Passed the test

Aila passed the test ofcourse! So now we're probably starting the agility course next week! Wish us luck!!

The only problem is that Aila is barking more than ever! I'm going crazy! She's got a new kind of bark, the one when nothing is happening and she's excited. So annoying! But at the moment I'm just lying her down far away and ignoring her until she stops. But the training is going so slow when it's like that!!

Tomorrow it's no training, but a day out with friends. We're gonna hang out on the field infront of our flat and play games and chill. gonna be nice! I'm also meeting up with Sara for a nice walk. Have to remember to get a Scalibour collar for Aila though. But I haven't seen any tics so far....

Have a good night!

Tracking

Today Vazy and Aila got to try some tracking with Jessi. That was fun but quick. Vazy started off really good! She managed the whole way, but the second time she lost the track and got confused. Aila was too crazy, I also think, as Jessi said, that it was too easy for her..

They've also been playing with some dogs at the dog-park next to our house.
Tomorrow Aila and me are going to do a test to get in to the agility course that's starting soon. Gonna be fun! Hope to be able to start her in TG1 (TG= training group) before fall.
I'll tell you how it went tomorrow.

Now I have to write a long home exam..... argh!

TG1 monday

Well. I'm home from yet another monday-agility training. It was as good as usual. Many good tips, and I got to try some new handling "moves" (threadle). They were fun and I will probably develop them more with Vazy. Maybe this was the missing link?
Vazy seemed a bit tired still from this weekend, and she had some trouble with the slalom because it was a flat tunnel, then the slalom to the right but where she had to enter left. If I went on the left side of the slalom, she took it well, but then it didn't work afterwards. And if I switched behind her, she turned around in the slalom. But finally I had to stand further down and already on the right side, and then it was alright.. The end of the track went really well and she's going forward really good and fast! I would like to take a handling course to get better at handling.

I also trained Aila a bit. She thinks it's really fun at first and does it really well. But she gets a bit bored after a while.. So I think that I have to do a lot of different combinations all the time, and try and go fast. She likes that. And now she already loves going up on the zone obstacles. So that's great! (What a change in like a week...)

Now I have to finish watching a movie for my course.
Sleep well!

Eliminated again..

Well. It was really fun today too, but I got eliminated again in both races. The first one went super well! The whole way until a hard combination where I had been focusing too much on the really hard part, that I kind of lost it on the one I thought would be easier. It got a bit too tight and she missed a jump and went straight to the slalom.
But I was super happy with that one, cause up until there, it went perfectly. Fast and correct! The other ones did well too. One with a few faults, and the other one eliminated too (but doing a really nice race anyway!)
Vazy had to stay in her cage quite a lot today, cause I was also working. That tires her a lot, because she can't relax at all. I think that's why she was SUPER tired at the last race. The jumping. She fell asleep next to the track not long before our race. And when it was our turn she did a good beginning but was unusually slow. Then she seemed a bit too tired to jump properly and she "sneaked" the tyre jump. That got us eliminated. But.. I'm still happy. It was super fun and she was really good! I think it would be easier with a track that's acctually on our level, Class I, because this one was more a Class II track.
For the other team members the jumping course went amazingly well! One was making it fault free, and the other one with 5 faults. Super good!!

I'll put some pics from the competition. Some of me and my team members (with the duck tolling retrievers) and some of another team from my training group (the poodles)...


(ps. I shouldn't blame it all on Vazy being tired, I was really tired too. And I'm a little bit dissapointed that I didn't make the goal of my weekend, of making a track without getting eliminated. But I think I must really do something wrong, because I never manage that actually. Anyway. I hope we'll get better by training some more...)

first agility competition!

So today I did my first agility competition. It was really fun eventhough we got disqualified. Vazy was a bit too fast after having been still all morning in her cage, and I did some faults in my handling as well. But it was still super fun, so we decided to make a team and sign up "last-minute" to the competition tomorrow, which is official. That's going to be fun! I'm gonna compete with two Nova scotia duck tolling retrievers, one of which is on the pictures here. We will have a lot of fun I think.
But now I'm sooo tired. I just got home from a picnic with the dogs in town. There were LOADS of people. The dogs are so happy to be able to come with us everywhere now. They like everyone and get really tired from just hanging around. I met up with Kicki, 'cause she was at the parc too. What a coincidence!
Oh well. Now I have to eat and go to bed, I have to get up even earlier tomorrw (half past 5)..
Cross your fingers for us tomorrow!

In town again..

Today I went for a walk this morning and we met some dogs at the "dog-park". My dogs were really nice and friendly!
Then I went to uni and they had to stay at home. This time they hadn't done anything in "their" room (last time I left them they had pulled out the plugs and then opened the door.. weird!).
I brought them into town after a long and nice talk with Kicki. We've been eating and drinking some beer. It's funny how many friends you make when you bring your dogs (when they don't puke!). We met some english dudes and some other nice people that were talking to us. After a few hours at the pub the dogs got a bit bored, eventhough they were quite happy saying hello to our table neighbours.. Everyone liked them as usual, they're so well behaved when they're out in town!

They were quite hungry when we came back though, but it's nice to see that Aila got her appetite back after I washed off the Exspot (she didn't wanna eat, and puked when she did, for a day or so...).

Tomorrow it's our first competition in agility.. scary!

Another busy day..

Today I've been working most of the day. And luckily I've got some life-savers as friends! They really made my day by taking care of the dogs!
Then as soon as I had finished I had to rush home and back in the car to Kista. I was a "help-instructor" at a course they had. It was fun and interesting, and finally it seems like they're working quite a lot like I've been working in France. So that was good to see!
I just got home and now I have to read some stuff for class tomorrow. Poor neglected dogs!
Tomorrow is a new day, and I start class at 1, so I should have some time for walks and a bit of training.. We'll see.

Training and watching rescue dogs

Yesterday was another day packed of dog-stuff.

I met up with Kicki around 12 and then we went to the club in Kista. The agilitytrack was still there since monday, so I tried it again with Vazy. There was always something, so I didn't manage to get it fault free.. I guess the fact that I can never get any fault-free tracks first try is gonna be a problem om saturday. But I hope it's easy so I can make it... We'll see!

We did as we've done with Jessi and trained the dogs one by one. It was fun. I did the square with vazy and she did it really nice the first time. And then from all directions. Ofcourse when we moved the square she was so sure it was at the same place, that she went there all the time after that. That's the proof why it's better to move the square and not the position! Especially with a dog that learns so fast!
Then I tried to do some heelwork and move to the left and right. It went quite well..

Then Izla was going to train some heelwork and all, and it was looking really good when she managed to do it. But she got really busy barking, so we've noticed that it takes at least 30 minutes training for her to be able to focus correctly... She also tried the "square" and we did it with a bowl at first, that we removed after 5 times. Then she went totally right, and Kicki clicked and I went to give a treat inside the square. She managed to get it right several times. Good Izla! (You can read more about Izlas training on Kicki's blog).

I trained some agility with Aila, and she managed to do almost half the track from monday! She's so good and loves jumping. She can keep the distance so that I can run straight. She jumps all the jumps and goes through the tunnels, and I managed to make her jump super nicely through the tunnels. And the major break-through was still that she managed to run over all the "zone" obstacles! Wohoo!

Then she was over excited, and she's started to bark when that happens. So then I've decided to ignore her completely and not move one inch and just stand still and look at the ground. When she comes to my side, sits and shuts up, she'll get a click+treat. It took some time but seemed to work. By the end of the exercice she was quiet and sitting at my side. And if I'm somewhere where it's really close to the car, I'll put her in there. I'm not gonna let this problem grow!

After having trained until around half past 3, we went to Kista Galleria and had some food. Great pesto pasta! Then we started going to the site of the rescue training. We were early so we had time to take a walk. We found a golf course and I let the dogs run. Ofcourse at the end of the walk Aila saw some birds and chased after them. Luckily it was just a big field, so I could see her all the time, and she could see me. So she didn't chase for long.. But then I realized that I have to do some more "walking next to me", cause she can't go off as she wants to any more. I need a bike!

Then we met up with the rescue "trainers" and they were all super nice. We got to see some other Laponian herders, one of which was the famous Modji. So cute!!
It was amazing to she the rescue dogs at work. It really made me want to try with my dogs! But I'm not sure that they are interested enough in people they don't know.. But I think it's something they can learn with training. Since my dogs are learning a lot by rewards, they can also learn to go to people for rewards. I'm so dissapointed that I'm gonna miss the "trying out-day" this weekend! That would have been so much fun!
The dogs were working so indepentendly and really seemed to LOVE their job. Amazing. Thank you Marianne (if you read this) for letting us come and watch.

Aila has been puking twice since yesterday. So now I've showered off the exspot. I really think it must be some side-effects, since she's not showing any other signs of illness. The side-effects have only gotten worse and worse, starting with drooling, and the more it goes into her, the more she's gotten. So that's why I think it must be exspot. But now it should already be in her blood, so maybe it will take a bit of time before she gets better. Anyone got any experience with this?

Anyway..

Have a great day!

























All the photos are taken by Kicki (http://www.izla.se) Great photos!! Thanks!!

Oh, I forgot..

.. not that it is very important. But I found it quite funny.
Yesterday I took the dogs for a walk on the field next to the university in Flemingsberg. There I let Aila go so that she could run, since I could see very far and therefore stop her before she wanted to chase anything.
Anyway, now she's so used to walking next to me that she did that anyway! I tried to make her run a bit, but she only came back and started to walk on heel again. Maybe it's my own "fault", cause I did still give her a treat for each time she did that. It's good to know that she don't seem to mind anyway..

Monday training with the group

Agility on mondays!
As fun as always!
Today I went early to walk the dogs, and then train a bit with Aila.
It went well. She loves to jump and understands the handling quite well. She can still jump quite freely. I got her to go up half of the A and the "balance" (english words missing again!).
Vazy was doing really well today! She's so fast that I almost can't make the whole track 'cause I get too tired! I have to work on my stamina!
I have to work on the zones though! But otherwise she made an almost fault-free track. It was me that didn't see well enough in the dark for one obstacle, and the other one she was supposed to go from the back, and then I pointed at the jump, so she took it the wrong way..
I feel I'm learning so much, and I'm getting more aware of my body language..
The slalom training is super fun! Vazy loves the "tunnel" exercice. And now I can put the two slaloms almost all the way together and she's still getting the right technique! I will just continue like this, and hope to see this technique when only using one slalom soon... I took some pics of it, but I forgot the camera in the car!

Tomorrow I'm going training at the club with kicki. And then we're going to look at "rescue dog" training. Gonna be fun! I hope that Kicki brings her camera, because mine ran out of batteries and, as I said, I forgot it in the car. I'll put the pics up tomorrow with another evaluation of the day. I'm planning to train a bit more agility; zones and slalom mostly. Then I'm gonna continue my work with the "square" and the jump for the obedience. I'm also training more "sit-down-stand", and she's getting better!

Have a good night! I'm definitely gonna sleep well. Busy week!!

(ps. the two other dogs on the pictures are people from my training group. It was the small dogs that got to start off that training, and therefore they also got to enjoy the sun. After it got to dark to take any more photos... next time maybe!)

Bike

Does anyone have a bike to sell? Because I would like one.
I quite need it to make Aila run in the morning before going to uni, and to give them some stamina and muscles.
So.. Just give me a shout if you know anyone that has any cheap ones.

Another sunny day!

Well. Today I brought mathieu and went to meet Jessi at SSBK again. We did some slalom and "the square" again, and Vazy got it right straight away! That's the first time! So happy!!
The we tried with the cone and then the square. She was a bit confused at first, but then she got it. Need some more training there. But I'm still only gonna compete in class II first..
I'm training the slalom with putting two smaller slalom paralell. Cause Vazy can do it right from any direction, but she needs more speed. So my thought was getting the speed through this technique, but the "entrance" through clicker training. I just hope that she can assimilate the two, and mix them together. Because the goal of this is for her to get another technique in the slalom to go faster.. Since she's putting the two paws on each side now, she's bending more around the sticks, while I want her to weave straighter through, with one paw on each side. We'll see!
I'm using the same technique for Aila now, but she got a wide "tunnel" in between the slalom still. Because as soon as I make it small enough to touch her, she's going out. So she needs more time. Then I'm practicing the "stand" and "down". It was the same as usual. The "down" is good and fast, but she hasn't really got the "stand" yet.
Anyway, also did some jumping with Aila. She really likes it, and I have to run quite close to the jumps, but far enough for me to be able to run straight anyway. So that's nice. She's gotten scared of everything she has to walk up on. So I don't know if she'll get over it. Otherwise I guess I'll just do the jumping class with her. We'll see.... She might get better. I'll practice some more when she's hungry and I've got the best food she knows (maybe some good meat...).

With Vazy we also tried to do some "come" with "stand", but only the beginning. Which I do like this;
I have someone with me, where she starts, I call her in and then I give a release command. When she hears that, she should know that the reward is with the other person, which makes her turn back fast. So I want her to be "pulled" towards the back. Then when she's doing that without hesitation, I'll put the stop command, and then release her to get the reward behind again.. We'll see if we get there. Otherwise I think we're not so far from ready for the class II obedience.. There is still some small stuff to sort out (she could still be better at the "sit, stand, down", cause she's still taking a step or two at the "stand")...

Anyway. Good day as usual! I think Jessi took a pic or two again, so I might borrow one later on.. Next time I'll try to remember to bring my camera!

(Yesterday I was lying in all day with a terrible headache. I couldn't move.. So that's why I didn't write anything).

In town

now we're starting to get summer feelings and we can bring the dogs to town with us. So they've been all day in town basically. Then we stopped in a parc, and they were playing with sticks. Vazy normally just chews them and spits them out.. But today, when we went for a beer at a pub, we noticed that she didn't just chew them, but swollowed as well! so the dogs puked all over the terrace. NOT nice!
Anyway, it was my fault for not noticing.
But otherwise they were amazing. I could walk with them without leash in the middle of town. They passed people and cars and dogs, and stopped at the sidewalk. They are amazing sometimes! Same at the bar, before they started puking... They ate well after anyways, so they seem alright. No more drooling either.
I think, as Annloice also said, that it's some side effects to the exspot.. I will see if they look better otherwise I guess I have to wash it all off and put something else on...

continuation..

They haven't been drooling since yesterday during the day. They seem alright but tired. Vazy has been biting on her back where I had put some exspot, so that makes me think that that must be the reason.. or?
It seems to itch, but not so bad. We'll see how they are today, now I have to go to work!

weird drooling fits..

Today I had to work, so the dogs had to stay home. I know they hate it, but what can I do?
Anyway, when I got home they had managed to open the door to the room they stay in. But they also pulled out the plugs next to the door. WEIRD!

Another weird thing. Yesterday Aila got a drooling fit, and puked some drool. Then she drooled for a few minutes, and then she stopped and went to bed. She didn't eat in the morning, but ate later at night. During the night I awoke at 4am from the dogs making weird noises. They sounded like they were licking their lips or something. Vazy looked like she wasn't feeling so well.
This morning when I went out with them, she drooled again for a few minutes, but not as much as yesterday. Otherwise they seem totally alright. Vazy is very hungry all the time and just wants food and food and food. They are calm, but not looking sick or anything. Now when I got home Vazy also got a drooling fit and even put some drool on the floor. WHY? what happened to them? They have normal shit and pee, they seem normal in general... very WEIRD!

If you have any idea what it could be, please write!

(the only thing I can think of that's different from normally, is that I put some exspot on them 2-3 days ago... )

at 9.40 pm we just got back from a run. I met up with my friend Veronica and we went to a cementary nearby. The dogs have really got energy, so they can't be sick for real (or?).. And it's fun to run with them. You can really see that they enjoy pulling. It's good for their muscles, and for me too! So it's a win-win situation.. It was Veronica's first time running with the dogs, and she thought it was fun, so now she might wanna come more often. Too bad we don't have 3 dogs, 'cause I want Math to run as well!

He's coming back in a few hours!

yesterday; Agility 2

Yesterday I met up with Jessi at the club (SSBK) and we tried some agility. Mostly we did the slalom, and it was quite fun. We put two slaloms together like a tunnel they could run though. With Aila I had to have it quite wide, and it will take some time. But it was fun!

With Vazy I put them closer, and in the beginning she didn't understand that she could run straight trough. But when she did, it looked amazing! I think it gives her a new technique in the slalom. And I hope that, together with the clicker trained slalom, she will gain speed, but still keep her accuracy for entering. That's my plan anyway!

That's why I will try both ways of learning for Aila too. This is just an experiment, so it will be interesting to see the long term result.

Today we have a calm "staying home and resting" day. I'm in a good mood, but don't feel like a long walk. The dogs are very tired anyway, after a hard week of training a lot everyday!

Agility..

Tonight I've been to the club again.
First I met up with Jessica to talk a bit about becoming a trainer at the club. It seems like fun! We will see what happens, and if I'm good enough.

Then it was my turn to build the track, and it was fun! A lot of running, but quite an easy one.. Vazy loved it. I managed a bit better this time (it was easier), bit I still have to be clearer at certain parts, because she's really sensitive and if I don't show clearly enough, she just goes straight ahead. And the first two runs I also turned too early, and then she missed the jumps because of that. I have to wait until she's almost over the jump before I turn.

After everyone had finished, I tried the track with Aila (skipping all the obstacles she doesn't know yet). And she's soo good! It was the first time on a track, ever, and she still managed to go away from me a bit, and jump and go straight in the tunnel. I was impressed. And she thought it was so much fun! Finally she got to chase a ball without having Vazy catching it first. Looks promising for her!

And then I wanna finish this with saying that I think all the people I'm training with now (and those I have been training with before too!) are amazing! I have so much fun, and everyone's so nice and so good! So, for everyone that trains with me, just want you to know that I appreciate you so much! Without you, I'm nothing...

Have fun!

Responsible..

Tonight it's agility training, and I'm the one responsible for bringing the track. Scary! I'm so bad at building tracks! I wonder how it's gonna go today. I think I chose one that's quite easy. I wanna feel like I don't suck as much as I do. But we'll see.. I'm sure there are some places where I'm gonna get lost again. I'm a bit nervous for the competition soon. I can never make a track first time around, I always need like 2 or 3 times before I get it.. But luckily I've just signed up for jumping, so atleast I'm not gonna have to do any zones and stuff. Phew!
Tomorrow I'm hoping for some more training with Jessi, and maybe Kicki wants to come too (if she's back..).

Now I got the pics from Jessi! Thanks!
You can see them at the post. The first three are the ones when I try to teach Vazy "two steps to the left"...
4th is Aila training on the jump.
5th & 6th - Aila walking on heel, with her funny headturn.
7th - Vazy praticing the down stay with me and Aila playing like crazy around her.

On this post I'm putting another one of Jessi's pics of Vazy..

Nice photos!

I've also put some photos on the day before 11th of April.

For the rest of the photos, you can go to Jessi's homepage; http://www.svanstipp.se
Now I'm gonna have a rest. I'll probably write more, later on tonight. Since I have nothing else to do when I'm home now...

6 more hours..

Today we've been out for 6 more hours. Decided to leave around 10 and then I went for a walk around the club (we went to Jessi's club this time, Stockholm södra). There were a lot of German Shepherds, and some other dogs. Jessi told me there are always loads of people there..
I started to train Aila a bit on agility handling without obstacles. It went quite well. She can easily follow me in hard turns and all, but she rather wanna be on the left side than the right. Same for Vazy. I guess they get a bit too much into that when they're training obedience as much.
Then I was doing some jumping and slalom with Vazy and Aila. Aila can do a few "sticks" of the slalom from both the left and the right. Eventhough she's quite slow. I think I need to speed her up somehow. Maybe use another technique...
I also tried to make her jump a bit further away from me, but it's hard. She'd rather stay at my side the whole time.. Atleast she didn't jump on the side of the jump this time...

Then Jessi came, and we trained different obedience exercices until around 4 (with a nice lunch inbetween). Then the dogs were so tired they didn't know what they were doing any more..

Today's training;

Vazy:
Has been training heelwalk, and moving towards the sides and back. She managed a few times to make 2 steps in all direction really nicely!

Then we've been practicing to stay standing eventhough I come next to her. That was hard! I guess she needs more practice.

We've also practiced the "square" and sending her to that one. I should start a bit earlier though, when she's not so tired. She needs a lot of energy to think about where to go exactly. But she still made some super nice ones! Atleast she sees the square now, eventhough it's been put out beforehand. And it takes less and less tries before she does it nicely..

What more? We've done so much!

We did some stupid stuff, slalom in between the legs, rolling and other stuff, just for fun.

Then we did some "sit/down/stand". And she was tired, but made a few perfect stands, which is quite rare. Nice!

Then we were also practicing the jump. To jump forwards, which she does, but she doesn't go out far enough. Then we threw a ball over her head, and she went further. But then we fooled her and didn't throw the ball, it worked 2 times, then she didn't fall for it anymore! You can't fool her more than three times, that's for sure!

I wanted to practice the "come-stand-come", but she was way too tired. Next time!

Aila;
We practiced the jump. Jumping towards me was easy. But then we changed, and she got to jump forward. That was a bit harder, but we solved it by putting a nice little bowl with treats on the other side. We have to work on that a bit more.

Then we did some heelwork. But she seems a bit distracted since she's in heat..

We also practiced some down and stand. But not for long.

I can't really remember any more. But.. Maybe my memory will be refreshed by Jessi's pictures coming up tonight!

Now I'm gonna have some food and chill for a bit. I've decided to finish cleaning the flat today. We'll see if I'll actually manage, because I've been saying that for a few days now....

A new morning.

What do people do when they're alone?
I'm just getting bored after 5 minutes.. I was out with the dogs for 6 hours, and cleaned the kitchen and almost finished my book. But I still had time to be bored.

Today I'm going training with Jessi again at the club. Hopefully it will be possible to do some agility.

I was thinking, when I woke up 5 am yesterday morning, that I suck at handling, because I've never been aware of how I'm moving. There has been no theory behind it, other than that I have to keep my dog in sight at all times. But I never thought of the little details. Atleast, now, I've been thinking about it. So maybe it will change.. We will see today. I'm gonna practice walking and running on the right hand side..

Aila is in heat, somehow she don't seem as much in to training. But I'll just do as much as she feels like. No pressure..

Today the sun is shining again, so today we'll probably have another nice "GPS walk"..

Hopefully I'll be able to put some nice pics from yesterday, and maybe some from today?

Have a nice day!

One year with the blog!

(2 days ago..)

I just noticed that I've been writing in this blog for one whole year, and I'm still doing it! That's great! Feel free to go back to the beginning to see the progress my dogs have made in the last year.

Happy birthday blog!

I'll put the pics from the last post here instead. Easier that way..