Obedience practise

So Spryte is definitely pregnant!  Spryte went on Wednesday for an ultrasound and it showed at least 3 or 4 puppies.  I was able to see heartbeats and moving paws, it was really neat.  At this point I was pretty sure she was pregnant as she is getting bigger and bigger by the day.  But I wanted to know for sure that it wasn't a false pregnancy and a rough estimate of number of puppies.  It was a trip worth making for my peace of mind and that of the people on the waitlist.

Well needless to say now that Spryte is for sure pregnant there have been some restrictions imposed on her life. No more agility (we haven't done any for weeks just in case she falls off the equipment), no more playing fetch (she runs to hard and often skids into the ball), no more sleeping on the bed (can't risk a fall) and no playing with dogs other than our own (can't risk being body checked or rolled).  Right now there isn't much mental stimulation or physical activity going on in Spryte's world, so I have been trying to break the doldrums with obedience practise.  That is one great thing about obedience, it really works the mind, but it's not too tough on the body.  So we have been working all the Open and Utility exercises to varying degrees.  Spryte is loving the work and she is tired enough after that she sleeps for several hours.

This morning we had one of our practises and it went well. I wouldn't say she did perfect on everything, but we got to work through a few weak links and her understanding of the exercises will be a little stronger each time we work through a problem.

One example was on the retrieve over the high jump (jump is only a few inches off the ground). I wanted to work hard angles over the jump, so if the dumbbell falls wide, she will know how to find the jump after retrieving.  So the idea is to set the dog up on the far side of the jump, lateral to the jump, holding the dumbbell and then recalling her over the jump. She would have to make an effort to move towards the jump and take it, instead of coming straight which would bring her around the jump.

So I brought Spryte to the far side of the jump, put her in a sit/stay, gave her the dumbbell to hold and started walking away to the other side of the jump. As I'm walking I hear "thunk", I turn around and she's dropped the dumbbell on the ground. She gets a "what was that?" and I try it again.  Again I walk away and "thunk" she has dropped the dumbbell again. This happened once more and then it became clear, that we need to work on holding the dumbbell while I leave (she hates holding the dumbbell, so it's something I am constantly trying to build value for). 

So back to baby steps. Hold the dumbbell and I turn my back on her and turn back, Spryte is still holding the dumbbell, good girl! click and treat. Then I take one step and turn back, she is still holding the dumbbell, click and treat! I basically did this a few feet at a time until I could walk all the way to the other side of the jump and recall her over the jump with the dumbbell in her mouth.  This part she does perfectly as jumping is her favourite thing to do.

This was not what I expected to work on during my training session, but I'm flexible and work what needs working. In the end she has a better understanding of what her job is when  given a dumbbell and she has worked through failure until she found success.  Both are lessons well learnt and worth the effort.  And I enjoyed our time together training and bonding.  And I think she is happy for a chance to act like a real dog during her pregnancy term.

EKKOC Dog Show Results

Last weekend I attended the Evelyn Kenny Dog show with Strider and Spryte.  Strider was there Friday and Saturday night to play scent hurdle racing.  He is retired from obedience and rally, but he was very happy to come out and spend some time with me getting cookies.  He ran well and earned his Scent Hurdle Dog Masters Excellent title (SHDMX).

Spryte was doing both conformation and obedience.  As most of you know, I just wanted to finish up her CD as she only needed one more leg.  We qualified in both the rounds finishing her title and earning a spare leg just in case.  She took two High In Classes with scores of 197 and 195.5.  Unfortunately the 195.5 was under an American judge and she docked us 1.5 points for barking. The other judge was more forgiving of Sprytes "talking".  Spryte's performances were pretty good, but to me she felt a little distracted. She hadn't eaten much in several days (morning sickness I'm hoping) and I think that was affecting her focus and overall performance. But either way she finished it and now I can move on to the fun stuff in obedience.

Our real success came in the conformation ring.  Spryte went from 0 to8 points this weekend. I am still amazed at how quickly she gathered points. I had entered her in 6 shows before this, starting at 6 months of age doing 5 shows as a puppy and one show last summer.  She had picked up some reserve wins and a Best Puppy in Breed but that was about it. At the time I was discouraged and thinking that this sport was way tougher than I first imagined.  So going into the ring this weekend I didn't have high hopes of getting any wins. I knew Spryte looked good (nice coat and she had filled out a bit), but in the end it all depends on the competition and what the judge likes.  So I was shocked on Friday when the judge picked Spryte as Winners Bitch and Best of Winners.  I was so excited to have finally got my first points on my dog.  Saturday my friend's Bi Blue bitch took the open class so Spryte and I were done for the day, which was ok because we were in the obedience ring twice that day anyway.

Sunday we went back into the conformation ring again.  This time we were showing under an Australian judge and I could tell pretty quickly that she liked my dog.  We won our class and then back into the ring for best of breed. I had my fingers crossed that we would get another best of winners and as we were gaiting around the ring as a group the judge pointed to me first.  I was thinking to myself, this has got to be good.  I didn't realise how good it was until the other dogs lined up behind me.  The judge had awarded Spryte Best of Breed! An incredible win as the topped ranked Sheltie in Canada was one of the dogs we beat. And now on to the group ring.

Up until this point the conformation ring hasn't bothered me one bit. I don't get nervous and I don't take it too seriously. However the minute I walked into the group ring and spied some professional handlers and the best dogs of each breed, I began to feel the dreaded ring jitters.  I wanted to do well. I wanted to showcase my breed the best I could and I wanted to look like I belonged there.  It felt like it took forever to get to Spryte and I.  We were the second last dog out of a group of 15 or so dogs.  I stayed calm, did my down and back and stopped in front of the judge. She took a long look at Spryte, she walked all around her, stopping a few times for a better look. And then we were back in line while the judge finished off with the Corgie behind us. 

The judge then picked the short list, and to my amazement we were in it!  How exciting and I was flying high at this point, making the short list was a huge honour in itself.  But again I stayed calm and kept Spryte focused and standing still.  Then the judge started picking for the Group placements.  First to the Bouvier, second to my friend's Kelpie, I was so excited for her I didn't even notice who she picked for third.  Then the judge looked over the other dogs at us and pointed to Spryte for fourth place. Wow we had done it! A group win with my first show dog and the best part is I handled her myself. I was beaming from ear to ear!  And I now just might be a little hooked on conformation shows :)

Here is a video of Spryte and I on Friday.

Puppy Whelping tips

Today I went over to my breeders house to play with puppies. It is Spryte's mom's second litter. 3 boys who are now just 4 weeks old. They are adorable, fluffly little puppies.  They mostly just slept while I was there, but I had fun cuddling them just the same.

While visiting I received a lot of advice for my first litter.  Things like using a hard kennel bottom as the whelping box, with a wood platform on the bottom of the kennel.  Laying a heating pad on this and then either a towel on the heating pad, or even covering it with plastic bed covers for potty training children. What a great idea!

For the birthing cover the kennel with puppy pads and clean them out between puppies.  When puppies are born clean the sack off right away with a towel so they can begin to breathe.  Use a small bulb syringe to suck out fluids in the puppy's airways that might cause him to have difficulty breathing. Warm the pups and get them feeding right away.

Use a hemostat on the umbilical cord about an inch from the puppies body. Leave it there for a few seconds, sqeezing gently before cutting the umbilical cord off with sterile scissors.

Use a plastic container with a heating pad and blanket in it to keep the puppies warm while mom is busy birthing the next puppy.

Let mom eat only two placentas, after that she might get sick.

If mom has stopped contracting, get her up and moving, sometimes the movement will start her contracting again.

Puppies can move to an xpen in the kitchen at about 3 weeks of age. But cover the sides of the pen as puppies can get feet or heads caught in the bars!

Those are most of the tips that I can remember right now.  The nice thing is Leane repeated a lot of the same things that I read in the "Puppy Intensive Care" book. Hearing it twice will help me remember what to do and what to expect.  I am feeling more and more confident about my first litter thanks to all the great advice I have received so far. (and I am more than happy to receive more great advice from all of you pros out there).

Spryte and siblings at 3 weeks of age. Spryte is the middle puppy.

Pictures and stuff

When I take a bath Spryte always has to supervise. I think she is worried I might drown. She spends most of the time leaning over the side of the tub watching me with this concerned look on her face. If she is not doing that she is lying right next to it, just in case I might need her help. The rest of the dogs are no where to be found, they know bath time means water, yuck!

"Mom can you please step out of the tub before you drown!"

I took the dogs out yesterday for a walk just after it rained. Hoping to get some nice outdoor pics.  Mostly I always end up with the same pictures of my dogs standing and watching stuff.  My dogs don't play with each other and if there is no toy to chase they just wander and sniff stuff. Oh and eat grass. Actually that is pretty much all they do at this time of year. I think I have a herd of cows, not a pack of dogs :(

 Spryte eating grass

 Strider eating grass

 Kloee                     

The family                   

        

                                   

Conformation at Evelyn Kenney

I entered Spryte in conformation at the Evelyn Kenney dog show in July (along with obedience and rally).  I figured if I am going to be there for obedience, why not add something else to the mix. I often find there is too much down time at obedience trials. So having something else to do will fill up some of the day.  Besides I really do want to get that Championship.  It seems like an impossible goal right now, but I'm not the type to give up on my dog training goals, so we will just keep entering shows until it happens.  We have started practising our gaiting and stacking on the table.  I took a handling class for beginners last year and it was really helpful. The only problem is that I have forgotten most of what I was taught. It was just too long ago with no practise in between.  I wish I could get out to a handling drop in class before the show, but they are all in the evenings when I teach classes. So I will muddle along and hope I am doing it right.

 What amazes me most is how well Spryte adapts to the sport I am working on.  She can go from agility, to obedience to conformation and not skip a beat.  Too often I hear that you can't teach your conformation dog to sit (or attention heeling) and I just don't believe that is true.  As soon as I put Spryte's conformation collar and leash on and move her into a stacked position she knows what she is doing. My body language is completely different from the obedience ring and the commands are different as well. Right from the time Spryte was a puppy I started this with her.  She has no problem telling the difference between coming into a stacked stand and coming into an obedience front and sit.  The gaiting is different than obedience too. I hold my hands in a different position, move differently and they have different names. Yes she checks in with me a bit while gaiting, but it certainly isn't attention heeling. 

From day one when doing conformation I always rewarded her forward movement by throwing food on the ground out in front of her. This has her moving out and looking ahead for cookies that might appear.  She does not have her nose to the ground, she just scans ahead while moving.  In obedience the food is always fed out of my hand in exact heel position, this way she is always looking up at  me for the reward. Placement of rewards can greatly affect performances in any sport. Where you reward is where your dog is most likely to gravitate to.  Change the reward placement and you can often change how the dog performs the behaviour.  This is a training rule that I have always followed for all the sports I compete in with great results. Now if only there was a simple rule I could follow to guarantee a win in the conformation ring ;)

Here is Spryte winning Best Puppy in Breed with breeder Leane Lorenzen

The deed is done.

Spryte has been bred three times now to Ace.  The deed is done and now we play the waiting game.  We can ultrasounds on day 32. And the first expected delivery date will be August 17.  So fingers crossed that Spryte becomes pregnant and gives birth to at least 3 healthy, lively puppies.  I will keep you all updated as the information comes in.

I'm really enjoying this next phase in my dog career. I have been reading dog books and articles like crazy on breeding, birthing, puppy raising etc. I just finished the Puppy Intensive Care book by Myra Savant-Harris and although it made me realise all the things that could go wrong in the birthing process, it did make me feel more prepared if something were to go wrong.  I now have a list of supplies that I will need for that special day, and a plan of action for the pre-delivery, delivery and post delivery care.  Thankfully for me I have Paul who will be there too and he will know exactly what to do if anything goes wrong.  I think he is the reason I'm not panicking about the whole thing.  If I was by myself I would be alot more worried about my first litter of puppies.  Instead I get to relax and enjoy the whole process.

that last CD leg

Well it's time to finish that darn CD. Spryte earned two legs back in December and I haven't entered her in obedience since. We have been far too busy focusing on agility to spend any time on another sport. But now with regionals finished it's time to switch gears and focus on obedience again.

 I entered Spryte in two rounds of Novice B at the Evelyn Kenny show in July. Now that she is entered it's time to practise!  Today was our first session in months. Truly I can't even remember the last session we did.  We had a friend run us through a novice round to see where we are at and it went very well. She would have passed everything with a nice score. The off leash heel wasn't as sharp as the on leash heel, but I can live with that.  Mostly I just want to get it over and done with.  I have always completed my CD in a weekend or two back to back. So to have waited 7 months to get that last leg is killing me.  I really regret not entering her in another show in December while we were on an obedience streak. But it's too late now, so hopefully that last leg will come at Evelyn Kenny.

I really enjoyed my obedience session with Spryte today.  I don't get that same adrenaline rush as in agility, but there is something really special about the teamwork that forms doing obedience. I love a focused heeling dog. There is something really cool about having a dog happily trot along beside you, watching your every move and not missing a beat. And I like working on the other obedience skills too, I think it makes my dogs a lot more well rounded and gives their mind and body a break from agility.

Besides the novice routine I also worked on all the non jump exercises in Open and Utility.  I haven't done scent discrimination in forever until today and Spryte also did very well with this.  She had no problem finding the wood and leather, and found the metal right away. But she didn't want to pick it up, so she pushed it around a bunch, and then grabbed a wood instead.  After hearing a "wrong" for the wood she decided that she did have to pick up the metal one after all and brought it to me right away. Again for not practising in months I was thrilled with how she performed. Her drop on recall, signals, glove were also very good.  She is still mouthing the dumbbell like crazy and I wonder if I will every fix this one.  We continue to battle it with little success. Her go backs were also less than desirable.  She was hesitant to leave and didn't run a straight line.  So I will need to work on those too.

Anyway I am happy I have entered Spryte in obedience. I feel like I am ready to return to the sport and ready for all the training that is involved. And Spryte also seems happy to be focusing on some different skills for a change.