Beebe is now an official trainee of the Seattle Fly Dogs flyball team! It's a new club that is not so focused on competition but just having fun with the dogs, and has some older (slower), experienced members on it already. We went to tryouts Sunday, and even though she snarked at 2 members (2 little poodles that benignly approached her to say hi), they still said she would make a good flyball dog. It was a little out of character of her to have done that, so I am hoping it was just all the new things that had her a little riled up. One of the human members said that often happens at trials when dogs are really competitive and as Jen says it, "minesy". It was still no excuse for bad behavior, so it's something we will work on.
I was, however, asked to bring a soft muzzle for the next practice, which is understandable as the dogs do go off lead and they do contact each other in the heat of the moment while they go after something that everyone else wants-the ball. Some other dogs got a little growly, too, but everybody is really good about being right there on top of them and keeping non working dogs on lead. They are being super flexible with letting us participate and I hope that she will be able to work along side these brand new dogs, as she has in all her other activities without issue.
This reaffirms my inital feeling that Shibas can easily do the tasks required by the sport, but it's the sharing part and being face to face with other dogs that is the challenge. Hopefully all of our training up till now will allow her to enjoy herself and not be a problem for the other handlers.
Lindsay, Is there anything Beebe can't do? Next thing I know you're going to have her do agility! What positive reinforcers do you employ when you're out in a situation like that? Red laser light? warm chicken in your pocket? cheese?
Please keep us updated as I'm very excited to hear the next episode of, "I(nu) can do anything you can do...better. I(nu) can do anything better than you."
Jesse- hilarious! There is tons she can't/won't do, but I'm still trying to find out if Flyball is one of them
I've been "forgetting" the laser light at home for many weeks now. It's great for recalls and 1 to 1 training, but the other dogs get sort of worked up when they see her playing so it's a little too distracting (it works really well, though!)
I don't feed her before a session, so she starts out a little more willing to work, and I work her before I get to the location-take her for a good walk and then start off doing some drills right away-obedience stuff so she gets in the right frame of mind. I tell her, "Let's go to work" and get my piece of treat-it really doesn't matter what the treat is at this point as long as it's food-but something fishy and smelly or string cheese works best. I want her watching my face, not my pocket, so I sometimes keep the food in my mouth~and spit it at her or toss it to her so she has to catch it.
I'm trying to get her more focused on tennis balls as a fun toy, so I use those as a reward too. The main thing is her having excellent focus on me (I ask her to "watch me," my face/eyes) and being responsive and willing to work for play or food. She doesn't care about affection, so that is not her motivator. I used the "touch" command and "take it" for her to go up to the launcher that launches the balls and take the tennis ball. She got treats everytime she did that, it took a few seconds was all. She already knew how to do the hurdles from agility.
I need to find a way to get a video of us doing a run---
I'm jealous..granted Spuds only did agility once, but she HATES the tunnel. I may take her back this weekend, it is quite fun...we aren't allowed to use treats, our instructer wants the dogs to focus on the excerise not the food, seems to work..except for the mysterious tunnel...
Yeah Beebe! You guys are really an ispiration for me to bring Katsu to an agility class so that she can totally be afraid of everything! Good job if you were closer I'd ship Katsu out to Lindsay Shiba Boot Camp.
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I was, however, asked to bring a soft muzzle for the next practice, which is understandable as the dogs do go off lead and they do contact each other in the heat of the moment while they go after something that everyone else wants-the ball. Some other dogs got a little growly, too, but everybody is really good about being right there on top of them and keeping non working dogs on lead. They are being super flexible with letting us participate and I hope that she will be able to work along side these brand new dogs, as she has in all her other activities without issue.
This reaffirms my inital feeling that Shibas can easily do the tasks required by the sport, but it's the sharing part and being face to face with other dogs that is the challenge. Hopefully all of our training up till now will allow her to enjoy herself and not be a problem for the other handlers.
Is there anything Beebe can't do? Next thing I know you're going to have her do agility! What positive reinforcers do you employ when you're out in a situation like that? Red laser light? warm chicken in your pocket? cheese?
Please keep us updated as I'm very excited to hear the next episode of, "I(nu) can do anything you can do...better. I(nu) can do anything better than you."
Jesse
HOW Frickin COOL!!!!! I can't WAIT till the next update....because I KNOW there will be Spam by then! HHAHAHAHA HINT HINT HINT HINT lol
I've been "forgetting" the laser light at home for many weeks now. It's great for recalls and 1 to 1 training, but the other dogs get sort of worked up when they see her playing so it's a little too distracting (it works really well, though!)
I don't feed her before a session, so she starts out a little more willing to work, and I work her before I get to the location-take her for a good walk and then start off doing some drills right away-obedience stuff so she gets in the right frame of mind. I tell her, "Let's go to work" and get my piece of treat-it really doesn't matter what the treat is at this point as long as it's food-but something fishy and smelly or string cheese works best. I want her watching my face, not my pocket, so I sometimes keep the food in my mouth~and spit it at her or toss it to her so she has to catch it.
I'm trying to get her more focused on tennis balls as a fun toy, so I use those as a reward too. The main thing is her having excellent focus on me (I ask her to "watch me," my face/eyes) and being responsive and willing to work for play or food. She doesn't care about affection, so that is not her motivator. I used the "touch" command and "take it" for her to go up to the launcher that launches the balls and take the tennis ball. She got treats everytime she did that, it took a few seconds was all. She already knew how to do the hurdles from agility.
I need to find a way to get a video of us doing a run---