Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Agillity Targets
When we got Max all those months ago we had no idea he would get us involved in agillity, learning tricks, doing house checks for Many Tears (www.manytears.co.uk) or even what it would be like to have a cannine family member.
Agillity for the uninitiated is where a dog runs a course of jumps, tunnels, frames, sesaw and sometimes through a tyre.
This sounds straightforward, but it is not as easy as those clever canines on tv make it seem. It is also very addictive, some of our friends are at training 4 times a week and do trials and competitions every weekend from April to October.
We have limited ourselves to 1 class a week with Dianna & Rhyss, that Marcus does with Max. Then a training session with Dianna and Rhys, as well as Anna & Rufus. The difference from when we started in May to now is stunning. He is so much more responsive and the understanding we have of how he thinks is brilliant.
When you run a dog like Max you are thinking 2 obsticles following the 1 he is doing, so you will say 'over' a jump as he leaves a tunnel and then as he jumps 'over' the next jump.
The things that beat Max is he is sooo fast. He loves agillity and whines when he watches the other dogs doing their agillity rounds. He speeds upto the A frame or the dog walk and misses the target pint. These are the areas that are painted a contrasting colour. The dog must touch these with I belive all 4 paws on entering and exiting the frame or dog walk or the sesaw. Max is so long legged he jumps all of them, we have to lead him by his collar over the obstacle and he can still decide to jump off.
The funniest thing is to see him on the sesaw, he jumps and uses the motion of the obstacle tipping to jump over the other side.... it made the trainer laugh out loud when he did it the 1st time.
Vx
Agillity for the uninitiated is where a dog runs a course of jumps, tunnels, frames, sesaw and sometimes through a tyre.
This sounds straightforward, but it is not as easy as those clever canines on tv make it seem. It is also very addictive, some of our friends are at training 4 times a week and do trials and competitions every weekend from April to October.
We have limited ourselves to 1 class a week with Dianna & Rhyss, that Marcus does with Max. Then a training session with Dianna and Rhys, as well as Anna & Rufus. The difference from when we started in May to now is stunning. He is so much more responsive and the understanding we have of how he thinks is brilliant.
When you run a dog like Max you are thinking 2 obsticles following the 1 he is doing, so you will say 'over' a jump as he leaves a tunnel and then as he jumps 'over' the next jump.
The things that beat Max is he is sooo fast. He loves agillity and whines when he watches the other dogs doing their agillity rounds. He speeds upto the A frame or the dog walk and misses the target pint. These are the areas that are painted a contrasting colour. The dog must touch these with I belive all 4 paws on entering and exiting the frame or dog walk or the sesaw. Max is so long legged he jumps all of them, we have to lead him by his collar over the obstacle and he can still decide to jump off.
The funniest thing is to see him on the sesaw, he jumps and uses the motion of the obstacle tipping to jump over the other side.... it made the trainer laugh out loud when he did it the 1st time.
Vx
Labels: A frame, agillity, dog walk, Dogs, energy, fast, focus, learning, Rhys, round, Rufus, trainer, Training
Smelly Max
Hows this for an awakening... you are quietly dosing, well to be honest snoring :) in bed when you here something and feel something land on the bed. Next second you get a whiff of really off fish. You then open your eyes to find a collie in the process of licking your nose who smells worse than a fish restaurant's bins after an extremely hot day.
This is what I had this morning, Max had found a large amount of something fidhy left in the park and decided he had to roll in it.... what a stink!!!
Max avoided the bathroom with great skill hiding behind me, the bedroom door, making a short lived run for the stairs then in he went. Marcus man handled him in to the bath and he got washed off.
This is pretty good timing as he has started his summer malt. He must have lost a good 2 handfulls of hair and after his shamppo smelt a lot better.
He did get his revenge by shaking off the remains of the water over the clean towels on the landing, but then went outside to sulk for all of a minute, coming in to see what was going on in the kitchen and see if it involved his food.
Vx
This is what I had this morning, Max had found a large amount of something fidhy left in the park and decided he had to roll in it.... what a stink!!!
Max avoided the bathroom with great skill hiding behind me, the bedroom door, making a short lived run for the stairs then in he went. Marcus man handled him in to the bath and he got washed off.
This is pretty good timing as he has started his summer malt. He must have lost a good 2 handfulls of hair and after his shamppo smelt a lot better.
He did get his revenge by shaking off the remains of the water over the clean towels on the landing, but then went outside to sulk for all of a minute, coming in to see what was going on in the kitchen and see if it involved his food.
Vx
Labels: Dogs, fishy smell, malt, Max, roll, shampoo, smelly dog, wet dog
Monday, March 26, 2007
Socialisation for Dogs & Humans :)
They say dogs need to be socialised and to know how to behave. Whether this be their own kind, with kids, with all humans and with the world around them.
When Max arrived all was new to him from the car he came home in, to the lead he was attached to, to the house, the front door, the carpets and the tv. Just imagine you went from your Mum to somewhere nasty, to a noisy pound full of very scared canine, to a rescue with amany slightly happior canines to 2 seemingly nice humans picking you up and a thing that makes lots of noise and lots of things whizzing past the window to a place that is in your mind like no other..... No wander Max sat in the back garden for the 1st afternoon surveying all the comings and goings. So many new things.
These days he does not bat an eyelid at new things except he does not like the washing machine on spin or the hoover, but who does!!! He follows me round with his tail down watching the hoover and comes for a cuddle once it has stopped it's horrible noise. We are both relieved when that is over :)!
We are going on lots of walks at the moment with lots of dogs. Max has a great time with his doggie friends and I have a great natter ith their human's. I have found it really interesting in finding out their experiences and lots of dogs have things they are scared of, but with time and work these are becoming less.
Many dogs, like humans, are scared of different things. From cars and lorries that go past, to new dogs on leads to water or maybe of the thing that hurt them.... a rolled up paper or a foot. Many rescue dogs have a fear of something in their past, but this does not stop them loving new things if introduced gently in their future.
I have a friend who is scared of water and she is working towards going on a ferry. It takes time for her to get over each thing that worries her and as she does she is a little closer to that holiday in France. Another friend was scared of flying and with hypnotherapy she flew to Disneyland Paris and did fine on the way there and back.
Dogs are the same, they may not talk, but you can work with them to help them get over their foyballs and phobias. It is all worth it in the end, you ask any dog owner, not just those that have rehomed a rescue dog.
Socialisation is not just for the dogs, it is great to go out and chat to people who want to know about your dog, who have dogs that you meet or have had a dog like yours. Socialisation of the humans is I am sure what many dogs think they are doing at the park or on a walk..... :)!
V
When Max arrived all was new to him from the car he came home in, to the lead he was attached to, to the house, the front door, the carpets and the tv. Just imagine you went from your Mum to somewhere nasty, to a noisy pound full of very scared canine, to a rescue with amany slightly happior canines to 2 seemingly nice humans picking you up and a thing that makes lots of noise and lots of things whizzing past the window to a place that is in your mind like no other..... No wander Max sat in the back garden for the 1st afternoon surveying all the comings and goings. So many new things.
These days he does not bat an eyelid at new things except he does not like the washing machine on spin or the hoover, but who does!!! He follows me round with his tail down watching the hoover and comes for a cuddle once it has stopped it's horrible noise. We are both relieved when that is over :)!
We are going on lots of walks at the moment with lots of dogs. Max has a great time with his doggie friends and I have a great natter ith their human's. I have found it really interesting in finding out their experiences and lots of dogs have things they are scared of, but with time and work these are becoming less.
Many dogs, like humans, are scared of different things. From cars and lorries that go past, to new dogs on leads to water or maybe of the thing that hurt them.... a rolled up paper or a foot. Many rescue dogs have a fear of something in their past, but this does not stop them loving new things if introduced gently in their future.
I have a friend who is scared of water and she is working towards going on a ferry. It takes time for her to get over each thing that worries her and as she does she is a little closer to that holiday in France. Another friend was scared of flying and with hypnotherapy she flew to Disneyland Paris and did fine on the way there and back.
Dogs are the same, they may not talk, but you can work with them to help them get over their foyballs and phobias. It is all worth it in the end, you ask any dog owner, not just those that have rehomed a rescue dog.
Socialisation is not just for the dogs, it is great to go out and chat to people who want to know about your dog, who have dogs that you meet or have had a dog like yours. Socialisation of the humans is I am sure what many dogs think they are doing at the park or on a walk..... :)!
V
Summertime is officially here, lets hope it is a nice hot summer for lots of walks and doggie paddles in the sea.
Labels: Dogs, Phobias, Rewarding, Training, Walks
