A Day to Give Thanks

Gosh, I'm really feeling thankful today. A huge weight is off my shoulders from the Secret I was carrying. Not proper time to reveal it, but everything is going to be OK and I am so relieved and happy. Truly, it's a beautiful day.
Yesterday (Wednesday) was a great training day with Moto. He really is beginning to get it and understands corrections. It sure has been stretching my training abilities teaching this dog, he is so very different from any other dog I've had. He never will be flashy but I am beginning to have hopes that he will turn into a nice Obedience dog. The attention is really coming along. With very little work, the swing finish is greatly improving. And he is now able to pick up the dumbbell from the ground. This is really going to take a lot of work to get properly. Once we get the retrieve completed he needs to understand the urgency of picking up the dumbbell. He's so laid-back that he needs to learn to turn in nice crisp work.
Tracking continues to be just amazing. One our fifth lesson he did four turns with an aged track of 30 minutes. He is very easy to read and works so beautifully. I am very confident that he will be ready to certify in January, February at the latest.
Blitz really desperately wanted to work so yesterday we did all the novice exercises. He was practically over the top happy. It's like having a Thoroughbred horse the way he prances and gives everything he has. What a joy. But, once it was over I could see how much it took out of him. If we ever do show him, it can only be one day not a full weekend, and I will need to be cautious not to over-exert him. I do hope at some point I can enter him. This magnificent dog deserves a title by his name.
I'm off to California, then Phoenix to visit family. I'll be back first week of December. YIKES. So much still to do!
Happy Thanksgiving to all, I hope you have a wonderful day!

A Really Exciting Weekend!

What a great weekend, I feel so blessed! It started with Friday as I was scooping poop and all five dogs swirled around me barking and playing. Five dogs is a lot but moments like that make it all worthwhile. Friday night sweet Dusty fell off the bed around 3:00 a.m. I heard the THUD, turned on the light and found him wandering around kind of dazed. He was fine, not even scared, just trying to figure out what the heck happened. Back up on the bed he went between Erik and I and then something so sweet happened: Dusty started to walk to the foot of the bed and up came Shiloh, herded Dusty back towards Erik and I, and he lay protectively at our feet ensuring Dusty's safety. Shelties are the BEST!
Saturday was an Obedience fun match. Blitz is doing OK but I could tell he didn't have the stamina to come along so it was just Moto this time. Another good surprise: Moto actually did an entire novice heeling pattern with attention! He only looked away once, during the fast, as we approached the gate. I was absolutely thrilled. Good attitude too! Stand for exam: perfect. Figure 8 - perfect (attention wise). Recall - quick and happy but he did a really sloppy finish which we will continue to work on. I only did one heeling pattern as we had success and I wanted him to realize THAT is what I want - good boy! Now that is he getting it we can begin the fine-tuning of correct heeling. Oh, he did great on his stays too. I was really really thrilled and proud!
Today the best news of all: The story of my very first dog, Sunny, was finally published in a book called "Tails from Beyond: the true story of our immortal pets". It's been years in the making. While I'm thrilled, proud and excited there is a lot of emotion there too. The after-life contact with my beloved dog was so personal and moving, and now it's out there for everyone to see. He'll be immortalized on those pages. Seeing such a close personal experience in print is very emotional and I can't really describe the depth of my feeling. But, I'm very, very glad and I hope this helps other folks dealing with the loss of their beloved furry or feathered friends.

By Jove, I think he's got it!

Today was HUGE! For the first time ever, I came away excited after training Moto. We worked on attention. I've backchained almost to the very beginning as I don't feel he fully understands that watch means Watch - even with distractions. We trained on the road with cars going by, by the fence with my other dogs barking at him, with toys on the ground, and he caught on pretty quickly. I was very pleased. We then worked on his folding down - he does it very nicely but he needs to be straight consistently. That cleaned up right away.
I wish the weather wasn't so nasty so we could work on go-outs and directed jumping more. The winds have been howling for days, it seems, and blow over the jumps.
The very best part was finishing the training, Moto seemed very pleased with himself, jumped up on his own with lots of tail wagging.
I've also noticed he's bonding to me more, choosing my company over the pack.
So progress really IS being made - there's hope after all!

Coming Along!

I was actually a bit encouraged at our obedience lesson yesterday! Moto did very well with the drills (he HATES drills) and the most exciting part is he seemed to prefer praise over food - HOORAY! This is huge, especially for my piggie puppy. He did pivot drills, glove drills, sit & down drills, stand for exam (two people going over him) and recalls (about 10). Sit/down stays were fantastic. The only thing he did not do well was heeling. But that is because I wanted heeling with attention, I don't think he is ready to heel with attention with the distraction of other dogs in the same room moving around. So while my trainer was calling out heeling patterns, I was in the center working on attention. This still needs a lot of work. He does great attention at home, now he needs to give attention with distraction at other places. He can do it at home anywhere on our five acres, in the street, but outside of home now needs practice.
Those motivating pops are really helping (pop to release) and he is responding nicely to these.
Once again, I'm encouraged.
He will never be what I call "crisp" but he can work at moderate speed and I'll always have to make sure he responds immediately. If I allow a slow sit once, I'm afraid it will become a problem.

Tracking Lesson #4

Moto had his 4th tracking lesson this past Friday. It's very cold here in the Midwest and the wind chill factor that day was about 32 degrees and it was HOWLING out there. My trainer decided to up the ante and lay a track with 2 turns and let it age 15 minutes. Not a problem for Mr. Moto! He did get lost on the very first turn but stuck with it, found the scent and drilled his way to the glove. Amazing. We laid another track so he got to work with the wind, against the wind, and with it coming from either side. He doesn't like going into the wind much (zig zags) but he's extremely precise in any other direction. With the wind he either trots or runs! What a little guy, so young yet he can do this. It's thrilling.
Sunday Five Dogs were given a bath by the Blonde. It was an all-day event as every dog was bathed, blown-dry, combed, ears & nails done. Now everyone's coat is so soft!
With two days off from Obedience Moto was really on the mark today. He really was lovely. Great attitude and he seemed very pleased with himself. I still wish for more drive as he's happy and not stressed, but he's always happier to stop working *sigh*. But I'll take what I can get - he is only six months old.

Backchaining

I have to say training Moto has been the biggest challenge of my brief dog-training experience. I trained my Novice A dog Dusty and it was always fun. I trained Shiloh to an OTCH and while it was very difficult, the time with him always flew by. Blitz was amazing and incredible. Moto....well...it's different. I thought we'd had that big breakthrough but Tuesday's lesson at my trainer's was not very inspiring. OK, maybe I'm being a bit tough on Moto. He did his pivots and while he was not enthusiastic (even with his beloved Cheez Whiz) he did it and he did try every single time. In fact, he did everything asked of him. There's just no SPARK. This time it was the heeling he didn't want to do. Well yes he did it, but he didn't feel like giving me attention. I need to re-evaluate this. I love attention heeling so very much but it has been SO HARD with him. If I really, really want attention heeling we are going to have to do some major backchaining. He can give me nice attention at home. He can also give me nice attention in different places, if he has the desire to do it. But if he's not in the mood, do I really want to start correcting this? Heeling to me states what your relationship is. It's everything. This dog can heel, and I believe he can do it very well, but it may not be in his being to do it with attention. I will be chewing on this for awhile as we continue our training.
Meantime he continues to roar ahead in tracking. Now THAT training is thrilling. He now works with his tail wagging he is having so much fun. He's fast and accurate.
Blitz is worrying me. He appears OK but is increasingly clingy. And the other dogs are excluding him from their playtime. When the dogs play Blitz now comes and cuddles with me or Erik. I am trying to make him feel special by giving him special snuggle time with me in the evenings now. He comes on the bed with Dusty and I when I watch TV or read before going to sleep. The vet said he would live to be 2, and if we were lucky he would make it to 6. Blitz will be 2 in February. Again, nothing physically appears wrong but I am concerned.
Maybe it's just the gray dreary day. I hope the sun comes out to cheer my mood!

I have a secret

I don't want to know it, but I do. To know it is both an honor and a burden. I will not reveal it as it is both beautiful and awful, and I do not want to demean the integrity of the person who dared bare their soul to me.
If, over time, it is the right time, I will share it.
For now, I need to at least share my heart, it hurts and is beautiful. Never in my life have I felt so alive and dead at the same time.
Please pray for us.

Gaining Momentum

Moto is almost six months old now and beginning to come into his own. Tracking by far is his favorite sport and the progress he is making continues to amaze me. In just three week's time he has learned to track, down at the articles and can do turns in any direction without working the corner. He is such a confident quick worker and it is thrilling to watch him.
Even Obedience is picking up the pace. He now comes to the dumbbell and takes it so now we can work on going lower and lower until it is on the ground. He is giving me nice attention for a good length of time. We are working turns (left and right) and circles, stops and starts. Those laterals are now translating into lateral fronts and he is understanding the "close" command now. I still would like him to go deeper on the swing finish and if I present it as something to figure out he does it so I am thrilled. He is most consistent with an "around" finish in terms of being straight.
He loves utility signals! We are now working on go-outs and directed jumping. Of course the jumps are only at 8". I have the jumps close together so that he cannot fail unless he works hard at it.
He is learning so fast I need to train more than twice a day. I am hoping by our club's March Obedience trial that I can have him in the Pre-Novice class. We will see but I am really encouraged by the rapid progress he is making. Motivation is still my biggest challenge but as our bond is getting better, I see more effort and less challenging of me.
I am becoming encouraged by him. He has been my most difficult dog so far!

Making History

Of all my voting life, I've never been on pins and needles, been glued to the TV, anxious like I am for this Presidential race. No matter who wins, history will be made and I was thrilled to be a part of it. The air practically crackled with excitement this gorgeous fall morning and even the crowd was pleasant, polite and excited as we waited our turn to cast our votes.
Tomorrow - a new president. I hope and pray it is my candidate.
Back to ordinary life stuff:
Moto is really turning on to tracking. He had his 3rd lesson and actually tried to crawl out to the track. We tried a turn and no problem. Tried another one in the other direction no problem. He did four tracks (a lot for a not-6 mo old pup) with enthusiasm and focus. Tracking is not my thing, but it sure is his, so we will be pursuing this venue.
Meantime he really is getting the pivots now, thanks to Cheez Whiz! Heeling is really coming along, and he is beginning to have a nice cadence to his stride. What I like is I will really get to step out quickly in the ring since he is so big. I need to remain vigilant on quick sits, fronts and finishes. This dog likes to do things right the first time and is very thoughtful.
Well back to the TV. I'm running on adrenaline!