Conformation lesson with Vicki

Terra has gotten comfortable enough with strangers and new places that I've decided to give conformation a try. She might still shy away when the judge approaches - it will depend on the judge's demeanor and how much time she's gotten to watch the person. The Northern California Irish Wolfhound Club is having their annual match on April 28th, conveniently close to me. The judge is a woman. So that will be the perfect opportunity to ease us into it.

We did a private lesson with Vicki Ronchette to test her skills and give me pointers. Terra did great - the tiniest lean away the first time Vicki came up, but no problems after that. She warmed up to Vicki very quickly and was soon leaning on her and headbutting her instead of stopping and stacking. She has pretty good front foot placement for a free stack, and doesn't move them while I fix the back feet. We tried out a short, skinny slip lead that has stoppers on both sides, so it won't tighten or loosen up more than needed. Terra wasn't used to the feel and would lower her head if I trotted her while it was tight. We tried it loose and she moved very well.

I'm feeling optimistic about the match (but will pull her, even leaving the ring if she needs me to).

Big dogs, visiting and training with friends

I brought Terra to Rachel's craft party yesterday. We stopped by Point Isabel first so that Terra could run around. She met three Great Danes. She's intimidated by large dogs, even some lab/golden sized ones, and will hunch down and tuck her tail around giant dogs. After the initial greeting, she saw them playing and was curious and snuck up for more sniffing.

Once at Rachel's, she wandered and sniffed everything for an hour, then fell asleep on the couch for the rest of the evening. We did a couple of mini training sessions for conformation. I put on the slip lead, gave the cue for her to stand and watch my hand, and then Rachel or Agnes would reach toward her head. She got a treat for continuing to look at my hand, or for looking back if she got distracted. She did quite well! Agnes was able to touch her chin without Terra looking away.

I took her to the back yard to potty before we left, and she peed right away, which meant that she'd been intentionally holding it while in Rachel's house. Good girl.

Day 98 (12/13/17): Pet Food Express, Office Max, conformation class

Terra has been stuck indoors the past couple of days, so today I gave her a few outings. First we went to Pet Food Express in Davis. I had the leash clipped to the back of her Freedom harness, signalling that she was free to wander this way and that. She's big enough now that I sometimes have to brace myself to bring her to a stop. It's not that she actively pulls against the leash; the problem is that she has so much momentum that it takes a solid effort to halt her. I may need to switch to using the front clip or using collar only. I'm still working on desensitizing her to a head halter, so that I have that as an option, but we don't practice it every day and it's slow going.

Terra is always perfectly behaved around the bins of treats and chews because she's too inhibited to grab something. She wagged her tail at the women we passed and gave a wary stare at a man. We spent some time cuddling in the aisles. She was impatient at the register, as usual, but she was more willing to stand between me and the counter. I like that position because I can still keep an eye on her and no one can sneak up on us.

I dropped off our shopping in the car, switched Terra to her "service dog in training" harness, and clipped the leash to her collar. She is already walking and acting differently between the two types of equipment, however I have the feeling that she's cuing off the short leash on her collar more than the harnesses. We went to Office Max. This was her second time in this store and she strolled through it without a problem. We had to wait in line and this time, instead of trying to wander around me in a circle, she sat down and leaned against my left side. Perfect. She was still antsy at the register but decided to sit down, got up, and sat down again.

In the evening we went to a conformation drop in class at Solano DTC. Only two other people came, and one of them was Grace, the Wolfhound we'd met at a Fast CAT event in October. Her owner was happy to see us again and gave me information about some upcoming Wolfhound Club gatherings.

Terra did well at the class. It was a great example of using a structured protocol to ease her into the new activity and give her confidence.

1. I put her mat in a corner of the room and paid for class before I got her out of the car.
2. Terra balked at the doorway, but I let her take as much time as she needed, and even back out of the building if she wanted to (twice).
3. We went straight to the mat and I kneeled next to her as she looked around. I didn't let anyone come closer than she could handle. The other two dog owners got started with gaiting around the ring.
4. When I saw that Terra had relaxed and was interested in what the other dogs were doing, we joined in the gaiting, though I let her look and sniff around rather than worrying about how she moved or whether she was on the correct side.
5. We went back to the mat after one round to give her time to process.
6. When she wanted to return, we did another round of gaiting, this time keeping her on my left side and on a shorter leash. I was still using her regular walking leash and collar.
7. I talked to the judge but she didn't touch Terra. She let Terra sniff her hand.
8. On our second turn in front of the judge, Terra wanted to say hello. On each turn, she was more affiliative, and was leaning against the judge by the end. Terra was comfortable with petting around her head, neck, and back. No real exam.
9. After the third trip around the room, I switched to our show slip lead.
10. At the end of class, when Terra was totally relaxed and comfortable, I practiced hand stacking her.

This was the last class the club is holding for 2017. We'll be back in the new year.

Day 89 (12/04/17): training with Sherry and at home, outgrowing her gear

We drove down to Auntie Sherry's again, to record Rally-FrEe with Chimera. Terra had to wait in a side yard while we trained and you can hear her whining loudly on the video. What a sad dog.

Terra got training time, too. I put on her "in training" vest, asked her to wait at my side, and rewarded her for ignoring Sherry. Separately, I pulled her collar up her neck and held my hand at the top to cue her conformation stay, and rewarded her for ignoring Sherry reaching out with her hand. Finally we did a ring gate exercise - I cued "let's go," we walked through the gates, and then she got a treat! This helps establish a positive association with entering a training ring.

Back at home, we practiced nose work. Our intro class at FDSA finished up a couple of weeks ago. We were progressing through the material quite slowly, and were still on week 2's lectures. So I signed up for another gold spot in this term's 101 class. I really want her to be a nose work superstar!

We practiced hand stacking. It's time for me to learn how to properly stack her instead of just practicing moving her legs around. I need to set up a mirror so that I can see how she looks from the judge's perspective.

We did the bucket game, and she's pretty much got the idea that she should ignore me touching her and just look at the bucket. I'm just doing touches on her back.

We did chin targets, and again she's learning to just hold the target while I very lightly touch her head. Having a hand move right in front of her is still a challenge.

Put on a head halter for a few seconds between treats. Right now I can control her with a back clip harness 90% of the time, but I might as well train it as another cooperative care exercise just in case.

Terra was on the cusp of outgrowing the training vest, so I ordered a new one with labels that say specifically "service dog in training." We'll see how comfortable I can get her to be in crowds and around noises. It's a big "if" right now, but we'll take it one day at a time.

She's outgrown her puppy collars, but I already had three adult sized collars on hand, purchased before I even brought her home. She's also outgrown the medium sized Balance Harness. I don't have a large one on hand, so I switched her to an extra-large Freedom Harness. (Funny how different sizing is between brands.) I'm still using the back clip since she usually doesn't pull hard.

Day 88 (12/03/17): older puppy class, Office Max, bath

We attended our last week of the adolescent dog class at Thinking Dogs. Nancy welcomed us to continue the class but I'm going to look around for conformation classes next. Either way, I will be using the class to practice being relaxed and hanging out around other dogs, with small bursts of training or play time. It will benefit me to learn more about conformation, though.

We skipped play time at the end of class due to Terra's previously mentioned injury, which I was able to narrow down to pain in her back right leg. She was favoring it intermittently during the day. (We have an appointment with the vet tomorrow.)

We participated in an exercise involving leash walking close to other dogs. We also practiced IYC, stand-stay, chin target, and nose target. We played tug a lot and walked around.

After class we went to Office Max to buy printer paper. Terra was initially frightened by my swinging a shopping basket around. By the end she didn't mind it moving closer to her face when I would move in to treat her. She needs more practice just standing around when I am looking at products, paying the cashier, etc.

She was acquiring a funk again from rolling around and playing outside, plus she got a little diarrhea on a back leg after we got home. So it was time for another bath. This time she didn't fuss as much and we didn't have any near-accidents with me being pushed out of the tub. She did try to nose past the shower curtain and I had to reprimand her sternly. I wish that there were a way to tether her into the tub. When I have my dream house, it will include a large walk-in shower with a dog tether.

Days 81-87 (11/26/17-12/02/17): visiting friends, CVS, trial, mystery injury

11/27/17:
Terra's weight was 82 pounds.

I took her into the CVS next door to the vet's. She did very well walking around and showed only minimal interest in sniffing merchandise. We even went down a junk food aisle, with me holding the leash very short just in case, but she followed me lead and just walked straight ahead. We worked particularly on "wait," which is difficult for her because she has a lot of momentum to stop! I sat down by the pharmacy to practice settling in public. I cued her to sit and then lured her down. At first she fussed but, as usual for her, she then gave up and just watched the world go by.

On our way out we stopped to let a couple of ladies pass by. They stopped in front of us and one asked if Terra was "friendly." I put my hand out in a "stop" signal and replied, "She's in training and I need her to focus right now." The lady nodded by stared at Terra and then started to make kissy noises. I quelled my rage - I HATE it when people call out to my dog or otherwise try to get its attention without permission - and stuffed a treat into Terra's face. I then side-stepped to my right and gave a leash cue, Terra did a beautiful side-step to join me, and we walked out with the treats continuing.

A friend commented that in the future I should directly address the person's behavior rather than the dog's needs, ie, "don't interact with her." That's a good suggestion. I fell into the trap of using language that is understood by dog nerds but not by ignorant non-dog people. But I am also, clearly, training my dog to ignore people doing that, as some bullies will intentionally try to distract a dog just to be mean.


11/30/17:
We drove down to visit Sherry and act as decoys for a leash reactive client of hers. Terra got excited and pulled toward the other dog when it was just 10 feet away. Otherwise she happily walked around and sniffed as usual.

I wish this photo hadn't been washed out by the sun because her face is so cute!

Taking a break in the bushes.

Om nom nom.

In the evening we visited Rachel for another craft party. Terra pooped (actually had diarrhea) in the back yard shortly after our arrival, but had to stay on the tether for nearly two hours until she finally peed outside. Then she got to be in the house off leash, but was so tired that she just slept on a dog bed until we left.

I had Rachel help me with a short training session. First I put on Terra's "in training" harness and cued her to wait at my side. I rewarded her for staying as Rachel approached, as Rachel said hello, and then as she used the lilting "talking to a dog" voice. It was hard for Terra because she loves Rachel! We need to practice this a lot more with a variety of people so that she will be able to confidently ignore the public.

Then I had Rachel hold a small handful of treats and I practiced hand stacking Terra. It's one way to make a positive association with a conformation "judge" approaching.


12/01/17:
Chimera has his first AKC agility trial today. Since it was on a Friday, the entries were small. I let Terra sleep in the car all morning. She would be in a different position every time I checked on her, but was always sleeping soundly. Finally, after Cai's second run, which was the last run of the day, I brought her out. She wanted to sniff every tree and post we walked by to get information about the other dogs. She wanted to say hello to almost every other dog that passed within 10 feet. I was happy to see her so curious. A loud noise dampened her enthusiasm for a few minutes, but she recovered enough to practice touch, chin, stand-stay, and IYC.

Sometime today Terra hurt herself, probably while playing with her Malinois friend. I think it's something around her back, hips, or hind legs but she didn't respond negatively to me handling her. She's been a little slower to get up and occasionally whining as she does so. At one point she stood up and then hunched over. She still wanted to play with the Malinois but would sometimes get pissed off if the other dog jumped on her back. The Malinois went home so I no longer have to deal with puppies who are desperate to play but have to be kept apart. I'll keep an eye on Terra tomorrow and see how she recovers.

Conformation lesson with Vicki (11/03/17)

This is a belated post! I had a private conformation lesson with Vicki Ronchette on 11/03/17. We met at a park in San Leandro. There was an overly friendly cat there who walked right up to me and Terra. She went up to sniff him, then backed away and moved off to the side. Later she felt braver and made play invitations at it. It was very distracting.

Vicki had us start training on a very thick slip lead. That would allow me to position the lead high on her neck, as is done in conformation to guide the head, but the thickness would make it less of a choking hazard if Terra pulled. I'm not sure yet what I'll use for showing. I don't want to use a choke chain on principle, so I'll probably use a thin nylon/leather slip or martingale collar/leash combo. I have plenty of time to decide.

Vicki uses food placed on a chair (or other eye-level object) to give the dog a focus point when training stacking. It also allows the handler to have both their hands free but still reach for food quickly. (Same set up as bucket game, but the dog is required to hold a stand-stay instead of being free to change position.) I practiced leading her toward the chair but stopping a couple feet away. Then I practiced positioning her front and then rear legs. Terra was confused about this during the lesson, but she's fairly relaxed about it now that we've been practicing at home.

I want to use clicker training and body awareness to teach her to step forward and back as needed, but hand stacking is a necessary back up. Vicki said that with giant breeds, they really conserve their movement, and it makes more sense to hand stack than to play around with having them adjust themselves.

We also practiced gaiting, which is simple. I just need to click Terra for trotting rather than speeding up into a run when I move forward briskly.

The plan is to practice on my own, focusing on stacking and handling, until she's totally confident. Then bring in friends Terra knows to play the judge. Then we'll worry about new people approaching her to judge - that will be the hardest part by far. Along the way, I'll take more lessons to refine my understanding of how to place her legs, hold her head, etc. I'm guessing it will be a few months at least before we're reading for the show ring.

Day 47 (10/27/17): PetCo, downtown, formal training update

We went into PetCo for about 15 minutes. This was Terra's first time in this location. We ran through some of her skills: eye contact/IYC, stand-stay, chin target, hand target. We did some walking around, including into a pen that they use for training, which has a narrow entrance (intimidating!). I am impressed with how responsive Terra is to small amounts of leash pressure, which I still haven't gotten around to actually training at home with no distractions. I am adding the cue "wait" when I want her to stop forward movement. She often, of her own accord, then backs up so that she is closer to me and lined up at my left side. OMG looooove

In the evening we went downtown, for the last street fair of the year. We mostly stayed in the park adjacent to the fair, watching people come and go and listening to the noises. There were a few times she experienced trigger stacking (ie, someone coming toward us plus a loud noise plus barking dog in distance) but overall she did well, as usual. Practiced eye contact and chin target.

Curling up with her snuggle buddy in the car.

Considering chasing her tail.

Our formal training stalled out while I was down, so let's figure out where we are:
IYC/eye contact: fairly solid when I have a closed fist with treats inside at eye level. Can contrast with hand target (two fingers sticking out and cue "touch"). Progressing to placing fist closer to her head and making contact, a la Sue Ailsby's "no hand" for conformation. (Teaches dog to hold still while you handle them even if you are holding food in your hand.)

Touch: fairly solid nose touch to two fingers pointing out. Cue is "touch." Mostly using this to gauge her ability to focus among distractions.

Stand-stay: Goes into solid stand reliably. Cue is the two finger "touch" leading quickly away from her nose and up. Will hold for about 5 seconds unless around distractions. Working on being able to step in front of her as if assessing her stack while she holds focus on the hand. (After that I'll add more of my own movement, then handling.)

Chin target: fairly solid on placing her chin in my hand, and because she enjoys the contact, she often rests her head heavily on it. Awww. Adding duration, currently at 2 seconds. Working from both stand and sit.

Paw target: using a plastic coaster. Reliable in placing her paw on it when I hold it on the floor. If my hand is not touching it, she does a swipe instead of a place. I'm backing up to get more reinforcement for deliberate placement rather than swiping. (After that I will move on to using the paw target for body awareness exercises.)

Mat: usually places all four feet on her new, large mat. When I add duration she naturally sits and then lies down (because she is lazy) and I reward that.

Hand stripping: doesn't seem to mind stripping her ears. I keep it short and use high value treats after every tug. I need to introduce her to the bucket game.


I want to teach her to bark on cue, but I don't want to reinforce barking when she currently does it (when she wants out of her crate or when she's on the other side of the baby gate and wants attention). So I'm experimenting with having her with us while I practice barking with Chimera.

Day 31 (10/11/17): bath, training, Home Depot

Terra got a bath. She smells so much better now.

SO SAD

WHY DID U DO THIS TO ME

The fur on her back was sticking up afterwards.

SAD DOG

She now consistently goes to the mat and stands and looks at me. I'm jackpotting for sits on it. She also plants herself into an awesome stand across my body, facing right (as for conformation). I've started adding my movement to the picture. Working on getting her to place her chin in my palm rather than me putting my palm under her chin. In nose work, she consistently puts her nose by the tin when I'm holding it at head height (and I have treats in the other hand at head height). Now we're working on lowering the tin (and treats) to the floor.

We went by the vet's for another weight: 56.5 lbs.

After that we headed to Home Depot. My favorite way to introduce a dog to stores is to visit a plant nursery, or go into the nursery area of Home Depot/Lowe's/OSH. They tend to be more open (plants on tables rather than aisles that completely block your view) and look like a blend of outdoor (more familiar) and indoor spaces. Terra immediately walked into the nursery, letting her nose lead the way. I had to pull her away from a few plants she wanted to chew on. We headed into the store proper after a few minutes.

I stopped in a little open area just to the side of the door. Terra was overwhelmed by all the sights and sounds and smells and started circling around me, trying to take everything in. I waited until she stopped, and because standing is tiring, she sat and then laid down. I squatted down and pet her for a while, letting her continue to process.

When I felt like she was ready to walk around, we headed through the aisles. For the most part she was leading the way into new parts of the store. Sometimes I guided her down specific areas (mostly to avoid people or animated Halloween and Christmas decorations). Sometimes people scared her and she wanted to retreat, but she doesn't always choose the best direction to go, so I have to use the leash to interrupt her and encourage her to turn in a different direction. Sometimes people made her only slightly anxious, and by putting a hand on her shoulder, I was able to get her to just pause and wait for them to go by. So there was some negative reinforcement for both walking with me, and for standing at my side. There were also times that she didn't react to people, and a few times that she wanted to approach - even, one time, a man!

We stayed in the store too long. After 35 minutes she sat down and gave a couple of yawns. We left as soon as she was ready to walk again. I'd give this trip a B-; there was still a lot more good than bad.

Welcome home!

This is Bad Wolf's Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey, AKA Terra, an Irish Wolfhound. She is currently 13 weeks and 3 days old, and as of 4 days ago she weighed 41.9 pounds.

I have high hopes for Terra, though I know how to temper them to realistic expectations. If my wildest dreams come true, we will be competing in conformation, competition obedience, and nose work at the least. She will be a dream at the vet's with 100% cooperative care. She will not be reactive to dogs, people, noises, or motion, and will be able to go everywhere with me. She will have fabulous social skills with other dogs.

For now, we are working on socialization, crate training, chew training, not pawing for attention (she already knows to sit instead of jumping), potty training, and leash walking. She got a head start on all of these things at her breeder's, who followed the Puppy Culture program. My thanks to Amanda Baerwald Spencer of Bad Wolf Irish Wolfhounds.