So as you can probably guess by the title, our training has not continued in a positive manner completely. I take fully responsibility for this. I am just having a hard time marking only what I really want. Well, I guess it is more a case of clicking before I have fully comprehended what she just did, and therefore mark it if it is correct, or not mark it if it is not. I have a tendency to guess whether it is going to be a good one or not. Yesterday morning I clicked twice when I should not h...
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So, I am so excited, I finally feel like we are really doing Running Contact training. Up until this point, I was really just doing prep work; getting her confident in running quickly down the board. I knew that in order for me to be able to withhold reward when she misses the target spot, she would need to be confident enough in the behavior for her to be willing to try again. Now, in the last two days, I have added some height, and changed my criteria...this is where the REAL challenge come...

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March 28th
So it has been a full week of running Kenzie over the 10' board with slats...unfortunately, every session has been different, as I am still trying to dial-in how she best learns, and how to set her up for success while still going at the speed I want, and still being able to learn, which is a lot harder than it sounds. If I use a toy, she has a hard time thinking. I teach very very few new things with just the toy, as she cannot think while the toy is around. I have to teach it with...
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So, I did go back and try the gates on all four corners of the board, and it worked GREAT! I was very happy with it. BUT, after doing a lot of reading on Silvia Trkman's website, I decided that we have not done enough speed training. The way I see it is; if you cannot describe your dog as a bullet ready to be steered, then you have not done enough speed training! So this is what I am going to be focusing on for the next week or so. I know that she has it in her...after just one 4 min session ...
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So yesterday was our second and third running contacts training sessions. I pretty much spent the whole time trying to figure out how to get her to run FAST across the board, while also staying on it the whole way. I figured out that I can put her in a stay on the board, then throw the ball straight and she will stay on it, but if my throw is off a tiny bit (which it usually is), she does not make it to the end. I have to figure out how to make her successful. Whether that is preliminary work...
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So after much much much thought/consideration/research/nail chewing =)  I have decided to take the plunge and train Silvia Trkman's running contacts! Since it is a lot of work in the beginning, but less later on, this is the perfect time to start training. From what I have heard, I can always train a 2o2o if this does not work out, so what the hey? Why not? I love the idea of it, plus it would be easier on her in the long run (since I am not planning on running her over contact equip all that...
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Warning, this is long, so if you want to just read the first and last paragraph you can =) 

 

So, Kenzie has been way too reactive for me to take to any of my regular dog training classes (I am a trainer), so instead, I have been taking her a private lesson I do with a friend, which we do next to a very big field. I work with her way out in the field as the client is getting set up and warming up her dog. Each week for 3 weeks now I have been working my way closer and closer, but Kenzie ha...

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Last week we focused on getting her obstacle focused: walking up perpendicular to the ladder and swinging hips and all four feet into ladder. Bringing a jump into the house and shaping her to jump it. Starting out very low, then making it higher and higher. I did this for two days, then moved it outside and did the same thing. Putting her in a sit right in front of a jump bump, which was right in front of a low jump, then putting the toy a dog's length from the jump on the other side, then re...
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In the second month of Kenzie's agility foundation training, I focused on shaping games: Shaping her to put her feet on things (great first shaping exercise). To put her front feet on a perch box. To swing her hips toward me while her front feet are on a perch box. To put all four feet on a platform. To slam down a wobble board. To put all four feet on the wobble board. I used a toy with training the wobble board, but I have to be careful because when I mark it, she tends to release herself. ...
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For my beginning foundation training, I stuck with Moe Strenfel's methods most of the time. The first week: Tug, Look, Touch, Break (paws on stomach), Name Game, Side (start line position). Side took the longest, a good two weeks to get her to where she was doing it 90% of the time, with physical cue and verbal cue. I originally taught it by turning her head with the treat away from my body, which turned her rear end in to me, but I ended up re-teaching it using a clicker and shaping the beha...
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I started Kenzie's agility foundation training when I had had her for one month. The first 2 weeks was spent building the relationship/trust, before any real training could begin. Because had been a stray before she went to the shelter, then came to us, she was very distrustful of us while she was outside and "free" (not on leash, but in our fenced in yard). But she was very loving when inside. So she was put "on the leash" while outside, so that she would stay in her "pet dog" mindset, rathe...
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We had a bit of a set back yesterday; I left Kenzie outside with Riley for a few hours, and she actually reverted back to her previous way of living: disconnected to her owners, not a part of their lives, and living outdoors.

Here’s the story:
It was a beautiful Monday, and when I went home for lunch to let the dogs out to play, I decide to let them stay outside for the rest of the afternoon while I finished up work for the day. I went back to check on them a few times, as this had been t...

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