Week 35

Accomplished Last Week:

Mostly worked on Fronts and Finishes.

Spent a fair amount of time simply playing with Zachary, who probably misses Beau's company even more than we do (as hard as that is to imagine.)

Planned for Next Week:

Pared down my list some what, and will probably do even less than is on it.

Puppy prep is high on the list, as is keeping Zachary as busy as possible. Poor snug bug misses having a canine companion, and so we are trying to take up the slack until the new puppy arrives.

I'm also going to dust off my Primary School curriculum and reassess it, in light of what I learned from Zachary.

Finally, field trips to parks and other outdoor adventures (other than sidewalks and "human" places) have been canceled until further notice, to avoid tracking anything into the house that might prove harmful for the puppy.

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 34

While training will continue for Zachary this week, we are only going to be doing "fun stuff" and I will not be creating a Weekly Worksheet.

Rest in Peace Big Dog

Aubridge Skyrocket In Flight RN CGC 11/30/03 - 8/21/10

Week 33

Thirty-two down (twenty to go.)

Accomplished Last Week:

A small miracle occurred: Zachary seems to have finally figured out what sit-stay means! (See Sit Stay post for details)

I have been faithful keeping BZ's Calendar, and updated the blog view of it yesterday (as will try to do every Sunday.)

Core Studies: Completed TL4: Sit-Stay and Watch for both Zachary and Beau. Yeah!!!

Worked on TL5-Come (their recall is lovely, but Zachary's finish is horrible) and TL5-Heel (should be testable, just need to do it)

On The Road: Arg!!! I swore to myself I was going to get Zachary out with the video camera so I could scratch these off and I never got there. Seriously, the only thing I need to do is make the video.

Weekly Quiz: Hubby's Pile O Stuff remained in the way, squishing any possibility of testing this.

Rally: Leaving this as I really wanted it to be in sync with the Weekly Quiz.

Family Member: Both boys passed TL4-Mat. Yeah!

Extracurricular: We worked on Retrieve, but without much luck. "Picture advertising product" turned into "Picture of pudgy bellies" (see Weight Loss) but at least I got good pictures of pudgy bellies as they were dutifully staring at the Clik-Stik (see Posing for Pictures)

Just For Fun: We had more fun heeling forwards and backwards and spinning. I really should video it, but then it will be done, and they seem to enjoy it so.

Videoed: TL4-Watch and TL4-Go To Mat, for both Beau and Zachary. No, I didn't video the Sit-Stay - really, two minutes of a dog sitting? Ugh.

Released Video: n/a

Blog:

• Fear of Success
• Success Revisited
• Sit Stay
• Weight Loss

Planned for Next Week:

Last try for doing Rally this way. If I'm not successful, I'm going to have to come up with a better way of folding it into their eduction.

Vicky is teasing us with the possibility of a new training challenge over in Training Levels Group... hmmm...

Picture is from Carmel/Monterey - possibly Sea Lettuce?

Week 32

Thirty-one down (twenty-one to go.)

Accomplished Last Week:

Very little was done, as I was gone most of the part of the week when I get most things done (well, I did warn you!)

Core Studies: n/a

On The Road: n/a

Weekly Quiz: n/a

Rally n/a

Family Member: n/a

Extracurricular: Worked retrieve – not pretty. Spent time with the Clik-Stik and was VERY happy (see Posing for Pictures, below)

Just For Fun: Worked duel heeling and had a great time – even added a few spins.

Videoed: An off-hand training challenge from the TrickDog Yahoo! group (see released videos)

Released Video:

• BZ – Quick Flick: Stay/Come

Blog:

• Posing for Pictures
• Good Dogs Go Everywhere

Planned for Next Week:

Now that I’m back (and should be for the foreseeable future) let’s focus and get some things done!

Picture is of a jelly fish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

(As always, click to see larger)

August Syllabus

July was a rather... different... month, but as I'm running behind I'll refrain from rehashing it. You can always read about it in the Weekly Worksheets:

• Week 27
• Week 28
• Week 29
• Week 30
• Week 31

I have high hopes for August, but of course, only time will tell.

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 31

Thirty down (twenty-two to go.)

Accomplished Last Week:

It was a REALLY fun week, but not a very productive one - at least not for things "on the list". Early in the week the Training Levels Group kicked off Simone's Contest - how fast can you click/treat 15 treats to your dog, and the pre-, during, and post-festivities pretty much killed off three days.

Realizing the ship was lost, I spent the rest of the week having some fun with my new Clik-Stik.

Core Studies: Tried to test Beau on the Sit-Stay and he went down. Arg! He NEVER goes down. (sigh)

On The Road:n/a

Rally: n/a

Weekly Quiz: n/a

Family Member: n/a

Extracurricular: This one I actually worked on. Both dogs will now stare at the Clik-Stik while holding a pose, and I'm so tickled I'll probably blog about.

I'm also back to working on the Retrieve - pure shaping, and I'm just going to accept we will be at this a while. Beau is not impressed.

Just For Fun: Still working with the ladder (feet on something), had a blast working on Duel Heeling, and I've even added a spin to the "routine". They aren't so go at syncronizing the spin part, but it's fun.

Released Video:

• BZ - Quick Flick: Simone's Contest
• Zachary - Quick Flick: Simone's Contest

Blog:

• Training "Stuff"
• Teamwork
• Training Challenge
  

Planned for Next Week: As last week had me distracted with Simone's Contest and this week is shaping up to be one of those rare "Real Life" weeks (ie: much time for son, little class time for the boys) we are basically going to keep everything the same. I will create a Monthly sheet for August, but probably not before the weekend. As August has five weeks, it won't be a huge loss to let this one pretend to be part of July. For the curious, the flowers below is are on a Variegated Hydrangea - a gorgeous shrub worth growing even if it never made a single flower. Since it makes lots, and they are stunning as well, this plant is real winner in my part of the world. (As always, click to see larger)

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.)