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| | 2010 Aug & Sep Training Logs
Updated 11/21/2010
- Return to Working Housedogs
August-September 2010, November
2010
Monday, 8/30/10, 7:30a, 65°F - wpull harnesses pulling a
19" truck tire, a security leash to their collars. I need to drag out
my running shoes, kennel shoes are not enough.
 |
Storm (b. 10/02, 60# Black Ice
harness) banged the harness, head down, all the way down the driveway
(3/8" washed gravel), across the front of my property (6"
mowed grass), down and up the drainage ditch without help, paused a moment
to collect herself, and then threw herself against the harness again, head
down, and bulled her way through hayfield grass (8-10") to the next
property line maybe another 300'. Paused, breathed, got her turned
around, and came back home -- UP the steep gravel driveway at a slow lope. |
|
Honey (b. 12/06, 80# Black Ice
harness, needs a 70#) was thrilled to be going somewhere right up to the
point she realized she was going to be the locomotion for the trip.
Lord knows she will go all day in harness next to her loverboy Maestro, but
she is not going to weightpull, even tho I try her several times a year. Not
her thing. |
|
Amak (b. 8/07, 80# Black Ice harness)
was wonderful in harness down the driveway and until he had to actually
work. Then, like his aunt Honey, he said, Who's driving this
bus? Lots of kisses, lots of leans and hugs, and not much pulling,
although I did get him to pull a littlebit on the way back up the
driveway. Not enough to justify how out of breath I was... |
|
Tori (b. 10/06, 80# Black Ice
harness) is my Tori Baby Wow! She's nearly as good as Storm, and
that's saying something. She puts her nose to her toes and bulls into
the harness like she's a professional... and she's strictly new here.
She's worn a harness before, but her owner keeps getting hurt and putting a kibosh
to any plans of practice, much less titling. Today she was mimicking
cousin Storm, powered down the driveway, headed into the 6" grass
without being told, head down and working it. She went down the
drainage ditch, but stopped and looked behind her to be sure no one was
standing on the tire. Then went back to work. She needed a break
50 feet after that. And we made that the turning around point.
She did not lope up the driveway like Storm did, but she sure put some
effort into it. |
This is the first day I felt safe in even putting harnesses on
the dogs. It's been awful - humid and hot and still sweating weather at
11p. There was one year I started wpull training in early July, and here
it is October in 2 days. Does that mean a mild or severe winter?
Thankfully we have propane for the first full winter. Let's see how that
goes.
Tuesday, 8/31/10, 8:00a, 78°F - great plans for today,
too hot, broke into a sweat walking out the door. Tomorrow then.
Earlier. Giving a lot of thought to my Yogi, Honey & kids dilemma.
Wednesday 9/1/10, 7:00a, 66°F - Pulled Sunny and
daughter Bright. Still considering my Yogi, Honey & kids dilemma.
Bright is a Yogi kid.
| Sunny (b. 9/03, 90# Black Ice
harness) Hit the harness like half-sister Storm, both daughters of CH
Tessa's Sir Charles CGC "Charles" RWD at the '98 NS beating out
nearly 100 of the countries best class dogs... and MAN can they pull.
It's instinctive, they just do it. |
| Bright (b. 5/08, 80# Black Ice
harness). A Yogi daughter... won't pull. This is baffling. |
Had to take 10w Solo and the 4ea 9w I'm fostering to the vet for
2nd shots, fecals, exams, weights, etc. Was thinking about training them
to harness and how I would take things in gradual and small increments.
Teach them a collar first, then a leash on the collar, then a harness just
putting it on and taking it off, then a leash to the tugline on the harness,
then some small weight on the tugline, then the tire long after they had gotten
the technique of harness tightening on the body thing.... Wanted to thump myself
in the head. Duh! 8:00p, 76°F - still too warm, but I have
to know, I must know! I had to take a couple of winters off for my
injuries. Storm, Sunny, Tori are all related, but they were also TRAINED
before I threw them on the big truck tire....
|
So I took Honey, harnessed her up,
she didn't seem stressed at all, tail wagging, grinning, and hooked her
harness to a 6' plastic toboggan sled that weighs all of 15# and glides noisily
over any surface. Happily we go down the driveway, through the
grass across the front of my place, down the ditch, up the ditch, and across
the next property through tall hayfield grass. She even PULLED, OK,
what was there to pull, but she DID. So on the way back I hooked the
leash to her tugline and gave a little pressure, and I could have
cried. She dropped her nose to her toes and leaned into the
harness. Now, she lifted her nose, too, but we worked the whole way
back UP the long driveway, YES for every nose drop. And her tail was
wagging and she LOPED up the driveway. Hurrah! |
|
Bright's turn. 70#
harness. Bright is SOFT. She will drop her butt into the fastest
sit you've ever seen if you yank on the collar. Note to self, don't
yank on collar. She did the same thing the first time the 'boggan made
a racket behind her. But she went back, on her own, inspected the
thing, sniffed it all over, then walked back to me, and passed me and the 'boggan dragged noisily behind her. YIPPEE! OK, problem not
totally solved, she does have a habit of running 10 feet and dropping into a
sit. But she DID pull the thing the whole way and she DID lope up the
steep driveway like her mama. |
Ran out of daylight and we're too new into the season for me to
want to be chasing dogs in the dark. But YIPPEEE! I am so
relieved. It's not a pedigree problem, it's a stupid human trick....
handler error, no matter the sport, seems to plague me. I teach obedience,
I know all about teaching the smallest part of a behavior and building, or
chaining, the behaviors together, but no! I stuck an adult in a new
situation and got frustrated when they didn't know it in their bones.
Checking my notes from passed years, Storm was one of the WORST in harness at
first, until it all gelled. So it was TRAINING I was so pleased with, more so
than instinct. Another Duh! moment. But I can't WAIT to try Yogi and his
sons Amak & Akai in the morning... a step at a time instead of just throwing them on a
race team!
Thursday 9/2/10, 7:00a, 65°F - Have not tried any of
these guys in harness... go slow, one step at a time, start with the plastic toboggan
the first day and be happy with success. BUILD on that and try to only
have good runs. Yogi and his son Akai, and Yogi's grandson Wyatt.
Pax isn't related to them in the least. Have to go back and get Amak
(another Yogi son) and see how that goes. Really want to start on teams,
but need the foundation first.
|
Yogi (b. 5/06, 60# Black Ice harness.
needs a 70, but this worked for now) Used the plastic toboggan WITH
the 19" tire riding on top of it for a little weight, the 'boggan slid
so fast I thought it was going to ride up on the dogs, even with the extra
length between them. But when Yogi hit the resistance of the 'boggan
facing the wrong way, he sat pretty. See me sit pretty. I am a
good puppy and I am sitting pretty. Big ole sloppy grin on his
face. Good boy! And walked away. Hey, HEY!
MOM! Don't LEAVE me here hooked to this thing. And he took a
tentative step. GOOD BOY! Oh, you want me to pull? Despite
years of telling a natural-born sleddog stuff like no-pull and easy and crap
like that? Fine, I'll show you how it's done.... and he did.
Head down, leaning into the harness, rear legs digging in, front feet
reaching... course we're still going DOWNHILL on gravel (ie ballbearings)....
but he really did have the form. The rest will come. |
|
Akai (b. 10/07, 110# custom harness,
needs a 100#, but fitted the neck with a ziptie and it will work) His
daddy Yogi showed him how to do this, and he was wonderful going DOWNHILL,
but when it started to be a little hard, he said, Hey, remember all that
time when I was living with kids and they kept telling me, on pain of death,
DO NOT PULL..... no fair changing the rules now. So I told him, Yes,
you are pretty. And Yes, we told you for all those years living with
those kids that you should NOT pull. But now you are supposed to
PULL. Well, he says, if you put it like that. But we did take
the weight out of the sledge, as I want him to succeed, even if it's a
gimmee, on his first effort. |
| Pax (b. 8/08, 90# Black Ice harness
fits perfectly). Words fail me. I got all choked up. There
is a picture of his great-granddaddy Brad Pitt (pic)
pulling with his whole body crouched down, his front wide and reaching for
ground and his rear digging in with a low pelvis, and his nose just over the
ground..... I got goose bumps all over watching Pax drop into that natural
form with NO TRAINING, but boy did he get reinforcement every time he
assumed the position. And Pax pulled uphill with the same form he
pulled downhill, low altitude and POWER. It's a glorious day in
Wayehland. |
Friday, 9/3/10, 7:00a, 70°F - Gotta try Amak again, this is killing me to know
if it was my handler error with the new kids, which it probably was...
<G>
| Amak (b. 8/07, 80# Black Ice harness) He
pulled just fine as soon as I explained to him slowly, in words with one
syllable, what I wanted done! Oh, sure, that.... |
| Wyatt (b. 11/08, 100# custom
harness) and it fits him, holy moly! Wyatt is Amak & Tori's son,
and praise be, he takes after his mother in harness. It's a beautiful
thing! Head down, rear crouched and digging in, shouldering into the
harness.... guess who is gonna be pulling for me in October? |
OK, narrowed down the list. The others can pull but these
guys WANT to pull. So we will work this list and the others will get a
season in team harness before we push for individual performances.
Weightpull training
|
Storm (b. 10/02, 60# Black Ice
harness) |
|
Tori (b. 10/06, 80# Black Ice
harness) |
|
Wyatt (b. 11/08, 100# custom
harness) |
|
Pax (b. 8/08, 90# Black Ice harness) |
Conditioning for conformation, these two will run double on
the scooter
|
Akai (b. 10/07, 110# Black Ice harness,
fitted neck) |
|
Sunny (b. 9/03, 90# Black Ice
harness) |
|
