Monday, December 31, 2012

Day 65

Hops again went to the trial in Elma with us today and was again good in the car, crate and on leash. He did more cuddling in laps and more socializing with people and dogs. He and his sister Colleen even played a little.

 

When we came home we played in the yard then played tug. Next I did some training with the toy, using it as a distraction when leaving Hops in a stay and when calling him to heel. When he made correct choices and came to me, not the toy, I released him to the toy or gave it to him and we played tug. Then I used my new dremel to file Hops’s nails and he did a pretty good job. He did some fussing but Jeremiah fed him and he let me file all his nails. A bath was next on the agenda and Hops surprised us by standing still for the entire bath! He was perfect even though he was not enjoying it. Even when we washed his face he was calm. What a great puppy!

Day 64

Hops went to the trial in Elma with us today and was great as usual. He slept in the car and when crated at the trial. He walked well on leash and was able to do all his tricks. He loved cuddling on anyone’s lap and even walked right up onto a stranger’s lap when we were walking down the bleachers! He was good with all the dogs he met and he even said hello to his dad, Solar. This was Hops’s second time in Elma. His first time he was able to go up the stairs to get to the bleachers but not down (they are big stairs). He had no problem going up or down then this time but he was a little afraid of the top of the bleachers which he was not afraid of last time. He was able to work through it though and walk up to the top and along the top row and became more comfortable as the weekend went on.

 

When we arrived home Hops and I played tug then Jeremiah and I called him back and forth. We were surprised because for the first time he totally snubbed Jeremiah! We both had kibble and when Jeremiah called him then asked him to down he ran back to me (I did not reward him). I gave Jeremiah some treats and Hops did the same thing! It finally took Jeremiah having cheese and me having kibble to get Hops to run back and forth when called and do things for us when he got to us. Hops definitely needs to work more with people other than me!

 

Hops is now big enough to jump up onto the couch and to safely jump off of it so we have not been quite as watchful when he is up there with us (he is only allowed up when invited). Good thing were were paying attention tonight though as he just tried to jump off the back of the couch! He is definitely not big enough for that! Good catch Jeremiah!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Day 63

For breakfast Hops had a backing session and did a great job backing in a straight line and picking up both his back feet several inches onto a plastic box. He could stay in position with treats being tossed until released. He and Ren played like crazy this morning! She is being picked up tonight and I know Hops will miss their games of tag!

 

Hops went to work with me today and stayed crated in the car for the most part to keep Ren company. I did bring him in during a break and played tug with him. We ran around the ring together and I had him do tunnels, chutes and tables for the toy. Fun puppy! What did not go well was putting him in his crate and working Rice after playing with him. This is the first time he has barked and not quieted when I asked so I removed him and put him back in the car so he could not rehearse it. I guess more training is needed after he gets riled up!

 

191358_4440756691985_897958170_oFor dinner Hops had a training session starting with stays with distractions. I told Hops to stay then called Rice to me. If Hops stayed I went to him and rewarded him, if he broke position I just brought him back to where he started and tried again. Sometimes of course I called Hops and rewarded when he came to me. He made some mistakes but made correct choices most of the time. I then tried position changes with a little distance. I put both Rice and Hops on the big mat by the back door as a boundary for them, asked them to sit, took a step back, and cued a down. That was easy for them and continued to be even if I stepped several feet further back. Going from a down into a sit was much more difficult and Hops could only do it if I was no more than a foot away. Stand he could do from a few feet but he moved forward a little when doing it. Something to work on! Then I had Hops do some roll overs and say hellos. With rolling over I am working on getting it on a verbal cue and with say hello the same, but with the criteria of his but staying on the ground and only giving me one paw at a time. He did great with both of them. Then we did some heeling around the house with the four basic turns and with moving sits and downs. He did a great job with all aspects of that. To end with I practiced recall to heel with food behind me and on the ground as a distraction. I mixed up what I did after I called him to me. Sometimes I turned (away or towards him) and released him to the cookies on the ground, sometimes I rewarded in heel then turned and released him, sometimes I rewarded in heel then asked for a few position changes before turning and releasing him. He was a very good puppy!

Friday, December 28, 2012

Day 62

Hops did not have very much training today. He did lots of playing with Ren and Rice and some with me. I did practice calling him away from Rice while he was chasing him and he did well. He also came out of play with Ren easily. He did not go to work with me today but stayed home to keep Ren company and play with her once Jeremiah came home. He was a good puppy for him and was good when I came home!

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Good puppy!
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Release!

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Day 61

Hops went to work with me today and was great when he was crated, great with people, but he was grumpy with an adolescent golden : (  He did play however with a papillion and a springer. He also met one of my favorite people, Kathy Sdao. She loved him of course!

At home I practiced calling Hops off of chasing Dillon (when they were running toward me) with great success. Calling him to me before I threw Dillon’s toy is still more difficult. The first time I had to walk almost all the way up to him before he broke his stare off of Dillon and could come to me. I slowly build distance back up and was then able to call him in pretty easily. I also worked on keeping him with me longer, not letting him go right back out to chase Dillon and he started to offer that a little by the end.

Hops had a stay lesson for dinner. I said stay often as I walked around and rewarded him for staying in a down. I do not want to have to say stay but I do want him to learn the word! I worked on distance first, getting to the point that I could walk out of sight, open a door to another room and go in, and return and he stayed. He made a couple of mistakes in the beginning but after he figured out the game he made no more. Then I worked on distractions like calling the other dogs to me, bouncing a ball, slapping udders on the floor (that got him), tossing cookies, running away, he was great. Then I put him in a sit stay and practiced being able to walk laterally away and towards him, in front of him and behind him, and having him not move a single paw. He could turn to look at me if I crossed to a new side, but no paws moving. In the beginning his left front paw wanted to move out a little but soon he was perfect, not budging an inch. Good puppy! We then worked on going to bed on cue, going to kennel on cue, then discriminating between the two. If my body language supported the correct object he went to it 100% if I was ambiguous he made mistakes. For the most part though I fully supported the object I was naming. After the lesson Hops was thirsty and the bowl was empty so it was a perfect time for a shaping lesson of picking up the bowl! He has done it before out of frustration so I know he can do it. I waited while he scratched at the bowl, then when he finally bit it I clicked and treated. I did not want to reward the same behavior too many times so after a few clicks for biting the bowl I held out and (after lots of pawing and talking!) he picked up the bowl a couple of inches! I clicked, jackpotted, and filled the bowl! Good puppy!

Hops had a couple of crazy play times with Ren today but was always able to come when called. He was always rewarded, then sent back to play more.

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Hops says his favorite Christmas gift was this really comfy Labrador chair!

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Day 60

334146_4446353551903_848904070_oMerry Christmas! Everyone here had a great Christmas. All three boys have lots of new toys and treats and had a fun day of playing and chewing. Hops had his breakfast in a food toy and the only training during the first part of the day were some recalls while Rice and Dillon retrieved toys in the yard. He did great if he was already coming in but had some trouble if we had not yet thrown Dillon’s toy. We could get him to come in but he did not always come right away. We will have to work on it! 

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Hops has been with us two months now and he has learned so much! Words he knows now are: Hops, come, sit, down, stand, touch, release, roll, get it, kennel, heel, side, leave it, drop, face and hurry. Behaviors he knows that either do not have a verbal cue or he does not know the verbal cue yet are: back, say hello, sit and down stays (with distractions of other dogs playing, me running away with a toy, tossing a toy, tossing food, distance of about 30 feet, duration depends on distractions (2 to 60sec between cookies)), walking through a ladder, walking/running across a plank, tipping tippy boards, perch work, balancing on peanuts and balance disks and stools, recall with distractions (other dogs running, food and toys on floor, person he is with has food), heeling with the four basic agility turns as well as responding to deceleration and acceleration, go to bed, go around (with the distraction of me running away), tug, go to the door if you have to potty, 10 cookie stretches, tunnel, chute, auto down on agility table, calmly allows handling, crate games, sit and wait at back door before going in and out, rides quietly in the car, potties on leash, sleeps through the night, and he knows birch and has an alert. Behaviors he is learning that he does not know yet: Get out of the kitchen, retrieve, stay, and hold. I am sure there are some I am forgetting but boy has Hops learned a lot in two months!! Smart puppy!

To end the day I played some tug with Hops, incorporating stays and recalls to heel with the toy as a distraction. He did great!

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Good, tired boys!

Monday, December 24, 2012

Day 59

Today Hops had his breakfast in a food toy while he stayed home and kept Ren company while I went to work. Jeremiah came home not long after I left and said they were good for him. When I came home, we all hurried outside to play ball before the sun left us. Dillon and Rice chased and retrieved balls and Hops and Ren chased them! When Dillon was returning and Hops was chasing, if Jeremiah or I called him he ran directly to us, then ignoring Dillon. Good boy!

Later we did a posing session for the camera, including all four dogs in one photo! That included lots of stay work. Afterward I did some say hello work and at the moment Hops is better with his right paw. I ended the session with some handling work which he accepted calmly.

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What good brothers!

Later I played tug with Hops while Jeremiah played tug with Ren. Hops was able to stay focused on me not only to tug, but also to do line ups, sit stays with distance and distractions (me running away with toy, Rice and Dillon milling about and Jeremiah playing with Ren with a squeaky toy, wow!) and recalls, what a good puppy! After that Ren played with Hops for the first time and boy was it entertaining!


Sunday, December 23, 2012

Day 58

Hops had another big day today. It started with a visit to my parent’s house where he explored their yard, then we went to Sumner and took a long walk along the White River. Hops walked across a bridge going over the river and was not phased by it. He pulled some of the time (he was in harness so it was allowed) and offered me attention much of the time, which I of course rewarded. After the first part of the walk we came to a safer fairly secluded section and we let all three dogs off leash (Hops was dragging his leash). We recalled the dogs over and over, rewarding them when they came (and they always came) and then releasing them to go play again. It was very cool to see all three boys off leash and responding together. It started to rain so we headed to Dog’s World to do some interior searches. Hops did four different areas two times each. Both of the bathrooms and the kitchen area had one birch hide and the office had a birch and a birch/anise hide. Hops had no problem finding any of the hides, even ones over his head. Very good puppy! Hops then went with Jeremiah while he cleaned out his car and I taught a lesson. Jeremiah said he did well and the vacuum did not bother him. After my lesson, we called the boys back and forth for treats in the arena. We found that when the boys are involved Hops chases them versus coming to us. He gets near us because he is chasing the boys but stops at a few yards away. We were able to get him to come all the way in but it took some coaxing. After a little while we put the boys on a stay and just called Hops and he was great, running in a straight line back and forth between us when called. We will have to work on being able to do that with the other dogs running. Start with just Rice maybe…

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The boys going....
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And the boys coming!

Hops practiced push ups, perch work and getting all four feet on a small blue balance disk for his lunch.

A new playmate for Hops came tonight, a 6.5mo old bichon/shit tzu puppy. So far Hops has been a little too much for her but I am sure they will be playing like crazy tomorrow. Hops had a treadmill lesson and was afraid to begin with but gained confidence as he went and was able to speed up a little. We then did peanut work and had all four dogs doing pushups, turns, lifting paws, and doing hand touches all while balancing on the peanut. Hops even got to the point where he could jump up onto it on his own, wow!

Before bed I played tug with Hops and tried the puppy leg jump bump game. I sat on the ground with my legs spread out, held him on one side and teased him with his toy on the other side. If he jumped over the first leg, landed, then jumped over the second I let him have the toy and played tug. If he jumped both legs at once (he only did that the first time) I removed the toy. Then I put my legs together and had him jump both for the toy. I was able to go back and forth between cueing extension (legs together) and collection (legs apart) with no mistakes. Very cool! We ended the session with more tug. I was able to engage Wen on one side with one toy and play tug with Hops with the other hand. I had to redirect him back to his toy a few times because he wanted to get Ren’s toy but for the most part he was able to focus on playing tug with me. A great distraction to work through!

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Saturday, December 22, 2012

Day 57

It has been way to cold to introduce Hops to water via lakes so we took him to a doggie pool today for his first swim. He was not thrilled with the idea but he swam quite a bit. He started in Beth’s arms then she carried him away from me and let him swim back to me. I then walked the periphery of the pool and he followed along swimming (with Beth right there with him), then Rice and Dillon and Jeremiah and I joined him in the pool and all played. Hops was very interested in the boys retrieving and even jumped off of his perch to swim after the boys all on his own many times. At first he was not interested in toys but he was soon reaching for and carrying a toy as soon as he started swimming. Good puppy!

 

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Jeremiah turned around earlier to see Hops riding Rice like a horse! Crazy puppy!

 

We started his first lesson today with backing up. I started with having him back to a 2 inch box and had him backing to an 8 inch box very quickly. We then practiced going around a tall stool with me sending him ahead of me then running away in the other direction. Some of the time he turned to follow me before going around the stool but most of the time he made it around before digging in and running to me. He was also running in a straight line to me as soon as he cleared the stool. Then he did perch work on a balance disk then he offered to get all four feet on the disk several times. Pushups while in heel on the right side was next (he did great) followed by getting in and on a bowl which he was much better at than the mast time.

 

For the rest of his dinner, Hops did a roll then it’s your choice session. After giving the hand signal a few times Hops started rolling on the verbal cue! Good puppy! He only rolls counter clockwise on his own though. He started offering to roll over so much I started to mix in other cues like sit, down, stand and face so he was rolling on cue, not just rolling. He did great with that, doing the other behaviors easily and still rolling on cue after. To end I practiced being able to have treats on the ground near Hops without him taking them and I ended up lining kibble up on his front legs. He was such a good puppy! Not trying to steal the kibble just waiting for his release cue to snatch them all up!

Friday, December 21, 2012

Day 56

Hops spent his morning in a crate in my car while I was at a long doc appointment. Then he chased the boys around the arena at work before going back into the crate while I taught a lesson. After work he went into the bank with me and was very calm and well mannered then went into Pet Pros with me and was loved on by a few women and older children. He loves the attention! When we arrived home I threw balls for Rice and Dillon and Hops chased and stalked them while they retrieved. Hops was reprimanded by Dillon once because he was jumping on him and biting him. Good boy Dillon! Hops stopped biting him so his correction must have worked! When the big boys were tired I put them inside and Hops retrieved the ball a dozen times for me and a few times for Jeremiah! Woohoo! Good puppy Hops!

 

Tonight was a grooming night for Hops. I brushed him, clipped his nails, filed his nails and trimmed the hair on his feet. He was really good this time there was only a minimal amount of fussing!

 

For dinner Hops had a take session for the camera. He is getting better at it every time we work on it, getting the handle to my hand most of the time. I then had him do some rolling over and introduced him to the manners minder (MM). I let him watch Rice eat a treat out of it first, then hit the button and let him go eat the kibble the machine let out. He was soon doing sits, downs, stands, roll overs and touches, all rewards coming from the MM. He did get to a point where he did not want to leave the MM to do tricks away from it but he worked through it. He is so expressive. I asked him to down (six feet away from the MM) and he looks me dead in the eyes and I could swear he was saying we should be over by the MM mom, not over here! We ended with a few recalls to the MM. Great first session with it!

 

Take lesson:

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Thursday, December 20, 2012

Day 55

I forgot that I also practiced heeling and recalls with food on the ground as a distraction last night. With the heeling I waited for attention before rewarding, never asked for it, and asked for longer periods of attention before rewarding as the lesson continued. He did great with the recalls, never going for the food on the ground.

 

This morning I started with a take lesson. I began with the handle in my hand, working on him holding it in my hand (the end of he retrieve behavior chain, releasing is the very last piece of course). He did okay with that but it seems I have accidentally built in a little bit of backing along with the taking, not good… Then I put he handle on the ground and he has definitely improved there, lifting the handle high every time and many times getting it right to my hand. Good puppy! We played some tug then I shaped him to get on and in a bowl. It seems like a new exercise every time we do it, I think because he is growing so quickly! He did manage to get in the bowl several times and on he bowl many times which was easier for him. We played tug again to end the training session.

 

Hops went to work with me as usual. He was so quiet all day. Most of the time when I looked his way he was curled up in his crate sleeping. He greeted dogs and people between classes and as usual loved everyone. After the last class Hops had a play time with a four year old BC Seek and a nine week old BC Riser. At first Seek, Rice and Hops played then as Riser became more comfortable he and Hops played. It is so fun to watch puppies play!

 

For his dinner Jeremiah practiced heeling and Hops showed that he needs more practice with other people! He improved as they went though. I then did crates games and was able to send him to a crate in one room from other adjacent rooms! He has had a set back today about taking treats gently and I am not sure why…

 

More size comparison photos: 7 weeks then 14 weeks, wow!

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Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Day 54

620698_4391612943422_743643290_oHops had another long day at work with me today. He was an angel when crated, never fussing. Throughout the day between classes he played tug with me, heeled, stayed, did the tunnel, ladder, chute, tippy board, table, greet people and dogs and probably more that I am forgetting! He was a very good puppy all day. After classes he played with a bichon mix named Sadie and had a blast.

 

Later Hops went with me to agility class so he could see Elinda and Love. He is always so happy to see Elinda! When I was not running the boys Hops played tug with me, greeted people and dogs, climbed on stools and heeled around.

 

For dinner I had Hops practice going to a mat. For this lesson I added the cue bed and worked on sending him from different places around the room, working to about fifteen feet away. All but once he stayed on the mat until released. The only time he did not down right away when he reached the mat is when I was out of sight. He went to the mat then looked for me. A couple reps of that though and he was doing the complete behavior out of sight. Good puppy!

 

Jeremiah bought a really cool vacuum robot called a neato. All the dogs were interested but wary, all sat down and watched I for awhile. Hops was the only one who eventually went right up to it. We even had to start to tell him to leave it. I bet if we did not supervise him around it he would make it a toy!

Day 53

Snow! We woke up to about two inches of snow this morning and Hops had a blast playing it, running in it and of course, eating it! First he played with Rice and Dillon then Taffy came over and he played some more with her!

 

 

Hops slept most of he day after playing in the snow and earned his dinner by playing crate games. The focus tonight was naming it kennel, adding distance, working different angles and staying in without being cued. He did a great job. A couple of times when I moved to the side of the crate he had trouble finding the crate door but I waited ad he figured it out. A good reminder that they often do not generalize well and to change things up in training! He did great about remaining in the crate until released, breaking a couple of times but usually, once he ate the kibble for going into the crate he turned around and waited at the door. Good puppy!