Sept 28 - Oct 3, 2009

We went to NASDN fall seminar at Camp Ripley, MN. It was a lot of fun and we learned a lot. Duece was exposed to hidden scent put out by someone besides me and I was able to learn how he works in different environments.
Duece did an excellent job and we learned where we need to do more work. We haven't done much on buried scent or on scent hidden inside buildings or on/in water. The buried is similar to what we've been doing but the indoor is a different. Water is a whole other equation that needs others to participate since we can't work the dog and run a boat at the same time.
I've never done a 'detail search' with Duece and it's something we need to work on. In a building the air movement can really screw things up so we need to practice those. Outside, Duece has room to work with the wind and the scent cone that he doesn't have inside and it frustrates him. It'll get better when we do more of them.
Another nice thing about seminars is learning how other folks do things. Duece seemed to get over his anxiety of getting left in the suburban when Diane suggested we feed Duece a little at a time instead of all at one time for his morning meal and it seemed to work.

09-19-2009

The wind was blowing pretty good this afternoon (17 gusting to 25). I put some scent out and let it sit for about 30 minutes. Duece was pretty excited and would hardly sit still while I put his vest on him. I started him just outside the garage and let him work while I went for a walk. He was a little distracted by the other dogs and the neighbor mowing lawn. Once we cleared the barn and were down wind of the scent it was really fun watching Duece work. He circled and weaved and appeared to find the edge of the scent cone and then he would double back and work the other edge. He lifted his head up and looked into the wind and worked his way to the scent. We need more work on his indication though, but he's starting to understand a little more of the "Show me!" command.

I should mention that a couple of days ago while cutting cockle burrs out of Duece's hair, I cut his skin under his hair. He has a few stitches and staples on his neck. It doesn't seem to bother him even though we have a 'neck warmer' over his neck to keep him from scratching the wound. Other than the day of his surgery, it hasn't slowed him down at all. Our vet said I should surrender my scissors although she also said it happens more often than I ever thought it did.

09-18-2009

Really behind on blogging and training - in the meantime watch this





Click here if it doesn't work.

08-22-2009

Today, we took Duece & Ziva to Farmer's Market for a little socialization. Duece still isn't enthused about getting into the suburban, but he just sits down and makes me pick him up. It's weird because when he sees the collar and lead coming he gets so excited that I can barely get the collar on him. While we were there he minds really well and he's learning not to jump up on people although we have to watch him because he thinks everyone wants to play with him. Afterwards we stopped at Menards for awhile and he seemed to handle that just fine. I left a portable radio on and he was with Ziva so maybe that helps, too.

Duece has been really great at jumping up on things as he was pretty much afraid to a few months ago. We just needed some confidence building and letting him learn at his own pace. I need to get a video of him climbing a couple different stacks of pallets. This afternoon when Helen was checking the propane level, our granddaughter thought she would help and when Duece saw her on the tank he had to join her.

08-17-2009

Yesterday, I put out some scent and went back to the house. Duece watched me put some bologna into a ziplock bag and then we went outside. No vest and no command, just a walk that ended up downwind of the scent. Duece wasn't sure what to do when he found it. He lay down and rolled over, got up and walked a ways away and then went back. This time he looked at me and did his 'down' next to it. I gave him his bologna with a lot of praise. I'm wanting him to be aware of the scent even if he isn't in his vest although we'll use his vest most of the time.

Today I used a scented tennis ball inside a PVC pipe of the PVC garden with two more tennis balls in other PVC pipes for decoys. He was dressed up in his vest and he had watched me put bologna in a ziplock bag and he was given his command. He spent a bunch of time around Helen's car before he took off across the lawn after he saw the PVC garden. He checked out all the pipes and then rolled over by the wrong one. When I asked him what he was doing he got up and went to the right pipe and rolled over again and did his 'down' waiting for the bologna It's almost like he knows which one is the right one, he just want to play around. Maybe I need to play with him for awhile afterwards just to extend the positive aspect of him finding the scent.

08-15-2009

Yesterday Duece & I went to town and switched vehicles and took Helen's to get the oil changed. We stopped in at Helen's work for a few minutes and let Duece get spoiled. Afterwards we stopped at a couple of places and then went back and got the oil changed in the suburban. Then I made the mistake of stopping at Walmart. Not that I don't like Walmart, but it takes too long to checkout. Duece was wondering if I was ever coming back. Duece doesn't mind the traveling, he just can't handle the waiting in the vehicle and he threw up twice. I've tried leaving the vehicle running with the radio on, leaving it shut off with a battery radio on and it doesn't seem to make a difference.

This evening, Duece was restless and the weather outside is rotten so I took the 'Bone box' downstairs and hid it. Duece had his first piece of bologna last week and he goes nuts for it. So I got his vest and let him watch me put a piece of bologna in a zip lock and then we went down stairs to look for the 'Bone box." We spent a few minutes going from room to room and back again. Duece gave an indication about 3 feet from teh hidden box but when I told him to "Show me!" he got up and started searching again. He showed a lot of interest in the area about 3 feet away but actually got frustrated when he wasn't finding it. Finally, after checking out areas all around the hidden box, he got his nose in the area and did his 'down' indication and got his bologna.

08-12-2009

One more step with getting Duece out in public. He doesn't run away but isn't enthused about getting into the suburban. Last night we went to the local Tea Party. Duece even had his own sign.


Duece's sign says:

I expect to be fed
I expect my vet bills to be paid
I expect to be entertained
Someone else picks up my poop
Therefore I must be an Obamacrat

Duece does well in public once he learns not to jump up on people. He's learning though. As long as we're talking 'learning' there are a lot of kids out there that don't know how to greet a dog. Duece loves kids and last night when he saw some playing on the grass, he stopped and stared. You could tell he was wanting to run over and play. Too many kids think they can just run up and throw their arms around a dog's neck without a reaction from the dog. It just scares the hell out of me so we keep a pretty good eye on anyone that wants to pet the dog. One young'un last night was holding a napkin around one finger, saying he had a little cut on it when he asked if he could "Pet your dog?" When I said okay, he got down on his knees directly in front of Duece and threw both arms around his neck with his face right at the end of Duece's nose. When I stopped him, his brother(?) came over and said to leave the dog alone. I told him it was okay, but not to grab the dog's neck while in the dog's face. I try to tell the young one's how to approach a dog but some just don't seem to have the attention span to listen. Just have to keep an eye on them and the dog.

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