Maybe I'm back?

I realize that I haven't posted anything since Maggie has been gone.  Losing her was very hard on me, and has really made me think about what I want to do with my dogs.

Part of the great connection I had with Maggie was, I believe, because of all the things we did together.  We lived in six different homes and went many places together.  We started out hiking, then moved on to dog parks, then basic obedience classes, then more advanced obedience classes, then agility class, then seminars, dog shows, etc.  Through it all we became very close.

This realization has made me want to pick up the pace with Rip.  Ok, maybe we won't live in six different homes together, but we can go places and do things more than we had been.  In the past few months we've been to our first Rally trial, taken a heeling class, and have started to take private agility lessons.  And we're both enjoying it.

Then I think about my blog.  I don't know if I'll go back to the stories & tips on training.  Maybe other blogs have that covered.

But I think I would like to share some things I've learned about the dog world.  And most of all I'd like to share the work we're doing on our property, Wagmore.  Ok, and maybe I'll throw in a dog training thing or two -- if I come upon something fun or when Rip does something that makes me laugh.

Goodbye to My Best Girl

Maggie

C-Myste Sweet Dreams CDX RAE AJP MXP

June 23, 1999 - July 26, 2013

Today we had to say goodbye to Maggie.  

She was the first dog that was mine alone, my first Cardigan Welsh Corgi, and my first performance dog.  

Maggie was with me when I was single, then married, then a mother.  She and I lived together in 4 different states, 3 different time zones, and through many transitions. 

She was gorgeous, funny, smart, and picky about who she loved.

Maggie taught me the joy of training dogs, taught The Small Human how to sleep through barking, and taught Ziggy how to retrieve a dumbbell.

Her greatest joys in life were rolling (preferably in stink), working (preferably for food), and barking with happiness.

We all miss our Best Girl.  Rest in peace.

Happy (one-week-late) 14th Birthday, Maggie!

Lookin' good for 14 years old!

Last Sunday Maggie turned 14 years old.  We didn't have any sort of celebration for our girl, but I am saving her favorite treat - a "bullwinkie" for her.  I just need to find a time to give it to her when Rip is on a walk - to avoid Rip's frustrated barks.

Physically, Maggie is doing very well.  She sleeps a lot, but remains in pretty good shape, and doesn't seem to be in pain.  She even romps down the hall in the morning when she wakes up.

Mentally, she is definitely an old lady, and her mind is going a bit.  Some days are good.  Some days not -- she seems disconnected from the world.  We have started crating her at night -- otherwise she'll get up around 4:30-5am and just wander around the house - back and forth in the kitchen or our bedroom.  Sometimes she greets me with a wag at door when I return from work; sometimes she just wanders over as the boys run to meet me and stares at me like "hmm - there's a person."  The content and "with it" times currently outnumber the disconnected times and she isn't in pain.  We're happy to have our old lady dog still with us.

New Wheels for Me (or Dog Crates in a Honda Pilot)

Since my beloved Honda Odyssey didn't make it through the accident, we were forced, unexpectedly, into buying a new car.  

I didn't want another minivan, as Honda has redesigned the van since we bought ours, and the style is just too "mumsy" for me.  I may be deluding myself, but the old Odyssey was at least a little sporty.  The new one is not, and I'm feeling too much like middle-aged soccer mom to buy another minivan.  So what to buy?

My rental Explorer.  Loved it!

We had a Ford Explorer as our rental car, and I loved it.  Loved how it drove, loved the styling, especially loved the touch screen controls.  I thought maybe we'd just buy one of those.  Then I realized that, with the back seat up, I could barely fit 2 small crates in the back.  With my larger (24"x 36") crate - I could only fit one crate in the back.  No way.  A car that size should fit much more in the back, so the hunt was on.

We test drove and measured the behind-the-back-seat-area of:

• The Ford Flex (43" long x 40" wide)
• The Subaru Outback (42.5" long x 33" wide) - with slopey back window
• The Volvo Wagon (43" wide x 44.4" wide)

We were all set to buy a Volvo Wagon, when we found the Honda Pilot.  It combines good Consumer Reports ratings, decent gas mileage, adequate sportiness, and a dog-friendly rear storage.

Here's a picture of the one we test drove - 

on the left is a 30"x19" crate

on the right is a 24"x36" crate.

Perfect!

So here she is.  Awaiting dog hair.

Ziggy got to be the first canine passenger.

Lucky boy!

I think he likes being able to see the driver from his crate.

And here he is in the 30"x19" crate.

Plenty of room for his wheels, too.

I added pieces of 3 rubber mats under the front of the crate to keep it level.

So far we love the Pilot.  Now I need to find a dog show or clinic to attend so I can really put her cargo space to the test.

Ode to a Honda Minivan

About seven weeks ago, my minivan and motivation both took a hit.  I was driving home from work, and the traffic was stopped on the bridge.  I stopped, but the guy behind me didn't.  My van was hit from behind and thrown into the car stopped in front of me.


Unfortunately for me, my two-and-a-half-weeks-post surgery knee smashed into the dash/front console of the van on impact.  The accident set the healing of my knee back significantly - it changed (for worse) the trajectory of the healing, and put "Project Stay" on hold, as I was back to rest and ice.  So, no dog events to post.

Unfortunately for the van, it got smooshed from both ends, resulting in too much damage to make it a repair job.  So, the insurance company totaled out the van, forcing me to say goodbye to my lovely silver Honda minivan much sooner than I'd planned.

Here are some pictures of my (formerly) lovely silver van.

I miss you, silver minivan.  The whole family misses you.  

Here's a poem by The Husband titled "So Farewell Then, Silver Honda"

So, farewell silver Honda

You hauled a lot for us - dog shows

And trips to Lowes

School pick ups, the Target run

Genesis emergencies, family fun

We'll miss you silver Honda

Good luck

On your final Odyssey

Project Stay: Duration Check-in

Rip and I are now on day 5 of Duration stay work.  I must admit that I've only made my goal of twice-a-day training sessions one day so far.  But I have been working on stays every day, which is progress!

I've been increasing at 30 second increments each session - expect for 2 sessions at 2 minutes long.  He broke at around 1.5 minutes the first time we did 2 minutes, so we did not add time for the next session.  I'm not adding time unless he's successful.

We are now up to 3 minute stays in both the down and the sit.


What I've noticed:

• I need to stay a bit closer to him than I thought I would.  Most of the time I'm 3' to 4' away.  I can tell he's just learning what I want (stay in the same position, in the same place), so I find staying closer to him seems to make him more sure of what he's doing.
• Watching him closely pays off.  This way I can tell if he's making little shifts that might lead to a break in position.  When I see this, I step a little closer in to give him support.  I'm not rushing in to correct him (which would make him even more confused) - it's just a quiet step in his direction, reinforcing the position.

Something I'm trying with Rip that I didn't do with my other dogs is differentiating his downs.

For the downs needed in the non-stay exercises, I've trained Rip to do a quick "sphinx" down -- folding back into the down position.  For stays I'm training him the command "hip" (I'm saying this instead of down) and asking him to rest on his left hip in the down.

Why am I doing this?  First, this is the sort of down my dogs tend to do when they're resting on their own, so I'm assuming it's more comfortable for a longer period of time.  Second, I want him to know that with the "hip" type of down, he's going to be there for a while.  With the "down" down, I'm likely to ask him to do something else pretty quickly (e.g., recall, stand, sit).

I'm not sure if it will work, but it's something I've been considering for a while, so Rip gets to be my test dog ;)

Rip demonstrates the "hip" down 

that we're using for our stays

Compared to

The "down" (aka sphinx) down

that we use for the other exercises

Project Stay - Yes, I'm Finally Training the Wild Dog to Stay...

Stay is boring!  Rip likes to run!

Ok, I'm a little ashamed that I have a nearly-3-year-old dog who really does not  understand the concept of "Stay."  Since I want to get Rip into the Rally & Obedience rings in the near future, this is a *bit* of a problem.

So, finally, I've decided to really work on "Stay" with Rip.

Coincidently last week I was in a managerial effectiveness class, and we had to work with another person and coach them through developing a plan to tackle a non-work project.  I chose to think through training the stay.  After helping me through the plan, my work colleague said, "and that is why I don't train my dogs."  Fair enough.


The goal:
At the end of Project Stay Rip will be able to hold a 5 minute sit stay and a 7 minute down stay in "public" with me 40' away.


The plan:
Take on the 3 "D's" of the Stay.  Duration, Distraction & Distance.  I've chosen to break it down this way based on what I learned from a Laura Romanik seminar I attended a couple years ago.


I'm taking on Duration first:

• This work will be done at home, or outside in our yard - places that Rip is really comfortable with.
• We will start with 1 minute sit and 1 minute down.
• We will work up to 7 minutes in sit, and 7 minutes in down.
• I will stay within 6' of Rip at all times.
• Plan to work on duration for 7-10 days.  2 sessions per day.

Next is Distraction:

• I'm breaking distraction down into "new places" and "what is mom doing?"
• Rip and I will go to at least 4 new places to work on stays.  The distraction part is all the new stuff that will be going on around us.
• We'll also work with distractions at home.  I'll introduce new things and use things that normally distract Rip to test his resolve.  We'll do at least 9 sessions of these "what is mom doing" distractions.
• All distraction work will be on leash, with me no more than 6' away from Rip.
• Plan to work on distraction for 7-10 days.  2 sessions per day.

Then we'll get to Distance: 

• Work will be done mainly at home, and at the club building where we normally train.
• Work at home will be off-leash.  Work away from home will be on-leash.
• Every session I'll move 1-2' feet further away.
• Goal is to be able to do out-of-sight stays at home.
• I'll work on distance for 7-10 days.  2 sessions per day.

Finally, we'll put it all together:

• In reality, this will continue as long as Rip is doing obedience, but we'll continue the stay focus for a final 7 days.
• We'll go to 4 new places and work on distance (on a long line).  
• The goal here is to get 50' away from Rip, and be able to hold the sit stay for 5 minutes, and the down stay for 7 minutes.

To keep myself honest, I'll post quick updates on the blog at least twice a week, and a summary of each phase as we graduate to the next.