I made the whole run

Well hey ho, yesterday I did the whole flyball run (without the ball, but still, big step). For the first time since I've been learning (which is about 10 mos.), I went all the way down, over all four jumps, hit the box (with a pretty good, tight turn), and came back over all four jumps. Driving pretty hard, too. I rock--anyway that's what my people said.

My buddy Renzo also did just great. He was able to run the whole course with a dog running next to him AND a dog he had to pass. he crossed over the first time, but after that, he understood his job.

Yesterday was really a big day for both of us and it was so cool to see my people so proud of us.

So, what I'd learn in the process?
Going over four jumps is really not that different from going over one or two.

So, being Saturday and all, both of my people were home today and spent a lot of time with us pups. They are working hard to get me to associate playing fetch with tugging. In flyball, it's really good if we have something like a tug to run back to. My buddy Renzo will only run for food--that's fine too, but our team captains say that dogs run harder for tugs. I love to tug as a general thing, but I don't really see what it has to do with flyball, so I"m kind of disdainful of it when it shows up while I'm practicing.

When my person tries to get me tug before she will throw the ball, I usually just look at her patiently and eventually, I just walk away (she tries *really* hard not to give in and throw the ball anyway, but I put her in a kind of a bind--cause it's also not so good for me to decide when it's time to stop playing--something about getting a big head. Whatever, people are kind of weird.

The real thing I've been learning today, though is "be nice". See, I get a little persnickety when other dogs get too close. It's not all that predictable...for my person anyway and she doesn't really ask me what's the trigger, I'm not telling. In any case, the people don't like it, so today we've been working on "be nice"--which basically seems to mean, stop snarling and look at person. When I do that--bingo, a treat. Yay.

And that means today's lesson is:
Be nice, then you get a treat and keep everybody else from snarling

Harnasses are for the birds

Normally when I play flyball, my person holds on to my hips. For a while I wore a harness, but that was back when I didn't have a very good recall and the team capitans said that it would be better for me to learn with a leash attached to a collar (that's for a leash correction--boy, I'm glad I got past those!

Anyway, today my person decided to put my harnass on me again. This is what it looks like

halter
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

I don't really notice it that much, but when we went to run flyball (yeah, that's right, today is flyball day--yahoo!), my person held me by the harnass--I didn't like it one bit. I'd much rather be held by the hips--you know, a much more hands-on, feel-good touch just to set the right mood for a good, clean run. Much more civilized than being held like a common dog (or, dare I say it, a kitty... my kitties go outside with harnasses--never really though it could come to that for me)

What I learned today?
I don't like harnasses, BUT I really like flyball a whole lot

Big woofs to my pal Renzo, who had 10 pretty clean runs today--and even sort of passed into another dog. He does a good job, but boy is he a barker. Also, licks and kisses to Tansy who is doing a good job soaking in the whole new environment. It would have been great for her and us if she'd been with us from the start, but what matters most is that she's with us now!

What kind of dog are you

I'm out of lessons for today, but here's something fun to try:

What kind of dog are you?

My person is a Keeshound. They look like this

keeshond
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

She doesn't though....

By Jove I've got it

My person has been working with me over the last couple of months to learn to shut a cabinet door by pushing it with my nose (initial command for that is "touch"). The problem for me has been that I also know about shutting drawers by hitting them with my feet (initial command for that was "push"--that's a flyball command, too).

So, I'm a kind of pawsy gal and think it's a lot more efficient to shut things with my feet, so, while I would touch the cabinet door with my nose, I made it close with my feet.

My person was pretty patient--only rewarding me for closing the door with my nose. And if I just wasn't getting it, she'd back up and reward me for just touching the door with my nose adn once I remembered to close it with my nose, she'd go back to only rewarding that and eventually moving to a variable reinforcement (click here if you want to read more about this kind of dog training or read the book "don't shoot the dog").

Anyway, today I did it right right off the bat. My person could even send me from about 6 ft. out and I'd go close the door with my nose. I'm pretty cool, huh?

So, what'd I learn today?
With enough repetitions and the right kind of encouragement, just about anything is possible.

Poodles

Well, hey, I learned something today...I went with my person for a playdate with a poodle about my age. For whatever reason (my person has been speculating, but, really, sometimes it's hard to know what's going on in our little brains), I was not going to play with her. In fact, I made it pretty clear that i wanted her to stay away.

I was definitely not charmed by her cute butt waggles or her play bows or her jumping like a pogo stick (even though my person was). I'm not going to let my person in on this, but at some level, it really doesn't matter WHY I didn't want to play--what matters is that I didn't. Basta.

I also continue to refine my lesson from Saturday that it's possible to nap while not in a crate. I'm getting pretty good at this lesson and am glad to learn it.

But I digress. Today's lesson
I didn't want to play with the poodle, even though she was cute as a bug.

Some days there's not much to learn

Well, I did a lot today--played with Tansy and Darby, went on a long walk, played with the kitties, played ball, ran around in the snow....but I don't think I really learned much.

Then, what did I learn today?

Some days you can do a lot without learning much at all.

Big woofs to my pal Renzo who ran at the tournament this week-end. Good going buddy--I'll be there to watch you next time.

Darby

Well, big stuff at our house this week-end. First off, we have a visitor, Darby.

Darby
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

She's a real cutie as you can see. We think she looks a lot like Inji, our old matriarch kitty. She hisses like Inji, too (and in fact, they hissed at each other earlier today). I didn't know dogs hissed--but she's done it several times to me, too. When she got here this morning, she and Tansy both stress-peed on the floor--I was keeping my distance from both of them.

She's the friend of Brody, who stayed with us in October. She kinda looks like him, too. She's a kai inu/shibu inu mix.

Since Darby was coming to visit (she'll be here til March 7th), one of my people stayed home with me and Tansy (who is downstairs playing with a squeeky toy because she doesn't think anyone has noticed--that's the only time she plays with toys) and the other one took Renzo to a flyball tournament. Lucky boy--but he deserves it after this long time when he's been benched because of the dew claws. And I've not had to go in my crate at all today (and once my person finishes channeling me for this blog, we're going for a W.A.L.K.). And that's the lesson for today:

I don't have to be in my crate to take a nap. I can take one just about anywhere.

Tansy is fun

Well, there's nothing like another Border Collie in the house to make life just nothing but fun and games. Me and Tansy have been playing all day long (except for some requisite long naps). She's starting to play with balls and to leap and pounce with joy--just like me. Even Renzo got in to some of the fun today and chased her around and teased her into chasing him.

Here's Tansy and me looking kind of like we're singing and dancing--I guess we are...

piptansing
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

My person's been pretty happy today too--something about listening to country music (though she also gets happy when she listens to lots of other kinds--today's just been country). She even did some housecleaning while we played.

Lesson for today?
Even a snowy day in late February is fun with Tansy and country music

Hitting the box is FUN

Today was flyball day. Yay!! I love flyball practice. I get to play and I get to watch all the other guys. Plus all my favorite people and dogs are all together in one place. Can't beat it. Everybody did really well today, too, which makes all the people pretty happy.

I did really good. My box is coming along well with a pretty good turn and a pretty quick release. Plus, I'm single stepping the jumps most of the time. Best of all, I'm learning to cock my body when my person says "Ready".

So, what'd I learn today?
It's easier to get a good running start when you cock first.

Ice is slippery

We went for a walk today. Pretty cold, just a little snow on the ground, but lurking underneath were patches of ice. Luckily, when I slide around, it doesn't much bother me, but not so my person. She fell. Twice. I felt pretty bad for her, but what can you do.

What I learned today:
Ice is slippery and when people hit it, some of them fall down

10 days: 10 things I've learned

So, I know I said I was going to write one thing I learned every day. But, well you know that problem of being dependent on someone with opposable thumbs who also has a demanding job as an academic.

I sometimes think I take precedence over her students, research, and other commitments, but these last 10 days, I've been decidedly further down the list. It's not that she doesn't love me, I know. And I know she feels really bad too. So, I'm cutting her some slack (that's the good thing about us dogs--we don't really hold any grudges). But, to catch everyone up, I'm going to write down the things I've learned since Feb. 11.

Feb. 12:
Flyball practice on Saturday throws everyone off schedule
Feb. 13:
There are "valentines". My friend Jake sent me one that he got as part of a fundraiser for Valentine, a foster available from Great Lakes Border Collie Rescue.
Feb. 14:
Some dogs really don't like it when you get near them while they're chewing a bone. Not me though.
Feb. 15:
If you stand up and "shop" the kitchen counters, you often find tasty treats AND your person will pay attention to you (that's the main lesson--the treats are really just a lagniappe)
Feb. 16:
Anything can be a tug-toy
Feb. 17:
People have "birthdays". Dogs have "welcome home days".
Feb. 18:
Three dogs can really wear a single human out.
Feb. 19
Running up-hill in the snow is excellent training for competitive dog sports like flyball (doesn't hurt the humans either).
Feb. 20
Sundays are really no different from any other day if you're a border collie. Except that the people are around more and dress differently.
Feb. 21
When people go away, they almost always come back so there's no need to worry. Even when they're gone for several days.

And the thing I learned today?

Nothing says "I love you" like a peanut butter-filled toy

Still smooth sailing

I just kind of feel like writing in green today. Things are still going pretty well with our new friend Tansy. In fact, I kind of think she might be the dog leader me and Renzo have been needing. All the information about her said that she's timid and shy, but we've found that she's really pretty sure of herself and doesn't care one whit if one of the people call her off something (like a cat). When I get called off, I usually need to go right over and give lots of kisses and butt waggles, otherwise they might stay mad at me (I'm kind of like one of my people that way--though she tends not to do many butt waggles).

On the flyball front, well, yesterday my regular person trainer had to stay at work, so my other trainer person took me instead. I tug like a maniac when I'm watching other dogs play flyball (just not when I'm playing) and so my people thought it might be a good idea to use a harnass so that I don't strangle myself with my own excitement. I found it was just a different way of getting tangled up, but don't tell them or anything. I like to humor them.

I've been looking at some other blogs lately and I think I might be too wordy. So from now on, I'm going to try and write just one screen's worth of stuff. Maybe I'll try with just "what I learned today" (kind of like the guy who is writing about his awful roommate, but nicer).

So, what'd i learn today:
Tennis balls are pretty hard on the teeth when they're frozen

New stuff at my house

So, it's been a while since I posted I know. I've had a couple of flyball lessons since my last post. Right now we're working on moving me to the tug toy as a reward for playing flyball. I'll pretty much do the jumps and the box, but only for food. Now I need to learn that the tug is really fun, too--way more fun than food.

My person's been practicing at home, so we'll see how I do tomorrow at class. I've been doing pretty well at my companion obedience class. This week we had to be willing to give up a tasty rawhide if our person asked us to. That's a piece of cake for me (I know both give and drop it). Then, we also had to ignore other dogs coming around while we were chewing our bones. We also had to do some heeling and staying. Then we got to play the game "My dog can do that"--that's really fun and so far I can keep up with everyone just fine.

On a really exciting note, I've got a new friend living at my house. My people brought home Tansy last week-end. She's a border collie like me, but already 4 years old. The person who had her for the first 4 years really neglected her (she wasn't actively abused we don't think, but definitely deprived of the kind of environment us border collies need. As far as we know, she lived in an outdoor pen her whole life and really never learned much of what dogs need to know if they're going to live with humans.) She's doing great at our house, fitting in just beautifully and even Renzo doesn't seem to mind having her here.

piptanrun
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

I love it because she wants to play as much as I do! She's going to come to flyball class with me tomorrow just to watch. I bet she'll be really excited.

The words I know

We don't have practice today, so I thought I'd give a run-down of all the words I know (My buddy Renzo knows most of these t0o, so I'm not really showing off). Right now, I know 80 words and phrases (by "know" I mean that I will do the desired action or provide the desired response 80-90% of the time in ideal, non-distracting conditions. For most commands, I will do the action 70% of the time or better with distractions--depending on what they are, of course. My people work with me every day to "proof" many of the commands, especially basic obedience)

Basic obedience commands (15 words):
Sit, Down, Settle, Come, Wait (my people use this instead of "stay"--I don't know why), Heel (honestly, I'm not that great at Heel, but I know what it is), Leave It, Off, Quiet, Back, Yes (I've completed whatever command I was given), No (I've chose something that I really shouldn't), Wrong (I did the wrong command or did something I wasn't supposed to--less serious than "no"); Okay (I can be released from command); Oops (Wrong command--basically synonymous with Wrong),

Useful commands (24 words):
Bring your X, Get your X (synonymous with Bring), Drop It (I'm pretty much 100% with this command), Find (your) X, Where's X (bascially synonymous with Find), Up, Go to Bed (for crate in bedroom where I sleep); Crate up (for crate in living room where I hang out); Go to the Couch; Get in your Boat (my people call the plush bed Renzo and I share our "boat"--I don't know why and think it's a little weird), Easy; Let's go (when sniffing and snorfling around on walks), Come along (synonymous with Let's go), Right, Left, Watch, Catch it, Push (hit something with my feet), Touch (hit something with my nose), Through (just a general command for going through something--I have more specific commands for going through agility obstacles), Tug, Give, Hop up (get in the car), Bring it Here (put something in person's hand)

Things my people call tricks (12 words):
Bow, Crawl, Bang (this is basically play dead), Twist (turn clockwise), Spin (turn counter-clockwise), Left shake (shake with left paw), Right shake (shake with right paw), Wave, Whisper, Speak, Weave (walk in Figure 8 through person's legs), Shut the drawer

Commands specific to agility or flyball (12 words)
Tunnel, A-frame, Walk It (dog walk), Tire, Over, Big over (I'm not sure I really know this, but my person thinks I do--this is for the broad jump), Target, Teeter, Table (again, I don't feel that confident with this one), Jump (this is for flyball hurdles and differs from Over in that I'm supposed to jump flat for this one and jump "hilly" for over), Ready (means something's about to happen-it's more a cue for me than a command to do something), Weave pole

Names of people or things--these words can be combined with "Bring" and "Find" and "Where's" (7 words)
Renzo (my good buddy), Fritz (kitty I especially like to chase), ball, toy, puppy (specific toy), Susan (one of my people), Robin (another one of my people)

Random phrases that elicit a response from me (10 phrases)
Wanna go for a walk, Wanna play flyball, Wanna do agility, There's your friend X, You're o.k., Are you hungry, Want your dinner, Want your breakfast, Want a Kong, Want a cookie

Commands I know by hand signal (7 commands)
Sit, Down, Come, Wait, Bring/Get, Bow (rather than hand signal, I do this when you blow in my face), Bring it here

Words I'm learning now (9 words)
Talk, Loose (for loose-leash walking), Get ready (this is for flyball and means face the course and get ready to run), Line up (synonymous with get ready), Leash, Hold it, Sit up, Shut the cabinet door (with nose), Fuss (heeling on the right),

Words that my person would like me to know but isn't ready to teach me yet:
Roll-over, Roll the ball, Ring the bell, Turn on/off the light, Sneeze, Gather the laundry, Backwards weave, Frisbee

Huck

huck
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

See this cat? This guy weighs in at over 24 lbs (just for reference, I'm about 34 lbs) and is one scary feline. Actually, that's not really fair, it's not that he's so scary, it's that he and my buddy Renzo have a long-standing disagreement about whether or not dogs or cats take precedence in the Huck's household. Renzo thinks dogs do, but Huck lets him know in no uncertain terms that dogs "drool" (you know, like in that dumb saying, cats rule, dogs drool). Anyway, I tried to stay pretty agnostic on the whole matter, seeing as I was a guest in Huck's house and all. But, once Huck got riled up at my buddy Renzo (who has no fear and so doesn't really care that much if Huck is mad--in fact, Renzo thinks it's great fun to egg Huck on), it was over for all us dogs.

And seeing as I'm a bit of cautious girl, Huck saw me as an easy mark. Basically he terrorizes me everytime we visit. I try to stay out of the way, mind my own business and all, but NOOO, when Huck smells dog, he's ready to rumble.

It's great for my people, though, because Huck keeps me pretty well contained in a room and I don't have much desire to get into mischief because he could really be anywhere...

I'm glad that only one of the kitties at my house is a caninanthrope and she pretty much just wants to be left alone--she doesn't actively seek out dogs to harrass

New flyball class started

Hey, it's me again--two posts in one day, can't beat that. Some of my fans have complained to my person that I'm not posting very often. Luckily, she doesn't try to pin the blame on me, but still it makes us both pretty embarrassed. Anyway, a couple big milestones for me in flyball this week.

First, I've been getting to go to practice all by myself because my poor buddy Renzo had to have his dew claws removed and has been out of commission for the last couple of weeks. Poor guy, but hey, it means I get sole attention from my people at flyball practice (and it's pretty quiet without Renzo barking out his cries of joy over and over and over and....).

So, anyway, last Sunday one of my people decided that we had to try a new strategy for keeping me focused on flyball and not on going to visit. So, she told all the people to be really mean to me (actually, she just told them to tell me "no" if I came over, but as far as I'm concerned, she might as well have told them to kick me in the gut...). And then they did tell me no--I went from person to person, wiggling my whole body, trying to lick and say hi, but they all said "no" adn some of them even stamped their feet at me. I was really confused, I mean, really, really confused--I thought everyone really liked for me to come and say hi and I know that I like it. But all the while my person was also calling come and it was so much nicer to be with her than with all those people being mean to me. So, slowly but surely, I'm starting to understand that I can only go visit when my person says it's o.k., not when I decide it's o.k. Hard knocks, really, but my person hopes that I'll start to see that flyball is really the ultimate fun. I probably will.

Then, I started a new flyball class on Thursday with a new instructor, Pam Shulz from Slammers flyball club. She's pretty cool and was able to keep a pretty unruly bunch in line. I got to run and noodled off to visit, but remembered after just two no's that I was supposed to stay with my person. I did really good on the box-=hitting it hard and coming back to my person. I'm also feeling more and more confident. I think I'll be pretty close come summer, but who knows, life is so full of fun that you never know what might be waiting for you around the corner...

I'm also taking another obedience class at Country Kennel with my good friend Neva. I'm the baby in the class. There are several labs and they are just really different dogs than me. I don't get the whole laying around thing, but that's what makes it such an interesting world--we're all a little different.

Now it's been a really long while

Well, so, my person figured out how to change the text color (and did so in irritating fashion). It's been a long time since I worked on my blog, but that's not to say that I haven't been thinknig about flyball. I think about it a lot. As is usually the case with things like flyball, I continue to make a few steps forward and a few steps back. I had made some really great strides last week and even went over a couple of jumps before hitting the box.

Last Thursday, I was really, especially good and went chasing over the jumps after my person and didn't veer away even once. Good for me.

Then came Sunday. Everything was wrong. It was too early for one thing (we usually practice at 1, but on Sunday we started at 9:30). There were also lots of people there, more than usual and I just couldn't help myself. I just wanted to see them (and really wanted to see them way, way more than I wanted to do flyball).

So, everytime I got brought in, I ran away from my people and ignored them when they said "come." Me ignoring them made everyone else give my people advice on how to encourage me come, but the more they tried, the less I wanted to come. And the less I wanted to do flyball.

So, ultimately I didn't get to play very much and my person was in a bad mood for the rest of the day, which is kind of drag. I know that she was trying not to be mad at me (and truthfully, she wasn't), but I could also tell that she was really disappointed.

I wish there was some way that I could tell her what I need to make me really into playing flyball. The thing is, I'm kind of scared of new things. Like today, we were playing on the box, but I suddenly got scared of it and didn't want to play on it anymore. In fact, I didn't want to go near it at all. I think that I'm in a fear period and nothing is really going to be very exciting until I get over it.

That's o.k., though, because I know that my people are patient and don't want to push me or anything (or only push hard enough to help me build my confidence).

It's been a while

Well, hey, it's sure been a while since I've written. Believe me it weren't for lack of trying--it's just when I'm dependent on someone with opposable thumbs for getting my entries in, I kinda have to go by her schedule and lately that schedule has had little on it but W.O.R.K. I'm glad I'm a dog.

But, the good news is that i'm really starting to make serious progress. Ever since my friend Brody came to visit, I've been getting more and more focused and more and more attentive to my person. In flyball practice (which I have twice a week--once in class and once when my team practices), I'm hitting the box pretty well--mostly always getting at least three feet on the box and getting four up there about 60% of the time. The way they try to trick me to really jump is by putting a really high board (it's got to be about 2 feet high) right in front of the box, angled based on the direction I turn. That way, I have to jump over the box to hit it at all. It didn't take me long before I was doing that, but I can still make that big jump and hit the box with only three feet. They keep working though and I keep getting better.

I'm also able to go back and forth over all four jumps without noodling away to try and visit folks. I'm still a bit unsure of myself and not feeling entirely confident a lot of the time, but I'm getting better. Yesterday, I was so excited to chase my person that I did forget myself and really let loose--I gave a glimpse of the potential I have by really stretching out and single stepping between the jumps. Overall I'd say it was a good practice and I'm getting very good at paying attention to my people (though I have to say, I still REALLY love it when I get to visit--I am just still such a wiggle worm).

Brody

Brody
Originally uploaded by Pippin Noodle.

I guess the biggest news is that I'm starting to get all four of my feet on the box. That's important for two main reasons. First, having your back legs on the box means that you can get a good push off for your return. Second, and probably more important, having all four feet on the box generally means that you're actually doing a "swimmer's turn" and being able to do that makes it a lot less harsh on your shoulders and back. That, in turn, means that you can play flyball for a lot longer and when you do have to retire, you probably won't be as prone to arthritis and other ills that plague athletes of all species when they get older (just think about all the stuff that former pro football players have to contend with...)

I also finished my agility class on Tuesday. For the most part I did pretty good and I didn't have much trouble with any individual piece of equipment--but, boy, did I ever lose my focus trying to go through 13 one right after the other. It was just too much for my 11 month old brain.

The other big news for the week-end is that my buddy Renzo and one of my people have gone all the way to Memphis for a flyball tournament. And, one of our teammates is staying with us in his place. Brody (that's him up above), is a great big boy--he's a pit bull/lab/greyhound mix. His head is about twice the size of mine and he's all legs when he runs.

He's a really nice boy, though and we've already had good fun playing in the backyard. I don't think my person is going to be strong enough to walk him, though.

It's been pretty interesting to see how he reacts to the three cats I live with (and they to him). I just had to chuckle when Inci growled and swatted at him for no good reason other than he was in her line of vision. She does that to me and Renzo, too, and I've just always thought she didn't like us. I guess she just doesn't like dogs in general. Go figure