Raising a Riot

Field Training Class

This was the second week of Riot’s beginning field training class. 

He was supposed to take this class last year, but he got sick after the first class and we had to drop. In this case, it probably worked out for the best because I think both of us are a lot more ready for the class this year.

We started out on water yesterday and the first retrieve was of a Doken. We have a doken at home, but I’ve never managed to get much interest in it from either dog. We had one to familiarize the dogs with before we went up to the line. Riot really wanted nothing to do with it and I had to result to force fetching him to get him to hold it. Which he did quite nicely and even with lots of praise, he was not happy to be holding it. 

Since we had limited success with the introduction (re-introduction), I was worried what would happen on water. Riot does seem to be having some confidence issues when it comes to distance on water. He did launch himself right in on the first throw (which was the doken from a winger).  And swam nearly all the way out but got distracted by a bug, snapped at the bug and then came back. 

He doesn’t respond really well to “hey, hey, hey” and once his focus is lost, it’s really hard to get him to go back (both in water and on land). 

We did a couple of shorter throws with him with the dokens and we went out and got them and brought them back each time. He even brought them out of the water, but his hold did fall through after that. 

We then tried the bumper from the other station, which again was too far out. He was very hesitant leaving the shore on that throw and wouldn’t commit. A couple of shorter throws and we got him out to the bumpers. He does seem a lot more easily spooked on water than on land. His hold still wasn’t as solid as I’d like with the bumpers, but I did get the bumpers before they hit the ground.

Up next was land. We worked on line manners some and he’s doing pretty well. The first throw was very reminiscent of last week. He ran a little further toward the bumper before getting distracted and starting to sniff, I had to walk most of the way out to the bumper before he went oh hey this is what I’m supposed to do. He dropped it about half way back and I was having none of it. Even though Roger was telling me not to worry about it. I was putting that bumper back in his mouth and he was going to walk the rest of the way back to the line holding it — which he did quite nicely. 

Roger then did a really short throw with him and he went out, retrieved it, and brought it back to heel position very nicely. Finally!

We then did a throw that entered a bit of cover up a fairly steep hill, and Riot when right out, found it after a tiny search and brought it back holding all the way.

We got to repeat the marks a little while later and he did so much better on them. The first one he dropped almost right in front of me, and I was going to put it in his mouth and Roger stopped me and said to back up a few more steps and make him pick it up. Which he did and returned to me with it. The last mark was nearly picture perfect with his hold and return to heel :)

Finally Riot got to be used as a demo dog as a dog that had a pretty good hold already. He did really well letting Roger work with him even with his tail going a mile a minute. I think we were moments away from a complete wiggly mess, but he got through it and he held it except for one drop when no one was paying any attention to him, but it was just what was needed as part of the demo session. 

Overall I was thrilled, we do need to work on focus and confidence. Sue suggested I stay after and get someone to throw longer and longer marks on water for him. But I wanted to end of the high note of his last retrieves on land. Hopefully I can either get him out this week to work some on distance or if we get there early next week get some throws in.

Letting Dogs Be Dogs

This morning RIot and I headed out to Purecellville for a Hounds on the Town class. Today’s class was a short hike to practice heeling followed by some time off leash (or on long lines) for swimming.

I didn’t let Riot off leash before we went on the hike. There were some dogs that were already swimming on roaming around off leash when we got there. The whole scene was very exciting and stimulating for Riot. We practiced sit-stays and down-stays while waiting for the hike to start. Admittedly with all of the distractions, this was very hard for Riot. He did really well other that needing a few reminders of which position he was supposed to be in. He was approached by 5 or 6 dogs and did very well letting them sniff him. One did growl at him and Riot just kind of looked at him like “what’s your problem?”

The hike was fairly short as it was already quite hot. I made Riot walk at a heel on the flat sections of the hike, but on the hills I let him have more freedom and just walk on a loose leash. He did really well. This was probably more of a challenge than he was ready for with so many dogs as distractions, but he did well.

The heeling I made him do was not the formal obedience heeling, but just walking by my side (as would be acceptable for field or just normal walking). I’ve been distinguishing the difference by my arm position. Arms down at my sides is casual heeling, arm in front of me is obedience heeling. He did have him heel about 20-30 feet formally which he switched to very nicely. The walk was too long and too hot to ask him for that the entire way. 

After we got back from the hike, the dogs hit the pond. Riot enjoyed swimming and even retrieved a couple of bumpers before a border collie took his bumper away while he was showing another dog how to jump in. We never did get our bumper back :( 

There were approx. 40 dogs around and Riot went and visited nearly all of them. He was very polite and well mannered and it was nice seeing him interacting with dogs in such a casual environment. There was one border collie that he just couldn’t get enough of. She was a younger girl and I’m not sure if she was spayed or not. 

I finally had to go and get him to leave this poor girl alone. I put him on a sit-stay while her owner was putting her into another yard that was fenced off. I released him right as the gate was being closed and he made a beeline and got there right as someone was opening it snuck in. That was the only time all day he did not listen to me. I went in after him and made him down before he got a walk of shame out of the yard. Other than that one incident, he listened to me incredibly well despite all the distractions. I was able to call him to me whenever/wherever and even put him on stays with all the chaos. 

He’s so funny. There was a shepherd that was barking at everything and he just stopped and looked at him with the quizzical look on his face like “why are you doing that?” 

After all this excitement it was back to work. We went and met Leslie for our very first force fetch session. Riot worked really well for her and I’ve got my homework to work on with him. Fingers crossed this goes well. 

Handling 3 - Week 2

Tonight Riot jumped 24 inches for all 4 sequences. This didn’t seem to phase him at all after jumping 20 inches all weekend. 

The first sequence of the night I had a lot of problems adding in lateral motion where I didn’t need it. Once I stopped moving laterally, the sequence came together nicely. This sequence had a couple of really tight threadles — which were good since Riot needs to work on collection. He also got distracted for a minute watching the dog run the sequence on the other side of the ring. He just stood and watched for a minute and then came back to work.

Our second sequence we did a really nice job on. There was another tight threadle that Riot was able to collect nicely for.

The third sequence we picked up speed coming out of the tunnel and did a pinwheel into a serpentine. Riot did really well following my direction. Maybe too well as we had to repeat the serpentine a few times because I kept dropping my arm too soon which was pulling Riot in before taking the last jump. Sometimes he’s almost too sensitive to body cues — but he’s certainly going to make me a better handler.

For our last sequence, we had a threadle after the table. The first time through the sequence there was some hesitation on Riot’s part getting on the table (whoa, big table after the 16” table he had seen all weekend). The threadle was no problem, but we repeated the beginning part again with a lot more drive to the table.

Handling 3 Week 5

Week 5 already? Time sure flies when you’re having fun!

Riot had a really good week. This week because of the way the groups were slit up, there were no other 20s in his group, so we jumped 24 for all 4 sequences.

I finding with Riot that he is very body aware and I need to fully support obstacles and make sure he has full committed before going on. Just the slightest turn of the shoulder is enough to turn him away in a lot of cases. This is good for the tight, technical sequences but it’s forcing me to become a better handler too.

I’m really pleased with how he did. I tried a three jump lead out pivot for one sequence, but I didn’t like the drive I got with that. I was able to try it again with a two jump lead out and front cross after jump three that worked out nicely with a much more drive-y dog. I’m not sure if the lack of drive had to do with it being our 3rd sequence of the night or if that large of a lead out is problematic.

The one thing we do need to work on is Riot need to be looking for me when he comes out of tunnels and chutes. He gives not thought to finding me upon exiting and will just go and find something interesting unless I’m calling to get his attention. I need to remember this, but I expect him to at least be aware of where I am.

Quick Bumper Session

I worked from home and took advantage of the semi-nice weather and the fact that it was still light out and went out and threw some bumpers for Riot. I really need to get this dog through CC and FF, but I’ve yet to figure out how to work it into my schedule. This is only the second time we’ve been out with bumpers this year. Both sessions Riot would get within 2 to 5 feet and drop the bumper. He knows “hold” and since he obviously doesn’t have an understanding with what he’s supposed to do with the bumpers upon return, I decided to try something out today. Now remember, this is the dog that wouldn’t bring anything back for the first 6 months. So I have to remember how huge strides we’ve made.

I sat him next to me, put a bumper in his mouth and told him to hold. I told him what a good dog he was and then told him to give. Next I threw the bumper and told him to hold when he was about 6 feet away from me. He stopped, sat, and looked at me still holding the bumper. I told him here and he dropped the bumper and came to me. I put him back where he was, put the bumper back in his mouth, went back to my position, and again told him here which resulted in him hesitantly moving towards me, but with the bumper in his mouth. We repeated this a few times with very short throws — about 8 to 10 feet and I saw a light bulb go off as he started to understand what was expected of him. He got tons of praise for holding his bumper.

I now realize that I spent so much time working on getting him to bring items back, but I never taught him what was expected of him once he did. I’ve accepted the dropping of the bumper within a few feet of me because that was certainly a lot better than where we started from. Now I need to change my expectations and actually tell the dog the expectations have changed too.

I love how excited he gets when we go out and work bumpers. Even when he didn’t want to bring them back, he was always very enthusiastic.

Contacts Practice

Our contacts are coming along. I took the boys over to ACA to work contacts for a little while this afternoon. Riot nailed all of his contacts in his first working session.

After I worked Cisco, and brought Riot out for his second session, he was a bit more amped. I wrapped him around a jump and he took the dog walk without me giving him a command. He completely blew off the contact. I’m not sure if it was him being amped or the fact I didn’t say “walk-it” that caused him to blow it off. The next time around, he again stopped a little short of the bottom. Over compensation of before? Other than that he hit all his contacts the second session. I also upped the jump to 22 and 24 inches on him and he didn’t have any problems with that either.

Like always, eventually things seem to come together with Riot. It’s not necessarily that I need to fix things with him. It’s more I think he needs to understand and sort it out in his own head.

I’m looking forward to seeing how he does on a standard course. There are a few run throughs in November I’m going to try and take him to to get him used in running different environments.

Last Night of Classes

Last night was Riot’s last Contacts & Weaves and Handling 2 Classes.

Contacts and Weaves

In contacts and weaves we practiced measuring since I (along with a few others) requested practice. Fortunately Riot should probably measure under 22 inches. We were getting between 21.5” and 22.25” depending on how wiggly and relaxed he was. He is taller than I thought he was going to be, but not as tall as I feared he was last week.

He had some nice grid work. And his weaves were pretty good. Elsie had us doing a set of 10 followed by a set of 6 and vice versa. We didn’t get a chance to do any teeter work, but we’ve been working the newly resurfaced teeter in the basement some this week.

As for his contacts, they’re getting better. They’re actually looking really nice when I’m on the left. He’s still not driving into position from the right that has everyone scratching their heads.

Handling 2

For handling 2, we did a novice jww course last night. It was the first full course Riot has seen. Riot didn’t do too bad. We had some issues with the lead out (I think more handler than dog related). And Riot broke his start line stay for the first time. I’m pretty please with the way he did.

We’re taking Handling 2 again next session. It’s a really fun class and we get to work on some pretty challenging sequences.

Class Week 5

In Contacts and Weaves we spent a lot of time dissecting his contacts problem. He’s got a great dog walk and teeter when he’s on the left, but on the right, he’s stopping a few feet short of the bottom. Eventually we got him driving to the bottom. The a-frame he was more hesitant on than usual. He was pausing at the top and driving towards the edges on his way down. Overall I was very happy with our progress tonight. We also did some practice on our weaves. I layered a second set of weaves between the poles he was working and myself and he stayed in. We also did a bunch of practice on the tire while we were waiting our turn. I was getting some very nice distance on that too.

Next was our handling 2 class and the sequences were from last weekend’s open or excellent jumpers run. Riot did really well. I made a handling mistake on the end of our first sequence and then he was not trilled about repeating and things kind of fell apart. Our second sequence I had thrown the leash in a place that I thought would be out of the way, but Riot did the first two jumps and decided to bring me the leash. He was fixated on the jump with the rest of our attempts with that sequence.

The next one we did fairly well, he lost focus between two of the jumps, but I called his name and got him right back on track. I got extra tickets for doing a good job of keeping my eye on the dog and keeping moving.

Our last sequence we nailed. We did it as a distance exercise and Riot had no problems with it.

Tonight there was a double and a triple in our sequences. This was the first time he had seen either and there weren’t any problems with them.

Field Training

Today was the PVGRC’s field training. Riot actually brought back a bumper on land!!!! This is the first time he’s brought back a bumper at a field training day.

He brought the first bumper back on a short mark which we made shorter. The second mark was longer. I probably should have shortened it up more, but I didn’t. He ran out to the bumpers multiple times, but failed to bring it back.

On water, he seemed timid. He did eventually bring back three bumpers, but on the longer swims he’d go out a little ways and look confused and start heading back.

Overall I really can’t complain. I think he’s getting the concepts, he brought back some bumpers and once I force fetch him, I think we’ll have something happening.

I always find it interesting how excited he gets for all this until he gets out to the bumper and then he’s like, eh… it’s not big deal.

We have seen progress at every field training day, so I really can’t complain. We’ve got one more day next month. So hopefully we’ll continue to see improvement there.

Rally and Field Training

Riot had a busy weekend. Friday night, he had a rally lesson with Cisco and Berkley. Cisco and Berkley got to go first doing novice exercises so Riot had to wait about an hour before he got his turn. He was a very good boy and waited patiently for his turn.

This was his (and my) first exposure to the advanced level exercises. We learned what the exercises were and practiced them and ran through an advanced level course. The course we did twice. Once on leash and then again off leash. He did very well off leash. We probably would have passed. We do need to work some more on backing up, standing, and of course heeling. But overall he did quite well.

Saturday was our first field training class. It’s a beginning field training class offered by the PVGRC. There was a lot of talk so Riot had to wait patiently in the car (which he did). After that we brought the dogs out to see where they are. After all the work I’ve done with him getting him to bring back bumpers, he wouldn’t bring back a bumper on land. Not sure if it was the distance or the fact someone else was throwing the bumper or the new surroundings.

Next was water. After his refusal to bring back bumpers on land and the fact he’s been swimming exactly once and never retrieved anything on that swim, I had no idea what to expect. First we tossed two bumpers just a short distance into the water. The first time, Riot brought back a stick instead (I’ve never had him go after a stick). He did go back and get the bumper after that. The second bumper he also brought back without a problem. Yay! The next throw was a little further and in a narrow section of water between two pieces of land. He swam out no problem and Sue said even before he picked it up, he was going to bail and get out on the island. Sure enough him and the bumper ended up on the island. He came back to me sans bumper. After our experience on land, I really can’t complain.

We still have a lot of work to do with retrieving. Poor Chris has now been recruited for bumper throwing. His first assignment was Sunday night. Good thing we keep the sessions short.