Obedience competition doing A-test

As I said I felt it was time for Blaez and I to move up to the next level in competitive obedience which is A-test, the differences between Novice and A-test is longer stays, doing the down stay out of sight, scenting with no decoys and of course doing one heelwork course of lead no talking to your dog, the only time you may talk to your dog is when you step of from a stationary position and you may say dog’s name + heel, that’s it, the off lead is no problem but the no talking can be a bit tricky.

With all our hard work, training at home and at the club focusing on our heelwork I finally felt confident enough to try out a show, so off we went to our first show which was an open show, we had to be there really early to enter and after all the formalities was done it was waiting for the judge and steward to get there and get the heelwork course ready and then all the competitors had to draw a number to see in what order we had to go into the ring, I drew number 6 out of 7 competitors, second last not so great I like to be in the first few not, number 1 of course but 2,3,4 around there, but anyway we had to deal with number 6, by then I started stressing again, I can work myself up so easily, by the time it was our turn I felt my stomach turning, honestly I can’t say why I was stressing so much, the more I would tell myself it is just for fun the more I seemed to be getting worked up, I just took a deep breath and entered the ring, well I will tell you up to this day of competing in obedience I have never had such a disastrous  heel course, I mean it was a catastrophe from the moment I set off, Blaez just was all over the place, he went wide and lagged, at one point he was sniffing the judge then he left the ring and ran towards the car, I called him back and he came but it was not 2 seconds later and he headed off towards the car again and went and sat all nicely next to the car, I called him back again and decided I lost all my points I might as well talk to him, so the bit of heelwork where I encouraged him we did perfect, I was so mad at him but after I cooled off a minute or so later I realized he must have started stressing as well, not knowing what was going on, picking up my state of emotions and then I was ignoring him on top of it, he must have felt confused and needed reassurance, that is why he ran to the car, something familiar where he felt safe, at least that is what I think.

Anyway the stays went fairly well, the sit stay no problem but the down stay was out of site, I could see he was looking for me but he stayed down, we had a 5 min down stay and at 4:23 min he sat up still looking to see where I might be, but he didn't move or run off which is a good thing for his first time at an unfamiliar location, his scenting was almost perfect dropping the scent article just as he got to me but it was the right one that is the most important thing and the dumbbell was great, you see when we decide to stuff up we do it completely, go big or go home J

Just goes to show how our emotions can influence our dogs and I think with more competition experience we should be well on our way again, also practising more  at unfamiliar and different places can also only help, fortunately for me  there was no photo evidence of my embarrassing show moment this time.      

Training a dog

Dog training has so many different meanings to different people depending on what you want to achieve with your dog and there are so many facets to dog training methodology and then the terminology can be just as confusing if you are just starting out. Each training method seems to have its own set of terminology, wading through it seems daunting and each new training method comes with a set of books and DVDs that is if I might add quite expensive. I try to collect where I can to read or watch but there is just too big a variety.

Training a dog for home obedience is totally different to training for competitive obedience just as competitive obedience is totally different to IPO (International Regulatory Examinations) or Mondioring which in turn is totally different to dog agility and so on, you get the picture. Some of the training methods do overlap and those trainers can share and develop basic dog training methods that each can build upon, clicker training is one of the more recent methods the older methods were more rough as you might say.

When I adopted Blaez I wanted to start his training in the best possible way to hopefully one day reach Champion level in competitive obedience with him, big aspirations I know. I was never a big fan of clicker training I can’t really say why and out of experience I also knew that training a dog to do it out of love does not work either, maybe for home training but not competitively. For me food training was the way to go but where to start. There were some members of our club that did IPO sport with their dogs so after a very insightful conversation I was introduced to the Michael Ellis dog training method, I was lent some DVD’s and started watching the very same night, wow I was enthralled, I liked his method of training and it made sense to me and something I was willing to try with Blaez. I studied the first DVD, which was called “The power of training dogs with food” and the one after that “The power of playing tug with your dog” although Blaez does not really play tug I still learned a lot from that DVD, armed with my new knowledge and enthusiasm I started training Blaez.

                                                  Michael Ellis DVD from www.leerburg.com

With this training method which  in my opinion is a step above the clicker training method there firstly is a lot of groundwork to do, laying a good foundation in dog training for sports is actually very essential and if you have a puppy it is great because through it’s growing stages you can lay the groundwork, then at about six or seven months you can start with the serious training. I had an older dog though not an adult yet but 5 months old already and the great thing is this method can be used at any age. How it basically works is the same as clicker training you have a marker that marks behaviour you want, as soon as the dog does what you want  you mark it, but with this method not a clicker but a word, like “yes” you can use any word but I found “yes” to be the easiest, you work the dog up to react to this word and then you can lure him into doing what you want him to do, unlike the clicker where you mostly start of by waiting for the dog to sit etc. With this marker you can also work distances away from your dog and train send a ways over long distances, which is great, because Blaez was already 5 months old when I got him our training started late but I didn't mind and starting out slow and doing things right was more important than just blundering into every show. You start out by training with food and then as the puppy and you progress you start with the tug, only after the puppy has teethed do you start with actual heelwork but teaching your dog to stay engaged is fundamentally important so that by the time you get to the heelwork part your dog is so geared up to work.  

                                               Blaez happy as ever in the heel position

 I taught Blaez the dumbbell Michael Ellis’s way and it worked wonders, I must say I love this method, I do change here and there obviously as all dogs are different and if I see something that is not working so great with Blaez I change it a bit but most importantly he loves to train and I think that is where the main difference comes in, this is a very positive way of training and the dogs love it thereby giving 100%.

                                                         Blaez holding the dumbell

It took us a couple of months to get up to standard and I started Blaez in novice class as he was doing quite well and I didn't see why we had to go one class lower and do non-competition, if I pay then I want to compete full on, our first show Blaez received 94%, that was so wonderful, I was so proud of him considering it was his first show and in new surroundings and everything, this is the trend that we followed in novice always in the 90%’s and this year we moved up to A-test, so excited. We had a slow start and then a huge setback time wise when Blaez’s stomach was not at all well, but we are back on track now finally and hopefully a mean team!        

For more information on Michael Ellis's DVD's visit http://leerburg.com/ they sell a lot of dog training equipment and training books and DVD's, it is also a really great website in general to get tips and help with training, they have a lot of articles and a forum that is very helpful.

To dog agility or not dog agility

As I mentioned in my previous post Menchi has a habit of embarrassing me, actually going out of his way to do it, well that is what it feels like anyway and he always has this look on his face like he is the victim so you can’t really stay mad at him.

Menchi was also the first dog I trained and started dog agility with, we did quite well and he enjoyed it but typical terrier he also had a very lazy streak doing only what he felt like doing, so if he didn't want to jump then he would just refuse, this he mostly did  with the A-frame, for those not familiar with dog agility equipment, the A-frame is a big upright structure with two sides, usually wooden where the dog is supposed to go up one side and then down the other side, it is also a contact obstacle meaning that there are marked areas on the bottom of both sides where the dog must touch going up and down, the dog obviously loses points when he jumps over these marked areas.  Menchi did do the A-frame after a couple of tries where I had to run back shout Menchi A-FRAME!  He would just stop in front of it, I tell you some days it felt like I ran that course three times before we got to the end of it with him stopping at every second obstacle and we had to do it over and over before moving on to the next obstacle and other days he did a clear round and everybody was amazed, maybe he thought he needed to keep me fit.

                                     A typical dog agility A-frame photo courteously from http://agilityagogo.com/

Eventually I decided that the time was right to start entering competitions, our club had an open show coming up, so I decided it would be the perfect début into our amazing agility career ( I was very optimistic then) and did some extra training and preparation before the show that was on the Sunday. By Thursday I had butterflies in my stomach but Saturday was our last show training session and all went well so I felt a little more confident.

Sunday the big day finally arrived and I was there bright and early, to help the club set up some of the rings and just helping out, the agility judges also arrived early to set up the rings for the agility. To mark out the course and setting it up is quite a long process and a big job, I must commend the dog agility enthusiasts out there, agility is hard work not just the training but setting up courses and equipment, a lot of effort goes into it

 Finally it was the medium beginner dog’s turn, you get to draw a number and in that sequence you compete, but first you get 5min to walk the course and plan your strategy. When it was our turn I set Menchi up at the start, we had the first jump then another jump and then the A-frame the rest of the course I can’t remember as I never even got that far! Ok so this is how it went down, I sat Menchi up and walked over to the other side of the jump, turned and called him to jump, well he strolled right up to the jump and stopped, I called again but he just stood there, looking around casually as if he was out on a walk, I called again in a more demanding voice and could feel my dignity disappearing fast as there was now sniggering around the field probably from the professional agility people, finally Menchi decided to jump over the jump and I just felt a rush of relief although our time ran out long ago and we were disqualified we were finally moving, he jumped over the second jump – great! But then he sniffed his way over to the a-frame, sniffed the a-frame and stood there looking at it, I couldn't handle it any more so I just picked him up and left the field. I ignored him for the rest of the day, I was so disappointed, he on the other hand decided it was time for a nap.

                                         Menchi at the clubs Champ show, he would rather pose 

                                          for a photo than run the course

Next our club’s championship show came up and I convinced myself that we just had beginners stress at the previous show, I must have stressed really bad and it affected Menchi. I entered him got his KUSA papers ready and we or maybe I  was ready for try number two, I was optimistic and Menchi seemed ready the Saturday before the show. I made sure his bladder was empty and he was well rested, our turn finally came up and I put him in front of the first jump and again  walked over and called him, well this time was worse than the first time, Menchi walked over to the jump and stood there, looking around, I called and screamed and clapped and made every possible sound I could think off but he just stood there, I heard the laughing from the agility fraternity again and somebody shouted get on your knees and call him, eventually I gave up and fetched him and left the field, never to return again. That was my very short but very humiliating agility career, I still love agility and still do it with Menchi every now and then at the club just for fun. Maybe one day I will do competitions again but with a different dog, maybe if Blaez is ready I would try it again, I started Agility with him, more for fun so we are going really slow with the training, I’ll see.

Home cooking for dogs

Blaez is such a happy dog and loves chasing birds, barking at Menchi and most of all cuddles, but  about a month after I got him he became ill, he always had an appetite of note but I noticed he didn't have the same amount of energy that he had when I first got him, he was definitely a working line German Shepherd, but it was difficult because I did not know what was normal for him, was he just settling in or was something wrong as he was eating but not with the same vigour as usual, so I took him to the vet. According to the vet he should have been dead or in a coma with severe tick bite fever, his white blood count was very low and he had a bad parasitic infection as well, he went into the hospital immediately but recovered quickly. I felt so bad, he just came from kennels where his previous owners dumped him and he must think I did the same and I was confused, he was eating and playing just a little bit lethargic, even ran around the vets office and ate a cookie the vet gave him, I think the vet was also a bit stumped, never the less rather safe than sorry onto a drip he went and he recovered quite fast and I could fetch him the next day, he was on a whole bunch of meds one of which was Prednisolone, those pills made him worse than what he was when he was sick, he was just lying there and drank gallons of water, a couple of days after  his schedule for the pills ended and the last effects worked out he was back to his usually over the top energy self. I was elated and thought it was over and done with but three months later it all started again, this time I caught it fast about a day after he became lethargic ( lethargic for him means normal for another dog) so off to the vet again, I thought it would not be so bad this time but his blood work showed he was worse than last time, I was shocked but I must say it took the vet ( a different one from last time) about 10 minutes to find the tick bite virus, we waited and waited and I thought it was a good sign but she searched for it until she found one, so the recommendation was to go into the hospital again, but Blaez really was better than the previous time he ate like there was no tomorrow, drank liquids and ran around so we opted to take him home, the vet was not very impressed but I just thought he is eating, drinking and playing, why stuff him in a small crate with a cone on his head with a drip, so the agreement was as soon as he gets worse I would bring him in immediately, well he didn’t get worse what he did get was Prednisolone again and it made him really lethargic, so once the antibiotics was finished I started weaning him off the prednisolone really fast and as soon as he was off that he was back to normal.

 Three months later he started again, this time with diarrhoea  I thought I was going to cry, surely a dog can’t get tick bite fever every three months, I googled and asked but got nowhere, his gums were pale again so that meant his white blood count was low again so I thought I am just going to push his white blood count up a bit before going to the vet so that night I gave him an iron pill, well the next morning he was back to normal, that was weird but I left it there and a month later he became ill again so he got raw liver and he was back to normal, somebody at the dog club said I must rather give him raw liver and I read later that iron pills are bad for dogs so we switched over to raw liver, he developed severe diarrhoea and after a while it became bloody as well, I really was very worried but he just took it in his stride and went on happily, eating, playing etc. He did lose weight with the bouts of diarrhoea, every time he had a dip so to speak he would get raw liver and he was fine again, but I was worried, at this stage and the vets did some tests while I was googling away furiously trying to find out what could be the problem, well the problem was irritable bowel syndrome, either it is hookworm or whip worms or just a genetic thing, so I started changing his food slowly switching to non-allergenic food, then fish and rice, then sensitive stomach every time it was just a week or two then he would start with the diarrhoea, I did find out that he was very allergic to fish, so fish was out, eventually after all my research that I did I decided to try one last thing, to cook his food and cut out all commercial dog food.

Another couple of days of research for the best dog food recipe and I decided on a lady that said she was a K9 nutritionist and she does the third diet, third grains, third protein and a third veg, I also bought Dr. Pitcairn’s book a while back and studied through that, I literally studied anything and everything I could get my hands on as I deemed his diet very important, so I embarked on a cook off for the dogs, obviously Menchi and Shadow would go on the same diet as it would just be easier than giving each separate food and because Blaez had an appetite of note and would wolf down his food and their food in no time and the whole point was to get him off kibble. Poor Blaez was very thin at this stage and I found a recipe that would help him pick up some weight, Satin balls they call it, I decided to incorporate that into my recipe. It was very trial and error about what he can and cannot eat but his diarrhoea stopped almost immediately when he fully started on the cooked diet, I weaned him off the kibble onto rice and bland chicken for about a week and then started adding more of the cooked food into his diet making sure he started with the pumpkin as a vegetable.

 These days he is nice and round and his over the top happy self, he rarely gets a dip and if he gets one I can be sure he ate something he shouldn't have like a dead bird he caught  but then it is only for a day and he is back to normal, he has never had pale gums again and he has a very shiny coat, he always looks like he just had a bath, but I must tell you it is a mammoth task I undertake each month, when payday hits I buy a 5kg bag of rice, I order the meat special from the butcher  and I hit the vegetable market, I did start a vegetable patch but not very good at that yet,  after I get all my ingredients the cook off starts, pots with vegetables and rice and meat on the stove, containers everywhere that gets filled as soon as things are finished cooking and then goes into the deep freeze, I tell you it takes me about a day but then the dogs have food for the rest of the month, which is quite a relief. 

Like I said, It was very trial and error to find the right amount to feed each dog as nowhere out there, there is a definite guide on how much cooked food to feed each dog, but my dog weights are as follows:

Menchi is about 11kg ( a bit overweight) I gave him 1cup of each (Veg,Rice,Meat), he lost some weight about a kilo but is fine now

Shadow is 33kg, I don’t want him to be overweight because of his hips so I started on 2,5 cups each so 7,5cups food but he looked hungry after feeding time so I upped him to 3cups each that’s 9cups food, he lost a bit of weight so I upped him to 3,5cups that’s 10,5cups food and he seems to be fine on that and picked the lost weight up again

Blaez weighed about 28kg, I also started on 3cups each but he was not picking up weight, so upped to 4 cups but he still didn’t pick up any weight so I added another cup to his daily food and now he is on 5cups that is about 15cups of food and he started picking up weight, he didn’t pick the weight up fast, it was slow progress but I think that is better and healthier, he is about 38kg now.

                                           typical bowl of food for Blaez, veggies vary of course

What is Satin balls you may ask, well after I Googled how to get your dog to pick up weight I landed on www.njboxers.com where they had a recipe for satin balls from a breeder, the recipe was as follows:

Ingredients

    10 pounds hamburger meat [the cheapest kind]
    1 lg. box of Total cereal
    1 lg. box oatmeal
    1 jar of wheat germ
    1 1/4 cup veg oil
    1 1/4 cup of unsulfured molasses
    10 raw eggs AND shells
    10 envelopes of unflavored gelatin
    pinch of salt

Mix all ingredients together, much like you would a meatloaf.
Divide into 10 quart freezer bags and freeze.
Thaw as needed and feed raw!

I incorporated it into my recipe but soon realized Blaez could not eat the oatmeal or wheat germ, so when the meat comes of the stove (I cook it so it is just not pink anymore) and it cooled off I add molasses and oil, or sometimes I leave it out and give it daily, 1 tablespoon to Shadow and Blaez each and 1 teaspoon to Menchi, then I also make them the Health powder recipe I found in Dr. Pitcairn’s book, which is Kelp, Lecithin, Vit C, eggshells or calcium and brewer’s yeast, so that is also a very great recipe, Dr. Pitcairns book “Complete guide to natural health for dogs and cats” is really a book worth to have and read for every pet owner especially if you are in to natural feeding and remedies.

I also put about 1 teaspoon of turmeric over Blaez’s food as that helps for inflammation for ore information on the benefits of tumeric this is a nice blog to visist http://ottawavalleydogwhisperer.blogspot.ca , I also sometimes a little bit of coconut oil over their food as well, I know it sounds like much but if you into the motion of things it really is not that bad and is much better than having the dog sick all the time and cheaper than going to the vet permanently and getting him antibiotics and other medication.