A Taste of Freedom: Part 1

We’ve been in the Adirodacks for 2 full days now. The dogs are in love with the place all over again, especially now that Maxwell can be (mostly) trusted off-leash. They rough-house in the woods, chase each other up and down the hills, and play fetch in the lake.

Maxwell does have the unfortunate habit of wanting to make friends all the time. See some kids swimming a few docks down? Run along the shore to go greet them. Or maybe he thinks they need saving… not entirely sure. Even better was when it turned out that those kids belonged to another dog! A gigantic, friendly black Great Dane, who absolutely dwarfed my little Aussie. I was glad Maxwell was wearing his drag-line, since I had to physically haul him back home. I’ve got some leftover bacon that says he’ll be getting better at his recalls this week...

We also had a major breakthrough yesterday. Sadie is an excellent swimmer, and will play fetch in the water until she practically can’t move any more. Maxwell has always been willing to walk in up to his belly, but was afraid to swim. Even for a tennis ball, he would practically have a heart attack in anxiety rather than take one step past standing depth to grab it. In an effort to make him more confident, I ordered him a life vest. And thus, I created a monster.

Totally fearless, Maxwell will swim as far as he must to retrieve in the lake

In fact, he’ll even challenge Sadie for the toy, though with her size advantage and webbed feet, she nearly always wins.

He nearly always just lets her have it as soon as she gets to him

With all this exercise, the pups are eating a ton. They normally get 1 cup of kibble twice a day, plus a few treats. Here, they are getting 1.5 cups twice a day, plus treats, plus our dinner leftovers. Monday night they feasted better than most humans on flank steak, potato and yam skins, and steamed broccoli. It was such high-value food that Sadie’s brain seemed to shut down. She jumped and spun in anticipation and had a hard time settling enough to get any training done.

Their energy levels are completely different. Yes, I knew that when I first got my little man, but it’s incredibly clear here. After a good romp and swim, Sadie wants to curl up on a couch and snooze.

The smell of Boyfriend feet always makes a nap that much better

Maxwell will spend the next hour pacing around the house, or chasing any bugs that got inside, or pestering me for attention. It’s only after a prolonged period of quiet that this happens:

Just don't tell my mom he was sleeping on the guest bed...

They twitch and woof so adorably when they’re exhausted.

I'm Baaaaaack!

Howdy all!

The pups and people have been away this past week on a much-needed vacation in the Adirondacks. But not to worry, because training hardly stops just because I'm not going to the office! In fact, I have a series of vacation posts all set to publish over the next week... Okay, most of them are set. I still have to write the last one.

To give you a little something until then, I recommend reading about Hounds on the Sound, and maybe even signing up! I would, except that the four of us will be driving back from Chicago that day. So I'll envy the walkers. Besides, nothing like a little charity and exercise with your dog to make the weekend complete.

Too Good To Miss

There's a blog called Hyperbole and a Half which is absolutely hilarious, and I highly recommend for anyone with a soul and a heart.

In particular, the writer has two dogs. She occasionally devotes entire posts to their (mis-)adventures, complete with wonderful, yet often simple, illustrations. You absolutely must read the most recent dog-related post, Wild Animal (The Simple Dog Goes for a Joy Ride). I think she has perfectly captured the world from a dog's perspective.

By the way, I would pay real money to have a signed poster of the very last image in that post.

Click!

I, being a bit fickle, got bored with my training recently. The protocol is excellent for Maxwell, but it's not exactly exciting. Yay, my dog can lie down quietly for 20 seconds! Party time! Wooo! Ahem...

So I've challenged myself to a few new tricks. The first one is for both dogs, and is more of a timing problem than anything. My goal is to be able to stick out my tongue, and have that cue the dogs to lick their noses. The problem is capturing their natural licks quickly and consistently. Plus, I don't think either one has a clue what's making the click happen. Their nose licks are not conscious behaviors, so they may not even be aware that that's what preceded each click. Sadie seems to lick after each bit of kibble, so I can get a pretty constant stream of feedback to her. Maxwell does it much less, and then frantically offers behaviors in the hopes of doing the right one. When none work, he throws himself into a down. But that's only a few minutes of work, so we'll see if either dog picks it up!

I'm also teaching Maxwell to fetch a bath towel. I've started by backchaining it, using the same methods as the tug training. Hold edge of towel and ask him to TAKE IT. Then ask but wait for a light tug as well. We're up to me tossing the towel about 5 feet away, and asking him to GET THE TOWEL. He'll run over, mouth it a bit to get a decent grip, pick up whichever part he grabbed, and take a step or two towards me. That gets heavily rewarded. The cute part is that I can see he wants to actually bring it to me, but gets frustrated when he steps on the trailing end and stops himself. Poor guy, I did catch myself raising the criteria too fast, trying to get the towel all the way to hand. He got so discouraged that I had to click a mere bite to get the behavior chain started again. Learning moment for the trainer! I can't wait until he figures out how to walk without stepping on it. It'll be a great trick when I go swimming at the lake!

I'd like Maxwell to start learning the names of things. It would be awesome to teach him to TAKE, GET, or FIND various objects around the apartment. How great would it be to say FIND YOUR BALL, and have him start hunting for his favorite tennis ball? Or say GET YOUR LEASH and have him bring it to me? I wonder if Sadie would allow herself to be brought over by him pulling on her traffic tab...

A thought for vacation training: teach Sadie to fetch the line on a kayak, thereby bringing a "loose" boat back to shore. That'll take some work, but vacation means lots of free time!

Last thought - Mrs. Trainer lent me Really Reliable Recall tonight. I cannot wait to watch it! Definitely a must-do for the crazy energy dog.