Posts filed under ‘Training’
With Honours…
Graduate.
Graduate.
It was the end of an era today as we attended our last ever Puppy Gurus session: the advanced doggy test. Phoenix is just entering the “difficult” Teen-Wolf years and has decided that Puppy Gurus is the place to test the boundaries and play up, albeit only a little bit. After a slightly dodgy start (where we couldn’t get her to sit, wait or actually pay any attention at all) she clicked into training mode and we managed to pass the exam with relative ease. She was particularly excellent with the tricky-to-perfect Long-Distance-Instant-Down as well as the Walking-To-Heel-Past-Seated-Trainers-Who-Are-Distractingly-Eating-Pizza (a Puppy Guru’s speciality move it seems) and managed all of the other tasks too, so all’s well that ends well.
Back to School.
- In the Garden.
We’re back at Puppy Gurus to learn advanced obedience for the next six weeks. This is really about training the humans more than the canine… We’re going to be learning the “Instant Long Distance Down”, target training using a target stick, the agility weave plus a novelty trick or two just to keep us on our toes. There was also talk about re-enacting scenes from Hamlet but we think this was a joke…?
In other news, Phoenix has grown big enough to now sproing off, around and over the sofa, plus when our guard is down, to break into the bedroom and briefly go ape on the bed. We try not to think of hip scores and fragile puppy bones – denial is always the first course of action in this household. At the height of hysterical excitement it’s like her brain short-circuits and she tries to do everything at once; sit, stand, chew, wag, steal, shake hands, bark and dribble. It’s a sight to see.
The Graduate.
Officially Socialised.
Phoenix graduated from Puppy Gurus tonight! She’s officially socialised. She is now the proud possessor of a purple rosette and a certificate. We haven’t attempted to pin the rosette on her crate because she would just chew it into tiny purple shreds. But it’s there in spirit.
Phoenix can now “do” – sit, up (which is stand), down (which is er…down), wait, come, stay, fetch, drop, shake paw, stand (which is stack), heel, off.
'Stifficate.
About two weeks ago she suddenly clicked into “learning mode” with a vengeance and is now at the stage where she can be taught just about anything and can pick it up almost immediately; so far we’ve taught particle physics (God don’t get her started on quarks), brain surgery and hatha yoga. We think this is because she has settled into her environment and is really happy and confident in every aspect of her home and routine. She knows what’s what and what’s expected of her. She’s also sleeping through the night now too. Which is nice.
How to get Your Dog to Do Whatever You Want.
All of these except the chive flavoured one.
Who knew that Primula Cheese contained a secret ingredient that initially captures your dog’s attention and then cunningly hypnotises it into doing whatever you want. One squeeze of the tube and your animal companion is your cheesy chopped love slave forever more… Hurrah!
Mmmm! Cheesy Goodness.
In perhaps not an unrelated link, we weighed Phoenix today and she comes in at 14.1 kilos which is quite a lot for her breed and her age. She’s gonna be a big gal (as nearly everyone who meets her says after glimpsing the size of her paws.)
The Pack Expands.
With Fred at the River.
Although they met when Phoenix was six weeks old, Freddie (who is Tim’s son) had not spent some “quality time” with Phoenix since she arrived here, due to his pressing international engagement schedule and general jet set lifestyle. The two were reunited today and much play ensued gilded with yaps, barks, nips and squeals from all parties.
A.D.D. hits Show Ring Horror.
Ringcraft pre-stack positioning.
First proper ringcraft session for Phoenix under Judge Glenys Sykes of Daraquist English Setters. Phoenix was typically excited and indeed excitable in the midst of twenty-odd other dogs. She was highly praised for her spirit (!), although a little more control would certainly have made the evening less like a wrestling match and more like a dream walk in the ring…
…still, everyone was extremely complimentary (at least to our faces) and hopefully Tim’s handling skills will slowly improve alongside Phoenix’s concentration.
Ringcraft examination.
There were lots of really nice people at the session and we met some of the heavy hitters in the gundog show world .
Phoenix’s status as an only dog at home seem to mark her out as being notably more “animated” than any other puppies present, all of whom came from multi-dog households. Once again, all we can do is persist with her canine socialisation programme, and hope that we can get her as focused in the ring as she is at home.
Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow.
Rewarded for Sitting for Tim.
Sticking her tongue out at The Man.
Megadog.
Meet 'n' Greet
Ringcraft Day! Phoenix was invited to a meet ‘n’ greet at the Ilfracombe and District Canine Society, with a view to joining in the ringcraft training a little later on. We were warmly welcomed by Maria and friends, to an extremely busy dog and people packed town hall, where ringcraft practice was already in full swing. This wasn’t a quiet gathering or bohemian soiree, more like a full on dog-fest with over 30 canines and fifty people.
We were there for two hours where both Phoenix (and us) engaged in non-stop chin and tail wagging (respectively). Notable meetings for Phoenix included a gaggle of King Charles Spaniel puppies, a truly enormous dog Weimaraner, a lovely maternal long haired dachshund, various golden retrievers and a plethora of Staffies. All of whom were very happy to get to know Phoenix.
We had a high level of excitement all throughout the evening but Phoenix calmed down by the end of the evening. Extreme doses of dog seem to be working already.The other notable event of the evening was meeting the first (and perhaps only?) person to know what breed Phoenix was. He came over and said “I used to look after 12 of these”!
Emancipation Proclamation.
Heeling on the Common
Phoenix is eleven weeks old today. It’s quite hard to get your head around the fact she’s only been on the earth for less than three months. It feels like she’s been with us forever (in a good way – well, mostly!).
Perhaps even more importantly, Phoenix is now allowed on the ground and can socialise with other dogs. Something that both we and she were desperately keen to get started with in order to desensitise her to other dogs, and learn that not every dog is an exciting puppy-like playmate (although some still will be, which is always a bonus in life).
With this in mind, after following the usual morning routine of clicker training and heel walking at home, we headed out for Torrington Common to see what canine introductions we could rustle up for the little’un.
To begin with, Phoenix was excited but “contained” and walked very closely with us without too much prompting. She met an extremely playful Malamute with whom she had a great romp for five minutes or so. Next up was a grumpy collie who also taught her a crucial lesson about canine etiquette (i.e. not all dogs are puppies and not everyone wants to play). 😦
More Heeling on the Common,
Finally, amongst a rather sparse showing, were a pair of Chows who despite their reputation as being the dogs most likely to eat their owners*, turned out to be relatively friendly and of course extremely fluffy. Everyone enjoyed a good sniffing session. Later in the day we went back and met eight dogs who gave Phoenix a kaleidoscope of different reactions from gentle playful Clumber Spaniels to a snarly Black Labrador who we gave a wide berth.
Yet More Heeling on the Common.
Overall, a pretty intensive day for Phoenix but mission was definitely accomplished in terms of canine socialisation V.1
*this was quoted in an episode of Pushing Daisies and is of course untrue.
Full On Wrestling Match!
Puppy Gurus Day! This was the first time we took Phoenix to her (our?) obedience class. Unfortunately, her vaccination status is such that she’s still not able to be let on the ground with other dogs. However, she was able to “mingle” with the other vaccinated puppies in class.
She started as she meant to go on, by submissively urinating on the floor in front of an ultra-bouncy collie. It was all a little frustrating because her lack of contact with other new dogs means that she “over-reacts” when she does finally get to socialise with the canine kind. All our previous training obviously gets filed away somewhere in the deep recesses of her doggy mind.
Hopefully, this is something that will improve rapidly after tomorrow when we can start mixing her with the general dog population. On the plus side, Phoenix did (eventually) remember how to sit, lie down and stand after bribery with garlic laced liver chunks (yum!). Ultimately, she was more interested in meeting and greeting the other five pups. Roll on tomorrow and the biog wide world….
Belatarr Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla. 