Training Thursday - by Phod

Lady, I don't understand what the problem is. Every time you work out, I come to support you and help you.  I can't imagine I am in your way. 

Off Leash Training Update

The Man and Lee have been working very hard at her off leash training this summer. It is one of the joys of us all being home almost all the time! 

It is still being done under very strict conditions and for very short periods of time.  Hailey seems to be very aware that this is not free time, it is listening time and the only thing she may do when they are in the yard, is run to her hole to dig! That is ok!

It is going so well, The Man and Hailey have been venturing onto the road (it is a private road, more like a driveway for the 6 places past us).

Looking at the field

Walking back toward the house. You will notice the leash is in Man's hand as a signal. 

In the drive way

Surveying her kingdom

We are so proud of her!

Tunnel Time!

The Man brought out the tunnel recently and some of us had fun playing in it. For others, it was more traumatic!

Lee: Go in and come out and get a cookie

Phod: I can walk around to get the cookies.

Lee: Came out the side Man wants, got a cookie

Phod: I am sitting near my Lady and the tunnel, can I have a cookie?

Phod: The openings are all gone, I think I should still get a cookie. 

Phod: Going over the tunnel gets you a cookie, right?

Phod: The Man is trying to make me go in, I don't like cookies that much!

Phod: Hailey's a show off.
Lee: I went through, I get the cookie

Trying To Behave by Lee

Dear Pals,

I am trying really, really hard to be a good girl. I have always tried hard, but as I am maturing, I am trying much harder. I am 10 now, and am a wise and beautiful girl.

My peeps, have clearly lost their minds being at home for almost 7 weeks now, and have been doing some off leash training with me. There are a lot of rules about this, but so far I have been successful enough.

Last weekend, we went on a long pack walk. As we got back close to the house, the Man decided to let me drag my leash and walk down the road (actually it was Phod's leash because mine carries the poop bags, so they took Phod off leash and put me on his, and let me drag it).

Walking down the road, dragging Phod's leash

I was doing a really good job until that darn Red John (one of the little red squirrels that lives on our property) yelled at me. He said some nasty HBO things. I of course had to go put him in his place. 

I was very good. I did pause when my Man told me to stop.

Proof I paused

 Lady would point out, I wasn't going to go far, because Red John went up the tree and I would have just tried to climb the tree (that is one of my talents).

The Man having to come and get me

In the end, the Man had to come into the bush and get me. I was disappointed he didn't let me climb the tree. However, I must have done an ok enough job because my peeps did some more training later in the day (it involved a lot of cookies - it was great).

Leading the Man out of the bush - I am sure he would have gotten lost without me! 

Hope you are all safe and well.

Living her best life,

Hailey Bug

Trust

Sometimes, when we have done a check to ensure there is no wildlife around, and Hailey is being particularly calm, she gets to be briefly off leash.

When she is, the command we work on is "house". We want to reinforce her going into the house, in the event she every gets away from us.

Training Thursday - Off Leash

This is a real picture, there has been no photoshopping of a leash or tie out

Over the winter, when the snow was deep and it was cold, we were able to start some off leash training with our girl. This is always done with great care (assessing Lee's mood, the environment etc.). Historically, Lee has done much better in the winter than in the spring/summer/fall when all the good smells are around.

However this year, again, under very restricted situations, Lee has been doing a good job at being off leash in the yard (100% supervised as we don't have a fence) for short periods of time. Generally, she has been much better at this kind of thing for Man than Lady (which really makes Lady made as she is the one who has spent the most hours training Lee), but she seems to be doing equally well with both!

We are not sure what has lead to this change. Is it maturity? Age? Whatever it is, we will enjoy it.

So will Lee, who had discovered there is nothing better than an off leash roll. Look at her grin!

Training Thursday - Coach Phod

If I put my ball just here . . . .

blurry as this happened mid-workout and Lady was likely dying

you won't be able to do that weird thing you were doing (how you can climb a mountain on the floor is beyond me)

and you can play a much more fun game of move the Precious with me!

Tracking - by Lee

By the time you read this, our snow may be all gone. They are forecasting a lot of rain at the start of this week. Because of this, Lady thought it would be a great time to go out and play in the snow. We haven't done much of that because it has been too cold or too icy. 

Sunday was a beautiful winter day, so off we went.

I haven't talked much about it, but I have been doing a lot of off leash training this winter. I don't really like sinking in the deep snow and can't get the speed, so my peeps have been trusting me more.

I did an ok job on Sunday, until I found evil Red John Squirrel's tracks. 

Then I went into the bush, that is still our property. Lady told me to wait, and I did. She put me on leash and brought me back to the yard.

Red John may have escaped this time, but someday I will get him (or her, we don't know the gender).

Training Thursday - A Game of Find It

One of the games we like to play in our house is find it. We lock the dogs away (if we don't Hailey watches and cheats), hid treats around and tell them to "Find it".  They both love to play!

Training Thursday - Off Leash

Because it has been too cold to be outside for too long, and because we know the snow will slow her down, we have been letting Hailey have some very closely supervised off leash time. This allows her and Phod to have great plays in the driveway. One of us, usually the Man, stands at the end of the driveway. The other, stands at the top. Hailey has her leash so she is easier to grab if she stops listening. We have done this a few times recently and she has been very good. Hopefully this will continue!

Updated Post: Training Thursday on a Tuesday

We are opting this early because on Thursday we are hosting a Blogville Pawlice Academy class.

As I have mentioned, the deep freeze has raged on for most of January. I wish I had tracked it but most of the month was below -20 C, some days as low as -40C. Because outside time has to be limited when it is that cold, we have been working on tricks inside.

Update: I had videos for this but I tried to install them 2 times and there is an error. I don't have time to figure it out, so I will explain what they do.

Hailey loves her training time. Hailey is very enthusiastic and does her tricks quickly. The problem with her can be getting her to slow down enough to listen as she is too excited.

Phod on the other hand, is not as keen, particularly with his back up. His new trick for this is to either bark at us or bite the air. We will keep working on it. I am hopeful this is just a phase!

Training Thursday - What a difference a week makes

Last week I talked about the struggles to get Zaphod to back up. The Man and I continued to work on it, and while it is still not Phod's favourite trick (he still tries to avoid it and will tell you off) he has greatly improved (as the video below shows). Hailey has improved too and she has really been enjoying training time (for the cookies I think).

Training Thursday - Trick or Torture?

One of my personal goals this winter, when getting out to exercise becomes a challenge, is to work on teaching the pups new tricks.

I picked "back up" as the first new trick of the year.

Hailey picked this up quickly as you will see (she does it right when I give the right cue).

Zaphod on the other hand is terrified of this trick. I read online to teach it by getting your dog to sit and then giving the command. If the pup doesn't follow it to step toward them and they should move back, when they move back reinforce that. Well when you step toward Phod, he stands there. When you step right in front of him he becomes nervous and then turns around and goes and lays down. When I tried to push this a bit, he became confused and upset and actually gave me a short bark (which is so not Zaphod). My guess is that somehow this "towering over him" or stepping toward him causes anxiety likely related to the abuse he suffered prior to being rescued. While I am still putting in one or two "back ups" in his training blocks, I am not pushing it. I am trying to pair this command with good things and hope that we can help him overcome the fear associated with it.  Will let you know how it goes.

Outside Tricks

On the weekend, we let Hailey be semi-free, meaning she had her tie out, but was not tied to anything. She also knew the Man and Lady both had cookies, which increased the chances she would listen.

She had a great time running up and down the hill in the backyard (as shown yesterday) and showing off her jumping. She wasn't as sassy as last weekend, as she knew I had the package of cookies in my pocket.  Here she is jumping!

Getting Ready

So high it is out of the frame! 

Another jump

Another one

Taking payment for all her jumps! 

That was lip licking good! 

Training Thursday: Girl Time

I continue to work on building a more positive relationship with my girl. We haven't had as many alone time walks as I would have liked. The first week in March brought -30 temperatures again. I am hopeful that with the longer days and hopefully warmer temperatures we will be able to do this 2-3 times per week.

Hailey is loving these. The first part of the walk is always sniff and walk time. The only commands being placed are those needed if cars pass us. On the way back, after she is tired, we have been working on commands. Currently, we are just working on sit. She sits in the house well, but not as well on the road (although it is improving). It is my plan to work on down and relax once the ground isn't frozen or muddy.

The hardest part of our girl time is getting out the door. Phod has caught on that he isn't going and does a great job at making it challenging to leave the house without him!

Training Thursday - Loving Hailey

I love Hailey. She is a wonderful, delightful, beautiful, smart girl. However, if I am completely honest, loving her can be challenging some days, and has been more challenging the past few months. As I mentioned earlier, she has been playing deaf a lot. She has had some accidents in the house (and before Emma came to stay). I have been a little frustrated with her.

 I decided to look at the factors that were influencing my less then favourable feelings about my angel at times:

-I am always seeing her beside Phod, who is just an easier dog.

-The weather. It has been cold and snowy and really a terrible winter. The weather has limited the time we can spend outside safely. We are not getting enough exercise so this is influencing all our behaviour!

-Work has been crazy busy for me this year. Financially good, but emptying my tank by the end of the day and not giving me the time and energy my girl deserves.

For saying I am not perfect! 

What I am doing about this:

-Remember my dogs are each individuals with strengths and weaknesses - aka don't compare her to Phod

-Celebrate her angel qualities more often - she is pretty pawsome!

-While I can't totally change the weather (Man says we can't move to a warmer climate) I can make sure we maximize the nicer days and do more training inside when we can't (we have 4200 square feet, we have lots of room)

-More individual time. This is a big challenge for me because I always feel like I am depriving the other, but I am working to make sure Lee gets her own walk (an extra walk as in the morning I don't have time for 2 walks) a couple times a week. Phod can have his own chuck time, so both are happy. We have done this for 2 weeks and I think Lee is really enjoying it. More about that at another post.

-Working to making my work schedule more manageable - this will be a work in progress because no is not a word I am good at saying - but I am starting to create a plan to work only 4 days a week by the end of the year (maybe if I say it out loud enough I will be able to make that happen!)

These changes have started to make our relationship better. We had a wonderful snuggle on the couch last night!

Do you have have days/weeks/moments where loving your dog is harder?

Training Thursday - A New Puzzle

Last weekend, while out finishing my Christmas shopping I found this:

As I know Santa plans on bringing a lot of gifts, I decided to give it to them right away. [Also we have leant 2 of our other puzzles to our cousin cats Loopy and Panda to try so we are down some puzzles].

Pros:
- I like that at Winner's it was only $15 (nice price)

-I like that it has 2 different types of spots (slid spot and a flip flap)

-I personally prefer the wood to the plastic. I find them to be sturdier than the plastic (and Lee has never tried to chew the wood ones)

-I like that the holes for treats are fairly large so I can use a variety of treats

-Hailey really seems to enjoy it and worked really hard to figure those flaps out!

Phod coming to help

Cons:
-Like all puzzle toys, Hailey figured it out fairly quickly

-It does spin on the floor when Hailey was trying to open it- this may be annoying for some dogs, but we liked it because it made her work harder







While it is still new and we haven't used it too many times, we give it 3.5 paws out of 4. We think it is good value for the money, but worry it may become too easy too quickly.

 _______________
Card Count: In the past 2 days we have gotten 6 - so 41 now for us.
2 still for the people (Lady says there is one she hasn't opened a 3rd as it is with a gift - we think she is stretching for more cards).
2 for all of us

Training Thursday - Off track

The past few weeks, we have not been as dedicated to Hailey's training as we should have been. She has been getting lots of exercise and puzzle time, but we haven't been doing as much "relaxing" as we should.

I have not connected with the behaviourist either. I am not as encouraged to call her because I know the conversation will be what it always is, medication. As I have said before, I have no problems/judgment with others who medicate their dogs. It is just at this time, I don't think this is something I want to explore. The reality is that over the winter, Hailey will not be exposed to the "anxiety" provoking situations such as thunder, fireworks and children. Perhaps medication is something we will explore again during "anxious" season in the spring. For now, we will try and get our act together and practice relaxing. We will continue to work on physical and mental exercise and we will do a better job at practicing relax.

Lee - destroying a free toy from Pet Expo

Training Thursday - Review of another puzzle toy

 Today we are talking about the Trixie Move2Win Level 3 puzzle.  This is one of the items I purchased through Amazon.ca after our consult with the behaviourist.

I went with level 3 as Hailey tends to solve things very quickly. Here are our thoughts:

 Pros:
-This is the first puzzle that Hailey has not figured out right away, in fact she hasn't totally figured it out yet. Because it is so challenging to keep her and Phod motivated we put special treats like hot dogs in it.

-It is easy to clean.

-The compartments are larger and you can put a lot of different treats in it (unlike some of our other puzzles that can only hold small treats or kibble).


-As it is a puzzle it doesn't get dragged around our floor as much and isn't as noisy.

-The dogs will share this. There are so many different parts, they can each be working on a different part.

-It holds a lot of treats.

-It takes a while to do (which is good and bad).

Cons:

Another chewed piece

Hailey chewed the rope for pulling

-If not completely supervised, it is easy to destroy (while doing the dishes one day, so in the room but not watching, Hailey chewed 2 parts of it). It is not a puzzle we could leave them with while we are doing other things or out




-The Man says he thinks the plugs are too hard to take out (Lady say this is the point and doesn't find them too hard)

-It may be too challenging for some dogs [Phod often gets frustrated and quits].

Overall, we give it 2.5 paws out of 4.

The biggest drawback for me, is I have to directly supervise them with it. It isn't something I can give them to keep busy while I am cooking or if we had people over. However, it is nice to have something that works Hailey's brain so hard!

Disclaimer: I independently purchased this toy and am sharing my opinions/experience. The company is not aware I am doing this.