Tory @ Sammamish Kennel Club

Tory earned his second Novice leg on Saturday, January 14, at Sammamish KC in Puyallup.  He earned 1st place with a score of 197.5 under Judge David Maurer.   The stays were particularly challenging (but they are not on the video) because the Collie next to Tory got up and ran to the ring exit.  Tory was the last dog on the end, closest to the ring exit.  The Collie's owner followed the dog, along with ring stewards.  A lot of close activity that Tory did a great job of ignoring!  Thanks to Ingrida for video taping!   Thanks to Judy for going in the ring to get our award because I was showing Breeze at the time the class ended!

Five hours later Tory went in the Beginner Novice B ring and earned another 1st place with a score of 197+ (winner of the run-off) under Judge Chris Cornell.   Thanks to Ingrida for video taping!

Unfortunately the weather and breed ring conflicts prevented me from showing Tory in obedience the next two days at Puyallup.   Oh well, we'll have more opportunities to finish our CD & BN in the future!



Snow Breeze

We ended up with about six inches of snow at my house today.  When I finally pushed the patio gate open to let the dogs out in the big yard, Breeze took off.   Then she discovered one of her buried basketballs -- much to her delight!   (I have no idea where the background noise is coming from in the video.  It sounds like my teeth are chattering, or there's a woodpecker on my shoulder.  Hmmmm!)

We braved the weather this past Saturday & Sunday to make our conformation "debut" at the Puyallup Dog Shows.   When we first arrived Friday afternoon to set up and walk around, she was a bit taken aback by the vendors' dogs in x-pens misbehaving and acting aggressively towards her.  But she recovered quickly and was thrilled to meet a young boy who reminded her of Spencer!

The grooming area was hectic, as usual, but she took it all in stride.  Although she didn't do anything beyond blue ribbons, I was thrilled with how she showed.  She was up and happy and playful outside the ring, but inside she settled down, gaited, stacked and held still for the judges.  At the end of the down & back she was happy to bait off and schmooze the judges, both of whom commented on how "happy" she was.   When a puppy starts its conformation career, all I ask for is happy and relaxed. 

Going into the show building one day, a clueless and obviously non-dog person opened the door, stepped out and immediately pointed her umbrella at Breeze and popped it in her face -- about 3 feet away.  Just like a puppy temperament test!   Breeze growled and jumped backwards, then immediately recovered as I chastised the woman for popping an umbrella in a dog's face!

The one day I was able to show Tory in obedience he delighted me with a 197.5 to win Novice B and a 197+ (we won a run-off at 5 pm after arriving at 6 am) in Beginner Novice B.   Here's Tory, pictured above, before the snow got deep.  In his opinion, it's never too cold or too snowy or too anything to play Frisbee!

While I was at the dog show with the big Belgians, Journey (my 14.5 yr old Schipperke) had a vacation at Auntie Alda's house.  Here he is curled up on the bed with Anka Cat, Alda's kitten who "adopted" Journey and really enjoyed having a small dog around the house.  (As opposed to Alda's two Belgian Sheepdogs.)  

We're wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Breeze (Belgian Tervuren) 6 months

 Flame (Belgian Sheepdog) 10.5 years

 Tory (Belgian Sheepdog) 5 years

 Walker (Belgian Sheepdog) 3.5 years

 Journey (Schipperke) 14.5 years



These beautiful photos were all taken by Jerry & Lois Levin of Creative Indulgence at the Winter Photo Shoot at Family Dog Training Center.   Be sure to visit their web site to see more examples of their work!  

Happy Birthday Breeze -- 6 months!

Happy 6 Month Birthday to Breeze and her littermates!    I was able to catch her standing still in the yard.  It's a miracle!    One of these days I'll get someone to help me take photos so I can actually stack her!

Last week Breeze was demo puppy for competition obedience, learning to "get in the box" and stand.  (The box is a rectangle of PVC downspouts.)   Using behavior modification (lure into box with food, feed while in box, then add a command word, then ask her to do the behavior without the lure, etc.) she learned to get in the box, stand still and remain in the box while I backed away.   All this training was done in a few minute demo in front of the class.  I was able to get a few feet away from the box, and if Breeze came out of the box she knew to put herself back.  Unrewarded behavior will extinguish itself!  

Later in the week she demo'd the same concept with proofing.  Her favorite person in the whole world (Spencer) was a distraction.  He was walking around the box using a toy to entice Breeze to come out of the box and follow him.   Breeze demonstrated great self-control.  She ignored Spencer and remained in the box as I backed several feet away from her!   One very bright little dog!

We are also working on our obedience stand/drop/sit in the box, to teach muscle memory and proper body positioning.  Learning the sit and drop positions in a box helps prevent confusion when we do breed ring work.  What's interesting about Breeze is her extremely high level of opposition reflex!   Holding a treat above her nose as I said "Sit" did not work.  She was bound and determined to stand.  As I gently used my left hand to tuck her rear, her opposition muscles really kicked in.   We've done a few short repetitions over the past few days and she is more relaxed but has yet to sit on her own on command.  I've never experienced this degree of determination in a puppy before!   I know it'll happen when it happens...I'm not concerned...just amused!  

And I'm sure there will be many more "firsts" when it comes to training Breeze!   We've only just begun!

Walker, aka Santa Paws

Two of my all-time favorite holiday photos, taken by Jerry & Lois Levin of Creative Indulgence.  These images were taken in December 2009.   Even as a youngster, Walker was a big-time ham!

The Family Dog Howl-I-Day Party is this coming weekend.   Barb has the training center beautifully decorated.  Karen and the party committee have a lot of fun, games and food planned.  I am getting into the holiday spirit, and hope you are, too!

Remember to be proactive when it comes to canine management during the holidays.  I'll be posting some tips here and on our facebook page so be sure to check back often!   http://www.facebook.com/FamilyDogTraining

Breeze at the TMT



Breeze attended the TMT (obedience & rally run-thrus) at our training center today.   She met a whole bunch of new people as well as dogs, including Linda's 9-week old Schipperke puppies.  At first Breeze wasn't sure what to do with the black fuzz balls that chased her from inside the x-pen, but within a minute or two Breeze's instincts took over.  She lay down next to the pen, letting the puppies paw at her feet and nibble at her nose.   Definitely a Kodak moment!

Breeze and brother Cavu also had a turn doing breed ring run-throughs, along with Ingrida's PBGV puppy, Rupert.  Linda played "judge" for us and all three puppies did great.  Tory and Walker did obedience and rally run-throughs.  Both boys did a very good job.

Thanks to Cheryl & David Jackson for pulling off another superb TMT.  Thanks to all the Family Dog students who attended, helped judge and steward.  Thanks to everyone else who came for run-throughs.   Our January 8 TMT is already full as folks prepare for the Puyallup shows.

Breeze's First Thanksgiving

As Breeze's first Thanksgiving comes to a close, let me explain the photos. I just happened to be walking through the kitchen this morning and found Breeze and her friend at the water bowl. How polite of her to allow her squeakie toy to share! (I swear I did NOT stage this photo; the toy was sitting there just like that!) Yes, I keep the dogs' water dish inside a plastic tub. I started doing this when Walker was young, as he liked to play in the water dish. For some reason this configuration broke his habit...and this seems to prevent all the dogs from dripping water, spilling the dish, etc.

A few minutes later I realized it had actually stopped RAINING -- for the first time in many days -- so I decided to let Breeze have a romp in the back yard.  I'm standing on the covered patio taking the video with my cell phone.  The noise you'll hear is the squeakie toy Breeze has in her mouth.  One happy, happy Terv puppy!

The past couple of weeks have been a time of change for Breeze.  She's more interested in playing the "learning" game with me and has proven to be a great little demo puppy for my competition obedience class.  Breeze is definitely toy motivated, so a game of tug before and after a little obedience training makes her very happy.   Food is a good tool for luring and rewarding specific behaviors, but tugging and retrieving are her ultimate motivation.   I hope to get some videos of her in the near future

Last week Jerry & Lois Levin of Creative Indulgence were at the training center for portraits.   They took some wonderful photos of each of my dogs and I'll post them here when I receive the JPEGs.  It took Breeze a couple minutes on the set to realize we wanted her to sit still; then she was all ham.  Like all my black dogs, she definitely knows how to work the camera!

Happy Thanksgiving 2011!