Kaline and I just finished up the six-week package of “classic” movies at the local Cinemark 20 theatre. It was a great help with his long-down consistency. The first couple movies, he'd pop up a bunch, starting mid-movie. By the final couple, pop-ups were down to two or fewer per movie!
He also got to do a lot of practice with hitting handicap buttons, not rushing into or out of elevators, and going at a measured pace down the stairs. He is great at pulling up the stairs, just needs to work on going in a straight line, haha.
I've been working with both dogs, but especially Kaline, on various Rally exercises as well. Kaline has several different things he needs to get down before he competes in Advanced on March 22. He's doing really well with the new finding-heel exercises, but having more trouble with finding front when I don't move my feet. Next week, we're going to work on learning the broad jump!
I'm totally preoccupied right now with new Paco collars for Juno and Kay, as well as new tags to go with them from Aggie's Anvil. I have to wait, however. Kaline's birthday is on April 23, and Juno's Gotcha Day is May 12, so that's the soonest I'm allowing myself to get this new expensive stuff, haha. The new collar for Kaline was supposed to be for his graduation, but yeah, I can't wait that long.
If you couldn't tell, we haven't done a whole lot of exciting stuff lately. Oh well!
Showing posts with label elevators. Show all posts
Showing posts with label elevators. Show all posts
14 February 2014
24 June 2013
Another leg for Juno, and Kaline's first trip to a trial
Yesterday was Kaline's first Gotcha Day—I've had him a whole year, which is pretty unbelievable—and we went to a Rally trial for Juno with friends Mary, Marissa, and Kristin. I brought the big purple pop-up crate for Kaline to chill in, along with his breakfast and a Bento ball with an actual cookie in it. (Usually Kaline finds the Bento ball so fascinating on its own that I don't bother with the cookie.)
As you might have guessed, Kaline was absolutely not interested in the diversionary things and whined a lot in the crate. Juno was her usual excellent self. It was fantastic getting to meet Mary in real life, and both the dogs quite liked her also. Juno even favored her with a kiss, which is big coming from her. It was really nice to have a friend there that one dog could stay with while I did things with the other. And Mary took a bunch of fantastic photos of both dogs, but mostly the gorgeous Juno.
I tried to do things better than last time, given it was the same venue. We got a much better course, full of things that Juno is fairly good at, and sans broad jump. (YAY!) It was overcast, so I could warm Juno up in a figurative sense without really doing it in a literal sense. And for actual SD work, I had Kaline there, so Juno didn't have to worry about that.
Well, we again had jump issues, since on the first pass Juno decided to cut around the jump rather than go over it. Not knowing that you're not supposed to repeat a jump (I learn new things at every Rally trial, and always because I've done something incorrectly, haha), I got her back and had her take it properly. We lost ten points right there, but only one point on the entire rest of the course! So I was really happy with that. All four of the dogs who got ribbons for Advanced B got scores of 100, how insane! First through fourth was decided based on speed. An awesome toy poodle got second. All of us sitting together were commenting on how nice it is to see a little dog that's treated like an actual dog. All of us with dogs competing in Advanced (me, Kristin and Marissa) got legs! WOOHOO!!!
Once Juno was finished, I left her to hang out with Mary, got Kaline vested, and decided to do a circuit of the trial. I had had him out a few times already, just in our area, and had no issues from anyone regarding his prong collar. (Prong collars may not be worn at AKC trials—unless your dog is a SD and it's part of his working gear.) That changed toward the end of our circuit, the rest of which went pretty well. Kaline apparently has more trouble ignoring single dogs than ignoring an entire area full of dogs.
Anyway, we had just spotted our Doberman friend, Sue Korp, and her lovely bitch who has All The Obedience Titles. As we went to say hi and chat a bit, a woman with an Airedale came up to yell at me about Kaline's prong collar. I didn't even let her finish her little diatribe, continually cutting her off with, “He is a service dog. He is not competing. The prong collar is part of his normal working gear.” (I wasn't going to get into the nuances of SD vs. SDIT with her, considering that in California, it doesn't really matter.) I was getting pretty worked up but not too badly, because I had expected someone, at some point, to do exactly what she was doing and had prepared for it. Kaline was doing really well, standing in a block in front of me, between me and the yelling woman.
So I reached down to stroke him reassuringly and tell him he was a good boy. The Airedale woman gave him a disdainful look and said, “Can't be much of a good dog if he's in a prong.” That hurt, big time. I'm proud that I didn't cuss her out, or say something stupid, instead responding that my tools are my business, not hers. But you don't hear from a stranger that basically you have a terrible puppy and not feel totally like crap.
We immediately came back to the area with our friends, where Kaline parked himself on my lap/against my chest for most of the next half hour or so. He'd get off momentarily but then he'd be right back up. Such a good boy. And later, Sue came over to chat and say that the Airedale woman was over the top. She said that nationals for Rally are in Pomona this year—bad half of California, but still, West Coast! Maybe we'll figure out a way to go. It's in October, so we have time, and it'd be fun to see Sue's wonderful bitch strut her stuff (somehow at Rally I never end up finding time to go watch regular obedience).
During Rally Novice, a nice woman and her elderly mom came over to us to talk SDs—the mother is training her next mobility dog, a pretty smooth collie. She asked about Kaline's Petjoy harness vest, probably my favorite piece of gear besides our BLD, and I got to evangelize about all its wonderful qualities and how nice the company is to work with in general. It was such a nice, friendly, happy note to end on, rather than Airedale woman.
After crashing away the whole afternoon with the pups, Kaline and I accompanied Mom to Stanford for a quick outing (Nordstrom and Macy's near closing time). Kaline's fear of elevators is all gone and he's blocking properly again in them. He was really accurate with all the buttons, and is mostly using his nose now instead of his feet because he is SO DELIGHTFULLY TALL. TALL, I TELL YOU. He (mostly) ignored three other dogs at the outdoor cafe where I got some tea, and was just a lovely boy all around. Everyone upstairs at Macy's gathered around him to fawn over him and his beautiful silky ears. They were super nice and asked all the un-intrusive, fun questions.
Let's see, other highlights from my undocumented week. At our last session with the tdoc, Kaline was fast asleep until I started to talk about the access challenge we had in Pennsylvania. Then he woke up and laid his head in my lap for a while. Win. We've been practicing retrieves, and he's done pretty well with different materials including metal.
Last Thursday, Juno and I got to go with Sonja and Chief to the JCC in Palo Alto to talk to a class of preschoolers about service dogs. That was super fun!! Normally I'm very afraid of small children, but the teachers had prepared them extensively for the visit, and of course Sonja took the lead in talking to them and doing demos. They were really well behaved and just fascinated by the dogs. Chief demonstrated opening a cabinet and retrieving Sonja's medicine pouch, as well as going to a target with people around it (foundation for going to get help). Both dogs did regular retrieves, and then we showed the kids how the dogs can “undress” us. Then we let each kid put one of our gloves on their hand (their tiny hands were swimming in our gloves!) and one or the other of the dogs would come and tug it off! They were totally enchanted. I hope we get to do something like that again soon! I can't wait to take Kaline and see how he does. He will definitely have fun—Juno tolerates and is very quiet with children, but Kaline just loves them.
Juno's other big outing was going to the Giants game against the Padres (extra innings, of course) with me and Dad for Dad's birthday/Father's Day. Mom and I chipped in for really good tickets on the club level. Junebug was excellent, natch. Our usher was so proactive in looking out for her—anytime someone wandered near our row, she'd jump in and go, “Find another way in, there's a dog here.” We were right below the broadcast booths (TV and radio) and got to wave to the broadcasters during the seventh inning stretch. Lots of fun. Unfortunately we had to leave before the game ended; with a SD, my general policy is not to stay past the end of the 11th inning at Giants' games. (A's games, I can leave the scorebook with Dad and get my dog out for a pee break if I have to, so we can stay later.) The game went thirteen innings and we lost, but hey, a fun night anyhow!
We're planning to go to the Pride Parade in SF this weekend. Juno will be in charge of that, and then Kaline will be on-duty for Dad's birthday dinner that night.
As you might have guessed, Kaline was absolutely not interested in the diversionary things and whined a lot in the crate. Juno was her usual excellent self. It was fantastic getting to meet Mary in real life, and both the dogs quite liked her also. Juno even favored her with a kiss, which is big coming from her. It was really nice to have a friend there that one dog could stay with while I did things with the other. And Mary took a bunch of fantastic photos of both dogs, but mostly the gorgeous Juno.
I tried to do things better than last time, given it was the same venue. We got a much better course, full of things that Juno is fairly good at, and sans broad jump. (YAY!) It was overcast, so I could warm Juno up in a figurative sense without really doing it in a literal sense. And for actual SD work, I had Kaline there, so Juno didn't have to worry about that.
Well, we again had jump issues, since on the first pass Juno decided to cut around the jump rather than go over it. Not knowing that you're not supposed to repeat a jump (I learn new things at every Rally trial, and always because I've done something incorrectly, haha), I got her back and had her take it properly. We lost ten points right there, but only one point on the entire rest of the course! So I was really happy with that. All four of the dogs who got ribbons for Advanced B got scores of 100, how insane! First through fourth was decided based on speed. An awesome toy poodle got second. All of us sitting together were commenting on how nice it is to see a little dog that's treated like an actual dog. All of us with dogs competing in Advanced (me, Kristin and Marissa) got legs! WOOHOO!!!
Anyway, we had just spotted our Doberman friend, Sue Korp, and her lovely bitch who has All The Obedience Titles. As we went to say hi and chat a bit, a woman with an Airedale came up to yell at me about Kaline's prong collar. I didn't even let her finish her little diatribe, continually cutting her off with, “He is a service dog. He is not competing. The prong collar is part of his normal working gear.” (I wasn't going to get into the nuances of SD vs. SDIT with her, considering that in California, it doesn't really matter.) I was getting pretty worked up but not too badly, because I had expected someone, at some point, to do exactly what she was doing and had prepared for it. Kaline was doing really well, standing in a block in front of me, between me and the yelling woman.
So I reached down to stroke him reassuringly and tell him he was a good boy. The Airedale woman gave him a disdainful look and said, “Can't be much of a good dog if he's in a prong.” That hurt, big time. I'm proud that I didn't cuss her out, or say something stupid, instead responding that my tools are my business, not hers. But you don't hear from a stranger that basically you have a terrible puppy and not feel totally like crap.
We immediately came back to the area with our friends, where Kaline parked himself on my lap/against my chest for most of the next half hour or so. He'd get off momentarily but then he'd be right back up. Such a good boy. And later, Sue came over to chat and say that the Airedale woman was over the top. She said that nationals for Rally are in Pomona this year—bad half of California, but still, West Coast! Maybe we'll figure out a way to go. It's in October, so we have time, and it'd be fun to see Sue's wonderful bitch strut her stuff (somehow at Rally I never end up finding time to go watch regular obedience).
During Rally Novice, a nice woman and her elderly mom came over to us to talk SDs—the mother is training her next mobility dog, a pretty smooth collie. She asked about Kaline's Petjoy harness vest, probably my favorite piece of gear besides our BLD, and I got to evangelize about all its wonderful qualities and how nice the company is to work with in general. It was such a nice, friendly, happy note to end on, rather than Airedale woman.
After crashing away the whole afternoon with the pups, Kaline and I accompanied Mom to Stanford for a quick outing (Nordstrom and Macy's near closing time). Kaline's fear of elevators is all gone and he's blocking properly again in them. He was really accurate with all the buttons, and is mostly using his nose now instead of his feet because he is SO DELIGHTFULLY TALL. TALL, I TELL YOU. He (mostly) ignored three other dogs at the outdoor cafe where I got some tea, and was just a lovely boy all around. Everyone upstairs at Macy's gathered around him to fawn over him and his beautiful silky ears. They were super nice and asked all the un-intrusive, fun questions.
Let's see, other highlights from my undocumented week. At our last session with the tdoc, Kaline was fast asleep until I started to talk about the access challenge we had in Pennsylvania. Then he woke up and laid his head in my lap for a while. Win. We've been practicing retrieves, and he's done pretty well with different materials including metal.
Last Thursday, Juno and I got to go with Sonja and Chief to the JCC in Palo Alto to talk to a class of preschoolers about service dogs. That was super fun!! Normally I'm very afraid of small children, but the teachers had prepared them extensively for the visit, and of course Sonja took the lead in talking to them and doing demos. They were really well behaved and just fascinated by the dogs. Chief demonstrated opening a cabinet and retrieving Sonja's medicine pouch, as well as going to a target with people around it (foundation for going to get help). Both dogs did regular retrieves, and then we showed the kids how the dogs can “undress” us. Then we let each kid put one of our gloves on their hand (their tiny hands were swimming in our gloves!) and one or the other of the dogs would come and tug it off! They were totally enchanted. I hope we get to do something like that again soon! I can't wait to take Kaline and see how he does. He will definitely have fun—Juno tolerates and is very quiet with children, but Kaline just loves them.
Juno's other big outing was going to the Giants game against the Padres (extra innings, of course) with me and Dad for Dad's birthday/Father's Day. Mom and I chipped in for really good tickets on the club level. Junebug was excellent, natch. Our usher was so proactive in looking out for her—anytime someone wandered near our row, she'd jump in and go, “Find another way in, there's a dog here.” We were right below the broadcast booths (TV and radio) and got to wave to the broadcasters during the seventh inning stretch. Lots of fun. Unfortunately we had to leave before the game ended; with a SD, my general policy is not to stay past the end of the 11th inning at Giants' games. (A's games, I can leave the scorebook with Dad and get my dog out for a pee break if I have to, so we can stay later.) The game went thirteen innings and we lost, but hey, a fun night anyhow!
We're planning to go to the Pride Parade in SF this weekend. Juno will be in charge of that, and then Kaline will be on-duty for Dad's birthday dinner that night.
19 May 2013
Juno gets a Rally Advanced leg!
Also, I'm a lazy blogger. Today was our first entry into Rally Advanced B, and despite it being atrocious, we managed a qualifying score. The judge kindly went through the deductions with me, so I can't honestly say I have no clue why we passed ... but still. How did we pass???
First mistake, it was an outdoor trial on grass. This has never been a good thing for us. Second mistake, not actually knowing that they could have a broad jump in Rally. The broad jump is a big reason we're not in regular obedience anymore! I saw that thing when we walked in, and was like, “Well, we're gonna NQ!” Juno walks on/through broad jumps. I was told by one of the stewards that that'd be an NQ. But, remembering that we do Rally not to win things but to have individual fun bonding time, I figured who cares if we totally screw up.
Another mistake, I realized later, was that we may have done too much warming up right before our run. It was a rather warm day and when we got in the ring, Juno was panting. We had a bad start, too. Right as I told the judge we were ready, a huge green bug landed in the middle of Juno's back and at least tickled, perhaps even bit her. So instead of being focused, she was twisted trying to get it off. I flicked it off but she kept stopping to try and scratch throughout the run. And of course there was the usual lagging that happens when she does heeling off leash. So we got a lot of handler error deductions and points off for being out of position. And Juno walked over the broad jump.
The judge said nothing as we left the ring, so I figured I didn't qualify. Then they called in all the qualifiers at the end, and they were missing one the whole time. So just for shits and giggles, I checked the list of scores, and there we were, with an 83 instead of an NQ by Juno's name! I was totally flabbergasted. But yay! Not gonna argue! Our next trial is going to be in the same place; I realize it's not even close to an ideal setup for us, but we need to trial once a month, and this place is only half an hour away, and our friend Marissa is going with her studly boy Hunter. So we gotta go.
The parents have returned, and training with Kaline/work with Juno continues apace. Kaline and I had a bit of a breakthrough about a week ago regarding loose-leash walking and it is going so much better now! I'm super happy about that. He's been doing pretty well on his outings, to various restaurants, stores, etc. Both dogs have basically only been going on short working outings lately, just because we walk the packs and then we crash. We sometimes do stuff at night but that's about it. Kaline also is over his elevator fear finally. We went through a few days where we'd just do about fifteen minutes of riding up and down, up and down, and I think that helped. Elevators are now exceedingly boring rather than scary. They've both been really great at training in the park—I'm working really hard on finding heel with Kaline and on polishing up his recalls.
Our BLD harness shipped this past Friday, so hopefully it will be here in plenty of time for our upcoming Pennsylvania trip! I would love to get Juno some practice in it before we use it on the trip, but it shouldn't be a huge change for her from her Petjoy harness vest in terms of how we'll use it. She's been getting massages lately from our local dog masseur, Carla, who has a Seeing Eye dog named Justin. Juno doesn't always enjoy the massages (it's hard to explain to her that it'll be uncomfortable for a minute and then she'll feel a lot better; she just feels the discomfort and wants to move away) but I can tell that they're helping, and it's great fun talking shop with Carla.
First mistake, it was an outdoor trial on grass. This has never been a good thing for us. Second mistake, not actually knowing that they could have a broad jump in Rally. The broad jump is a big reason we're not in regular obedience anymore! I saw that thing when we walked in, and was like, “Well, we're gonna NQ!” Juno walks on/through broad jumps. I was told by one of the stewards that that'd be an NQ. But, remembering that we do Rally not to win things but to have individual fun bonding time, I figured who cares if we totally screw up.
Another mistake, I realized later, was that we may have done too much warming up right before our run. It was a rather warm day and when we got in the ring, Juno was panting. We had a bad start, too. Right as I told the judge we were ready, a huge green bug landed in the middle of Juno's back and at least tickled, perhaps even bit her. So instead of being focused, she was twisted trying to get it off. I flicked it off but she kept stopping to try and scratch throughout the run. And of course there was the usual lagging that happens when she does heeling off leash. So we got a lot of handler error deductions and points off for being out of position. And Juno walked over the broad jump.
The judge said nothing as we left the ring, so I figured I didn't qualify. Then they called in all the qualifiers at the end, and they were missing one the whole time. So just for shits and giggles, I checked the list of scores, and there we were, with an 83 instead of an NQ by Juno's name! I was totally flabbergasted. But yay! Not gonna argue! Our next trial is going to be in the same place; I realize it's not even close to an ideal setup for us, but we need to trial once a month, and this place is only half an hour away, and our friend Marissa is going with her studly boy Hunter. So we gotta go.
The parents have returned, and training with Kaline/work with Juno continues apace. Kaline and I had a bit of a breakthrough about a week ago regarding loose-leash walking and it is going so much better now! I'm super happy about that. He's been doing pretty well on his outings, to various restaurants, stores, etc. Both dogs have basically only been going on short working outings lately, just because we walk the packs and then we crash. We sometimes do stuff at night but that's about it. Kaline also is over his elevator fear finally. We went through a few days where we'd just do about fifteen minutes of riding up and down, up and down, and I think that helped. Elevators are now exceedingly boring rather than scary. They've both been really great at training in the park—I'm working really hard on finding heel with Kaline and on polishing up his recalls.
Our BLD harness shipped this past Friday, so hopefully it will be here in plenty of time for our upcoming Pennsylvania trip! I would love to get Juno some practice in it before we use it on the trip, but it shouldn't be a huge change for her from her Petjoy harness vest in terms of how we'll use it. She's been getting massages lately from our local dog masseur, Carla, who has a Seeing Eye dog named Justin. Juno doesn't always enjoy the massages (it's hard to explain to her that it'll be uncomfortable for a minute and then she'll feel a lot better; she just feels the discomfort and wants to move away) but I can tell that they're helping, and it's great fun talking shop with Carla.
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