Elementary, My Dear Boston

Agility Training

2009-02-28T11:21:00.009-05:00

It was a cool, rainy day. The dogs are bored and need to burn some energy. You know what that means? We get to set up the agility equipment in the living room!

Since there's not enough room in the living room for two obstacles, I had to use the jump and the tunnel separately.

If you want to train your dog to compete in agility, read on!

Before you start, you may want to get a clicker, which is a small box that makes a sharp click when it is pressed.

A clicker is good for training short behaviors, like jumping. Remember to click the exact instant the dog does what you want. And always give your dog a treat when you click, even if you click by accident. If you click and don't give the dog a treat, he will not trust the click.

The first thing I taught Oscar was how to jump coming towards me. This is easier because he wants to get to me because I have a treat. It's easier if you have a friend helping you, so she can hold your dog until you call him.

Have your friend hold the dog. Call him using the come command, and add the jump command (or over, or whatever you like) immediatly after. You will stop using the come command when your dog learns what jump means.

Click as soon as your dog begins to jump. Remember, never scold your dog if he does not do what you want. If you do, he will be to careful and not go as fast. You can't win a competition with a slow dog! Just act like the mistake never happened and try again.

You also want to teach your dog to jump even when your behind him. To do this, throw something he likes (a treat, a ball, whatever) over the jump. As he runs after it, give the jump command. As he starts to jump, click, and then give him a treat.

Third, you should teach him to jump beside you. This is easier if your dog likes to run with you. If he doesn't like to run with you, try holding some food or his favorite toy as you run. Start running a few feet away from the jump. Your dog should chase you. As you get closer to the jump, try to position yourself so the dog has to jump over the bar to stay beside you. If he does not jump, try holding the treat above the jump as you run by, so that he has to jump to get to the toy. Once again, click when he jumps.

Oscar makes the jump!

Good boy Oscar!

Now for the tunnel. I don't use a clicker on the tunnel, because it takes longer than the jump.

A good way to start is to throw a toy or some food into the tunnel, and run to the other end, so your dog will come to you. When he starts to go into the tunnel, give him the tunnel command.

The tunnel also doubles as a bed!

If you are interested in teaching your dog agility, I recommend The Beginner's Guide to Dog Agility by Laurie Leech. You can get it on Amazon.com.

Birtday Party!

2008-11-26T08:39:00.014-05:00

Yesterday, the 25th, was my dad's birthday. We made sure we had everything ready for him when he came home. We cleaned the house and made a cake.

For supper Mamma made roast beef, biscuits, potatoes and gravy. For desert: Cake, of course!

Natalie ices the cake

Mamma adds the next layer

The finished cake

Yummy! Icing!

Natalie after cake

That's all for now. Good bye and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Pictures

2008-11-22T21:19:00.005-05:00

Here's a more recent picture of Oscar. This is my favorite picture of him.

Here's one of Nanny:

And here's Abigail:

I don't have any good pictures of me yet. I'll try to get some soon.

More About Me

2008-11-22T13:08:00.000-05:00

The last post I wrote, I just told you about my family. Today I want to tell you a little about myself.
One of the things I like to do is play music. Guitar is the instrument I play most, but I also play a little piano, harmonica, and ocarina(a kind of flute). Guitar and piano are my favorites.
I got started playing piano when my dad bought a new Yamaha keyboard. My mom taught me how to play, and I learned quickly, even though for a while I didn't like playing that much. Now I enjoy playing the piano very much.
I got my first guitar when I was eight years old. My mom gave me a child-sized guitar for Christmas, and I started to learn to play it. But I gave up for a long time, until one evening, last year.
The Christmas musical we were playing in had just ended, and Emily and my dad had just gone to eat out with several other people from church. While they were gone, the church had a drawing for a new guitar. As you might have guessed, I won the guitar. If I didn't, there would be no reason to write about it. Anyway, I learned to play it, and took lessons from someone at my church. Ever since I have played and enjoyed guitar. (I have a better guitar now, though)
I also love anything to do with dogs. I have a growing collection of dog books, and, of course, dogs.
I have had Nanny since I was three years old. One of my earliest memories is of Nanny crawling onto my lap when we were at the breeder choosing a puppy. She is now ten years old, and still an important member of the family.
I got Oscar a few months ago when I was looking for a puppy to train. He seemed a little shy at first, and we were afraid he might not be very well socialized. But he became more friendly as he got used to us, and we decided to buy him. He is a very good dog, and is very friendly with strangers as well as with friends. He can be a pest sometimes, but I love him anyway.
Sorry that I don't have pictures right now. I'll try to have them soon!

My First Post

2008-11-19T17:43:00.000-05:00

Hi! Welcome to my blog! This is my first post, and I'm having a little trouble getting started. I guess I'll start by telling you about me. You know my name, since it's in my profile, so I'll skip that, and most of the other stuff in my profile.
First, I'll tell you about my family. I have a mom and dad (of course!), and four sisters, Emily (my older sister), Natalie, Sophia, and Abigail (my younger sisters).
I have two dogs, Nanny and Oscar. Oscar is the dog in the picture under the title. I'll have pictures of Nanny soon.
We have twelve chickens. Some of them have started to lay. There were only two laying for a while, but this afternoon I found four eggs, so maybe there are more now.
I don't have much to post right now, but I'll be writing more soon!