THE PRESSURE IS ON!

The Schutzhund trials are October 14. If Sophie doesn't pass the BH (obedience), it will be my fault. I know the pattern (routine), Sophie knows the pattern. I just haven't got the paces correctly. We have been training for this for just about a year and a half now. For some reason I tend to panic, I am not the kind of person who does well with tests.

The other day I was practicing with her on the back of our property, I gave her the wrong command for the recall. You are supposed to say, Here, instead I said Heel. Sophie start running towards me realized I gave here the wrong command, stopped dead in her tracks and went into the Down position.  All I could think at that moment was "Great, I'm going to screw up my dog!"

Let me explain this whole BH pattern, I've put the commands/actions she should be doing in italics.


Start of Routine:

Dog is Sitting  at your side.
Give the Heel command, a minimum of 50 paces, do an about turn, 
Heel 10 minimum to 15 maximum normal paces, 
Heel 10 min to 15 max fast paces, 
Heel 10 min to 15 max slow paces 
Heel 10 min to 15 max normal paces, 
Turn right Heel 15 minimum paces 
Turn right again Heel 15 minimum paces 
About turn 7 paces Halt, your dog should automatically Sit, wait three seconds,   
Heel 15 paces left turn 
Heel 15 paces, then Heel through a group of people then Halt your dog should be sitting between you and one of the people. Below is a diagram of the pattern.
 Once all of the above exercises are done, you go back to the top of the field for the Walking Sit, Walking Down and Recall

Walking Sit:

With your dog sitting at your side, give the Heel command. 
While walking give the command Sit, this should be between 10 to 15 paces continue walking (pray that your dog sat, you aren't supposed to look) walk 30 paces away, turn and face your dog. You then have to wait for the judge to give you the signal to return to your dog. Once you get the signal, you have exactly 30 paces to return to your dog.

Walking Down with Recall:

Once you return to your dog after the walking sit, you give the Heel command. Heel 10 to 15 paces give the Down command, continue walking  at least 30 paces, turn face your dog, wait for judges signal, call your dog with the command Here. Your dog must then come to you rapidly, sit close and straight in front of you. Wait about 3 seconds, give the command Heel, your dog must  rapidly go to the basic position. Which is sit at your left side.

There is room for errors, points will be taken off depending on the error. Also if your dog does not do a command for instance Sit, you are allowed to give the command three times (with point reductions). After giving the command the third time, if the dog doesn't do the command, the exercise is terminated and no points are given.

Now that it is down to the"wire", I'm trying to get the exact paces and give the commands at the same time. It's not Sophie, it's me. I am going to have to practice her routine with out her in order to get all the steps correctly.  I AM STRESSED! Wish me luck!

Sophie, Harley & The Cats, Not One But Five............. Continued

Tootsie with the Dogs

Truth be told I honestly thought they would not get along. Sophie of course had to give chase, only once though, she got zapped by the e-collar. 

Jenny and Ginger basically ignored her. What was really surprising to me, neither of them had been raised with cats. While Tootsie was growing prior to her pregnancy, if Jenny or Ginger walked by she'd swat at them. Whomever she swatted would look at her  like she was out of her mind, then just keep going.

This following story was told to me by Mr. Aloha, I was in the other room. 

Tootsie tried very hard one day to get a rise out of Butch (the boxer who died Sept 2010).   Butch came in the house that day, Tootsie did her Halloween cat stance, nothing. She moved a few feet closer, Halloween cat stance, nothing again. After no response from Butch the third time, for lack of a better way to explain it, she, I want to say, shrugged her shoulders and walked away. All I heard was Mr. Aloha saying something about a silly/crazy cat.


Harley on the other hand, not too bright. He was a puppy and she was pregnant so maybe that was the problem. I honestly don't know. He wanted to play, she attacked. We were in the living room, when all of a sudden we heard a commotion down the hall. Harley comes running toward Mr. Aloha and I,  with his eyes so wide he looked crazy. Right behind him was Tootsie. He hid behind me. Tootsie looked scary, she did her Halloween cat stance. I have never, in all my years of living, seen a cat act like that. I swear her tail looked like a raccoons tail.

DRAGGED ACROSS THE FIELD......YET AGAIN!

Mr. Aloha & I were gone for technically eleven days. We left on a Friday night and got back Monday midday. 

Sophie had not "worked" for thirteen days. She was, however, played with the entire time we were gone for at least half an hour to an hour each day by the person who was feeding her. I also played with her upon returning. Did I do her routine? No, but, I did play ball & throw her frizbee looking thing. I can't remember what it's called but it's made by the same people who make the Kong rubber tug toy. She also had a blast with Harley running around the yard. Not to mention they tore up an empty bag of dog food. Which by the way, I was not happy about.

Anyway, today was her first day back at class. It's literally been two weeks since her last class. She was so happy to be there. She did her routine beautifully and very animated I might add.

Not knowing what Ted was going to do next, I asked if she was going to practice the jumps or work the dumbbell. You guessed it, the dumbbell. Once she saw what Ted had in his hands there was no stopping her. I planted my feet, shifted my weight, put her leash under my behind and was spun around and dragged five to ten feet. I just wish I had it on film.

After getting her somewhat under control, Ted was holding the dumbbell while trying to taunt her with it, except he was laughing. He said something along the lines of "Hold on to her now, (laughs a little) there goes Annabelle across the field" he's pointing his finger in some direction. I must say I laughed myself. She was just so excited & happy to be doing her job, once again.  

Sophie, Harley & The Cats, Not One But Five

I know this is supposed to be about training which mostly it is but I have to tell a few stories about my other pets.

TOOTSIE - Part One
As I told you before, we got Harley the week in December. What I didn't mention is we have a cat named Tootsie who at the time happened to be pregnant. I'm not an irresponsible pet owner, at least I try not to be. 

Tootsie about 4 months

We got Tootsie sometime between February & May of 2010. With all that happened that year getting Tootsie spayed was the last thing on my mind. 

December 2010 was, well,  interesting to say the least. About a week or two before Christmas, I woke up at, I want to say 4:00 in the morning with what sounded like someone saying hello. Mind you, it had been at least twenty years since I lived with cats, which were always outside. My first thought was, someone's in the house. So I shut my eyes really tight hoping whoever it was would just take what they wanted and leave. Of course Mr. Aloha was fast asleep, until the hello got closer. Once I realized he was awake I asked "What the hell is that" He replied "A cat, I told you Tootsie was going into heat".

Yes, it is true, he did happen to mention it. I just didn't believe him because his reason sounded so stupid to me. He said she was going into heat cause she lifted her tail and purred when he scratched her back. There was no blood, her female area was not swollen, which is what happens when Sophie goes into heat. So why in God's name would I believe him.

The meowing & cooing continued until Mr. Aloha had to go to work , he leaves at 5:45am. "Should I let her out?" he asks. "No!" I say, exasperated at the thought. What was he nuts. I said as much to him. "I don't want kittens! What will we do with them?" I said I would call the vet to make an appointment to have her spayed. To my surprise, she peed on his pillow. Oh Tootsie, I thought to myself, your Daddy is going to be very upset with you. I called the vet, they said it would cost more because she was in heat. That I didn't mind, unfortunately the earliest appointment would be a week away. That I minded! I know it's our fault for not having it done earlier. The thought of listening to meowing & cooing for an entire week was too much. 

And then it happened. It wasn't bad enough she peed on the pillow, she peed on me! I was sitting on the sofa when out of the corner of my eye I see her tail shaking. I looked down and I had pee on me! That was it, out she went. I called Mr. Aloha & left the following message. "I don't care if the stupid (not the word I used) cat gets pregnant, she just peed on me & I threw her out! I'd say it was maybe half an hour before he returned my call. When I answered, all I heard was laughing, hysterically I might add! After he was done laughing, I asked him what we should do. He said let her have kittens. I personally thought he was nuts, but then again, I would find homes for however many she had. Ya, right!  

DRAGGED ACROSS THE FIELD

Clearly, I'm going to be going back and forth with regards to training days!

THE DUMBBELL

Sophie is such a smart dog, that's not to say other dogs aren't smart. 

After doing her whole obedience routine. The next step is getting her used to the dumbbell. I hold Sophie on a 9 foot lead while Ted basically teases her with it. This is called loading your dog, when she give a good bark he lets her take it. This is all necessary for the Schutzhund I competition. Which I will explain later, when I get that far in her training.

Sophie sitting nicely with her dumbbell

Well, on this one particular day, we had just finished he routine. Before I knew what the hell was happening, I was being dragged across the field by Sophie. Ted was yelling for me to hold her back. My reply "I'm trying, do you know how strong she is????" He asked "What collar are you using? Don't you have her on the pinch collar?" My answer "NO, you told me to take it off of her" (due to her melt down).

There was no major injuries, just my pride. My dog is smarter than I thought. She knows the entire routine and knew exactly what was coming next and couldn't wait to get started. 

Clearly now, she is on the pinch collar until we get reach that area of the field.

SOPHIE GROWING UP

It has occurred to me, some of you might want to see pictures of Sophie growing. Here they are:

The day we brought Sophie home

The next day at the drag races

We were so afraid to leave her at home because she was so tiny we took her to the drag races.

Playing with Jenny

This is when Jenny liked her. Now we have to keep them separated at all times, otherwise there is a huge dog fight.

 It's really kind of sad. I was hoping Jenny & Sophie would have the same relationship Jenny had with Lady (who passed away in 2003). 

Lady was 10 years old when I got Jenny at 6 weeks. They were like Mother & Daughter. Unfortunately, that didn't happen with Jenny & Sophie. Now it's a battle over Alpha status.

Still trying to get those ears up!

Her ears trying to stand up

 For a while there we didn't think her ears were going to stand up as they should.

And they are up!

I had forgotten how dark Sophie was as a puppy. Wow!

Sophie with my Friends daughter.

 This is a favorite picture. Both of them seem to be smiling. See how Sophie's right ear is flopped over. This occurred quite often, which is why we were worried about it.

Another pose.

Sophie is never camera shy.

 I couldn't resist adding this picture. It was at this point, I knew I needed help, desperately. What a devil, she was! Can you see it in her eyes???

Sophie & Jenny at the beach

Sophie & Jenny (with Mr. Aloha & our granddaughter) were still getting along at this point. Both of them love to swim in the water. I think Sophie is five months old in this picture.

Posing again!

She is eight months old in this picture. Since adding these pictures to my blog, I realized she went from being a cute little puppy to a somewhat huge dog in just a short time

Not quite a year.

She's eleven months old in this picture. I guess she looks a little bit bigger in this picture.

Relaxing on the tailgate after a swim

She's now 21/2, I'm not sure if this is consider grown up. To me she's in her teen's so to speak. Not only that, I honestly don't think she's grown into her paws yet.

Waiting for a ride.

Another picture I could not resist putting in. Sophie loves the trucks, we have three (trucks). She would spend all day in one of them, if we let her.

Our beautiful dog, all grown up.............sort of.

TIME FOR A POST

It’s been a while since I have written anything about Sophie and her training.  Here is a summation of the last six or so months

 

Everything was going great with Sophie’s training. She finally seemed to be getting the routine down. With a few set backs which is to be expected.

January 17^th Sophie went into heat; she was still doing pretty well with her training. 

Two weeks later she had what I call, a complete melt down. We were doing the routine which was going well until it was time to do the sit and down positions. If you could imagine a dog looking at you with an expression of “you want me to do what? I don’t know what that is?”

This went on for a month or so. One day good, another day bad. I was so frustrated with her. She went from having so much fun to not wanting to do anything.

On one particular day Sophie refused to do any of the routine. Ted told me to put her away for the day. I told Ted I was concerned she was enjoying it anymore. We then had a conversation about how she was doing at home. At home she has fun, does her routine just fine. I told him she does it without the pinch or e-collar.  He said to wait till the next training day to see how she does.

The next time we went to training, Ted said to take off her pinch & e-collars. What a different dog. She did her routine beautifully. Now she only wears her pinch collar when we first get there. The e-collar I use off and on at home for boundary issues.

Sophie & Harley waiting for the ball.

LEARNING TO PLAY CORRECTLY WITH MY DOG

Sophie does really well with regards to doing her routine. Trying to get her to bring her ball, tug or Frisbee back to me is another issue.

Believe it or not I had to be taught how to play with my dog.  Here is how to correctly play with your dog.

Put dog on long lead about 30ft. Hold lead loosely, throw ball (don’t throw it longer than the lead, a mistake I made). Let lead flow through your hand while dog gets ball, once she/he has the ball, immediately back up while clapping your hands & calling your dog. If your dog is not returning towards you pull on the lead. Also most importantly is very animated. Repeat this exercise until your dog willing brings you her/his toy.

It took me a while to get this concept down. The worse thing you can do is chase your dog. A bad habit I had done through the years with my other dog, Jenny, until she learned to bring the ball if she wanted me to throw it.

I am happy to say, Sophie is doing quite well bringing the ball to me especially on training days. This last week, Ted was very impressed with our improvement. Sophie bringing me the ball along with me calling her correctly (backing up, clapping my hands while she comes towards me).

I should mention, if your dog is a puppy, using treats will work well in getting your dog to bring back the toy.

THE TUG TOY

For protection work your dog needs to learn how to bit the sleeve and let go on your command. 

With Sophie, I think this was the easiest training I had to learn. It’s simple, play tug of war with her, which she loves.  

Here's how it worked for us. I play tug with her, pulling the tug, then letting her win so to speak. I then hold the tug taught straight in front of myself & Sophie. I then give the command aus which is German for out, let go, leave it, etc. Once she lets go, I say  yes, then animatedly let her grab at it. I repeated this exercise three to four times, she caught on. Thank god this is one exercise I didn't have to teach over and over again. 

Did I mention, Sophie is bilingual???? She knows commands in English and some German.