Video evidence of my insanity.

I present the long awaited video of our first Canine Freestyle performance!  (There are two run throughs of our routine on the video.)

This was taken at our last Freestyle class at Gentle Touch Pet Training back in February.   I got a bit lost towards the end of the 1st run, but I think we faked-it alright. 

Hoagie did fantastically, especially considering he had a bit of a traumatic run in with another dog in the class.  One of our classmates lost control of her dog during their routine, and he decided to be a bit forward greeting Hoagie.  As I may have stated before, Hoagie isn't exactly the "meet and greet" type when it comes to unfamiliar dogs.  With the help of Ivy and Teah, we were able to break things up, and after a little breather, Hoagie came out ready to shake his tail for a second run.

Despite the drama, everyone in the class did really well.  It was truly entertaining watching everyone work with their canine dance partners.  Between our performances I was able to get some great photos of all our classmates.  The pictures came  out a bit blurred due to the low light in the room, but let's just pretend they are intentionally dramatic action shots! (and not just due to me avoiding distracting the dogs with the camera flash).

Donna and Booker

Their pink theme was adorable!

Taz the Golden rockin' it!

Shiraz the cocker lookin' cute!

Teah, the owner of Gentle Touch with her English Cocker, Shamie.

I love the look on Teah's face in this picture.

Our starting pose.

Awesome figure eights!

Toe touches!

High five!  Ta-da!

Hopefully we will be able to continue working on our freestyle routine as we learn more moves and improve our skills.  We had lots of fun and look forward to plenty more doggy-dancing silliness!  Enjoy the video, but be nice, it's our first attempt.  Thanks, as always for reading!

P.S.  You can keep updated on all our pup related exploits by liking Short Paws blog on Facebook!  Thanks!

Don't Forget Pretzel!

Looking through my last couple posts, I noticed that we are lacking in Pretzel material!  I have to admit, this is partially due to a lack of Pretzel pictures.  Poor guy has been subject to the fate of all second children, and isn't getting his equal share of photos.

You're kidding right?  How could you resist photographing this adorable mug?

Seriously!  Look at these puppy eyes!

So, I figured the little guy deserved his own training update post.  Earlier this year he finished his first big-pup class: Elementary Clicker Training down at Gentle Touch.  There were definitely a few bumps along the way, but we both got a lot out of the class.

The first class was a great intro to clicker training, complete with a demonstration of doggy skateboarding.  Seeing Blaze the Swedish Vallhund skateboard definitely made my day.  Pretty much any dog skateboarding is crazy cute, and seeing it in person was even cuter!  (I don't have a video of Blaze doing it, so enjoy this adorable Boston scooting around Paris.)

The second class, however was where our challenges started.  Pretzel decided to show his hand, and remind me that he has some reactive dog tendencies.

*hangs head in shame*  I'm sorry Mom, I'm just a pup, and I'm still learning.

All the dogs were much bigger than him, and after feeling a bit threatened, he cried havoc upon a Belgian Sheepdog puppy.  Pretzel definitely struggled through his obvious dislike for the big black dog throughout the remaining 5 weeks of class.  On the up side, having floundered through this kind of thing with Hoagie, helping Pretzel through his fearfulness was comparably easy.

Yeah, um, you're welcome, I guess.

Besides his issues with his classmates, Pretzel and I learned lots.  He now has most of the basics under his belt, and is a pro at targeting and spins.  We even had the time on our last meeting to learn how to ring a bell.  With some extra work at home, Pretzel now happily rings a service bell for treats!

I can haz hotdog?

Pretzel, however, wasn't the only one to get a lot out of the class.  Ivy and Lisa are great teachers, and I really saw how much I still have to learn.  I definitely need to improve my clicker coordination and make sure I always have a flexible plan when training.  Pretzel reminded me that every dog is different, and has his or her own way of learning.  While Hoagie is a quick study, Pretzel requires a bit more practice to understand each behavior.  On the flip side, Pretzel is far quicker to offer new behaviors, making free shaping a bit easier.

So, all in all, Pretzel and I have come a long way through his first class, but we still have a long road to travel.  I'm looking forward to the trip with this wiry little pup!

 

 PS.  I haven't forgotten about my promise of embarrassing Freestyle video.  Currently waiting to get the video files from the videographer.  Soon...

Freestylin'

A couple of weeks ago I began a substantial new chapter in my decent towards total, crazy-dog-lady madness.  I started taking Musical Canine Freestyle at Gentle Touch Pet Training with Hoagie.  Yes, I've taken up dancing with my dog, and ya know what?  We are having an absolutely wonderful time!  I've been pondering this dog activity for a while, and am finally taking the plunge.  Don't get me wrong; this dog sport is ridiculous.  It truly takes a certain level of crazy to want to do this ↓ with your dog, much less in public.

I, however, have never been one to shy away from making a spectacle of myself, and I am only more pleased to have my best furry friends by my side to support me.

I worked 2 summers at a Civil War living history site and did 8 years of marching band.  Looking strange in public does not faze me in the least.

The final incident that pushed me towards trying Canine Freestyle, was the Rally-O practice I described a couple weeks ago in this blog post.  Hoagie and I have a lot of fun goofing around, doing tricks, and just letting him utterly ham it up!  That lead to the conclusion that Musical Canine Freestyle would be perfect for the Hoagmeister!

"My public awaits."

So, I look forward to keeping you updated on our progress.  We've chosen our first song: : "Just What I Needed" by The Cars.  I believe we'll have a video of us doing our routine at the end of the class.  Though video evidence of me acting weird does make me a bit nervous, I'll try and get that posted for all of you to "enjoy."  Until then, we'll be practicing our leg weaves, backwards heeling, and spins.

In the mean time have an example of some amazing Canine Freestyle done by Michele Pouliot and her dog Listo (who, by the way, is doing a seminar at Gentle Touch this fall!)

Sensei Hoagie

The boys and I enjoyed a nice SLODOG run through today.  It was another beautiful, sunny, winter day in San Luis Obispo.  (Though I miss ya'll out east, I love being back in CA.  It's hard to beat 70 degrees in January.)

As the new Rally Obedience organizer for run throughs, I had more on my plate than simply managing my two hooligans, but I think I fared alright.  Everyone seemed to enjoy my first attempt at designing a course, and importantly, I don't think too many people got lost mid-run.

Hoagie had a nice couple runs, but not before he taught me an important lesson.  Hoagie apparently shares a motto with Ben and Jerry's of ice cream fame: "If it's not fun, why do it?"  He reminded me that training, competing, and working with dogs is supposed to be, above all, FUN!

Hoagie does love ice cream.

I started practice today by marching directly over to the Rally course with Hoagie in tow, set my shoulders, took a breath, and walked towards the first sign.  I noticed fairly quickly that the pup wasn't terrible "into it."  His nose hit the grass and stayed there through the first two signs.  I gave him a couple gentle tugs to keep him moving. His gaze instead switched to the bushes on the other side of the park and he firmly planted his butt on the ground.  He wasn't having any of it; Hoagie checked out and left no forwarding address.

Sensing I wasn't going to get any more out of him for the moment, we broke course and headed over to the adjacent empty field.  There we watered a couple trees, and took a mental break.  We checked out the bushes he was concerned about, he earned a couple treats when he looked back to me.  Together we did a few of his favorite tricks.  I realized that when we started doing tricks, both of us relaxed.  His face softened up, he gave me his full attention, and instead of wanting to drag me around, he happily heeled by my side.  The light bulb went off above my head.

Good grief, my mom is dense sometimes.

I was being entirely too serious about running through the Rally course.  The reason we started Rally Obedience instead of formal Obedience competition was because of it's relaxed attitude, the ability to talk to and encourage your dog on course, and the emphasis on having FUN together!  Heck, part of your score in a trial is whether the dog looks like he's enjoying himself!

Once we were both more relaxed, Hoagie happily trotted back to the course with me.  I used an upbeat tone (and a couple nibbles of cheese) to encourage him through the signs, and he gleefully obliged.  We finished with a big hooray, a puppy high five, and a big bite of liver treat.

Oh yeah!  Gimme some paw!

Hoagie has been, and continues to be my master teacher in all things doggy.  Don't get me wrong; the folks at Gentle Touch Pet Training, and Canine Academy are amazing instructors!  I've also learned tons from incredible dog authors such as Patricia McConnell, Karen London, and Karen Pryor.  Hoagie however is the Mr. Miyagi to my Daniel-san.  He's taught me an unbelievable amount about how his little puppy brain works, the relationship humans have with animals, and the importance of learning to relax and have fun!

Teacher Hoagie wants you to hit the books.

Today Hoagie reminded me that we ought to do dog sports because our dogs enjoy them.  I could have forced him to finish that first attempt.  I could have yanked him around the course, scolding him for sniffing and pleading for his attention.  Would that have been fun for either of us?

Skeptical Hoagie is skeptical.

So, instead, here's to many more fun practices with my pooches!  Here's to happy pups and a relaxed dog Mom.  Here's to doing it for the dog, not for the ribbons and titles!

I look forward to many more lessons with my puppy professor.  As long as I'm ready to listen, Hoagie has plenty to teach.

And now, with Pretzel in the house, I have a second professional perspective to learn from!  (And you can bet the Terrier School of Doggy Education definitely has a challenging new curriculum for me to study.)

Professor Pretzel says:  "This will be on the test."

Have fun listening to your dogs!  They definitely have lots to teach, as long as you are willing to listen!


P.S.  Yes, I do love staging elaborate and silly dog photos.  Don't judge me!  You know it's cute!

Introducing Pretzel!

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Winter Solstice, Saturnalia, FSMas, etc.  Despite a rough start to December, with unexpected surgeries amidst the usual holiday shenanigans, we actually had a rather nice Christmas.

Emo-Hoagie doesn't care about the pretty Christmas tree... or he could just be staring at Daddy holding a cookie behind the camera...the world may never know.

 
Much good food and quality family time was had by all!  The pups were quite happy in their jaunty jingle bell collars, chewing on new squeaky toys.  Hoagie's cousin Cocoa, was very pleased with her new light bulb shaped squeaky.

Cocoa thinks she heard another squeaky on the beach.

All this talk of happy holiday pups may lead you to the question, "But Carol, in your last post you had a picture of two adorable dogs in front of your Christmas tree.  Who was that dapper little scamp in the green sweater?"  Well, my astutely observant friend, let's have another look at that idyllic scene of holiday cheer.

Why there is a new little face in that picture.  Awww... the cuteness is almost painful.

I'd like to formally introduce the newest edition to our family:  Pretzel!

"Sad puppy-dog-eyes" is his super power.

Pretzel is a 9 month old super-mutt (mutt + mutt = super cute mutt).  As far as I understand he's a Chi-Peka-Shihtz-Terrier-mix.  He came from a co-worker who, due to some unfortunate circumstances, was unable to care for him anymore.  We've had him now for about 5 months (I know, I know, I'm a bit slow on the updates.  The pups keep me pretty busy.).  He's a bright little dude with a lot of personality, and we are happy to have him as the newest member of our furry family.


Pretzel is currently enrolled in his first "big pup" class, Elementary Clicker at Gentle Touch.  He's doing well, but it's very clear that he will provide plenty of fodder to interesting training posts.  His terrier nature makes him a very different type of dog to train.  He's already taught me a lot!  In addition, he's my very first puppy, and this is my first time having two dogs.  I've certainly got my hands full now!  I just received my copy of Feeling Outnumbered? How to Manage and Enjoy Your Multi-Dog Household by the always awesome Patricia McConnell, Ph.D. and Karen London, Ph.D.  I think I may also have to re-read my copies of Control Unleashed and Feisty Fido.  They don't call 'em "Terrier Terrorists" for nothin'!  All in all though, Pretzel is a fantastic little guy, who I look forward to enjoying for many happy years. 

Our new little couch warmer.

On a different note, I have a few housekeeping things: 

First, I'd like to welcome anyone from BlogPaws to my blog!  Secondly, a while back I added an RSS feed button up top, so if you are interested, be sure to add me to your feed or reader list.  I've also made a facebook page for the blog, so be sure to like short paws or share a post or two on facebook!

Thanks for reading and have a Happy New Year!

"What a summer!" Part 2:

In which Hoagie makes his Mommy very proud...

And now for the long awaited good news! (Sorry it took so long to post this!)

Applause for good news!

On July 17th Hoagie and I competed in our first Scent Work trial.  It was held at Camp San Luis Obispo at the Officer's Club and was hosted by Gentle Touch Pet Training (the folks we take scent work classes from).  We woke up early, packed up the car for a long day, and headed down the hill.

The day started out with the vehicle search.  Hoagie just about dragged me across the parking lot, directly to the truck where the hide was located.  He didn't even take a second look at the other two vehicles!  He made it obvious early on, that he was on his game!

"Duh Mom!  It's right here in the trailer plug!  Give me something harder!

 We then went on to the interior search.  Hoagie did a fantastic job of "working to source."  He narrowed down the search area to pinpoint exactly where the scent was.  Score two successful hides for Hoagie!  

I later found out that we earned a P for Pronounced on the two morning elements.  That means that the judges thought we did especially well working as a team on the vehicle and interior searches.  Go team Hoagie!


After lunch came the hardest part of an NW1 trial (at least for Capt. Distractible): the dreaded exterior search! *Duh dun DUUUN!*  


Hoagie, however, did spectacularly.  It was a really big search area, and he worked through the whole space, all the way to source.  He did take his time getting all the way around, and made me little a nervous.  When I got our score sheets back I found out that we only had about 31 seconds left of the three minute time limit!  Hoagie certainly cut it close!

So we were 3 for 3 going into the last element; the container search.  The pressure was really on!  

On the way into the container room, the trial photographers snapped my favorite picture of Hoagie doing nose work.  The picture shows just how excited Hoagie was about getting to work.  He's blown pas the start line, and even got his tongue out, licking up the scent!

"Lemme at 'em!  Lemme at 'em!"

About 42 seconds after the above picture was taken, Hoagie earned his very first title!!!  Yay Hoagie!

Proud Hoagie is proud!

So Hoagie ended his summer on a high note, with an NW1 title, and a very spiffy ribbon!  

"Check out the spiffy ribbon I earned!"

We worked hard, had lots of fun, and will continue to work towards NW2 along with his other obedience work.  Stay tuned for lots more nose work fun to come!

Feel free to check out more pictures of the trial on the NACSW website here.  Greg Lugo Photography also took the great trial photos above (the vehicle and container search photos).

A Busy Spring!

Hey guys!  I'm still alive!  Really!  And man have Hoagie and I been busy!  Last time I mentioned that I would keep you updated on Hoagie's progress in Scent Work.  (I know, I know, 5 months of no posts isn't exactly keeping you "updated."  Cut me some slack on this one!)  We completed Nose Work 1 and 2 classes, as well as 6 weeks of continuing nose work through Gentle Touch.  Best of all, on the 13th Hoagie passed his birch Odor Recognition Test, and can now go on to compete and work towards NW1! 

 Check out that birch sniffing machine!  Yay for Hoagie!

I have to say that it has been a blast and our instructors Katie and Darcy have been super knowledgeable and a great inspiration.  It's a great new dog sport that is absolutely perfect for "reactive" dogs like the Hoagster.  I would recommend nose work to anyone with any kind of dog.  I've seen everything from Dachshunds to Newfoundlands have a great time using their noses!  Even if you don't plan on competing, the activities are great boredom busters.  Searching for scent among plastic Easter eggs was Hoagie's favorite activity in class. (Here's a video of Katie's dog Brenna doing a similar egg hunt.)  Plus it's fun getting to watch a dog just be a dog, using his nose and working for his treats!  Check out the NACSW website for more info or to see if there is a group or class near you!  It's a new sport so there aren't too many folks teaching it yet, but keep an eye out cause it's spreading fast!

The other thing that has been keeping us busy is preparing for our first Rally-O trial!  Hoagie and I will be competing Memorial Day weekend at the ASCA trial in Cayucus put on by COAST ASC.  We've been practicing really hard, and Hoagie is doing great.  His attention is much closer to where I would like it, and I'm working on making sure I know all the ASCA signs (which are of course different than AKC and UKC signs).  As long as I can get him to focus, and I don't screw up too badly, we should hopefully do alright.  Keep your fingers and paws crossed for us!  I'll post how we do after the trial next weekend!  Till next time!

In the mean time enjoy some pics of us practicing hard at a run through at Santa Rosa park:

Hoagie looking at Stew taking pictures instead of focusing.  Such a ham!

Hoagie doing a good job ignoring distractions!

Trying his best to look cute for treats.

Lookin' cool in his shades after a good practice.

Fun day and fun videos

Hey all!  Hope you had a great holiday season and New Years.  I know many of us said it last year, but hopefully this new year will be better than the last!

Lots of good news on the dog-front.  Hoagie and I are looking forward to starting a nose-work class through Gentle Touch Pet Training this week.  We'll keep you updated on how that all goes, but it looks like it should be fun!

Hoagie has been making lots of progress in his training.  We've been working hard on fostering calm behavior at home and out-and-about.  Also, I am learning that calming myself down greatly helps in calming Hoagie.  If I'm annoyed and frustrated with him, he gets annoyed and frustrated.  It sounds silly, but I've had to remind myself that having a dog is supposed to be fun, not frustrating.  No matter what I do, he will still be a dog, still be imperfect, and like all our furry kids, a little weird.

It would however, seem that my new outlook and all the hard work is paying off.  Attention level is up, calm is becoming the norm instead of the exception, and everyone involved is feeling a little bit more sane (myself included).  Today at the SLODOG run-through I could have sworn someone switched my old dog with some new, well behaved doppelganger.

He wasn't snarky to any of the other dogs, even the three puppies taunting him with excited wiggles and puppy whines.  He was focused on me for a great Rally-O run through, and was so relaxed during the 3 minute group sit-stay that he decided to lie down (even though he was supposed to stay sitting) with a puppy not 2 feet from him, doing it's best impression of a 10-year-old hopped up on Mountain Dew.  Hoagie was a trouper today and made me really proud.  We've worked hard, and it's finally showing.  People who have known us for a while compliment us on our improvement, and people just meeting him see an even-tempered dog and a relaxed owner.  I couldn't be happier with his progress!  Even as I write this Hoagie is curled up on his bed like a little angel, enjoying a well deserved nap.

In celebration of a successful practice today I thought I would include some fun videos.  I have found that some of the best and most useful training help can be found on YouTube.  There are a lot of great trainers online doing some amazing stuff with their dogs.  Some of my favorites are the videos by Emily of Kikopup.  Her videos are really clear and well put together.  I also love that she only uses positive reinforcement techniques.  I found the video below to be especially useful in fostering calmness and sanity when I'm not actively working with Hoagie.

Be sure to check out kikopup's other videos if you want great dog training tips or just want to watch some fun dog videos. 

This next video is by Sian on her channel zsian1.  She is another one who does great dog training videos.  This one features some great training and canine freestyle practice footage.  Makes me laugh every time I watch it...

 

So enjoy some YouTube silliness, and most of all enjoy your dog.  The minute I remembered to do that was the same moment I got back a little bit of my own sanity (and a better behaved dog to boot)!