"My vet said..."

What do you say to somebody who starts every other sentence with "My vet said..." and ends it with something you wholeheartedly disagree with?

As BF and I were walking the pups this evening, we met a guy walking his 13-week-old Ridgeback. "Cute" doesn't even begin to describe the pup. The second thing I noticed was the collar. The shiny, puppy-sized choke chain. On a 13-week-old dog! He at least switched the leash to the flat collar so the dogs could socialize.

I got the guy chatting about the pup, and learned a bit about his training preferences. Basically, if the vet said so, that's what he does. Dog eating foreign objects off the ground? Leash correct him. Dog starting to guard food? You're not correcting hard enough. Holy frijoles, Batman! This guy is going old-school hard-ass on his poor puppy!

I asked if he was taking the dog to classes. He said no, that his vet said (there we go again..) that the walks and going to work with the owner were enough. Apparently his vet used to train police dogs in Canada. Hm... now things are starting to makes sense.

At least the guy was able to say "I know any trainer I talk to is going to tell me I'm doing everything wrong." Great. NOW CHANGE!

Oh, and exercise? Mr. Wonderful Vet said he should start jogging. With the 13-week-old puppy. Yeah... let's fast forward 5 or 6 years to our first hip surgery, shall we?

So let's see here... We've got a 13-week-old pup who already:

• Guards food
  
• Is being taken for sustained runs
  
• Is on a choke chain
  
• Gets physical corrections, not treats, for training

I was very careful not to say he was doing anything wrong. I did point out that his methods were old-school, that many trainers are moving to positive reinforcement, and that PCOTC has great trainers and awesome classes. Hopefully the next time I see him I'll have some trainers' cards on me.

What would you have said to this guy?

1 + 2 = 11.5

That is, one human plus two dogs equals eleven and a half miles.

I've started running again. I'm determined to get out no less than 3 times during the work-week, plus a short anti-Maxwell-zoomies run on Saturday mornings. I even have a wager with a guy at work. If I can do that for two months, he owes me a coffee. The tally so far? Four 2.5 mile runs before work, and 1.5 miles this morning.

It's been great for the dogs, too. Maxwell is much calmer after the runs, although he's ready for round 2 within minutes. It seems to carry through the day, so he's not completely bouncing off the walls when we get home from work. AND... he pulls much less when we run than when we walk. Sadie is lazy, pure and simple. She move juuuuuust fast enough to keep up with me, and is ready for a nap as soon as we come in the door.

I think I see an extra large double-shot mocha in my future...

Success is Having Fun

This past Sunday was my first NADAC competition, held at St. Hubert's Animal Welfare Center. I entered all six events offered that day, despite not knowing the rules to half of them. This was intended to be practice for me and Sadie, and hopefully help her learn to relax more at trials. It was also the first trial for two of my classmates, and second for another (and the first was long ago).

I got to the trial site in plenty of time to set up, despite getting lost on my way there. I got both dogs settled into their giant soft crate and myself set up with a folding chair. Of course, when Mr. and Mrs. Trainer got there, the area I picked was too close to the road. So I moved next to their tent, and the others came and set up nearby as well. We ended up moving around throughout the day to keep in better shade anyway, even with the three tents!

Of the six runs, we only NQ'ed two. Of course, the other four were eliminations... Since we had never actually done hoops before, it was no surprise that she was clueless in the first run - hoopers! Our other "special" run was regular (akin to Standard in AKC). And by special, I mean we didn't run. Sadie fixated on the previous dog, and would not give me any attention. She ended up running to the fence to look over it for the dog, then running out the entrance. Loose, crazy Lab running through the trial site was not good.

After much soul-searching and consultations with my trainers, I decided to attempt our final run. The plan was to see if she could focus, and make an on-the-spot decision whether to run or thank the judge and walk out. Sadie decided to cooperate! She seemed ok, so I just tossed the leash and ran. No sit, no wait, just move. We by no means finished the course (that's what happens when the dog pees in the corner...) but she moved well and followed direction. It was a hell of a relief, and I was beyond glad we could end on a high note.

Here are two of our better runs. We almost Q'ed in tunnelers, but Sadie's little pause in the corner cost us course time. And pay special attention to the jumpers run at 0:27. I consider that the highlight of the trial.

 

Tunnelers: We'd have Q'ed if she hadn't forgotten why we were there for 6 seconds...

Jumpers: This way is definitely faster!

On an even better note, everyone else from the club ran really well. My trainers took home a handful of ribbons (surprise surprise), one first-timer Q'ed with his BC, and the second-timer got 4th place and a Q with her Lab. Though the Beardie didn't Q, he did a fantastic job not mugging his handler the whole time, and seemed quite happy on-course. Even if his handler was "too slow"... I think she'd need steroids to keep up!

I know Mr. Trainer is very worried that I'm upset by Sadie's results. While I am disappointed we didn't get any Q's, and was not pleased with the run-out, I think the day was a success overall. I had fun, Sadie got some good outside practice, Maxwell got to hang out at a trial, and my friends all ran well. It was even sunny. Note to self - pack sunscreen!

Punk'd

I've often called Maxwell "Punk" as a goofy nickname. Now I know just how appropriate it is.

I trained the pups tonight in exchange for their dinner. Given his, er, issues with the bedroom A/C, I decided to work in there for a while. Luckily he thought nothing of it when I gradually moved the training into the bedroom. We ended up working in the small open space (maybe 3x8?) between the bed and the wall with the A/C. Sits, downs, stands, ups (onto the bed), etc. Nothing he doesn't know cold already.

After a few minutes, I noticed him glance at the A/C. It was a slightly worried "Is that thing dangerous?" look. So I did what any good clicker trainer does. I clicked. And it worked! He glanced happily at me for his kibble. After that I clicked any glance towards the A/C.

Then he ignored a sit cue. Unusual for him when in "work mode." But you know what he did? He NOSE TARGETED THE A/C! Huge click/treat for that. And even better, he kept offering the target. I turned it into a game, where I'd look at the A/C, and he'd have to target it to get kibble. We got to the point where he had to take a few steps to reach it, and then come back for the food.

I love my little punk.