More New Weave Poles

Yes, this is my second purchase of weave poles in less than a year. My last agility trial was 429 days ago. Can you believe that? Since then, there have been some some changes. AKC is allowing weave poles spaced 24 inches to be used in agility trials now. Most dogs and handlers prefer the larger spacing. A couple of extra inches reduces the stress on canine spines especially in large dogs. Most of the local clubs in my area have already replaced their weave poles with the new 24 inch variety. I decided to keep up with the Joneses when I realized I was practicing on weave poles spaced only 20 inches. There is quite a difference (see below).

Here is Riley trying the new weave poles for the first time. She did much better than I expected. She has struggled with weave poles more than any of my other agility greyhounds (except Jes and Teresa who had an idiot trainer :-). Riley appears to get left behind so I thought more space would leave her even further behind. However, I saw the opposite effect. After a couple of passes, Riley appears to be more organized and methodical on the 24 inch weaves. I'm so thrilled I sound like a Billy goat!

Here is Reagan. She did as I expected. I think once she gets used to them she will appreciate the additional space. Reagan often looks a little squashed when she drives through smaller spacing. These weave poles should allow for her to really drive through them.

Agility Run Thru

We had another opportunity to attend an agility run thru. This time it was at the Canine Ranch. My friend, Anne, and a few of her Ridgebacks rode with us. Sharing is one of the benefits to having a giant van. I took pictures of her new puppy, Xena, and Anne took these video clips of Riley and Reagan.

And who can't resist funny puppy pictures?

Pool Fun

We also enjoyed the pool during our weekend at the farm. If you follow my sister's blog or are on Facebook, you may have seen this clip already. It is too funny not to share with the rest of you though. This is Denise's greyhound, Peanut. Peanut is very easy going as you can see.

This was the first time I have been able to swim with Reagan and Riley. I paid the price though. :-) I had lots of scrapes and bruises from the dog paddling.

I was pleased by their willingness to swim though.

Farm Fun

A few weeks ago, we spent the weekend at the farm.

As usual, we had a great time!

Riley got to pose for the camera too. Here is one of her conformation shots.

This is my sister's horse, Lester.

The new guy, Bentley.

All of the horses.

Greyhound Downs 104

Check out Greyhound Downs 101 and Greyhound Downs 102 and Greyhound Downs 103 if you have not already.

Once my greyhound understands my release word, easily responds to my down cue, and yields to a little collar pressure, I start working on proofing my stay.

I once saw an extreme obedience reality show on Animal Planet. One of the tests was to place your dog into a sit stay and then an elephant was brought in very close. Obviously, none of these handlers had prior opportunities to practice stays with an elephant as a distraction. However, the successful dogs had been proofed enough that they trusted that they should remain seated and ignore the elephant in the room. This is why proofing is so important. Proofing convinces the dog to start generalizing. Initially, a dog will use anything as an excuse to get up. But as your training progresses, there is a point when the dog will start to choose to remain in the stay despite the new distraction. I would bet that Katie could stay with an elephant in the room.

Here is a video clip of some basic proofing to start you off.

I honestly do not tell my dogs to stay until they are really offering good down stays.

Greyhound Downs 103

Check out Greyhound Downs 101 and Greyhound Downs 102 if you have not already.

I want to remind you that once your greyhound is down, continue to reward him for maintaining the down. Do not ask him to stay yet, but simply reward it for as long as he offers. I like to mark these moments with a clicker or a "yes". Both mean "that is right and I am giving you a treat for it".

At some point your greyhound may realize that lying there is a pretty good deal and resolves to stay there forever. Time to teach a release word. I use "done". "Done" means you are free to go.

When I teach a release word, I touch the collar with one hand, lure the dog out of the down with a treat in my other hand, and say "done".

Get in the habit of releasing your greyhound, so he does not develop a habit of releasing himself. So if you think your greyhound is about to pop up, release him. You are finished training or ran out of treats, release him.

Greyhound Downs 102

Go to Greyhound Downs 101 if you have not already seen this post.

Let me introduce today's demo greyhound, P's Stacker FCh (age 10). Stacker ran in the money in several Grade A races at Gulfstream and Birmingham. My husband adopted him sometime before he and I met. Stacker transitioned to lure coursing and won the Southeastern Greyhound Club's coveted Texas Trophy in his rookie year and won the 2004 ASFA Region 7 Best of Breed trophy, The Brandy Cup. He now roams the shore and trails of Lake Allatoona with Stephen and his other hounds.

The next step to teaching downs is to establish a good hand signal. Remember, we are not using a verbal cue yet. I do not want to use a verbal cue until I am certain my greyhound will respond to my hand signal 99% of the time. Here is how I progress from my greyhound crawling under my "bridge" to responding to a hand signal. Some greyhounds progress faster than others.

Once my greyhound easily lures into a down, I like to teach him to respond to collar pressure. If you have ever tried to push a greyhound into a sit or pull him into a down, you probably know that they do not naturally yield to the pressure. If your greyhound is willing to yield to collar pressure, it makes correcting much easier later. In the future, if I am ignored or my greyhound breaks a stay, yielding to collar pressure makes it very easy to gently correct him back into a down position. Therefore, I find it worthwhile to explain to my greyhound how to respond when a little collar pressure is applied.

Please note that I am simply putting a little weight on the collar. I am not going to force or fight with my greyhound. If he begins to struggle, I maintain light pressure, but allow him to move his head. Remember you are using a treat in this step and prior steps (I will explain how to get treats out of your hand in a later post).

Quiz

Is this a hamster or a dog?

I have never seen a dog with a water bottle before.

Free Swim

The benefit to summer is getting to swim for free. Hot weather and warm water allow me to use our local lake to swim Katie. She swims along the dock for treats.

I also take advantage of the stairs surrounding the lodge. It is good exercise for Katie to go up the stairs, but going down can be dangerous. We can go up several flights and then loop ourselves back down a hill to avoid going down the stairs.

Overall, Katie is doing well. I do worry about her coordination in her rear legs. I think she may be losing some strength in the left one. It always moves funny due to her injury, but I think the muscle looks a little smaller. Unfortunately, her issues with riding in the van keeps her exercise program somewhat limited. I do work her in the backyard, but it is not as much or as varied as it would be if she traveled with me.

Katie does not admit to being in any pain, but I wonder how sound she is. She carries her rear end to the left (stress on her back) and she twists the left foot with each step she takes (stressing the joints). Regardless, I do not plan to let up on her. She would be very unhappy without the work and I am not sure she could handle the slippery hardwood floors without continued strengthening. I wish I could swim her everyday.

Reagan Agility

Here is a video clip of Reagan practicing agility this morning. I am sorry it is so far away, but no victims volunteers to video us. She is doing great!

Agility Run Thru

I wish I had pictures and video from today. The girls and I attended an agility run thru at the Sirius Dog Agility facility and they both did great. An agility run thru is an opportunity to practice on different agility equipment at a different location surrounded by different dogs.

Reagan was initially very excited on the verge of being anxious. She does a lot of crying when she she is excited/anxious and this was no exception. Lots of dogs were barking which was very good for her to hear. She introduced herself to several people and made friends with a young German Shepherd. She was very happy and bouncy when she noticed other dogs running the agility course.

Reagan's first attempt on the agility course included a lot of extra tunnels. I did not realize how much she liked tunnels. All in all, she was fast, very happy, and able to master all of the obstacles with the exception of skipping the last 2 weave poles.

Reagan's second attempt went much better. There were no extra tunnels and she was responsive and smooth. She even did all 12 weave poles with no guides.

Riley was much more controlled than I expected and did a much better job than Reagan did on her first course. She too was able to master all of the obstacles (we skipped the weave poles since she still needs all of the guides). Riley's 2nd attempt was much like the first. She was happy and responsive, but I would have liked her to be a little faster. No rush though. It will come with confidence.

Riley did show a little too much interest in the very small dogs. A Brussels Griffon was especially interesting. The owner was very willing to show Riley her small dog, but I did not trust Riley entirely. She has never nipped at a small dog, but she is extremely direct and too intense. Even if she means no harm and just wants a closer look, Riley's behavior is just plain rude and obnoxious so I kept her a safe distance. I think she will benefit from crating ringside all day when Reagan starts to compete.

All in all, I am very pleased with the girls today.

Greyhound Downs 101

Class, today we learn about teaching greyhounds to lie down. First, let me introduce the student, Basso Profondo. I needed a greyhound subject who did not have a lot of training. Basso Profondo is a 6 year old coursing greyhound from England. He was the winner of the 2005 Waterloo Plate and 3 other stakes in his rookie year. Basso ran 16 courses that year and won 15 of them. That is big deal stuff! He came to the U.S. in 2006 - Greyhound Data Link.

Next, I have one anal rule for greyhound downs. I always teach greyhounds to lie down from a stand and for the rest of their lives, I only request downs from a stand. I never ever ask for a down from a sit position. Sits are already very difficult for many greyhounds and most of them would prefer to lie down. You can ruin a good sit by practicing and rewarding downs from the sit position. Your greyhound will forever be happy to melt into a down.

For those of you that compete in obedience and are wondering if I adhere to this rule for group stay exercises.... Yes. When the competitors line their dogs up in preparation for the long down stay, I am the only with a standing dog. Everyone else sits their dog before the judge cues us to down.

Let us get started. First, create a bridge for your greyhound to duck under. With Basso, I am down on one knee, but you can sit on a chair or a stool and bring both legs forward. Lure your greyhound with a treat under your leg(s), so he has to crouch. Be quiet! You are teaching a hand signal first. Chanting the word "down" over and over will not speed up the process.
I reward the greyhound for each step in the right direction he makes. First, I reward for ducking his head. Then I reward for elbows touching the ground and so on.Sometimes the rear end gets stuck in the air. I might place my hand on the greyhound's rump just to bring his attention to the area, but I never put pressure and try to force him down. Just let him get tired and he will eventually fold. This is a good time to jackpot and give the greyhound multiple treats so he knows that you really like this position.
Once your greyhound is down, get off of him. Move your leg(s) so he is not trapped if he decides to stand up.Lastly, I continue to reward the greyhound as long as he remains lying down. I want him to realize there is not rush to stand up and that I will keep rewarding if he holds his position.

When my greyhound is a super star at luring under my legs, I will try and lure him down with a treat while I squat down. Once he is a super star at that, I start ask for downs as I gradually move myself into a more upright position. The verbal cue is added much later.

Lastly, here are a few parting notes. This method generally does not work for greyhounds you never see lay in a sphinx position (see above picture). Some are just not comfortable. During training, if your greyhound lies down in any other position, rolled hip or flat out, awesome! Don't change a thing. Also, something like string cheese or a hot dog is a good treat for training the initial steps to down. The greyhound can nibble off bites as he ducks his head under you legs, another nibble for elbows down.... and so on.

Greyhound Sits 101

Now it is time to learn about greyhound sits. Let me first introduce my student, Hardy Admiral. Admiral is a 7 year old, coursing greyhound from England. He came to the U.S. in 2007. Admiral was the runner-up in the 2005 Waterloo Cup and won the Roecliffe Invitation Stake. He ran 19 courses and won 15 of them. An interesting fact is that, other than the Waterloo Cup winner (Shashi) Admiral's littermates were the only other greyhounds to defeat him in coursing. That is one heck of a litter!

Although you cannot really see it here, I like to start my greyhounds sitting on a hill. It is not always necessary, but it can speed the process if you place your greyhound's rear end on the high side of a steep hill and point his nose down the hill. It makes it very easy for them to rock back and sit.I like to use an easy to nibble treat like string cheese or a hot dog. Something the greyhound can take little bites of as I hold the treat over his head forcing him to crane his neck back.I give the greyhound little bites of the treat I am holding as long as he continues to put forth the effort to target the treat, for rocking back, and for flexing the joints in the hind legs.And then BAM! He sits! I continue to reward my greyhound for continuing to sit for a few seconds. Gradually I increase the length of time.
We have already talked about greyhounds having trouble with sitting and melting into a down. Be alert for the slightest sign that your greyhound is about to lie down. Step into him to prevent that from happening. I would much prefer my greyhound stand up than to lie down from a sit.