Eyelashes. . . Oh my

Zane is definitely feeling better. I haven't worked him since Wednesday, and he spent all morning staring at me until I got up and did something with him. I love dogs who want to work and insist on it!

Zane has a long, long, long eyelash above each eye. Jill wants me to trim them. What do you think?


Today I watched Susan Salo's Puppy Jumping DVD and worked the first exercise.



We took this video last week. We were trying to get a video of Zane gaiting, but as you can see, he is now a gazelle. He leaps! Unfortunately, Jill broke her toe, so I haven't had any more help to try to get another video. And yes, I giggle every time he leaps. That doesn't help matters any.

No Training

On Friday morning, I wanted to continue to work stands. As usual I made his breakfast and we got to work. Not. He did stand, but would not eat. I broke off the training session as I want his work to be enthusiastic. If we practice ho-hum, humbug, then we'll get ho-hum, humbug.

He refused to eat breakfast. He threw up a couple of times. He didn't eat dinner. Threw up some more. And he was not his usual bouncy self. He just laid at my feet. Oh dear.

On Thursday night, Zane discovered the kitty litter box. I know he ate some. I can only imagine that is what upset his tummy. I was ready to head to the vet on Saturday morning if he didn't eat.

So Saturday morning I got up, fixed him a bowl of chicken and rice and pumpkin (much easier on a tender tummy). He gobbled it down and kept it down. Yay! He got the same for dinner. He loves it.

I can just see the future now. "Mommy, my tummy doesn't feel good. I think I need some chicken and rice and pumpkin for dinner."

We have a head!

Remember when I didn't like Zane's head. Well, he has a great head now! His stop came back and he has a nice little head. I'm so glad he's not a collie anymore. Funny how that head changes so much so fast.

This morning he worked on "chin" targeting. I use this in various areas: chin target while he gets measured for agility; chin target for the conformation exam; chin target for fun things like playing with the "pound a ball" type toys.

He also completed Day 3 of the Relaxation Protocol in a sit. We didn't have time to do it with a down. I haven't been working on it, so the fact he passed Day 3 on the first try made me happy.

He's now working on his stand-stays while I move around. I can't walk around him yet - have to work up to that. But I can step to the side and step away.

I tried to get some movement shots today and took the wrong camera. It took blurry shots. Jill tried to get him to gait and he kept leaping up in the air. He's an antelope! He's out of the giraffe stage and into the antelope stage.

Rusty Love

Here's the video of Zane and Rusty. Is that total puppy worship, or what?


Here are a couple of stacked shots of Zane from today. One was when we were on our walk; I stuck him on the big rock we passed. The other was at home with better lighting.





On our walk, Zane had a milder reaction that normal to barking dogs. Usually I just keep walking, and he strains at the end of the leash to get as far away from the dog's yard as possible. Today he looked at the yard, took a couple of steps away, then looked back at me and got back beside me. Good boy!

This morning he went to rally practice. He was able to come out and work on heeling, automatic sits, rear pivots, and his brick work. Oh, I started to introduce "close" - the first step to right turns and about turns. He also did easy stays - I worked on walking around him and walking up to 5 feet away and returning. He did well.

Heads up!

Not a lot of training this week - little bits here and there, but not a ton. I was letting that leg rest. It's all better now.

Good thing I listened to Beth about not trimming the hair on his head. All the puppy fuzz is starting to come out and he's looking like a real dog!

Shaping fun this morning

Our morning routine consists of Zane going out to potty, then coming in for breakfast (doing a little work for it), then when it's light enough, we go out, feed the horses, then I get the paper and go inside. This morning when I got to the paper, I realized I had a handful of treats in my pocket. So the clicker came out, and I decided to try to shape Zane to pick up the paper. At first he was paw targeting it. He *loves* to paw target. Then he started doing brickwork on the paper (front feet on, back feet pivoting around it). Finally he put his head down to sniff it. From then on, I only clicked interaction from his muzzle. By the time the treats were gone, he was picking it up and handing it to me. What a nice impromptu shaping session!


We went to rally practice today. One of the dogs there, Rusty, is a red border collie. Both of my girls (dogs, no kids) love Rusty. The first couple of times Zane met Rusty, he was scared of him, then liked him, now there seems to be a little love affair going on. Every time Zane sees Rusty, he runs to him and throws himself to the ground at Rusty's feet. He just rolls around there adoring Rusty. I have got to get a video of it.

I just heard Joelle yell, "Zane, no!" Then I hear little pounding puppy feet running as fast as they could. He had stolen a pair of underwear and was running to hide with them. Good laugh for the evening!

Down!

Zane is still favoring his hind leg, so not much training going on. I did find some tiny little grass seeds between the pads, but all of his feet had them. They are all pulled out now. He's still favoring it, so I don't know. I can't imagine he's really injured it somehow. He's such a wuss that any little thing has him screaming, and he didn't make a peep yesterday. I'll give it another day and see what happens.

This evening we worked on signal downs - the real obedience ring signal. So signal followed by verbal to introduce a new cue. It's about the 3rd time we've done them, and tonight he actually anticipated the down with just a signal about 4 times. Awesome! Can't wait until it's solid!

I think his head is improving too. Either that or I'm getting used to it! But it doesn't look at collie-like - he's getting a stop again! Now for the top of his head to get back into shape. And I need to tape his ears again, but I think they're getting infected. Argh on ears!