Nasty Day!

Today I was supposed to audit an agility handling seminar. It was cancelled due to the weather. No it wasn't cold, or snow or even blowing snow. It was RAIN! The kind that freezes on impact. It started last night and continued this morning and was supposed to be most of the day.

Reese and I layed around....didn't do much....Reese kept the couch warm and looked like this most of the day.

It is supposed to keep raining/sleeting and then get colder and turn to snow which will cover all the icy spots. So glad we started running and getting into it again just so we could stop.  Grrrrr.

Seeing Running Contacts in My Sleep

Running contacts are a lot of work in the beginning. It seems until you figure out what is going to work for your set-up for training, and your dog, it is a lot of trial and error. I got a little frustrated the other night and raised my plank. It worked but that may have been a fluke. She isn't running as fast as I would like. While I would like to hope that speed will come with more space in reality it might not. I would rather like what I've got before I add to it. I want to make sure that she understands the criteria I want and I'm not sure I have trained that well enough yet. I don't want to take it for granted that she's got it, then start raising the plank, just to have to lower it and start the process again later.

In an effort to increase speed to a run over the plank and reduce bounciness I got the other half of the thinner plank I used at the beginning of training and put them together. When I tried just the 6 foot plank after running the full length plank she stepped on and jumped off the rest.

After putting them together this is what I got. I think I will work on this for a few sessions and see how it goes. There are a number or runs that she really does run and you can see the difference when she does. I would like to work on getting her understanding that "running" is the criteria that I am looking for better before we move on. Let me know what you think.

Thought We'd Try and Experiment

Just because both I and Reese were getting frustrating with our plank work. I thought we would try a little experiment. I remembered how when she is working goats and they are a little too slow for her she tries to come up with ways on her own to make it more interesting. So when I as a handler start making her think more then she slows down and works at a more appropriate pace. So we thought we would just give this a whirl one time and see what happens.

Not sure if it is better, worse or the same then what we got with a flat plank. I think that she is not as fast but I was using treats and she is slower with those than with the tug or the ball. She was also tired this was the end of a long day. But it seemed smoother to me, she bounced a couple times leaving the plank, but she hit the contacts and wasn't bouncing all the way across the plank.

Will speed come when she has a chance to get some speed before and after the plank. I don't know, but I don't know if she will ever get the speed I want when we are working in the house as there is not enough room. Most say get the speed first but in our case I don't know if that will happen. SO...I might go for criteria first and hope the speed comes when we are at the training center. Will see what my trainer thinks. She may have my head on a platter for this one, but we wouldn't know if we didn't try so I thought why not give it a go and see what we got. Here you go...

More Running Contacts

We have continued to work our running contacts still working on getting rid of that darn bouncing that leads to the jump off at the end. I want her running all the way to the end. Due to Reese not feeling well Friday night (gee could it be the horse poop she munched on during our lesson on Thursday) we didn't get anything done that day, and was gone Sat. So here are a couple videos of our recent sessions.

In the first video from yesterday I tried a number of things to see what would happen when I was in different positions to see if it increased her running over bouncing.

The second video from this morning had more consistent runs without bouncing so more rewards. She is not as fast but right now I think I'll just work on no bounces and hope that with more room at the arena she will pick up speed. I want to really work on reinforcing running the whole length of the plank with no bouncing.

Jim and Jackie's

This weekend the group that Reese and I work stock with had our Christmas Party. It was a lot of fun. I am so lucky to have a great group of people to herd with and these people have become very good friends of mine. We watched videos of herding from the past year, it was fun to see all the progress we made last season. It was also fun to see the green grass and warm sun shining down - gives you hope that Spring is not too far away. It does however make me realize how much I have missed herding and our almost weekly trips to the farm.

In addition to good company, although a few people couldn't make it one being our fearless leader, we had of course ample dog talk going on, and a great meal. If you ever hear of a restaurant called "Jim and Jackie's" make sure you stop in for a meal. I guarantee you will not leave disappointed or hungry! Jim cooked ribs and we also had Jackie's famous beans made from her secret recipe, baked potatoes with ALL the fixings, and pie for dessert. A little wine to wash it all down and we all had to be rolled away from the table.

It was fun to see Nick who is Reese's brother at his house in his own element. He and his sister Ash were very fun to watch play together. Or should I say it was fun to watch Nick trying to get his serious sister to play. He and Reese are so alike in the things they do, it is actually kind of scary. They both drool like a faucet with the right stimulas and they love their ball and bring it to you to throw but then they play keep away until they decide you are worthy of throwing it. Nick barks to get Jackie's attention and I kept looking around because is sounds exactly like Reese. They both have barks that can be really high pitch - can you say ear piercing and very annoying, or they have a deep, deep, bark for when someone is at the door or they are protecting you. So fun to see him.

This is Nick just hanging out at the party.

This is Reese resting after a bit of ball play. Can you tell they are related. They even hold their front paws the same way.

Ash loves to be in videos, she is the dog that looks right into the camera as she runs by, but she doesn't like the flash. Cameras in the house are scary - so no pictures of Ash today.

Reese got to stay at Grandma and Grandpa's house while I went to the party. It was a new experience for them and her but all went well, so she will probably stay with them more often as the need arises.

Warm temps this weekend in the 4o's made our runs and walks sooo enjoyable. Ran in the morning, did some work around the house, and walked in the afternoon yesterday. Topped it off with a good movie. What could be better.

Problem or Opportunity?

We have been having a bit of a problem with our running contacts this week. Last week at our lesson we spent quite a bit of time working on running the plank. Reese had been nailing the contact very well at home.

At our lesson she wasn't hitting the contact with the consistency she had been and was jumping and bouncing more than we wanted. We tried sending her through a tunnel and then onto the plank, but that seemed to get her a bit too excited and she missed the plank - she loves the tunnels. My trainer got her to correct her stride and start hitting the contact when she placed a low jump in front of the plank.

This week at home I was to use a jump with the plank to keep working on this. But it didn't quite work that way. Our first session she hit the contact once but after that lost it. She couldn't hit the yellow with the tug at all. Tried treats that worked maybe once then we lost that. I didn't want her repeating too much so we stopped. I left it for a day or so tried again with the same result. Clearly I needed to try something else.

Hmmm a problem, OR was this an opportunity?

Well actually it was both, but a problem doesn't have to be bad, after all it gives you the opportunity to fix it, and learn. So I went back to what had worked before. Used treats and she hit the contacts, went to the tug and she hit the contacts. Hmmm. Left it for a day.

Tried it again tonight and didn't use the jump but had her sitting back from the plank farther where she would if I was using the jump. She missed the contact. Hmmm, what is going on. Something is different, what could be causing this?

I put her closer to the plank where she had been when we started the plank work so she was almost right in front of it, she hit the contact. She hit it again and again. Moved her back a couple feet and she missed. Put the jump up so she would land right in front of the plank and then step on...she hit it, moved the jump back just a bit which gave her more room between the jump and the plank and she missed.

AHA!!!
So I figured out the problem was her distance from the plank. At our lesson last week I placed her farther from the plank then she had been when we worked it at home. It was too much of a change. This was, of course, handler error because my trainer said, "set her up like she is at home" and at the time I thought I was. But now knowing what the problem is I realize I had set her back too far at the lesson and that started some of the confusion.

Bottom line....I don't think she understands the criteria, to hit the contact, well enough yet to start adding things - like distance, major movement, running along side the plank for the full length etc. I'll work very incrementally getting her farther from the plank with the jump to test her and see where we are for our lesson this week.

I could have called my trainer to ask what I should do next, I could have left it and not worked on the issue until our lesson, but I didn't want to do that. I am glad that I worked the problem and figured out what was causing the issue. That is the first part of correcting an issue is to identify the cause. Once you know the cause - then you can work on how to fix it.

I have some video but don't have time to get it up tonight maybe I'll get a chance tomorrow. This issue might have set us back a little bit in our training but it was a great "aha moment" when I realized what was happening. I am okay with losing some training ground as long as Reese or I learn something in the process and we did.

We will see what our trainer says the next step will be when we have our lesson. I have a feeling it might be something like, "repetition, repetition repetition, you need to more practice."

Yes!!!

It finally, got warm today. Well if you consider 18-20 degrees warm. For us it was like a heatwave after it being below zero since Christmas Eve. We still have a lot of ice on the roads, but it is starting to get better from the sun, people driving on it, and now the warmer tempertures we are supposed to get this week should get rid of it.

It was so nice to finally be able to play outside again. Reese and I were both starting to get a little crazy from being cooped up in the house. We have been practicing our tricks and our agility homework but nothing beats all out crazy running in the yard - through the snow chasing our soccer ball.

Tomorrow we will be back to multiple walks a day hopefully we can get back to our running this week. We will check the roads in the morning and see how they are. We were just starting to get into a running routine and then the sub-zero temps and ice hit, but what are you gonna do.

Tonight I made banana bread. Reese has a strange fascination with PAM cooking spray. Well any aerosol spray can actually. But whenever I cook I can count on her to help with the greasing of the pans. Here is a little video of tonights help.

I used to not show her what I was doing and tried to hide it from her by spraying the pans over the counter. Her reaction was much worse, so I thought why not just show her what I am doing, and it has actually been getting better. Taking the mystery out of what goes on with noisy cans above the counters.

Yes, it's true folks border collies can be a little weird. There is also the time I used hairspray from an aerosol can. Reese came bounding into the bathroom jumping on me which sent us both flying into the bath tub. I looked up just in time to see the the shower curtain, rod and all, rapidly desending straight for my head. Ya, I can laugh about it now, but at the time.....grrrrr!

Why the fascination with aerosol cans. Who knows. She did bite into a Claire Burke popourri can when she was a puppy. It was only about 1/4 full thankfully. She bit into it as she was carrying it through the house. Once she bit into it the contents just kept coming out at her. She didn't get hurt or sick and nothing happened to the can other then it leaked and that was the last Claire Burke I had. Ever since then aerosol can's make her mad.

The only other weird thing Reese does is that she does not like one certain set of railroad tracks in town. She will watch for them when we are driving and will start getting ready about 4 blocks ahead of time. Actually she starts prepping when we are turning onto this road about 6 blocks ahead. I do try to avoid this road when she is not crated and if she is crated, the crate gets covered and then she is okay. It seems to be a visual thing she has connected to the noise and bumps of the railroad tracks. In this video she is spinning a bit in the crate. Usually she is rocking back and forth from side to side trying to see past the passenger seat at her evil nemesis.


Living with a border collie - never a dull moment. And I wouldn't have it any other way.