Happy 1st Birthday, Rye!

Photo by Look Back Photography
Editing that ruins Look Back's work by Monique

Today is Rye's (and Sagan's and Ben's and Reba's) first birthday.

Rye is a charming dog who is easy to live with. He is definitely becoming a teenager, testing my patience at times. Lora can tell you she has to remind me that "f*#&@r" is not a name or a command ;) He looks lovely on sheep and is now ready to work several times a week. He enjoys agility training for fun and I think he will be a great demo dog for obedience classes as he continues to mature.

I love my Rye. He is a neat blend of both his parents, athletic and affectionate, intense and calm, fun and serious. I am enjoying our journey together. Thanks Diane Pagel and Scott and Jenny Glen for helping me bring such a neat pup into the world.

So Happy Birthday, Rye. I am looking forward to many happy years for us together!

Starting off on the right paw

Starting a dog feels like a huge responsibility to me. Will I take too much out? Will I let the dog walk over me and learn bad habits? Will I be able to see the dog objectively since he belongs to me? Overthinkers like myself wallow in such internal diatribe.

To help keep myself in check and honest, I made a list of the things I wanted before I actually started training Rye. By started training, I mean intentionally applying and removing pressure to shape his habits into good herding rather than simple instinct. I firmly believe an adequately mature dog will take training, while an immature one won't. I feel like I see plenty of people "putting training" on immature dogs - and it results in reduced confidence.

So, I've been exposing Rye to sheep about once a month. He had his 4th exposure today. He's almost through the checklist, which gives me hope because I have a mini lesson with Scott next month to assess Rye's fitness to begin taking training.

Here are the things I was hoping for before really starting Rye:


Q: Does the dog acknowledge the handler when sheep are nearby?

A: Yes. Rye has been exposed to sheep without being allowed to work many times. I think this has really helped him. Of course he would love to drag me to sheep so he can work, but he can listen to things like sit or lie down, turn to me on his name and settle nicely.



Q: Can the dog stay while I go to the sheep?

A: Yes. Rye was consistently staying where I put him until released. I was actually astonished by this. He has been able to do this somewhat before, but showed a significant change in his relaxation and maturity compared with 1 month ago.



Q: Does the dog show desire to gather?

A: Sometimes. On initial exposure, Rye would gather a bit but it was not his top priority. He has a fair bit of eye and would prefer to just walk straight up and drive the sheep to wherever they might stop. I could position myself so this looked like a gather, but it was not a true gather. He would come in on balance when I removed pressure by giving the sheep someplace to go.

He had a very strong desire to head and would focus on a single sheep at a time.

Today Rye showed his first real "symptoms" of gathering. He would bend a bit to get around the sheep, and would come in on balance without me giving any "hints" by relieving pressure. He also was watching for the group of sheep rather than just 1 sheep at a time. He would also happily take a stop on balance.

Until the intent to gather is very good, Rye will only be able to work at places like Fido's that have secure fencing. The 7-strand wire at our home sheep field would not contain the sheep if something went badly with a gather. I am hoping his gathers will be adequate to where we can start working at home the beginning of November.

Q: Can the dog go cleanly between the sheep and the fence?

A: YES. This was a very significant change from 1 month ago. Rye was going very nicely between the sheep and the fence (even when the sheep were smashed up against it and I didn't particularly want him to do so hehehe). He would put his head down and sensibly squeeze between without racing or gripping, and went around the whole group rather than just pulling 1 or 2 away from the fence. Big change.


Q: Can the dog stop (with or without handler pressure/help)?

A: Yes, he can and will stop when asked without handler pressure about 80% of the time, if it is on balance. I did not try asking for off-balance stops because it seemed insensible.


Q: Can the dog take pressure to change the shape of a flank?

A: Some. I can change the shape a bit, but increasing pressure does not get an increased result so I will wait some more on this. He is doing so much better in other regards I have no reason this will not click into place sometime soon.


Q: Can the dog go both directions?

A: Yes. This is a nice change. Previously he could go both ways but had a very strong preference for one direction. They are much more equal now.


Q: Can the dog take pressure to change directions?

A: YES. This is another big change. He changes directions fluidly now, and is naturally square when doing so.


Q: Can the dog call off?

A: Yes. While I still have him dragging a long line for safety, he was calling off very very nicely today. I can not call him off while he is moving, but can call him off once he is stopped.

So overall we are most of the way there. I'd like to see him be more ready to take a bit of pressure to create shape since he seems to have a lot of eye. Because of this, I am being cautious to be sure he is quite ready and mature to take it. My hope is more maturity means it will take fare less pressure to achieve the desired result. Rye's ability to listen to me and concentrate today was easily doubly good compared with only 1 month ago. Good boy.

I'd also like to see him having a much stronger tendency to gather. I've seen this come on almost with a "light switch" effect in other young dogs, so am biding my time on this one a bit longer.

SOOOO.... do you have a list? What do you like to see in a young dog before you start training? I'd love to hear your input.

Happy trails,
Monique

Playing with photos

So... today I finished my finals. My reward: playing with a little photo editing :)

Here is my first try using Picnik for anything non-utilitarian (ie just for fun).

SOOC image

Edited image

I was trying to get an old-school feel with the partial black and white fade, and also resolve some of the composition issues that can come along with shooting with an auto-set point and shoot camera by modifying the focal point and softening the edges as would happen if I were better able to control the aperture and focal distance of my camera. I was bothered by how prominent the fence was in the SOOC image and very happy with the way the subject focus changed with the edited image. I can't decide if I like the full color soft focus version or the fade to B/W version better.

Fun project :)


Addendum. Here is an additional image just for Michael.

Focal point edited as above, but with focal fade to B/W
so the color of the dog is unchanged but the background fades.

Some lesser known sheepdog skills...

Skill #1: Watch "Sheep TV"




Skill #2: "Learn by osmosis"




Skill #3: "Be good on your tie-out"







Skill #4: "Be cute so they let you off eventually" :)



In 3 more weeks I'll put Rye on sheep again. In the interim he has been working on finding assorted ways to show how clever he is while simultaneously making me nuts. Those skills in no particular order: Climbing stepladders, opening 3 different kinds of drawers, throwing his toy OVER a 4' gate to try and convince people on the other side of the gate to play with him, and always managing to be lying quietly on his bed when I think I hear him up to no good.

In more serious news, he is enjoying his foundation agility training and is learning a few more tricks. Obedience is coming more slowly but we continue to practice on a regular basis.

The Big Day: Rye's first time on sheep!

I was very pleased with Rye. He is nice and keen and stayed engaged for the full work. Video is worth a zillion words. Enjoy!



He is clearly not ready to take training so I will put him up for a month or so and then put him on again and see where he is at. Once he can start taking some pressure I'll begin working him regularly.

He was pretty funny though. He was not ready to quit when the time came, and certainly wanted to take me right back through the fence to the sheep. What an adventure we have ahead of us!

True Confessions

I have sheepdogs but no sheep. And I have a young sheepdog - I've not put him on sheep yet. I'm waiting and biding my time, as I don't see a lot of purpose in turning him on before he is mature enough to take training. I find it unlikely I could add a lot to him right now at his young age, so we are working on other things for now.

We are working on foundation skills, like "lie down." I am teaching him to move away from me when I ask, as well as how to move closer. We are proofing the recall. He is learning to go to and stay on his mat in a variety of environments and to be my demo dog for obedience without losing his head.

Rye is also learning to be a road warrior for long road trips (5 hours each way last weekend, 5.5 hours each way this weekend), go to trials and settle at my feet to watch rather than acting wild, and how to meet a variety of people.

I don't think those things are very different from what most people do with their pups. However, I am doing something a little different with my pup. Some people might think I'm nuts, others might just think I'm onto something.

I teach stick/flag skills dry - ie not on sheep. I've introduced Rye to the white stockstick and the flag during play, and have been training him to change directions if the stick is presented in front of him, and to bend away if the stick is at his eye/ear level. While I don't think this will transition directly onto stock, I do think that if he has an understanding of how to change directions when cued visually like that, and how to get back in response to a visual pressure cue, it can't hurt and just might help.

It will be interesting to see what happens here.

In other news, Rye is now 35lbs and looking handsome if a little gangly. He is listening fairly well and is generally a pleasure around the house except his conviction that countersurfing is a great idea. His retrieving and tugging are both fantastic, and I finally have a dog who likes to play with the giant ball (volleyball).

He continues to be unique in learning new skills, but if I show him something and then put him away, the next time I show him he has the skill very nicely in hand. He is a thinker, and I do like thoughtful dogs. It continues to be an interesting journey!

Tipsy Plate Monkey

Rye's first time doing a narrow plank that moves



and

Plate monkey version 2.0: Object permanence

Why my house is a mess?

Premack Principle at work... performance is much better when I am not watching through my phone camera but you get the idea.

Videos

How Rye stays busy while I am at work




Doing some of our homework from Andrea.

18 weeks and counting

Photo by Andrea Dexter

Well, it has been an eventful month. At 18 weeks, Rye is now 28lbs. Each week he seems to alternate between growing body vs. legs. This is a body week. Next week perhaps his legs will catch up to his body again. He has lost all of his incisors and 2 canines, but is still working on his premolars. Teething needs many outlets. I have been going easy on his tugging with his teeth being loose, but it does not seem to get him down.

Rye has gone on a bunch of field trip, including:

- Luther Burbank park
- Grandview dogpark
- Argus ranch
- Agilityflix
- Lake Tapps park
- Agility center
- Obedience center
- Sheepdog trials
- Fido's farm
- Deltabluez farm
- Ronnie's

Zora and Rye doing their special licking game

He has made a bunch of friends, both human and canine. He is largely housetrained, 1 accident in the last 3 weeks. We had a good news/bad news on that last week. He is normally behind a 30" baby gate in my office at work. Well, the housetraining is definitely kicking in: he jumped the baby gate to run to the back door to be let out because he did not want to pee in the office. The bad news: he then realized that jumping the baby gate is easy. Solution: 42" baby gate.



The thing that made me the happiest was this past weekend. We had a very nice lesson with Andrea and she thinks he is coming along well with foundation work. It is nice to have her help, because of course I look at him and worry I am breaking him all the time.




Then on Saturday and Sunday we went to Argus Ranch because Zora was entered in the agility trial. This was Rye's first time on the grounds of an agility trial -- a highly stimulating environment.

Alternate toy carrying methods

He is not a terrific spectator, too stimulated by the dogs running. However, he did walk through the arena 4x per day and was very, very good. Nice and relaxed, able to follow instructions. We also played tug-release-sit and sit-stay-release inside the arena, outside the arena and in the off-leash area. This went VERY well and I was wonderfully pleased with him. He was completely able to engage with me and focus on playing with me even with the large crowd of people in a small space and the dozens of dogs in every direction. I was incredibly proud of him.

Notice neither of them is hanging onto the toy?

He also got to spend a lot of time off leash playing with other dogs. He did well and he got 90% on his recalls. 1 fail each day. He also did great engaging with me and tugging even when Lucy was present and running around.

Photo evidence:



Between the hard work and the hard play, he was completely flat on Saturday night. The most tired I have ever seen him. He was rearing to go this morning though, and he had more energy left tonight than last night.



I am feeling optimistic about his ability to be comfortable in agility environments as of now. Clearly the most challenging thing for us will be dealing with all the other dogs in rapid motion. At least we have a couple of years to practice it before he is ready to go.

I am really enjoying him and we have a great time together.

Must. Tug.

Things he can do so far:

Tug-release-behavior
Releasing an object (legal or illegal) on a verbal cue
Recall has gone away temporarily but will be back
Sit
Sit-stay for up to 3 minutes
Go to your bed
Stay on your bed (settle down) for up to 5 minutes even with other dogs in class
Tethering
Eye contact
Target hands
Target plate
Target stick
Go to your kennel from 3 different rooms
Settle down (lie down at my feet while I am chatting, teaching, etc)
Differentiate verbal cues for urination and defecation
Comply with elimination cues even if only a small elimination is required
Tunnel
Plank
Table, sit, down, touch, tug on table
Wobble board with all feet, front feet or rear feet
Pedestal with front feet, still figuring out rear feet
Switching between tasks is improving
Switching between treats, toys, praise as reinforcement




Needs work:
Recall, recall, recall
Quiet in crate when I am working other dogs
Quiet in the house even if exciting things are happening
Stay in your crate even with the door open
Duration and distraction on stays
LEASH WALKING. Oy.
Hand targeting needs better speed when a competing stimulus is present
All skills need better speed when a competing stimulus is present

Spoiled much?

Rye's first time at the beach

Lead change in the sand

Rye is 13 weeks this week, and we have had a lot of fun.

Last week (12 weeks), we:

- Met about 20 new people
- Went to puppy class downtown. On the way to class a man jumped out of a Dumpster - very scary! This resulted in some barking but I was able to get Rye onto a toy instead and feeling happy fairly quickly.

- Went to PetSmart
- Went to work every day - 1 accident in 4 days.
- Went on 2 long walks in new parks
- Practiced being a demo dog for beginning obedience

- Tested "okay" as the release for things in his mouth. This went VERY well. He even releases pine cones, socks, etc. I have it on a random, variable reinforcement schedule at this point for maintenance. That means I am reinforcing after a random number of repetitions. By reinforcement I mean offering a toy or treat in addition to verbal praise. I give verbal praise every time, forever.

- Went to the farm and got tethered while Lucy worked. This resulted in several minutes of howling followed by quiet, intense observation.

Last week we should have, but did not:

- Put "down" on cue
- Worked on fixing the noisy crating issue

This week, we are at the beach. Rye did have a puppy lesson at a new location on Tuesday and did very well. He stayed engaged, chose me over the environment, switched easily between treats and toys. We really need to work on the crate thing, which we have been doing some of while we are here at the beach.

We have been working on sends to the crate and on waiting quietly to be let out. I am also working sit-stays inside the crate since his sit stay outside the crate is coming along nicely. Unfortunately I can't let him bark here (don't want to upset the neighbors who are looking for peace and quiet just like we are) so can't work on extinguishing the barking. This is priority #1 for the next 2 weeks. Also putting "down" on cue is priority #2.

Rye also got a new food puzzle toy which he is loving. He is moderately excited about food, so if he gets too frustrated, will give up easily on puzzle toys. The difficulty level is just right for him right now, it is a new one I had not seen before from PetSmart. I will post a photo later, but it looks like a double-sphere stuck together (use your imagination) with a hole in one end, but weighed on the SIDE of the opposite end. It is easier than a wobbler type toy, but more difficult than a simple rolling toy. I am very happy with it. The toy would not be suitable for a heavy chewer.

The other thing we really need to work on is being able to call Rye off of Lucy. He loves her and they play constantly. I can call him off strange dogs (ie playing in puppy class), or off of the environment (ie even at the barn at Diane's, new lesson space, arena, etc) but I can't call him off Lucy yet. The last 2 days I've been using Lucy's obedience as a way to provide a reward and it is working.... I think.

Yesterday: I stop Lucy (Rye stops). I call Rye. If he does not look at me, everything remains stopped. If he looks, I call Lucy and they both get to move. When they both get to me, Rye must acknowledge me by glancing at me when I say his name and then everyone is released for more play.

Today: I stop Lucy (Rye stops). I call Rye. If he looks at me, toss a handful of chicken treats to him (both to reinforce looking and to prolong the period he is off Lucy), then let Lucy move. When they get all the way to me, Rye must sustain looking at me after I say his name for 2 seconds. I then dispensed some smoked chicken treats and released everyone to go play.

He softened more easily out of the intense play today, so I am optimistic it will keep getting better. I am hoping to walk them down to the beach again this afternoon if the weather straightens up. It has been very rainy the last hour or so. Guess that means I need to take a nap and read my book :)

If you want to chime in with training discussion feel free - as long as the words "leash" or "long line" are not involved. We are looking at creative solutions here, not just hauling him in ;)

Play bowing to Lucy & Zora (who are out of frame)

Tired pancake watching the others run for a bit

Stalking Lucy

Chasing sticks

Pancake part II: The Stalker
(Looks like his sire here, I think)

10 weeks and 11 weeks

Well this has been a tough couple of weeks. School and work have been very demanding and poor Magick was very very sick. (We are hoping she has a bleeding ulcer but may have stomach cancer... )

So... I have not made as much time for Rye as I might have hoped. I feel this as a constant source of pressure and stress. Inadequacy is the dominant feeling here, as I wish I could be doing so much more with him than I am.

I did manage to take some photos though.

Rye's field trips these weeks:

- Luther Burbank park for trail walks
- PetSmart, Petco
- SAC agility arena, SAC obedience training center
- Ross and Leanna's house for play with brother Sagan
- Downtown Seattle to go to Puppy Kindergarten (handled traffic and trains well!)
- Sue and George's to pick up my new crook
- Neighborhood walk
- Lake Geneva Park for trail walk

For this week, I am planning to teach him the Manners Minder so I can work on keeping him quiet in his crate at the training center while I teach classes. He is quiet about 70% of the time. Usually quite bad during the first class and quiet for the last 4 classes. Interestingly, he is quiet in his crate everywhere else so far: home with dogs, home alone, at work with dogs, at work alone, in car crate with dogs, in car crate alone. Just noisy at the training center. Argh!

Oh, and also he can jump on the sofa now. Guess "off" is this week's project.

It seems not so long ago he barely stretched between these feet - and now here he is at 10 weeks, can't fit between them at all!

Mom, can you please stop doing homework and PLAY WITH ME?!

At work, Rye can't decide if it is more important to touch Lucy or Magick

Apparently the indecision was temporary...

Rye and Lucy still spend a lot of time playing together

Rye is learning to play with Zora in appropriate ways.
They often run through the house playing chase.

Spoiled much?

Rye loves to burrow UNDER dog beds all of a sudden.

Hey Mom, whatcha doin' ?

Go away, kid. I'm BUSY.

Rye follows me from room to room and lays down behind me.
Here he is in the kitchen, waiting while I cook.

And lastly, he has started learning how to sit and stay, and down and stay.
Practicing at the training center after my students have left for the evening.

Zzzzzzzz.....

9 weeks - Trips and training

Overexposed in afternoon sun, but still cute! 9 weeks 4 days old

Rye had a fun week.

Training practice:

- Reorienting points: Going through doorways, having your leash removed and coming out of the crate are all reorienting points.

- Name recognition: Lots of tug and verbal praise for name recognition. Coming along very nicely.

- Introduced tug-release-sit-tug sequences. Worked on this x 3 this week. Video below of our first training session on this.

- Nose-touch on my hand reintroduced after 2 week break. Going well.

- Introducing the cue "Visit" when I want him to have permission to visit a person.


Places we went (other than to work every day):

1) Field trip to PetSmart Friday and Reber Ranch Sunday:
- Check out the automatic sliding doors (no worries) and rest of the store
- Meet about 20 strangers
- Get fitted for a harness (I like harnesses for long pleasure walks for pups)
- Pick out some treats and a toy

2) City walk in downtown Renton:
- Wait in the car alone with no other dogs x 2 hrs
- Ride in the car with no other dogs
- Cars
- Buses
- Garbage truck, semi
- Many, many pedestrians

3) Trip to Luther Burbank Park:
- Treats for waves crashing on the docks
- Treats for other dogs barking/growling on the other side of a fence
- Longest leash walk so far to test out the harness
- Meet cousin "Cowboy" and Aunt Kim

4) Trip to sheepdog trial:
- Met about 40 new people
- Whistles, 4-wheelers, creek, tall grass, lots of mud (he was NOT sure about mud)
- Played tug-release-sit with 40mph winds, blowing tarp overhead, sheep behind the fence and loose dogs running around. Very successful
- Watched sheep go by behind fence (oooohhhhhh very exciting)
- Met a number of friendly new dogs

Rye holding his fox pelt toy... watching something intently. Whatcha watchin' boy?

Ahhhhh.... sheepies!

5) Trip to training center:

I have been holding off doing much training with Rye because I wanted to use him to demonstrate a few behaviors on a completely green dog in my week 2 beginning class this week. It was a BIG success.

- Learned we need to work on individual crating with no other beings in the room (ie no other crated dogs and no people)
- Was the demo dog for eye contact, sit/reward/release and luring into a front-first down.
- Did tug-release-sits for a new person
- Got treats for being barked at by another dog

Here is some video of his first ever session of tug-release-sit-tug



Overall Rye had a good week. He is about 90% or better on his house training as of today. About one accident every 2 days. Still sleeping through the night quite soundly and his gut is all cleared up which is a big relief. Since his gut is cleared up he is back on his regular food and I introduced a food toy for the first time with tonight's dinner (Kibble Nibble Ball by Premier). He took a bit to work it out but greatly enjoyed playing with his food.

He also got to practice some of his moves on Aunt Lora's sheep.

The double-paw pounce

Fighting dirty - the ear grab

And the ever-important nose grip!

I am really, really enjoying having Rye. It has been nearly 12 years since I had a herding breed puppy of my own and it is a ton of fun. I am treasuring his youth as I know the teenage time will not be as fun for either of us. In the meantime, he is just peachy!

8-week Field Trips

Rye at 8 weeks 4 days old.

Rye had his first field trips this week. I think field trips are an important part of raising a well-rounded puppy, but caution is required to make sure the field trips are constructive and that the puppy does not get overwhelmed. Yes, I am an overprotective mother. :) In other news, his ears seem to get a bit taller every day and I hope they will stand nicely.

On Friday he got to go to Fido's Farm. He enjoyed meeting a few new dogs including uncle Dodge. He got to watch sheep through the fence:



He had fun choosing a fancy expensive new stick (well Mom got a new stick, why not Rye?)



After watching through the fence and getting his stick... I mean crook... he decided to take a stab at handling and started experimenting with my whistle:




Ok little man, you may be a super genius, but get your own whistle! Ick. Dog spit. Of course, I later forgot and used the whistle again without washing it. Dumb mom.

On Saturday, Rye rode along to Deltabluez Farm to drop off his sister Reba with her new mom Diane. He got to meet the Deltabluez crew and play with the big dogs. I think the Border collie in him thought about coming to the surface, as he was certainly stalking something...







GOTCHA! (L&M Nana)




Rye's dog-stalking days will be few as I feel like it is a very bad habit and can create inter-dog conflict. I was surprised to see him doing it though and snapped a few shots before calling him off. Perhaps it is a shade of things to come. You've got a lot of growing up to do, Rye. But you're off to a good start!

Today, Rye got to come along to the dog training center while I taught classes. He got to practice being alone in his crate (ok but a little noisy when I took Magick out and left him behind) and we did some name recognition practice in exchange for tugging which was a big hit! I am very pleased as he seems to be catching on to his name and responding in the house when we call him. Very fun.

Perhaps the funniest thing is yesterday our African gray parrot started saying "Rye!" and "Rye! C'mere buddy." Too cute. That didn't take long.