2012 in Review: 12 dog related accomplishments

Now that we are officially into the year 2013, I have been thinking about what a huge adventure the year 2012 was for Bear and I. We tried some new things, we succeeded at some things, we failed at others. I smiled a lot, I laughed a lot, I cried a little. Below are someContinue reading “2012 in Review: 12 dog related accomplishments”

Sniff It – Week Four

By now we have a regular Sniff It routine here – we do our homework every morning – Bear thinks this is a wonderful way to earn breakfast. This week in our class, our first assignment was to make things more challenging happening for our dogs by adding more containers, more boxes and more containersContinue reading “Sniff It – Week Four”

Sniff It – Week Three

This week our assignments involve making things more difficult for dogs and encouraging them to use their nose. We used two exercises to do this. The first exercise involved hiding containers in boxes. One container was filled with food, the other was empty. The dog’s job is to find the food container, my job isContinue reading “Sniff It – Week Three”

Sniff It – Week Two

This week our assignment was to hide the food container out of sight and have the dog find it. Since we were at home when the assignment was given and there happens to be lots of nooks and crannies. I recorded our first session last Sunday. We have played this game before, hiding Bear’s favoriteContinue reading “Sniff It – Week Two”

Sniff It – Week One

I have really been looking forward to our online Sniff It class with Sumac Grant-Johnston of Wag It Training in Maine, USA. Online training is the perfect opportunity to train at home and on my own time – attending class here means I need to find a class on a night that I am notContinue reading “Sniff It – Week One”

COKC Agility Trial – September 15 & 16, 2012

Last weekend, Bear and I were entered in our first 2 day agility trial in many years. We were entered in gamblers, snooker, standard and jumpers on Saturday and gamblers, steeplechase, standard and jumpers on Sunday. I was unsure what the weekend would be like, especially since we had missed the last two classes beforeContinue reading “COKC Agility Trial – September 15 & 16, 2012”

Herding–September 12, 2012

Last Wednesday we made the trek to St. Norbert for our last chance at herding before the trial at the end of the month. On the weekend we went down to Bottineau, ND where I purchased a stock stick so now I look like I know what I am doing. My stick is plain whiteContinue reading “Herding–September 12, 2012”

Nested Rally Courses – September 10, 2012

The following courses are nested which means that the course changes between courses or levels are minimal and the trial or class can move along quickly. This is especially important at large trials or when a person is running multiple classes. The following team courses from a trial in June 2012 are nested in the orderContinue reading “Nested Rally Courses – September 10, 2012”

Post-Test Plans for Tracking

Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. -Ralph Waldo Emmerson Oh haven’t you heard? I’m so done with feeling bad about the tracking test. While I am not over it, I am moving on, negative feelings are – to use a word – exhausting. Between teachingContinue reading “Post-Test Plans for Tracking”

Notes: Tracking lecture by John (Jack) Wilhelm September 2, 2012

The following is my interpretation of some of the topics covered in a short (2.5hour) lecture delivered by John (Jack) Wilhelm after our tracking test last Sunday. I am posting them, like I have for other seminars in the past, because writing helps me process things. I’ll add my thoughts/comments at another time. Training vs.Continue reading “Notes: Tracking lecture by John (Jack) Wilhelm September 2, 2012”