Goodbye 2015, Hello 2016!

Well, hello blogging friends! It's been awhile. Despite that, blogger informs me I'm still averaging 250 hits a day. What? Well, hello! It's nice to know people are still finding their way here. Let's do a quick recap of the year, and look forward to the year to come, shall we?

Maisy
The Reactive Champion namesake, who is really not all that reactive anymore. She does backslide from time to time, especially if we haven't been doing much. For example, she might lunge and bark at the pet store if it's been awhile since she's been exposed to other dogs. But other than that (oh and that broken rib last fall), she's been doing great. We didn't go to a single trial this year, but who cares? We've gotten lots of quality ball-throwing time in, and that's all that matters.

My 2016 goal for Maisy? More hikes!

Lola

Darling Lola. I am surprised by how much I like basset hounds. They are sweet, but stubborn. Couch potatoes, but with plenty of energy. Cuddly, but mischievous. Don't let her get bored or she'll steal something of yours! Probably toilet paper or paper towels or whatever else you left to the edge of a counter. And if she manages to escape the yard, well... good luck!

Lola's 2016 goals include developing a good recall, a drop it, and maybe even some loose leash walking. We'll see how ambitious I actually am...

Pyg

I have to tell you, I have never, not for one minute, regretted adopting this dog. I'm glad I went for it, even though he became available right after Maisy had been terribly ill (and financially wiped me out. PS, have I mentioned how grateful I STILL am to all of you all?). But Pyg is just the BEST DAMN DOG. He is sweet and cuddly. He's playful. He's funny. He is up for anything. He gets along with EVERYBODY. Seriously, I love watching the way he will adjust his play style to each new dog he encounters. He is a seriously cool dog.

I'd like to work on getting him competition ready. (Finally!) Nothing fancy, just level 1 rally/novice obedience. And failing that, I'd love to get a good stay on him.

Napi
Oh, Napi. Napoleon has two settings: complete sweetheart, and complete asshole. (I tried to come up with a non-sweary way to describe him, but really. He's just awful.) I also completely love him. He's a pain to have around other people and other dogs, immediate family excepting, of course, but I swear he loves me more than the other three dogs combined. He just fills up my heart and I cannot imagine my life without him. It would probably be quieter.Napi is reactive, I guess, but that doesn't seem like the right word to describe him. He's reactive-PLUS. He's not really all that anxious, at least, not the way Maisy was. It's more like he's got, well, a Napoleon complex. He's comfortable around our house, and that's all I really need from him.

My goal for Napi this year is to work on crate games and/or the relaxation protocol. He absolutely loses his mind if I try to train another dog, and he can't handle having his crate door closed. I need him to learn just enough impulse control that I can put him somewhere safe while I'm busy.

On the Home Front
2015 was a pretty great year. I did get to meet my Guatemalan mother-in-law, which was fantastic! My Spanish really grew in leaps and bounds. Now I sound like a confused three-year-old instead of a confused two-year-old. The secret to learning another language is to speak it and not care if you sound stupid. I truly cannot conjugate anything beyond present tense, and I often mix up estar and ser, and I have less vocabulary than my dogs probably do, but you know what? It doesn't matter. You can communicate a lot with just the basics if you put yourself out there.

I started grad school in September (Master's of Social Work). I'm doing an extended three-year program, so I've only got two classes per semester this year and the next. I've been able to get a pretty good work/life/school balance down, which has been really nice. The downside is that I don't really want to be in school for three years, but it's gone okay.

Denise Fenzi continues to suck up my spare time/winter break... Last year I think I edited three books for her? I can't even keep up with that mad woman/ferret. She's truly a productive monster. I am honored to work with her, and flattered that she has been working around my grad school schedule.

My personal goals for 2016? I should probably say "blog more," but I KNOW that's not going to happen. My husband and I have (tentatively) agreed to train for a 5K. I have a love/hate relationship with running, so we'll see... I do want to hike more, and hopefully even squeeze in a backpacking trip with my friend Laura. I also have a love/hate relationship with backpacking. I want to speak Spanish more (we're hoping for a trip to Guatemala next fall/winter). I also have very good intentions of listening to the weekly Tara Brach podcast, meditating more, and getting back to yoga regularly (grad school life, yo).

Anyway... would love to hear what ya'll are up to! Drop me a line in the comments, yeah?

2012 Goals

What does 2012 hold in store for Maisy and I? Greatness, I’m sure of it! I have no idea what form that greatness will take, but I'm hoping it will look something like this...

1. Teach Maisy 12 tricks.
This was one of my goals last year, and I failed miserably at it. But Maisy loves to train, and anyway, we need to have something to show to friends and family members who just don’t appreciate a flashy heeling pattern.

I have a few ideas for tricks- like a bow, chin down, play dead, take it/hold it/give it with a variety of objects, spinning, leg weaves, crawling- but I would love to hear your ideas, too! Does your dog have a cool trick? Please, tell me about it in the comments.

2. Improve my heeling handling skills.
Although I took a class on heeling handling skills, I have yet to really use what I learned. Some of the moves are still difficult for me to do. It’s not that they’re awkward, exactly, it’s more that I just need to practice them so they’re second nature.

As I learn the skills, I also need to take time to integrate them with my work with Maisy. Some things don’t need to be explicitly taught to her, but others do, especially things like slow pace vs. halts. We're both going to be better at heeling this year.

3. Complete the Relaxation Protocol.
If there is anything I’m likely to fail at doing, it’s this one. I worked on the Relaxation Protocol once before, and oh my gosh, but it was mind-numbingly boring. Maisy probably doesn’t need to do the protocol, but I want to work on it for two reasons.

First, we haven’t worked on it since she started taking medication, and I want to see how that changes things. I imagine we’ll have a very different experience this time around. And second, I frequently advise students to do the protocol with their dogs, so I feel like I need to follow my own advice, you know?

4. Work on some Open and/or Utility Skills.
Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, since we haven’t even completed our novice-level obedience title, but I’d like to start working on open and/or utility exercises this year. Well, we’ve already started working on some- like retrieves, the drop on recall, and directed jumping- but we haven’t worked on others at all.

I feel like we have a pretty good handle on how to start working on most of the open/utility skills… except go outs and scent articles. I know there are a ton of different ways to train both, and I’d love to hear how you taught your dog’s go out and/or scent articles. Which method did you use? Did you like it? Would you use it again? What were the benefits and drawbacks?

5. Take (and hopefully pass!) the CPDT exam.
I’m a little nervous to post this one publicly, but here it is. I’m hoping to take the CPDT-KA exam in the fall testing period. I don’t need it, strictly speaking, but I like the idea and the added credibility it lends me. And besides, this gives me a very good excuse for going to seminars!

If you are a CPDT (or if you’re in the process of studying for it), I’d love some book recommendations. I have a pretty good handle on learning theory, but am mildly concerned about some of the other sections. Let me know which books you’ve found helpful!


Anyway… this is what I’m hoping 2012 will bring. It might not, of course. So much can change over the course of a year that it’s hard to know what to expect. Still, this is the direction I'm hoping it will go. And if it doesn't? No big deal. As long as Maisy and I have had fun together, that's all that matters.

2011 Year in Review

So it’s that time of year again. As 2011 comes to a close, it is time to reflect on what the past 365 days were like for us.

Goals and Progress
Um.

While it is logical to start here, it’s also a bit embarrassing. My goals for this year were… ambitious. Not in the sense that they were impossible to accomplish, but in the sense that I didn’t really work on them. Oh, sure, I had the best of intentions, but somehow they slipped away from me.

 Maisy showing off her best trick.

I had a list of official goals, and then a list of unofficial ones. Sadly, I did much better on the latter. I guess those were the things I was more interested in.

Officially, I was to work on writing training plans and keeping records. Although I did keep some records (and was quite enthusiastic about it, too), I fell off the wagon early on. Another great in theory/bad in practice goal was trying to achieve stimulus control on three basic behaviors. Complete and utter failure. I did a bit better on my goal to teach Maisy 12 tricks… but only a bit. I taught two. I did the best on my goal to train in shorter sessions. I’d say we still go longer than 3 minutes sometimes (which was my goal), but a session almost never goes more than 5 minutes.

Unofficially, I wanted Maisy to be more comfortable with life (huge check), and go to a trial and/or runthrough (check and check). I wanted to become a cleaner trainer, which is a work in progress, but at least it’s, you know, in progress. I failed at getting more things on verbals, but I was very successful at taking more videos and photos. We definitely went hiking (maybe not enough, but some), and had tons of fun.

Thankfully, I can call the year a success. As I said last year: no matter where we’re at in another year, as long as we’re together, I’ll call it successful. And so we are.

Trials and Accomplishments
We made it! Hooray! After retiring her last year, we had three very good experiences. Back in April, Maisy and I went and hung out at an APDT trial. Then, in November, we entered (and did quite well at) a CDSP runthrough. Finally, just this past Monday, we entered a CDSP obedience trial, where she was awesome.

Medication and Behavior
We’ve probably made the most progress in this area, but then, this is where we’ve spent most of our time, energy, and money.

Great Danes? Scary? Nah...

We continue to visit our veterinary behaviorist at the U of MN, Dr. Duxbury. Seeing her was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made, as Maisy has made so much progress with the addition of medication. She continues to take 10mg of paroxetine every day. Over the summer, we experimented with trazodone (a complete and utter disaster), and then switched to clonidine for use in stressful situations. It’s nice to have a short-acting drug for things like boarding and extended times away from home. (Speaking of which, Maisy had her first boarding experience this year, too.)

Maisy has definitely improved in her ability to relax, both at home and in public, and I have been able to relax along with her. I no longer feel the need to scan the environment constantly for potential triggers, and I can walk her without fear of over-the-top reactions. She’s still reactive at times- I don’t think it’ll ever go away entirely- but it’s rare, and she recovers much quicker than ever before. She’s been able to hang out with strange dogs without issue, including former “trigger dogs” (large, black dogs with prick ears), and she's even been a decoy for another reactive dog!

We also graduated from reactive dog class this summer. This wasn’t entirely planned- our instructor moved, and we never really joined another class- but it seems to be okay. I haven’t seen any backsliding, and although we didn’t discuss it directly, at our appointment in December, Dr. Duxbury didn’t seem to think we needed to get back into class.

Skills and Training
I was incredibly inspired by the Denise Fenzi seminar in July, and have since spent time working on Maisy’s obedience behaviors again. Well, “work” might be the wrong word here- one of the things I really took away from the seminar is that work is play. We are finally both having fun with obedience training. Maisy’s heeling is about a billion times better than it was last year, and she has something approaching a real retrieve now. It still needs work, but we’ve come a long, long way, and I finally believe it’s possible.

Me and My Growth
Finally, I feel like I’ve done a lot this year, too. Not only have I continued to learn, I’ve also gotten some hands-on experience with other dogs, too. To top it off, I’ve done some pretty cool dog-related activities.

Knowledge first. Although I didn’t do a very good job at keep track, I’ve continued to read plenty of books on dogs. The ones I know I’ve read includes: SOS Dogs, Inside of a Dog, and So You Want to be a Dog Trainer. (Next year, I'll definitely do a better job of keeping track!)

Sara and I at the Fenzi seminar. Photo by Robin Sallie.

As you all know, I’ve also been to a ton of seminars. I think my favorite of the year was the aforementioned Denise Fenzi seminar, but Clicker Expo comes in as a close second. That was so much fun, and I’m sad not to be going again next year. I also saw Sarah Kalnajs, Kathy Sdao, Ken Ramirez, and Patricia McConnell.

One neat experience that I had- but didn’t write about here- was acting as a trial chair for a UKC obedience and rally trial. I was pressed into service when the previous chair moved away this summer. I was really overwhelmed by everything I needed to do, but I had a lot of support, and the trial went off without a hitch. WOW, though. There is so much work that goes on behind the scenes. If you take your dog to shows or trials, please take a moment to thank the host club and the workers for all they do. Better yet, volunteer to help out if you can. I guarantee that your assistance will be greatly appreciated.

I began volunteering with BEST this year, too. This program was started by my friend Sara as an extension of Paws Abilities Dog Training in Rochester, and provides free training classes to dogs in shelters and rescues in order to make them more adoptable. I’ve worked mostly handling dogs during class, but also did a bit of teaching.

Speaking of teaching, I became an official dog trainer this fall when I began teaching reactive dog classes for Paws Abilities. It’s been challenging, but it’s also been fun to see the growth in my students. Working with a reactive dog is not easy, and I’m excited to help people develop the skills they need to be successful.

And so...
2011 was a pretty awesome year all the way around. On pretty much every front, Maisy and I made at least some progress, and I cannot tell you how incredibly proud I am of my little muppet dog. I am just so happy with her. It will be pretty difficult to top 2011... but I'm sure going to try! I can't wait to see what 2012 brings! 

2011 Goals

Last year, my goals revolved around skills I wanted to teach Maisy. Better heeling, fronts, learning to jump, that kind of stuff. This year, my goals are mostly about me. I want to be a better trainer.

Criteria? What criteria?
Photo by Robin Sallie.

And while there are lots of ways that I could improve my training skills, I want to keep this list on the short side so that I don't get overwhelmed. So, here are my five dog training goals for the year:

1. Write training plans.
As the picture above implies, I'm not so hot at maintaining criteria. Part of the problem is undoubtedly because I don't always think through what my criteria should be. Writing training plans should help this. Training plans should also help me adjust the criteria during a shaping session, and hopefully prevent me from getting stuck at certain levels.

2. Keep training records.
What good is a plan without records? I'm hoping that keeping records will help me stick to the plans, allow me to celebrate successes more often, help me readjust my approach when things aren't going well, and just make me a better trainer all-around.

3. Train in shorter sessions.
When Maisy is doing well with a task, it's really fun. I love the thrill of success, and I hate to end it. Unfortunately, when I keep pushing for "just a little bit more," Maisy almost always starts to fall apart. Then I get frustrated, so she does worse, and it's a vicious cycle. Worse, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth, and as a result, I don't want to work on the task anymore. Shorter sessions (and I'm talking in the 1 to 3 minute range) should make things better for us both.

4. Learn how to achieve stimulus control.
Stimulus control means that, during a training session, the dog will immediately respond to the cue when it's given, the dog will not perform or offer the behavior without the cue, the dog will not perform the behavior in response to a different cue, and the dog will not offer a different/wrong behavior in response to the cue. I don't have anything under stimulus control, so this year, I want to get sit, down, and stand under stimulus control with both verbal-only and hand-signal-only cues. Wish me luck!

5. Teach Maisy 12 tricks.
They're all tricks to the dog, so this is really just 12 behaviors. However, I do want the bulk of them to be actual tricks so that when friends or family ask about all that training we do, I can show them something a little more impressive than a front or finish (normal people just can't appreciate a good front). Teaching 12 tricks will also give me a way to practice writing plans, keeping records, and working in shorter sessions. Stimulus control will not be required, however generalization is.


I have a number of other things I want to do this year, but they aren't official goals. I want to keep working with Maisy on her reactivity so she's more comfortable with life. I hope to go to a trial, or even just a run through, without her going over threshold. I'd like to become a "cleaner" trainer- get the food off my body, use fewer body cues, etc.- and get more things under verbal command. I want to make more videos and take more photos. I definitely want to take Maisy hiking as often as possible.

And mostly- I want to have fun with her. The goal of all these things is to continue to build trust and deepen our relationship. That has always been what trialing and training has been about for me, and no matter where we're at in another year, as long as we're together, I'll call it successful.

2010 Year in Review

Wow, 2010 has been nothing like I expected! Still, it’s been a great year, and now that it’s drawing to a close, I want to reflect on the past year.

Goals
Let’s start with the obvious, my 2010 goals. I just have to say… I was too ambitious. I set way too many goals, and while I think they were excellent things to work on, it left me scattered. Next year, I’ll have fewer goals.

Anyway, we made decent progress on the Relaxation Protocol, although there’s still plenty of work to be done there. I did a great job of increasing Maisy’s exercise. I think I made some progress on my ring nerves- they aren’t as bad as they used to be, although they still aren’t pretty. I did okay on improving Maisy’s stays, heeling, fronts and jumping skills. I think we probably made the most progress with heeling, but we’ve played around with fronts, too. Her stays and jumping skills are getting better, but still need work.

We failed utterly on completing the ARCH, and on getting one leg towards a CD from any venue. I don’t feel too bad about this, though, because I said at the beginning of the year that it was completely dependent on Maisy.

Trials and Accomplishments
Still, Maisy and I did well at trials before I semi-retired her earlier this summer. She completed her APDT Rally Level 2 title with an Award of Excellence, and picked up two legs towards her URO-1. We also had our fair share of placements, so I can’t complain.

Medication
Probably the biggest thing I did for Maisy this year was putting her on medication. I’ve written about this a lot lately, so I won’t belabor the point, but I’m incredibly pleased with this decision. It has made such a huge difference in Maisy’s life- she’s actually sleeping soundly for the first time! She seems so much more comfortable and relaxed, yet it hasn’t changed her personality or drive or enthusiasm for work at all. I just wish we’d done this sooner…

Skills
Maisy continues to love to train. As I already said, her heeling has improved a great deal, and she’s finally beginning to drive into about turns and the outside of figure-8s so that she doesn’t lag. Wonderful! We’ve also spent a lot of time working on moving downs (I can now cue a down and keep walking- they’re lovely!) and moving stands (again- I can cue the stand and keep walking). My husband’s jaw dropped when he saw Maisy do a moving stand, followed by a signals exercise, which culminated in a recall.

Attitude
Maisy continues to grow braver. She is more and more willing to tolerate things moving- like when she learned to jump on the exercise ball this summer! She’s also more confident about pushing objects, and going into tight spaces in order to get her ball. She never used to do that!

My Education and Growth
I continue to learn and grow, too. This year, I went to a number of seminars, including
Suzanne Clothier, Pat Miller, a Control Unleashed seminar, and Ian Dunbar.

I also read a number of dog-books: Conquering Ring Nerves: A Step-by-Step Program for All Dog Sports by Diane Peters Mayer, Animals in Translation by Temple Grandin, For the Love of a Dog by Patricia McConnell, Bones Would Rain from the Sky by Suzanne Clothier, Play with Your Dog by Pat Miller, Just Plain Clicker Sense by M. Shirley Chong, Learning About Dogs: Teaching with Reinforcement by Kay Laurence, Control Unleashed by Leslie McDevitt, Chase! Managing Your Dog’s Predatory Instincts by Clarissa von Reinhardt, The Thinking Dog by Gail Fisher, Stress in Dogs by Martina Scholz and Clarissa von Reinhardt, and Dog University by Viviane Theby.

I think the biggest thing, though, is a profound shift in my relationship with Maisy. When I started this blog, I named it “Reactive Champion” because success in dog sports was important to me. However, over the past year, I have been less willing to jeopardize Maisy’s mental health for a ribbon. I didn’t have to semi-retire her when I did, and I think many people who know her were confused by my decision. Maisy is a great dog, and even when she’s stressed, she continues to work for me, to the point where she can both qualify and place.

I could have kept asking her to do that, but as the year went on, I learned that ribbons and placements and titles are not as important to me as having fun with my dog. And while I do hope to return to trials and fulfill the name of this blog, it’s no longer my first priority. Instead, I simply want to have fun with Maisy and enjoy the time we have together, no matter what we do.

Relationships
Perhaps the best part of the year, though, has been all the new dog friends I’ve made this year: Elizabeth, Jane, Megan, Robin, and Sara. These are the people who “get it.” They understand why I love trialing, and why I’m willing to give it up. They share many of my philosophies and values regarding dog training, but they’ve become so much more than just dog friends. We’ve become a support system for each other, whether it’s troubles with guys, jobs, or just life in general. I am so grateful for you all.

I’m also thankful for all of my blog friends- there are too many of you to link directly, but your support and kind words have meant so much to me. I’m hoping to get to know some of you better next year, especially those who are local, but even a few of you out-of-towners.

And now… I’m looking forward to 2011!

2010 Goals: Third Quarter Update!

This picture has nothing to do with this post, but I just love it.

Goal: Complete the relaxation protocol.
Progress: As you already know, Maisy and I are rocking the relaxation protocol. We don’t do it every day, but we probably work on it at least three out of every four days.
Looking Forward: We will definitely continue to work on the relaxation protocol for the remainder of the year. It’s not so bad once you make it a habit.

Goal: Increase Maisy’s physical exercise.
Progress: We continue to take regular walks, although we still only hit about half the days (we walked 60% of all days this period), which is pretty pathetic. There have been some legitimate reasons- I was in a car accident at the end of June, neither of us can tolerate the heat, we had to take a week off following that run-in with the loose dog a few weeks back- but they feel like excuses. Still, it’s a huge improvement over a year ago.
Looking Forward: It will be hard to complete this for the year, because we are now entering into the Cold Season. On one hand, I’m looking forward to winter (fewer loose dogs and children), but it does make it harder to get up the motivation to go for a walk.

Goal: Develop novice obedience stays.
Progress: Oh, oops. We haven’t worked on this at all.
Looking Forward: And, I’m not sure that we will accomplish this next quarter, either.

Goal: Improve heeling so we can perform a novice obedience heeling pattern.
Progress: Last quarter, I noticed a tendency for her to go wide, so I’ve been working on reinforcing her when she comes in closer to my leg. I’ve been working a lot on right-side heeling, and she’s done really well with this.
Looking Forward: I need to work about turns and the figure eight since she still lags on that. I’d like to get “switch” (the cue to move to the right side) down a bit better, too.

Goal: From heel position, hit proper front position on the first try.
Progress: We haven’t worked on this much, if at all.
Looking Forward: Probably won’t, either.

Goal: Develop jumping skills for a recall over high jump and directed jumping.
Progress: I’ve done a bit of jump work here and there, and I’m pleased that in a new class last week, she was able to do a recall over high quite well.
Looking Forward: I anticipate on working on this some more in class.

Goal: Reduce ring nerves.
Progress: Definite progress here. I was surprisingly relaxed at the MMBC trial at the end of July.
Looking Forward: I probably won’t go to any trials for the rest of the year, so I won’t have any opportunities to work on this.

Goal: Complete ARCH.
Progress: Not much, although we did get 15 points in Level 2B.
Looking Forward: There definitely aren’t any opportunities to work on this any more this year.

Goal: Get one leg towards a CD (any venue).
Progress: None. Maisy and I did go to a CDSP run-through in July. We wouldn’t have qualified, but it was a good experience anyway.
Looking Forward: Again, we probably won’t have the opportunity to complete this goal this year, and I’m okay with that.

You Can Take the Geek Away from the Dogs...

She's down there... somewhere...

On Tuesday night, I went to the Lady Gaga concert. Wait, wait! I promise this will relate to dog training. After all, you can take the geek away from dogs, but you can’t… stop her… from thinking about dogs? I don’t know- I can’t make the metaphor work, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, I know that The Lady is not for everyone, and that’s fine. I’m not here to convince you that she’s the best thing to hit the airwaves in the last 10 years (although, in my opinion, she is. Before that, the best thing was Bree Sharp). But no matter if you love her or hate her, I think we can learn from her. As a result, I present to you…

The Top Four Things I Learned About Dog Training from Lady Gaga

1. Success takes hard work.
When Lady Gaga puts on a show, she goes all out. I was amazed by the fact that she could dance that well for that long. I mean, over 2 hours of all-out cardio would probably cause me to die of a heart attack. Not her, though. It’s clear that she’s put a lot of effort into her stage show, plus, she writes all of her own lyrics and plays the piano. She’s worked hard to get where she is.

Don’t get me wrong- success also takes talent, and a little bit of luck. But far and away, the most important ingredient for success is working hard. This means taking the time to build strong foundations for our dogs, proofing the exercises through increasing distractions, and educating ourselves on the best ways to train.

2. It’s not all about you.
Lady Gaga’s stage show was one-part charity fundraiser (for Re*Generation, a charity tackling youth homelessness), one-part social cause (gay rights, to which she devoted several songs), and one-part fan appreciation. The Lady really loves her fans, and she even delivered a lovely message that at the end of the night, we shouldn’t love her more, but rather, love ourselves more.

I suspect that the people who read my blog will agree with me: Dog sports are not all about us, the handlers. Part of why I enjoy training and trialing is the bond that I form with my dog in the process. I love the way it deepens our relationship. And I constantly remind myself that I will never sacrifice my dog’s well-being for the sake of a title. My dog doesn’t “owe” me anything, and her purpose is not to make me look good or to stroke my ego about what a good trainer I am. We’re a team. If she’s not having fun, if she doesn’t want to do it, that’s it. We’re done.

3. You have to follow your dreams.
Lady Gaga is really all about embracing your “inner freak.” She acknowledged that sometimes the media sends awful messages about how we ought look and think and act, but that we shouldn’t let society’s judgments stop us from being who we are, or who we want to become.

I think it’s easy to become discouraged sometimes, especially when you have a non-traditional breed, or a Dog with Issues. And yes, it will be more difficult for my friend and her greyhound to do obedience, or for Maisy to become a champion. We might never get there- see point 2 above- but that doesn’t mean we should give up before we even start.

4. Live in the moment.
I know this might sound odd, given Lady Gaga’s over-the-top costumes, crazy antics, and general theatrics, but the overall vibe I got from her was that of humility and thankfulness. She seems to know that popularity can be fleeting, and she doesn’t take that for granted. I think she’s loving every minute of what she’s got, knowing that it might be gone next year.

And isn’t that an important message for us all? It’s easy to dream big, or to get so focused on what we want that we forget to appreciate what we have right now. No matter where we are, whether it’s winning first place in the ring, or napping in the back yard with our dogs, we should appreciate that moment for everything that it is.

2010 Goals: Second Quarter Update

Goal: Complete the relaxation protocol.
Progress: I did the relaxation protocol, oh, maybe once or twice. Which is something, I guess, even if it isn’t much.
Looking Forward: I know the relaxation protocol is worth the work… it’s just so boring! I’m still hoping to work on it once or twice a week.

Goal: Increase Maisy’s physical exercise.
Progress: Last quarter, Maisy and I walked 52% of the days. This quarter, we walked 58 out of 91 days, which is 64%. That’s not too bad, especially considering the fact that I was gone on vacation for the first two weeks of April. She did get to go for walks while we were gone, but I’m only counting the times I took her.
Looking Forward: It’s been a bit trickier to get walks in as it has gotten hotter- I hate the heat. We’ve been doing late evening walks, but I really need to consider early morning walks, too.

Goal: Develop novice obedience stays.
Progress: Tons of progress! Maisy is up to about 40 seconds of sit-stay while out on walks and in class.
Looking Forward: Continue building duration. Slowly add in distraction for shorter stays. Start working on down-stays.

Goal: Improve heeling so that we can complete a novice-level heeling pattern.
Progress: I don’t know that we’ve made a ton of progress, but there has been some. I’m pleased with her heeling right now. She’s much more attentive, and while the position needs tightening up, I’m happy with what we’ve got right now. We’ve also added in about turns, and gotten the fast pace much more consistent.
Looking Forward: Continue to refine position. She does tend to forge just a bit, especially during the first step. I also noticed in my last video that she goes a bit wide, so I’d like to fix that, too.

Goal: From heel position, hit the proper front position on the first try.
Progress: Much progress here! She can go from a seated heel position to a front position every time I ask… although it isn’t always a perfect front. It’s not bad, though- not enough to get points off in rally. And, she can correct her position if I tell her to try again. She does tend to over-correct, but at least she knows which direction to move in order to correct.
Looking Forward: I’m hopeful that, by the end of the year, she will have perfect fronts 75% of the time.

Goal: Develop jumping skills for a recall over high and directed jumping.
Progress: We haven’t worked much on jumps, and I’d say she’s about the same as she was three months ago.
Looking Forward: I watched a Susan Salo jumping DVD, and learned some new jumping exercises I can do. I’d like to try doing these once a week or so.

Goal: Reduce ring nerves.
Progress: I was much more relaxed at the last trial I attended. I did get hypnotized in April or May to help learn some relaxation techniques, and while it didn’t do as much as I’d hoped, it did help quite a bit. It was the most relaxed I’ve ever been while at a trial.
Looking Forward: I really need to work on my relaxation/visualization techniques on a regular basis to get the most out of them.

Goal: Complete ARCH.
Progress: Maisy got her Level 2 title in February, and we tried for QQs in June… we could have had them, but I chose to NQ those runs so that Maisy would have a good experience. On the bright side, she’s completely capable of Level 2, so it’s just a matter of getting anxiety under control for both of us.
Looking Forward: We won’t achieve this goal this year, which is okay with me. We’ve made some progress towards it, and I’m happy with that.

Goal: Get one leg towards a CD (any venue).
Progress: None officially, but we are working on the skills necessary (heeling, etc.). Other than the stays, we are ready for Novice.
Looking Forward: I’ve said before that I’ll probably try CDSP first because they allow treats in the ring. I need to have the ability to turn a bad run into a cookie run. The next trial in my area is at the end of July… however, it’s held in conjunction with APDT rally, and I can’t decide which to work on. (Doing both would be too long of a day for Maisy, so I really have to pick just one.)

A Twist on the Five Times Challenge

So, about six weeks ago, I posted about training schedules. In an effort to drill less and have more fun with my training, I decided to do something I called the “Five Times Challenge,” where I would train five times a day for 60 to 120 seconds. I did that for a few weeks, and then found that I really hated trying to keep track of it. It’s easy to do, but I tend to get a bit rigid about things like that. If I only did four sessions and not five, I felt like I’d failed for the day, which is patently silly, but even so, it created more stress than it was worth. So I quit doing it.

Which means I needed a new training plan. Now, as much as I get stuck when I create plans, I also need plans to keep me on track. The trick is creating a plan that helps keep me on task while allowing me the flexibility necessary so training remains fun.

I started by taking a look at my 2010 goals. I thought about the things I’m doing, and the things I’m not doing. Then I made a list of what I needed to be doing in order to meet those goals.

It looked like this:


I’ve been wanting to include more pictures in my entries because it’s supposed to be more interesting to readers. I’m not sure this actually qualifies.

Which is when I realized… a lot of the specific exercises I needed to work on could be done anywhere. My living room, my back yard… and… on walks?

YES! On walks! We’re already out and working together. I need to practice with distractions anyway. And I can use treats and environmental rewards!

And so I started something new. Every few blocks, I do an obedience exercise. I try to switch it up so I’m doing different things. Sometimes I repeat an exercise, sometimes I don’t do one at all. But at frequently during the walk (I’m not counting, because that makes me crazy, but really, it’s gotta be more than five times), I stop and have Maisy auto-sit, or do a moving down or a moving stand, or practice sit and down stays, or come front, or do finishes, or do about turns or pivots or change pace, or… well, pretty much anything you might see in rally or obedience except jumping or food bowls. (Those we do outside in my backyard on the weekends.)

It’s amazing. I’m getting so much more focus, and I swear, today I felt ready to tackle that CD-H, or maybe even a U-CD! For now, anyway, this variant of the five times challenge is working wonderfully!

2010 Goals: First Quarter Update!

So, it’s been three months since I set my 2010 dog training goals, and I thought it would be nice to evaluate our progress so far. Overall, there’s been some great successes, some moderate progress, and a few places where I’ve dropped the ball entirely.

Goal: Complete the relaxation protocol.
Progress: We did the relaxation protocol daily for several weeks, getting to the point where I was ready to progress to the “second day” of the protocol… but then petered out.
Looking Forward: Doing the relaxation protocol is a bit boring, especially to do it every day. This quarter I’ll try to work on it once or twice a week.

Goal: Increase Maisy’s physical exercise.
Progress: I feel like we made a ton of progress here! Unfortunately, the numbers disagree: I walked Maisy 47 out of 90 days, which is a success rate of only 52%. Still, this does include the month of January, when we had sub-zero temperatures for the first two weeks, as well as the two weeks at the beginning of March when I had pneumonia.
Looking Forward: I am anticipating even more progress next quarter. The thing that really surprises me here is how much I love walking Maisy. I actually tried to walk her while I had pneumonia because I missed it so much.

Goal: Develop novice obedience stays.
Progress: None. Haven’t even tried. Oops!
Looking Forward: I would like to spend some of my Five Times Challenge time on this goal.

Goal: Improve heeling so that we can complete a novice-level heeling pattern.
Progress: I’ve really built a lot of attention into her heeling. I’m getting excellent eye contact through the first several steps of heeling, and she often offers a nice, attentive heel during the off-leash portion of our walks.
Looking Forward: I’m hoping to continue to build these skills. First, I need to work on improving duration. Then, I want to work on reducing food treats. Finally, I’ll need to drop the verbal encouragement, as well. That’s three sub-goals, and I have three quarters of the year left. Neat!

Goal: From heel position, hit the proper front position on the first try.
Progress: Some progress seen. She’s usually getting heel position on the first or second try, but not yet from heel position.
Looking Forward: I’d like to spend some of my Five Times Challenge time on this goal, too.

Goal: Develop jumping skills for a recall over high and directed jumping.
Progress: I was able to send her over a jump from heel position during a trial in February, and one of those times, we were six feet away- the required distance to avoid taking a 3 point deduction!
Looking Forward: I learned at the Suzanne Clothier seminar that due to Maisy’s structure, jumping will probably never be her strong suit. We’ll continue to work on it in small pieces, and I think a jump or two will be doable for her.

Goal: Reduce ring nerves.
Progress: I did get through a trial without using stomach medications, which was a huge improvement! I did this by using Rescue Remedy. Unfortunately, I was so nervous that the judge actually took me aside and had me smell an essential oil to help me relax a little. Oops.
Looking Forward: I have an appointment at the end of April to get hypnotized to help deal with my ring stress. Hopefully it helps, but if not, I suspect I’ll talk with the therapist about some visualization and other exercises to incorporate.

Goal: Complete ARCH.
Progress: Maisy completed her Level 2 title in February, which was the first step towards the ARCH.
Looking Forward: She already has enough Level 1 points, so we just need 40 Level 2 points and 5 QQs. I don’t think we’ll actually achieve all that this year unless we travel, and that, of course, is going to be dependent on whether or not I can get my ring nerves under control.

Goal: Get one leg towards a CD (any venue).
Progress: None officially, but we are working on the skills necessary (heeling, etc.).
Looking Forward: I’ll probably try St. Hubert’s CDSP program first. The problem with that is that the only local trials are held in conjunction with APDT rally… and that might be too much for one day since I want to work on her QQs then.

2010 Goals

In the Star Trek universe, all of the main character’s actions are guided by the Prime Directive, which is their highest law. Basically, the Prime Directive states that, "allowing cultures to develop on their own is an important right and therefore [the characters] must make any sacrifice to protect cultures from contamination."

What does that have to do with dog training? Well, it’s that time of year: time to make resolutions and set goals and dream about the future. As I’ve contemplated my goals for the coming year, I realized that almost every one had a qualifier: if Maisy is comfortable. As a result, I’ve come up with my own dog training Prime Directive: I recognize that Maisy has the right to grow at her own pace, and that I will not interfere in that by pushing her beyond what she can handle.

Or, perhaps a bit less geeky: I will work with the dog I have. I will honor who she is. I will never force her to be someone she is not.

One of the things I adore about Maisy is that she has a heart of gold. She will work her little heart out. She will try her best. She will do everything I ask of her… even if she’s stressed beyond belief. I have been at trials with her where she was clearly stressed out, and she still placed in the ribbons.

In fact, I have only one regret from 2009: there was a trial where I should have excused ourselves, and I didn’t. Ironically, that run was the one that earned us our RL1X, the single-level championship in APDT rally. It was a very hollow victory, and on that day, I learned that high scores, fancy ribbons, and new titles are all well and good, but the victories I really savored were the ones where we were really working together as a team, as friends. For me, dog training and trialing is all about one thing: relationship.

This year, and for the rest of her life, I will do my level best to honor who Maisy is. If I need to excuse ourselves from the ring, I will. If I need to take an NQ in order to make the experience better for her, I will. If she needs a break from training for a day or a month or even a year, I’ll give it to her.

With that in mind, I present my list of goals for 2010. I’ve tried to make these as objective as possible, with specific criteria for what needs to happen in order to consider the goal met. Some goals are more measurable than others, but overall, I’m excited about what I’ve come up with.

1. Complete Dr. Karen Overall’s Relaxation Protocol. More importantly, work on it consistently, at least once or twice a week.

2. Increase Maisy’s physical exercise, specifically by taking her on more walks, and by doing so more consistently. This is a hard goal to start in January since the temp with windchill is below zero right now...

3. Improve her stays. By the end of the year, I would like for Maisy to have a novice-level sit and down stay. This means that she should be able to do sit and down stays with distractions, and while I am 20-30 feet away, for 1 minute and 3 minutes respectively.

4. Improve her heeling. Specifically, I’d like for her to maintain heel position through pace and direction changes without verbal cues. In other words: I’d like her to be able to do a novice-level, off-leash heeling pattern.

5. Improve her fronts. I would like for Maisy to be able to go from heel position to the front position on the first try. Right now she can get there, but she does need to shift around a bit to do so. And, perhaps more importantly, I’d like her to get front and then hold that position until I ask for something else.

6. Improve her jumping ability. I’d like for her to be able to a recall over a (high or bar) jump, and for her to go out to a specified jump, without hesitation or "popping" over the jump. I’d love if she got to her full jump height, but I’ll settle for 2 inches on this one.

7. I will work on reducing my ring nerves and performance anxiety. I will consider this successfully met if I can perform in a trial without dependence on stomach medication!

8. I’m really, really hoping to obtain Maisy’s ARCH this year. It is completely doable, but also completely at the whim of the Prime Directive.

9. I’d also really like to get at least one leg towards a CD of some sort (either the U-CD or the CD-H). Again, completely at the whim of the Prime Directive.

So, there it is- all the things I want to work on this year. I can’t wait to report back on our progress next January. I really, really hope that, regardless of how many of my goals we do or do not reach, I can tell you I honored that Prime Directive. In the process, I’m sure Maisy and I will boldly go places I had never dreamed. But, even if we end the year in exactly the same place, at least I will know that I honored who Maisy is.

Introductions

On the first night of every dog training class I've taken, all of us students took turns introducing ourselves, our dogs, and shared our goals for taking the class. Since this is a dog training blog, it only seems right that this, my first post, is an introduction. So, here goes:

Hi, my name is Crystal, and this is my dog Maisy.

I am a 30-something social worker by day, and an amateur dog trainer by night. All of my co-workers will tell you that pretty much all I talk about is dogs, though.

Maisy is a 3 year old wonder-mutt. When I got her, I was told she is a "corgi-poo." All I have to say is that if that's true, I got ripped off in the "guaranteed not to shed" department.

When I got Maisy, I was a cat person. I didn't even like dogs. Somehow, though, I fell in love with this funny little dog, and impulsively brought her home. I knew I needed help training her, so we enrolled in a class. And then another. And then another. Before I knew it, I was dreaming of obedience titles.

I am not a professional, and I cannot give advice. What I can do, though, is share what I've learned with you. I am constantly reading about dog training, and have amassed a small library on the subject. I have studied everything from learning theory to body language, have read general training manuals to highly technical research, and as a result, fancy myself to be fairly knowledgeable on the subject.

Technically, Maisy's full name is Maisy, RL1X, AOE-L1, CGC, which is just a fancy way of saying "totally awesome." And Maisy is, indeed, totally awesome. To say I love her is an understatement. Maisy is an absolutely amazing dog. She's cute, she's funny, and she's super smart. Maisy loves to work, and training her is a joy.

While wonderful, Maisy is not an easy dog. She has a lot of allergies, OCD-tendencies, and a bad back. She's also fearful and anxious, with a tendency to "tell off" the scary thing. This is also called reactivity, which brings me to my goals.

I called this blog "Reactive Champion" because I intend to use it to chronicle our progress from a bit crazy to obedience champions! Along the way, I plan to make educational posts that are useful to a broader audience. I'll be writing about what reactivity is and how to work with a reactive dog. I'll share information on the latest research on dogs, and how it relates to me and Maisy. I'll chronicle our struggles and our triumphs. I've made mistakes, and I'll tell you about them. I've also had great success, and I'll tell you about that, too.

And someday, I will share the best thing of all: the story of how we became obedience champions.