Down Day
Wednesday, September 5, 2012 at 5:30PM 
Seeing I am a tad queasy today. I decided not going to the last class - sigh - really feel like we let you all down but Nathan is sick too. I feel sick to my tummy and with shows 2 weeks in a row coming up and Lynda also feeling overwhelmed with kids back at school (she works at the university) well it was easy to say we have to count. Well, not that easy - but sometimes its wise to realize your limitations.
So, I hope the rest of you have a blast tonight. We get to see Scruffy tomorrow and hear all about how Scruffy and Ty ruled the class. I am off to bed early to play recovery as I have Panda to groom for showing tomorrow and Scruffy to have fun playing with.
Above is a photo of Kat's brother Murphy. Right from the start he had this strutting attitude and his mom has him in fashion shows. Risa adored this pup as he gave as well as he took and that brashness is what Risa loved.
Do you see the similarities in the Kat pups?
Reader Comments (10)
Darlah is the show nearbye ? It would be interesting to attend and watch the
Talemaker humans and dogs paticipate.
The show is in Jerseyville, Ontario at the Ancaster Fairgrounds - 630 Trinity Road
Friday show they are in the ring at 11am and at 4:15 (2 shows on Friday. Saturday they are in at 2:20 and Sunday at 920am. I may go on Saturday or Sunday depending on Abigail. Abigail may be coming with me in a sherpa bag and staying in Paula's trailer while they are in the ring. We shall see. Day 57 is tomorrow so in reality she can go anywhere from tomorrow till the 12th. I am hoping Monday. Her temps have not dropped. Paula is hoping Teaser goes tonight. We shall see. I am more accurate on Abigail as she only had one breeding and its 57 to 63 days from ovulation. Ovulation can happen 3 days either way from day connected. If she ovulated 3 days before she connected then she would be due tomorrow. Her temps have not dropped so I rather doubt it. :-) Wouldn't it be funny if Abigail had her pups before Teaser. :-)
Sorry you and Nathan aren't feeling well, we missed you in class. Unfortunately, there were only 4 dogs there to compete, but that meant the games were less chaotic. Ty did great and really showed what he had learned. He won a lot of bonus bones! Scruffy made great strides from his first class and we were really proud of him. He won the fastest down at a distance game.....that seems to be a strength for him. He also is much better now with heel, stand, stay and even with stay halfway through a recall. Overall, the class taught us a great deal and I really do feel Scruffs learned a lot even if he doesn't always perform it in class. It's clear at home that the commands have stuck and when he's focused, he can do them all so we know the foundation is there. And let's not forget, he's only 8 months old!!!!
Do I sound like a proud momma? I hope so because i truly am! :-)
sorry you guys are not feeling well, stella looks very much like murphy !!
That's great Lori! Love hearing about Scruffy and especially his accomplishments. :-) Which class was it you took again? Are you thinking about the Tricks are for Dogs class somewhere down the road? Not sure which class to take next.
Laci and I go through all her tricks w/ treats every day. She's very good "with treats." But I've have yet to get her to come on command when we're outside and there are are no treats. Anyone have any suggestions??? Perhaps it's just time. Now that I'm thinking out loud I will try a treat every other trick and if she doesn't do it for nothing, next time she'll get nothing as well. (Mean Mommy!) LOL
Take the Total Recall class. Everyone should. It is fun, fun, fun and will perfect that recall.
I am much better today and look forward to seeing Scruffs, Panda and Logan. I think I had some meat that was just starting to turn. Silly me... Now that the offense is out of me I feel tired but well. I too wish I could have been there.
I will say I will never take an 8pm class again though. It's too late. 7pm is what works for us.
Scruffy is amazing and you 2 are excellent parents so how could he not be? Bravo for Ty and Scruffy following through.
Looks like Scruffy has siblings that started coming at 2am. See Abigail's blog. I put the post there seeing she's next - 4 to 6 days at the most to Truffie puppies.
Val: I agree!!!!
Debi, we did citizen canine. And yes, 8pm was very late, 7pm better.
They suggest to use the treats to learn the behaviour but then they should do without. You can hide the treats between your fingers initially and then as time goes on the hand signal is enough even without the treats. Not sure how else to explain that...easier to show it. Also, anything can be a treat. Scruffy works for toys, he works for attention. We often use, hooray! And clapping and belly rubs which is enough to get him excited about it......but that might just be his personality.....he loves the attention and excitement. I've also used a running lap around the room as a reward....he LOVES that! He's a high energy dog.
For the recall, Debi, do you make it exciting? They tell us to be very bright and smiling and do a few steps backwards while we recall with the arm swooping signal. Scruffy doesn't always come either, especially if he's interested in what he's doing or distracted. Making it fun often works though. And try to practice recall for fun, not just when you actually need to recall so she doesn't associate it with having to end her fun.
Hope that helps!
Our very best recaller is Treasure. She is an attention seeking dog - she likes the focus being on her. That type of dog is the easiest to teach recall to. The dog that finds other things too exciting other than you is more challenging. The goal is to make you so exciting that they come. The best training sessions Nathan has with the dogs is when he goes away and comes back. He is suddenly the most exciting thing in their universe. You have to use opportunities and be creative. But Total Recall is fun and 1 lousy night and worth it, imho.
Thx Lori! You explained that well as I could picture what you're saying. Laci gets very excited in-house w/ the "come" command and stops much like "The Roadrunner." It's quite funny. She's been good w/ retrieving and coming back and forth which is much the same (and w/ no treats - just the toy), but I really want to get that "come" command w/ the swooping arm working . . . not that I will ever have her off leash in a park as I'm not a fan of that . . . but one never knows. I've had dogs slip out the gate before so it is a vital safety measure. I guess we've relied on the treats too long and it's time to put a stop to that. We were taught to pull out the "big guns" for this command and I'm afraid Laci is quite a fan of kolbassa. LOL
Darlah - I'll look into the Total Recall Class. Both you and Lori are better than me as I won't do a night class, which is what has been a challenge - to get the course I want, at the location near us and on a Saturday. At least the 9 AM Sat classes are over for Laci as they reserve those for the puppies.:-)