Tia Now 20 weeks

Toilet Training
Is coming along really well, I would say we are there.

Crate Training
Have been working on this all week, using a method out Pam Dennison's "Idiots Guide to Positive Training" great book don't be put off by the title.
We are up to 15 minutes inside, in a crate without her whining. If I put a bone in their she can go even longer.

Running Around A Cone
Have been getting her to run around a cone from 5 feet away, she runs around the cone and comes back for the tug reward. Next I will put the cone in a corner to tighten up the turn.



Retrieving
She has no real drive for a tennis ball but will retrieve it for food. Before she gets fed she has to retrieve a tennis ball. So she has worked out that to get what she wants she needs to do what I want. I usually do this in the morning when she has her most energy. Went to Maxi's Supermarket yesterday and found a toy that has a rope with a tiny tennis ball on the end. I attached the tennis ball toy to the end of a horse whip and fling that around, she seems to enjoy this.

Herding
We are going to herding training on 11 March, 2007 hope to take a video. Have been told she has real talent for this. May end up just doing herding.

Stays
Drop stay is up to 10 seconds from 5 paces away on a good day. Sit stay about 3 paces 4 seconds. As soon as I say the word "stay" she tends to move and start sniffing. Tends to sniff a lot in the drop stay. Stand stay, only at my side a one forward at this stage. I am starting to add the "Stay" word while she is in position at my side and I am not moving any where. I think this is telling her what a stay is and just because I say a word doesn't mean she has to physically move and do something else.

Agility
We will be doing an Agility Assessment at Action Dogs. We will see how she goes in agility, if she is not driven and does not seem to enjoy we will not persist.

Obedience
Her heeling is coming along only do about 5 to 10 paces, of heeling where she is looking up at me. I click whenever she looks, if she loses interest and starts to sniff then I run away. Seems to be working a bit.

Swimming
Tia is now starting to go into water and swim only if Josh is already in. She will follow him in and start swimming. She will also only swim where she has swum before, and has to be at the exact same entry point. She will also follow me in as well. She is usually quite happy to walk up to her tummy. Once she starts swimming she gets more confident. We take her swimming about 4 - 5 times a week.

Appearance
Her new adult coat is starting to come in. Her ears are not sure what to do.

Intensive Training

Have had the last two weeks off from work so have been doing a heap of training with Tia.

Toilet Training
While she has never dropped the heavy artillery inside she has widdled a bit. So the last 2 weeks while I watch TV at night, thats when she is in, I take her out every add break. We found that when I take her out, she just sits and looks at me, but when my husband takes her out she performs. In the last 2 weeks we haven't had an accident in the house. We use the word "toilet".

Stays
We have been working on stays, and seem to be making a bit of progress. I found that when I use a toy and then release her and let her play with the toy, I get much better response. A more steady stay. If I leave her in a stay and I have food on me she tends to sniff at the ground. I have to click the clicker before she goes to sniff, so that could mean every 1/4 of a second. I also found that I could hide the toy, and place it in my pocket, and come back and reward her with that. Then I tried alternating between a toy and some food.

Stands
From the moment I got Tia, sit is a default behaviour. So stands are a challenge have to hold my finger out for her to target, or have to keep rewarding the stand whilst bent over so she doesn't go into a sit. Works in progress. But on the other hand she already auto sits whilst heeling. I use the same footwork each time.

Drops & Sits
The other night she dropped from a distance of about 5 feet I then ran up to her and gave her a jack pot.

Herding
We did some more herding on Tuesday in a paddock. The trainer said she was a little "ripper",. She at one stage split the sheep but then worked out how to get them back again. Will probably do the herding instinct test as soon as we get her papers, still waiting. The only other way is to register her as an associate, but that would mean having to desex her early.

Tennis Ball Drive
Her drive for the tennis ball is not very high. In the mornings she doesn't get her meal till she retrieves the tennis ball. So I am working on the premack principle, if she does what I want she gets what she wants. It usually takes a couple of goes. Then she does it. Tonight she retrieved the tennis ball and I rewarded her with a game of tug. She still loves her tug.

Buster Cube,
Have been using a buster cube, and a food dispensing ball. To get her thinking and give her something to do a night. She loves it and the other dogs don't go near her, maybe she is boss???

Bubble Machine
We bought a bubble water pistol thingi, where it shoots out bacon flavoured bubbles, she quite enjoys this and even still looks for the bubbles whilst my other dog is wagging his tail in her face. Have updated my web page. Also added a counter to this blog and am surprised how many hits it gets.

Tia Now 16 weeks Old

Tia was weighed at the vet and weighed in at 8kg, the vet recons she will probably end up being a small border collie and weighing 16kg (he says you double the weight at 16 weeks except not for large breeds).

Have been working on kick back stands from in front.


Also from the side.

Tia also had her first go at herding sheep, she had never seen a sheep before and is not from herding lines.



Have been teaching her to do a paw wave and march.



Tia has also been learning to not eat out of her food bowl till she gives me eye contact.



Her Rolling over is more confident now, I don't need to reward in increments as much as before. She still needs a fair bit of help.



Still need to work on ball drive, I think I may use food as per shirley chong method for the dumbell. She is also nervous of cars when I am out walking her. I have two weeks off work so have been putting a lot of training and socialising into her. Whenever I leave her in the car, (which is not usually longer than 10 minutes), she always has a bone to chew on, which stops her stressing. Will be taking her to the Pet Expo on Friday.

Tia - is now getting very clicker savvy.

Have been working on the following.

Ball drive.
Each morning when she is her most energetic I do a bit of throwing her tiny tennis ball in the hallway, this way there are no distractions and she can't run off with it. I do a little bit of tug with it, and let her chase me with it in her mouth. I am also working on "catch". I started off with a soft toy, then I went to the tennis ball. I bounced the tennis ball until she was following it with her eyes, and then threw it for her to catch, the first time she caught it, I think it was a bit of a fluke.


We are up to Step 21 of the Shirley Chong clicker retrieve. She is up to the stage where she will pick up the dumbell from the ground and place it into my hand.


Backing
We are still practicing this using a puppy pen as a barrier. She is moving about 5 feets backwards but sometimes seems to jump backwards.


Cavaletti
Have also been getting her to walk over a ladder on the ground. So she will learn to use her back feet, she seems to move them together like a rabbit.

Swimming
She will now happily go into a paddle pool when she is hot. Out at the lake I still have to coax her in with food lures so she will start swimming. Swimming is a very good form of exercise and it may help her back legs.

Close Door
I have been shaping this one. I smeared a little bit of cheese on the cupboard door and c/t (click treat) her for sniffing, then waited for a nose touch. She gets a little confused and sits next to the door looking at me and hitting the door with her side. At one stage she got frustrated and jumped up with two feet and slammed the door close. I c/t that and she is starting to get the idea now. I now c/t for when the door shuts. I am also altering my position. She nows where the treats are and would like to get them without doing the work.


Mat
Have been freeshaping this out of the Click Quicks book. She will go towards the mat and turn around and then lie down backwards onto the mat. If she misses and I don't click she then move her body backwards.

Crate
Have been working on crate training using "COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO POSITIVE DOG TRAINING, 2ND EDITIONby Pamela Dennison I tooks the other dogs out with me to do the paper run, and left Tia in the crate with a couple of bones to chew on. She was still quiet when I got back an hour later and still chewing her bones. I found this work best in the morning when she is at her hungriest.

Paw Touch
Have been working on paw touch to a target using the "Quick Clicks" book.

Socialisation
Have been getting Tia out and about, and she is well and truly used to the car now, and does not sook. Have taken her to friends places so she can meet new dogs and new people. She is much more confident, usually plays with the dogs we introduce her to. When she sees people she runs up to them and sits in front, (I didn't teach her this). She is a little nervous of cars when I walk on lead around the street. Took her to a flyball class, mainly so she could get used to the sound of barking dogs. I also did some recalls to a tug toy on the flat. To get her focusing on me when there are distractions around. She did quite well, loves her tug.

Rear End Awareness
Got a phone book out, and lured her to put her two front feet on, I then moved around the phone book and clicked each time her back legs moved. She kept her front legs on the book but moved her back legs. Here is a video of my older dog doing this. I also noticed today in the garage when she got stuck in a narrow aisle, that she just simply backed out when she couldn't turn around.

Stays
These are still very challenging but managed to get one step past her. It seems as soon as you say "stay" she moves. Haven't had this problem with any other dogs I have trained.

Rollover
Have been luring her over, she is not yet confident but still working on it.

Recalls
She is coming to the sound of my metalic audible whistle.

Tia Now 12 weeks old!!!

Took Tia to the vet for her injections and she weighs 6.7kg at 12 weeks old, don't know if that is big or small but her brothers are 8kg.

We are working on the Shirley Chong Clicker Retrieve, we are up to step 13. I tick each step off and date it as I go. Hopefully her retrieve will improve by doing this. She tends to want to run off with the object, but does sometimes bring it back, but it is early days yet.

She has learnt to come to a whistle, which is very handy.

Still not really confident about swimming yet but I try to lure her into the water with food or using a rice cake with meat smeared on the top for her to swim after. It took my goofy flatcoated retriever 6 months to enjoy swimming and now look at him so I am not too worried. Her brother loves the water.



The water being used if from our creek, which we are allowed to use during water restrictions.

I took her for a walk on lead by herself, and clicked her for looking at me whilst walking, she was a little worried about the cars.

I have done some crate training using the book "Idiots Guide to Positive Dog Training" she gets fed in her crate every morning.

I have also been teaching her to go to the mat and lie down using Quick Clicks book.

Sometimes when I start to train her using shaping she is so happy to see me, she wants to jump on me and ignore the dumbell. I was at a Richard Curtis Seminar and he said he used to ignore the first 20 minutes of his dogs work.

Concerns
Her back legs don't move correctly when she runs, they tend to move in bunny rabbit fashion. The vet suggested hip displaysia but she wasn't really sure. I took her to a lady who does deep muscle massage and she thought Tia was very sore in the back.

Stays are still a problem area.