Ugghhh winter is here and that can mean that if the weather is cold & raining mum doesn’t want to go outside for a walk or run…. And to be honest I’m a 1st World Dog so can take or leave it too if the lounge is looking nice and comfy too.
#training1stworlddogstyle
Training Tip Tuesday – The Start of Core Strength Work
Somewhere between mum’s preoccupation with my bar dropping and the time mum has spent at Pilates and the Physio dealing with her own back issues she has come to the decision that I need to do more Core Strength Work.
Training Tip Tuesday – Agility Foundations… Just the start
The start of this year there have been lots of a-ha moments of mum discovering so much foundation work that can and should be done for agility. As the 1st dog that mum has been doing agility with this whole thing is a big learning curve for both of us. We are loving having this blog as our learning journal to capture and we have just had a wonderful thing messaged from Zsofi Biro over in Hungry…. Chatting about doing agility foundation work regardless of the dog’s age she said “exploring should take a lifetime! that’s when they (the dog) feel they are important, if you keep their lives exciting!”. What a fantastic way to think about doing any sort of training be it Agility, Obedience, Rally O, Tracking, Dancing and just tricks around the house…. making us dogs feel important. Is that not a reason to go have some fun learning some new tricks.
Training Tip Tuesday – Obstacle vs Handler Focus
Believe it or not Mum doesn’t want it to always be about her. I know…. I’m confused too. One of mum’s key learnings from the recent One Mind Dogs seminar was that I need to increase my level of obstacle focus and understand it is my job to successfully negotiate whatever the obstacle is.
Training Tip Tuesday – Ahhhh the Stretch
Inspired by a couple of social media posts we have seen from Tim Norris of Both Ends of the Lead over recent weeks.
Partly because of my bar dropping and limbo abilities and also because I’m not one of those naturally athletic agility kinda dogs (thanks mum.. I won’t take that as an insult) mum is very conscious of looking after me. Making sure joints and muscles are all well looked after. We have a friend at the dog club who regularly gives me Bowen Therapy (LOVE Jacky!!!). I have also been lucky enough to have Tim from Both Ends of the Lead work on me when we see him at trials. Mum & I were both really happy with how he worked so when we saw these recent pieces we thought they were worth sharing with a broader audience so others can appreciate how to look after us dogs.
Training Tip Tuesday – Step Up
Running a bit late this week. Blame mum. She is traveling for work and hence there is a bit of a communication break down (and I’m busy sulking).
But getting over my sulking what we were working on last week when lots of rainy weather prevented some walks was my ‘step’. This again is part of mum’s preoccupation with my rear end and making sure I know it is there so I hopefully remember to get it over the agility jumps.
So step up itself is pretty simple. Get a low stable step of some sort. We have used the toddler step stool and also a low container that we have turned upside down. Other people we know use a phone book and just tape it up so it is more stable. Then it is simply a matter of using food to lure into the position of two feet up on the step. Once both feet are up mark with a “yes” or clicker. After a few times when the action is starting to come naturally then you can add a name to it. We use “step”.
Once you are stepping up then you can get a bit of side to side movement happening. This is where the back end awareness starts to come in. Holding front paws in same position, just pivoting those front paws around, use food down just beside the nose to lure around. You might actually find it is a bit strange to move the back legs in isolation for the front legs. When they do move, even just one step, mark with a “yes” and hand over that treat. Make sure you do both directions. It is a bit like a Twist and Turn but taking it in slow mo and you move around with us at this stage.
With some rainy weather recently in Sydney recently and some other wild weather elsewhere (check out Elko’s post from Chicago… brrrr) this one is an exercise that can be done instead on a stable surface and bring some fun and also good mental stimulation. There are plenty of other fun things to try over on the Training Tips page so be sure to check them out and if you take videos or photos of you doing any of them be sure to send them over.
If you like catching up on 1st World Dog Training Tips, Recipes or just the fun stories than don’t miss any of our posts… just Follow me over on the side bar. I’m also on Facebook,Instagram and now Twitter (@1stworlddogB) so be sure to swing by and see what we are up to.
Have fun Oooo
Training Tip Tuesday – Jumping Foundations Take-Off Side of Jump
So after a break last week from Training Tip Tuesday because, oh did I mention… It was my birthday, we are back.
Mum is still has me working hard on my jumping foundations. Think she is feeling a bit inspired after all the bars stayed up in the RQH Jumping run last Saturday night. We also had a moment yesterday morning when we were doing some jumping grids in the front yard and mum thinks I actually thought about how I was going to jump… I thought mum was going to cry with excitement. Silly mum.
Training Tip Tuesday – Basic Bum Strength with the Bar
Wow what a huge day it was yesterday! Our Marketing Monday post which was a bit of a marketing case study from our perspective on One Mind Dogs went ballistic. The guys over at One Mind Dogs were interested in what we wrote and shared it. Now feeling the pressure to back up on the Training Tip Tuesday. Continue reading
Training Tip Tuesday – Bum on Ground (otherwise know as Sit)
Was going to do ‘Shake’ today for Training Tip Tuesday. The first instruction was to go into a sit… Realised we haven’t done sit. So here is sit.
Training Tip Tuesday – Targets
We have done a couple of different training sessions (albeit slightly quieter as I am still not allowed to run and jump post the nasty tick incident) and that has bought a couple of things top of mind; i) going back to basics in teaching behaviours and ii) the usefulness of a target.
So what is a target? Well we did the google thing and man are there some complicated descriptions. 1st World Dog style…. something for me to focus on. This can be as simple as a piece of plastic, wood or paper. As I am pretty food motivated (in case you hadn’t realised than check out my Recipe Book) when we are learning something than the target and food are normally pretty closely related. Here are some examples of of what can be used…
This one is nice and big…
This one, a yoghurt container lid, fits nicely into the treat container.
Opps…. in trouble for running away and trying to eat the target (what not to do!)
But in my defence it smelt of cheese….
So what to do with it. At its most basic when I touch the target mum says “yes” and I get a treat. Often the treat is waiting for me on the target but sometimes, like if I am likely to head straight for the target and not do whatever I am supposed to do first, then mum will place the treat on the target as she says “yes”.
One activity for using the target is getting me to run away from mum. A bit like the Touch & Out game, just rather than mum throwing the food it is already out on the target (also means I have to be good at me stays… and don’t forget to randomly treat for good stays when doing targets). Here are some videos of me running towards mum and also running out from mum.
There are all sorts of other things that can be done with targets in shaping movements by moving the target slowly around to create a specific line, doing contacts in agility or even playing soccer! More of these to come on future Tuesdays but in the spirit of Training Tips 1st World Dog Style this is just a little bit to practice and have some fun with.
1st World Dog 