We all have our snags....

In training we all go through some rough patches. Our recent rough patch is Rave wants to submissive pee every time we go to work.... So in her most recent videos she is wearing her big girl pants, but she looks awesome!! so i had to share!!!! she loves her denim britches...

Happy training....

Let the wall work begin!

I love wall work! It's probably my favorite part of training. So many things go into doing it "right". There are so many methods out there to follow, or maybe you want to make up your own. In my experience wall work is always a work in progress. I am always learning new things to look for and ways to change props to get exactly what I want. The biggest help in training the wall right is the tool of video.... VIDEO EVERYTHING! Something that you thought looked pretty good, might be a wide turn, or a double hit that you didn't catch with your eye. Key things to look for in my wall work method, head position, make sure your reward is low to keep the dog driving down off the box, make sure the dog isn't launching into the wall from 5 feet, and where they land in the middle of the lane.

To start your wall work I take a 24X24 piece of plywood and cover it in tuff spun matting. Lay it flat on the ground with 2 jump boards in front of it. By this time you have already determined which way your dog will turn. Stand on that side of the board and lure the dog over the jump boards on the target board in the shape of a horse shoe. This is something i will call over and backs. Once your puppy is snappy doing this, start to raise the slant board against the wall. This could be a slow process. Little by little you will notice things you will have to change.

For instance with Rave, I've started to notice instead of her pushing off the wall, she is using the board as a crutch to pivot to push off..... I will go back to a lower board with her for a little bit and not try to rush the process.

By teaching the wall work method I believe it will help your dog transfer the quick on/off method of the wall to the box with very little issue. By making sure there head is in the correct position you will be able to velcro a ball to the wall to simulate the dog getting it off the box. Some dogs get this quicker than others as with anything. Don't rush your dog! Make sure you love exactly what you have before making it harder for your dog.

Make sure your VOLUME is off!!! Otherwise you get to hear my obnoxious training voice :)

Here is a video of Ninja at the end progress, well adding the ball at least....

I'm sure there are things i've forgotten that i will make sure i add the next blog! Stay tuned!! Happy Training!!!

Lynds and Rave

It's about damn time!

I know, I know! It's been a long time since I've blogged about the monsters progress! Well here goes nothing!

Lately we have been working on a new training method for me. We've been learning the touch stick method. Thanks to our friend Colleen from X flyball for help with this new method.

Step one of this method getting the dog to touch the end of the stick with their nose, this can be done by clicking or shaping the puppy. To start, when the puppy goes to touch the bottom of the stick you mark and treat it. Too start you can use food and slowly progress to using the tug as the sole reward. Once they learn to touch the stick, it is the beginning of there fabulous box turn.

Rave's first session of touch stick was funny! It was almost like the stick was alive, anytime she would step foot in the room and i touched the stick she would bark and run away! Silly girl! By the end of the session I was holding the stick and she was driving to it! It's all about baby steps! We will be working slowly on this. No need to rush perfection :) Each time i get out the touch stick I want her to play even more than the last time! So we are doing very short exciting sessions. I am trying to video a good session of this so i can post it. Once i find one that shows each step i will post it!

Happy Training!