03:36 pm our urban agility
This is some of the dog work and play I do walking around Brooklyn with Stella while B is at swim practice:



If she doesn't run all the way off to the end, no treat and a do over... but she usually likes to go all the way to the end and we agree the end is the end of one side of the wall, no turns.



I send her around fire hydrants and garbage cans and parking meters... whatever



Two things I like about this next one:
She gets startled by constructions sounds across the street but does what I ask her to do anyway
And the way she very clearly and purposefully puts in her last stride on the end of the wall.



We try to keep to the walls that are relatively low and there is no wall too low for us...






Her favorite part of going along to swim practice is playing dog-soccer with her slightly squishy red soccer ball...



She likes to play defense... occasionally she'll dribble the ball, but its usually backwards... Sometimes we also practice recalls mid-chase and Wait! while I send the ball and she stays put until released... but no video, I ran out of battery...




I still need to get to Home Depot to get our Silvia Trkman Running Contacts practice wood plank... and figure out how to paint it or texturize it for grip... but for now, this is what we do.
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raybans of course
Nov. 6th, 2009 @ 05:57 pm dog work or crazy or both
I've decided that ONE of the reasons Stella loses focus and goes off course is that I have trained her for two years every morning since she was four months old that when the leash comes off---its free time to play and socialize and wrestle with her friends how ever she wants. She's an incredibly happy dog and I believe this social time of running and wrestling has been good for her spirit and drive. Not that I haven't always done SOME work with her out there on recalls and leave-its and bring-its and various tricks, also sending her over logs and things and up on rocks or park benches and around garbage cans or trees... but its really been HER time and probably this free time is the most exciting part of her day. Even more exciting than dinner.

So, now the jig is sort of up--not totally, but I have started trying to get out there a little earlier (while mostly the ball and frisbee focussed dogs are still out there doing their less social ball and frisbee thing) to work with her first... before her best buddies show up. I bought a book, Flatwork--Foundation for Agility and we've been doing the circle work, figure eights, keeping her at my side, sometimes holding her little orange football under one arm so she's riveted to me. The biggest challenge has been keeping her from rear-crossing me... its been fun, but I'm sure I look like a nut.

I also have some people rolling their eyes (someone made a comment today about me even being crazier than the crazy "circus lady" who has her four dogs running and jumping and chasing balls and frisbees 360 degrees over and under and around things) because I've been lugging some equipment out there. My two pop-up Ready Jumps and six Affordable Agility weave poles is about all I can carry at one time. I trek out beyond where she usually plays to a more secluded flat spot and set up. We work for fifteen/twenty minutes then I pack up and we head back to where she finds her friends and its HER time again. I haven't really had a plan on what to work on, I've mostly been interested to see simply whether she can bring focus for that length of time and she can, perfectly willing to do whatever I ask. She is an athletic dog, she likes speed. She is also a puzzler, she likes to figure things out, and she clearly gets a rush out of doing agility. So, because we never had a really basic foundation skills class, I also bought the Mecklenburg Developing Jumping Skills book.
I xeroxed a few of the Mecklenburg exercises and made flash cards to take to the park with two jumps this morning. Working on sending from a distance and tight wraps back. She was great. I was bad. She only ran off on me once to yell at some dog that startled her by coming out of the woods, but really, she was on a break, I was changing the position of the jumps... so essentially, she never lost focus... it was me, I lost focus, I had meant to be serious but then I invited one of her former classmates from Semperfido to play with us on the jumps... and we had a little free for all going on... which is the opposite of what I think I should be communicating to her when it comes to working with agility equipment.

I really don't want Stella to run off on B when she decides to start competing again. This is our main goal right now. So B is in a new class with her out on Long Island. It is about an hour out, one night during the week, and B does her homework in the car. B likes the teacher. Lise Pratt. She's both tough and kind and seems to really like to teach and she recognizes the challenges Stella brings as well as her talent and B feels she will help her. We'll see how long we can make it work. The weather. Demands of junior year. We'll see.









So... I haven't been in a class or run a course since the summer, but with the idea that Stella's training should continue even if/when B's life starts to get too crazy this year--I also started/tried a new class an hour out the opposite direction in New Jersey with Sassie Joiris which I already knew was going to be great because we went to her Tricks Seminar at Clean Run two summers ago. Serious, but low key. Positive. Fun. A balance between being both Dog focussed and Handler focussed. And Dawn Prentiss is assisting along with Sassie's daughter Celine. So its great all around.
I was nervous at first, that the moment I took the leash off Stella in this indoor space where other dogs were working around the room, she would run away to try to make friends... She loves Dawn and she's been known to just split and start barking at other dogs to try to get them to chase her--which I am convinced goes back to her off leash free time association... (I've decided to try something--not let Stella socialize with the other dogs before or after class, because I think that promotes her yippeee-I'm-free-lets-play park associations) But, Sassie had Stella work over on the teeter first and my heart was in my throat, because I know how obnoxious Stella can be and this was our first time in this class, first impressions and all... and I warned Sassie she was going to run off to make friends. And Sassie just made it sound so simple "just keep her attention" she said and thats what happened... of course the meatballs had a little something to do with it... but she's continuing to make good progress on the teeter, hesitant at first about playing the Bang It game on the Up end, she opted to go around to try the whole the teeter... several times...
I only lost her once on the sequence, when flustered by my own handling I guess I accidentally just threw my hands in the air, and she didn't recognize that cue... but even then she didn't run off, she just wasn't sure what to do, so that was great...

The other great thing, was Sassie had us run her magic dog Stamp through the sequence before we tried it with our own dogs... and it really felt like magic... which I guess is kind of sensory conditioning for humans...

This may all turn out to be an insane amount of driving for agility classes... something is up with the clutch or maybe its the transmission and there are other little things going on that make me think, that now that the car is finally paid for, we're going to be buying a new car piece by piece...

In other news... I actually got somewhere with the novel today... a small somewhere, but somewhere
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stella triple flying
Nov. 1st, 2009 @ 08:28 pm Dogs and Thinking
One of Stella's doodle friends' owners (my friend) sent me this link... about good dogs/smart dogs... I'd heard before that dogs have the intelligence of a 2-21/2 year old human child... and here they say the average dog knows 165 words, labs and poodles being among the ones knowing 250, and border collies knowing like 1,500
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/01/weekinreview/01kershaw.html



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raybans of course
Oct. 31st, 2009 @ 11:13 am What would you do? I mean what should I do...


Its been a month or maybe more since Stella's hind quarters squirrel-chasing injury (that had her on bedrest and rimadyl for a week) and she has been fine, no sign of pain or lameness that I could see since we eased her back to normal life, we took it slow... I worried there was some kind of tear that would reveal itself again if she ran and wrestled... Everyone out there at off-leash thought I was crzy, but I kept her play really limited for another couple of weeks... I was googling possible injuries and kind of looking around for chiropractors or animal ortho specialists... and then she was ok, decided it must have just been a strain, I took some jumps and poles out to the meadow a couple times to work, she even went back to her last Manhattan agility class last week - this week, she went to her new LI class and she's been great, working and playing hard at off leash, twisting and leaping and turning, running just fine...  full out, no problem

So, I stopped looking for a problem and then...  poor pup, on the way into the park at Garfield this morning... (I usually let her off the leash on the meadow side of the park road, she does a sit for the leash coming off and then goes over to give me a sit again on the tree stump at the top of the rise and she gets released finally to Go Play...) and this morning, she was pausing just down from the stump on the incline the way she always does to choose her special piece of wood chip to run with into the meadow... and this standard-sized irrepressible goldendoodle we know, released up behind her. knocked Stella broadside... she didn't see it coming... and there was a cry and then Stella was lame in the hindquarters for a few minutes again... I held her there, massaged her hindquarters as she stood and then because she just wanted to run again, I let her go... and she seemed fine... she ran and wrestled no problem... but I just don't know... sometimes I wonder if there is something more serious waiting to reveal itself and if I wait, when it does reveal itself will be really bad... do I wait? could our regular vet tell us anything now--I somehow don't think his practice is sportsdog-nuanced enough? do I take her to some kind of dog bodywork person? a chiropractor? which one? or was she just more startled than anything today? am I being nuts?
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raybans of course
Oct. 28th, 2009 @ 01:14 pm Teaching a Trick
I started teaching Stella Go Hide yesterday...



and had some success... sorry about shooting it sideways, if I could only figure out the human trick of turning it rightside up now

I also tried teaching the Third Trick on this video from SiIvia Trkman's site... which I thought would be easy (hmmmmm) because Stella already knows the two different two-legged positions separately (say please and tippy toe), but I don't know how to join them for her so she can go back and forth between them... she needs more control... But this trick looks awesome for hind end and core strengthening... 


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raybans of course
Oct. 26th, 2009 @ 01:01 pm running contacts and back to tricks in brooklyn...
 Today  when researching Running Contacts, I stumbled on this person  's training method and now feel hopeful that EVEN THOUGH we live in Brooklyn and don't own or have constant access to agility equipment for most of the year WE CAN still consider training running contacts... we just need a long thin plank... and eventually something to prop it up... apparently, for BOTH DW and AF running training if I understand it... and the method is a close relative of the kind of urban agility we've already been doing daily... running all the way to the end of all different sized walls or beams or edging everywhere we find them on walks...

In the running contact Q&A section, there is also hope that because of Stella's size and shape, she will not necessarily be a "popper" - simply because of the way she looks when she chases squirrels, lol... And there is a discussion of the greater flexibility for adapting to different DWs and AFs of a shorter striding dog... which Stella is...
I also found a possible explanation in the Q&A for why Stella fell on her knees twice because of the guide hoop at the bottom of the AF in that last Manhattan class... that she was made to run too low, right into the ground... which actually could ultimately promote popping...

I also loved the way the site promotes teaching tricks---something we've not been doing enough of lately---to making a happier healthier better agility dog




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stella triple flying
Oct. 23rd, 2009 @ 02:37 pm updating the LJ
The Manhattan Agility Class:
B and Stella had what I think was their last class in Manhattan last night... we missed Three out of Six, one night missed for a huge homework load, another because of Stella's insane squirrel-chasing injury that had her on a week of bedrest and rimadyl, and another because of a school poetry/jazz jam performance B was in, plus Stella wasn't up to speed yet that night anyway... so those turned out to be three very very expensive classes... we're going to have to figure out something else...

And so, of course last night's class turned out to be the most useful... only three people (four dogs) showed so there were a lot of run-thrus and time to tackle individual dog/course problems... like little green Stella's  focus and work ethic... the first couple of times, Stella stuck with B for a run of seven obstacles and then after a tight turn with a frontcross to the AF she went sniff/wandering... off to the DW where there were probably cookie crumbs on the target there, but also that little DW may look ominously like the teeter to her, its lower, different from ones she is used to... and she's still working out her stuff about the teeter... but B was told to Call Her Once--give her one chance--and then just Go To Get Her. In a small space like this that works. B caught her and got her attention back and she only had to do this a couple of times... she was also told to stop and reward her right at that spot, with the change of hands at the front cross, and then pretty quickly for the rest of the class Stella was sticking with her for complete runs... later on, for the full 20 obstacle course run-thrus the evil TEETER, on its lowest setting, was the last obstacle and happily it was a non-issue for Stella... a plank on the ground with a little bump action--no problem

The Aframe contact Issue:
We've been playing with running contacts since the summer... and last night out of the 10 or so times over the AF, Stella did pop off once, I think she actually did get a front paw in the zone, but it was a pop... the teacher said she was worried about this, that Stella would be likely to be popping off more with more speed and
unless we owned or had regular access to the equipment to train constantly we probably should not be training running contacts... she wanted to know how we originally trained for contacts... which was a target 2o2o stop... last summer we introduced the idea of the pvc box and most useful - the low jump set at the bottom of the Aframe both of these to make her think about where her feet are coming off the bottom of the obstacle... In the Manhattan class, they are using a hoop, which Stella had never seen before and both times we forgot to remove it for her run, it weirdly made her fall on her front knees as she went through it...
but, the teacher cautioned us that Stella's strides ARE short and she may keep striding over the AF but unlikely because she said Stella is "square" and "square dogs" tend to pop off... I should have asked what she meant by square... anyway, B and I still have to talk about this... her 2o2o could have been made a whole lot prettier... and I read somewhere, I think maybe on agilitynerd's blog about training for both the running and the stop---but training a stop separately from the obstacle... I'll have to go back and look for that... research this all more

The Therapy Dog:
After the off leash romp in the park today, MOST of the morning was spent grooming out all the little mats with all our various grooming tools we've acquired and then into the bath (both of us--its hard not to) for the shampoo/creamrinse in preparation for her first Delta Therapy Dog visit back to the hospital tomorrow since before the summer. I still have some neatening up with the scissors to do, her face, paws, ears, tail... and I do hope she remembers what her job is. Our last visit last June was such a good one, fingers crossed this will be even better.

The Novel:
slow slow going... REwriting is so much harder than writing... once you pull something apart, the original pace/momentum is gone and its so friggen hard to stick stuff in and cut stuff out, know what you want to keep and make whatever you want to keep - fit... I do miss that old workshop... even if toward the end the workshop was probably not working for the majority of us, certainly not the way it once did - once upon a time it was brilliant, but I think in the end it was destructive... but at least... I had to show up every week with the pages even if it meant leaving with less and less of myself intact... writing can be so isolating... of course if we didn't have Stella my novel would probably be finished.










(the squirrel)
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raybans of course
Oct. 4th, 2009 @ 08:29 pm the dog adventure continues
B and Stella's first agility trial ever... CPE hosted by SCAT in Westbrook, CT... No Qs. A third place in Jumpers and second place in Wildcard... NT in both Standard and Colors... we learned a few things...

B has been working on focus. Being green Stella sometimes has a tendency to run off course, investigate new surroundings... sniff, get the zoomies... And we thought B not being able to carry treats in the ring might be a problem. Anyway, it turns out that I am the problem.

Each time Stella went in the ring with B she wanted to know where I was. Each time it was worse. They did get through the whole first course, finished the event, Jumpers... with all kinds of off course faults and overtime...

In their second event, Colors it was kind of a nightmare, Stella started on the course, did the opening sequence with the DW and what B thought was the tricky part beautifully and then went to look for me... she ended up running out of the ring twice to look and when she couldn't find me, climbed an A-frame outside the ring... saw me on the other side of the wall, came down and found her way around to me... B, left there standing alone, thanked the judge and left the ring. There were tears, she was pretty angry... mostly at me for existing.

I reminded her of what Terri Cesarek had told her at her last lesson at CSC... that she had to be more interesting than horse manure... unfortunately on this day, apparently the horse manure was me...

The third event was even worse. Mainly because B was so confident about how she was going to handle the Standard course, the opening sequence was pretty much the same tricky sequence as the last course she chose in Colors... she came back from walking it knowing exactly where she was going to front cross, call the next obstacle early, say here, call the dog's name, feeling it was going to be a piece of cake... We found out she could ask the ring steward if they would close both entrance and exit gates, so she was also sure Stella wasn't going to run out to look for me... We decided this time I would hide, I would not be there when B took Stella out to warm up or wait to go in... B would have her total focus, I wouldn't be there to divide her attention, but B later said Stell was whimpering, looking for me... and, then right before they ran a Great Dane spooked Stella, she sat at the start line facing backwards barking at the monster-sized dog and when B released her she completely ignored her and first went to yell at the great dane and then she just did a bunch of panicky laps around the perimeter of the ring, looking for a way out and nothing B did could get her attention--until the times-up buzzer sounded and then Stella finally took the first jump. The judge then told B to just put her over a couple of obstacles and then take her out... more tears

There were lots of kind people with advice. Everyone with their own first-time or run-away dog story. We met such nice people. Our meet mentor suggested if Stella went off again, to ask the judge if she could do the course FEO - on leash. Not to rehearse the unfocussed behavior. Someone else suggested just putting her over four obstacles and then thanking the judge and taking her out and rewarding her with cookies. I could see B consider these options, but not really... B wanted to handle Stella over ONE entire course... The mentor also suggested B really get the scent of treats on her fingers and hold her fingers as if she really had a treat on course... There were other suggestions, someone said I should tell Stella to GO play! when she goes into the ring with B. Someone else said there was a flatwork book at Clean Run to buy and check out agilitynerd.com/blog/... But then this couple we have seen at CSC told us about how after several months of trying to figure out how to handle a similar attachment problem--the dog running with the woman but worried and looking for the man--they figured out that the man had to stand right ringside. The man also said B and Stella should take a nap in the car with the air on... these last two pieces of advice proved to be valuable.

Did I mention Stella's nerves were also fried by the millions of flies everywhere (this venue is a Hunt Club) and she couldn't nap, not even in her crate. Tail down lemme outta here, everytime one buzzed her.

For their last event, Wildcard, I stood up close at the edge of the ring, right behind the first jump and Stella ran the entire course with B... (with one digression to look for me, but after finding me she went right back to work) even when B called her off the right end of the tunnel to send her in the wrong end she did what B asked... it was great... there was the tire taken backwards the first time and some pauses for confusion, but B was thrilled---and EVERYONE cheered for them... it WAS a victory...

and they went home with two pretty ribbons







Their nightmare start in Standard, going the opposite direction of the course, barking at the Great Dane got deleted--but its kind of burned into our minds... this is just a 30 second sample of what seemed like eons of Stella's panicky running the perimeter completely deaf to B until it was over


I think she skips the second jump in this last one cause she's never seen anything like it before, does a run by and then is happy to go back and take it... of course there is the little unfortunate check in with me, but its over fast and once B gets her back she's got her, makes that tight turn after the tire, doesn't take the wrong jump waiting there for her... only thinks about sniffing once after the last tunnel... Stella doesn't like the feeling of going off course, she'd much rather stick with B, you can see she loves it, as long as she knows I'm still right there I guess somewhere



we need to bring more water next time, food and snacks B likes, a crate area rug or tarp... and for sure I'll be ringside until Stella has confidence out there... because there will be a next time, it might be in a couple months or not until spring or summer but---B loved it.
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me and B
Sep. 29th, 2009 @ 10:14 am monday off off off and trying to be more interesting than horse manure...
There were Three Stooges quality moments yesterday... putting a pitchfork away in the garage after lake house yard work, stepping on a rake and getting bonked in the head and the resulting cartoon-sized goose egg... that kind of thing... or tossing the dog's favorite toy, known as the sillyrubberchicken and the thing vanishing, disappearing up in the swamp maple, literally gone, into some other dimension, like there is a doodoodoodoo doodoodoodoo Burmuda triangle up there in the sky - we walked around looking from all angles and couldn't find where the freakin' thing had gone... maybe it will come down this winter, poor Stell, we think the type of toy the small Henrietta, is discontinued because actually its pretty obnoxious, a 6-inch chicken in a pink bikini that makes a really weird sound...

But on teh up side, the car got serviced (5000 miles late) while we had a nice outdoor breakfast at Marty's, the garage took the broken piece and bungie cord off we were using to hold the car together and a new belly plate is on the way... then there was another good driving lesson, two dicey moments B handled smoothly... homework got done "in the room with all the windows" and even though a storm threatened to cancel B's evening lesson with Terri up a CSC--payed for with (a zither, outgrown rollerblades, bike, a beaver coat from the 40s...) saturday's tag sale monies--it turned out to be a great lesson, half in the rain, half not:
1) they worked on keeping Stell's focus on short sequences with the bait bag hanging off to the side of the ring somewhere to zoom to at the end of the run - they moved it to a new location with each run... Terri shared her story about "you have to be more interesting than horse manure"
2) they began some distance handling exercises and Stella was like huh? you're not coming with me? I have to go ahead, do that alone? but she's pretty quick
3) and continuing to use Dawn's suggestion of breaking the teeter work up with a favorite toy, (Stell's gimme-gimme-gimme-it orange football) and delectable meatball! rewards, almost immediately Stella was doing the teeter happily, she's up to about 18 inches now on the real teeter, seemingly unfazed by the sound or motion yesterday... confident that she is in control of making it move... all without coaxing or pushing or pulling... both Stella and B trust Terri and are really comfortable at the CSC, I can't say it will be like this when they get to the Manhattan class...
4) Terri ended the lesson with the story of her First Trial, the long drive to Maine, how horribly nervous she was, how her otherwise intensely obedient dog didn't recognize her because she was so nervous and ran circles around the ring until the judge said okay, we've seen enough... Terri's kind words about B's first trial on Sunday--CPE is really friendly, supportive, just try to relax, have fun, remember Its A Game

We put the heat on and our clothes dried on the trip home to Brooklyn, with B dj-ing the radio and watching more Veronica Mars on her computer snacking on chexmix and chocolate milk... anyway glad we went away for the day... some treacherous driving, fog, flooding, so then it was very late, Santa Fe take out splurge and B still won't watch the tivoed new Gray's Anatomy, can't bear to know yet who lived and who died... so it was GG while the animals played chase and eventually the husband came home after entertaining friends who are in town for his big award tomorrow, his medal from the Franciscans for his truly great book about Mychal Judge
so anyhow, once in a while, there's no place like home
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raybans of course
Sep. 27th, 2009 @ 11:02 am notes on ways the dog loses focus while on course
when B isn't--for whatever reason--confident, hesitates, and doesn't drive to the next obstacle Stella gets confused easily and reverts to her own agenda

when Stella picks up speed and really starts to fly sometimes she either doesn't know how or doesn't want to gather herself up for a change of direction and then she's just gone

if an obstacle scares her---zoomies

any new environment is a perfect reason to go sniffing--she is a big sniffer

when she's thirsty or has to pee she can't concentrate

if another dog barks... she often has to drop everything bark back

her conditioned expectations when the leash comes off: her morning off leash time with me in the park is pretty much all play and no work (I'm switching this up)

the scent of squirrel or raccoon or bunny totally over-rides everything else


Friday night run-thrus at the PCOTC:
there was one other dog from Kris's Manhattan class--a Carolina Dog named Trixy
people at a variety of levels with dogs at a variety of levels doing an open course
each run of Stella's was a little better than the last--in terms of maintaining focus--so the fourth run was the best, but there is room for eons and eons of focus improvement
B decided to do a run-by and avoid the teeter entirely on course, practiced on the little teeter on the side while waiting which Stella was happy to do, kept offering, we had to turn it upside down to make her stop, and even then she wanted to balance over it
Stella spooked at the dogwalk, which she used to love, probably thought it was the teeter, but once we got her on it, (feeding her treats on the up ramp and enthusiasm from both sides--no force) she did it the next few times
we decided B should focus on course flow rather than--for example taking the tunnel again if she took the wrong entrance, Stella needs to stress less about the ways she can be bad on a course
Marcy Rauch was so very welcoming and kind and helpful to B, she said she thought Stella is "a handful" and B was doing "pretty well with her"
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bunny ears
Sep. 25th, 2009 @ 12:46 am Kris Seiter's class






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raybans of course
Sep. 23rd, 2009 @ 03:52 pm list of some things to do to increase Stella's focus with B
we're welcoming suggestions...

1) whiplash turns for her name clicker/treat
2) hide n seek recalls - especially at dinners time with the dinners
3) tugging games... whenever... but especially before a run on a course
4) leash walks interest-filled with sends around street obstacles and waits and ups and offs and walk its
5) trim her face so she can see
6) be mindful of how B's teenage fluctuations in self confidence can effect the dog's confidence in her
7) click/treat for eye-contact
8) marking all the good stuff with YES! ---a lot less no (sucks to feel like a bad girl)
9)
10)
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raybans of course
Sep. 23rd, 2009 @ 01:18 pm class at end of the summer at csc... its really not as dark as it looks in the video out there
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Terri demos the exercise at CSC


B's turn


Terri demos the exercise



so far so good with the running contacts... quicker returns to control after zoomies...
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raybans of course
Sep. 20th, 2009 @ 10:13 am life is good
Great weekend this weekend... not just the sunny brisk weather... but the whole family is home--what a nice feeling... rare these days...
And yesterday started with a really welcome victory... during the private lesson with the brilliant Dawn Prentiss of [info]semperfido out on LI (one of the fabulous prizes we won last weekend by coming in First Place in the Amazing Race with Dogs) ...Dawn got Stella to play "Bang It" with the up end of the teeter and then actually got the dog on it, going across end to end with GUSTO... for liverwurst and meatballs... with soccer ball breaks to blow off nerves... we never thought she'd be going anywhere near a teeter anytime soon after the traumatizing experience with the cats a week ago... so this is a humongous Yay and thanks to Dawn



To do some damage control this week, after the cat/teeter fiasco last weekend, we took [info]fjoiris Sassie Joiris's GREAT advice... left the teeter set up--immobilized--in the living room like it was just another piece of furniture, well [info]ndozo suggested the furniture part... but when Stella had taken to napping a few feet away from it, I started playing the "Find It" game, tossing stinky delicious (no nitrite bacon bits and beef cooked with garlic) high value treats--first within a safe distance for a couple of minutes, then next sessions, closer and closer, until she was eating off the teeter, but still she wouldn't put a paw on it. So, I didn't push it.

Thursday, B started her new agility class in Manhattan... with an incredibly accomplished handler who was highly recommended to us as an instructor... not sure yet how well this is going to work out... unfortunately the space is smaller than it appears in website pictures... and there is the unusual use (well unusual to us anyway) of a clicker while running a course, treating sometimes only after a bunch of clicks... also, the teacher didn't hide how little she thinks of CPE, the venue for B's first trial... B and I both felt a little attitude from some of the other students--B is the youngest there and probably has the greenest dog--and noticed one student came to class in little gold flats... there seemed to be less handling instruction and more emphasis on getting more run-throughs... and we were surprised by the training method for a dog balking at the teeter was to physically pick her up and put her on the middle of it, hold her there, then tip it for her and lure her down to the end and off... in some cases, this CUT IT OUT and JUST DO IT approach seems ok, wasn't sure how it would work in getting rid of Stella's fear... the second time Stella was sent to the teeter she fled and started yelling at B from across the room... so after B caught her, she was pulled up onto the teeter again by the collar... If I had to guess, this training method was to save time, because the class is geared more toward immediate gratification for all the students... and Stella's issue with the teeter was slowing the class down--I get it... we're just used to the slower gentler approaches and I worry because I've heard horror stories of a dog never getting the teeter... well, five more classes to see...
anyway, we can't thank Dawn enough for her healing work yesterday morning!!!!!!

In the afternoon we headed to Manhattan for B's SAT tutor and Stella and I took the most perfect walk in Central Park... I forget what a perfect place that oasis is






then Stella made some new friends (dogs and people both) for us at the AMNH park dog run... and we met up with the husband after he finished writing his column (http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2009/09/20/2009-09-20_hofstra_5_have_no_reason_to_whine.html)
a quick Starbucks pitstop with B and we strolled down Broadway to hang out with the writers for CSI while they were shooting a scene just up from Columbus Circle...
then we picked up S farther downtown where she was tying up loose ends for her summer job boss, training her replacement--great excuse to come home for the weekend--shopped Whole Foods and had our first whole family dinner at home for the first time in I don't know how long... bagels for breakfast and the husbands fabulous fruit salad and just heading out to Prospect Park now with bikes









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raybans of course