Thank god the weather held up and the training did not have to be called off as on Wednesday.
Judge did a couple of mini-swissies/re-calls and he is doing so well. I am so proud of him. 🙂
Judge vom Sattelberg SAR Training
Dog Training
SAR Training – Great Bear
Today we went to the Great Bear Recreation Area for SAR training. It sure is a beautiful, beautiful place and I now understand why there is a purpose for snow-shoes.
First we let the young dogs out to let them play and socialize a little. That way they got off a little steam. First M. and his two pups went out to do some run-aways. Then Indra and I got to do swissies.
Swissies is an exercise where the helper takes the toy, runs away but doesn’t hide.
He’s just going into the opposite direction. Once the dog is ready, you let the dog go, the dog runs to the helper…
… comes back and indicates and then you shout “SHOW ME!” and run, with the dog, to the helper where the dog is rewarded.
We’ve done mainly obedience in the past week but it sure has paid off. Indra showed some beautiful swissies and she impressed everybody. She’s done an amazing and beautiful job today and I am so proud of her and Judge. He got to do “mini-swissies” today.
I call them mini-swissies because he’s not doing the indicator yet.
Busy with the Dogs
It’s been quite busy with the dogs.
We have taken a foster Shepherd in, next week he will be transfered to the Mid Atlantic Rescue where he is going to his new family. He is a gorgeous boy and I would love to keep him. Oh my god, I so want to keep him but we have four dogs already, plus Audie to watch so I can’t keep another dog. It’s impossible. Even though he is the sweetest boy ever. Since Mid-Atlantic already adopted a dog out to the family and they are approved and qualified, I have no doubt that he’ll have a great life over at Maryland.
Yesterday I went to a Greg Doud Workshop in Glenmont. He is the most awesome Helper I have ever met. The way he worked the dogs was amazing. I don’t think there are many helpers like him out there, Most helper don’t even come close to his expertise. It was quite a drive to get there and on the way back I ran into a white-out. Believe me when I say that I don’t EVER want to run into a white-out again. It’s scary. Very scary. The white-out itself is not so bad, what makes it so scary is that people still drive like idiots. Seriously, you can’t see shit and still go 65 MPH?
At one point somebody almost ran into me and I was happy and lucky to get home safely and alive!
The workshop is once a month and I definitely plan to attend each and every workshop I can take with him. Other than that I plan to go out there every Wednesday for the obedience classes and possibly go to Debbie Zappia to take obedience classes with her as well. We do need to do something about obedience, there is a lot of things that need to be corrected and I still have a lot to learn.
Let’s face it. Training on your own only brings you so far and not any further. You can only learn if there is somebody that kicks your butt on a regular basis.
Judge is being a good boy, especially the housebreaking part works perfect. We’ve only had very few accidents so far. I let him outside almost hourly and that makes it very easy for him not to potty in the house.
He’s such a goofball, isn’t he? 🙂
The snow-search was an interesting experience, it’s been quite an experience to be buried in snow. It is not as scary as I thought it would be but we were safe. We had a kennel cover the upper body and laid on a plastic-sheet and had a radio with us so we were not in real danger after-all.
Anyhow, I am hoping the weather will hold up for Wednesdays & Saturdays training. I missed to much training due to the crazy weather conditions. I wished I could have went to the Greg Doud Seminar today but better safe than sorry. I don’t need to be the next fatal accident on the news.
Preparing for Training
It doesn’t matter if I go to Agility, Obedience, Puppy Class, Tracking or to Schutzhund Training there are a few things that I always take with me.
The reflection vest is for my dogs and my safety. I have a couple of different leashes so I can pick the appropriate leash. The treats should be something that your dog only gets when he is in training. It is supposed to be something special. Mine love mozarella stick cheese and they only get it in training. What ever you use, make sure that it is small enough so they can eat and swallow it quickly.
I NEVER leave the house without a clicker! I also carry the vaccination pass of all three dogs with me at all time. Never leave the house without water for you and your dogs. It’s vital, especially on hot days. I usually have five + gallons in the car and make sure that I never run out of water. Even on remote training days it is so very important that you keep your dogs and yourself hydrated.
I NEVER leave the house without a clicker! I also carry the vaccination pass of all three dogs with me at all time. Never leave the house without water for you and your dogs. It’s vital, especially on hot days. I usually have five + gallons in the car and make sure that I never run out of water. Even on remote training days it is so very important that you keep your dogs and yourself hydrated.
If you use sausage or cheese keep the treats cool so that they don’t go bad on hot days.
The toys you see in the picture are only used on training days.
Dogs are not stupid. They watch and study you 24/7 and when you pack your bag they will know that’s it’s time to work!
As soon as I cut up the cheese mine get all excited and can’t wait to get to the club.
Saturday – Dog – Training
Saturday I went to the club to train the dogs. It’s been actually a while that I went there with my old ones. I didn’t go there all winter and returned when I got Indra. I wanted Yukon to fully recover from all his fears, went to different Clubs, checked out how they worked, went on the tracking Seminar and mainly worked for myself and taught him funny tricks. He had to get rid of most of his fears. Whenever I raised my voice, he ducked. Whenever I said “Platz” (down) he would not only duck but literally fall apart. He was so scared that I’d do something bad to him. He had to get more secure around other dogs. I wanted him to play more, to be able to walk in a group of people without jumping and socialize him more.
The day my husbands Battalion had the steeple chase was our very own graduation day. I was able to walk with him in a large group of people, mainly men, without him falling apart, jumping or ducking. So he is good to go now.
This is one way to train the command “HIER!” (come!)
Zenzy sitting in the “attention” mode
(that is how I call it)
Hier! Besser, besser, besser! Hier!
(Come, better, better, better! Come!)
Hubby and Indra in the puppy class
sturmfalken.com 