Week 30

Twenty-nine down (twenty-three to go.)

Accomplished Last Week:

It was a good week.

We were able to cross a few things off, I gave myself permission to work on a few fun things not the list (like "Enrichment Activities"), I love my new "gold star and happy faces" calendar to track things, I'm reading a new book ("How Dogs Think" by Stanley Coren")...

It was a very good week.

Core Studies: Zachary finally passed his TL5 Sit-Stay, and I even caught it on video! But as he had so much trouble with it I'm holding off giving it a Gold Star on the Calendar until I've seen him do it three days in a row this week.

Rally: Rally really got short shrift this week (again), and while I have a few vague excuses about kid activities, lack of floor space (due to kid activities) it shouldn't have been that much a hindrance.

Weekly Quiz: Ugly. Just plain ugly. And when will I learn not to put BIG (time consuming) items on the Quiz????

Family Member: We are now at around the 20-30 seconds mark with Zachary. Beau could probably pass right now, but duration is rarely a Beau problem (in the house).

Extracurricular: Zachary passed TL4 Contacts. Yeah! Both dogs passed TL5 Target. Yeah! (That actually turned out to be MUCH easier than I thought it would be.) Took a picture of Zachary with his paws on the lowest rung of the ladder, which technically counts, but I have something bigger in mind...

Just For Fun: Worked the first two and had a great time. Heeling with both them at the same time is such a blast. Didn't get to the bottom two (Roll Over/Bow)

Videoed: Beau: TL4 Down-Stay and Contacts, TL5 Sit, Sit-Stay, Down, Down-Stay, and Distance. Zachary: TL5 Sit, Down, Down-Stay.

Released Video:

• Zachary - Quick Flick: Step Up (shaping Zachary to put his paws on a small step-ladder

Blog:

• Find It!
• Canine Enrichment
• Scrapbook - Find It!

Planned for Next Week:

Having fun making class time (training) more fun.

Added Retrieve back in (again).

Starting Rally over (again).

Still working on my new BZ Dogs website (who knew that creating a website could be so much fun?)

For the curious, the flower below is an Agapanthus, otherwise known as "Lily of the Nile".

(As always, click to see larger.)

Week 29

Twenty-eight down (twenty-four to go.)

Accomplished Last Week:

I'd think it was a Renaissance Week, where training flourished and goals fell like rain... but I'd only be fooling myself. I got a lot picked up only because I had littered the ground with fruit.

Core Studies: Tested Beau on TL4 Down-Stay (3 min, 40', 2 Distractions - food + boucing ball) and he passed. No, I didn't video it (Zzzz). Worked on Training Level's Five low-hanging fruit and they easily passed Down, Down-Stay, and Sit. Beau passed Sit-Stay but, as usually, Zachary did not (made 25 of needed 30 seconds. Arg!)

Rally: Moving on...

Weekly Quiz: Let's try that again, shall we?

Family Member: (sigh)

Extracurricular: Beau passed Contacts. Yeah! Zachary is probably ready to test but as he can still be a little amped the first few times (as in SKIDDING to halt (and sometimes sliding off the end) we'll leave it on one more time). Both passed Level Five Distance easily - a bit of surprise as they had only done it over cones and yardstick in the house, but outside for the test it was stanchions and a bar. Didn't matter, they both knew exactly what to do.

Had fun shaping the boys putting their feet on things, but no final picture yet.

Just For Fun: Worked both items - almost there!

Videoed:Beau: TL4 Down-Stay and Contacts, TL5 Sit, Sit-Stay, Down, Down-Stay, and Distance. Zachary: TL5 Sit, Down, Down-Stay.

Released Video:

• Beau - Training Levels Four (Contacts)
• Zachary - Training Levels Five (part 1) with Sit, Down, and Down-Stay

Blog:

• Ambition
• Ambition (part 2)
• Problem Solving (was Ambition)
• List of 100
• List of 100 - Sorted
• Gold Stars

Planned for Next Week:

Pulled out the On The Road things into their own "block" in hopes they will jump out at me as needing to be done. Threw Watch back in the mix (ugh), added TL5-Target, yet more Rally, and a few more re-do's on the Tricks front.

I've been working on making training "more fun" - we'll see how it goes (ie: my problem solving angst)

Still working on BZ Dogs website... perhaps I'll focus on Warm-ups this week in my quest for "fun". Or I could focus on creating an eye-catching front page so I can finally feel good enough to actually mention it more than just at the bottom of these posts where few, if any, people actually read! Or maybe not, and I'll keep it my own personal place to store bits and tidbits I come across.

(As always, click to see larger)(As always, click to see larger)

Week 28

Twenty-seven down (twenty-five to go.)

Accomplished Last Week:

Core Studies: Thought I could test the boys with Sit-Stay (2 minutes, 2 distractions) and found out I was wrong. Both handled the distractions just fine, but slumped to a down before the time was over.

Rally: Not sure the do-over really helped, but we’re moving on anyway.

Weekly Quiz: Wow, how quickly Fronts and Finishes vanish. Will need to work on those again. Heeling was lovely.

Family Member: Seeing improvements in Collar and Leash. Finally.

Extracurricular: Seeing improvements in Contacts. Finally. Also been working on Go To Mat.

Just For Fun: Worked both items, and seeing good progress.

Videoed:n/a

Released Video: n/a

Blog: Preemptive Strike, Sit Happens…, Boring Stuff, More Contacts

Planned for Next Week:

Tired of not actually getting done, so I threw in a bunch of Level Five things. I have no doubt that I’m going to later regret plucking all my low-hanging fruit at one time, but one can only take just so much discouragement.

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 27

Twenty-six down (twenty-six to go.)

If my math is right, that means we are now half-way through the year. Oh dear.

Accomplished Last Week:

Core Studies: n/a

Rally Ok – I officially am calling a Rally “do-over” week. Blame it on the heat, or the holidays, or the other things we worked on… but this just didn’t happen this week.

Weekly Quiz: They passed everything - even some very tempting shots at running out the front door - except that !@#$ Knock on the Door… and, actually, if Zachary wasn’t there then Beau would easily pass.

Family Member: Have finally decided to focus serious effort on “calm for collar and leash”. Really, this is ridiculous that we haven’t fixed this one by now.

Extracurricular: Did much, accomplished… hmmm… Go To Mat seems to be broken for the moment. Not sure why. Contact is a disaster, despite spending much time (and three videos) on it. Scenting and Retriever? Don’t go there. Never go to Dance – it was a hot week. Photography: did “Picture for a Greeting Card (SEE HERE) – yes, I know it wasn’t on the list. Also created a Scrapbook page illustrating “101 Things… “

Just For Fun: Worked trying to get both dogs to heel and then go backwards with me. It was a lot of fun, not much to show for it, but they enjoyed the effort.

Videoed:TL4 Contacts in progress (2 for Zachary, 1 for Beau), TL4 – Trick (Zachary), some other fun stuff that I have yet to upload.

Released Video: Zachary – Quick Flick: One Rear Toe On, Beau – Quick Flick: One Rear Toe On, Zachary – Quick Flick: One Rear Toe On (part 2), and finally Zachary – Training Levels Four (Trick) aka “101 Things to do with a box” (a fun video – or at least a video of a dog having a lot of fun!)

Blog: Drills – Examples, Unit Studies, Scrapbook – 101 Things…, 4th of July - the last one also being a Scrapbook page, and a photography “greeting card” example.

Planned for Next Week:

I have a lot of irons in the fire right now and I’m feeling a bit overwhelmed. The problem is that I’m either enjoying the tasks and don’t want to stop, or hate the tasks and just want to get them over with.

(As always, click to see larger)

July Syllabus

I keep forgetting how hot it is during the summer...

With Level Three behind us, and Level Four bogged down by a few stubborn items, I've decided to put some Level Five things on the list. I do this after realizing that one can only spend so much class time on "difficult" items, beyond which class will no longer seems fun.

I'm also working on "Warm-up Exercises" to keep fun in the game - but those aren't really ready for prime time yet.