Friday, July 23, 2004
I just remembered a lot of stuff that I need to write down...
But first, agility. The other day was another lesson, and it was really fun. They lined up obstacles in a row, and the dogs had to go across all of them to the end.
At first they had the tunnel, four jumps, and the table. We'd bring the dogs to the first jump, then let them to and say "table" and they'd do the jump then hop onto the table for a treat (there was someone behind the table with the treats). This was leash-off, so that whole path was fenced off a bit...not that it mattered.
Then you'd take your dog to the second jump, then the third, etc. What was great was you'd tell your dog to sit, then unclip the leash, then stay, then you could see how long your dog would stay before either you told it to go (ideal) or it just went (whoops). Mojo was pretty good about staying, but he also took off a few times. Doh!
After that they added the weave poles and the seesaw. Mojo did better on the poles, and really loves the seesaw. He ran right up to it, then hopped off the other end. They put the table under the seesaw so it wouldn't fully tilt over; they'll take that off next week.
Overall, agility is fun! He does get distracted by the audience, but what can you do? Hopefully I'll figure out more of the handller agility mind-set (I'll get a book or something).
The other stuff. Mojo learned how to jump up onto our bed a while ago, which was both a source of pride and horror. It's great he finally was able to do it, but now he can jump up anytime...like at 5am...and start chomping on my ears.
Before this, he just was able to jump up enough so he could see us. He'd hop like a, well, pogo stick or something like that. He could put his feet up and sort of see us, and he could see us when he'd jump up and down, but he never quite was able to scramble up.
Instead, he'd just bark and whine at us in the morning. He'd do this so we'd pet him, not so we'd go outside with him or feed him. At 5:30am he'd be yapping away trying to wake us up. We did, and we'd pet him sleepily, which was bad - it taught him that it was OK to do it and it worked.
Now that he's learned to jump up, he doesn't bark anymore. He just hops up and chows on my ear directly. Oy!
The last thing is something Ela found last night: an underwear stash! Mojo's been stealing our underwear and padding his bedding. How weird. He only had a few pairs, but still. He always tries to snag Ela's undies out of the laundry basket, but we had no idea he had a collection. How about that?
But first, agility. The other day was another lesson, and it was really fun. They lined up obstacles in a row, and the dogs had to go across all of them to the end.
At first they had the tunnel, four jumps, and the table. We'd bring the dogs to the first jump, then let them to and say "table" and they'd do the jump then hop onto the table for a treat (there was someone behind the table with the treats). This was leash-off, so that whole path was fenced off a bit...not that it mattered.
Then you'd take your dog to the second jump, then the third, etc. What was great was you'd tell your dog to sit, then unclip the leash, then stay, then you could see how long your dog would stay before either you told it to go (ideal) or it just went (whoops). Mojo was pretty good about staying, but he also took off a few times. Doh!
After that they added the weave poles and the seesaw. Mojo did better on the poles, and really loves the seesaw. He ran right up to it, then hopped off the other end. They put the table under the seesaw so it wouldn't fully tilt over; they'll take that off next week.
Overall, agility is fun! He does get distracted by the audience, but what can you do? Hopefully I'll figure out more of the handller agility mind-set (I'll get a book or something).
The other stuff. Mojo learned how to jump up onto our bed a while ago, which was both a source of pride and horror. It's great he finally was able to do it, but now he can jump up anytime...like at 5am...and start chomping on my ears.
Before this, he just was able to jump up enough so he could see us. He'd hop like a, well, pogo stick or something like that. He could put his feet up and sort of see us, and he could see us when he'd jump up and down, but he never quite was able to scramble up.
Instead, he'd just bark and whine at us in the morning. He'd do this so we'd pet him, not so we'd go outside with him or feed him. At 5:30am he'd be yapping away trying to wake us up. We did, and we'd pet him sleepily, which was bad - it taught him that it was OK to do it and it worked.
Now that he's learned to jump up, he doesn't bark anymore. He just hops up and chows on my ear directly. Oy!
The last thing is something Ela found last night: an underwear stash! Mojo's been stealing our underwear and padding his bedding. How weird. He only had a few pairs, but still. He always tries to snag Ela's undies out of the laundry basket, but we had no idea he had a collection. How about that?
