Dance Into Spring!

I have wanted to jump back into the Dogs Can Dance Challenge for a while now.  My last entries were a couple of videos that I had of Speedy that I entered in the spring event last year.  I had filmed nothing new for the Challenge since the last time Speedy and I filmed.

So, it was time to get going again!!  Over the winter Dean and I took "From Dream to Dance" with Judy Gamet to get a routine put together.  I can't say it is the best routine I have ever created, but it's pretty good, and Dean enjoys performing it, which is what counts the most!

It wasn't quite finished when Dean and I filmed.  In fact, we tried filming once and didn't get a take!  Then we filmed again and got a take.  Dean did a really good job, and I decided to submit it in the "Dance into Spring" event!

I really expected a low score and comments that would effectively say, "that is not up to par!"  I kept thinking that the judges (or at least some of them) would remember the work I did with Speedy and say that Dean and I were lacking that level of . . . whatever Speedy and I had.

Well, we got our results yesterday, and I was absolutely delighted with the comments that we got.  They were far more positive than I ever could have expected!

First of all, here is our performance!



Dean dog is my big sweet boy and that really came through in this performance!

Some of the comments we got . . .

"I think Dean Dog does well to the beat and it was a wise music choice."

"This is a team… lots of love and respect and happiness to work together"  (Along with a NINE as our teamwork score!!!!!)

"There were a few places in the routine where he was not in position.  However, he is well trained and smart because there were also a couple of places where he anticipated the next change of position before you signaled it . . .

Please refer to my response for number 3.  When a dog anticipates its next move, it is because the team works well together.  The dog knows the handler's body language even before an obvious signal is given."

"You are a beautiful team with much enthusiasm and heart. It was pleasing watching you work together, thank you for that performance."

So, the judges saw a lot in our performance that I didn't.  But I see it now.

Oh, and our score was 136!!  That is a very good score!  You only need 100 to earn the level!

I really needed a good experience like this with Freestyle, and I am pleased as can be that the judges enjoyed watching Dean perform!

They also offered very good quality and do-able suggestions for improvement!  I appreciate that.

I am very excited now to improve this routine and to video it again in June.  I think Dean and I have a bright future in the Dogs Can Dance Challenge.  I think now I will be able to really focus on bringing out the best in Dean Dog and not be concerned about living up to what Speedy and I did before.

It feels good to feel good about Freestyle again!

Love of a Sport . . . You Have it or You Don't!

Yesterday, I packed up all three dogs and we took a trip to the Mardi Growl in Willow Grove, PA!  Tessa was entered in Intermediate Freestyle and we performed her "Just the Way You Are" routine.  Dean Dog and Bandit were entered in Innovations.  Dean was entered so I would be able to bring him along to the event!  We performed his "Smooth" routine with a toy simply to amuse him (and he was definitely amused!).  With Bandit I was doing more, "This is the Freestyle ring and it's a fun place!" work!

We didn't go for the whole day.  Tessa was scheduled after lunch, and Innovations is always at the end of the day, so we didn't need to leave home until mid-morning.  The dogs were in a thrilled frenzy because I was packing up the car - I even put Bandit's smaller metal crate out there - and cutting up treats!  Once all gear and dogs were loaded up in the Fit, we had a pleasant, and uneventful 2+ hour trip out to the site.  It was a new site for the club, and I had a little trouble finding it, but did get there.

Although the site is in somewhat of an urban setting, I was pleased to find that the entry to the building was around back and the whole lot was quite secluded from the busy road out in front.  I would have felt perfectly safe crating out of the car, at least for short periods of time, but . . . it was hot out!  Too hot to leave dogs out there for long.  That meant they all had to go in!  I wasn't sure how that was going to work.  The last time I took all three of them to an event together, Bandit really struggled.  But . . . he did much better this time.  I guess more experience with crating at classes has helped him.  He seemed to understand the deal this time around.

During the lunch time, I took Tessa out in the ring to familiarize her, since we had never been there before.  Bandit, with a towel over the front of the crate, and the top zipped shut, did just fine!

Bandit's triumph of the day was staying quiet in his crate the entire time Tessa and I performed!!  Oh, I said her cues VERY quietly so he wouldn't hear me across the room.  Still, knowing Bandit - I'll bet he did hear me!  He stayed quiet like a champ over there!

Now . . . Tessa.  And the tie-in to the title of this blog.  * Sigh *

She was in a good mood, she was wiggly and waggly. But . . . as we prepared to go into the ring, a young girl noticed Tessa and started walking straight toward her.  I asked the mother to please keep her back.  The mother agreed, and moved her off, and then promptly turned her attention to a table of awards, and the girl circled back and started coming toward us again.  I moved Tessa out of the area.  The mother finally got the child and moved her further away.

Then . . . as I entered the ring with Tessa's jump prop, I accidentally banged it against the ring gate and Tessa startled.

So . . . I had a somewhat shut-down Tessa in the ring.  I will say this - she worked through it.  There were some spots in the routine where she got "stuck" in a sit, but she did all of the moves, and, of course, her jumping was absolutely lovely!

I was proud of her.  I know she was nervous.  She gave me everything she had.

Later, after she was crated, I had a moment of clarity.  I was walking across the room, and suddenly, there along the wall, back toward the back side of the room there were all of these jump stantions!!!  Stantion after stantion after stantion were lined up against the white wall!!  And suddenly I realized that I would set the entire course up myself if I could - I wanted to run Agility with Tessa in the worst way right in that moment!!

It's not that I love Agility more than Freestyle - I don't.  But TESSA does.

It wasn't really Agility I wanted in that moment, I wanted that Tessa - the one flying through the air, confident, bursting with joy!  The one who comes off the course with an attitude of, "we did that together and that was AWESOME!!!"  Not . . . "well, that happened, and we're leaving now".

Of course, I knew that before - it wasn't news to me.  But it hit me on a sensory level when my eyes were filled with all of those stantions!!

And then, I had in front of me, a young boy just bursting with enthusiasm for everything that was happening.  I could see that there is real potential in Bandit to love this!

I really need to start thinking of Bandit as my Freestyle dog. 

Yes, I'd like that last Intermediate leg with Tessa.  I'd hate to leave that undone, if we can get it.  But . . . I need to start focusing on Bandit's Freestyle training, choreography for Bandit, and preparing Bandit to be my Freestyle partner.  Then, Tessa can go along for the ride when Bandit and I go to compete, and eventually we will probably pick it up.

Yesterday, Bandit loved everything about the competition.  Including his time in the ring!!

That's where I need to put my mind right now!

Heeling and Rally

I set out, about a year or so ago, to really work on Tessa's heeling to try to make it fluent, pretty, enthusiastic.

I failed.  I tried many things.  I took Precision Heeling, IPO Heeling, and FCI Heeling through the Fenzi Academy!!  Tessa enjoyed the classes, but her end result heeling didn't end up changing all that much.  She has a mean pivot into heel and side, but when we are moving forward, she still lags, and is often tentative.

I was pretty much on the point of giving up on it . . . and, as happens so very often, something unexpected happened!!

This session I decided to sign Bandit up (at bronze) for Rally Skillbuilding 1.  I had no intention of doing any Rally with him at all, except maybe as a retirement sport years and years from now!  But I saw the class, and decided I wanted to do it.

There was some nostalgia involved in the decision.  Speedy and I got started with Rally.  We got into dog sport competition with Rally.  Those memories of Speedy and I training and competing in Rally, as well as our early years in Freestyle, were our "heyday" in a sense.  I think I felt like maybe I could recapture some of what Speedy and I had if I did Rally with Bandit . . .

Wrong reason but right decision.

Just from what little I have done with Bandit for the Rally class, I am amazed to see that he absolutely LOVES it!  I'm not sure why.  We have worked, almost entirely, on sits, downs, stands, and starting heeling.  But he clearly adores the work.  And his enthusiasm for it makes me love it!

And now it's not about Speedy or nostalgia or recapturing our glory days at all.  It's about doing something that Bandit seems to have a very strong affinity for!

So, while Bandit and I are having a party, I noticed an exercise that I thought might do Tessa some good!

There is a preliminary heeling exercises where you have the dog sit in heel, talk in an excited voice and feed treats, and then toss a cookie forward.

I saw that and thought, "hmmmmmmmmmmm"!!!

Tessa and I tried it.

Wow!

All I can say is . . . WOW!!

First of all, she thoroughly enjoyed the exercise.  She liked it when I had her in the sit in heel or side, and was talking to her in an excited tone of voice!  And she liked springing forward to get the treat that I had thrown ahead.

We completed that part and then the next step, and before I knew what was happening, Tessa was driving up into heel and was heeling with enthusiasm!

I don't know that it will be enough to carry over into our Freestyle competition in a week and a half, but long term . . . I think there might be some real possibilities for us!

Here is a video of Bandit doing some of the class exercises.



And here is Miss Tessa!  Look at her go!



Text

Paws - Follow Up

In just three training sessions we have progressed to a paw touch to a cane, and starting to put the behavior on cue!

Paws

Bandit is a year old now, and I have yet to teach him a good understanding of paw work.

I have tried to introduce paw work to him several different ways.  First, the old, use a treat lure over the head, click when a paw raises a little, and treat method.  He never really seemed to associate the click with the paw raising.

I also tried the method by which I taught Dean.  It was easy peasy.  I picked up Dean's paw, clicked and gave him a treat.  Picked it up again, clicked and gave him a treat.  After doing that twice, he gave me his paw readily when I put my hand out.  Did not work for Bandit.  Like Speedy, although not quite as emphatically, he did not like me taking his paw like that.  Dean didn't care.  I won't continue a process that is aversive to an individual dog, so we dropped that quickly.

Finally, at a targeting workshop, I learned a nifty method where you have the do lying down and use body motion.  Bandit got the foundation game quickly, but I didn't have any guidance after the workshop to take it to the next step, and we just kind of let it go after that.

Yesterday I got fed up.  I decided to just toss it all in the trash can and train him the way I trained Speedy.

Speedy did NOT like to have his paws touched.  Bandit isn't super crazy about it, but Speedy truly hated it.  So, I taught him by putting a board on the ground and I shaped him to touch that board with a paw.  Speedy loved shaping and working with objects, so that happened quickly.  Once Speedy was touching the board on the floor readily, I lifted it up slightly so Speedy had to reach up a bit to touch it.  He understood right away.  Then I took a dowel and held it the way I had been holding the board.  Bingo!  He touched the dowel.  I put that on a cue, "tap".  At that point I did not care which paw he used.  "Tap" just meant "touch it with one paw".  Finally I stretched out my hand, offered it to him, and said "tap".  He ever-so-gently reached up with his paw and touched my hand.  It was very sweet.  Speedy was never one to "shake hands", but he loved raising a paw to touch a hand, a leg, a knee, a prop, a cane . . . whatever.

Speedy doing a paw touch to his yellow cane from our "Here Comes the Sun" routine

Speedy lightly touching his paw to my arm as he performed his "up up".  From "Reunion"

Just a single paw lift in this photo on which I used a special effect

So, my Bandito!  It seemed to me that if Speedy had learned successfully through that method, Bandit would progress quickly, and he did!!  I am finding, very much to my surprise, that their basic learning styles are very similar.

We started with a board on the floor.  At first he offered two paws each time, so I turned the board to encourage him to touch with just one.  Then I raised it, and then raised it up some more.

He understood each step perfectly and he got it immediately!



Next time we work on this (today, if possible!), I plan to change out the board for a dowel, and to see if we can start adding the "tap" cue.  As with Speedy, I will transition to a specific cue for each paw once he really has the idea.

This will eventually turn into paw touches to my hand, paw touches to my leg or knee, paw touches to props, paw touch to my arm from hind legs, paw raises - close and at a distance, chorus line kicks (sitting and standing), and, I am hoping, crossed paws!!

The Crew . . . Through the Years

One lone dog . . . (2000 - 2001)

A Duo (2001 - 2002)

A Trio (2002 - 2006)

The Crew (2006 - 2010)

FIVE!!  (2010 - 2011)

Sammie is in there!  He's behind Dean, sniffing!!

Back to Four (2011 - early 2014)

Three (Winter 2014)

Briefly a Pair (Spring 2014)

Present Day

Happy First Birthday, Bandit

It was exactly one year ago today when I got the news I had been waiting for.  "5 males born via emergency c section.  All doing fine . . . Decent photos once we have all had some sleep."  A litter of 5 puppies was born and I was the 5th person on the deposit list.  I just made the cut - I was getting a puppy!

I wanted, more than anything, to be happy.  A new puppy born.  A puppy who was going to be mine in just a couple of months.  Puppies are happy news, something to be overjoyed about.

The last thing I felt was joy - even though I knew I was supposed to.  All I wanted at that moment was what I had wanted for the last month and a half - my Speedy back.  On that day I would have gladly traded a lifetime with my future puppy for just a couple more years with my boy.  There was a lot more bitter than sweet for me on February 27, 2014.

The universe could not be more different one year later.  I look back now on that day, and the 9 weeks that followed, with enough joy and nostalgia to make up for what I didn't feel back then!  Knowing and loving my puppy colors that time with emotions that I could barely fake at that time, much less feel.

I knew that then - I knew that when the day came when my puppy was in my life and I knew his name and who he would be that I would love him.  And I was certain that the time would come when I wouldn't trade him for anything else in the world.

And I say this now - being there is so much better than being back at that time, knowing that I would get there, but hardly having a shred of hope for it.

Bandit is my puppy, my little Bandito, my boy, one of my Border Collie boys!

I can hardly imagine life without him, and the days of Sammie, Speedy, and Maddie seem like a lifetime ago.

But today isn't about them - today is Bandit's day!

Watching him grow from just born (in pictures) to the day we met him, and then in person, was like a daily miracle.  So much of my year was spent looking at him to see, "did he grow again?!!?"

Tiny baby Bandit . . .

Photo credit:  E. Phares

7 weeks old . . .

Photo credit:  E. Phares

It has been quite a ride.  I remember almost every detail of his puppyhood.  And I can't believe how much he has grown and changed.  It really seems like just yesterday when I used to pick him up, tuck him under my arm, and carry him everywhere!  No more of that now - he navigates the world on his own four paws!

I can easily call to mind how he used to bite the yellow heads off of the dandelions in the spring and eat them, how he used to hunker down in the grass and watch Dean retrieve on the lawn, the long summer afternoons when he would nap in his crate as I watched TV, playing "pass the puppy" with him at training class, starting his training classes when he was still such a little guy, his first trip to the beach and him learning to swim in the bay, his first hike at King's Gap, and day after day of play with his hollee roller balls!

More recently we have started training together and I am amazed at what an awesome training partner he is shaping up to be - eager to learn, wanting to connect and jump into whatever we are doing together!

He has carved out a place in my heart that is just as big as Speedy's place.  And it is all his own place - Bandit is fully himself, an individual through and through.

Happy first birthday el Bandito!  I thank God every single day for this boy who constantly radiates joy and curiosity and an enthusiasm for living, and who has changed every one of us for the better!