Sick Day

I was sick yesterday with a nasty cold but still managed to get the dogs out on a walk and get them all groomed, as well as do some Open training with Noel. It's amazing how I can find the energy for training but not cleaning the house. :-) This weekend is our annual Halloween fun match and I'm starting to get ready for that, in between grooming dogs and taking care of Eva. It's always a fun event that I look forward to every year. We top the match off with a costume parade and pictures of all the dogs in costumes. Yes, they hate it, but I always tell my dogs that it's only once a year and they can suffer a short time for their mom (that's me) who loves them. By the emails I've been getting it sounds like we'll have a good turn out, especially for Rally and Obedience. I'm going to do a Novice run through with Noel. Even though it's in our building it's still much more formal than a regular practice so it will be a good test to see how ready we are. Hopefully the weather will hold and we'll have a beautiful fall sunny day.

Weekend activity

It was a busy weekend! Saturday was the HSNEI (PAW) walk fundraiser event and despite the rain it seemed like a good turn out. Scott did agility demos with Maya and helped people teach their dogs some of the agility equipment. HSNEI is in need of volunteers as usual, but especially foster homes and transporters. Transporters are needed to pick up and deliver dogs out of town to different rescue groups. We're not able to do any fostering right now because of then number of dogs we already have, but I did volunteer to help with transporting.

Sunday was a club practice and potluck in Elkader (postponed from Saturday due to the rain). What a gorgeous day! I've been having Noel practice full Novice run throughs for her breakfast every day, so that's what we did at the club practice. I was very happy with how she did. Still a few minor tweaks to make before we're ready for competition but we're pretty close. Scott and Sula are getting ready for Novice as well and they also had a good run through yesterday.

Herding lesson

Everyone who herds with their dogs always says that it is an activity that will make the relationship you have with your dog evident. Noel and I had another practice today, along with Scott and Paloma. I should have known that after our last lesson was so calm and under control that this one would be a little more active (understatement). Noel was full of it, and being the control freak that I am, I can't seem to stay cool and collected like I need to be. The more she escalates the more I escalate, which causes her to escalate more and then I escalate more. You get the idea. It wasn't pretty. My instructor came out to help and she has everything under control within seconds. My lack of talent as a shepherd is astounding. Scott and Paloma on the other hand, had a very calm practice - they both did great. Scott joked on the way home that maybe it's because Paloma is almost 11. I responded that maybe when Noel is 10 we'll be able to be calm too. Then again, maybe not.

Training a deaf dog for competition

Let me introduce Maya to you: she is an eight-year-old, quite nearly all white, Australian Shepherd mix who is completely deaf. She is a wonderful companion and great working dog. She has earned a couple of agility titles, has her open obedience title (UKC CDX), and a tracking title (TD--from AMBOR). She is also a terrific trick dog, being able to "stand tall," "wave," "bow" (Japanese style--I spent a bit of time in Japan in the past), "speak," "whisper," and "play dead." Currently we are working on her UD . In fact, we are doing much of the same kind of training that Carmen is doing with Noel--Maya is progressing nicely, though we have had plenty of hiccups along the way.

Deaf dogs are becoming more common in competition venues--I've seen them in both agility and obedience. Gone are the days when people believed that such dogs should not compete and can't be trained, though these attitudes still persist among some: when Maya was a young puppy I remember a few people insisting that I have her put down because her deafness would compromise her quality of life; others have wondered whether she really can be successful in performance sports. I can tell you with confidence that Maya's quality of life has not been affected--she doesn't know anything else, but deafness; after all, she was born deaf. Moreover, her scores for her CDX were all over 195, the highest being 197.5--she is definitely a capable competition dog. Most people, however, understand that deafness is not really a handicap, and I can tell you it makes dealing with noisy distractions very, very easy :-).

Maya has taught me a lot--she is a master at reading body language (most dogs are) and because she is so attentive will respond to the slightest twitch I make. She is particularly sensitive, so I have to be very conscience of my body especially when she makes a mistake--she knows immediately if I am disappointed or frustrated (two emotions that always make things worse when it comes to training).

The primary challenge in working with a deaf dog is knowing what hand and body signals to use for various commands. Most people figure something out for basic obedience and as long as they remain consistent, the dog usually learns these signals very quickly. It becomes more of a challenge when you are competing. What do you use, for example, when you do a "go out" for utility? Signaling the dog to go out to the end of the ring seems fairly easy, but then what about the sit at the end of the "go out?"--figure that one out--after all the dog is not facing you when you give the "sit" command--and, as you might have guessed, it helps a great deal if your deaf dog can see your signals....Maya and I are figuring something out...fudging it really...but you can see where a bit of creativity comes in handy.

Anyway, more about Maya and the rest of my crew later.

Scott

Scent Article training Part III

I think we've got it! We did three sends today. The first to a scented metal article, in which she scented the pile, found the correct one and brought it back! I stood there with my mouth open, recovered from the shock and we celebrated with a huge reward. Second time sent to a leather scented article. This time she found and indicated the correct article so I went out and rewarded her, and she picked it up and brought it back. Another big reward. Third send was to another scented leather. She went out, searched the pile and brought it back. Jackpot! Tomorrow we'll move it out to the training room and see how it goes in another location.

Rain, rain, go away!

Scent Article training part II

Possible break through today? Or maybe luck - we'll find out tomorrow. This morning we did three sends to a scented metal article. The first one she was confused and I had to point to the correct article, then asked for her indication, then rewarded. Second send was better, she continued to "guess" and happened to sniff and indicate the correct article but I'm pretty sure it was by chance. I ran out and rewarded. Third time, although still a little hesitant, she used her nose and indicated the correct article - I ran out and jackpotted, then asked her to pick it up and bring it back to me which she did, and I gave her a big reward again. Woo hoo! Then we quit for the day. I was happy, she was happy with herself too, a much better practice than yesterday. We'll find out tomorrow if it was just a fluke or if she's starting to understand what I am asking of her. Either way, she's trying really hard to figure out what I want so I'm feeling positive that we'll get it soon.

Scent Article training

Noel and I have been working on scent article training, along with Scott and Maya, to prepare our dogs for Utility. For those of you unfamiliar with obedience competition Utility is the third and most difficult level and requires several dicrimination exercises. In the scent article exercise the handler (me) puts their scent on a metal or leather dumbbell and places the scented dumbbell in an area around several unscented articles. The dog is required to search the pile and bring back the one with the handler's scent on it. No matter which method is used to teach this exercise, and there are several, all with their own merits, there will come a point of confusion for the dog as to what they are supposed to do. Noel has been plugging along easily in her training. She has a strong tendency to use her nose and I expect that when the exercise is clear to her that she will have few problems with it. However yesterday we hit that bump in the road where she has absolutely no idea what I'm asking of her and she is guessing and trying her best to figure it out. The method I am using for her involves tying down the unscented articles to pegboard with fishing line. So if she tries to pick up the incorrect one she is met with resistance. Let me tell you something about Rottweilers.... they often like to use their brute strength to get things done, and this was no exception. She tried to carry the entire pegboard back to me by retrieving an incorrect article. We are practicing about three short lessons per day until we can work through the confusion. I'll keep you posted on our progress.