Let's Get Wet!

Bungee, Guinness & Grip go to Dr. Leslie's

First, Bungee shows how she hops through the cavalettis, but as Kathy wants her to walk, we have to do it a few times.



Next, Bungee gets checked & measured. She is 1 cm. larger above the stifle on the left rear leg than the right. Pretty normal we're told. She's also getting stronger & stronger.


Into the treadmill for her workout, ready, here comes the water~~

It seems Bungee is the 1st dog at Paws4Dogs (click on the link to visit them) to get the treadmill settings as high as she has. Since we're only conditioning and she has never been injured, they do give her quite a workout. She actually panted a tiny bit at the end this time but the water temperature was also up, I think they said 92 degrees.

Here's what the whole underwater treadmill looks like. Dr. Leslie checks in with us between patients. Kathy, the rehab tech is always with us at the treadmill making regular adjustments too. This time it was a family affair as we were all there and friends too!


The water is just above her knees here.


Almost finished now, water going out.



Now the Fun Begins!

It was really hard for to get good pictures (or any pictures!!) with the water that was flying! Good thing since this was my turn to fall in! It may have been karma (:~))) last time Grip's mom got soaked! That's where the karma part comes in - we had a little fun (OK a lot) teasing her!

Below is our friend Grip, who modeled the latest in K9 pool fashion for us with her hot pink swim suit. She wore it for the photographer for the 1st few swims, before Guinness & Bungee joined in.

Grip is an AMAZING dog with AMAZING speed! She does Flyball, Agility and is extremely fast! She also does Dock Diving and Disc Dog. Best of all she's one sweetie pie of a girl who loves everyone.


Let's all get wet!

Guinness coming around the deck in the life jacket for another dive in off the side, Grip is raring to go again. Bungee's swimming against the jets. Everyone's in and going in big circles down & back. Wait, mom's in the water too...oooops! (missed that shot :-)) Guinness's life jacket has a nice handle! Not a dry spot to be found, including on me.

15 min. into the swim I no longer need to try to stay dry! (Immediate evidence in 3rd picture up :-) The cameraman was laughing too hard to get the dunk- thank goodness!


Grip - below - always the well-dressed girlie! Isn't she cute? Here she is with her very cozy, custom-made, terry cloth robe telling us it's time to go.

Contacts #1 - Planks & Stairs

Contacts - huge subject these days, where to begin?
OK, then, the beginning it is... :-))

Tools of the 2o2o Trade (at least at Bungee's place)

Travel Plank:

Above - our "travel plank", going on it's 3rd dog with Bungee. It packs along easily. It's painted just like agility equipment, complete with sand for traction. I've used other sizes and for many reasons, these measurements are good. Double click any picture to expand.


Some ways you can use your travel plank:
(the important thing is that it does not slip side-to-side as the dog gets on & off)

A travel plank can also be used flat on the floor, we have done so zillions of times, forgot to click that pix, but that's why it has the legs.

Travel planks are a valuable aide for teaching 2o2o contacts.

(2o2o = "2 on 2 off" meaning: 2 paws on - 2 paws off)

I'm adding "w/nt" meaning: with nose touch.
Like this: 2o2ow/nt
Bungee is learning these.


Contact Training Stairs:

The most recent addition to our agility field, our beautiful set of Contact Training Stairs!! I am very excited about them! They were made for us compliments of our generous and skillful neighbor, who heard on a Thursday night that I needed them, and had them sitting in our back yard early on Saturday morning when we 1st took the dogs out! Amazing or what? We were in total disbelief! That's actually the day I said to myself, "I've got to start a blog for Bungee".

Yep, so overjoyed with my new stairs, it was contacts and the excitement of training them to Bungee that urged me to keep track of our work, with an audience in tow. OK might be crazy too, but come trial-time there are no secrets anyway, so better to share our pain honestly - just teasing!!!! :-)))
They'll be a blast!

OK - about the stairs, use them to train 2o2o contacts, ideally before graduating to equipment, or to help clean up contacts if you've had them fall a bit apart on you - and who hasn't been there. They'll get a LOT of use!

Once we mow & get the field set up again, there will be plenty of room at each end of the stairs for great on-going work.

Here are some more pictures taken last month, I haven't measured the stairs.


The neighbor used regular stair hangers, or risers as you would buy from the hardware store to attach the steps to, so the spacing is just as would be for standard stairs in your house. They need to be solid and not wobble. They need to be really sturdy, as you'll wind up sitting on them and putting stuff on them when you're out training, and you'll want them to last. I'm guessing mine are about 38-40 in. wide. I've seen them painted and unpainted. Mine will remain "natural".

But almost any stairs will do:

One set off the back side of our deck, lack of railing is intentional.

The Travel Plank also sits over little stairs like this nicely.

I don't prefer to use the stairs in our house. One set steps to a ceramic tile floor with a twisty spindle railing at the bottom- don't want to scratch the stairs any worse or ask for drivey releases over the tile, and the access for me to reward is poor. The basement stairs are a similar situation with stairs ending in a sort of closed in area with railings on each side. I'd use them if that's all I had. Later on when I'm working further away, she may be asked for contacts at the bottom of the stairs and maybe I'll put a no-slip mat at the bottom for awhile.

But, like I said, almost any stairs will do!
Here's Bungee practicing contacts off our RV stairs~

Thursday, June 5th, Update

Thursday, June 5th, Update

A whirlwind week in more ways than one! Big thunderstorms every day have kept us hopping with power outages & dodging for cover and continue. I reopened my agility field, but on a week with a full calendar, and classes every night.

Bungee was feeling ripped off the beginning of the week, her Mon. class canceled, while Guinn started a new one. Poor girl also had to wait out Guinn's regular Tues. night masters class. It was not until Wed. night that Bungee finally got to go to school AND have a class! She loves school, so by the time her class rolled around, she was a thrill-a-minute in class, and brilliant too!

This was the 1st time Bungee's agility class has been held on one of the trial fields. (We've all been in the same boat with restoring the turf quality in our fields after last year's blazing summer and huge winter snowpack to follow). She was in dog heaven, the big leagues now boy! I found out her recall is strong! Really good news there! Of course, I found out "in the fast lane" you could say, as we were also learning how poor (or non-existent) some of her classmates recalls were! Doh!

She not only had "unexpected visitors", but a dog in her face, that "just wanted to say "Hi" *, several times. How glad are we that she's OK with other dogs?!!! :-)))

In my experience, this is a typical group class situation. But I work hard to avoid allowing my dogs such rehearsals. Mine are not 100% perfect, either, but they do have good recalls. Meanwhile, just because it is typical does not make it "welcome". Clearly, it underscores the importance of working a recall early and always.

Though it's not mentioned often, the truth is, your relationship with your dog is what really makes or breaks a great recall!

I am fortunate to have learned early on in my training career, the true value of learning how to create a great relationship with my dogs. Like our other dogs, Bungee has worked through most of Susan's recall training distractions, (click on her name/articles), along with all the other things we've practiced for great recalls.

But as for the "errant teens" in class, not to worry. The dogs are friendly, I know the folks well as friends & long-time classmates and I know they'll get it all under control eventually. :-)) Our instructor Sarah, had a careful eye on everything and knew everything was cool, albeit a little crazy as dogs start working off leash for the first few times. But dogs will be dogs where ever we go and I learned a long time ago to make good use of such distractions and put them to work for us as I can.

We worked contacts, the tire, some bend work, turns, along with the regular stuff like chase recalls, crate games & impulse control. We finished the night off on a high note for all the dogs with some rip snortin' fast and very fun tunnel work. No hesitation there on Bungee's part! She just assaults that tunnel and comes out & finds me like a guided missile!

Turns out the dear husband, (hereinafter referred to as the DH), had fun with my new iPhone while we were busy with class :-)) Using the stopwatch feature he clocked some of Bungee's times (and some of her classmates :-;) and had them all recorded on the phone for me, by exercise, presenting them with the big grin of a proud papa after class. What a guy! Let's just say, we're not ever going to be worried about her making time on course!

I won't always go over what we do in class, these are the kinds of things we'll be doing for awhile. Contacts - we'll be on those a long time!!! Lots to come there.

Some of our homework focus now:
Focus Foward drills (FFD) ***. This is something we've been doing a little of all along. I'm stepping these up more now. Focus Forward work helps the dog learn to find and drive a line.

With my last dog I taught this too early. Then I had a little extra challenge to turn her off a line, until I got really deep into Greg's system, which straightened everything out. Her distance work was amazing however! This time, I have worked it a little with Bungee as we've come along. But I think the time is right to step up the FFD as we have created a strong foundation for our technical skills of turns, respecting my BCBL & deceleration. Time will tell! (BCBL-blind cross body line)

If last night is any evidence, Bungee would really like never to take her eyes off me I think. Clearly, this will not be helpful if she's plowing through jumps not looking where she's going...eeeek!** As we're just now starting to add low jumps regularly, we'll be putting some greater emphasis on FFD and getting some good work in the weeks ahead.

That said, her focus for me in the busy group class environment is amazing! When she is at rest, she doesn't miss a thing that is going on around her. But when we're up to work, she's with me 100%.

Bungee's directionals are just cracking now, but "go on" to just drive out straight is a little weak all of a sudden, but not to worry, the FFD will help there too.

From my viewpoint, Agility is so much a balancing act. Everything must be done with careful attention to it's impact on something else. With dogs being the individuals they are, there are really no two alike when it comes to striking that correct balance of training. (Something I really liked reading about in Jenny Damm's training philosophy as she described what she does with her program).

So, in a nutshell, this is really what I'm learning the most about with Bungee right now. What are her weaknesses & strengths? How to keep my training time both effective & balanced so that all skills are moving forward equally.

Obedience - a little weak on practice this week. Recalls! We did LOTS of recalls!!!
:-))) 4 days to class, we better put it back on a "front burner" from now to then!



*"He Just Wants to Say Hi" is a marvelous article by Suzanne Clothier of Flying Dog Press. I would recommend it to anyone with a dog, but particularly, trainers & instructors. It's a gem. Click on the link to go to Suzanne's web page listing all of her free articles, you will find it there.

**In case anyone is wondering, WE WILL NEVER "PUNISH BARS"! Even if I still used corrections I would not be doing this. In case you haven't heard of this practice, punishing bars is a sad trend in the states these days. For the record, I believe this is one of the most ignorant and despicable practices I have ever heard.

***Focus Forward drills are explained a little bit on Susan Garrett's "One Jump" (click on the link to go there) training video. If I remember correctly, it is mentioned right at the beginning, so it is easy to go past and never think to go back to it, with all the attention on the jump exercises that follow.

Back to Business - the good & the bad

Major boo-boo I see, away from the blog 3 days...apologies!!!...and worse I see my post is not appearing! I was working on the blog during a big storm, when we lost power I hurried off line to go take care of other things and somehow saved this post to files without publishing. Many apologies all around!


Monday Training

Today was our first day officially back to our agility field at home 100%. Our grass repair project has gone fabulously, especially nice with this last weekend's huge rain. The gigantic thunderstorms right over us, release so much nitrogen that all green things just stand up with brilliant, green, glory afterward (at least if they're not smashed by a bolt of lightening or a big wind!!). So I thought green was a good color to use today. The field is simply beautiful again!

I'll have some pictures soon! But today was about training.

Bungee worked on our new contact trainer, (pictures also to come), and also did some teeter games, and plank work, and finished up with some two-toy games for handling. She was brilliant!

She took turns with her brother Guinness who is getting some refresher on entries, a little handling, and starting tonight is going to get a lot of remedial gamble work, after being off so long. They each wait in a crate in the shade while the other works.

But, it was not a perfect day, though a very informative one(!) as Bungee finished off her session on the field, showing a little bit of jealousy toward Guinness, as I let him out of his crate. I was not impressed. I scolded her soundly that instant, which may have been meaningful to her, as I've never raised my voice to her before. But I'm not so naive as to think that is sufficient to avoid repeating a similar incident.

I'm coming back to this post to insert: I am aware that scolding my dog is not in keeping with my goal for purely positive training methods. It is certainly not something I want to do again either and so it is important to find an appropriate and effective solution at the first sign of a concern, thus "nipping it in the bud."

Bungee is very jealous of me, it's a growing condition lately. If allowed, she will follow me everywhere all the time, which if you are a big softy like me, is very endearing. She is very much "my dog" between my husband and myself, that is clear. But she is also a Border Collie and I know what she is up to as she shadows me around lately. She is starting to insert herself between Guinness and I when she should not, and being allowed to follow me around the house is too much opportunity for her to take control of the household (Guinness) at least in her own mind. This bit of lunging at him as he came out of his crate today scared him and frankly pissed me right off. I will not tolerate such ill-tempered behavior.

So, I think a course of "Ruff Love" is due, and will be the best way to get through to this little Border Collie what behavior is allowed and what is not.

I have used this program before, so I do have experience of very positive results with it and even a modified program will work nicely to help Bungee understand the way we want things to work around here. If you have never heard of it, click on the link & go to /books: "Ruff Love". Most people do not understand it, can't imagine implementing it, and hate the sound of it after they read the book. Again and again, my experience with those who have this response, it is because they don't fully understand how it works. I do.

I've known people who did not approve of the program, while their dogs were dressed in only choke chains for every occasion, (shows what they don't know). But there will always be naysayers.

The reality is just because you decide to train positively you cannot pretend to yourself that bad behavior will still not occur or that you will not risk raising a total brat of a dog if you never learn how to apply acceptable consequences for unacceptable behavior. You cannot be an ostrich with your dogs anymore than you would be with your children, and ignore bad behavior.

"Ruff Love" offers a real solution to unacceptable behavior, within the range of acceptable consequences, allowing you to maintain your own decision to train purely positively. In fact, how many years after it was written, it is still to this day one of the best, (only?), works on the market, addressing bad behavior, and offering owners effective and real-time solutions for improvement. Kudos to Susan for writing it and putting it out there. It's been horribly misunderstood, and it's been helpful to many, many dogs with owners you will never hear from or meet.

Well, must get ready for class. Our obedience class was canceled tonight, but a new Tamsu focus series of workshops on Gambles, from past nationals courses opens, and Guinness is signed up. So from now on we'll have two classes on Monday nights which will make Mr. Guinness a very happy guy too!

Don't worry, the little Princesse Bungee is still my perfect little Border Collie - well almost!!! Her little tiara of perfection will soon be restored to it's rightful place on her head and she will never be short of kisses from the mamma! Life will carry on as normal and she really won't know she's having her behavior "modified".