Day 74

Hops had breakfast out of a food toy today then a little later Taffy came over to play. They ran around and chased and wrestled then I had Hops do some long down stays while I did chores. He did great with that and just ended up falling asleep.

 

We went to my parents house for dinner because some friends of their wanted to see the dogs do nosework. Well the boys sure showed off! Rice and Dillon found all five hides right away and Hops was right behind them! He had no problem searching in a new area and was very focused. He went from room to room on him own, going ahead of me without a problem. He also sat or downed at each source, what a puppy! He found odor in a slipper, under a cabinet door, on the edge of a bathtub, on the leg of an exercise machine, on a plastic box, on the leg of a table, on a chest and on a bench. The only one he really had to search for was the table leg hide. He never stopped though, kept going until he found it! Hops was also great with meeting new people and he chewed quietly on his chewie while everyone ate dinner.

 

For dinner Hops had a training lesson starting with getting in and on a bowl then shaping him to get into smaller and smaller boxes, ending with him in a 8X6 inch box. Good puppy! Then he did some pushups with back and roll and touch mixed in and he rarely make a mistake, he seems to know all those words now. Then I had him retrieve a small and a large plastic cup, a plastic lid, a large metal and rubber clip, an old plastic cell phone, a toilet paper roll, a plastic dumbbell and a timer then Jeremiah had him do the same for him. He performed better for me, always going right for the item and returning to my hand. He dropped some of the items but always picked them back up again. He was not as focused with Jeremiah, trying to chew on some of the items instead of retrieving them.

Day 73

Hops went to work with me today and was a good boy the entire day. There was time between lessons and classes in the morning so when the puppy day camp had play times I took Hops over to play. He had so much fun racing around with his buddy Finn and the other puppies. In addition to Finn he played with a standard poodle, a golden, a welsh terrier, a spinoni and havanese mix, all around three to four months of age. What fun that was to watch! He played very nicely and came whenever I called him. He was great in nosework class, very focused. We started with two rows of boxes with one box with birch in it and he was perfect. He stayed focused on the boxes and downed as soon as he reached the odor box. He also stayed with it when I continued walking, he is such a good puppy! I had a star pattern set up for the second part of class, a chair in the middle with stools and cones surrounding it. The hide is on the chair and the dogs use the plastic cones and chairs to help them pinpoint where the odor is. He did great with most of the chair hides but the high one he really had to work for. I also did a couple of threshold hides and he nailed those. When it was just Hops I tried adding distractors to the boxes. When I put kibble in one box Hops paid no attention to it and went right on to alert on the odor box. When I put higher value treats in a box, he stopped at it though he did not alert. I kept moving and he came with me. After stopping at it twice he started to ignore it and focused only on the odor box. Smart puppy! In between classes we also worked a little bit on perch work, the chute, the tunnel, the table, and sends to jump standards. Hops did great with everything.

 

In the evening Hops is in fun and focus one class and he did a great job for Jeremiah. He did stays with distractions with release to play tug, backed to the narrow and of a plank and stayed there with food and motion distractions, he did forward and lateral sends to jump standards, quick sits and downs with release to play and he did crate games. He excelled at everything was a very good puppy! We measured the dogs after class and Hops was 16.5 inches, Love was 17 inches. He still has some catching up to do if he is going to get bigger than his sister!

Day 72

Hops started his morning with perch work on a balance disk. I added myself into the mix and worked on him taking side steps with his back feet to end up in heel. He moved into heel better than into side position. We then worked on picking up a plastic measuring cup, a plastic dumbbell, a rubber handle and his nylon leash. He did a fantastic job, picking up each item and raising it directly to my hand, no backing up, no tossing the item, lifting and holding. Wow! We then played find the hole with his agility leash then a gentle leader. After putting his nose through the nose loop several times I put the leader on and had him do pushups, roll, bang and say hello while he was wearing it. He focused very well with it on. I then took it off and worked on backing without a target and built up to me standing up. He did great! It is interesting that he continues to pus his head down when he backs.

 

Later in the morning I played fetch with Hops, again with a ball thrown down the hallway. He was perfect, retrieving the ball thirty times in a row. Unless he accidently dropped it he brought the ball right back to me and dropped it at my feet for a treat. If he did drop it he picked it right back up and continued on his way to me. Good puppy!

 

Hops went to work with me today and had lots of play during the gap between my classes. First he played with two aussies, one 10 months one 20 months. They chased and wrestled and had lots of fun! When they left I played tug with Hops then had him do forward and lateral sends to a jump standard with tugging as the reward. I then practiced sending him to wrap a standard or wing then ran away, calling him to my inside hand with his toy in my outside hand as a distraction. As usual, if he came to the correct hand I passed the toy to that hand and played tug. If he chose incorrectly I removed the toy and we tried again. Next I put him in a sit stay, led out to the first jump then ran with him past two more. If he ran through all three standards I tossed his toy out in front of him. To end with I had him do pushups while on a short elevated plank. I elevated him so I could work on distance without him being able to move forward. He was able to do all three position changes with me three or four feet away.

 

This evening we went to our friend Kate’s house for nosework. Hops did a great job with all the interior hides (there were seven in all). There was a hide in a cat door, in a cat scratching toy, up on cat furniture (about 3.5 feet high), in toilet paper roll holder, on a basket, on the bottom of a trash can and on a table leg. He was a little distracted by all the new smells but got to work quickly and then went from hide to hide! He downed at all the low hides and sat at the medium ones. He had a little trouble with the boxes but that might have been because they were outside and he has not yet done nosework outside. I also think I need to do more on leash nosework with him. It was a great experience for him though and we were very proud of how well he did. After all six dogs had their turn searching, we brought Hops and Jack (their 6 month old lab puppy) in to play. They were not very interested in playing with each other at first but they warmed up and then had a romping good time! One of the funniest moments of the night was when Hops found their cat’s cat nip nail scratcher and he started rubbing himself on it just like a cat! He then played like crazy with the cat nip toy they had! Silly puppy!

 

Before bed Jeremiah had a training session with Hops. They worked on backing without a target, rolling over, bang, getting in a box, going around a chair, touch, face, it’s your choice with food, say hello, retrieving a handle to his hand, and balancing on balance disks. What a good team they make!

Day 71

Hops can now easily and calmly stay on the mat by the backdoor while I go out of sight to the pantry to where the dog food is kept. After feeding him a little breakfast and letting him play around the house on his own for awhile I tried to play a game of fetch with him. I sat on the ground at on end of the house with a mat in front of me then a mat at the end of the hall at the other end of the house. I threw the ball down the hall : ) and Hops retrieved it twenty times before he stopped brining it directly back to me! Wow! What a good puppy!

 

All three boys and Jeremiah and I went to my parents house for dinner. Hops loved all the attention from my family that he knew and from the family he had not met before. He was calm around the cat again, was great about leaving the food alone that was at nose level and he was able to chill quietly with Rice and Dillon while the humans ate dinner.

 

Before bed I shaped Hops to get in and on a new box that was about four inches high. He was able to offer both behaviors but getting on was much easier for him then getting in.

Day 70

Hops had his breakfast in a food toy and in the afternoon Taffy came over for a play date. They ran around and played like mad for about an hour then Renee and I took them to a small local park. They were both a little spooked when we first arrived because there was a dog behind a fence fear barking, but they settled in and quickly forgot the barking when we came across a little boy and his mother. Hops was a little cautious but went up to the little boy (who was pretty calm) to say hello and he calmly greet the mom too. Then we walked the pups around the park and Hops was great for that. Some nearby crows caught his attention but when I called him to me after letting him watch them for a few moments he came right to me and was able to keep his focus on me. Then both puppies climbed on the playground equipment and when we walked to the shelter they walked along picnic table benches. An off leash dog came towards us and I picked Hops up because he did not look friendly. Luckily his owners came around the corner and were able to call him away.

 

Later we had to return a gift to Costco so I put Hops’s new little backpack on him (empty of course) and took him in with us. He was wonderful, just watched and took everything in stride. He was easily able to focus on me and do all his tricks in the busy environment.

 

Hops was brushed tonight and did a great job with keeping a stand while I brushed. There has been marked improvement with his stand stay.

Day 69

Hops had his breakfast out of a food toy and spent lots of time playing with Rice and Dillon this morning.

I took Hops to a park in Sumner before going to work today. He was able to play tug with me as soon as we got out of the car and he did a bunch of stays and comes with tugging as the reward. Then we walked across the park to the playground equipment and climbed all over it. Hops as usual had no fear of heights or of the surface under him moving (swaying bridge). He climbed up open mesh steps and slid down slides. He climbed up on a merry go round toy too and had no concern when I turned it! Good puppy!



Hops was good in the crate at work and greeted lots of dogs and people. He stood his ground and fearlessly greeted a huge Leonburger who crossed the room to say hello to him. I had a break in classes today so Hops had an outing to Petco and Home Depo. He was great in Petco, greeting people by wagging his body and sitting and he climbed on anything he could climb on. We tried putting booties on him, hoping for an entertaining show like Rice gave us when we first puts boots on him, but Hops just took them in stride and walked normally! No fun! He also had no problem wearing a small backpack we put on him. He is such a good puppy! He was great in Home Depo too, walking well and taking everything in stride. He offered a down on one of the carts and I pushed him around a little and he seemed to enjoy it! Which it should not have surprised me later when Hops decided he was ready to do a full size teeter on his own! I had just let him out of his crate and he ran over to it, up the plank, rode it down and stood at the end, looking up at me calmly for his cookie. Crazy good puppy!

Day 68

Hops went to work with me and was a good boy again. He met a new BC friend, loved up on his human friends, played with me, and snoozed and chewed in his crate. He was quiet for the most part though he fussed a couple of times near the end of classes. When I told him to be quiet though he did immediately.

 

When we came home, Hops played with Rice and Dillon in the yard then I put the boys in the house and I played with Hops outside. I brought out one of his favorite tug toys and started by just playing tug with him. Then I worked on being able to run away from him in a sit stay then call him to one side of me with the toy dangling on the other side. He made the correct choice about three fourths of the time and when he did I brought the tug to the side he came to and tugged with him. I also worked on doing some pulls and front crosses at speed, tugging with him if he ended up on the side he was supposed to. Pulling to the left was easier than to to right for some reason. He was fun to play with and boy is he fast already! He did get naughty once near the end of the session and nipped me on the heels. I stopped and told him no, that we do not do that! Then I put him on a sit stay and tried again. He did not nip again but I am sure this is something we will have to watch for!

 

I left Hops at home when the boys and I went to agility class and he had a blast playing with Jeremiah while we were gone. Jeremiah had Hops going to bed (he said he did great but could only go to the bed if he could see it), they worked on bang, rolling over and pushups and he did well with all of them. Jeremiah also had Hops playing fetch with a tennis ball! Real fetch! Running across the house to chase it and brining it right back. Even picking it back up if he dropped it! Good puppy! Hops also met the Swan’s guy and was good for that. The only thing Hops did not do well was back, but that is because it is still context specific (he is best with a foot target behind him and I have been on the ground, he does not know it as well if I am standing) and Jeremiah did not know that.