Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Bliss
You can't put a price on happiness. I bailed on a very expensive agility seminar this weekend and I don't have one ounce of regret. Enough agility for awhile. Instead, I spent time with Shane on our now blissful walks around the neighborhood. One lesson and he's almost fixed. I had no idea he was so fearful on our walks. I just thought he was crazy.
Frank and I would chase Shane around the house while he ran from the harness. He barked and barked once we got outside. It was just so stressful. Now that I know he is afraid of EVERYTHING, Shane walks with me in a heel position. Because he is no longer out front protecting me, he relaxes and actually enjoys our walks. No barking. He waits by my side at the door for the leash. No more chasing him around the house. I barely give him any treats anymore. No more stopping when cars go by. He keeps going like it's no big deal. He just loves walking now. All this after 3 days. We do have a few sticky points to work on, like the house with the barking dogs, so the trainer taught me desensitization techniques.
More bliss on Saturday. I accompanied Fran down to San Antonio to play with sheltie puppies. I'm not shopping, just looking. What a fun afternoon. Basking in the sheltieness. There is nothing like a puppie.
Frank and I would chase Shane around the house while he ran from the harness. He barked and barked once we got outside. It was just so stressful. Now that I know he is afraid of EVERYTHING, Shane walks with me in a heel position. Because he is no longer out front protecting me, he relaxes and actually enjoys our walks. No barking. He waits by my side at the door for the leash. No more chasing him around the house. I barely give him any treats anymore. No more stopping when cars go by. He keeps going like it's no big deal. He just loves walking now. All this after 3 days. We do have a few sticky points to work on, like the house with the barking dogs, so the trainer taught me desensitization techniques.
More bliss on Saturday. I accompanied Fran down to San Antonio to play with sheltie puppies. I'm not shopping, just looking. What a fun afternoon. Basking in the sheltieness. There is nothing like a puppie.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
The Learning Never Stops
After Sunday's disaster, I spent two days crying, and then decided to take action. I have a trainer coming to the house this morning to work on Shane's reactivity. I decided to take Shane around the block to poop before she arrives and chose to use just the leash and his collar. I normally put him in a harness with a retractable leash. Not sure why now. On just the leash with his collar, Shane was a different dog. He stayed by my side and did not rush up to houses. Of course, there were no barking dogs this morning. We'll see how he behaves when the trainer comes.
Good to be around friends last night who know me and my dog. Shane is not an aggressive dog. He has a very high prey drive and herding instinct, who is fearful of most things. It's still a struggle to get him on the table since he hurt himself. He did beautifully in his runs and I was able to turn him away from the border collies. Thank you all for the kind words and support.
VINDICATION!!!
The trainer just left. She reinforced my training that I should always praise Shane for coming to me regardless of what he was doing prior. I've been told that I am rewarding him for running away. Not so. Learned really good techniques for getting Shane under control. I feel so much better. We are going to practice and practice.
Good to be around friends last night who know me and my dog. Shane is not an aggressive dog. He has a very high prey drive and herding instinct, who is fearful of most things. It's still a struggle to get him on the table since he hurt himself. He did beautifully in his runs and I was able to turn him away from the border collies. Thank you all for the kind words and support.
VINDICATION!!!
The trainer just left. She reinforced my training that I should always praise Shane for coming to me regardless of what he was doing prior. I've been told that I am rewarding him for running away. Not so. Learned really good techniques for getting Shane under control. I feel so much better. We are going to practice and practice.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Happier Times
Shane's first Christmas with us. We are all playing in the backyard. Jake, Woody, Phoebe, and Shane. I needed to remind myself that Shane really can play with other dogs.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Looking for a New Hobby
Today was Shane's last run. It was beautiful. We probably got the most points in Snooker, but I hesitated for one microsecond and didn't pull Shane around that last obstacle, so he ran out of the ring and terrorized a bunch of dogs. It was awful. I've never been more embarrassed in all my life. The judge eliminated us and gave me a warning. Done. We are done.
Shane is an absolutely gorgeous dog and we love him to death, but he just cannot compete in agility. We will continue our lessons and look for other things for him to do. Maybe someday he'll be comfortable around other dogs and maybe I'll not be so afraid to let him around other dogs. In the meantime, I guess I need to find something else to do. After 10 years of competing, it's going to be rough. I wonder if there is a support group for agility fanatics.
If anyone reading this blog has ever been terrorized by Shane, please accept my deepest apologies.
Four qualifying runs and one judge's warning. What a weekend.
Shane is an absolutely gorgeous dog and we love him to death, but he just cannot compete in agility. We will continue our lessons and look for other things for him to do. Maybe someday he'll be comfortable around other dogs and maybe I'll not be so afraid to let him around other dogs. In the meantime, I guess I need to find something else to do. After 10 years of competing, it's going to be rough. I wonder if there is a support group for agility fanatics.
If anyone reading this blog has ever been terrorized by Shane, please accept my deepest apologies.
Four qualifying runs and one judge's warning. What a weekend.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Cousin Phoebe
Today Phoebe lost her battle with pancreatitis. She was just visiting us over Christmas. Phoebe was a delight. Playful. Inquisitive. Friendly. Sweet. You couldn't ask for more in a pet. She left much too soon.
Phoebe, Jake and Woody welcome you home.
Phoebe, Jake and Woody welcome you home.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Irony
Back when Shane was jumping 16 inches, he completed his Novice Agility Jumping title, but we couldn't get a Standard leg to save our lives. No table performance, missed contacts. Now that Shane is jumping 12 inches, he is qualifying in Standard, but not so much in Jumpers. This past weekend, he completed his NAP title. He had one refusal, so we got second place behind a very experienced dog, who was clean, but 20 seconds slower than Shane.
We almost had a Q in FAST, but I blew it. Actually, the judge blew it. Her whistle that is. Shane did the bonus perfectly. He slid off the 9 point dog walk, so I decided to go for the 8 point jump sequence and planned to wrap him around and head out of the ring. Shane just kept going out to the weave poles at a horrendous angle. Nailed it. Got a double whistle, so I thought we were eliminated and left the ring. Duh. The judge yelled at me, but she did the briefing while I was running in the other ring, so I didn't get the rules refresher. Glad we do FAST just for fun. I was so amazed at his weave pole entry that the lost Q didn't hurt so much.
We almost had a Q in FAST, but I blew it. Actually, the judge blew it. Her whistle that is. Shane did the bonus perfectly. He slid off the 9 point dog walk, so I decided to go for the 8 point jump sequence and planned to wrap him around and head out of the ring. Shane just kept going out to the weave poles at a horrendous angle. Nailed it. Got a double whistle, so I thought we were eliminated and left the ring. Duh. The judge yelled at me, but she did the briefing while I was running in the other ring, so I didn't get the rules refresher. Glad we do FAST just for fun. I was so amazed at his weave pole entry that the lost Q didn't hurt so much.
Thursday, April 09, 2009
Ups and Downs
Started the Clothier Natural Jumping Method today thanks to Jane Adams. Shane has been stressing over jumping and this is supposed to fix it. After our first session, I saw a smile on his face. We had a blast. I'm really looking forward to this program. Just wish I didn't have to tear down my jump chute each week for the landscaping crew.
We've had two classes this week that couldn't have been more different. Tuesday night, Shane was a reactive mess. I just cannot be in classes where dogs are off-leash and doing obstacles while Shane is also off-leash and performing. I wish I could make people understand that everything Shane does is fear-based. He is not a bad dog, he is just terrified. Wednesday night, we ran courses and all the dogs were on leash and calm when they weren't performing. We just had a blast and Shane did beautifully. I stayed with him on the course like Nanci recommended to ease his stress and it really works.
Reactive dogs are afraid. My trainer has me giving Shane treats whenever he is stressed, which is whenever a car goes by, a dog barks, a dog passes by, and joggers run by. It's working because I can now walk Shane around the neighborhood without him going nuts, except for one house with another reactive terrier, which I'm still working on. I'm sick of people yelling at me for overtreating my dog. It's part of his training dammit. I empathize with parents of autistic kids.
We've had two classes this week that couldn't have been more different. Tuesday night, Shane was a reactive mess. I just cannot be in classes where dogs are off-leash and doing obstacles while Shane is also off-leash and performing. I wish I could make people understand that everything Shane does is fear-based. He is not a bad dog, he is just terrified. Wednesday night, we ran courses and all the dogs were on leash and calm when they weren't performing. We just had a blast and Shane did beautifully. I stayed with him on the course like Nanci recommended to ease his stress and it really works.
Reactive dogs are afraid. My trainer has me giving Shane treats whenever he is stressed, which is whenever a car goes by, a dog barks, a dog passes by, and joggers run by. It's working because I can now walk Shane around the neighborhood without him going nuts, except for one house with another reactive terrier, which I'm still working on. I'm sick of people yelling at me for overtreating my dog. It's part of his training dammit. I empathize with parents of autistic kids.
Monday, April 06, 2009
Q Less
We hadn't been to McKinney in a very long time. Shared the ride and hotel room with Ragni and the Weiner Brigade. Shane had to share his back seat with three weiners. Ragni had belted them in on one side of the seat and I put Shane on the other side. About half way to Dallas I heard heavy sighs and some squeaky noise coming from the back seat. Shane had moved to his usual spot in the center of the seat and was squeezing the wieners. What a sight! We stopped and freed everyone so they could move around. Why can't they talk?
We got to Allen in time to have a nice dinner and shop a little at the Outlet mall. Back at the hotel, Shane and the weiners played a little. It was so nice to see Shane interact with other dogs in a positive way. Added to my guilt of keeping him as an only dog for a while.
Ragni is in Excellent and I'm in Novice, so we had a very long day. I worked in the Excellent Jumpers ring so I got to watch some pretty incredible runs. Some people I had seen at AKC Nationals the week before. Aren't they pooped?
Arrived at the arena at 7 am and finally got to run around 1 pm. Shane knocked bars in both runs, but had a great time. Got some good advice, which I implemented on Sunday and he did much better. Apparently, his ring stress is increased when I try to run ahead of him, so I stayed with him on Sunday. In the Standard runs both days, the second obstacle was the dog walk, so Shane knocked the first jump in his rush to get to one of his favorite obstacles. We did get a fabulous table performance. Much improvement, but we still have to work on jumping skills.
He was the third fastest of all the Novice dogs at all heights in JWW on Sunday. He knocked only the double jump. The rest of the run was flawless. I am so proud of him.
We got to Allen in time to have a nice dinner and shop a little at the Outlet mall. Back at the hotel, Shane and the weiners played a little. It was so nice to see Shane interact with other dogs in a positive way. Added to my guilt of keeping him as an only dog for a while.
Ragni is in Excellent and I'm in Novice, so we had a very long day. I worked in the Excellent Jumpers ring so I got to watch some pretty incredible runs. Some people I had seen at AKC Nationals the week before. Aren't they pooped?
Arrived at the arena at 7 am and finally got to run around 1 pm. Shane knocked bars in both runs, but had a great time. Got some good advice, which I implemented on Sunday and he did much better. Apparently, his ring stress is increased when I try to run ahead of him, so I stayed with him on Sunday. In the Standard runs both days, the second obstacle was the dog walk, so Shane knocked the first jump in his rush to get to one of his favorite obstacles. We did get a fabulous table performance. Much improvement, but we still have to work on jumping skills.
He was the third fastest of all the Novice dogs at all heights in JWW on Sunday. He knocked only the double jump. The rest of the run was flawless. I am so proud of him.
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