Poodles, Dog Agility, Dog Training… and Knitting

Archive for September, 2011

Nah, nah, I can’t hear you!

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 Posted in life with poodles, training | Comments Off

Well, I'm home from my weekly agility lesson with master trainer Debbie Berkley, who commented: "I see Rush is going through the juvenile 'I can't hear you!' stage." Fast forward a little further into our lesson: "I see he's doing ...

Shaved off all that curly puppy fur….

Wednesday, September 28th, 2011 Posted in Videos, life with poodles, training | Comments Off

Rush had a huge growth spurt yesterday--woke up at least an inch taller. Yesterday Paige put her hands on Rush and said "he's thin". And I said "Monday he actually had some padding and now he's an inch taller." Her ...

Dancer gets her AKC Novice Standard title

Sunday, September 25th, 2011 Posted in trials | Comments Off

Almost exactly four years after her first run in AKC Novice Standard, Dancer got her NAP title on Friday. This weekend was not a joyful teeter, but she did three of them (three standard runs), earning a Novice Standard Q ...

Forgot to socialize for this…

Friday, September 23rd, 2011 Posted in life with poodles | Comments Off

Apparently, I forgot to socialize for stepladders. I had to clean out the gutter this morning, and when I was carrying the stepladder, it was very clear that Rush thought I was some sort of strange monster. He barked and ...

Elly will test any fence you have….

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 Posted in life with poodles | Comments Off

For a whole year, Elly hasn't gotten into the vegetable garden (which has a fence separating it from the rest of the yard). Apparently, it's because nothing appealed to her. Tonight, I couldn't find her. Looked all over the yard. ...

A triumph of classical conditioning….

Thursday, September 22nd, 2011 Posted in training | Comments Off

Today, while Rush ate his lunch standing on the grooming table, I quickly dremeled all 16 toenails and two dewclaws. He held his feet up for me. About a month ago, to my extreme embarrassment, I caught his ear hair ...

Rush and the teeter board

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011 Posted in training | Comments Off

Well, after all the issues with Dancer and the teeter, I was halfway holding my breath when I asked Rush to give the teeter board a try today. He walked across it and stood at the end. I clicked and ...

Second Basic Obedience Class, and more

Monday, September 19th, 2011 Posted in training | Comments Off

We're continuing to work on attention, recalls, walking nicely on leash--and today we added stay to the mix. The in-class exercise was to simply tell the dog to sit, then reward right up to the release, clicking from time to ...

Whistle Recall

Friday, September 16th, 2011 Posted in Videos | Comments Off

I've been working recalls with Rush. I took Dancer and Rush together to the Delta today, and I worked on recalls there. This is what I've got right now, and I think it's pretty amazing for a 4-month-old puppy. Dancer and ...

Puppy Training…

Tuesday, September 13th, 2011 Posted in dog food recipes, training | Comments Off

I started a Basic Obedience class with Rush. While he's been learning very well indeed, I wanted to make sure he knew how to work with me when there are other dogs around. Our first class was yesterday. At first ...