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.....