Two days in a row!

Trained again today, with Kicki. It was fun. We went to the dogclub in Kista. I quite like it there, eventhough its far! But that's alright now when I have the car..

I did the same things with Vazy today as yesterday. But she understood that she had to go to the center of the square! She's so good! So much fun that she gets things so quickly. But there is still a long way to go..
I trained some sit/down/stand aswell. And held the reward over her head, super good! She wasn't moving forwards. She did some nice positions, folding her legs when lying down, instead of "crawling" down with her front legs. Nice one!
Then we were also doing some "apportation", and it went rather well. She still have some problems with the command, but I think I'm slowly getting there...

Aila was more concentrated today. I managed some heelwork, but she had totally forgot about the left turns (moving her back legs), but got it again after a few tries. She had a nice position when sitting aswell. I trained some "down" while walking, and it went rather well. I'm gonna continue with this, doing different exercises all the time. She still has a hard time to concentrate for longer than 30 sec- 1 min.. But I think I just have to be patient with this, so that she thinks it's more fun to train than to smell things on the ground.. Did some more small things, but nothing really interesting.

It's hard to back up so much in the training, but I have to do it. Cause they haven't been training for quite a while, and forgot about some things.. It will be better if I continue training a few times a week..

Sorry, but I forgot the camera again.....

Todays training

It was nice to get out training some more. I met Jessi in Älvsjö and we trained in the Stockholm Fair garage. It was great to finally get to use the car for training! I could put one dog in the car while training the other. So that meant I didn't have to stress and could spend more time with each dog.
I trained for about one and a half hour. It went so - so, since I haven't been training for a while. It was hard for the dogs to concentrate and they weren't used to thinking so much.. Especially Aila, that got a bit crazy and jumping and running and all. But she's so good at coming and lying down (staying down) when I tell her to. So whenever she gets too excited I'll just give her the "down-stay" command.

With Vazy I tried to shape the behaviour of going in to the middle of the square of cones. It was going alright, but it's really hard for her to realize it's in between the cones she's supposed to go, since it's nothing there! But I think that it's the right technique and it only needs some time. She was really good at the "forward" command, which I only tried once.. Best yet I think. Then I was trying some heelwork and down/stand commands. Overall it was going well, but she's got a hard time concentrating.. So MORE training is needed!

With Aila I was trying to focus a bit on the heelwork, which was really hard. She was super excited and started barking when she didn't get what I wanted. But she got more focused after a while. I tried some new technique that Jessi showed me for the "down". I'll see what I'll do with that.. She's good at lying down, but not so good at staying down. But I think that I just need some more time. She needs more rewards for simple behaviour, and then I just have to make it harder step by step.. But I think I'll also continue with Jessis tip on the side..
I also tried some "apportation" (still noone that knows what it's called?). It went really well, but she's overexcited and want to grab it all the time. But in the end I managed to get the point across, I think..

Hope they will be ready for some competition this spring/summer..

Anyway. Tomorrow it's more training with Kicki! Hopefully she can take some pictures as well.

ps. Today I went for a walk in the forest with the dogs, and they were amazing! I met several dogs, the closest one I only saw when it was one meter away. And the dogs still came running like crazy to me when I called them! Great progress! It's really good, cause there are so many dogs here. I meet at least 3-4 per walk. So I think they'll get more used to meeting other dogs now...

woho!

The flat is great!

And it's my birthday. Getting older every year! Haha. Time is running faster and faster..

But I'm feeling great and all is good!

(for the dogs too....)


ps. Viva Wifi (sneak)

Moving and no internet.

Well. Today we're gonna stay the first night in our new flat. It's gonna change to have a flat of 75,5 square meters instead of our tiny 38m2 that we've been living in until now.

Anyway, I'm writing to tell you that we won't have internet until friday next week. So if there is anything important, just phone me!

Pictures will be up later.

Have fun!

The ultimate test

So, today was the ultimate dog meeting test.
I recently got the tip that using ham-cheese on tube is a good reward. and since then I try to use it when I meet dogs.
What a change!
Click and ham-cheese is working perfectly.
Today I just came out of the flat, and wasn't ready to meet a dog (it seldom happens just there), and around the corner came a amstaff. Vazy froze as always, Aila started barking like crazy. But there was a difference here. When I backed off, Vazy remembered that there was ham-cheese in my pocket and came running back. It was great! what a change.. And eventhough Aila barks like crazy, Vazy is nice and calm at my side. It's a good beginning.
I'm starting to focus on Vazy, who is the leader of the two, and when I manage to get her calm in all situations, I will start focusing more on Ailas barking. Cause she's coming back too, but while barking. And sitting down, still barking. Then she gets some cheese and runs back towards the dog. I'll probably get there with her too. But I have to give it time, and work on one dog at a time. Cause it's impossible to focus on both of them.. Then there will be no consistancy.. So... I feel confident. We also met another dog, and same there. Vazy was like an angel!

Ham-cheese on tube is also good cause it's easy to carry along, and lasts for longer than, for example, sausages. And the dogs LOVE it..

Tomorrow we will get the keys to our new flat, and our new lives!

Evaluation of todays training

Was fun to train a bit. But I took it really easy, it's like an icerink outside!
Aila was overexcited since we haven't been training for a while. But when she's not sniffing the ground or jumping around like crazy, she was doing really good. She has a really good positioning. She loves to grab the "apport bock" (can someone help me with these words?), and has a hard time waiting for command. She can't hold it for a longer time yet. But that will come with a bit of time. She was doing well on the "down" and not so well on the "stand". Something that I have to continue practising. She's learning really fast!

Vazy thought it was fun to train again. But my technique with the target for the "sit/down/stand" wasn't working. She always wanna go into heel position, so it's really hard to get her to stay in front of me. It worked better without the target, and helping with moving the hand backwards over her head. But that was hard on the "down" part, cause I thought her to roll around in the same way.. So she puts herself on the side. But I think all that will pass with time, when she understands what I want. I also trained some positioning, but mostly I helped Kicki with her positioning. And we saw some good progress in only a few minutes. Fun!

Thanks for a nice day Kicki!

Best friends..

Too good

I'm too good at posting lately.. So now it feels like it was too long since I did.

I'm looking forward to a training day with Kicki and Izla tomorrow. Gonna be fun! I have so many new ideas.

My plan:

Vazy:
Sending forward: Training with the cones closer. Shaping the going to the middle. If it's not working, and she goes to the cones all the time, I'll put a small target. Reward always inside the "square"..

Sit, down, stand, distance training: Gonna start with the front paws on a target. Having the target just in front of me, so that she can't move forward. Giving the treat towards the back. When she gets it, I'll slowly move away from the target.. Then I'll probably take away the target, and do the same thing again.. Start close, and move away slowly.

The come with "stop" in the middle: I'll practise without command and an exterior reward (playing with kicki) behind. I'll leave Vazy with Kicki, call her in, she lets go and then I'll tell vazy to "go play" and she can run back to Kicki playing. This will probably get the speed at the same time as she will be oriented towards the back.. Sometimes I'll call her all the way in, and give the treat next to me, so that she won't know and expect a command in the middle.

I will practise the jump with "sit" on the other side. She can already do it, but I want her a bit further away from the jump, so she won't accidentally touch it.

I will also practise more "apport" (how do you say that in english?). She has to be better at the command, and better at holding the object. She's gotten a bit worse since she had some problems with her teeth (one broken)..

I will also repeat all the things from class I.

Aila: Here I have to work on her concentration. Have to have better treats, that she's willing to work harder for.

I will practise the heelwalk. Turns and especially concentration for a longer time, which is her problem at the moment.

I have to start practising the "stop" command, that she doesn't know yet. I'll do that with the clicker and an help "signal" with the hand to begin with. If that doesn't work, I'll practise by stopping myself for a little while, as a help (since she's trained to stop when I stop..)

I have to practise more of the "apport" which she loves. She gets a bit over excited and seems to start to chew a bit....

The jumping should be no problem, and I'll practise that at the club. She likes to jump, so I don't think she will avoid it. She's also good at positioning, so that's not gonna be a problem.

The "down" has to be practised more whilst heelwalking. She's really fast when I command her when she's still, but she has a tendancy to bark of excitement.

The down/stay is good already! I will just practise in harder situations. Next to unknown dogs she's not feeling secure, which is harder. But also when I play with Vazy next to her.. She almost managed last time.. So...

Hope to have all this ready by spring, to start competing..
I will run 3 competitions more in class I with Vazy, and if I don't get 2 more first prizes I'll forget about the LP and move on to class II anyway.
I will do some tryouts with Aila in class I. If I manage as I planned I should be able to get a first prize. That is if she can keep concentrated for a whole program.. There is some way to get there still.. I will try to take LP in class I with Aila too.

Hope to get started tomorrow. Viva springtime! I want to be able to stay out for longer without freezing my fingers off...

Ice walking

Today we went back to the lake. It was Minna, Mathieu and me. It was a nice walk, I overcame my fear of walking on ice and took some pretty nice pictures. No drama!

Aila tried to dig herself down to the water.. Interesting.

Drama

Today I went for a walk with Minna. Of course Vazy can't go a day without drama. We went to this lake, and it was a small path in wood over some the water which was frozen. So.. They were nicely walking on the path, and then I look away for a second, and the next I see Vazy swimming in the icywater. She had fallen down while running on the weak ice! I thought that she might freeze to death, so I got a bit panicked and stepped down on the ice. Luckily it wasn't profound, but I went through the ice with one leg.. Vazy was fighting to get up but didn't manage. So she gave up and just hung there, clinging to the ice.. Finally I manage to slide out on the ice, and as I got closer she tried the hardest she could, and then I managed to catch her neck and slide her out of the water.. Her whole fur was ice! But we went home to Minna. Vazy got a warm shower and we could laugh at the whole thing. Haha.
They stayed with Minna and Johan when we went to look at a nice new couch. It all went well...

Fracture

So. Now I've finally been to the vet with Vazy.
It turns out she has had a small fracture (a crack) on her front left leg. So that's why it got better, but not as fast as it should have if it was muscular. I'm acctually really happy to find out what it was, and to know it's not the muscles. Cause if it was, then it might have been something more serious that would have maybe stayed forever.
So now she got some painkillers (anti inflammatory) and she should be better in about 2 weeks or a bit more. The vet says it takes atleast 6 weeks for a fracture to heal. Atleast you could see on the Xrays that it's already healed quite a bit..
I also found out that she has some "pålagringar" (what the hell do you call that? some bone structure adding on to the bone???) on her back toe. It's probably from her back legs being a bit "rounded" towards the inside. Then she puts more weight on the outside toes, which makes the effect we can now see. It hurts some when bent, so that explains why she holds her back legs in the air sometimes. I got the advise to stretch the toes when she's warm, because we don't want it to get stiff. It needs to move as much as possible. I also got some extra painkillers for when she's got more pain there later on...

Aila has been alone in the flat today. Nothing destroyed and no stress. That's good to know..

Oh yeah. yesterday I brushed Aila.. In the end there was a pile of fur as big as another dog next to us.. crazy! Now she has quite thin fur.. I guess they're gonna get the winterfur in time for summer.. haha.

Treats and play

I'm reading a book about competition obedience training, so I'm feeling quite inspired at the moment. Right now I'm reading about how to reinforce behaviour. I think that's fun. To find out what the dogs like. I can see a big difference between my two dogs.
Vazy is really easily reinforced. She likes contact with me and treats as well as play. She spontaniously come up to me during the walk "telling" me she wants to train. She puts herself in position and looks at me with hope in her eyes. She loves it. I've noticed that she likes best to do things for toys, sticks or play. But that it also makes her a bit too excited. She can't always concentrate and does everything at high speed. So for her play is best to use when the behaviour is already there, where it's speed i want, and not precision. For precision it's best to use treats, also because she can work longer for food treats. She don't get as tired as quickly. It feels good that I know her so well, it makes the training much more effective.
With Aila on the other hand, it's harder. She's still young, so I still have hope to get to the same level as Vazy. But Aila never comes spotaniously to "ask" for training. She rather likes running around with the nose in the ground during walks. It's not that she's not attentive either. Because when I stop (as I've trained to come back when that happens), she looks at me and comes running in high speed. Often she put herself into position next to me too. But after that it's not always easy to keep this contact. She's not as motivated by the treats I have. She can walk next to me for 15 minutes when I tell her "here", but that's without focusing on me. It's like an invisible leash, and both my dogs know it. They have to walk close to me until I tell them they can do otherwise. When I was training the heelwalk this was what Aila did today. She walked next to me, looking straight ahead, longing to go back to her sniffing. But then I tried using some sticks as treats, then she quickly changed her mind and made eyecontact straight away. So there I've realized that play is much better for her motivation. She's still young, so there is still time to work on that motivation. She can't concentrate for as long as Vazy, and I shouldn't expect that from her. She's only 11 months old. But I think when I start training again I will use better food treats and more play to get her motivated. I will try to work so that she can keep concentration and motivation longer. That's what she needs before being able to start competing. We still have all spring.

Thursday I'll go to the vet with Vazy and check her legs. I hope that it's something that's going to pass, because I think both me and her wants to continue the agility this spring. But I have to accept the fact that if her legs are getting worse, I'll have to stop doing it. Sadly enough. It's Vazys favourite sport..

From next week I'll start going to the club on wednesdays to train with other dogs on the "open training". If anyone wants to tag along, just give me a shout..

Interesting..

Today I did a test in the search for a solution to calm dogs when meeting other dogs.
I went for a walk and I saw a person coming towards me. Then I noticed that it was no dog with her. So first I thought "Oh, no dog" and I relaxed. But then I thought that I should try to say and do the same things as when I see they got a dog. So I say "Look here.." (Kolla här..), which I do cause I want them to look at me in exchange of a treat. But I notice that Vazy start to stare around her straight away, she see the woman, and she tensen up. I say it again, same thing.. And since Vazy gets tense, Aila starts growling.. Now the poor woman was really scared of dogs, so I had to go down in the ditch for her to pass. The dogs staring at her with wide eyes. Alright, I think, it's really the word that's doing it. So I try again.. "Look here.." Vazy starts to look around here. She can't see a dog but she still tensens up. Her ears up, head up, looking and looking.. I say it again and again, and not once is she looking at me. She only looks around, almost a bit stressed about not seeing a person or a dog. So, finally, my well meant word "look here", acctually means "Watch out, a scary dog" or something like that. At least that's what her body language seems to tell me..
So, I'll put and end to that and try to click when I meet a dog to see what that will do (maybe same reaction?). Is the dog more interesting than any treat?

Långholmen

We went for a walk at Långholmen and Hornstull yesterday. It was nice. We had the dogs off leash a lot and although they're always a bit crazy, they were obedient enough. Two dogs off leash (västgötaspets) followed us a long way. I was so proud when Vazy and Aila didn't care about them at all, until they we're acctually smelling their butts.
The other day I was so dissapointed in Vazy cause she was so bad at passing other dogs, but yesterday she was super good! No throwing herself at all. Is it only here in Flemingsberg that she's like that? Anyway, I noticed that if Vazy is doing better, Aila is doing worse. So now it's rather Aila that's barking. But since we met a lot of dogs yesterday, they got better and better. I think that the problem will be solved just by moving to a place with loads of dogs everywhere..

I have to buy some cones to start training the "sending forward" in class II obedience.. Anyone wanna sell theirs?

Meeting laponian herders and friends..

today we wen't for a walk with Kicki, Izla and Jessi, Olivia. It was fun. Only a smaller incident betweend Izla and Vazy. A fight between them. I was expecting that to happen since they have very similar caracters.. But nothing serious anyway. Otherwise it was super nice weather and great company. Funny to see several laponian herders at the same time. They are so similar, but still so different.. I hope to meet some other Aussie owners as well, that would be fun..
Tried to train a bit with the dogs, but I had nothing planned. And they loved to smell some stuff on the ground, so nothing really good. Would be a good idea to get a backpack and always bring toys and training stuff. I should also get some cones for training the sending forward. She got that she has to go forward, but she can't go far, and she's turning around too much. Need some help with external reward I think... Anyways. Gonna be fun to read more in the book and try it all out.
As you can see everyone got their cameras out.. I'm getting a bit sick of mine, but it's too expensive to change. And I'm not sure it's worth it, since I mostly only use it to take pictures of the dogs..
To look at some more and nicer pictures, look at Jessi's page; http://svanstipp.se/foton2009/9jan09/index.htm

no title

I don't really have that much to write. Just wanted to update a bit.
We went for a nice (crazy) walk in the forest yesterday. It was nice, but so cold that I almost lost my legs (that's what it felt like anyway!)
Vazy somehow seemed better in her leg! I can still see that she's got something, but at night when she was resting she could still walk properly and wasn't as stiff as she has been lately.
That means that it's not getting worse from having normal walks, which is great. Especially since I'm going back to uni today, and they can't stay alone without a proper run in the morning..
Speaking of that.. Have to go!

Cold..

It's getting colder now. It's been two days where it's been colder than -10.
Today we've been for a normal walk in the forest. I've booked a time at the vet, and decided to take normal walks in the forest everyday. Last time I went to the vet with the same problem (but the back leg), I had been stretching, doing ultrasound and only small walks. So the vet saw nothing at all wrong with her. But since this keeps happening, I think that it would be good if we found out what it really is.. She's not halting more than a tiny little bit on the walks. And she don't get in pain until afterwards. Then she seems to get alright again with some rest, 'cause this morning she was back to normal. She seemed a bit swollen today, on the front of her left leg. I guess that's normal, since it's when I'm bending the leg back (the wrist) that it hurts the most.The vet visist won't be until next week, so we'll see how it all develops..
I took some pictures at todays walk, but didn't get any nice ones. But since it's boring with only text all the time I'll put some of them anyways..

Depressing

Well, didn't go too well today.
As I said before, I thought Vazy was better, so I went for a long walk in the forest. They were so happy to run freely after 2 weeks of short walks on leash. I was happy too, cause Vazy seemed to do good. I couldn't see any halting. But now, after a few hours resting and sleeping, she's as bad again. She screams when I bend her left front leg. I have to go to the vet again. I'm already on -20 000 kr and I don't manage to pay it back. This month I only have 500 kr left for the rest of the month. The last 4 months I've been paying more than 6000 in veterinary fees. I can never relax, cause there's always something happening. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. This is not normal. And still, I try to pay so much attention to them all the time, buying the best food, going for nice walks and all. But everything seems to go wrong anyway. Depressing..
I guess I have to get a job, but I don't know when I would have the time. That also makes less time for the dogs... argh......

ps. just noticed that within a 125 days I only have to pay the 10% "self risk" (what's it called?) to the insurance company, so it won't be so expensive hopefully....

Crazy

Happy new year!
It has been a bit hectic lately. A lot of people staying over and a lot of running around.
Vazy has hurt her leg, as I might have mentioned before. She is a better now. But it's impossible to keep her on leash for too long. She goes totally crazy, running from one side to the other, flying around when the leash stops her and running back again. I can see that she's still halting a bit, but she don't seem to get worse from a bit of running, and I think that must be better than her hurting herself on the leash. Tonight I barley saw any halting, eventhough she run this morning, so tomorrow I'm gonna try to go for a longer walk, then I'll see if she'll get worse. If so I have to get back on the leash and short walks.... But it don't hurt when I bend the front leg anymore. And it's definitley muscular, since she's only in a pain when she's cold and been lying down for a bit. She's not swollen or anything.. So I just hope it will pass.
My economy really can't take another veterinary visit now, and they will probably just run tests and all, just to say that she needs resting. But if she don't get even better in a week or two, I think I'll have to go anyway..
Hope to start the training again. Aila really needs it as well. She's going a bit crazy too.... not so easy. We've been really busy lately with a lot of people at our place. So there hasn't been as much time for the dogs lately..
But now it's a new year, and it's gonna be a good year. I can feel it!