No Mani!

I am in Canada staying with friends. It is cold, white, and the worst thing about it is that I am without Mani (and Jillian).

This 'vacation' will be the longest time I have been without my animals, since I got my first cat when I was 10 years old. I do not know how long I can last. It was so weird going to bed and not taking the dogs out one last time.

New pictures and video of Mani and Jill when I get back.

Trial Results and Late Halloween

So we are finally back from the trial. Yay! Mani Q'd 7/12 runs. I think that is great! The first day (Friday) he blew all of the games runs, oh well. The second day he blew all of his standard runs. The third day he was a crazy man with "zoomies" and was being a tunnel sucker. He hates tunnels! I am still happy, he got his superior games title, TG3! So . . . . .

Pilot Mandolin Rain CGC TIAD TBAD TG1 TG2 TG3

All of Mani's titles!


I just realized that I never really wished everyone a Happy Halloween. So Mani and my can Molly would like to do it for me, a bit late though.

Creepy right!

Long-haird Dog!

Never own a long-haird dog! EVER! Mani is sick. That is all I have to say!

I will let this blog post from Full Tilt Border Collies explain the rest!

.

Obedience!

I have started an apprentice program at a dog training facility here in GA. So I have been training Mani more obedience than agility. Well we have a TDAA trial coming up in a week. Our very first 3-day trial ever. My plan was to start exercising him more often, that was a bust! I got very busy and our normal three walks a day turned into just a half a walk to a grassy area then the dogs play off-leash. So instead of increasing his exercise it decreased. Bummer! Although he does not seem to mind!

Or maybe he is just taking all of his anger out on Jillian!

Instead of exercise I have been trying to mentally stimulate him, in the hopes that he will be able to better handle of a long day of trialing. So I have been doing more obedience. We have started from the beginning because ever since we started agility I have stopped all obedience. I did not realize how bad he had gotten with everything, even his tricks!, till we started again. It is like I never trained him anything. He just looks at me with those eyes and that face, how can I be mad!

I started with just stays the one thing I know he can do. It was also good for Jillian to learn too. Though she does not quite understand the point. *Yawn*

They much prefer the release, because they can run away from me and no more stays! yay!

So for Mani we are again working on recalls. His is pretty much non-existent! But he does love a photo-op!

Then we work on focusing, a bit confusing for some dogs. For agility he is supposed to watch and follow my hands (not that he does) for obedience he is supposed to watch my face. He is just so eager.

So I just have one question, does anyone else's dogs argue?

Tricks!

Jillian and Mani came together for a trick video!

Happy Halloween!

Mani had his second halloween with me, but the first year I forced him to dress up.

Can you guess what he his?

Hint: It is a breed of dog.

Hint: A sport popular in Florida.

Mani has something to say!

Mani had something to say today . . .

then he started flying . . .

and Jillian told him a secret. . .

but in the end, the only thing he had to say was. . .

always keep your eye on the ball . . .

chase others away from it if you have to . . .

make sure everyone runs away screaming . . .

or they can be bodyguards. . .

but make sure you get the ball . . .

so you can the enjoy the Sweet Victory of it all!

Update!

I guess it's about time that I update this blog. I have been busy with school, with all the traveling and training I have gotten far behind. Mani has been doing great. Class on Thursday night was great! He was so fast, we had him jump 12" for the first time in a very long time, and he was awesome. I don’t know what it was but he was flying. He was so fast he flew off the teeter a couple times. Now we have a new problem, I now have to baby-sit him on the teeter. That is now all of the contact obstacles and the weave poles that I need to stay with him. He is going so fast that I am really learning how to handle a fast dog. The really good news is that I can finally do some rear crosses. He was so slow before that we were never able to do that. I really hope he keeps his speed up. Especially for the TDAA Trial coming up next month. We are going to be outside in a big horse arena and I cant wait to see how fast he runs this time. The last time we were in a horse area for a trial, NADAC, he left me in his dust.
I will try to update more often now. Jillian is doing good. We have had a breakthrough in her agility training, she is not afraid of the jumps anymore, and if you ask really nicely she might jump over it, might.

New pictures of Jillian on My Picture Blog.

New pictures of Mani to come.

Leaving. . .

We are leaving tomorrow for TDAA Nationals. We are driving all the way to Wisconsin. I am getting nervous already. Not looking forward to the cold weather. The place that we are staying at is right on Lake Michigan. This is our very first big agility event, our first large size dog event in general.

My goals for Friday are to gain 2 titles, intermediate games and standard. We can do it. We only need one great run in each. For that Mani needs to get his weaves together!

We were unable to practice due to rain. But we did have a breakthrough in training! I can send him to the weave while he is running. He has consistently been getting his entry correct. But he does not like to weave with me behind him, but that is not an issue right now. I am just happy that I don't have to walk him into the weaves anymore. He still prefers me on the right side of the weaves, but he will weave with me on the left, he will just pout his way through them. :(

The only thing that I can hope for from him is that he is focused on me, fast, happy, confident, and just plain crazy.

People want to play and pet him all the time, and that is very distracting for him. Especially if he find one person he like more than the others, like the judge! That is the perfect person to want to snuggle with in the middle of running a course. But with a face like this who wouldn't want to snuggle.

Petit Prix is in a week!!

I cant wait for TDAA Nationals! I hope we do really well. Mani has been doing good in his training. He is gaining speed and confidence. Besides a little hick-up with his contacts he was great. But recently he has been doing a really bad job with his weave poles. He can get the entry, if I set him up correctly, but he has been missing poles and such. I think part of it is the new weave pole we are training on they are the wider USDAA pole. Mani likes the tighter ones. We will train once before we leave for Nationals. I am not expecting it to be as hard as we are used to in training.

We leave Thursday morning at like 3:00am. Friday is like a regular trial, so if we do well then we will be in Superior class. That would be so cool!

Introducing. . . .

Gilli-Bean, I am board-training her for agility, obedience and rally. She is a Red Poodle, who is very fearful and under confident. Her owners want to give her up so I decided to train her and see if I can help her become the dog they were looking for. She really is a great dog, but her fear holds her back so much. Isn't she pretty!








She and Mani play so well together.

Videos from NADAC

Here are two videos from our NADAC Trial Labor Day weekend.

Our Regular Standard Run:



Our Tunnelers Run:


Yes you were right, Mani jumped into the Judges lap. He had to get the fault removed!

Our First NADAC!

Mani and I attended our very first NADAC Trial. It was fun, we saw a lot of people we haven't seen in a long time. Another great thing about it was that Mani was running FAST! I had trouble keeping up with him. We had a blast. We did not do so well, we only Q'd once. But we were placing 1st 2nd and 3rd all around. We were just being held beck by time faults. NADAC was made for the super fast Border Collies. And there were a lot there. We had a great Tunnelers run. Mani had a super fun time. Maybe I will be able to get the video.

Ohio News!

Mani and I flew to Ohio for an agility trial. A TDAA Trial. Of course Mani and I did really well. We gained another Title! Yay! It was not the Title I was hoping for but good anyway. It was his Games 1 title. TG1. So Mani has yet another new name.

Pilot Mandolin Rain CGC TBAD TG1

We are going to the Petit Prix, TDAA National. We have sent our entries in. Unfortunately we are not going to be at the level I was hoping for but at least we are going.

Overall we did really well that weekend. We only need one leg in Standard and Games in order to gain a Title in each. I cant wait till our next opportunity.

Mani's Title Run!

This was our third run, we Q'd and so he gained his Title.

Ohio

Mani and I are going to Ohio.




We are going to a TDAA Trial in Ohio.




We are flying to Ohio.




The Petit Prix, TDAA Nationals, are in October. I really want to go. I really want Mani to be running Superior level by then. Hopefully in Ohio we will gain another title. I am really excited but very nervous.

New Champion!

Mani’s brother, Pilot Caprice Chuck Yeager. Of Pilot Papillons, recently gained his conformation Championship.

Way to go Yeager!! YAY!

TDAA Trial

Well I haven’t written in a LONG time. I can’t even remember what I was supposed to say. I guess I will start with the trial.

Mani and I attended a TDAA Trial on August 15th &16th.

We did great! He was a little slow but that did not stop us from getting Q’s and Placing 3rd in ever standard run on Saturday. We also received our Beginner Standard Title. TBAD! Mani has a new name Pilot Mandolin Rain CGC TBAD “Mani”. I love it! I was blown away with how well he did.

Beginner Standard 1


Beginner Standard 2


On Sunday, we moved up to Intermediate. I was so nervous, there are no weave poles allowed in beginner, but they are required in Intermediate. He does not have very good weaves. Our first run was great. But after the weaves they had a tunnel, then a table. I was so excited about the weaves, when he did them perfectly, that I pushing into the tunnel then onto the table too fast that he slipped off the table. Then he popped right back on. The rest of the run was perfect. We placed 1st but did not Q because of the fault.

The next run was a disaster; he reverted back to his old self and forgot I was there. He jumped onto the timers lap, then tried to get free snuggles from the scribe. He jumped up and down and begged at the judge’s feet. Then he decided that instead of a standard run he was going to turn it into a gamble and started making up his very own special course. After getting him back, finally, we finished the course and still managed to place 1st. The last run was a game and he was so tired we got a score of –5.

Somehow we still managed to receive Intermediate High in Trial on Sunday. I was very happy!

Please vote for Mani!

Agility Run Thru

Mani and I are going to our very first agility run thru tomorrow. I cant wait, although I hate getting up early. This is what is really going to tell me whether or not he is ready to start competing now, or if we need more time. Whatever the answer, we are still going to the trial on the 15th. Mani is doing 5 standard runs and 1 game. I cant wait! I am so excited! After the trial though we are going to work on new skills and fine tuning old ones. We really need to work on weaves. He can do 12 poles but he may miss a pole here and there. I am going to start all over with the training, just go right back to the beginning. Then I want a rear cross with him. I have very badly timed front crosses and a rear cross would be perfect sometimes, especially with Mani when I dont know whether or not I can catch or keep up with him to get the cross in. Then I also want him to know a 'go on'. He does not listen to my body as much as I would have liked. So I do need a lot of verbal commands. Anyway, I will most likely have video and pictures of tomorrow's run thru. I will also blog tomorrow, because the run thrus are over at 11am. So I will have the rest of the day to sleep. Hehe!

Mani Agility

I have not blogged in a while. Monday I spent the night at my agility trainers house, so that I could go with her to her agility class. It was fun, and then afterwards we stayed and ran Mani around the course. He is doing so well. He stunned me that night. Took me completely off guard. There were two other dogs in the fence in area with us. A Bichon Frise and a Yorkshire Terrier. They both were doing agility. Once I got some food in my hands he was so focus. He came when I called him off the other dogs, he stayed with me, and he was paying attention to me and listening to me. He is not usually like that AT ALL! Especially when there are other dogs around. We did a few courses. He did great. He got tired very fast because the night before he was playing at a friends house with their dog ‘till 2am. Then all that day he had been in a house full of dogs, and playing with them like a mad-man. He did great otherwise! Even with all that he had been doing, he still wanted to play with a few toys when we got back to the house.

On Tuesday night we went to another class, this one she was teaching. I ran in the class with everybody. He was great. On our first run (we were the first ones to run, Mani jumps 12” everybody else jumped higher) Mani was distracted because he wanted to see all of the people and especially dogs who were waiting around the ring. He did not like the start line because too many dogs and people, he could not control his urges. On our third attempt at starting the course he listened to me and left it alone then we were off. He did the course perfectly, well almost. Except for his weave poles, a knocked bar on a long jump, and a few handler errors, we did great. He was focused and listening the rest of the night.

He is really becoming a star. After only five lessons, he is just about ready to compete. We will be competing at a trial on August 15 and 16. I can’t wait. It is a TDAA trial.

Even though we are going to start competing (mostly because he is old enough now) there are still a lot of things we really need to work on. His weaves are accurate but very slow. In the trial, beginner level there are no weaves. If all goes well, we may even get the High In Trial ribbon. Hehe! We are running 5 standard runs and 1 game. 3 runs each day. 6 runs in all. I really hope we do well.

Sorry I have no video. We are going to an agility run thru this Saturday, maybe I can get someone to film me there. Hope Mani does well!

I will post our time at the park with Mani, lots of pictures.

Long. . . .

Got back from a full three days of agility. Will blog more later.

All About Your Dog - Mani

This was a video that was first started by haylz27 on YouTube. The original video is of her dog Indi. Do a video for your dog and post a video response to her video.

Mani:



Mani Video!

Pictures of Mani in Savannah

I have made a post on my Picture Blog of my Savannah Trip.

There are some Mani pictures there as well.

Crate Training . . . What's Next?

When I got Mani he was already crate trained, spending all night in his crate. He was not allowed to sleep with me because he was not fully housetrained yet. He was 8mo and not completely reliable. After I could trust him I started expanding the crate training to mean more to him and more reliable for me. The first thing I did was get him to be able to stay in his crate throughout the night with the crate door open. Not a big deal. The next thing was for him to use the crate as a default. If I don’t ask him up on the bed with me, or I tell him to get off. He is to sleep in his crate without me needing to tell him.

This was very different from my other dog, a Teacup Poodle. She automatically would go into her dog bed and sleep. If I asked her to sleep in the bed with me she would. But in the middle of the night she might jump off to sleep in her bed. She was in no way crate trained. She would scream if we left her alone. If I put her in a crate and left she would scream. But she was okay with the crate. If she knew I was right with her.



It has been getting hot, so I did not want him to have to sleep in his crate if he does not want to. So we got him a dog bed. Another one. I added a release cue to this one, the same way I crate trained duration. From there I had him sleep on a mat, then just on the floor. About a week ago, he spent his first full night on the floor with no verbal command or hand signal telling him what to do. He did it all on his own.



My goals for Mani in his next crate training is to build up drive and distance to his crate.

Right now we are working on distance with going into his crate. If his crate is highly visible to him, I can be across the room and tell him to get in. I am hoping to get to the point where I can be in a different room and know that he will go into his crate. We are almost there.

I also want to build up his drive to go into his crate. I want him to see his crate as the best thing, and want to run full speed to go to and also go inside and turn around. If I am standing right next to him I can send him in very fast, but I want to build distance for the drive. If I am not ‘running’ with him into his crate or am not standing next to his crate, he will take his time getting to it and going in.

We are working on it.

Pit Bulls

Also shared by ManyMuddyPaws in her post Pitbulls and DreamEyce in her post Pit Bull Blues.

I love Pit Bulls. I have never met one who was not an immediate friend. I have met meaner Chihuahuas, Shih Tzus and Golden Retrievers. I would own one in a heartbeat if the chance came up. I hate how people are afraid of every Pit Bull that they see. It is not the breed that is bad, it is bad owners. Pit Bulls are not a bad breed. People just don’t understand them. The media has it all wrong. There are more dog bites from Alaskan Malamutes than Pit Bulls. But the news can't say that a cute little Malamute bit his owner, it has to be a Pit Bull. A dangerous breed. Pit Bulls are used in Police K-9 Training. If there were such a dangerous breed, would the government really use them to sniff out drugs? All of Michael Vick's dogs that people were able to rescue, even the fighters, are now Therapy Dogs. They work in hospitals and care facilities. No dog attacks there! I am planning on owning a Doberman Pinscher in the future. If a breed ban is presented, it is just a matter of time before another breed takes the place of the Pit Bull.

There are no bad dogs, only bad owners.

Pit Bull Blues



Dogmantics Dog Training TV Episode 2: Pitbulls

Evil Burs

Back from Savannah. We got back Thursday, but we have been so busy, I haven’t had any time to write. Mani is still really good. On our last day in Savannah we went to Tybee Island to relax on the beach and do some sightseeing. We went up to the lighthouse while my sister stayed down and watched the dog. She let him run around and play in the tall grass, thinking nothing of it. Mani really enjoyed running around in the grass.

When we got back in the car, I found this awful, prickly, spiny (and very sharp) bur on him. My fingers were bleeding from pulling it out. I thought he had only one bur on him, so I didn't check for others.

We went to the beach after seeing the Lighthouse. Since dogs were not allowed on the beach (bummer) due to nesting turtles, half of us went to the dog park while the others stayed on the beach. Mani normally loves the dog park and loves playing with other dogs. But when we got to the park, he did not want to play. I soon noticed that he was limping. Immediately I grabbed him to see what the problem was. It was more of those evil burs that had embedded themselves into his foot and were inside of his paw pads. Just touching them made him scream.

I started carefully pulling them out with some tweezers, blood was everywhere. He had three in one foot and two in another and one in the last. When I pulled them out, they all bled. They were that deep. My mom poured bottled water over the paws as I pulled the burs out. It was horrible. He hated it. After cleaning it for about 20min, I carried him to the car and put him on a clean towel, he went right to sleep. I did not let him walk anywhere the rest of the day. Did not want anything to get infected.

Now I am glad he was not allowed on the beach because all the sand would have shoved the burs deeper and possibly gotten it infected.

He is fine now. Those were some evil burs. They left my fingers bloody from pulling them out. For the past two days I have been checking him for more; haven’t found any. Hopefully, that was the end of those evil burs!

Chillaxin in Savannah

Blogging from cell phone

Mani is good, going ghost hunting tonight!

Hehe!

Plans.....

At the party on Saturday night, Mani did amazingly. For his very first time doing agility with other people and dogs around him. He only ran away from me during a course twice. The first was when we were starting and I tried a lead out he did the first jump then bolted to the nearest person to say hi. The second time we were starting the course again, the first two jumps were heading in the direction toward people and dogs. He did both jumps saw his friend Lucy in here crate and bolted towards her and jumped on her owners lap giving kisses and everything. Both times were his faults. I had nothing to do with it. I usually blame myself for what he did wrong but those two times were not handler errors. Other than that he and I did great. We did three very hard courses. He did his first 12 pole weaves.

On Sunday we went dock diving, well Mani did not. We went with a friend to her class; the class was pretty much empty so Mani got a chance to swim a little bit. After that we did a little walking and agility. Mani was so tired and so hot but he did whatever I asked him to do.

I am not going to be able to blog too much in the next few weeks. I have family in from California. They all want to go sightseeing and exploring. We are going to Savannah this week. We are going to see ghost and haunting. Hehe! Mani is going with us. I really wish I could have found a kennel to board him at. Oh well. He is just going to have to tuff it.

More Agility

Wow, busy week. I have family coming into town to stay with us. Saturday Mani and I are staying with our agility instructor again. We just love her! She is having an agility party Sat night. We might go dock diving on Sat, but I don't want Mani to be tired, so probably not. I really want to work on Mani's focus on me. Since there are going to be other dogs there, dogs he does not know, he is not even going to know I am there. I am hoping he will not be that bad, but he might be. I have been working on his recall, and I can finally say that in a grassy area with just scent distractions and only me and him he will come when called about 85% of the time. Yay! I know he will probably not be that good with dog distractions. At the most he will come when called, 22% of the time if there is a dog in sight. I just hope he can focus enough to get through a run at the party and stay near me until I can grab him. Keep those fingers crossed.


Mani's new favorite agility obstacle is a pin wheel. He loves them. The first time we did it he went around the pin wheel then up the dog walk, then away from me to the pin wheel again. Don't understand him. Just hoping he will perform in Saturday night.


OH! I forgot to tell the results of my run at the trial. I did horrible. Hehe! Roxy, the Bichon Frise that I was running, would not follow my direction. At the start line she did not want to come with me, then she went the wrong way over a wrong jump (that might have been more my fault) then at the end she missed a jump and finished big! Everyone was very encouraging. But another way to look at it, I did not do any warm up with her before we went on. She knew I did not have any food and she did not understand that I was going to run her. And we did the serpentine perfectly! My very first time. Anyway, it wasn't all bad. I guess.

Mani and I were working on some of his tricks recently. We worked on his suitcase trick. Trying to build distance and better drive. We also worked on some others. I just had to see the videos again.

Clean Dog! . . . . Poor Dog!

I gave Mani a bath today so he can be nice and clean for the trial this weekend; we are going to be meeting lots of people, so he has to look handsome. I also trimmed his feet. I actually gave him a full groom. Like, professional. Anyway he looks so good and actually smells nice too. He might even get a chance to sleep with me tonight.

Click to enlarge!

Decisions... decisions... decisions...

So Mani and I are spending the weekend with our agility trainer. We are going to an agility trial on Saturday and Sunday. Well, maybe Sunday. She had a dock diving class with her dog on Sunday that was cancelled. So we can either go back to the agility trial or go take the dogs swimming together. She also mentioned that if we go back to the agility, I can try running her dog that day.

I have been asking around to see what I should do, and people seem to think that it is a no-brainer. Go to the trial and run her dog! I am very nervous, because I have only met her dog twice. The first time was through a baby gate, the second was when I was running her to practice my front crosses. (Video below).

What is agility?

Mani and I just got back from another bike ride. I would like to go on at least one per day. This time we went a different way so we could go to this large field and I could take Mani off his leash to run around. While we were there everyone was commenting on how cute Mani is. And while we were riding the bike they were saying “Look at the cute dog running next to the bike!” or “Poor dog!” {head shake}.

Just as we were about to get on the bike and leave a lady walking a Shih Tzu asked, “Is that a Papillon?” I jumped up and replied, "Yes." I was surprised because it is rare that people guess the correct breed. They all think he is some kind of weird Chihuahua mix or something. One person even asked if he was a Butterfly Pom.

Anyway, the lady with the Shih Tzu had just come back from the groomer. While on their walk the freshly groomed Shih Tzu plopped down directly into a large mud puddle. So when the two dogs were playing, he got Mani very muddy.

We started talking about how Papillons have such high energy levels; how they can take anything or nothing. Then I mentioned that I was trying to build his muscles and stamina for agility. She then stopped and looked a little puzzled and asked, “What is agility?” I was a little stunned. Not because someone does not know what agility is, but because I did not know what to say. Ever since I started trying to get into agility, with and without a dog, I was surrounded by people who knew what it was, even a little. I have never been asked what agility is. I hate saying this because I don’t know real statistics but, I guess most of the people in the US know, even by a little, know what agility is. Whenever I mention it, people seem to know what I am talking about. I need to think of something to say in case this happens again. I don’t want to look stupid when I am training my dog in a sport and I can’t even explain it!

Bike Ride and Some More Agility Front Crosses.....

Wow! Just got back from a bike ride on a trail near where we live. And by bike ride I mean, Mani in my bag and us both riding the bike to the trail head, then only me riding the bike along the trail and ¾ of the way home, with Mani running beside, then he and I both ride the bike (Mani in my bag again) the rest of the way home. Hehe! It was cool enough to go out and get some exercise so I just got up and left. Really without thinking about it. Now I want some ice cream!

Before I left I uploaded a video to youtube. It is of me running my agility trainer's dog to practice my front crosses. Mani was doing great on the first cross, then on the second one he would avoid the jump just before I would make the cross. So in order to see if the problem was me (trying to cross too soon) or Mani (not liking the cross at all) she had me run her dog. Her dog is a highly experienced Bichon Frise. She competes with her in agility. It was so much fun. I could sort of relax and trust her to go through the tunnel all the way, and make it over all of the jumps (and go out if needed). I hope Mani gets to that point soon! I cant wait. Everyone who has seen Mani says that he will be ready to compete in no time (I think by that they mean within this year). I just hope Mani and I can prove them right!

Mani's Front Crosses and 'Zoomies'

In class Mani is doing great with his front crosses, well my front crosses. There was just one that he didn’t like, because he was avoiding the jump. The one thing that I really want to work on now is his ‘zoomies’. After each sequence he runs off, away from me, sometimes without getting his treat first. You can see it in this video here:



I am trying to figure out a way that I can stop that behavior without making anything less fun for him. I found a toy online; I think they said it was made with real Bison hair or something. Anyway that would be perfect for Mani, he loves toys that smell like animals.

Anyway, I have two ideas that might work to get Mani to stop doing his ‘zoomies’. One is to add a release cue to end all of the work we were doing. So at the end of a jump sequence I would call him to me, then try to get him to stay with me then release him to go and run and play. Eventually I would build the time between ending the jumps and the release cue. Another thought along that path would be to ask him to 'down' when we are done, then release him. He loves to ‘down’ in grass. I can get him to do it fast without him shutting down or loosing any interest. The last thought along that line would be to have him do a trick for me. Like when we are done jumping I would somehow get him to me then I would have him ‘about’. Which is his cue for backward circles left around me. Then I can release him or possible have him heel (or something resembling) with me to wherever we need to go.

The second thought that I had which I will most likely try to use first is just to have him jump into my arms. He knows how to do it, he loves to do it, but I have never asked him to do it while we are doing agility. Just tricks, when I need to either place him somewhere and I don’t want him to loose enthusiasm, or when I want him to run, I would put him down in a ‘torpedo’ motion.

The only problem with both of these ideas is that I somehow need to get Mani to come to me to be able to get him to follow my directions. That is a hard job on its own. If I can just get some treats that are super irresistible to him, I don’t think I would ever have a problem with this.

I think I am going to try it. I got this treat idea from a friend and I think I am going to try it with Mani. I am going to make them and just see if Mani likes it. He'd better!

Cik and Cap Turns

Mani and I have been working on Silvia Trkman's Cik and Cap Turn.

Mani knows how to go around object, we are working on him understanding the difference in commands (left and right around objects). We were doing really well one day then suddenly he started shutting down during training. I have been trying to get him used to turning over the jumps for agility but he keeps shutting down then getting very fearful of the situation. Today was the first real day that we got anything done without him shutting down. He knows cik (left around an object) really well. He just does not understand the difference for cap (right around an object). He can do a cik really well but then if I add a cap in there he will freak out, even though he knows what to do. Today he did it, but I was luring him the whole way. But he did not shut down and he did not freak out and become fearful. He did loose interest but he did it because I asked him to. Hehe! I think we are really progressing. But I need some more dog treats. Something irresistible. Something that even when he is full or not wanting to train he will because he cannot pass it up. Hmmmmm!

Another Agility Class

We have another agility class on Friday, in the morning. I cant wait, I just hope it isnt too hot. Mani does not do well in the heat. I tried to do some training today with him and he did really well. First time in about 2 weeks that he did not shut down when doing a certain tricks. He became very fearful of the trick then just the training. So I think he may be comming out of it finally.

We were working on front crosses, well I trained Mani to Silvia Trkmans turn jumps. So I do those while our trainer has us doing something else. I guess I will have to tell her about that. =)) Anyway, he did not shut down, but ot was so hot that he knew I just wanted him to do it for a little while. I am trying to build his tolerance of running and working in the heat. I take him out in short little burst to run, then we go back in get some water and rest. I think I will take him out bike riding again later on today. After the heat from the sun dies down just a little bit.

Our trainer says that with the way Mani is and how far advanced he is right now, he may be able to compete in August at a TDAA trial. I cant wait. But that is as long as I can be more coordinated. There is an agility trial at a park near me in a couple weeks. I would really like to go, but my parents are going to be out of town so I will not be able to get a ride there. Oh well, maybe next time :(

Mani Agility Fun . . . I think!

I took Mani out today to do some agility practice. I just wanted to see how attentive and direction taking he would be with me. He was ok. Just ok. We have been having problems during training. He has started shutting down during training again. It was the hardest thing to get over last time during training. Now I don’t know what do. He is great sometimes then suddenly I am looking at a different dog. Well anyway, I took a jump and a tunnel outside and we did some jumping and tunnels. Here is a video of our efforts:

Mani Agility Training Log - Entry 1

Mani’s first agility class was June 23, 2009. We had a morning class scheduled, but the trainer was sick so it was cancelled. She called later, after seeing a doctor, and said that it was nothing contagious, just bad allergies. She wanted to reschedule for that night. Too hot to train during the day.

Mani did exceptionally well; she was blown away. She was so happy with what he already knew and what he could do. He surprised me by doing a tunnel completely turned around. His usual M.O. for the tunnel is to go half-way then stop in the middle, turn around and go out the entrance. As long as I run next to him by the tunnel, he will go the whole way. In agility I will be running anyway so not a huge issue.

We worked on a lot of things, front crosses, A-Frame, Dog Walk, tunnel, and some jump sequences. Mani did famously on all. He was not afraid of the height of the A-Frame or dog walk he loves to jump he just has trouble with direction. I think I had the most trouble though. I would guide and treat with the wrong hands. I am so uncoordinated. :(((

Mani and I also need to work on target training on a small plastic lid that I can send him to after an obstacle. That will be the next 21 Day video. I really need to catch up on that. I am 3 days behind so far. But it ends tomorrow! YAY!!! Did i mention this 21 Day thing is hard?!

Mani + Recall = ???

Mani has a terrible recall. I mean terrible. He knows that I want him, but sniffing around is so much better. On lead he is 100%. So there is relatively no way to train him. if he knows he is on a long lead he will come every time. If I take him off he is gone sniffing and marking and having fun, totally oblivious of me.

We are going to work on some of that today. At his agility class, he had the 'zoomies' really bad. It was so embarrassing. After we were done with one obstacle he would go off sniffing and marking. Did I mention he learned to mark from a female Pomeranian at the dog park? Not cool! Now he does it all the time outside.

Well anyway, we are going to work on recall. Or at least getting him to stay within a couple steps of my area, for agility.

Late...Late...LATE!

I am very late, guess you got that! Yesterday the party was great. I was hoping to get a video of Mani playing with the dogs but never got a chance. Then we did not get back home till 2:00AM! So no video yesterday. I am so far 3 days behind. This 21 Day thing is hard!

Agility and Party and Toys

Mani has his first ever agility lesson scheduled for Tuesday. I can’t wait; I just hope Mani will perform well. I am sure he will, just sometimes he gets so excited around new people, and you’d think he was the craziest most un-trainable dog in the world. I hope the trainer can understand.

We are going to a party tonight, one of Mani’s bestest friends is going to be there. His name is Kujo he is a Bichon Frise. He is so cute and fuzzy. Just like a white powder puff. They play so well together, they really love each other. We went hiking on Stone Mountain with them together, they loved it and Mani made it all the way up and down without any help. He was very tired afterwards though.

I made a makeshift teeter today and tried Mani on it. He loved it but the noise it made scared him a little. I was feeding him so many treat to trying to get him used to it that he got full very fast, I wish he was toy motivated. The only toy that motivates him is not a toy; it’s a real fox tail. All Mani wants to do is tear it up. I am looking for something, like an old long sock or another piece of fabric that I can boil in meat juice. Maybe that will work. He likes animal smells, but where can I find a toy that smells like an animal?

Picture Update

Some Mani pics.

Enjoy!

New Pictures of Mani

I have updated new pictures of Mani on my picture blog

Pilot Mandolin Rain CGC

That is Mani's new name. He finally has his CGC. He passed with flying colors. He did so well. I was scared because when we first got to the site, he saw the other dogs and started getting extremely jumpy and excited. I did not think he would perform as well as he did. I thought he would be super distracted and not even think twice about the possibility that I might be in the same country as him, let alone standing right next to him.

We tested at an agility center, hosted by the Atlanta Doberman Pinscher Club.

So that is Mani’s new name. We have not sent the papers to AKC yet, but that will be done soon. Now we can focus on agility and rally. Maybe even canine freestyle and defiantly more tricks. In December I am hoping to go to Silvia Trkman’s seminars in CA. Don’t know if I will make it though. I just thought it would be great for Mani. When I get my Pyr Shep, though, I am going to every thing she has in the States. Was even considering going to Slovenia and taking her puppy classes. =)) Hehe!

To see more pictures of Mani go to my other blog.

CGC Testing!

Mani is finally getting his CGC! Tomorrow there is a testing near us and we are going, hopefully Mani will do amazingly and earn his CGC. Our biggest goal to overcome was sitting politely for strangers and recall. When Mani is approached my strangers he gets so excited that his body gets all wiggly and he cant help but jump up. He is such a puppy! We have been working on that but since Mani does not see ‘stranger’ he does not understand. He has been doing great though. With recall, he hates it. He is perfect off leash when I walk him and stuff, but if I want him to come to me and he is too far away for me to get him, the chances of him coming are about 29% or something lower. But it is so hard to train him because he knows when he has the lead on, so he is perfect when I have control. Anyway, the teat is going to be one a 20ft lead or something, so he should do well. We worked on some heeling today, we have not done any heeling for about 2 months. I take him out without a leash on, and when he was on a leash to go places he was not heeling. He did so well! Considering.

Update!

Well this and next week are finals week in school for me. Just to say that I am so overwhelmed and busy! I have not posted in a little while and posted my new videos on here either.

Mani is doing so well with everything. I think he may even like making a new video everyday. Well he does get more treats and attention that way.

Well two new videos that we made and posted here:



and:



Enjoy!

Total Subscribers.....

I have a total of 15 subscribers thus far. I have been getting at least 2 per day sometimes more. Like yesterday I received 5 new subscribers. Just keep them coming! Mani is just happy that people enjoy watching him and watching what he can do. Of course, the more videos he makes, the more treats he gets to have. He knows just how to get what he wants. Hehehe!





Click to enlarge!

4 New Subscribers! WOW!

I woke up this morning and got on my computer and I have 4 new suscribers. I am soooo happy. After the first video was posted I got 2 subscribers. Now I have a total of 11 subscribers. That is sooo awsome! If you subscribed and are reading this

THANK YOU!

I have a Super Smart Dog!

Like up there ^ ^ ^, I have a super smart dog! Mani is soooo smart; and it’s not that I just realized it, but he never showed me before. We were making our video for the 21-Day Project. It was going to be video #5 of 21 where he was learning to lift his left hind leg. A trick he does not know yet. He knows to lift his right hind leg but not left. Anyway, I was training him but it wasn’t going well; he was starting to shut down on me because he was not understanding what I wanted him to do. He was lifting his right leg instead of his left.

Then we changed methods. Instead of targeting books, I started pushing on his paw pad from behind and when he held his paw up, I would click/treat. After about 10 of those I went back to the book target. I started low. AND HE DID IT! After I knew he understood that part I added another book. He did that one, too. Then I added another book. When I gave him the command, he didn’t even target the book he just lifted his leg and held it there waiting patiently for the click/treat. I was amazed!! He has never moved that fast with a trick before. And I though after I used the light physical manipulation he would completely shut down. But he didn’t and he finished the trick. He is in no way done learning this trick; we only did it for about 10min. But I was just blown away by how fast he picked it up. So even though this video was scheduled for 3 days from now, I am going to post it today, cause I am soooo proud of him!

Silvia Trkman always calls her first Border Collie, Bu, 'autistic.' It was funny because I thought Mani might be autistic from the way he acted when I first got him. If you fold his ears back, he looks exactly like a picture of Bu that I saw. So since they had those two things in common I nicknamed Mani Bu. In different ways. Well, I can’t stress enough how proud I am of my 'autistic' puppy! =))

New Video Up and Running, Video 1 of 21

Mani's first 21 Day Project video is up on youtube and live and ready for people to see and love and subscribe. This video took us quite a long time to put together, with all the technical difficulties and all. But it is finally up. Here it is:



Please Subscribe!

New Video

I woud like to post something new at least once a day. So.....

I am putting a new video together for youtube. Since my camera is giving me trouble I have to re-record all the film that I have on my other camera. I had been planning to do this project for a long time, well since I heard about it. But I have been getting set bad due to technical difficulties and many other issues. So I finally think that I may be able to get all the preperation done and finish what I need to. So that I can be ready to start tomorrow. Yes, I said it, Tomorrow! Kinda short notice, I know and I just hope I am ready.

The project that I am going to be doing is called the 21 Day Project. You upload a video on youtube everyday for 21 days in the hopes of reaching your overall goal. I just hope to get more subscribers and people noticing how great a dog trainer I am. Here is the videro to the lady who started it all.....



Enjoy!

Mani Homecoming Video

Here is a video that I made of him when I first got home with him.....

Mandolin Rain "Mani"

This is Mani's blog. His full show name is Pilot Mandolin Rain. His call name is Mani. He is a male Papillon, turned a year Febuary 16th, 2009.

He is so sweet and super well behaved. We are going to be competeing in agility, rally, obedience, and canine freestyle in the future.

Mani was to be a show dog, but he could not be. So he was given back to his breeder. Who was then selling him as a pet to a performance home. I saw him and could not say no.
When i got him he had just turned 8months old.