Backyard agility

Well we had a few successful training sessions since our last post. The most recent was today in our beautiful back yard. He's really starting to settle down out there. He was very focused on the equipment but still a little stressed. He hasn't really taken to tugging out there yet, so we need to keep working. I did, however, manage to get him to chase the bait pouch if I put a treat inside where he could get to it.

So today we worked on the chute; unfortunately there was enough breeze that it kept blowing over so he'd run in it and it wouldn't stay flat. So he kept running back out. But whenever it was flat he gladly went in it, which I'm thankful for. I guess I need to modify the chute a little so that it doesn't blow away.

We also did a brief session with weaves. 2 sets of 2x2 were used open. I got him to run with me twice on each side. He wasn't really aware that they were there so I think my goal this week will be to do weaves three times this week.

We did some work on jumps as well, actually we did the first two jumps of a pinwheel (jump to tire at 90 degrees) and then we worked on set point grids. He did so well on these that I kept adding jumps. It is clear that he is very comfortable with these at home, we got up to a cross rail (or more like cross plungers) and two jumps. So a total of 3 :). His lead outs were going really well, and he was looking down his line at the bait pouch perfectly.

Lastly in between set-ups and moving jumps we worked on the table. I flipped a rubbermaid container over and put his mat on it. Any time he was not working he was being praised for lying on his mat on the container. During clean up, I laid his mat on the ground and he actually stayed the whole time :) he got a few jackpots for that.

Below is a picture of our beautiful backyard. The tree is also perfect for circle work.

We also had some other success stories this past week. Saturday was agility class, we changed a few things up. I didn't bring his house and he was pretty quiet. I think we may try without the house for a while and see if I can get him quiet, then re-introduce the house. We worked on the teeter as well as set point grids. Harley was a little more focused, but we still haven't gotten him to stay calm and de-stressed in there. We are making some progress though.

Wednesday was tiny dog class, Harley played with his buddies and we worked on sit-stays. He did pretty good with that. We also worked a bit on name response and recall.

Tuesday, we ventured out to visist our friends Kobi and Scout. Scout is a very quiet therapy dog so we thought that would help Harley work on his reactivity. Kobi is a beautiful boarder collie who is very hyper. We let Harley and scout meet first. Harley barked quite a bit, but did settle down a little. We then introduced Kobi and let them play. This was good because Harley got a reaction every time he barked, Kobi wanted to play! We did a bit of work with both dogs walking by the fence as well, this is to work on Harley's need to bark every time he hears dog tags, but can't see a dog. We did good. Lastly we went for a walk, which I was very pleased with.

Overall it's been a good week, let's see what the next week brings. 

Back yard practice...

Well it was a beautiful day, and after yesterday's not so good class, we decided it was time to hit the back yard for some work. I let all of my frustration from yesterday go (essentially I was flustered the dog was stressed and it just wasn't a good hour) and we started.

So I noticed the grass was a little longer and figured Mr. Harley would want to sniff it, so I came armed with a load of treats. We started with circle work and played a few games and when the tug came out he was EXCITED. We played fetch then worked on him laying on his mat while I set up all the "equiptment" some day I'll post pictures of my make-shift stuff... He got up a few times, but for the most part he stayed at his mat. We need to do some more leave it work inside, cause I dropped a bunch of treats out of my bag and he kept trying to eat the grass around the treats to clean up every morsel. I think we'll do it's your choice from class tomorrow or maybe tonight where I have a pile of treats and his mat, in order to proof the "lie on your mat" command.

So we started with the chute. This was brazen of me; however, I trusted that seeing it was in the same place as last time he'd remember it. He did! (Thank the agility gods, cause he was afraid of it two sessions ago) He was sucked up that chute like a little vacuum. So I grabbed the tug and worked on jumps (set up in 180) the dog walk (where we worked a bit on the stick-it, with a lead-out to the chute).

This was going so well, that I decided to set up weaves. Well a car pulled in the driveway and it was the neighbors (with the dogs), so I raced for Harley, got him on his leash. Luckily one of them clued in I was there and shouted they would leash the dogs :) (very much appreciated, I thanked them later). Harley had a minor melt down. But he did regain partial focus. I thought the idea of weaves were shot at that point and almost gave up, but I got him refocused on me... He didn't have tug drive anymore, but he was still treat motivated, so I got him into a sit-stay and then released him to race through the weaves. I had planned on working on off-side, but figured I'd just do two reps of running with and called it a day. End on a good note, isn't that what we're supposed to do... LOL.

So I am very proud of my little guy for actually staying remotely under control through the whole thing. Still need to build more tug drive, but at least we had it for half of the session.

Weekend Agility

Well yesterday Harley started another set of Agility classes. We are working on finding our golden nugget toy and working on calm and quiet in his little house. We started by giving him a piece of lamb tripe to chew on, this kept him quiet and settled in his crate while we started the exercises.

We did some circle work and front crosses on the flat. I was very pleased with how Harley did on this. He's improving a lot with his circle work, practice makes perfect.

We did some restrained recall/race to reward work, and also worked on some bounces. He did pretty good overall. He did start to get impatient and tired towards the end. I think when he gets full (from eating the treats in his house to keep him calm) he starts to loose motivation. We're still working on what exactly we're going to do to help with that.

Today was such a beautiful day outside, I couldn't pass it up. I debated on what to do with Harley and finally I decided to suck it up and work with Harley in the backyard. We usually avoid the backyard because our neighbors have two dogs which Harley doesn't like very much. They also are allowed off lead in the backyard (which is essentially thier toilet), which doesn't allow me any warning or ability to prepare to gather Harley, plus it also becomes a sniffing spree for Harley to check his pee-mail. Essentially it's usually a recipe for disaster.

So I checked out the backyard to see if any dogs were there, none were out. I grabbed a few pieces of equipment (I didn't bother bringing too much out because I didn't want to set high expectations) and out we went.

I started with some on-lead circle work around a big tree. I definitely over-rewarded Harley, but I praised him everytime he looked at me while we were on the cirlce so that he wouldn't take off on a distracted sniffing spree. I think this definitely set us up for a good start. Then we saw one of our other neighbors and she came over and said hi. I took that opportunity to recruit her help and got her to hold his leash while I made him lay on his mat. I set up a chute and a jump and then while her and I talked started working on the chute. She offered to hold him while I opened the chute and after a few tries and lots of treats he was excited to go through. By the end of the session he was going through the full chute on his own. I'll have to keep working on that so that he keeps the drive up for the chute. I practiced a few little sequences with Harley taking a jump and then front crossing into the chute. Those went well.

After that we worked on some grids and pinwheels and then called it a day. I was very pleased with his ability to keep his focus despite the loads of pee-mail all over the ground. I decided to stop shortly after seeing a few nervous shakes and some sniffing so that we ended on a good note. Overall I'm very proud. I think we may be able to use the backyard afterall.

Catching up...

We've been away for a while so I thought a catch up on what Harley has been up to would be in order. Going back a ways... April 27, Harley took another trip to see his cousin Blackie. We stayed there for three days. Here is Blackie smiling for the camera. 

 Harley has improved a lot with Blackie over the last few months. This visit Harley even earned the priviledge of hanging out in the kitchen outside of his crate, here is the little guy behaving on his mat waiting for some treats.

We even got a picture of the two of them together! Both quietly waiting for a night-time snack before going to bed. I was really proud of Harley, the barking episodes were further apart than the last visit, and we actually got some sleep for the three nights we stayed there. He only started barking when everyone got up in the morning.

Next we set out for a three day visit with cousin Duke. Here are the two of them playing. They got along really well. Harley spent a lot of time playing with Duke and teaching his younger cousin how to play nicely. Again he did really well this time with the barking, and usually would only have 2-3 barking fits per day. Good job Harley.

The first night Duke and Harley went for a walk on the beach together. They really enjoyed their walk; however, they both got full of sand. So the two of them had to take a bath! Here they are playing in the tub at bathtime.

Overall it was a good trip for Harley he was well mannered for most of the trip and he traveled well in the car. When we got back we went to Tiny Dog class (last Wednesday) and he had a pretty good night there too.

Tiny dog class

We had a pretty good tiny dog class today. We started with the group and practiced sit stays. I managed to walk almost all the way across the room and he stayed.

After that we worked on weaves. He's doing decent with them. I'm definitely looking forward to being less busy do we can work on them every day.

To end the night we had social time and Harley came out of his shell and played with his friends.

Awesome Agility Class!!!

So the little man had an amazing class today, actually "team little" both did amazing (that'd be a poodle and Harley).

So we started with pin-wheels. Ok we made the pocket so small that I couldn't fit in it; however, the point is he did them flawlessly on the first try :D

After a few of those we added a tunnel infront of the pin-wheel, which he did once again flawlessly. To change it up we did the tunnel, beginning two jumps of the pinwheel, and then a front-cross to the first jump and tunnel again. It was a little awkward the first few times, but we eventually nailed it :)

To end the class we worked on rear crosses, so there was a tunnel and two jumps. We were to execute a rear cross between the two jumps and then drive towards one that was off to the side. I was a little concerned because he hasn't had a lot of drive since his recovery; however, I decided we'd try it and just reward him if I messed up. Well he did the cross wonderfully, so I rewarded before the turn. Lastly to finish off we did it once more (the whole line) beautifully!

So proud of my boy!

Shopping with mom.

Well today it was my day to reward myself. So Harley accompanied me to Lululemon to go shopping for some running gear. He was a perfect little pup on our way there, heeling to me the whole time, EVEN while we walked past three very stupid pigeons. Success!

As we approached Spring Garden Rd. (on of Halifax's busiest streets) he was on his best behavior. He even stayed in a sit for a Sheltie to walk by him we almost made it the whole way without him barking. Progress!

At Lulu he was good for everyone who said hi to him, and I'm very proud that while in line he didn't bark at the children in the store or the two small dogs that came in while we were in the line up. I'm not entirely sure if he saw them, but either way, I consider the walk to be successful.

Agility

Well we had an awesome class today!

First we started by working on lead-out-pivots, well Harley's not quite ready for the pivot part, but the lead-outs are getting better. While the other dogs were taking thier turns, Harley chewed on his Kong, this kept him quiet for the most part.

We used the kong as his toy today and saw a little more value for that, so that seemed to keep him going.

He had a lot more drive today which excited me, so now we just need to work on getting him to stay when we do a lead-out.

After that we worked on lead-outs with 3 obstacles, a tire, jump, then a tunnel. He aced that one! We ran along with the tunnel but at least I got him to stay at the tire.

Things to work on.... not going under the tire.... practice more circle work around the tire so that if he jumps the tire without me telling him to, at least I can gather him up before he runs back to me under it.

Lastly we worked on some collection and drive, with race-to-reward, and then running and having him collect and stay back with me.

Overall it was a good class, he got a little rowdy at the end, but it was controllable.

Homework: put a jump in his room when it's feed time, make him do a lead-out with his food before releasing him and letting him have breakfast/supper.

Visiting with friends

For Easter weekend Harley got to spend some time with his friends. Overall it was a rather successful weekend and Harley displayed some decent manners compared to his last visit with his family. 

Harley started his adventure visiting Duke the Beagle. Duke is about 5 months old and is still learning how to behave around other puppies! 

Harley took the opportunity to teach Duke that only little agile dogs can be on the furniture, so when Duke was too rough Harley would jump on the couch... and well tease him a little. We all laughed when Duke would lay on the floor on his belly and howl at Harley to come down and play!

Finally Duke got his way and the two of them played for the night. They also got up and played all morning too. This made Duke very happy. 

Unfortunately the two spent too much time running around that this was the best of the 30 attempts to take a picture of the two together. 

The next day we went for Easter dinner to see cousin Blackie. I am very proud of my little pooch. You see Blackie and Harley haven't really been getting along. Blackie doesn't like another dog in his kitchen, and Harley likes to boss his big cousin around. He gets very sassy with Blackie. Well today after an initial barking match, the two of them calmed down and actually stopped barking. Blackie laid down beside Harley's crate and Harley quietly took treats from me while I praised both boys! SUCCESS! We got 15 minutes of peace and quiet this visit, we'll see if next time we can get 30 min, or even 15 minutes of the two of them loose in the kitchen. :) My only disappointment with the whole thing is that I was so busy treating the dogs (each to a hand) that I had no way to record proof of this event :( oh well, there is always next time. 

Outing...

Well Harley had a good walk this evening, it was crisp outside, but he definitely had fun. We practiced some loose leash walking, which went well. He tried to bark at some people in excitement while walking, but he did calm down and heel for me. We also did a few tricks along the way, and he was really good with his "ici" when we were crossing the road.

Nice little walk and exercise for him. We used some of the K9 Naturals lamb treats, I wish they weren't so messy, or so expensive they are like puppy crack! He probably would've done back flips if I asked him.

I think our strategy for class tomorrow will be to bring "puppet" with us for when it's his turn in hopes to motivate him more, and bring along some of these treats for the end of class. I also think I'm only going to give him half his breakfast and bring the rest for when class is over. Maybe that'll help him not be so "full" during class.

Agility Class

Well I think both Harley and I were tired at class today. It just didn't seem to be going well at all. We worked on the lead-out-pivots, but he really wasn't focusing. After a short run outside he did do a few 180s, but he really lacked motivation/drive.

He was decent at the beginning in terms of barking, but got worse. I'm not sure why he was so cranky today, but we'll see how next week goes. Next class I'm going to bring his Puppet. I have to spell it out at home, lets hope that has enough value to get him through the whole class.

Tiny Dog Class-Agility

Last night was Tiny Dog class, it went well. There was mini agility equipment out which gave Harley and I a chance to work on this from the weekend's class.

We labeled his "house" and worked on go to your house.

Then we started working on him doing a sit-stay in front of a jump, waiting for him to look down his line. He was doing pretty good. Tried a few 180s, but we didn't have enough space in our corner to do that well.

After that we worked on the teeter and wobble board. I would say 90% of the time I got him to lay down on the contacts. I think it would have been a bit better if I would have had my dots, but next time I'll have to make sure I bring them.

To finish up we did some weaves, 2 2x2s very closed up :)

Proud of my pup, oh and we had absolutely no barking.... if only the agility class would believe me when I say he doesn't bark there... :P

Agility Class

Well today wasn't great.... but at no fault of Harley's. We worked on our lead-outs, definitely need to practice getting him to look down his line a bit better. It definitely shows when you don't have time to practice during the week.

We did some work with the tunnel getting him to turn both ways after coming out of the tunnel, and did a few rear crosses.

In terms of his barkiness, well it was definitely still present, he's getting better and we actually were in the working area this week, but he was still very barky.

Tiny Dog Class

Had an awesome tiny dog class. Harley was a little angel..

We started out with some weaves while the other puppies worked in the main ring, we did 2 2x2s almost closed up... lets hope this weekend at class we can do weaves again and add a third set of 2x2s.

After that we worked on calm and quiet in his "house" with lots of distractions, some of his buddies even came right up to his house so that we could practice being calm while others were around him. He did pretty good.

Before play-time we practiced hi-five a few times, and then started working on wave. After a few restrained recalls... where I almost got rejected for a piece of sawdust on the floor *sigh* ... we had playtime where Harley started to slowly come out of his shell. He went up to some of the other pups a few times, and of course took the time to re-visit the piece of sawdust that was ever so interesting.

Overall I call that a productive class.

Agility Class

Well today was a great day for Harley for the most part... me on the other hand... not so much :P It's been a crazy week so we really haven't had much of a chance to work on anything, but he was a good little pooch for the first 45 minutes of class.

We worked on crate games while the others were working, the majority of the time he would lay quietly in his "house" (pop-up x-pen) and we even played "push-back-and-jam" a few times to get him to run into his house. His major concern was when other dogs were running by, other than that we had a well behaved puppy.

We worked on circle work, I think the little man and I need to practice that one... he really is the king of the ass-pass. So we'll have to practice that a bit more.

After that we worked on pivot lead-outs (I think that's what they're called) Harley did pretty good, I think we'll be able to do regular lead-outs sooner rather than later. Cause he didn't sniff nervously after he was released. We then replaced the jump with a tunnel, which was a challenge. Harley could not contain himself in front of the tunnel.  The lead-outs took some practice but eventually he stayed in front of the tunnel. I guess he's a tunnel addict. Never a bad thing. Too bad he didn't have the same drive for a chute.

To wrap up we worked on collection. Took a few tries, but Harley was a pro by the end of it..

Overall, it was a pretty successful class. Maybe next week his "house" will make it all the way into the main area.

New Food...

Well we're on day 3 of trying K9 Natural's Lamb Supreme... so far the stomach is able to handle it and the little man just LOVES it! It will take us probably 2-3 weeks to get completely switched over and about a month before I'm able to tell if this is helping his skin. Regardless I LOVE this new food. It has all the benefits of raw, except I don't need to freeze it, just add water :).

http://www.k9natural.com/all-products/item/9-lamb-supreme

Tiny Dog Class

Had an awesome class today, despite the fact that I totally forgot there was class. We made it on time and had completely SILENT class!!!!! Wooohooo Harley. We practiced our crate games with the pop-up x-pen and he would go quietly in the crate and lie down. George (a very big, but calm, dog) even walked by all the tiny dogs, and sat right infront of our xpen and Harley didn't move or make a peep!!! He even quietly left his crate (when told) and greeted George very politely. I call this progress!

We also worked on the push-back-and-jam game with the xpen and he was rushing both on and off-side to get into it :) I think it'll soon be time to label the x-pen, thinking "House" will be a good cue.

Did some loose leash walking and some recalls around the other pups and he was a model student. Such a shame we're missing the last agility class, but I'm off to Toronto to see if Osgoode Hall Law School is good enough for the little man and I.



Harley decked out cheering on the Sens. (Halloween 2011)





So proud of my little guy... now he has a weekend off watching hockey with his daddy, Go Sens Go!

Being an agility dog is great, but there has to be time for play.... This is Harley and his lovely date Mikki at the Yorkietalk Valentines Day Ball 2012.

Nose Targets...

This is today's work on contacts... shaping him to lay down in the contact zone. There is a nose target taped to the contact zone.

The reason behind this is because Harley will eventually have to go to the very end of the teeter to get it to tip, to assure his safety while riding it down, and to protect his knee, we will be teaching him to lay down in contact zones for both the dog walk and teeter. For the A-frame I haven't decided what we're doing.

Warning... I'm beginning to talk yorkie... my voice seems to get squeakier with every training period. lol.

I also noticed during a replay of said video that my "goods" are not entirely well timed. lol practice makes perfect.

Had a great training session yesterday, and a mini trick training session today, going to try and find the time to do some more training later...

We started working on the following tricks:
- give me five
-twirl
-crawl
-push-ups

We also did some serpentines, weaves (2 2x2s almost closed) and some 180s.

The beginning.

Today is the start of Harley's agility blog. Wish us luck... we will be posting our success and learning momments throughout the training process. Stay tuned for pictures, videos and lots of training lessons.

So far we have done many classes and lots of beginner work, but these last 6 weeks we've really been kicking it into gear to get the little man ready for his first trial.