Catching up this week

I am going to try and be more committed to keeping up with this, because I need to focus my attention on what I am trying to achieve!

First, a quick update on the health situation.  He's fie.  Sunday was scary, but by the time I got him back home, he was drinking up a storm and acting like his normal self.  We have an appointment with a holistic vet tomorrow where we will discuss physical issues (exercise, etc to keep him healthy and limber) and I will ask their advice about tick treatment.

He rocked agility class tonight! It's so much fun to see him work the contact obstacles.  But where we struggle is on focus and things like stays.  My trainer and I are having a disagreement about that.  I, personally, am unclear on what she wants me to be doing, so I should probably clear that up next week.  He's being asked to hold a stay longer than I know that he can without being reinforced, so I may just have to take that into my own hands.  But I also need to start working him on some focus exercises and see if I can improve that.  I did sign up for a Fenzi class on Focus, but tried doing too many things at once that semester.  So I am going to try picking that back up now.  And I am in a Fitness class as well, so that is being good for me teaching him new skills.

So... one of the things that the Focus group asks is to define what we mean by "lack of focus".  Based on the examples given, here are the areas I want to work on:

1.  High natural activity level.  He wants to be moving and doing things.  All the time.  Staying still in one spot is really really hard for him.  Hence my problem with things like sit stays.

2.  High interest in the environment.  He finds a lot of things very interesting.  Extremely interested in scents, and fast moving objects.  Which is part and parcel of always wanting to be moving... there's so much to see and sniff and explore!

3.  Making training more fun and interesting.  I have a hard time making myself more interesting than the environment.

Here is some video of the first focus exercise, Rapid fire Treats (RFT).  The idea is to create a strong emotional connection with Rigger.

And, just to be complete, here is video of the second week of Fitness exercises:

Day 5 of rear foot targeting

Here's the latest.  He's really getting the idea.  I need to make the surface less slick to make things easier on him.

That was in the morning.  And this afternoon, we went on a hike.  And then, he just crashed.  Just totally lethargic, no appetite, nada.  Then he got a little better, but I still had him to the vet, where (of course) he started acting more normal... sniffing around and exploring, etc.  But I still got him checked out for peace of mind.  Good thing.  I it turns out that he is very dehydrated.  And possibly suffering from tick paralysis.  He's currently on iv fluids.  The vet doesn't think it's serious enough to require full hospitalization, so I will be picking him up at midnight.  It's just shocking how fast a pup can get sick!  And I am very happy that I followed my gut instinct on this and took him to the vet, especially after he started seeming like he felt better.

I'm still here!

I know, I haven't updated in a while.  But we have been working hard on many things.  Right now, Rigger's enrolled in "Fitness in Five" through Fenzi Dog Sports Academy.  It's dog fitness exercises.  He's still too young to do a lot of exercise, but I figure it's good time to learn the forms and techniques, get him used to the equipment, and such, so that when I do want to keep him fit later on it will be easier to do.

So... the first week was demonstrating the basics:  paw targeting and nose targeting.  He does front foot targeting fine, and nose targeting fine.   But I hadn't tried to teach rear foot targeting, so that's what we've been working on this week.  The first day was not so good:

But I got a a lot of good feedback about adjusting my position, where I rewarded Rigger, and my marking.  So there was definite improvement the second day:

And even better on day three.  He's really getting the idea of what's getting the reward.

And tonight he was really really good,.  Even starting to do some backing up.  But of course, I had some technical difficulties, so no video.  But I am really looking forward to tomorrow and what I can get!