Getting Over Cricket's Barking While Tied Up

The "seperation" excercise- On Track Days, I like to park 2 miles from the track, run with Cricket to the track and then tie her up, do my workout then run the 2 miles back to the car. The only problem is she barks the whole time. If I have my ipod on really loud, I can drown her out but I don't think it is very pleasant for my fellow track runners.
To help Cricket get over her supposed seperation issue, Lee wants me to go in the backyard with 10 treats and a chair. I tie her up about 2 ft from the chair. I put the treats on the chair. I get up and give her a treat. I sit down, again. In 5 secs, I get up and give her a treat. I sit back down. I repeat this, doubling the time, every time. So, next time it is 10 secs, 20, 40.....and so on. I do this four times in a row. Next day, I go to another spot. Eventually, we go to the track, which is where I have the biggest problem. With this exercise, I'm supposed to eventually go to the track, with my chair and treats, run one lap around...give her a treat. Now, I'm not totally clear on whether or not I repeat this 10 times X 4. That's 40 laps around the track! Also, I'm not sure if I give her a treat even if she barks. What this is supposed to teach her is that I am always coming back. The 40 laps around the track...is that at tempo or marthon goal pace? I gotta ask Lee to clarify that one.

Sit and Down

I'm breaking up my class into three seperate posts. I thought, if anyone is reading this, they can pick which exercise they are interested in and read only that post.
Our third and last excercise of the night was "sit" and "down". Lee explained how we are always testing our dogs when we say, "Insert dog's name, Sit"..."sit"..."sit"..... How often have you done this? Told your pup to "sit" or "down" and when they didn't continued to repeat it over and over. Lee used Cricket as the Guinea Dog, and using a treat, raised his hand above her head and once she sat, "Good Sit". He did this over and over. Of course, Cricket did her usual "Stick em Up" pose which everyone laughed at but did not earn her a "Good Sit" or treat. Then he did the same thing with "down". He got on his knees and put the food (in hand) on the ground. The minute Cricket's elbows touched the ground she got the treat and a "Good Down". Then it was our turn to try. I think Cricket was the first one done with her 15 sits and 15 downs. Not that it was a race but she is showing she is no stick in the mud. We are to do 30 sits a day for three consecutive days. I started this morning and have made already gotten in 5!

Second Night of Class and The Recall

Second night of class went much better than the first, I thought. Cricket and I have been practicing our stay and sit and when Lee asked us to all perform the excercise, at the beginning of class, we were not the last to finish. I bragged a little to Lee, during one of our 2 min breaks, "isn't she doing better"? He agreed. Then Cricket spoiled it by being the loudest barker during our discussion period. We were all standing in the middle of the areana and Lee was explaining our next exercise, "Recall", and Cricket was merrily barking away. I spoke with Lee about this...and he gave me an excercise to help her with what he called "Seperation". I'll describe it in a minute.
The recall exercise consisted of us starting in our assigned chair. We would have 5 treats in our hand. We had hold of the leash, perched on the end of our chair with our legs open so our dogs could get right up next to us. The minute our pups sat, we would pet them vigourously, smiling, and give them a treat and tell them "good girl..or boy". The minute they stood up....you shut down till they sat again. You waited about 5 secs between each treat but they had to sit before they got the treat. We did this 3 times with 3 dif types of 5 treats. Then, after that was done we had someone hold our dog, 10 ft away. We had, yet, another type of treat. We showed it to them then took off running to our chair. We would sit in the chair and say, forcefully, "Insert Dog's name, Come"! Then as they raced towards you you would say, "good girl/boy" but never the "come" word, again. Then you give them there 5 treats, repeating the exercise where they have to sit to get the treats. Make sense? We were all confused, at first, too. Cricket did awesome! I messed up more than she did, yelling "come" more than once or givng her a treat and not petting her.

At Townlake And Running Out Of Time

Logan A492965 • 6-mo-old • Male • Pit bull mix • about 40 lbs • Pen 50 • arrived

11/21/2007The shelter is a hard place to be a growing puppy. I came here around Thanksgiving when I was just 5 months old — an age when I should have been running and playing with my family and learning how to be a dog. But I never had that chance. When I see people, I’m just so eager to be near them and make friends that I get carried away and play too roughly. Then they put me back in my cage and I’m left alone again. I just need someone to see what a great dog I can be with a little patient teaching. Can you see my potential? Will you take me home and show me that the world is more than a hard concrete kennel? I’ll reward you with a lifetime of love.

2/27/2008 UPDATE. Logan enjoyed two great play sessions with fellow running buddy, Keisha, this weekend. The extra exercise worked wonders for this older puppy. Logan was extremely well-behaved the rest of the weekend. He was calm and relaxed.

New Test

Yesterday, Cricket and I went to the park where we tried out a new test. I took two different types of treats, her regular food being one and then really yummy meaty treats being the other. I let her off the leash and threw a piece of her normal food about 10ft away. She sniffed her way to it till she found it then I called her back to me where I waited for her to sit and then gave her a really yummy treat. We did this 10 times. Next time, I'm supposed to move before so she has to look for me and then come. This is all supposed to help with recall.
We also did the stay and sit exercise. I'm not sure if she is actually getting any better at this. I mean, how good would any dog be at this if there were about 10 squirrels racing up and down trees all around them? She did it, though...eventually.

Yay Cricket!

What Makes Up A Cricket

This is an exercise that Lee asked us all to do. I really enjoyed it and actually learned quite a bit about Cricket in the process.

Originally, we called Cricket a LabX but after a couple of Whippet owners and Whippet Mix owners said that she looked like she had Whippet in her we started calling her a Whippet/Lab Mix. So, I grabbed some breed info from Wikipedia and am going to compare it to what I know about my Cricket.
Whippets are generally quiet and gentle dogs, content to spend much of the day sleeping
. Kent and I are continually amazed at how much Cricket sleeps. She is like a cat.
They are not generally aggressive towards other animals, and although especially attached to their owners, they are friendly to visitors. They are not prone to snapping, so they are good with young children.
Cricket is great with the kids, loves all my friends and never bothers or even pays attention to my cat, Jellybean.
They may or may not bark when strangers arrive, and are not suited to being guard dogs due to their trusting and unsuspicious nature.
Cricket is not a big barker. She never barks around the house but will bark at the park or if I’m running the track and have her tied to the fence. Hopefully, we will get her over that one.
Their coats do not provide the insulation to withstand prolonged periods of exposure to the cold. Their natural attachment to people makes them happiest when kept as housepets. They are most at home in the company of their owners, in their lap or lying next to them on the lounge.
It is true that she will start shivering pretty quickly if we do not keep moving, in any temp below 45 degrees. I can’t imagine how she stood it, alone in that pen, with nothing but those other dogs, all winter. However, the lying next to me is not the case with Cricket. She is just as happy lying in the laundry room on a pile of beds as she is lying next to me on a pillow.

As to what she is mixed with…who knows. She is not fast but can run for hours. She likes to chase other dogs, squirrels, birds but not balls or frisbees. She will sniff the ground as if she is tracking something. She does not like water enough to swim in it but she will stand in it to cool off. I had thought maybe Lab but she really does not show any of the characteristics of the breed. So, your guess is as good as mine!

Confession Time

It is time for class, agian, and I have to admit that I have not been a very diligent student. I have only played the stay and sit game three times. I think we will play again, today, so I can say we did it 4 times. =)
Yesterday we did the exercise in my parking garage at work. The first two sits I had to prompt out of necessity (I had to get back to work) but the second two she did very quickly after re-attaching her to the car.
Now, I need to work on all the papers Lee wanted us to write. Did I mention I am a procrastinator?

Homework

Cricket and I are trying to be good about doing our homework. I've always been a procrastinator when it comes to take-home assignments but I can't procrastinate this time or else Cricket will pay the price at our next session. This particular bit of homework is an "everyday" task. Everyday, I have to practice the "too bad" exercise. If Cricket does something which Lee has said is "against the rules", I take her by the collar (suppose to be the leash but I just can't justify her walking around with a leash on all the time getting caught in something every 5 mins) and walk her to the laundry room telling her, "too bad". Her most common offense is getting on the couch. I just pull her off with my "too bad" comment. She licked the top of the coffee table, yesterday, earning her a "too bad" and a trip to the laundry room. She is not suppose to lick, sniff or even think about the places where I might have my food. She jumped on a guest who came for a visit earning her a "not good" from Kent who could not remember "too bad".
Also, we are supposed to practice our sit and be patient exercise. First day, I tied her to the front door and sat on the couch. The minute she sat down, I stood up with a big smile and walked to her and began petting her. If she comes out of the sit before one minute is up, I "shut down" as Lee puts it, meaning that my whole body kinda closes down and my face goes into poker face mode and I walk away. Once she makes the minute, I pat her twice on the shoulder take the leash and go for a 2 minute walk. It is important to make sure to not come back before the 2 mins are up. We do this four times. The next day you move to a new spot. I have not been that diligent with this and have only done it twice in the past four days. She did great though. First day in the living room and the second day in the backyard. I have no doubt, though, the minute we go somewhere more distracting this could become and exercise in my sitting and being patient.

Cricket and I Go To School

After Eden passed away 3 months ago, I decided to adopt my foster, Cricket. She has been my saving grace, along with my friends and wonderful kitty Jellybean. I will talk more of how Cricket has been there for me as I explore these feelings in a paper that I have been asked to write by Lee Mannix, our new Obedience Class instructor. (segue into next paragraph)
Cricket and I have started Adult Basic Training with Lee Mannix. I thought I would blog our progress on my Running Pawtners blogsite. Just in case anyone out there reads this and has challenges with their pups and would like to see how we progress and maybe learn a thing or two from our accomplishments and/or mistakes.
When I called to sign Cricket up for the Adult Basic Obedience class, I was asked if she has any dog aggressions. “Welllllllllll, kinda”, I explained. “She tends to do this weird bark/snap thing at other dogs when she first meets them or thinks they have invaded her space”. I was asked to bring her in for an evaluation before we could sign up for the class.
The evaluation went well. She passed, I guess, because he said she could come to class. He advised that I change her food from Nutro toWellness. I was to nolonger give her rawhides and I needed to add 2 Tbsp of fruit and one Tbsp of natural yogurt to her food, everyday. Also, he gave me some info on how to be more of the “alpha” in the pack. In addition, I was not to take her to the dog park are let her meet any new dogs between that day and the time we would start class, two weeks later.
I switched the food and started adding the fruit and yogurt. I could choose between apples, carrots, potatoes, peas, bananas, cantaloupe, watermelon, berries, broccoli, cauliflower and green beans. She is ok with the apples, bananas and strawberries and really likes carrots but I’m not so sure about broccoli or cauliflower.
I did pretty well with the rawhide rule, at first. He suggested greenies (which she goes through in 1 min flat) or real bones. I gave her a cows leg and she and Iggy chewed right through them leaving shards of bone all over the floor. She then hacked and gagged for the next day till she threw up about a cup of bone shards. That just didn’t look safe to me so back to the rawhides. Sorry, Lee. Also, we failed the dog park rule. We have been about 5 times since and, yes, she still has her issues but she loves to go…and I love to go… Maybe, now that class has started, I’ll do better with that one.

Clancy- Adopt A Running Buddy

You can see Clancy's picture here http://townlakedogs.com/flyers/Clancy_full.pdf

Clancy is an all-around good boy who wants to be your best buddy. He appears housebroken, is affectionate with people and wants to make friends with other dogs. He is a popular member of the trail dog program because of his good manners on a leash. Clancy is also polishing his fetching skills, especially Frisbees. His easy-going personality will make him a good fit in a new home.
Clancy can act anxious to get out of his kennel, but don’t let that discourage you. This handsome guy just wants the chance to meet you.
View Clancy and other running or walking buddies at
Run.townLAkedogs.com