My Agility Paradox

As I've been writing about for the past month and a half, Teddy and I are working through the Ruff Love program. We are still in phase 1, and I expect to be until at least April. I'm in no hurry to rush him through the program and half do it like I did with our foundation training. I'm not going to make that mistake ever again. I learned my lesson the hard way.

Teddy and I have had a break from agility training for about the past month. This was due to bad weather and me being out of town, etc. So, when we pulled into the a parking spot for agility class last night, Teddy started excitedly barking when he realized where we were. I didn't know if this was a good or a bad sign. He was a bit over the top when he saw his old friends both human and canine. So, I warmed him up with some attention games to try to get some focus. We also tugged and I pulled out the "good treats". I bought a couple of those Skinneez toys that don't have any stuffing, which Teddy is crazy about. Here he's holding the mini raccoon. I didn't realize there were bigger ones until I went back to the store, and I bought a bigger leopard. They are great because you can wad them up and stick them in your pocket. Please don't look too closely at the unkempt poodle. He's overdue for a haircut. You can also see in the picture that we are continuing to wear the head halti. As his face grows out, he is developing a noticeable groove where the halti sits across his nose, poor boy. But I digress......

Much to my surprise, we had the best class that I can remember for a long time. We worked on threadles and various short sequences. It's not the exercises that we did that made it a great class and it's not that we did everything exactly as planned, but that we were really working together. Teddy was a happy, bouncy dog, not interested in zooming off, but really trying to play with me.

One of my biggest issues is my nerves. When the leash comes off, I worry that Teddy will start zooming. When I worry, Teddy picks up on this and thinks that something is wrong. When he senses something strange with me, he doesn't want to play agility (or anything else), which makes him zoom. Zooming is more fun than hanging out with mom who is acting weird. Thus, my agility paradox: the worrying about my dog zooming will only increase the probability of my dog zooming. I can only relax when I see my dog playing the game with me (ie not zooming), which will decrease the likelihood that he will zoom. It's a catch 22. Someday I want to make a video and edit together a bunch of his zooms. It's really funny when it's not you.

I was ecstatic that we had such a great night on the agility field. It feels so great when you and your dog are working together in sync. I don't know if it was because Teddy was glad to be back, the treats, or all of the Ruff Love work that we have been doing lately. I just hope that we can stay in this groove and make some progress.

Gigi Does New York

I was really thrilled this year to be able to go to New York to watch the Westminster Kennel Club dog show for the first time. I've grown up watching it on tv forever, and I've always wanted to go. So, my mom and I took a trip I'll never forget. On a mad dash out the door on the day we flew out, I saw Gigi, a small silver poodle that my mom brought me back from one of her trips, sitting by my phone. I grabbed her, thinking I could let her be a part of the fun. So, here is Gigi's perspective of our trip to New York. I had to take the pictures with my phone, so the quality is not great. Forgive me if this sounds a little like a children's book, I'll post my real pictures soon in a different blog entry.

Gigi helped get the car loaded so we could get the airport faster, we don't want to miss the plane.

Gigi waits anxiously to board the plane.

Gigi enjoys a cold beverage on the plane. Are we there yet?

We're finally in New York and checked into our hotel room. Gigi can't wait to jump on the bed and order room service.

On the first night, we went to see Wicked. Gigi gave it two paws up.

Here's the inside of the theatre.

The next day, we went to the top of the Empire State Building. That was one place that I had never been to, and because one of my favorite movies is "An Affair to Remember", it was a must see. We were lucky that it wasn't too cloudy that day. Gigi is right above Time Square here. We could still see the New Year's ball.

Next, we took a carriage ride through Central Park South. Gigi wanted to run through the snow and play with the dogs that she saw. I told her that the snow would just get stuck in her bracelets.

On Sunday, we went to the Yorkshire Terrier Club of America specialty show. There were so many beautifully groomed Yorkies all in one room. Gigi thought that since she is a poodle that it would be rude if she made an appearance.

After a fabulous day at Madison Square Garden and getting to watch the poodles being judged at ringside, we returned to watch the groups judged. The ring looks smaller than it does on tv.

Can't believe we are finally here.

Here's our group! We cheered loudly for the poodles.

We returned for Day 2 of the breed judging. Gigi felt like a real New Yorker when she started yelling at the people passing in front of us to keep moving along so everyone could see the rings.

Gigi can't wait for Best in Show to begin! We get to cheer for poodles some more.

After a wonderful week in New York, it was good to get home to my little show poodle (ha!). However, I don't think this is how Gigi wanted to be greeted.

In Celebration of Yorkies

I've spent most of my time on this blog lately focusing on Teddy and our current issues. So, I have neglected the yorkie twins, Heidi and Gracie. To remedy this, I've put together a few videos that we've taken over the past couple of months. The first is the girls playing with a new toy, a baby bird that chirps. They have a lot of fun playing together.

Heidi and Gracie turned 1 year old on December 6, 2008. We can't believe that they are already 1! The time really does go fast, even though we never thought they would get out of the teething/chewing stage. One of my favorite pictures in this video is with Teddy, and the girls are looking down on him, trying to figure out how they can get to him. When they look down, their birthday hats start falling in their face.

This last video was taken most recently. My parents added a sunroom onto their house, and the girls LOVE to go out there and play with their little soccer ball. Their toy drive has really kicked in. They really are too cute when they are playing together, we just have to make sure it doesn't get too rough. Enjoy the slow motion part in the middle because it took me forever to figure out how to make that work. The girls really are a joy!

Life is Like an A-Frame

OK, maybe not my life, but my weekend sure was. We had apexes and bottoms (and not the pretty 2 on/2 off bottoms). Friday was good. We drove to McKinney, TX, and after seeing the hotel we had reservations in, I promptly pulled out the GPS and found an alternative. I wouldn't let my dog stay in the first hotel. We drove all over Allen and Plano looking for dog food, as our local source is no longer carrying it. Teddy makes friends wherever he goes, and he put on a 10 minute performance for 2 nice kids in the toy aisle of the pet supply store. I didn't have any treats on me, so I was pleased that he went through his repertoire without any yummy encouragement. By the time we were done, the little boy wanted to trade in his new schnauzer puppy for a poodle, or at least one that liked to jump over his leg and say his prayers. On the way to the pet supply store, we stumbled upon a dog park, so we checked it out on the way back to the hotel. It was very nice and well maintained, and the dogs all seemed to be unusually calm. I was very hesitant to take Teddy's leash off, but I knew after being in the car all day, he needed to burn off some energy. Teddy ran around for just a couple of minutes, and he actually sat and stayed for me to grab his collar. Yea! That night, I got to hang out with my friends Julie and Eric and their two kids. Julie even cooked chicken enchiladas. Friday was a good day.

Saturday started off very early, but very good. I got to hang out with poodle friends and watch them run. We had to wait around until mid afternoon for our time to run. I felt good because the jumper's course was simple and flowy. It was a course that we should not have had a problem running. The highlight was that I was able to get Teddy focused before we went into the ring. We did some circle work (we had room because everyone was gone by the time it was time for novice), which Teddy loved, and it got him pumped up and focused on me. I was even able to take his leash off at the practice jump and have him come back to me. But then, we got in the ring, he took the first jump, and he was off in zoomieland. I finally got him to sit and stay and I got his collar. When I left the ring, I handed him to my friend's sister, and I left the area. I think it did have an impact on Teddy because they said that he was upset and looking for me. The standard course was difficult, my friends said that it was not that different from the excellent course. I was able to warm Teddy up the same way before going in the ring, so I felt alright. Our highlight for the weekend came early, but was very brief. We started with the tunnel, turned to a jump, and I made the front cross to a panel jump. We were headed to the teeter, when everything fell apart. Teddy caught a whiff of the blue barrel trash can and ran over to the side of the ring to start sniffing. He totally disconnected from me, and we were done. In hindsight, I should have goosed him and ran to the exit, since we were getting whistled off anyway. Oh well, I have to look for the bright spots.

That night, I had a really great time hanging out with my old college friends. Some of them I had not seen in at least a year and a half, and I got to meet some of their new babies. Teddy really enjoyed playing with the kids and doing tricks for them. We even got to chat with friends via the web cam, which was all wonderful. The bad part was when I went to get in my car late that night. I forgot to bring in my GPS because I had Teddy and several other things to carry inside. Well, my car had a smashed driver's side window and my GPS was gone. What a mess!! There was glass everywhere- all over the driver's side and in every nook and cranny in the front of the car. The police came and we made a report. Then my wonderful friends Eric and Julie and my best friend, Kelly, helped me clean up the mess. We vacuumed and vacuumed and then vacuumed some more. After all that, I'm still finding pieces of glass here and there. Eric worked so hard trying to cover my window with cardboard. He even cut a window and duct taped layers of plastic wrap so that I could see my rear view mirror. He did such a good job that it held up on the 4 1/2-5 hour drive home on Sunday. Julie let me crash at their place that night because I was afraid that with a cardboard window my car would get stolen at the hotel. My friends are my heroes!

After all of that I didn't sleep much Saturday night, so I decided not to run Teddy at the trial on Sunday. I was exhausted and not in the right mindset, and I felt like it would be unfair to Teddy to ask him to work under those conditions. I packed up my stuff at the hotel and got to the trial site in time to see some friends run. Before leaving, I let Teddy play on the practice jump for a minute and made it fun just to try to give him a good experience on Sunday. Since I no longer had my GPS, my friend Pam was nice enough to let me follow her to the main highway, so I could find my way home. The cardboard on the window kept out the cold wind, but I did have a noisy drive home. I had quite a headache by the time I made it back. So that was my crazy up and down weekend. Now my car's in the shop, the roads are icy, I have a head cold, and Teddy and I are both exhausted. Time to crash!

My Late New Year's Resolution

I hate making New Year's resolutions. It's so pointless to make a life changing promise that you know you won't keep through the end of the month. So, for probably the first time in my life, I'm actually going to make and keep a New Year's resolution. Yes, it's almost February, so does it have to be a Groundhog Day resolution? Somehow that doesn't have the same ring to it. Well, my resolution is to complete the Ruff Love program and follow it exactly. I think there will be aspects of it that I will continue to come back to throughout my dog's life.

We are off to a good start to Stage 1. Teddy has been wearing his head halti for over a week now, and is past the three days of wearing it straight. He still paws at it from time to time, but he's pretty used to it by now. Wearing the leash when he is out of the crate is helping me to work on things that I never thought were a big deal before. For instance, at work, we are working on Teddy respecting the doorway to my office. I don't want him to bolt whenever someone walks by that he wants to greet.

The hand feeding has been a blessing in disguise as well. Of course, mornings are so busy that I just don't have time to hand feed his entire breakfast, but the great thing about weekends is that I can hand feed 100% of his food. I'm using his meals to review tricks that he already knows and teach him new things. We've been working on our utility signals and go outs. We've also been working on some new moves for freestyle. In one of our routines, we use a large wooden clock face. I'm shaping Teddy to use his paw to move the hands on the clock to change the time. He's actually done it several times, but it's not reliable yet.

I think I am beginning to see small improvements in Teddy's behavior. He's a little more responsive to me and a little more focused. Maybe it's just because I want to see improvements, only time will tell. We attended a group agility class at my training club on Sunday. Lately, we have been breaking up into small groups by three different jump heights and work different sequences and rotate around the field. The last two weeks, everyone has watched (and been inconvenienced by) Teddy zooming around the field. This week, I was amazed that Teddy did not zoom at all. He had nice focus and was working very well for me. It was so nice to see him trying. One person, who does not know me or Teddy's history, asked what happened over the past week to cause this much of a difference. I was thrilled with this glimpse of teamwork.

On Tuesday, we took a private lesson with a different instructor. This instructor has helped us a great deal over the past couple of years, and she is great at reading dogs. When we got there, I warmed Teddy up and we did some figure 8's over the practice jump. For some reason, lately Teddy is refusing the chute. He did this at our agility trial last November, and has not refused it again until last week. I have no idea why, but since this is a current issue, my instructor wanted to tackle this problem first. After Teddy was warmed up, we went straight to the chute. He refused it and did his little dance in front of the barrel, and then he took off. Teddy decided that he would rather avoid the chute at that time and zoom. Since he didn't want to come back, my instructor had me leave the field and go hide behind my car where it was dark and he couldn't see me. When Teddy slowed down, she was able to get a slip lead on him, and then called me back on to the field.

After holding the chute open a couple of times, we were able to get Teddy going through it happily again, and I threw toys past the closed end, and he was an eager boy again. We kept coming back to the chute periodically throughout the class, and he never refused it again. The rest of the class, we did a speed circle, worked on weaves, and getting a tighter wrap. I have to say that Teddy did great for the rest of the class. We let him do his own thing in between exercises while we discussed what we were going to do, and then he came racing back when I called him. I have to say that I was very pleased with this, except for all of the sheep poop that he ate. Boy I hope there was some nutritional value in sheep poop because he sure loves it.

I had already signed Teddy up for the Lonestar Poodle Club's agility trial that is this weekend way before we started this program. I would probably scratch him until I see more progress, but I'm going as much for social reasons as I am to run in the trial. I'm excited to hang out with old poodle friends as well as my Baylor buddies. Woohoo! So, we will go and see what happens. I have zero expectations, especially about qualifying. If Teddy stays in the ring with me and tries to work with me, I'll be thrilled. That's all I can ask for right now. I'm not going to sign up for any more agility trials until at least April. Stay tuned for my trial report!

Doggie Boot Camp

I'll never forget the day that Teddy arrived. We drove to the cargo pick up building at the airport and went inside. As soon as I walked into the office, I could hear loud barking coming from somewhere in the back of the echoing warehouse. I thought surely that couldn't be my little angel puppy? Oh, but it was. Teddy was mad at the world and very angry at being confined in that little crate for the long journey.

And that was just the beginning. At only 12 weeks old, Teddy came ready to take control of my world. He wanted to rule, and since I was the only one around, I became his loyal subject. The dog that preceeded Teddy was a 4 1/2 pound very soft, often ill Yorkshire Terrier. So coming from this background, it's needless to say that this rolicking Standard Poodle was a bit of a change. I knew how to love a dog, but I didn't know how to be a leader in this type of relationship.

Over the years, Teddy and I have gotten along just fine. He is great around the house and very easy to care for. We've had modest success in the obedience, rally, and freestyle rings, and we both enjoy therapy visits. Our performances aren't stellar, but we do good enough to get by with brief and sporadic moments of glory. But there is definitely something missing from our working relationship, and it really shows up in our agility performance. In the hyped up, adrenaline-filled agility field it exaggerates the lack of teamwork between dog and handler. So, after 5 years of frustration and vying to be top dog, I decided that I needed to take action. Many people told me that they would have given up on Teddy a long time ago, but I only found those comments to be hurtful and offensive. Giving up on Teddy would do him a great disservice. He's not a dog that wants to sit at home on the couch all day. He's capable of so much more, and besides, it's not his fault that I never learned how to take the reigns. And I sure don't want my next dog to have similar issues.

I'm a big fan of Susan Garrett. I've read several of her books and bought her training dvd's. Everything that she says makes sense and I like her methods. So, I've decided to follow her Ruff Love program. I'll be blogging about Teddy's progress as we go through the stages. The program is not as mean as it sounds, in fact, it is very humane and all about positive reinforcement. It mainly teaches me how to control Teddy's rewards and use them effectively to motivate him.

We started the program around January 5, although, I have to admit that I only partially followed it for the first week. Instead of having Teddy on leash when he was outside of his crate, I just had him follow me from room to room in the house, so I was constantly using verbal commands with him. I also only hand fed about half of his meals. Because of that, I really did not see any improvements in Teddys behavior. As of this week, I am following the program to the letter. I bought a head halti, and Teddy wears it whenever he is out of his crate. I only take it off for obedience classes, therapy visits, and to brush his teeth. I have been hand feeding about 85% of his food. I also control his access to his toys, and we have many play sessions throughout the day. What I really like about this is that toys that he was previously bored with, are now exciting when I bring them out. The only time that Teddy will really be able to run off leash is when we are in agility class.

It could be my imagination, but I think I can already see a tiny bit of improvement in Teddy. The other night during our utility obedience class, we had some down time while other people worked. I took Teddy in an adjacent ring and practiced some freestyle moves while a Golden Retriever puppy was working at the other end of the ring. I took off his leash so that we could do some moves around my legs, and he was giving me some really nice attention. I was surprised that he was that focused on me with the puppy nearby. Maybe he was really hungry, who knows, but I'll take that as a good sign. The real test will be when we go to agility class. We'll see how his focus has improved. Check back here as I will try to provide updates on our progress. I'm really looking forward to removing those muddy paw prints from off of my forehead!

Icee

As usual, our weather has been crazy around here- one day in the 70's, the next highs in the 30's. I think that is what I have to blame for my nasty sinus infection. On Monday, we had freezing rain, which was just enough to mess up the roads slightly and make the trees sparkle with ice. It was really quite lovely. When I left work, I had icicles all over my car. When I got home, I found them all over my house, fence, and the agility equipment in my backyard. Here are some pictures that I took.

Of course if the camera is out, I am obliged to take a picture of the dog, too. It reminds me of an old Czech proverb, "every dog is black after midnight," or was that every cow. No matter, it's always hard to take a picture of Teddy.