Freestyle Demo

Posted on August 4, 2012 by Jamie

Always a crowd-pleaser, the backward circles.

I just love canine freestyle and I really would love to share the joy of dancing with dogs with others. I haven’t had much luck trying to get a class started; not many people are familiar with the sport. It’s been a while since Risa and I have done a demo and, every time we did, it was more than just us! But I knew I needed to show people what this activity is all about and wanted to help support a local event, so I offered to do a freestyle demo.

It was incredibly hot and we were scheduled to dance around the heat of the day. I hadn’t practiced as much as I should have. In fact, we hadn’t run through the entire routine since early June when we last competed. It was also a very busy venue which makes it even more difficult for Risa. Her fearfulness could have kept her from doing anything at all. However, she did very well. While she did start early and I lost her twice when she took off to investigate things, I’m very proud of how she did. I had to do a lot of improv because she was distracted but it still went together nicely. People also seemed to really enjoy the performance, especially Risa’s backward circles. Something about that move really impresses people and it happens to be one of Risa’s favorites to do.

She was also very well-behaved overall. With so many dogs and people, it was a crowded event. She got a bit grumbly when dogs got too close to her crate and she was pretty nervous when kids peeked in to check her out. (I tossed her a lot of treats both when dogs were close and when the kids were staring at her.) When she wasn’t kenneled, she was actually downright friendly with several people. The MC during our performance reached right out and touched Risa to pet her on her head and Ris didn’t even flinch. I would expect Ris to at least move away slightly but she didn’t at all. She seemed perfectly content to be petted by a total stranger. She even allowed a gentleman to pet her while we sat at our booth and that’s a huge step as well. Honestly, you wouldn’t know how many fear-related issues Risa has if you had watched her today. She’s come so far.

It was a long, tiring day especially with the heat. I wish our demonstration had been longer and that more teams than just us were involved (maybe next year?). But it was still a great day. Besides, we had fun together and that’s all that matters.

Here’s our performance to “I Got You” by Thomspon Square:

Posted in Causes, Dog Sports, Fear, Reactivity, Training | Tagged | Leave a comment

Not Fit for Competition

Posted on July 28, 2012 by Jamie

Line straight through front legs. Neck should be in front of this line. Line straight through topline. Head should be above this line. Line plumb from ischium should touch the top of the toes. Risa's actually not half bad in this respect.

I had the pleasure of attending a seminar on structure this weekend with Pat Hastings. I find structure fascinating and I’ve always wanted to learn more about how a dog is put together and how that affects the dog’s movement. Structure is also critical in performance dogs as a sound dog will not break down over time. Unlike the training seminars I have attended, I spent a lot of time writing down everything she said. With training, I have a base to build on so I only write down what’s new or something significant I need reminding on. This was something completely different and I ate it up.

I learned so much and a lot of what I’ve heard said before finally made sense. I could see what she was talking about in the photos of the dogs she showed. I could see the structural faults in the dogs she was evaluating. I couldn’t wait to get home and evaluate Risa. The only problem was, so many of the things she was pointing out I was certain Risa had. I was beginning to think perhaps Risa was not cut out to be a performance dog since, to prevent a dog from breaking down, they really need to be structurally sound. I was worried I might have to retire her early; that she really shouldn’t be competing at all. I always knew her temperament should have kept her out of the ring but I never realized how much the way she’s built affects her ability to perform everything I ask of her.

Thinking back on that, I’m pretty glad I never got her into agility. I’ve noticed, now that she’s aging, that she’s starting to experience more aches after heavy activity. She’s not jumping like she used to and her circling behaviors are more wide (including her cornering ability in lure coursing). And she’s always had back problems. I can only imagine what shape she might be in had I competed with her in such a demanding sport especially if we had been able to compete right off the bat.

Fortunately, when I got home and was able to evaluate her with this new knowledge, I found she wasn’t quite as horribly put together and I thought she might be. 😉 She’s far from perfect; no dog is perfect after all. But, overall, she’s relatively well-balanced. I will admit I was super bummed to find out that Risa’s obvious muscling is NOT a good thing. A dog’s muscles should be smooth. If anything is very well-defined or obvious, it’s because the dog is compensating for a structural weakness. If a dog is very muscled in the front but not the rear, it means the dog’s front is weak. Having the same type of muscling front and rear is ideal. . .except if it’s overmuscling since that points to problems at both ends!

Even having such great examples, formulas to follow, and watching Pat evaluate several dogs. . .it was hard to evaluate Risa. Partly because she is less than thrilled about having someone manipulate her. Even me. But also because I lack the skills to properly do it. I’ve never done it before and it’s a lot harder to do in real life (though it is easier to see all angles in real life versus photos). Still, I was able to get a much better picture of the dog I have to work with and I was able to identify some potential problem points.

A dog who is balanced in the trot will have two identical triangles under it's legs. The rear foot should land in the spot where the front paw leaves. A dog who keeps its head low is often compensating for issues in the rear as lowering the head puts more of the dog's weight in the front. A slight roach in the back can also point to issues with the rear.

The following is my evaluation of Risa, the good and the bad:

If you draw a line from her prosternum to her ischium, it should divide her ribcage in half. It doesn’t. This means her upper arm is very short.
Her head is above her topline (though not by a lot) and her neck is in front of her shoulders.
If you draw a line from the ischium and drop it down plumb, it should line up with the top of the dog’s toes. On Risa, it does!
Her upper and lower rear leg bones are also the same length which is ideal (in most breeds anyway).
Her shoulder is very straight which is an issue because it’s less able to absorb the impact of landing. Her upper arm is also placed too far forward in front of the ribcage which can also point to a straight shoulder.
Her pasterns are at a good angle. Not too straight or too weak.
A dog’s hocks should be 1/3 of the dog’s height. Risa’s are the right length.
Her sternum is close to her belly button which gives her a good-sized ribcage. The heart and lungs are never outside the ribcage so a dog with a small ribcage has decreased heart and lung capacity.
Her stifles point inwardly which is good as outward pointing stifles tend to lend themselves to injury.
She may or may not have somewhat slipped hocks. I had a lot of trouble trying to figure out if she did but she seems pretty stable in her hocks.
Risa is neither cow hocked (I knew this before) or barrel-hocked. Though she does show some instability in the rear if I push on one side of her hips.
She does have loose elbows but, surprisingly, does not have a long loin. Dogs with long loins are prone to back problems (which Risa has) but her loin is properly proportioned at 1/3 of her length from shoulder to hips.
If a dog doesn’t sit straight, that points to problems. While Risa sits relatively straight, her left foot points out. I don’t know WHY but I do know, from talking to her chiropractor, that she has the most trouble with her left knee.

I’ve decided that I don’t need to pull her from competition yet but I do need to spend some time working helping her compensate for some of her deficiencies. I’m no longer jumping her (though we can probably still manage to do the 1 or 2 jumps in rally) and I think I need to start using the wobble board again to help her strengthen her core. Along with learning about some of Risa’s structural deficiencies today, I also learned what I should look for in my next performance dog so I can, hopefully, have a long career with him.

Posted in Agility, Chiropractor, Dog Sports, Lure Coursing, Pat Hastings, Rally, Thoughts, Veterinarian | Tagged | 2 Comments

Lurcher Reunion

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Jamie

Rio standing right outside Risa's crate. Generally, she is not a fan of dogs anywhere near her when she's in the kennel. But we've been working on it and, of course, Rio is an exception.

Yesterday, Risa was reunited with her best friend: Rio. It’s been over a year since they’ve seen each other but they were so happy to be reunited again.

Rio was up our way for an agility trial: his first ever. His first and third runs were very nice. There was a small hiccup in the second and his final run was beautiful. It was a nice outing for a first-time though I’m not surprised. Rio’s an amazing little guy and his handler does a great job with him.

The trial was held where I usually take Risa to go lure coursing. Suffice to say, she was a bit disappointed that she was not there to chase the bunny immediately. (She spent all day looking for it!) We spent most of the day hanging around with our friends. Risa was crated and I helped by holding onto Rio when needed and videoing my friends’ runs. It was an incredibly laid-back atmosphere (it’s always amazing how things vary between venues) which was so nice as agility can be a very amped up sport. I started off with Risa’s kennel completely covered but ended up opening it up completely by the end. There wasn’t much dog traffic past our spot, mainly just the three dogs in our party. This made it easy for me to be more lax about Risa’s visual stimulation and gave me plenty of opportunities to reward good behavior. She only had one major reactive moment when a dog passed too close to her kennel near the end but it wasn’t a huge deal. Aside from that, she was practically perfect!

After the agility event came to a close, it was time for lure coursing. All three of the dogs are lure coursing maniacs so they were all pumped to go at it!

I decided, after Risa was so ‘whatever’ when another dog got loose during one of her coursing runs earlier this year, that we should have Risa and Rio race. Knowing how good the two dogs are with each other, I figured it would be a lot of fun. I will admit that I was a bit nervous when it came down to race time. No matter how good two dogs are, lure coursing is a very exciting event. I’ve seen housemates displace on each other just watching the runs. But I had nothing to worry about. Risa and Rio had a blast!

While Risa may have won the race despite being twice his age, to be fair, Rio was tired! He had run 4 agility courses and one lure course before their race. I suppose that means a rematch is necessary? Bring it on! 😉 Risa also took home her Wylde Courser Extreme title. It took 33 runs to earn that!

The humans went out to eat afterward while the dogs rested. Then we had a quick photoshoot of the gang together and a short meet-n-greet session. Risa finally got to meet Delta and they greeted nicely.

It was a spectacular day overall and I only wish I could do this sort of thing more often. It was a great experience for Risa and I know I had a great time hanging out with my friends. It would be awesome if they were closer so we could easily do this again!

Delta, Rio, and Risa. Three beautiful dogs posing for the camera.

Posted in Agility, Dog Sports, Fear, Lure Coursing, Reactivity, Training | Leave a comment

6 Year Anniversary

Posted on July 14, 2012 by Jamie

Six years ago, this sort of thing was a mere fantasy. A pipe dream. Something I thought we might never accomplish. New place, strangers, and dogs. . .and Risa is completely comfortable.

I think there was a mistake. I was a completely inexperienced dog owner with big dreams for her first dog. I wanted to be able to take her anywhere with me. I wanted to compete in agility and other dog sports. I had lofty goals and minimal dog training skills. I’d never had a dog before. I should have been given a basic model. Somehow, I ended up with the advanced model and no instruction manual!

Most of my posts about Risa these days are relatively happy. They speak of me knowing what to do, brushing off reactive incidents, describing how I’ve trained behaviors, etc. Early posts were not so upbeat. We struggled a lot in the beginning. I didn’t understand the time and patience required working with a fearful dog. Oh I thought I knew. I talked a good talk but I clearly stumbled in the walk. Life with Risa was a struggle for us both. The lines of communication were down. There was no trust. There was simply a fearful dog and a handler ill-equipped to handle it.

I shed so many tears working with her. Out of frustration. Out of sadness. I felt like I couldn’t help her. I didn’t know how to show her she could trust me and I certainly failed to earn her trust on multiple occasions. My dreams of an agility/sport dog were dying right in front of my eyes. I often wondered if I could ever even just enjoy a walk with her without having to watch her flee in terror from people or lunge at other dogs.

It was never easy but we had great support. Our clicker trainer showed me a new way of working with Risa. One that put us on equal footing and taught me to listen to her especially if I wanted her to listen to me. Friends online lent their support and shared similar experiences. I had a group to commiserate and celebrate with. Friends who I originally only knew online became friends in real life. Their journeys with their dogs helped shape my journey with Risa. (I owe them so much.)

I laugh inside when I tell people about Risa’s past. So few of them believe me after watching us together. They can’t believe she’s fearful and dog reactive. That she’s shy around strangers. But she is. She always will be. It’s simply that she’s learned to cope. That she trusts me to keep her safe.

"I have just met you. . .and I think you're okay!" It took 6 years and a lot of hard work to get Risa to be this relaxed with strange dogs. Especially retrievers!

We celebrated Risa’s 6th Gotcha Day this weekend. I always try and do something special for her for her Gotcha Day and this weekend was no exception. The organization I volunteer with was having a fundraiser involving lure coursing and other dog sport run throughs. So we packed up the car and were on our way.

Though we had a slight detour before we could start our fun. Risa had an appointment with the vet for her annual visit. Despite pacing, panting, and trying to exit the waiting room even before her name was called, she was relatively okay. Once we got into the exam room, she was even better. I always take her leash off when we’re in there. Originally because it was annoying holding onto it as she paced back and forth. But now, I think it’s easier for her to get a chance to check out the room. So she paced back and forth for a while but not nearly as badly as she used to. When the vet had to check her over, she didn’t even flinch. She was still uncomfortable but I barely had to hold her in place. Risa warmed up to the assistant in the room as well and even allowed herself to be petted! That was a shock. After all the handling, she would lay rolled onto one hip once everyone had left the room. I’ve never seen her so relaxed. It was a far cry from her first ever vet visit when she climbed into my lap and shook the entire time we sat in the waiting room.

Then it was time for lure coursing fun. As soon as we pulled in and Risa saw the lure whip by, she knew what was up and she was elated. We didn’t get to course right away, though. Instead, we went to watch a search and rescue demonstration. While we listened, Risa was close to several other dogs and people. As long as the other dogs kept their distance, she was totally fine. She did one high-pitched bark and lunge at a Lab who got up and moved in her direction before I could create enough space. But it was very minor and the worst she did all day. Risa met that dog three times today and they greeted appropriately each time. Risa simply has a harder time with dogs close by when she is “parked” in one spot. She walked alongside that same dog a couple times later without issue and even walked alongside the lure course operator’s dogs. Even if other dogs were barky and upset, Risa seemed to take it all in stride. Even when we passed an “exploding car” (the dogs inside were not happy with us passing by), Risa simply kept on walking.

She got in three coursing runs which made her day. There was almost a huge incident before her last run. One of the dogs who was running came straight for us. I had no option but to pick Risa up and wait for someone to grab the dog. Despite the loose dog bouncing up and trying to sniff her and me slowly spinning us around trying to keep it on the opposite side of Risa, Ris was pretty calm. She didn’t try to snark at the dog at all which is a huge improvement!

No doubt. Born to run.

I had volunteered to assist with rally and ended up deciding to try a run through too. I hadn’t planned on it originally; Risa sort of loses her mind when it comes to lure coursing. But, by the time rally run throughs were on, the lure coursing was over. It was also far enough away from the coursing area so I thought we could chance it. We haven’t worked on rally in a while and it was HOT so I didn’t expect much from her. In fact, I wasn’t even planning on having her off leash. Despite some wandering and peeing in the ring (this is part of the reason we trial indoors), she was actually really good. I did relapse into my high-pitched cues which I caught and stopped. Doing that seems to cause Risa to wander more and seems to only be a problem for me in rally! I don’t do it in freestyle. I was also good and rewarded her with some treats and she got a nice petting session after a particularly nice sequence. 🙂 This is the first time I really treated a run through like a FUN match and not like an event.

Overall, it was a splendid day and demonstrated just how far she’s come in every way. She went somewhere new and wasn’t scared. She met another dog and greeted him normally. She was practically non-reactive. She let strangers pet her. Risa wasn’t super-stressed at the vet’s office. She paid attention to me and worked with me. She trusted me to keep her safe. It’s been a long journey. Now the tears I shed are tears of joy. We did it. She’s almost exactly what I had wanted at the time. “A dog I could take anywhere and do dog sports with.” It just took a while to get there. I’ve always known she is the dog I needed, not necessarily the one I wanted. But maybe she really is both.

Posted in Dog Sports, Fear, Lure Coursing, Rally, Reactivity, Thoughts, Training | Leave a comment

I Wanna Talk About Me

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Jamie

Your dog's relationship and experiences with you shape how he or she will behave in a given situation.

For better or worse, you are an integral part of the picture when it comes to how your dog behaves. I’m not just talking about how you need to train your dog and build a relationship with your dog. In this case, I want to focus on what happens when you two are together and how that influences your dog’s behavior.

If you’ve been following my blog for any length of time, you know that Risa is dog reactive and fearful. I knew from day one she was a fearful dog. The shelter was very up front with me about that. However, I had a completely different mentality then than I do now. I was well aware I needed to work with Risa and show her the world was not a scary place. But I was misinformed on how to do so. I thought just bringing her out into the world was the way to change how she felt about it. I didn’t know about desensitization or counter conditioning or creating positive experiences for her.

Despite having a rudimentary understanding of dog body language and communication, I constantly put Risa in situations she couldn’t handle. I allowed people to try and touch her even when she ran away from their advances. I made her stay in the busy pet store even when she was practically screaming “get me outta here!” Dogs we saw on walks would just come right up to her to say “Hi.” I simply stood there and let them even though Risa was uncomfortable (though I didn’t realize she was afraid of dogs at the time). Everything I did told Risa she couldn’t trust me. I wasn’t going to protect her from the scary things. I had proven that to her time and time again. So she started to take things into her own paws. If I wouldn’t keep her safe, she would have to protect herself.

It’s possible she may have become dog reactive no matter what I had done. I can’t know for sure. But I certainly didn’t help her learn to cope with the world early on. She started to believe every dog she saw was going to come over to her so she started barking and lunging at them. I’m fortunate she didn’t become human reactive as well!

So, early on, Risa learned that I wasn’t going to listen to her. That, when she was out with me, scary things happened. I also started to anticipate her “bad behavior” and started getting tense when we saw other dogs. This increased her fears and caused an increase in the reactive behavior. My inability to understand why she was acting out and my early attempts to eliminate the behavior didn’t help either. Time with Mom became a time to worry, be stressed, and act out.

Life's much less stressful when you know what to expect.

Even after I had learned and developed a system to help Risa overcome her fears and dog reactivity, it took a long time for her to change her associations with me. Bad things still sometimes happened when I was around. She still hadn’t gained the confidence she has now and was still overtly reactive. But, if you handed the leash to my mom, she was much better behaved. There was no obvious reactivity. She even greeted a couple dogs on walks around the neighborhood (something I would never have done at the time) when my mom had her. What was the deal? Why was she so much better with my mother than with me? Because she hadn’t had the negative experiences with my mom. My mom was an unknown entity. She had to figure out what my mom would or wouldn’t do. This is the very same reason some trainers appear to be miracle workers with dogs. The dog simply hasn’t figured out this new person’s expectations and behavior yet. There is no rapport between the two of them.

While this can work against you, it can also work for you! Gone are the days when Risa’s outings with Mom were to be feared. Through a lot of training and positive experiences, Risa has learned that I am her security blanket. If I’m around, it’s much easier for her to cope and be confident. She’s less worried about dogs invading her space because it rarely happens anymore. People don’t try and pet her. I encourage her to check out potentially scary things. I’ve shown her that I will listen to her when she’s afraid. I’ve shown her that I will protect her from the scary things. To this effect, many people are unaware of her issues at all. In fact, many are surprised when I tell them her story.

When faced with a scary situation, she now turns to me for help. She relies on me to keep her safe and trusts that I will do just that. So what happens if I am no longer a part of the picture? Does her behavior change? Yes it does.

Last year, I was working with a dog who was a huge party starter. She loved other dogs and didn’t take “No” for an answer (whether the human said it or the dog did!). I needed a dog to help her learn some self control. With Risa’s huge improvements, I decided she could do it. I handed the leash over to my mom while I worked with the puppy. I instructed my mom to give Risa treats when she looked at the puppy or if she made eye contact with my mother. Despite my mom doing the same types of things I do with Risa around other dogs, Risa’s behavior was NOT the same. She was nervous and upset when she didn’t get the same responses from my mom that she gets from me. I ended the training session with the two dogs once I realized how truly stressed out Risa was. Risa trusts my mom; but she doesn’t have the same relationship with her as she does with me.

Because of the hard work I’ve done building Risa’s trust in me, I can take her places and do things with her that were simply dreams when we first met. She’s still fearful and I doubt that will ever change. However, because of our strong relationship, she knows she can rely on me to keep her safe. And that helps her remain grounded and confident even in potentially scary situations. The human is a integral part when it comes to a dog’s behavior.

Posted in Classical Conditioning, Fear, Reactivity, Thoughts, Training | 4 Comments