early carting 2023
With the non-typical winter we are having, we are starting carting early this year. Loads to work on but at the moment we are focusing on just having fun moving.
Found a cute little picnic basket and mounted it on the practice cart so that it can be removable.
working with your dog's triggers
do you want to know how to change how your dog feels about his or her fears?
Dogs who react to events around them with loud displays of barking, growling or lunging are not choosing bad behavior. These are behaviors which dogs use to make space happen when they feel threatened.
What is or is not a threat is not defined by us, rather it is your dog's perception in the moment.
If you are interested in learning how to work with your reactive dog or have questions about his or her aggressive behavior, send an email to [email protected]
working with your puppy
young puppies learn quickly
SmartStart Puppy classes!
Lots of great information :)
Come to learn how much fun it can be to train your puppy.
for puppies 8 - 16 weeks of age; 6 week class.
Next session begins June 17th @ 6 pm..if you are interested contact me @ [email protected]
Draft Test-Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Nashoba Valley
Yesterday I travelled to Bolton, Ma to watch a Draft Test sponsered by the Bernese Mountain Dog Club of Nashoba Valley.
It was a great experience :) I was able to watch a number of teams work towards their Draft title through a variety of tests - obedience, manovering a cart featuring a Zombie Apocalypse, freight haul and group stay.
I am hoping to get a draft title with Myles so this was very helpful to watch.
Great weather yesterday..the rain stopped just in time:)
joyful training!
working on our left pivot!
time to fade the platform - on to a target pad :)
want to help get your puppy off to a great start?
wondering how you deal with an over excited puppy?
how young can I start training with my puppy?
for this and answers to many other puppy questions, check out Puppy HeadStart!
There is a new class starting next week - Feb. 7 at 6 pm.
for more info: email [email protected]
Yesterday's odor was " Woodland Moss"
Mr. Green thought it was interesting to check out.
The goal of ESI is not to create likes or dislikes about particular odors - rather it is to wake up the puppy's olfactory centers of the brain by making neutral connections. According to the Avidog folks - this early introduction to scent potentially increases stronger scenting abilities in the adult dog.
It's fun watching these little noses working...yes you really can hear changes in breathing!
Today, we are trying a banana......any potential Minions here???
day 1 of Odor Introduction.
Today we used a pineapple....with mixed reviews from the puppy crowd. A few Likes, several Dislikes an a couple of " Uhnnnn, what's that?"
Puppy 1 - interested! sniffing & moving towards source
Puppy 2 - eww! yuck! most definitely not going to order one of those tropical drinks
Puppy 3 - neutral ...not sure what to do about this smell- not interested enough to check out further, nor disgusted enough to want to get away
a short clip of working with a young dog in the real world.
The vast majority of this training was about Bear making independent choices about how to handle what was happening around her, and my response to those choices.
Rather than requesting sits/stays/downs...Bear was free to choose how she responded. Notice her head flips - this indicates that she's making some decisions about what to do next....interest in the world around is ok, but what I am really reinforcing is her choice to check back in with me.
We are working at an advanced level - I am selectively reinforcing duration of desired behaviors - Bear responds by continuing to play the game " I get paid for looking away".
Of particular note, watch her overall body language ..she is very calm & relaxed throughout.
Awareness.. from another viewpoint
A huge thanks to Anne Steciw and all her hard working loyal volunteers to putting together and running a GREAT mock element trial. We all rejoiced that the searches were inside the building as the temperatures were a 'brisk' 19 degrees or so!
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This is one of our searches from today...
New England Scent Dogs NW2 Mock Container Element trial held at Canine Mastery in Seekonk, Ma .
Here is why video is SO important when you are training... this was an off leash search in a very complex scent environment ...so many visual as well as scent distractions as well as target odor
( known 2...but where?)...from my view point of watching my dog, I suspected he was doing more shopping as opposed to hunting target odor...now that I can watch from another prospective, yes he is doing visual hunting, but he is also actually searching for target odor as he works the perimeter of the room. He does get a little distracted by the (possible) All-You-Can-Grab Buffet at nose level of bully sticks, dried duck feet and beef tendons..but he does manage to get back to work.
I was very pleased with our work today as well as that of Julia H. & Xochi, her Golden Retriever.
We all had a great time, the dogs did a wonderful job to illustrate that they did understand searching in new & complex environments.
And to add to the day's achievements, we were able to catch an earlier boat back from America!