Tanner earned his CD!

I am very proud to announce that Tanner is now Ch Aragon Silver Oak RN BN JC CD!

He earned his 3rd leg on his 4th attempt at the Mt Bachelor Kennel Club Show in Redmond, OR on June 27.

We scored 189.5 out of 200 and placed 3rd in our class.  We lost 5 points on the heel on leash, 4.5 points on the heel free and 1 on the recall (crooked sit).  I was so happy with how happy and peppy he was.  I can't really complain!  

I love the video because it shows me the areas where we need to do more work.  For example, there are a couple places in here where I don't give the right cues to Tanner (the halts where he doesn't sit, for example), I need to work on that!  Tanner, needs to work on driving around the about turns.  It also shows us what we did right. Tanner did a beautiful job getting himself back into the correct position after the no sit before the about turn on the heel free.


Afterwards, Tanner was treated to a hamburger from the drive through of a local fast food place. He thought it was pretty yummy!  Then we went back to the hotel to rest.  We still had two more days to show!

I was particularly proud of Tanner because he showed well all three days at the show. Originally, I was unsure whether it was wise to enter all three days.  Some dogs can't handle three days of showing.  Particularly one that requires traveling and staying in a hotel.  In the past, this has negatively affected Tanner's attitude.


I think part of what helped Tanner be successful was that we traveled to the show with our training partners, Ellen and her hounds. Tanner was comfortable hanging out with them.

On top of that, most of the people and dogs that we train with at proofing group each week were there. As far as Tanner could tell, his entire of village of people and dogs had picked up and moved.  I think it helped me to have the village there as well and am grateful for the help we received from all of them.  It was a fun weekend with friends and dogs.

Now, on to open and the CDX title!

Working with Distractions

It is important for my dogs to learn to respond to cues even when in the presence of distractions. I try to carefully and deliberately add distractions in a way that ensure my dog will be successful. I don't start adding distractions until I am certain that my dog is fluent in the behavior in a particular setting.  The distraction starts out as something small and easily controlled by me (for example, a piece of cheese off to the side).  Once my dog is able to handle this small distraction, I will gradually increase the amount of distraction.  When I do change the setting and ask for the behavior in a new environment, I start with no additional distractions.  Once the behavior is fluent in the new setting, I add distraction.

The caveat is the way I use food in this video.  Sometimes Tanner finds the environment more distracting than I had anticipated. In this case, I can put a piece of food on the ground and ask him to work around it. The food is a very close distraction that he is familiar with. He will focus on this distraction (as opposed to the environment) and work willingly around it as he does in this video. You can see that he knows the food is there and he wants to eat it but chooses not to. He is not ready to take this behavior with this amount of distraction to a new setting.  

The other advantage of using food as a distraction like this is that it mimics finding food on the ground when we are out and about.  When he sees a piece of food on the ground he gives me attention as a way of asking for the food rather than just lunging after it.  

Here is a video where I add some pieces of cheese on the ground and ask Tanner to work over them.

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Checking Our Progress

Last week during our obedience class, Tanner and I did a run through of a Beginner Novice routine.  The purpose was to see how well Tanner would work through an entire routine with no primary reinforcement.  We videoed the exercise for later analysis.

I can see that I need to remember to ease into the changes of pace (rather than taking off like a rocket).  I also need to plan my figure 8 better.  You can see that Tanner does not respond to my first recall cue.  Another place for more work.

All in all, I am quite proud of my boy.  I love his attitude and beautiful heeling. He doesn't fade during the routine and seems nonplussed by the lack of primary reinforcement.  Once we were done, we ran over to the side of the ring where I had hidden a jackpot of treats.

 

Isn't he awesome?

Becca's Lompoc Report

Less is Sometimes More When Training - from Donna and Becca

Becca and I have taken a break from obedience training for the past couple of months due to a variety of life events. When the entry deadline approached for the obedience trial at the Greyhound Club of America Specialty in Lompoc, I hesitated to enter Becca. However, I also wanted to support the Club! Eventually, I went ahead and entered her in Novice B.

It is said that 99% of the missed points in the obedience ring are the handler's fault. This day was no exception. I was pretty nervous at the trial and made the same mistake not once but TWICE while in the ring! I anticipate the command to halt at the end of both the on- and the off-leash heeling. Sigh. Nonetheless, Becca did what she was asked to do and we still qualified! Thus she earned the first leg of the three she needs for her CD (Companion Dog title). I was very proud of her!


The next day, there was a lure coursing trial that Becca and I went to watch. Since Becca seemed so keen on the lure, I took advantage of the fun runs after the trial. It was a nice way to “reward” for her performance the day before. Slipping Becca was like releasing a tightly wound rubber band. She had great follow and was blazing fast. It was amazing to see her perform on the field as only a greyhound can. I am now contemplating pursuing some field titles with her. She is in complete agreement!


At the end of that day, she was definitely tired. I enjoyed the contented look on her sweet face as she dreamt about catching that “bunny”.

A Little Bit of Heeling

Once in a while, we try to video ourselves doing obedience. This allows us to check for little things that we may be doing wrong. For example, some people have a hard time walking a straight line or might unknowingly step into the dog when they stop. I recently had a friend take some video or me working with Tanner. He really is coming along quite nicely. I like his attention to me and he does a great job getting his rear out of the way on the left turns.



The things I see in here that need some work are his right turns and his sits. He tends to drop his head a little on the right turn and often goes a bit wide. This is easily fixed with a clicker and treats. He also tends to swing his butt out a bit when he sits. Right now, I have been ignoring it in favor of rewarding a quick sit. Soon, I will start to ask him to bring his butt in as we are stopping.

Things I need to work on are using my shoulders properly to cue turns and stops as well as cleaning up small pieces of my foot work. This is easily fixed with a clicker and chocolate ;)

CDX and VCD2 title

Although I enjoy showing my dogs in conformation I love training them in performance sports-tracking,obedience,rally and agility. Years ago my greyhound Spirit was the second greyhound to ever earn the VCD1 title. A VCD1 requires a CD,TD,NA(P) and NAJ(P). No greyhound had earned a VCD2 title-CDX,TD,OA(P),OAJ(OJP) and I had hoped Spirit would take me there. Unfortunately age caught up with her before she earned the last title an OAP so she never made it.

Her niece Whisper made it Dec 30 2010 and became the first greyhound to title to that level. She earned her third CDX leg in the below video despite the fact she rarely if ever trains indoors. I was so proud of her-you can tell she is getting insecure around the figure eight exercise but hung in there to earn a 194.5, third place in a class of 18 and her CDX title. She is now Ch Aragon Lunar Eclipse VCD2 MX MXJ RE JC.

High In Trial

Obedience seems so much harder than agility to keep a dog happy and motivated to work. At least in agility the dogs are running and as long as they perform the next obstacle correctly it doesn't matter how they get it done. In obedience it is much more detail oriented. For instance on a recall not only must they come to you briskly, they also must do a correct front and finish. Points are deducted for each little mistake even if the exercise is performed correctly. To teach all of these components and not be demotivating can be a challenge. On a recall if a dog comes in very quickly(good)and does a straight front(good) but does an automatic perfect finish(bad) points are deducted. To correct a dog for this mistake can make a dog not want to come in quickly or give a perfect front. Training for obedience has to be very creative to get what you want with a happy fast working dog.

Whisper is probably the best working greyhound I have ever trained.
We entered the obedience portion of Greyhound Club of Northern California specialty and Whisper earned her second Open leg with a 194 and High In Trial.



Now to try to find our third leg-and title.

New Rally Title

This past weekend was the Greyhound Club of Northern California specialty. All breed shows before and after the specialty gave up to 5 days of showing in obedience, rally, agility, and conformation. I decided to enter Echo in her first performance trials and decided on something easy-Rally Novice. We entered three days of Rally. She did better than I had a right to expect. In preparation for the trials we only managed to attend two Rally classes and never have we trained indoors. Never have I asked her to hold her attention for so long and with such distractions. Some of the signs we had never practiced. The first day of Rally she earned second in her class for her first leg.




The second day the rains came in so Rally was moved indoors. At least it was partially matted. I have never asked my dogs to sit/down on concrete so I was nervous whether she would. Not only did she sit on concrete she won her class of 22. Two legs down and one to go.



Her third leg once again was indoors. At the end of the video the judge came up and told me I had done the first sign incorrectly. Luckily for friends video recording our performances at the end of the class I could replay it and he changed his score. Once again she won her class for her third leg and Rally Novice title. So three shows three legs (two first places and one second place) and a new Rally title. Now she is Ch Aragon Black Ice RN.

Success

Whisper and I earned our first Open obedience leg with a 196 and a first place at an all breed obedience trial(14 dogs in her class). It is our fourth show-and finally our first leg. The first was at our specialty-she didn't drop but otherwise was excellent and was carrying a 198. The second time was two weeks ago and she went down on the sit just as I was back in heel position. It shouldn't have been a fail only points off but the judge thought I might have been moving so she failed us. The third show was the day before-she went down two minutes and fifty seconds into the three minute sit. She was carrying a 196. It is frustrating to be so close to qualifying and have a second here or ten seconds there fail the whole performance. But that is obedience.



In addition to winning her class, she earned High Scoring Breed Champion, High Scoring dog from the A class and High Scoring Hound. Had I signed up for the special agility award(I forgot) she would have earned High Scoring Dog with an Agility title.




Obedience is the basis of good manners and can be so useful. The dogs can be left on a down stay for photos and know they won't break. Echo went along for the day but was bored. She got to practice short heeling sessions and recalls and was excellent. For the distractable puppy that she was she is finally starting to focus on working. Lyric was entered both days as well in Open A but since she just came out of heat I didn't expect much. She forgot to drop all the way on the first day. She thought going down on her elbows with her rear in the air was good enough. Otherwise she was qualifing with a nice score. The next she couldn't manage the retrieve on the flat, otherwise she would have qualified. Hormones in the girls can be a frustrating thing, however Lyric did better than I had hoped.

Becca and the Dumb Bell Retrieve (by Donna Arcaro)

With my limited experience with teaching the dumb bell retrieve, it seems to me to be a very foreign "thing" to sighthounds in general. I seem to recall someone (I think it was Gail Burnham) who said obedience training is really "interspecies communication" which very aptly describes dumb bell retrieving training.

When Becca was a young pup, I started working with her to "play retrieve" and to hold a small, toy dumb bell. By putting the dumb bell right at her lips with a little pressure against her mouth, then telling her to "take it" she immediately received a treat. She learned if she started reaching for the dumb bell, she was able to get the treat even faster. In the yard, I'd throw a toy, tell her to "take it" and then "Becca, here", again rewarding her with verbal praise and treats if she brought the toy back to me or even in the near vicinity. I repeated these exercises a couple of times in a row and only a very few times a week.

So when Becca and I started our Open class about 8 weeks ago, it was an easy transition to a real dumb bell. Again by using TONS of praise and rewards, the dumbbell retrieve became a fun exercise. I always stopped leaving her wanting more. After she was doing well with reaching for the dumb bell, she was taught to hold it--when the dumb bell was in her mouth, I placed my hand gently around her jaws with the "hold", command, gradually only having to put my hand under her lower jaw to get her to hold it, and then just using a verbal command for this result. Ever so gradually I lowered the height of the dumb bell for her to reach for so it was closer to the ground until one end of it was actually touching the ground while I held the opposite end. Eventually I was putting it further out in front of her, on the ground asking her to take it, and then throwing it out a little further for her to pick up. During these latter steps, she was taught to pick up the dumb bell and turn to walk toward me. I used a LOT of verbal encouragement through all of the above, along with treats. To keep her excited we also played with a toy after each training session.


It's been a lot of fun watching her progress with this exercise. I really believe she has the potential to become a "dumb bell" junkie as sometimes she actually pounces on the dumb bell and races back to me for a treat. To be continued--

Becca's Obedience Career

Lyric’s puppies were raised with a puppy nanny-Helsa-along with the breeder Helen. Between the two of them the puppies had continous human contact and training from the time they were born. Noises, cats, ramps, stairs, children anything they might encounter as an adult was introduced as soon as they were aware of their surroundings. Training was started when they could walk around. Holding a piece of food near their little noses can make them do marvelous things at a young age. By the time they were six weeks old all puppies would willingly sit or down for treats.




This has been the case for Becca. I continued this type of training when Becca went home with me and then into her puppy socialization class where she additionally learned the concertina down ( front legs down first followed by the rear) as opposed to the dog sitting first and then downing. While she was standing, I held a piece of food between her front legs and as she went to grab it, I continued to put the food further back and down between her front legs until her front legs were on the ground and her rear then followed to the ground. I’m hoping eventually to show her in open obedience and we are currently enrolled in a class for this. At this point in time, she is one step ahead of the class in the “drop on recall” training because she already knows the concertina down—I did, however, give this a different command instead of “down”—I ask her to “crash” and it has worked quite well for us.





BTW--I’m happy to report that Becca received a qualifying score AND a third place at her first entry in the Beginning Novice class at an all- breed obedience trial. This is a new AKC titling event that became effective in July of this year. It’s fun and less stressful (on the handler!!) than the Novice obedience class and makes a nice transition between rally and the novice class. It incorporates rally and basic obedience.



Maybe this planning ahead when the pups were so young will pay off in Becca’s obedience “career”—I really think that it has so far.

Greyhound Specialty-Obedience

The Greyhound National specialty this year was in Lompoc California. It is a busy fun filled weekend of conformation,obedience,lure coursing and socializing with greyhound friends from around the country. One of the nice aspects of a specialty is a chance to see different dogs and visiting long distance friends.



The day started off with obedience first thing in the morning. We had an entry of 4 dogs-one Novice and three Open dogs. This was Whisper's debute in the Open ring and I was worried whether she would perform or still be too moody to work. She was in season only a month ago and was still well into her false pregnancy. I knew she wouldn't qualify since we had encountered a problem with the drop on recall. On Tuesday I had finally figured out what had gone wrong but three days wasn't enough to retrain the exercise. She did super and I was very happy with her performance. She wanted to be in the ring and work. Unfortunately it was a nonqualifying score because of the drop on recall but otherwise everything else was qualifying.



Lyric also did not qualify but it wasn't for the lack of trying. She amazes me with how much she learns with how little she can be trained. Her interest in obedience is minimal and she quickly loses interest and then shuts down. Any exercise with the dumbbell is to be hated. However doing one dumbbell exercise per night for dinner has really improved her outlook on the matter. In fact her go out for the dumbbell is now quite fast. She is definately a less training is more performance type dog. She probably has had less than 1/10th the training that Whisper has had. Luckily she is smart enough to pick up the concepts quickly. The repetative training for perfect fronts, finishes and heel position is where she loses interest. She qualified until the long sit-she held her sit for 2 minutes 50 seconds before she went down. Oh those last 10 seconds.......

Andretti and Lisa Stine were also in Open obedience. He also unfortunately did not qualify. The Novice A dog did not qualify so this was the first Western specialty in years that had no High In Trial.

Becca and Her Upcoming Schedule (as told by Donna A.)

Becca has been "resting on her laurels" after finishing her Breed Championship and earning her Rally Novice title.




But she's ready to get busy with furthering her obedience training as we start our Open Obedience class in a couple of weeks--it consists of two 8-week sessions. The first 8 weeks consisting of learning to retrieve the dumb bell, retrieve on flat, drop on recall and out of sight groups; the second session deals with retrieve over the high jump and the broad jump. She's getting ready by practicing holding her "REAL" dumb bell; lots of treats immediately follow!




She still has work to do in Novice training, but my obedience club only offers Open classes when enough students sign up (approximately 6 to 8 people) which means there can be quite a long time between when these occur. So we don't want to miss out on this opportunity. It will give her busy little mind something to keep it occupied by learning new things, and we are both looking forward to it. Wish us luck!!

Lyric and Open Obedience

Lyric made her debute in Open obedience last week. Although she didn't earn a leg it wasn't for lack of trying. I am so proud of her performance-it was me who failed her by leaving her crooked on the long 3 minute sit. I was so concerned about her front legs I forgot to check her rear and left her sitting rolled on one hip. She made it two minutes before she went down. Oh well.

Lyric hates the dumbbell and retrieves it so slowly I gave up trying correct this. Both on the flat and high jump she would walk back. One time she went over the high jump picked up the dumbbell and walked back to the high jump and stood on the far side hanging her head over the jump with the dumbbell in her mouth looking at me as if to say "what do I do I can't go over?". I actually stopped training her for months and have been focusing on Echo and Whisper. With the specialty coming up I wanted to show Whisper and Lyric in obedience so started again with Lyric. To speed up her retrieve I decided I would try making her retrieve for her dinner. Bring me the dumbbell and exchange it for dinner. It worked and you can see the results in the video. I also realized I hadn't taught her the finish after the broad jump. Earlier that week in our obedience lesson she still wasn't finishing. You can tell after the broad jump she wasn't quite sure what to do but she came back to me for direction and did a finish.

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Becca's Obedience Career Begins

Becca continues to excel in her obedience classes. Recently, they had a "finish" elimination contest at class. Each handler revved their dog up and asked them to "finish" (get into heel position) when asked. The last dog in heel position was eliminated after each round. Becca performed each time with snappy precision and in the end she was the last dog standing err, sitting! For showing everyone else how brilliantly a greyhound can perform this particular obedience routine, Becca won a stuffed bunny! She proceeded to jump and play and basically flaunt her winning prize in front of all of her classmates.

In this picture, Becca is sitting in heel position waiting for her prize.

Obedience Training

In addition to all the posts on agility I do obedience as well. I started back in 1983 with my first greyhound. Despite earning 7 CDs and 4 CDXs on greys I have never progressed to a UD. Training greyhounds in obedience can be very successful but challenging. What works with many "traditional" obedience breeds doesn't always work for greyhounds. I have learned over the years "less is more" with most of them.

Whisper is the exception and is the most work motivated greyhound I have ever owned. She thrives on repetition if it means more food. If any dog will convince me to go onto a UD it will be her. She is getting ready for Open and we were in our first match in the below video. Funny but the dumbbell retrieve followed by the high jump retrieve are two of her best exercises. Her nose got her in trouble that day. Below is her debut at the Open match.">

Lyric is a more traditional greyhound to train. She does it for me not because she loves to work. With Lyric definately "less is more". She gets trained less than 1/2 the time of the other dogs-Whisper and Echo. She is willing to work as long as I don't ask too much or too frequent. The dumbbell is her least favorite exercise. I finally clicker trained it. The dumbbell gave her trouble that day as well.">

Another few matches and we may be ready to compete.

Echo did a Rally Novice run through but unfortunately it wasn't videoed.

Becca's Obedience Career

Becca just completed her 10-week advanced obedience class with a pretty decent performance at graduation, especially with her doing a double suspension gallop toward Donna on the recall. However, her "brakes" were not working too well and she didn't sit in front of Donna after she ran in toward her. But Becca did exhibit that much sought after enthusiasm when called so the rest will fall into place in time and with training. Donna plans to continue with Becca on a drop-in basis when the next advanced obedience class starts in January; she'll additionally try some rally classes and continue her conformation showing.

Here's a brief video of Becca doing her "victory" dance after graduating.

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Pearl and Poppy

All of Lyric's puppies are natural retrievers. Sometimes it comes in very handy. It must have come from Lyric's side of the family since Merlin hated retrieving. Teaching him to retrieve the dumbbell in Open was an ordeal. His motto was "You threw it You retrieve it"

Below is Poppy and Pearl's story

It is a bit of a challenge to keep Pearl exercised. You see, I am disabled. One day I picked up Pearl's cousin Angel's ( she died three years ago at age 10) frisbee and threw it off of the deck. Pearl went flying off the deck after it. The game has begun. Pearl chewed a hole in one side of the middle so that she could flip up the frisbee over her snout and eyes and wear it like a kind of hat as she runs. I get the biggest kick out of her when she does this.

Since stairs are a challenge for me. I wait until Pearl is at the bottom of the stairs to throw the frisbee and then off she goes. She catches it about 70% of the time now. She is so good about bringing it back and letting me have it without a fuss so that I can throw it again. I know when she has had enough when she comes back and instead of coming to me she goes up to the upper deck and looks at me to go into the house for breakfast.


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Obedience 101 for Becca

Becca and Donna "officially" started obedience training recently as they enrolled in a formal class. Becca has been trained in some basic obedience since she was a teeny, tiny puppy as were all her siblings--sit, down, come, etc.--but she will now start the road to competitive obedience. Here are a couple of recent photos showing her getting a head start with the training. She should be a lot of fun to train as she's quite intense about some things, is very curious, and seems to have unending energy!! Now if all that can be channeled towards obedience, she should do well. This will be Donna's first puppy to train in obedience; she's trained other Greyhounds to their titles, but they were adults when she started their training. A new experience for both of them!

Shout out to Lisa and Dretti

These pictures of Lisa and Dretti were taken last fall. They just earned their first leg in Novice A at the GCNC spring specialty last weekend. Everyone here at Aragon Greyhounds is just thrilled for Lisa and Dretti! Congrats!

What I really like about these pictures is that Lisa is smiling. She doesn't look nervous. She is looking down where she is going and where she can keep some eye contact with her dog. Dretti, is looking up at her face. He is in tune with the exercise they are doing.

This is the picture that we all hope we are giving off in the ring: a smiling, relaxed handler and an attentive happy dog.

Stepping into the obedience ring with any dog takes a fair bit of courage. Stepping into the Novice A ring, though, is a special thing. Everyone in Novice A is a true novice (except for the judge). The dogs have not been trained by someone who has earned an obedience title before nor has the handler earned an obedience title on any other dog. Walking into that ring is stepping into the unkown. It is relying upon the bond that you and your dog have forged through countless hours of training. The ringtime is the test of all you have worked on and all you have accomplished.

Every time we step into the ring, we are not going to que. However, every time we step in the ring, we are going to learn something. We are going to learn where the holes are in our trainig. We are going to learn to trust our partner (or not). We are going to learn that despite how nervous we might be, we can get through it. We can conquer the nerves. The time and the training pays off. The test can be passed.

Congrats again to our friends Lisa and Dretti. May your time in Novice A be short yet relaxed and happy!