Maine Millers

Ok, day one went pretty well. I had some success with the basics. Sit and come are going pretty well. Down is a 50%-50% deal at best right now. I really want a quick down. Kind of a drop where you are. Patch used to do that, but Scout will only do it if there is food involved right now. I need to ween him off the food and have more success with the verbal/hand signals.

It’s the start of Doggie Boot Camp on Monday. I am off work until Jan. 8th and it’s getting time to get really serious with the training. Some days Scout can be so good and other days he will drive us up the wall. My goal is to try to do at least three 10-15 minute sessions a day. Starting over from the beginning. Tomorrow is come, sit, & down. I am thinking that if I can get his mind really working instead of being in the kennel when we are at work he will learn faster. I am going to try to take him when ever I go out on short trips and hang out downtown so he can see people and other dogs in a setting that isn’t class or playing out in the fields at Bowdoin.

In a perfect world this will make the perfect puppy, we don’t live in the perfect world so hopefully my goal of a livable companion will pay off. He is smart enough to take anything we throw at him, it seems as if his problem is the lack of focus. Pam, my obedience teacher called him a ADD dog, is there such a thing? I think Casco Bay Dog Training is offering a CGC, Canine Good Citizen, class in January and I want to take it and pass.

Wish us luck!

So, last night we finished our beginner obedience class and to my amazement we passed with a paper certificate and dog biscuit. Zach got a Cow Tail, very different than a bully stick, for being a good helper, but he was so busy reading he almost missed out. Scout did really well, one of the “tests” we had was a relay race, one by one we would go across the room and have to put the dogs in a stay. Then one by one move six biscuits from one plate to another plate on the floor with chopsticks. Not one dog stole a biscuit! We start intermediate classes in two weeks so that just gives us 14 days to whip him into shape.

Scout can finally go down the outside stairs!  Woo Hoo!  He was starting to really struggle when being carried down and when putting him 3 or 4 steps from the bottom he would just jump off and not actually walk down the steps.  Yesterday when I got home from work he went right down them, although it was very slow.  He takes very tentative steps but will go down even in the dark at night.  This is a huge milestone for him.  Next weekend Michele and I are going away and Nancy is staying with the kids, Scout and the birds and now she will not have to carry him down the stairs!  I knew he could do it, it was a matter of when he was ready to do it.

Tonight was Scout’s first puppy class (my second) and he got a good work out. We practiced attention, sit, sit stay, and loose leash walking. We have the sit down and the attention pretty well also, but we need some serious help with the loose leash walking. All the neighbors keep telling me how much bigger he is getting, we just don’t see it. I would guess he is around 20 pounds but that is a guess, we will find out next Friday at his vet appointment. I just hope he gets the loose leash walking soon or he will be tough to hold when he pulls.One thing I did decide in class was that I need 3 hands. We were practicing the sit/stay and you have him sit on your left, hold his collar with your left thumb and put treats out on the floor a foot or so out of his reach and tell him to stay. Then when he does stop pulling for the treats just click the clicker and give him a treat from the right hand while holding him with the left hand, stand on your head and spin clockwise at the same time…I just need three hands!

He seemed to travel better this time, not so nervous in the car and he just settled down in the crate. It might have been the fact that it wasn’t the usual car crate abut his regular house crate (we have three different ones). All four of us went to class so I had to turn the crate sideways in the back of the car instead of flipping down the seat and putting it front to back, he could not see us this way so maybe that was key?

Lot’s to practice this week…

Sorry, it’s been a while since I posted anything. Things have been hectic here lately. I am back to work so time is an issue. And we have been having company on and off for the last few weeks. At one point we had 8 people, 2 birds, and 3 dogs. It felt like a zoo.

Anyway, Scout is doing fine, he is 16 weeks old this past Monday and he has had two rounds of puppy shots and will get the third on August 25th. He is growing like a weed, at least that is what all the neighbors say when we go for a walk. I guess Michele and I don’t notice it since we see him all the time. One thing we have noticed is that his adolecent coat is starting to come through on his back, it is much coarser that the puppy coat and the red is deeper, a good thing is that he has kept his amber/green eyes and maybe they will stay that way (fingers crossed).

Tonight is the second class in a six week puppy class and it’s the first one we get to bring Scout along. I’ll post back as to how that goes. He has for class mates: a Jack Russel Terror, Lab mix, Boxer, Chinook, and two other that I cannot remember right now.

So we went to see our first agility trial this today. It was in Skowhegan which is about an hour and fifteen minutes north of Brunswick. It was the most beautiful day weather wise we have had in a long time, 80s and low humidity. The only down side was that there was no shade, unless you made your own. Poor Scout was hot in the shade not to mention the sun. He did manage to squeeze himself underneath the chairs to escape what he could. He was one hot dog.

Agility is pretty fun to watch in person, We have only seen it on TV up until now and it’s very different when you are not competing for the top national honors. It was very refreshing to see that people were allowed to retry obstacles that were giving them trouble. I think there is hope for us to be able to run in a couple of years give or take. Looks like the weave poles are the toughest to master, a good 75% of the dogs had to try more than once to get past them.

Hopefully I can start some basic puppy and obedience training soon, he is catching on with what I am doing at home but the formal setting will help reinforce some of the commands for me.

I picked up a 12" sonotube the other week at Home Depot for Scout to play with and he took right to it, kept running through it like he actually knew what he was doing (thanks Karen). Here is a short video of him playing in the yard with Emma and me.

and a picture of Emma giving him a treat after he successfully completed a tunnel dive.

Wow, this morning Scout was feisty.  Up at 6:20 I took him out and let him do his business.  Then we just went for a short walk down the street. When we got home it was dance for food as usual and after he ate it was like someone lit a fuse on him.  He just rocketed around the living room with toys and bones.  I took him down stairs for a while so he wouldn’t wake up Michele and Emma.  Down stairs it just continued.  We are moving Zach’s bedroom to the basement and the trundle bed is held down with plastic cable ties to that it doesn’t pop up when we are moving it, Scout saw the tails of the cable ties and thought that they were a great thing to grab.  After I replaced one and cut the tail off two others so he wouldn’t get one we ventured back outside.  Again did his thing, sometimes it seems like the pent up energy signals that he needs to go out, but when we got back inside he was all over the place again.  I have been working with clicker training and the book Pat Miller’s “Power of Positive Training.”  He does have a pretty good recall and I was working that this morning when he would get away.  He comes flying back, ears flapping in the breeze, and skids to a stop in front of me.  We also have the sit pretty good and hope to reinforce that this weekend, next will be down.

Tonight I introduced Scout to a frisbie. He loved it! It’s just a small floppy one made of nylon and rope around the outer circle but to him it was pure gold. He would run and pick it up, shake it to be sure it was dead, and then the best part was he would bring it back to me. Getting him to let it go was not an easy task, we are just starting the drop command and trading things for treats and praise. Once he did drop it he was rarin to go again. We played for a good 15 minutes in the yard.

This was right on the heels of his longest walk yet we went from our house #12 to #31 down the street. Came home and I ate dinner while he rested and then off to the yard for frisbie.  He is getting to be a lot of fun, just cannot wait until he understands the “no bite” command.  Teeth on skin is not good.  Teeth on bare ankles is even worse!