11 Months

Wow I've had Zap for 8 months already......feels like he's always been here though. I can't imagine life without the crazy dude. Anyway, we have been working on many new things,a nd also many old things as well.

For starters, we have started crate games again after forgetting about them for awhile. Zap is so funny because it's easy to get him excited about something, even running to his crate! He zips to his crate, lays down and just tenses up while I create tons of distractions, then when he is released *vroom* he goes straight for his toy for some serious tugging.

We have started some weave entry work just this week. Nothing serious yet, just running straight through a set of 2 poles. Also, he is getting into a 4on position on a low teeter, which he just started this week. He had a run in with a full sized teeter on accident! He ran over, hopped from the ground up to the top end, then slammed it down and got into position like everything was normal. At least we know he isn't going to have a fear issue! But still not very funny thing for a puppy to do....

We have been doing some straight line jumps, as well as left and rights from extreme distance. I still refuse to introduce the tunnel again yet. Plus, I should wait until I have my heavy duty one, because Zap is so crazy he would probably tear up my cheap nylon one the first day we start using it!

Running contacts are....on and off. He has good days and bad. I'm not worrying about it too much at this point. I'm not happy with how loose his cik/cap are so I'm still working him bar-less for that.

We just overnighted our entry for the Silvia Trkman seminar in February 2011! Zap will be 15 months and hopefully will be ready for the novice handling day. Otherwise, I'll have to sub in Li. I'm also doing the motivation seminar on Wednesday....with Li for sure! Zap has motivation coming out of his ears!

That's about all I suppose! Other than agility of course we go on lots of walks and hikes, and Zap plays with the other dogs a lot. I'm going to start biking him now that the weather is nice and he is older. Also, when we walk, he keeps his head, ears, and tail down, and pulls on his fleece harness in a straight line like he is running from fire just like the sleddogs.....so maybe he is a future ski-jor/cani-cross/bike-jor dog in the making?!

Contacts are back!

So the past 2-3 sessions, Zap's contacts fell apart! He would run past the board or jump every time! But today his contacts were awesome! I'm so relieved that it was just a phase. I worked on left and rights. He missed a few but I wasn't running next to him parallel so I suppose that is why. He is getting much better though sometimes he randomly flips to the wrong side when I call out a direction.....silly boy! Working on sequences that work loose turning like left and right but also tight turning like cik and cap. Need to work more on sends and understanding with this I think. Bars WERE at 4-8 inches but he is so focused on processing the turn cue that he often plows through them, I guess he can't multitask with the "jump + direction" right now so I removed the bars. I'm going to work on jumping skills separate from turn cues for a awhile until he has both down solid, then combine them.

Left and Rights, Cik and Cap, Go ons

^ What our training sessions mainly consist of at the moment.

In the morning I usually work on cik and cap in the garage a little bit. This evening I took our work out to the agility field and worked on getting him to drive ahead to cik and cap, so combining "gogogo" and jump wraps. He was EXCELLENT!

At first I just had jumps 1, 2, and 4 set up. [Only set at 4 inches or lower don't worry] I stood between 1 and 2 and even staying there the entire time, directed him to jump 1, jump 2, wrap 4, jump 2, then wrap 1, then jump 2 while barely moving and just using verbals and arms! Then I took out jump 1. I stood about 10-15 feet away from the tire with zap on different sides each time and did left and right with jumps 3 and 4, varying which side I was on. He got most of them! I tried not to do much with my arms, as I want left and right commands on mainly verbals since I want to be able to handle from behind as well.

We Don't Need You.....

OBEDIENCE. No we don't. Not at all.

Anyway, I've decided to stop doing obedience training with Zap. I was so worried about our state deadline that I was being too much of a perfectionist with him. I never want to put that kind of pressure on him so I decided to stop all together and scratch from the fair and state. Yes it would have been neat to have a young puppy ace the level 2 class but I'm not after glory and records, and the minute Zap stops enjoying something, is the minute we quit.

But agility updates! We are re-starting running contacts soon so hopefully I will have an update on those soon! We are really focusing on left and rights and cik and cap. Also I'm working on waits, recalls, -some- heeling, and lots and lots of sends. Mostly though we just goof off...we won a tennis ball thrower at a mock trial and Zap loves playing fetch. I have been standing at the bottom of the yard and launching the balls uphill for him to get so he can work on some hill running. But the hill isn't very steep so it won't hurt him.

I'm pleased to say that we haven't had any agility field "ooopsies". I've been successful in keeping him away from full height equipment. He did accidently take a jump a but it wasn't set very high at all. That's the only thing I can think of! We are now taking tunnels completely out of the picture for a few months, the last thing I need is a tunnel addict. ;]

Over all, Zap seems to be a very happy puppy and that's what we strive for haha

Can you spell Perfection?

Z-A-P.
wow, so today I set up two jumps, a tire, a straight tunnel, then two more jumps all in a straight line. I had Zap run through it once and was using the words go-go-go-go. Previously, we have done only jumps in a row, so he thinks I mean only jumps. He did the first two jumps, ran around the tire and tunnel, then did the last two jumps. Too smart! So I did it again and used the words for the tire and tunnel and he ran all the way through at TOP SPEED. He faced forward the entire time even with me way behind him. Zap is so amazing! We have also been working on obedience and Zap has an excellent off lead heel, stand for exam, stays, and recall! We need to work on longer heeling patterns, longer stays, the figure 8, and the "front" position for the recall. But we should be ready for the fair in 3 weeks and my 8 month old puppy is going to PWN the adult dogs in level 2 obedience at state. haha

Class

Zap was great in class today! There were race cars practicing at the fairgrounds and he ignored all the people and noises! In the back during the obedience class we played and we worked on sending to the crate from a distance and stayiong in the crate while i dropped toys and treats and people walked by. Then we worked on sits, downs, and heeling. He heels sideways so he is really understanding the position. He sat in his crate quietly when I needed him to....overall, I was extremely impressed with my boy! He even tugs enthusiastically with distractions.

Running Contacts and Obedience

We have an 8 foot plank set at about 7-8 inches high currently that we are training contacts on. I have a jump set after it and Zap is running straight through the contact every time! We are doing contact sessions about once a week tops and he seems to be grasping the concept very well.

We are also working on our "waits", recalls, and heeling. His stays are getting better and we are working on sends to the table and lead outs from the table with lots of distractions. I am using the table as a variation of a crate in crate games. His recall is very solid and he is a very good retriever, haha. He is learning the heel position and he would have solid heeling right now if I wasn't so lazy/poorly motivated to train it. We also work on left and right spins and jumps wraps, though not often.