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by Myracle on 07 August 2010 - 20:08
The weird thing is, that spelling works too.
by MVF on 07 August 2010 - 21:08
For me, exercise and training are integrated.
2x a day (morning and early evening) they walk on lead in the neighborhood, to keep them socialized and sane. (I hate lunatic dogs who bark and lunge at strange dogs, especially little dogs!) Often these are 5-10 minute walks, but sometimes 30 minutes.
Once every evening (at least 5x/week) we train for at least 15 minutes, including some long distance, high speed retrieves. (My young male is a HIT ob dog, so I just try to outfox/outmaneuver him to get him out of position while heeling -- which he, thankfully!, hates. He whines and growls when I trick him too often -- so then I "let" him fuss perfectly for a minute or two and quit. As Ricky Ricardo said, "Revoise Psychology!" and I find it works with a good dog. He has NEVER had anything but a voice correction -- roll collar only. His only issue is he flicks his head sometimes when I go to take his dumbbell out of his mouth on the retrieve. I do tell him I am not happy when he does that and a good stare is enough to make him hold still when we try again.)
Twice a week we train with jumps. Sometimes I have my young male retrieve over a tennis court net -- the lack of barrier makes it a tad more mentally challenging, I think.
Once or twice a week we jog around a two mile lake. They swim for bumpers and catch up, I just jog and throw bumpers. I make it a point to leave them in a sit, platz or stand stay and run for a minute or two before calling them to me once or twice each lap. I also hide with the bumpers in some SAR drills now and then and make them find me -- too easy, as I do not have the patience to make them wait more than a few minutes.
Once a week my young male and I hike up and run down a local 1200' elevation gain "mountain" (4 miles RT). Hard for me, easy for them. (My 9 yo male can no longer do it safely in the summer.) I leave him in various stays, have him leap over various logs, creeks, etc., along the way. Today I set my PW (personal worst) on the mountain -- a wake-up call for me!
2x a day (morning and early evening) they walk on lead in the neighborhood, to keep them socialized and sane. (I hate lunatic dogs who bark and lunge at strange dogs, especially little dogs!) Often these are 5-10 minute walks, but sometimes 30 minutes.
Once every evening (at least 5x/week) we train for at least 15 minutes, including some long distance, high speed retrieves. (My young male is a HIT ob dog, so I just try to outfox/outmaneuver him to get him out of position while heeling -- which he, thankfully!, hates. He whines and growls when I trick him too often -- so then I "let" him fuss perfectly for a minute or two and quit. As Ricky Ricardo said, "Revoise Psychology!" and I find it works with a good dog. He has NEVER had anything but a voice correction -- roll collar only. His only issue is he flicks his head sometimes when I go to take his dumbbell out of his mouth on the retrieve. I do tell him I am not happy when he does that and a good stare is enough to make him hold still when we try again.)
Twice a week we train with jumps. Sometimes I have my young male retrieve over a tennis court net -- the lack of barrier makes it a tad more mentally challenging, I think.
Once or twice a week we jog around a two mile lake. They swim for bumpers and catch up, I just jog and throw bumpers. I make it a point to leave them in a sit, platz or stand stay and run for a minute or two before calling them to me once or twice each lap. I also hide with the bumpers in some SAR drills now and then and make them find me -- too easy, as I do not have the patience to make them wait more than a few minutes.
Once a week my young male and I hike up and run down a local 1200' elevation gain "mountain" (4 miles RT). Hard for me, easy for them. (My 9 yo male can no longer do it safely in the summer.) I leave him in various stays, have him leap over various logs, creeks, etc., along the way. Today I set my PW (personal worst) on the mountain -- a wake-up call for me!
by Vixen on 07 August 2010 - 21:08
Hello Mudwick, Are you sure your dog is not secretly hoping to take part in the Olympics???? She will have muscle on her saliva soon!! (polite wording) - LOL.
Hope the reason they are not offering a knee replacement for you now, is because of budgeting cost. i.e. they would need to do another one in 20 years again when you are 50. (Just realised this is probably not the reason if you are in US, because you do not have NHS there). Good news though, medical procedures will improve in time, and they may be able to do something more for your knees before you are 50.
A Rooster's Comb? Would you believe it! Extraordinary.
Hi Lavk9, your dogs have their priorities right - LOL. And you also get plenty of exercise juggling the walks. You seem to have the opposite problem to VomRuiz - very hot during the day and you are having rainstorms!
Vomruiz, Not sure I could manage too hot a climate. Must be frustrating wanting to do certain stuff during the day, but having to wait for the coolness of the night.
Regards,
Vixen
Hope the reason they are not offering a knee replacement for you now, is because of budgeting cost. i.e. they would need to do another one in 20 years again when you are 50. (Just realised this is probably not the reason if you are in US, because you do not have NHS there). Good news though, medical procedures will improve in time, and they may be able to do something more for your knees before you are 50.
A Rooster's Comb? Would you believe it! Extraordinary.
Hi Lavk9, your dogs have their priorities right - LOL. And you also get plenty of exercise juggling the walks. You seem to have the opposite problem to VomRuiz - very hot during the day and you are having rainstorms!
Vomruiz, Not sure I could manage too hot a climate. Must be frustrating wanting to do certain stuff during the day, but having to wait for the coolness of the night.
Regards,
Vixen
by Vixen on 07 August 2010 - 21:08
Hi MVF, Now you are going to have to 'pull your socks up' and stop being lazy!! Those dogs are clearly needing some extra exercise and work!!! LOL....... Seriously, could you explain a "HIT Obedience dog", and the reason for getting him out of heeling position???
With regard to the "head flick" - is he trying to be cheeky when you go to take and say; "Give"? If so, why not put your hands on each side of the dumbbell and say quickly and firmly; "HOLD IT". That may surprise him. Then say; "GIVE". That way he cannot object because you are not initially asking for what he has, you are telling him to continue holding it.!!!
Then sometimes when he is holding, touch each side and just say: "Hold It". Remove your hands. Then either repeat, or say; "Give". He then cannot anticipate and object. (Hope that makes sense).
Lovely reading ......
Regards,
Vixen
With regard to the "head flick" - is he trying to be cheeky when you go to take and say; "Give"? If so, why not put your hands on each side of the dumbbell and say quickly and firmly; "HOLD IT". That may surprise him. Then say; "GIVE". That way he cannot object because you are not initially asking for what he has, you are telling him to continue holding it.!!!
Then sometimes when he is holding, touch each side and just say: "Hold It". Remove your hands. Then either repeat, or say; "Give". He then cannot anticipate and object. (Hope that makes sense).
Lovely reading ......
Regards,
Vixen
by dogshome9 on 08 August 2010 - 00:08
My 6 dogs are walked every morning for at least 30 mins, no matter what the weather, this morning when my OH and I left at 6.30 there was a sever frost and minus 4 C. I just love those cold morning walks ( Yes I hate getting out of bed ) but you feel so good after wards and on our final walk for the morning the sun was up and I had to take a layer off.
They also have an afternoon walk that is usually shorter.
They also have an afternoon walk that is usually shorter.
by Vixen on 08 August 2010 - 00:08
Hi dogshome9, Yes, I too love cold, bright frosty days - wrapped up warm, the ground snapping as you walk with dogs, and everywhere looking sparkling ....... lovely.
Regards,
Vixen
Regards,
Vixen
by MVF on 08 August 2010 - 01:08
Vixen -- great idea! He is surely being "cheeky" when he flicks his head (I encourage cheekiness overall). More specifically, he would like to play tug, even with the dumbbell, and would prefer to have challenged and lost to never have challenged at all... So the idea of mixing it up and commanding "hold it!" instead of "aus" might in fact get him thinking -- making it interesting for him -- so he may not in fact turn away, at least until he knows I want to take it. I will try it!
As for the rest: High In Trial = HIT. My method after many years -- but only with "honestly" biddable dogs (not transactional dogs who learn quickly to obey rather than lose out on reward) -- is to make a game of heeling in which THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE IT WORK AND I AM TRYING TO THWART THEM. Instead of the ugly battle of wills I see too often (handler wants precise heeling and poor, fatigued, BORED dog is trying to comply but his mind is elsewhere),
I reverse it.
Once the dog knows how to heel I make him work to get into position while I move around erratically making it hard for him to keep his position on my hip. I turn it into a fun agility game, in which the dog wants and fights to stay in position. In trials, outside the ring, I act as if I don't care and he responds -- by playing velcro, and feeling quite proud of himself (much like his proud marching around with a "captured" tug or sleeve). What I've done is turned heeling (fuss'ing) into a game in which the psychological game is NOT that he heels well and I reward him. It is analogous instead to his "capturing the rag (tug, sleeve)". When he gets into heeling position and holds it, despite me, he has "captured the flag" and won. Thus, heeling is not what I require of him, but a game in which my hip is "prey" and he wins it proudly when he gets into and holds the position.
I would not recommend this for just any dog, and probably not for a middle aged dog, although before I'd walk into a ring with a hang dog (humiliating!) I would try to reverse his thinking about heeling in this way.
As for the rest: High In Trial = HIT. My method after many years -- but only with "honestly" biddable dogs (not transactional dogs who learn quickly to obey rather than lose out on reward) -- is to make a game of heeling in which THEY ARE TRYING TO MAKE IT WORK AND I AM TRYING TO THWART THEM. Instead of the ugly battle of wills I see too often (handler wants precise heeling and poor, fatigued, BORED dog is trying to comply but his mind is elsewhere),
I reverse it.
Once the dog knows how to heel I make him work to get into position while I move around erratically making it hard for him to keep his position on my hip. I turn it into a fun agility game, in which the dog wants and fights to stay in position. In trials, outside the ring, I act as if I don't care and he responds -- by playing velcro, and feeling quite proud of himself (much like his proud marching around with a "captured" tug or sleeve). What I've done is turned heeling (fuss'ing) into a game in which the psychological game is NOT that he heels well and I reward him. It is analogous instead to his "capturing the rag (tug, sleeve)". When he gets into heeling position and holds it, despite me, he has "captured the flag" and won. Thus, heeling is not what I require of him, but a game in which my hip is "prey" and he wins it proudly when he gets into and holds the position.
I would not recommend this for just any dog, and probably not for a middle aged dog, although before I'd walk into a ring with a hang dog (humiliating!) I would try to reverse his thinking about heeling in this way.
by MVF on 08 August 2010 - 01:08
I assume it goes without saying that no dog of mine worries about physical punishment or choking corrections. My job is to create a game interesting and lively enough for them to engage in -- motivate them to stay in the game -- and, admittedly, start out with puppies who want to be my velcro buddy.
by MVF on 08 August 2010 - 01:08
Dogshome9 -- it's brutally hot here, I assume you are in the southern hemisphere and very far south?
by 4pack on 08 August 2010 - 01:08
I go for 5 mile walks when I can get away for that long. I shoot for 5 days a week but haven't been able to make it for about a week now. Daily the dogs get off leash ball time at the park 3 houses down, 2-5x's a day (depending on weather). When it's hot we have to get our 5 mile walks in in the mornings and park time in the am and pm hrs. In fair weather we can get in more mid day stuff, more ballplay at the park or OB sessions before or after excersize. If I'm sick or going to be gone all day, I let the dogs loose in the yard to play with eachother before I leave or for a designated period of time. When we train it's usually 2-3 days a week at club. Never do my dogs not get out of the kennel in a 24 hr period.
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