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.