The therapy dog
2 Comments Published by Gussie on Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at 2/16/2010 10:11:00 PM.
I found myself dealing with more unhappy situations with my 80 year old aunt last week. As she's in hospital at the moment, I took Jake to Tyneside with me as my therapy dog and he was brilliant - great fun on the beach, company in the house while I did various necessary and no-fun things. Dogs are GREAT. Jake is particularly great!
Here are some snaps from the beach at the bottom of my aunt's street. Though it's hard to take pics while you're playing tug with sandy seaweed.
In our first proper training session this year, it was no great surprise that Jake's contacts had gone to pot. He was so happy to be at agility again that he was tanking round - and launching himself off the A frame & dog walk before any paws touch the contact points. It's my fault - we used to have steady, reliable contacts - until we sped up. And now, because we never cemented our contacts at the very start, Jake takes a flying leap OFF the dog walk or the A-frame.
2o2o is agility jargon for "two on, two off." That's the style we learn at our agility lessons & it also suits us - I've worked out a training plan I could carry out at home, on walks, day in day out. (The alternative is "running contacts.")
The plan for Jake's contacts is a bit off the wall but we're working with what we've got.
I started on our stairs. I've been click-treating Jake for when he stops with his back paws on the bottom stair, practising in blocks of 10 repetitions. He gets the treat with the release command "go" - & I throw it forward so that the end of the behaviour is a surge forward away from the 2o2o to get the treat.
I've been increasing the length of time he spends 2o2o before I click and give the release command. The next stage has been to take it outside (think steps, ramps ... and agility equipment). This week we started playing the 2o2o game outside, on flights of stone steps we pass on our walks. Jake is good at generalising to other places, so he very quickly understood what was required. And result! There was a marked improvement at this week's agility class.
Silent through the snowpocalyse
3 Comments Published by Gussie on Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 1/17/2010 09:22:00 PM.
All quiet here for a while. Before Christmas I was spending most weekends travelling to help my aunt, who lives about 100 miles away. I bailed out of a couple of agility shows because of that. And then just before Xmas we had heavy snowfall. It was the coldest snap in 30 years, and the most snow I’ve seen since I was a kid (when we had proper weather – listen to me, young’uns!). After four weeks we were thoroughly fed up – we’re not geared up to protracted snow; our street didn’t get gritted until 3 weeks in, for example. On the plus side, we had a very quiet snowed-in stay-at-home Christmas. Then I slipped on the ice, landed on my head and am only just getting back to rights.
At first Jake loved the snow. New snow is like sand you can eat, and short of it snowing actual ice cream I can’t imagine he’d have been any happier. There were crazy puppy antics, catching snowballs in mid-air, finding snowman’s noses (carrots) and blissfully sinking into soft snow to eat, eyes shut ...
With the temperature dropping to -10 C for a while, the canal and even the Water of Leith (usually a fast flowing river) froze. For a while Jake was simply fascinated, staring at the place that’s usually water. Then he realised that well-meaning people were throwing bread on for the birds – and he wandered onto the ice for a snack. He wasn’t the first - there were plenty of footprints of all species. Even so, after that, he was on the lead near water.
By the end of the freeze, Jake was just very fed up with
• the compacted ice – it’s nippy on the paws
• semi-frozen melting snow in the park - uneven to run on
• paw washes after every walk to remove grit & salt
• more frequent pedicures - it's pavement pounding that usually keeps his claws down.
Almost all the ice has melted now. I don’t know which of us is more relieved!
Prague or Venice?
4 Comments Published by Gussie on Thursday, December 03, 2009 at 12/03/2009 08:59:00 PM.
Or a pedicure? Just another evening on the sofa.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Labels: Whimsy
In which Jake proves he can travel in an eco-conscious manner
6 Comments Published by Gussie on Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 11/21/2009 12:35:00 PM.
Usually when we visit my aunt we drive. If the weather and traffic are good, it can be done in about three hours, but in any case it's tiring for me, the only driver.
So we decided to try the train today. Not just for eco reasons! I wasn't keen to do the drive on my own this morning - it's pretty tiring, and I needed to conserve my energy.
So Jake and I got up at the usual time and walked to the park, but then kept walking until we reached the train station. There were some excellent pickings for passing pooches - bits of kebab and chips dropped by people on their way home last night.
Jake was fine in the station, though he did put his paws on the counter of the kiosk (tea! cakes!). But that was his only faux pas in the whole journey.
I'd carefully chosen to travel when I knew it would be quiet. Good old Jake helped me with my tea and settled down next to me on a towel. Even the Guard made indulgent noises. (And yes, I did pay for his seat.)
After an hour or so we transferred onto the Metro - another first for Jake, though I think the apple I was eating made a good distraction.
And with Jake skipping happily into my aunt's house at 10.20, that was 3 hours and 15 mins door to door! The same amount of travelling time, about the same price as the petrol I would have used, and much more relaxing. If the journey home goes similarly well, we'll go by train again.
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Labels: Travel
Don't care if it is winter. I resent this coat.
2 Comments Published by Gussie on Wednesday, November 04, 2009 at 11/04/2009 08:55:00 PM.
Broxburn mayhem
2 Comments Published by Gussie on Sunday, November 01, 2009 at 11/01/2009 09:19:00 PM.
Broxburn's November show, and our first indoors agility show since last winter. In fact our first show for a couple of months.
Ah, the excuses start early ... you can probably guess where this post is heading.
Excuse 2: Torrential rain meant that Jake hadn't got the fidgets out of his feet - he very grudgingly trudged round the park before we left.
Excuse 3: The indoor venue, the Scottish national equestrian centre at Oatridge college, meant that Jake was pumped up by what I call the "horsey sand agility" factor. "You've brought me to agility! And it's on a beach that smells of horses! Wahey!" What this means in practice is boundless enthusiasm, more speed and less focus than usual.
Long story short - Jake had a whale of a time, and we were eliminated in both our runs. The highlight of my day was when he ran amok in the pay-as-you-go ring - check out his loopy lurcher lap of honour as I rebuild the jump he just demolished. If I ever need cheering up I'll be watching this:
Luckily others were less thrown by the move indoors - clear runs from Team Loki & Team Glen, and for Team Poppy, a 1st place in Jumping and a 4th in Agility. Woohoo! There are some videos on Youtube but (sorry) we missed the clear runs.
Ah, the excuses start early ... you can probably guess where this post is heading.
Excuse 2: Torrential rain meant that Jake hadn't got the fidgets out of his feet - he very grudgingly trudged round the park before we left.
Excuse 3: The indoor venue, the Scottish national equestrian centre at Oatridge college, meant that Jake was pumped up by what I call the "horsey sand agility" factor. "You've brought me to agility! And it's on a beach that smells of horses! Wahey!" What this means in practice is boundless enthusiasm, more speed and less focus than usual.
Long story short - Jake had a whale of a time, and we were eliminated in both our runs. The highlight of my day was when he ran amok in the pay-as-you-go ring - check out his loopy lurcher lap of honour as I rebuild the jump he just demolished. If I ever need cheering up I'll be watching this:
Luckily others were less thrown by the move indoors - clear runs from Team Loki & Team Glen, and for Team Poppy, a 1st place in Jumping and a 4th in Agility. Woohoo! There are some videos on Youtube but (sorry) we missed the clear runs.
Labels: Agility shows
