Zumi 16wks

Zumi's 16wks old now!  I continue to fall more in love with her little attitude every day.


Morning routines are still entertaining.  At least for me.  After I feed the dog's breakfast Vito always jumps back on bed to rejoin Daddy while I eat and get ready for work.  Zumi likes to join the bed festivities as well and especially loves the easy opportunity to face hug Daddy.  She's been getting a little better about settling down and curling up, but then can't resist the urge to get another face hug or two in.  For those unfamiliar with a face hug it's pretty much as it sounds- paws wrapping around you face, often while trying to lay on top of said face as well.

Her favorite activity at home remains running in and out of the doggy door.  Especially if Vito goes outside then she sprints out there as fast as possible to jump on him.  Or tries to beat him to it and then turns around so she can pounce on him as he goes through.  Vito's never sure that it's safe to go out!

Making major progress with body handling.  I can finally do settles without one little tantrum and  have successfully done all four feet for a nail trim during a single upside down puppy hold.

Toy play rules are also improving, especially between her and Vito.  Zumi is doing a fairly good job of remaining on her own toy while I'm tugging with her instead of constantly trying to launch onto the one I'm using to tug with Vito.  Less evil faces from Vito.

All legs still.  Legs and awkwardness.
We continued to expand on Zumi's shaped retrieve training!  As expected, once Zumi got the concept of bite=cookie on a toy I was able to start exchanging the item for a variety of different objects of all types of material.  Currently working on being able to bite an object when it's on the ground.  This results in lots of lying down on the object like it's a mat.

The next big goal achieved this week was backing up to a 2o2o position.  Zumi's had pretty good hind leg stretching for a few weeks but just didn't get the concept of backing up until now.

Trying to shape a wave is super cute.  For the most part Zumi understands hold right paw in air.  But we also have experimentation with backing up in a sit while doing so, or well trying to do so.


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Choosing Rewards

I have recently been forced to think a bit on my choice of rewards for Zumi.  We are in a puppy agility class right now to get Zumi exposure to working in a group class with lots of distractions around.  Recently her little group switched to a new instructor who, due to small differences in opinion, has caused me to think about the WHYS of my ideas.

Currently I bring to class a variety of different style tug toys and her dinner of kibble.  During recalls and most active work I try to use a toy as much as possible.  I certainly don't believe that all agility dogs must tug, but with a dog who values toy play I feel that it has the potential to create a higher level of arousal and intensity that can be hard to match with food.  For many dogs, a ball can create even more intensity and speed than tugging can.  I use kibble during shaping games or during parts of class where Zumi is going back and forth between me and a helper.  I love using food for a more thinking dog and of course the ability to get in many repetitions in a short time is very easy with food.

Definitely switching between food, toys, and personal play can be a skill that needs to be developed. Many dogs learn to expect a certain reward in a certain place, time, or activity.  Perhaps agility usually means a tug toy and obedience means food.  Or training inside is often a mix of food and personal play and training outside is with a ball launcher.  Trying to use a different reward than your dog expects, even if it's a reward they normally really like, can be difficult.  From their perspective it's not just switching to a possibly lower value reward but it can be actually punishing if they see it as a loss from what they wanted.

Zumi currently needs a lot of work on being able to switch back and forth between food and toys with the current balance leaning towards food.  Depending on your goals and the dog sports you participate in, switching rewards might be very low on the priority list.  Because Zumi is still a puppy and thus much easier to build value for different rewards I am going to try hard not to limit my options.  I do not want Zumi so fixated on the possibility of food that toy play lowers in value just by comparison.  Currently my toy-food-toy practice has been limited to being worked on at home where we have higher success.

I am currently using kibble as a reward for her in class, versus switching to string cheese or other higher valued food rewards, because it works.  I am very happy with the amount of engagement and intensity I am getting from it!  The only downside I see in using kibble is that it can be hard to see on the dark colored mats for thrown rewards.  Switching to a higher valued food reward would give me plenty of options to help with visibility but comes with it's own downsides.
Food?

Mainly in that once a higher valued reward is out there, Zumi's food love isn't strong enough to switch back to a lower valued food.  The Corgi and the labs I've raised haven't cared at all.  I'm pretty sure they would be just as excited about pocket lint!  But Zumi wanted nothing to do with me after the instructor decided to switch to string cheese during our turn one week and thus I needed to grab some too.  Even after that exercise and a little bit of time in her crate during a break, Zumi took several minutes before she would work for kibble again eagerly.  I'm sure if I wanted to use a toy after that it would have been impossible seeing that I'm still trying to work on kibble to tug with her.  In general I try and use toy play in the beginning of class while she is most excited about it.  Before she has an opportunity to earn food and "forgets" how much she loves to tug!

On a similar note, I think it's important to remember that you can't use a reward your dog doesn't love!  Personal play (no food, no toys) is not a high enough value yet to be of use with Zumi.  We are still working on developing games she likes and ways of playing that don't involve lots of teeth!  This will be way more important in obedience than in agility.  But I see a lot of people who insist that their dog play tug with them when their dog has zero interest.  Perhaps their dog loves to do it at home, perhaps not.  Working on building a motivator has to be done in an environment where the dog is relaxed.  And the motivator can not be used as a reward if your dog doesn't want it!  Even with Zumi right now who loves to tug, I'm not yet asking her to tug in class as a reward for a behavior once I bring out food (before the food it's a non issue and is a reward!).  I do occasionally attempt some toy play separate from everything else.  More of play with me because it's fun versus play because you earned it.

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2014 Video in Review

I decided to make a 2014 video after all!  Better late than never?

This year to make it easier I decided not go month by month, so many things are out of order.  But this way it also looks like the corgi actually competed and stuff ;)

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Zumi 15wks

The Duck is 15wks now and 17lbs!  Her tail is starting to look like one of those deep undersea creatures that taunt prey to swim closer, the Angler Fish.  Picture does not do it justice!

Still in a little bit of a fear period.  Less so with noises now but collar grabs or anything going towards her, or with a previous association of going towards her, is terrifying.  Needless to say I've done a ton of get dressed training with a leash loop and now her new martingale agility leash!  And also brush=cool practice.

Not quite sure what to with herself when she's the only dog at work!

I'm proud of myself for making a breakthrough with her shaped retrieve training! I just was not having any luck with getting Zumi to open her mouth onto an object and I tried a variety of items from the dumbbell to her toys.  As soon as food/shaping was involved she didn't believe that "playing" was what I wanted her to do.  We did get a cute sticky target to an item with her nose though!
So 3 sessions ago I switched to getting our other training out of the way first, letting her eat the rest of her meal from her dish, and then grabbing a toy to continue our shaping.  Zumi bit easily onto the toy as clearly work was over and it was time for play!  I clicked and gave her a kibble and then presented the toy again.  Very confused look but she bit hesitantly again to be rewarded with another click/treat.  A little bit back to offering pawing and nose touches as she tried to think too much, but then gave up and bit again to start play.  After about 4 bites and rewarding with food I do a little bit of tug play with her and then stop.  This last session went pretty much the same, but Zumi seems to be more purposefully offering a bite now vs being confused as to whether we're "training" or "playing."  I'm not expecting any difficulty on getting the bite behavior to transfer to other items as it turns into a thoughtful behavior and enters into her repertoire of offered behaviors.

The Duck's also starting to get the concept of verbal cues.  I haven't been in a hurry to introduce words but I think she is close to reliably understanding right, down, and ok! Outside of a training session I wouldn't bet money on her doing anything on a verbal only.  

Playing fetch still needs work.  Zumi doesn't really run away with the toy anymore but doesn't exactly bring it to my hand no matter how exciting I try to be or how far I back away.  She likes to stop a foot away and mostly is good about letting me grab an end.  Usually playing lots of tug has given puppies a reason to bring a toy to my hand but I'm not having much success with Zumi as even when I let her win she still backs away versus coming forward back to me.  Throwing the toy seems to be a tiny bit more exciting than tugging right now.
Toys are very fun to bring onto the couch though.



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Corgi Rehab Update

Summary- good news!

Since Monday afternoon Lance has been on the strictest of crate rest. Either in a crate, in my arms being carried to his next location, or on a 3 foot leash radius outside for a 60 second bathroom break.  Pretty much zero walking allowed.  One day of carrying him from the house to car to work to car to the club to car to home plus potty breaks just about killed me.  24lbs is apparently very very heavy. So on day two I gave him a throne on wheels.



Lance wasn't too happy with his throne but he's a good dog so he listened and didn't jump off during travel time.
No real improvement in his ability to walk, as judged by potty breaks, was seen Tuesday or Wednesday.  I wasn't really worried by this as it had only been a few days, but since I really need my nice normal dog back I wanted to make sure that the rest route vs surgery was the best choice for his recovery.  I absolutely don't want to do 6 weeks of crate rest to be followed by needing surgery after all and then doing many more weeks of crate rest and rehab work.

So I decided on Wednesday night to consult with a neurologist and get an MRI so we could see exactly where his injury was and how bad it looks.  Lance had several xrays taken on Monday but it's difficult to diagnose spinal injuries from just an xray.  On Thursday we were able to be squeezed in for a visit at the specialist.  Lance was a total ham.  He LOVES vet offices as people always have cookies and squee over the fact that he's not a sausage on stumps.  Lance even tried to pretend there was nothing wrong with him as he walked for the vet and looked lovingly into her eyes, pleading for food!  Of course his back legs did give out a few times and turning was the hardest, but Lance was looking much, much improved over just the day before.  Almost so much improved that I'm pretty sure he made me look like an idiot for requesting the consult and MRI.  Thanks buddy.

The vet was impressed that I was actually doing full crate rest, vs what is apparently most dog owner's interpretation of crate rest.  We did not do an MRI due to his improvement!  And then my wallet thanked her profusely!  Basically she thought that the odds of Lance improving to normal pet life in 6wks was high and roughly the same odds as doing the surgery.  As long as he continues to slowly improve we can start doing 5 minute walks twice a day in about two more weeks and build from there.  It still remains to be seen if he will be able to go back fully to dog sports so we just wait and see.  The AKC wouldn't give us back our money for the National Obedience Championships since we were 4 days past the 1st round closing date.  So if there is a gigantic miracle maybe we will be there after all.

In the meantime I have been stuffing lots and lots of kongs with his meals and am ordering lots and lots of bones.  I am guessing that Lance will no longer be 24lbs when the rest is over!


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Super Sad Corgi

Sad corgi.


Lance has IVDD, a slipped disc.  No idea how it happened.  On Sunday we enjoyed a gorgeous walk at the park, came home and he got to bark at the Toller running after a ball, and then we trained with dinner.  He even has teh cutest new trick of learning how to skip!

And then on Monday morning Lance was practically lame.  Very wobbly in the back end and can barely walk.  Back arched in pain.  Went to the vet and was diagnosed with IVDD and due to the fact that he still has some function in his back end we were recommended very strict crate rest for at least 6 weeks.  If he starts to lose any function of his rear legs then we rush to surgery immediately.

Sorry Lance.  He is now to be carefully carried anytime he is out of his crate.  Anyone who owns a corgi knows how awkward that is!

No National Obedience Championships for us.

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Heat Wave and Fetch Rules Pt2

The weather gave us a slight break from winter this past weekend as it heated up to 37F!  Heat wave!

We went to explore a park new to us on Sunday and were thrilled to find it mostly deserted and
nice walking paths through the woods.  Tried to get a group shot and laughed as Zumi looked at the other two dogs in their stay and decided to join them.  For a little while at least.



We also played some more fetch this weekend in the yard.  Vito is coming along very nicely with his rules of not going after the toy I throw for Zumi!  Zumi herself still doesn't have any rules about not going after Vito's and it will likely be awhile before I add that in.  Mainly she likes to chase after the group with a toy of her own in her mouth.  It was interesting to see that even between Saturday and Sunday there was a big increase in how much interest she had in what Lance and Vito were doing vs playing mostly on the sidelines.


Trying to steal Vito's if she can grab quick enough.
 


 Good sit Vito!

What I found most fascinating was watching Zumi and Vito interact after I say all done.  At that point Vito is fairly good about not pestering me to throw the toy, although he does check in frequently to see if that's still the case.  Usually Vito likes to sit down with the toy and chew on it, or if we go on a walk through the fields Vito carries it with him just in case I change my mind and decide to throw it again.  Like most puppies, Zumi found it a perfect opportunity to try and steal Vito's toy and they ended up playing tug.

Knowing Vito he would much rather just have the toy than play so tugging was more of a result of not wanting to drop the toy.  But I also know that if Vito really doesn't want to play than he will in no uncertain terms let the other dog know.  I took video of their interaction, watch and tell me what you think!

- To me, the first 10 seconds are fairly relaxed tugging.  (Vito is the one talking)
- Then Zumi's racing around with her prize is a thousand times more relaxed than previous weeks.  She looks likes to me like she is trying to tease the other dogs versus taking her prize and trying to go off to guard it.  It also helps that Vito isn't obsessively following the toy as he finds the 2nd one.
- Vito is pretty relaxed with his toy at 1:10 and a bit annoyed.
- Zumi manages to grab it at 1:20 and they start tugging again.  Vito still talks, like always.  Zumi starts much more thrashing and growling than she did earlier and it seems to escalate.
- At 2:05 Corgi barks and interrupts them a bit and Vito looks at me for possible reassurance.
- Over by 2:30 when I yell at the corgi and Zumi lets go to look at me
- But then Zumi sweeps into grab it as Vito comes to see if I'll throw it.

So?  At no point was I concerned for either of their safety as I know Vito well and haven't seen any signs for real concern in Zumi.  Doggy behavior just fascinates me!


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Training with Multiple Dogs

One of the most common messages I get from people who watch my puppy training videos are on how I can train one dog with the others just milling about.  Since most people in the dog world have multiple dogs, figuring out how to handle training time is a necessity.  Below I listed 3 different ways to handle the issue.

1.  Management.  Basically having this skill isn't important to you so you don't waste your time training it!  Generally the dogs not being trained are in crates, but placing them behind baby gates or behind closed doors will also do the trick.

Using management alongside training can also be a stepping stone if you need to work on your dog not barking while you're working another dog.  If your dog is below threshold enough to still eat, a manners minder/treat n train can be your best friend to be able to randomly reward quietness while at a distance.  But good luck with that!  I'm thankful to not ever had a dog who needed more than just a gradual introduction with distance/visual access/intensity of activity before they quit barking.

2.  Pedestal training.  A nice compromise solution can be to train the non-working dogs to go to a specific location and remain there until called off.  The spot can be an open crate, a mat, or some type of pedestal the dog jumps on.  Typically an object with some height is the easiest as it prevents the dog from being able to creep forward without you noticing and is harder for the dog to "forget" what he was supposed to be doing.

In order to start this training the dog should already have a good start on impulse control exercises: an automatic (uncued) leave it, and a solid stay with distractions.  In other words, before adding in a second dog you will want to work up to being able to send your dog to their place from a distance, be able to move around the room freely, and be able to drop food to the ground.  Remember to do this training without needing to make eye contact with your dog for them to stay there.  I also don't recommend using a verbal stay cue if you care about criteria on a stay.  Either one word like go mat or hop up should imply a relaxed wait, or use a different word that gives your dog permission to move around a bit as long as they aren't leaving their spot.

A second person to reward the other dog can be helpful, but don't rely on them too much.  You don't want it to turn into a 2 dog training session, one person per dog.  If the waiting dog is just staring at your helper than you might be practicing a skill other than the one you wanted to.  Generally I find that if a second person is really needed than that dog's prerequisites just aren't strong enough in the first place and management should be used until further along.  The dog needing eye contact to maintain it's pedestal with distractions is often the missing piece, or the dog is just too much over threshold and needs a more gradual introduction.

I personally only use pedestal training in the summer when I train outside and ask my dogs to remain on the porch when it's not their turn.  It isn't necessary for my crew, but for some reason I thought it would be good practice for them to do so!  It did come in handy this summer when I hosted a few agility lessons at my house and had multiple dog/handler teams milling around and the inability to put Vito in the house due to his separation anxiety.

This picture must have been during those short few days I was down to 2 dogs as I only see 2 dinner bowls!  Vito can move anywhere on the porch and it looks like he decided to relax until I was done with the Corgi.

3. Just don't interfere.  This rule is what I use the majority of the time with my dogs.  Mainly because I'm lazy and it's so easy for me in the long run!  I have the added benefit of having 2 dogs who are already very experienced with this rule so that with each new dog coming to visit they can learn from the elders.  I do believe that dogs learn routines and manners from the other dogs, good or bad.  This training goes the smoothest with dogs who already have a history of working with you, have a good automatic leave it, and a good stay.  That being said, I have successfully done this with many puppies.

I always start by abandoning any real training of my other dogs and focus solely on the new dog.  New dog gets trained first and I save a small handful of it to use for when I'm working the other dogs.  After the new dog eats I call dog #2 over to me and start very basic training.  I don't ask for anything difficult or too arousing as my focus is really going to be on the new dog.  But for the most part I try to completely avoid interacting with the new dog.  I don't make much eye contact and I don't really give any verbal commands to them.  I will body block, often quite a bit.  And out of the corner of my eye I look for calm behaviors to reward.  I try and keep my reward rate as low as I'm able to make it without getting the new dog too frantic.  If the waiting dog does the behavior I'm asking the working dog to do I might laugh but it's rare that I reward it.  Pretty soon they figure out it's not worth the effort.

My goal over the next training sessions is to get rid of the rewards completely for the non-working dog.  I don't want them continuously offering different relaxed behaviors in order to get a treat themselves.  With my own dogs there are personality differences on how they choose to wait.  The Corgi usually is the farthest away but he watches intently the entire time.  He can't wait until I am done training all the dogs so that he can run over and search for any abandoned crumbs on the floor.  The Toller alternates between sometimes almost sleeping to other times being a foot away and staring.  If a kibble falls to the floor Vito knows he can't get it, but he will stare intently at it until it is either removed by me or the working dog, or I take pity on him and allow him to eat it.  Zumi is still in the process of learning this household rule.  She has progressed to eating last (elders first!) and knows to politely wait her turn to train.  But she is still working on being patient if I'm using props in my training as it's fun to try and shove the other dog out of the way!  Zumi is also still learning that dropped food isn't hers and I will give some verbal reminders to her if I see her moving towards one.

Here's Lance being trained with 3 dogs waiting patiently.  Gracie chose to place herself on the cot while Vito and Fiona are not in stays but choosing to watch.

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Zumi 14wks

The Duck turned 14wks today and is up to 16lbs.  This last week was a big one in her development.


First, Zumi found her voice.  A little bit of barking at noises at home and at people approaching at work.  A mix of anxiety and excitement as Zumi still gung out about greeting any person she can actually see.  Likely in a small fear period right now so my job is just to get her through it without pressing any issues.

In training time Zumi is really starting to think.  Lots more offering behaviors that don't involve the use of a prop.  As such she's making a bit more progress with our frog legs trick and I've started shaping backing up in a down.  A little sad as down-back was Pyra's favorite behavior of all time and one she just started doing on her own at 10wks.

But other back up tricks are going well now too.  Reversing towards my legs is up to 1.5ft after maybe 3 lessons.  And Zumi's kinda getting taking a step back to her 2o2o position on a box, although there is still lots of turning around to get on it with front feet first.

More snow!


Love this photo of her and Lance.  Zumi's expression pretty much sums up Zumi.


Duck and Kitty still play lots.  Hard to say who wins more.  She goes for his tail and ears, he goes for her neck.

While she's not a super cuddler like Pyra was, Zumi still does a pretty good job of it.  Likes to be about halfway in my lap and doesn't care who she has to climb over to get where she wants to be.  Vito still doesn't acknowledge her presence much.  She's barely worth a grumble apparently.



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Fetch With Rules- Resource Guarding

So glad that I started to lay some ground rules with Vito's fetching when Gracie was here.  At that time the rule that each dog must only go after their own separate balls was put in place to prevent Gracie from slamming Vito.  The Labrador loved plowing her body into him and found that way more fun than trying to get the ball itself.  Gracie was sad about the new rule, but she learned it quickly.  Vito was much, much harder as he only cares about BALL and now I had two.  But he was starting to get the concept and was progressing so that I didn't have to hold his collar if I wanted to throw Gracie's ball first.

Now Zumi is showing that implementing rules while playing with the other dogs might be necessary.  Zumi has shown some mild resource guarding issues since she's gotten here.  It's always hard to tell with dogs how much is too much and what's appropriate.  For the most part I let my dogs growl and lift their lip at the others if they're chewing on a bone or toy, and of course they tell off another if they're being rude in general with their personal space, even if they don't have an item to guard.
The dogs' rule has always been:
Talk all you want, but you better not escalate. Basically if push comes to shove there better not be anything more than a small scratch on the nose at most.


It's rare I have to step in with Lance, Vito, and the puppies I've raised to tell them that guarding/growling was inappropriate.  Vito gets the most lectures with the new puppies as while most of his angry faces are fine, sometimes he gets a little too grumpy with a puppy who's not even looking at him!  I'm lucky that my dogs are fairly easy going and responsive.

So Zumi has taken me a bit by surprise in how assertive she is starting by 8wks of age.  Nothing I'm worried about yet, but I'm certainly keeping a close eye on her and have worked with her a bit on it.  Being a good boy, Vito will back down from her if she tries to claim a toy we're playing with!

Outside fetch play isn't high enough value yet for Zumi to really attempt any guarding.  If I throw a ball for Vito she prefers to keep her own ball in her mouth and do her own thing.  In the beginning she will run after the other 2 dogs in excitement, but doesn't let go of her ball.  And since Vito only really cares about a ball that's moving he doesn't bother her at all as long as he can bring me one to throw.


Sometimes she forgets her ball, but just naughty playfulness in trying to grab the ball from Vito as he returns.

When Vito's a bit more tired I try and work on his fetch rules so that it is more in place for when Zumi needs it.  Trying to get Zumi to drop the ball outside is a bit difficult, but then I do a tiny toss for her while saying her name and reminding Vito not to get it.  Sometimes Vito needs an extra verbal reminder if he starts off after it.  And then Vito gets his own ball thrown in the other direction on his name cue.

Naughty Vito only somewhat listened for this throw of Zumi's.

We will see how the next several weeks develop as Zumi starts to place higher value on fetching!

Note: None of my dogs have shown actual aggression issues.  If your dog is resource guarding, please don't punish the growl and seek professional help.  There is also a lovely blog series on resource guarding between dogs here.

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Zumi 13wks

Miss Zumi is one fun little puppy.  Lives up to her name well!  Just turned 13wks old and weighs almost 15lbs.

Toy play with rules is coming along nicely this past week.  We have a drop it.  And she's at least getting the idea of retrieving toys all the way to me.  A little victory lap still wants to be done if I throw the toy away from the toy pile on the floor, but she actually does a fantastic job if I sit away from her other toys and throw a toy INTO the pile!  Zumi looks for the one I threw and then runs back to me nicely!  Still needs work on bringing a toy back to my hand vs just standing with it near me.  Mostly we still play tug way more than fetch to work on that.

Her nickname of Face Hugger continues to hold true.  Great progress in not being a face biter, but Zumi still loves climbing up high and being spastic.  Kinda like this.


In the morning she tries really hard to jump into bed after eating breakfast and hug Daddy's face as he's sleeping.
After a face hug

Food drive is growing lots this last week.  Eats all her meals eagerly and actually switching between food and toys is much harder.  A skill that needs to be re-taught now that she cares for food.
In training I've gone back to some mat training to introduce the concept of a stay.  I figure it's about time she starts one.  Also have done a few lessons on nose targeting a dumbbell but we don't have any teeth on it yet.  And backing up to a 2o2o position and in between my legs was started this week as well.

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New Years USDAA Trial

USDAA season is back for our area!  Vito and I played on Friday and Sunday.  Saturday was supposed to be a day of obedience at the big Land O Lakes trial, but I decided against paying the higher fees for that trial and so took a day off.


Friday
Vito had 4 runs on Friday.  Magical Chuck It Launcher seemed to work nicely.
Jumpers was one of his fastest jumpers run.  Just 1 knocked bar.

Standard he crashed through the first 2 bars, but then did a nice job.  For the first time ever in a trial I even did a front cross at the end of the dogwalk!  And then got too excited as I almost forgot I had to do a front followed by a rear to keep him off the jump ahead.  It worked, jsut a bit wide :)

Pairs we got our 5th leg for our masters title.  And the naughty toller was so excited by the wait and baton handoff that he broke his startline!  Vito hasn't done that in awhile, but he's always allowed to in a trial :)  Gamblers I realized as I was explaining the rules to my mother that I walked it wrong!  No back to back contacts, so I had to have a new plan.  New plan worked well until I completely forgot what side I wanted him on when the whistle blew and I did a bonus front cross, followed by a quick un-do of the cross.  The actual gamble went pretty well!  It was 2 simple sends, but the distance was pretty big for Vito and the 2nd send was from a complete stand still.  Sadly, Vito was over time by .17 seconds.  

Saturday
Saturday we went for a nice walk at a park.





Sunday
Sunday only 3 runs and we even got to sleep in!  
Snooker was first for one of his fastest and happiest snooker runs ever.  Our 7-6-5 plan earned us a 4th place but just too slow for a super Q.

Standard didn't have quite the speed, but was still a nice run.  I tried to send Vito out to a jump while I sprinted to beat him to the end of a dogwalk for a push out, but Vito saw me running and just came with.  Unfortunately video shows I didn't do much of a send for my defense.  

Pairs was back to complete trial speed.  But happy and clean for a Q.  

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Zumi 12 Weeks

Little Miss Zumi just turned 12wks old.  Starting to be a real puppy now at that super fun age where everything just kinda clicks.  That being said, we didn't actually do much training these last 2 weeks.


So here's an old video compilation of Zumi 2 weeks ago, but pretty much exactly where we are right now in our training!

She is growing some legs this week.  Best guess is around 13.5in tall right now.

And possibly in a bit of a fear stage, or else just something that still needs to be worked through.  A little Jekyl Hyde going on with confidence, still mainly noises with occasional dogs and people too. Overall recovery is pretty quick.  We have enjoyed going to some parks a few times.  Mostly she sticks close and checks in a lot.


 The Duck really needs to start learning a stay!

Still loves playing with the Corgi!  

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Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.- Roger Caras

Email: lkwaudby (at) gmail.com

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