Yoshi and Trek
Training Diary - June 2011
By Ellen
Clary (Copyright 2004-2011)
(reverse
date order)
Feedback
is
welcome: 
Frap.org Training
Diary
home
Our You Tube Video Archive is here
For the human's blog see: The
Non-Dog Blog
Non-Dog Blog Table of Contents
Thu Jun 30
Noon-Yoshi walk brought a tortilla filled with some roast
beef. For that he ignored a chihuahua across the street but
his attention waned as the walk proceeded.
Evening: Trek to Lincoln Park for Rally work. Did great
initially but the park noise eventually was too much for her to
concentrate.
Wed Jun 29
worked around a GSD (actually sort of chased them down) only to run
into them later and Yoshi barked - the owner turned around and so
did we.
Tue Jun 28
Celeste was asking me about Yoshi's supplement regime and I'm
realizing I don't have a current version of it here.
Since about Feb it's been:
GABA 1/16 tsp
100 mg L-Theonine
1 Pet Ease tablet (for the L-tryptophan but the Chamomile helps
too)
1/3 c kibble
and water
I gave up on the Quiet Moments as for it to be effective I had to
give him too much Chamomile and it made him dopey.
Trek Agility
Class got rained out but I had already left work (I leave around 4pm
or so and don't recheck after that as there's no time to do it), but
by the time we got there the rain had stopped. The courses
were set up so Sharon said that we could go ahead and practice and
we did.
Worked a lot on a lateral lead out. It seems to work better if
I use a flat hand pushing out - just like in a gamble. First
just one jump (over and over) and then jump tunnel, then jump tunnel
tire. Things seem better if I only use the word tunnel rather
than out tunnel. Later one also worked on discrimination
between a dogwalk and a tunnel. Much harder but she was
getting it.
Did a lot of weavepoles at a distance. If she's on my left
she'll sometimes pop the 10-11 pole me on the other side doesn't
have that temptation. I can have her weave with me 3 long
steps away laterally. Cool.
Teeter is no problem.
Mon Jun 27
Noon: Trek walk pretty uneventful. Heeling is still
ahead a bit. I have to figure out what I want this summer to
be like for the dogs. This Saturday Trek is doing Bayteam
USDAA which should be totally silly since she's in Starters Standard
(still), Advanced Gamblers and Snooker, and Masters Jumpers.
Should be lots of conflicts to manage.
Evening: Yoshi walk. Did ok but until there was a
Malamute across the street making faces at him and we were at a
barky dog's house anyway, but he would only focus on me for a moment
and then was trying to lunge at the dog wouldn't engage with me and
all I could do was just hold him by the collar until the dog
passed. Then when he reconnected and wanted to work, we
crossed the street and walked past the dog and as an experiment, I
had him heel and remarkably I kept his attention by talking to him
most of the time. Heel, yes, that's right [he looks away]
watch, [he looks at me] yes, that's right, watch, yes [he looks
away] clicking sound [he looks at me], good boy, heel, food-reward.
Now in theory he should just tune this out fairly quickly but he
didn't then. the other dog wasn't moving much then or making
rude gestures.
Sun Jun 26
Yoshi walk
One Beagle on Central who came out of a house to go to his
car. They were about 1 1/2 houses away and we stopped.
Yoshi barked for a second and we backed a little off (2
houses). His complete attention was on the dog and Come and
Yoshi Come didn't get a responses at first but he didn't
charge. Come-leash pull (not pop) got him back and he could
cope but it was right at his threshold. Once he was more
engaged with me we moved a little closer but it was hard for him but
he was able to do ok.
Later near home 2 small dogs across the street. I could tell
we weren't going to have brilliant successes with this so I mostly
just had him eat pretty continuously as they walked by.
Trek walk. Her heeling is a bit forge prone I think because
she wants to see my face - Cali was like that. Saw Ruby and
her mom. Mom says Ruby is still a bad dog (she was taking
evasive action when I asked if that was Ruby.) The
conversation was about that she saw a raccoon the size of Ruby
(medium sized dog) right on Gibbons. What I should have pointed out
was how relatively relaxed Ruby was. She wasn't worried about
Trek at all.
Talking with a friend
Me (on FB): Debating on
getting more serious about doing dog training videos.
Her: Do
you have any tips for really timid dogs? My GSD is frightened of
almost everything! I think she may have learned her fear from
her Poodle sister.
Me: I
sure do, but it's a large slightly complex subject.
To start,
is the dog just worried about new things, or outright phobic
about them like some dogs who physically react in terror to
fireworks and thunderstorms (Trek is afraid of metal clanging)
If it's
just timidity you can do counter conditioning with food or
anything else the dog likes. Scary thing and your immediate
response is "Ooo scary [whatever] have a cookie" (happy voice) -
actually you really don't have to say much just reward right
away. Trek didn't like balls bouncing, screaming children and
general chaos and those I was able to counter condition her to
look to me for a reward for putting up with it
For
phobias there are things like the pressure wraps
(google:thundershirt), and supplements and drugs. Phobias are
very hard to deal with.
If a dog
is afraid or leery of people you give the person a treat for the
dog and they kneel down, look away (important), and stretchout
their arm with the treat. It works consistently for me and
scared dogs. You do have to know that doggy isn't going to bite
the person as it's quite a trust exercise on the person's part.
Her:
She's scared of new things, people, vacuum cleaners, etc.
Me:
Vacuum Cleaners are tough - Mine just leave the room and that's
fine. If she's not likely to bite try the hold a treat out and
don't look at the dog with people.
Oh and
people in general suck at communicating with a frightened dog.
They lean forward, start, talk funny, wave their hands. Oh and
the worst, pet doggy on the head. Bam Bam Bam. Yeesh.
Let the
dog do the approaching is one basic rule.
Her: I've
tried the hot dog treats and that works a little with some
people.
Me: Keep
at it, and try to be consistent about it for a while.
Susan Garrett is selling access to video snippets of her training
puppy Swagger (2x a week for a year). While it would be fun
and it's not a huge amount of money, BC Swagger is not going to be
that difficult of a dog to train (despite being high energy and very
puppy-like right now) so it might just depress me. :)
Wed-Sat
At Mt Shasta - Terri had the dogs and they all did fine.
Tue Jun 21
Yosh walk. I've been noticing that after I give him a reward
for not reacting he'll sometimes swallow and then still react.
I find this supremely annoying so I want to find a solution better
than knocking his block off since that has yet to solve
anything. So I've now decided to start experimenting with
delivering the treat in two pieces (or just two treats). He
gets one and then I reach down again. I don't rush this, but
make it clear another is coming. This now changes the
habit. Instead of looking out at the "threat" his default
reaction after getting a treat should be to look at me for
more. Even in the space of one walk I could see the behavior
change. He's now going to get a break for a few days and we'll
have to take this up again.
Mon Jun 20
Yoshi Walk
Stopped to talk to Heather at a house at Versailles and Lincoln that
was redone for a TV program called Curb Appeal that will be on HGN
Network later this year. She and two of her kids greeted
Yoshi. I asked about their dogs one of who charges the fence a
lot, but she tells me that dog is actually all bark and just charges
out of excitment. Apparently they have another dog who is a
beagle.
Just before we got there stopped to let a dog pass by across the
street. Street was small but we were a house distance away.
Later saw small black dog on Santa Clara also across the
street. Did ok - he did bark at the dog but not seriously and
broke off after a small leash pop. He still tends to lock on
to small dogs and needs to be reminded to knock it off. This
is a shame as I'd rather not have to correct him but his brain seems
to go elsewhere.
Sat Jun 18
Ann and Jan held an AHBA trial at Elvies today with Linda and
Barbara judging so we went down to see how they were going to jam an
AHBA course into the property. The solution? Use all the pens
- it worked. Tony was there with his 3 pems and they did
great. Yoshi and Trek went along as tourists and to socialize
and they both did really well. If there was going to be a dog
passing by I just picked Yoshi up and optionally covered his
eyes. NO outbursts and he was very relaxed and seemed to
really like all the attention. Though you could see him
wondering when his turn was going to be.
Fri Jun 17
Still sick skipping obedience class but dragging me and the dogs to
herding.
Glad I went (started to feel better too)
They were doing specific work with the sheep so we couldn't train
with them but instead worked with the ducks. Before he has
been either blind to ducks or not seeing them but this time he was
instantly intrigued. We were in a pen we always worked herding
in so he knew the context and he was very much: "Wow, what is
that!" He was very happy to herd them. Not very happy to
slow down, but pretty much all I had to do is get the flag in his
face and say "STOP" or "WALK" or if things are going better
"Steady." When the ducks are on the fence I have to work to
keep him on the fence and not getting ahead of them. He needs
to stay behind them. Linda prefers that the ducks not be on
the fence but Course A does though Course A really isn't well suited
to ducks. Course B is much better because you're driving the
stock on a diagonal though the outrun requirements are much tougher
as you can't get nearly as close to the stock as you can with Course
A.
Anyway it was really cool to see him working without stressing so
much. Long ago I was told he should be a duck dog. Maybe
they were right I've had him on ducks several times before and he
never seemed that interested but now he has a lot more skills and
it's possible that's what he needed.
Now I have to decide whether his skills would increase faster with
ducks or sheep. I've asked Linda for her opinion.
The LA Corgi Herding trial is scheduled for April 14-15, 2012.
He was a little odd with a Sheltie he didn't know. Here he is
surrounded by Shelties and there's this one that's bothering
him. Weirdo. I kept him in my arms then.
Wed Jun 15 -Thu Jun 16
Ugh I have a cold
All I could do with the dogs is work on down stays which provided
its own amusement as all 16 photos are a little different:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1990490394584.2112798.1013097814&l=812d1cacff
Tue Jun 14
Agility Class with Trek.
Went well with some diffcult weave entries. I need to buy
Clean Run course designer so I can talk in more detail about the
courses.
Mon Jun 13
Trek noon walk fine.
Yoshi long evening walk. Walked all the way down to Krusi
Park. Saw various dogs including a Golden playing fetch at the
park. Also because it was a longer walk I got the entire gamut
of behavior between beautiful and real asshat. As usual if a
dog really startled him correcting him even hard really didn't make
much difference. mild snarking getting a mild correction is
what worked the best in correction land. Traditional old style
dog trainers put so much faith in corrections, but it all seems a
little silly - they're not magic at all. Controlling distance
and having good reward timing is very likely just as
effective. Once in a while him knowing that I really don't
like him doing something and would he please knock it off Right Now,
seems to help. But over threshold is over threshold. I
really have to stop taking my dogs bad behavior personally.
Sun Jun 12
Terri and I took both dogs for a walk. It was devolving into
its usual absurdness and after Yoshi snarked at some dogs across the
street I asked that Terri and Trek walk a ways ahead of us and
things got better. Trek was very much a swivel head but was
convinced when Terri started to reward her with cheese. Yoshi
kept a careful eye on them, but was definitely much better with the
distance.
Sat Jun 11
Squirrels are reappearing.
Dog walks.
Yoshi. Went down High St knowing that we might get pinned in
since escape routes are limited there because of the traffic and
limited cross streets but I thought it was time to be brave and
figure it out.
Saw three dogs on High St. Once across which was perfect but
two on our side approaching. The first approaching was a slow
moving PitX so I had time to consider what to do. I picked
Yoshi up and because the street is a little wider there I walked
around a parked car with the dog on the other side. The dog
was moving slow enough that I probably could have just picked him up
and walked past the dog - not sure. The next one was running
and the traffic was such that I didn't want to walk out there with a
potentially struggling dog so I picked him up and then hide behind a
parked car as they ran towards us. Yoshi heard the tags
jangling and barked and I rotated my body so him couldn't see the
dog until the dog passed. He was tense, but didn't struggle
hard, just barked.
Then we were briefly followed by a Lab, and then on Gibbons we saw a
elderly terrierX dog apporaching. We crossed the street and
let them pass by. This was a challenge for him but he held it
together and was able to let them go by. I need to find a way
that I can work on shorter distances. I think I'm going to
have to start choosing the tiny streets though it's harder to find
dogs walking on them. If I really wanted chaos I can start
taking him to busier areas but dogs in those area can be either pros
or very uncomfortable and reactive (Yoshi included). Wonder if
I should start taking him to the outdoor shopping area - that would
be good for Trek also now too as she hated it months ago.
Greeted my neighbor Renata and he was a gentleman but very much
keeping watch out for us (which I guess is still a gentleman's job).
Trek. Also got to say hello to Renata, and then Corgi Shelby
and her family came by so we walking with them some. My
younger neighbor was bouncing a basketball and both Corgis were
looking apprehensive so I asked him to pause for a second and he did
and we all walked on and then immediately had a very noisy large
truck come by (on a Saturday?) for which Trek got a lot of
cheese. We said good bye to Shelby and Co and then within a
few houses had to cope with a clanging wind chime (it was
windy). She did great and again got a lot of cheese for (ok
not a lot but several bits of.) Incredibly this was all on my
street, and she coped so much better now that she has in the
past. I'm thrilled. Rest of the walk went fine - we
followed the same High St route.
I have a couple of agility trials I could take her too but we're
still working out dates for my father's memorial service so haven't
committed yet to them. Should also find some rally trials for
her/them.
Thu-Fri
Went skiing on Mt Shasta, which was gorgeous but didn't have the
dogs with me.
Wed Jun 8
Yoshi walk. He still is getting distracted and not paying
attention until I insist on it.
Saw a GSD that he barked and and I reached down and grabbed his
collar "That's not leave it." Then he suddenly improved and was able
to watch the dog walk by and I rewarded him for it. this is
not helping the case for positive reinforcement. i'm about to
try not rewarding him until he's completely done as in the middle of
chewing he seems to reset unless the food is being fed to him
constantly. And yet other days he can do so well. What's
the deal? Maybe I need to consistently train with him in the
backyard and not just on walks.
It's weird, last night we had something (I think a cat or a raccoon)
attack a squirrel nest and now there are no squirrels in our
immediate area. it's kinda sad and Yoshi is being very quiet.
Tue Jan 7
Trek Agility Class. I did get her to class because my Shasta
trip has turned into a ski trip and that's a lot easier to pack for
than a backpacking/camping trip.
Her lateral distance is improving. She was popping the 10th
weave pole so Sharon showed me how to toss the toy on the other side
of the poles when she's exiting which helps keep her in the
poles. I think if I put lateral pressure on that will help too
but that's not exactly obstacle independence.
She crashed the A-Frame and she saw stars for a moment but was able
to recover. She's running by contacts again if I don't tell
her about them way in advance. I just can't take them for
granted yet. Eventually if I say climb it will be reasonable
for her to go up whatever's in front of her. Not just yet.
Sun Jun 5
I went on another hike on Mt Diablo but was able to come back and
walk dogs.
Yoshi is just not listening to me much so I'm giving him fewer
treats and just pulling him back away from distractions. Half
way through the walk he started to reconnect and we could do some
work. I had him heel past a dog approaching on the other side
of the street and it worked reasonable well. "Heel." he
would heel then look at the dog. "Nope. Heel." He would
resume heeling. and repeat (but only once)
Trek walk. She's ready to try competing in Rally. She
didn't even try to drag me home during the last block.
I dropped a hot utensil on the kitchen floor. Dogs rush in.
STOP. Trek stops. Yoshi pauses and continue. I
stomp the floor and read him the riot act and he stays stopped and I
pick up the utensil and reward Trek and yell at Yoshi for going to
go check the floor. He then comes over and I ask him to sit
and he sits and I reward him for that.
I'm not always yelling at him. He was barking at the window
and I deliberately didn't but just looked at him and he whined and
came to me just as if I had called him. Pretty funny.
Sat Jun 4
Yoshi afternoon walk. A neighbor is putting in a lawn and he
growled and reacted to the workers there who were approaching.
Miffed I corrected him twice and he finally chilled out but I don't
know if the corrections did any good. I think next time I'm
going to try not saying anything and see if my voice signals
tension. They were approaching him so maybe that's the issue.
Woman with a puppy asked if the dogs could greet. I said that
"He's not real good with other dogs, but I can carry him
over." I did that so the puppy (little fluffy one) go to see
him but way above his head. The woman said that he (Yoshi)
looked so nice walking on a leash. I thanked her but didn't go
into the fact that it's the dogs who are a pain get the most
training so look great 95% of the time. All the time I was
holding Yoshi he was wanting to get down and he was growling and
whining in that "it's not a dog" way that he does. We then
back across the street and parallel walked with the puppy which was
a distance he was more comfortable with.
Fri Jun 3
Trek noon walk. she's ready for Rally or at least a
match. Actually i think she's ready for a Rally trial and an
Obedience Match.
Yoshi evening walk. Uneventful but he's pulling more so I'm
pulling back as I'm tired of it. We seem to go through these
phases. But then he'll snap out of it and heel beautifully.
Thu Jun 2
Trek noon walk. Fine mostly but every so often she would just
stop and I would have to encourge her to come along which doesn't
always work as I get annoyed and it sneaks into my voice
Yoshi evening walk. He was also doing the stopping routine
mostly to sniff or pee on something. After a while I just
started pulling him back as he doesn't take it personally.
He seemed more antsy - it might be the buffalo treats I'm giving
him. Need to go back to the string cheese - I ran out, which
is a little silly as I can get it anywhere.
Dogs: saw one GSD who barked at him across the street while we were
crossing. He barked back but I got his attention back and he
heeled with me across.
Later saw another GSDx who crossed to the other side of Gibbons
right as I was managing that situation the resident dog (a black and
white Springer of sorts) appeared in front of us. At this
point I gave up and picked up Yoshi and started chattering at Yoshi
about "you big scary dog" which amused the springer's owner.
We walked right by them which is the closest he's ever been to them
and it was interesting that Yoshi was more worried about the GSDx
rather than the dog right in front of him.
Later we saw Cisco and went to catch up to them until owner Judy
having forgotten something did a sudden U-turn and came right at us
and we had to take evasive action up a driveway.
Wed Jun 1
This just in - Trek is now in Masters/PIII jumpers! (I was
checking the usdaa site and noticed 3 J PIIs. No title in the
mail yet but that takes a while.
Noon - raining - go figure it's not done for the season for a few
more days.
Did some brief stay work with both dogs in the back yard when it let
up.
Evening walked both dogs separately.
Yoshi was totally wanting to charge around the neighborhood, but he
was very responsive to Come even when I let him get ahead. The
only problem I created by only going 1/2 a house length away from a
passing dog and he lunged and barked at the dog. Probably
should have just gone into the street and passed them that way.
Trek did well and her heeling is nice. Fronts were good. Back
up is still crooked out to the side but it's a difficult exercise.
Right hand finish is very good. Probably should start entering
her in Rally once we know when my father's memorial is going to be.
I did enter Trek for the Saturday of the Bay Team July 4th weened
trial. PIII Jumpers and PII Gamblers first thing in the
morning, and then PI Standard and then PII Snooker. We'll have
to see if she quits by mid morning. And we'll have to see if
her teeter bravery carries over the Prunedale.
Archive - Go to:
2011
Yoshi and Trek
Training Diary - Jun 2011
Yoshi and Trek
Training Diary - May 2011
Yoshi and Trek
Training Diary - Apr 2011
Yoshi and Trek
Training Diary - Mar 2011
Yoshi and Trek
Training Diary - Feb 2011
Yoshi and Trek
Training Diary - Jan 2011
2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Dec 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Nov 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Oct 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Sep 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Aug 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jul 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jun 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - May 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Apr 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Mar 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Feb 2010
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jan 2010
2009
Yoshi and Trek
Training Diary - Dec 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Nov 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Oct 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Sep 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Aug 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jul 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jun 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - May 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Apr 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Mar 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Feb 2009
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jan 2009
2008
Yoshi and Trek
Training Diary - Dec 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Nov 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Oct 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Sep 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Aug 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jul 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jun 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - May 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Apr 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Mar 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Feb 2008
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jan 2008
2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Dec 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Nov 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Oct 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Sep 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Aug 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jul 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jun 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - May 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Apr 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Mar 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Feb 2007
Yoshi and Trek Training
Diary - Jan 2007
2006
Yoshi Training Diary -
Dec 2006
Yoshi Training Diary - Nov
2006
Yoshi Training Diary -
Oct 2006
Yoshi Training Diary -
Sep 2006
Yoshi Training Diary - Aug
2006
Yoshi Training Diary -
July 2006
Yoshi Training Diary -
June 2006
Yoshi Training Diary - May
2006
Yoshi Training Diary - Apr
2006
Yoshi Training Diary - Mar
2006
Yoshi Training Diary - Feb
2006
Yoshi Training Diary - Jan
2006
2005
Yoshi Training Diary - Dec
2005
Yoshi Training Diary - Nov
2005
Yoshi Training Diary - Oct
2005
Yoshi Training Diary -
Sept 2005
Yoshi Training Diary - Aug
2005
Yoshi Training Diary - Jul
2005
Yoshi Training Diary - Jun
2005
Yoshi Training Diary - May
2005
Yoshi Training Diary - Apr
2005
Yoshi Training Diary - Mar
2005
Yoshi Training Diary - Feb
2005
Yoshi Training Diary -
Jan 2005
2004
Yoshi Training Diary - Dec
2004
Yoshi Training Diary - Nov
2004
Yoshi Training Diary - Oct
2004
Yoshi Training Diary -
Sep 2004
Yoshi Training Diary - Aug
2004
Yoshi Training Diary -
July 2004
Yoshi Training Diary - Jun
2004
Yoshi Training Diary - May
2004
Yoshi Training Diary - Apr
2004
Yoshi Main Page
Frap Home Page