New day, new video.

I put together a new video of some of Cohen's tricks with Adrian's help. I handled the dog, he handled the camera.

I was originally wanting to make it a bit more lengthy and arty, but this will do for now. I was working on a relatively tight schedule. So this video is short and sweet.

Cohen's handstand is really starting to come along!

Moving, with dogs.

It's time for me to start getting my ass in gear and moving into the real world. I'm done university (finally) and in a position to find a new place for Adrian and I to live. And, of course, the dogs are coming with us. Dogs, plural.

Cohen looking deceptively peaceful.

I'm enormously relieved that I've gotten the okay to take Cohen with me when I move out. It really does make the best sense, as far as the dog's best interests are concerned. But she was bought as a family dog, and the whole "what will happen when the kids move out" issue was always sort of glossed over. (Okay, not glossed over, but there was always the assumption the dog would stay with my father unless circumstances changed.) Unfortunately, my sister has never really bonded with the dog, and sees her more as a chore than a hobby (or anything remotely positive). And my father, while he loves the dog, is not quite capable of handling her. Unfortunately Cohen is A Difficult Dog.

She's reactive, easily excited past the point of being easy to handle, periodically resource-guards against other dogs, is very demanding of attention, and sees very little reason to acquiesce to "because I said so"s -- she always needs to see something in it for her. I'm actually looking forward to taking on the full responsibility for her care since I feel it will give her more stability in how she's handled. The different handling styles of my family are not doing any favours for her general obedience. I have a particularly high set of expectations for her, and won't ever settle for okay, I want excellent. I could live with pretty damned good.

So, yes, I'm looking forward to caring for her morning, noon and night. However I might feel like killing her after a few weeks. We'll see.

So, I said dogs, plural. Enter Meggy, the Chihuahua. 

Meggy aka Megatron. Larger than life.

This is Adrian's dog. She's as attached to his hip as Cohen is to mine, so the thought of leaving her behind is, well, unthinkable. 

She's a sharp little dog who I think has great potential. Unfortunately I don't think she's been given the opportunity to meet that potential yet. She's the middle "child" in a three-bitch household, and is louder and more boisterous than the others. Since she's so attached to Adrian (and the others the other family members) she tends to get ignored on "family" outings where Adrian isn't present. So she's never received any sort of formal training (though Adrian delights in teaching her bizarre tricks like sneezing on command), and she isn't given enough outlets for her energy. 

Her vices are barking at mysterious noises, and when people enter the house. She's not comfortable with children and could use some better leash manners. She tends to guard Adrian from other dogs. Her strengths are how relatively easily her needs are met, and she already has experience in multi-dog households. Plus, she can be very sweet.

Quite honestly, I'm really looking forward to trying out my training tactics on another dog. She'll present a slew of challenges which which I've not yet had to work. Namely, since she's so tiny food rewards need to be controlled carefully (she already needs to lose a bit of weight). She's also headstrong and not nearly as focused as Cohen while training. I have a mental image of bringing her by my training facility and getting her started in formal classes. Next step: agility-Chihuahua!

The Biggest Challenge:

Cohen. As I mentioned, Cohen has a history of resource guarding from other dogs. She'll snark and snap at others when she feels they're doing something she doesn't like. Due to the size difference I have serious concerns that a snark could easily escalate into a fight where Meggy ends up seriously hurt. It's both Adrian's and my worst nightmare, and neither of us can stand the thought of sending either dog back home due to a conflict. It also doesn't help that both dogs are female, and Meggy is intact. 

On top of that, the last time I had Cohen by Adrian's place, Cohen snapped at Meggy when Meggy jumped up on me in standard tiny dog fashion. For the rest of the night, each time Meggy was around Cohen had her fixed with an unhealthy stare. Cohen lashed out at Meggy once more when my attention dipped for a second and the dogs were too close to each other. Clearly, without some careful planning and management this is a recipe for disaster and heartbreak. 

Emotions are running high between Adrian and I, and we've not even moved yet. 

So, I have a plan of attack. 

1. Extreme management. Neither dog will be given the opportunity to interact with the other in an uncontrolled manner for the first month. They'll always be crated, leashed, or behind gates. 
2. Careful management of all potentially valuable resources, including Adrian and myself. If one dog is having lap time, the other will be crated with a chew. All toys, bowls and other valuable objects will be put away and only brought out under controlled circumstances.
3. Counter conditioning. Lots and lots of it. When Meggy is around and at a controlled distance treats rain from the sky on Cohen, and vice versa. At no point will we push distance and cause either dog to feel threatened by the other. Progress will be kept intentionally slow. 
4. No dogs on the furniture. Each dog will have its own separate area to call its own.
5. The dogs will be fed in separate crates. 
6. Encourage the dogs to coexist, but perhaps not directly interact.
7. Exercise. The dogs will be kept perpetually tired. They'll be walked together, with Cohen fitted with a gentle leader just in case.
8. Learning. I plan to pick up the McConnell booklet about managing a multiple dog household. I'm also attending a seminar offered by behaviorist Joan Weston, BSc about multi-dog management. I'll be taking loads of notes. 
9. Never trust Cohen. Unfortunately, with the behaviour Cohen has displayed in the past I can't trust her to never react. It may be stressful, but this a serious issue, and I think extreme caution is better than not.
10. Stop thinking of Meggy as Adrian's dog, and Cohen as mine. Both dogs need to be treated fairly and equally by both of us. I suspect this will be a challenge, but is important.

My goal is for there never to be an outburst. I think that if we take it slowly and carefully we stand a chance of setting ourselves up for success. 

Over the next few months I'm sure I'll be musing on this subject quite a bit. Truly I'm terrified of this not working out. I don't want a dog hurt, and I don't want Adrian or I to have to give up either of them. It's ridiculous how much we both love our animals. It's the size difference that I think is the biggest issue, as I think even if a snap was not intended to hurt, it could result in serious injury.

 If any readers have any additional insight I'm all ears. 

Chronological list of cues - count: 62

New cues:

Weave, high five, target w/ back legs, around, tug, "through" (reverse weaving through legs), blow bubbles, handstand (still needs refined), go behind, focus forward "watch it".

Previous cues:

Touch, sit, down, speak, come, stand, paw, stay, bang, roll "over", back up, go pee, go to bed, go outside, heel, front, heel in reverse, bow, jump "up", jump "over", jump into "arms", circle, circle in reverse "beep beep", pivot, spin, twist, weave, find a toy, figure "eight", get it, drop it, leave it, table, tunnel, head up, head down, nose bridge "push", pop, beg, balance on back legs "be people", crawl, "cross" paws, "open" door, "close" door, scoot, teeter, walk (obstacle), mark, formal retrieve, out, quiet, limp.

List of learned cues starting at 9 weeks old to present. Quotation marks indicate word used for each behaviour.

Hole for the head

Apply directly to the forehead.

Happy Sandy Smelly Dog

We went for a bike ride along the river today. Cohen was ecstatic. She's now thoroughly passed out.

I got spoiled during the winter -- the dog was slightly less interested in doing things. Now that the nice weather is here she is GOGOGO all the time. I thought she was maturing. Turns out she just wasn't thrilled about the cold.

Cohen HIC

Cohen passed her herding instinct test today! It's not like I had a doubt that she would, but it was insanely fun to get out there and just get a feel for what the sport is like. Plus, getting the feedback regarding her methods and natural abilities was fascinating.

Cohen, HIC

Her summary sheet.

Here is a nice summary of what each category means. To me, coming in as an ignorant city girl, none of this made sense until I had the evaluator explain it to me.

Style - gathering. Cohen seemed mostly to keep her distance and was interested in keeping the sheep together and pushing it towards me.

Approach - runs moderately wide. I'm told this is ideal. She was a little close to start, but as she settled down she backed off a bit.

Eye - loose. Unsurprisingly, she does not use any eye while herding. I've always thought of this as a Border Collie trait, but apparently Kelpies and a few others use it too. Cohen ... does not.

Wearing - shows wearing. Apparently Cohen wears the sheep (moves from side to side to keep them controlled). I don't think I noticed this since my eyes were on the sheep for so much of the test.

Bark - some barking. The barking came as no surprise to me. Actually, I was surprised she didn't bark more. When she first got on the stock she was her normal loud self, but as she figured it out a bit more her barking was reduced to next to nothing.

Temperament - a little distraction. Cohen did alright on the stock, but I wish she was a bit more engaged. She was flagged off at one point, and I think this confused her and her confidence dipped noticeably. Instead of herding she decided to take a sheep-poo break. With a bit of extra energy thrown in I was able to get her back out and engaged, but not to the same level she was when she started. If anything, I think some repetition would be necessary to increase confidence.

Interest - sustained interest. Despite her poo-break, Cohen did pretty well sustaining interest (though, note she was not marked as keen).

Power - sufficient for stock. The stock were pretty mild mannered and well behaved, so, well, apparently Cohen's power was "sufficient".

Responsiveness - responds to guidance/control. Unsurprisingly, Cohen did well with some guidance. I'm sure her long hours of working with me in other sports helped this.

Grouping of stock - keeps stock together/regroups. For the most part the stock seemed pretty easy and grouped well, but a few times I remember Cohen putting in some extra effort to bring a wayward ewe back into the group.

Balancing stock with handler - adjusts position. Apparently Cohen is much stronger going one way than another, but did change the direction she circled around the stock as we switched up our position. This was pretty cool for me to see, since I didn't know this was a requirement.

I was also very relieved to see that Cohen didn't once grip a sheep. She was flagged away a fair amount, so she didn't have much opportunity to, I guess. I just had paranoid visions in my head of Cohen taking a bite out of a sheep.

The notes say, "Very nice instinct! A little worried but has all the right stuff."

It was interesting to see the decline in Cohen's confidence when she was flagged off the stock the first time. I would have hoped she would take it in stride and continue, but instead, as I said, she had a poop-break instead. My theory is that since I don't use harsh corrections in training she wasn't accustomed to them and didn't know what to do with herself after she received one. I'm hoping that after a bit more exposure to stock her confidence will be higher and her performance better.

After the test I had an interesting conversation with the tester. She said she really liked Cohen and thought she showed potential. She said that, in her experience, a lot of Aussies don't have a high drive to please their handler and can therefore be pains in the asses and/or inappropriate for work. But Cohen was tuned into me the whole time. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with the amount of training I do with her, but it also has to do with her natural aptitude.

I went up with Helene (and her Sheltie Snorri) and Laila (with her Icelandic Sheepdog Viggo). Not only were they nice enough to snap the following photos, but I got to stick around and watch some beginner herding classes as well. It has me excited to give it a try myself at some point. I'll see if I can manage it -- it's both costly and time-intensive.

Us getting started.

Being flagged away from the sheep a bit. I had no idea what to do, so I followed the sheep.

A change in direction. She was so unexpectedly collected and thoughtful during the test.

An action shot which I wish was in focus.

Cohen doing what she does best: barking.

A shot from our pre-play in the park. Here's Viggo and Scout, two Icelandic Sheepdogs.

Huge thanks go out to Helene for taking these photos, and thanks to both Helene and Laila for the experience!

One year ago

Cohen today.

Cohen one year ago, 8 months old.

She's starting to look like a real dog. Maybe not a real Aussie... she's still kind of funny looking and angular. But she's looking good.

Her aforementioned limp hasn't shown itself in a few weeks -- there was really only two days of noticeable discomfort. With the warmer weather her energy level has gone through the roof, and she's bouncing off the walls. I thought her lower energy level was indicative of her maturing and settling down, but... nope! It's back!

Damnit. Again?

Cohen is limping again.

I think one of her toes is bothering her. Looking between them they look slightly redder than usual, and there seems to be a discomfort response when I apply pressure.

I'm not sure how worried I should be, since it seems to become a non-issue as she uses it. I'll have to bring her by the vet if this keeps up.

Tricks, pain, and rock and roll.

Animal cruelty? Possibly. Entertaining though.

Today I arrived home to find Cohen limping pretty seriously. Her rear right leg seemed to be giving her trouble -- she avoided putting any weight on it and was hopping around on 3 feet. I had no idea what had happened, but I had all these images of torn ligaments and muscles dancing around in my head (or what I imagine they look like... because I really have no clue). Some simple palpating and stretching didn't illicit an obvious pain reaction, so I couldn't even figure out which part of her leg was giving her trouble.

So, I cancelled our agility class tonight, and decided to forgo her afternoon walk and just keep an eye on it. But Cohen apparently doesn't know how to take it easy, even if her leg is hurting her. She was driving me crazy. So I grabbed a hotdog, a clicker, and went to work.

It took me about 5 minutes to be able to snap the above photo. I probably had such an easy time of it since I'd previously done some work teaching Cohen how to hold a variety of objects, but I'd never pushed it so deliciously far.

We started with having her hold a toy that is the same shape as a hot dog. Then I would pick up the hot dog and have her target it maybe 5-10 times. Then we went back to her toy, and back to the hot dog. She didn't have much trouble learning that I wanted her to hold it the same way I was asking her to hold her toy. If at any point she seemed to want to lick the hot dog instead I reintroduced her to the toy to remind her of what I was asking. All told, we maybe played around with this for 10 minutes in a couple different areas of the house.

So, anyways, that's how I spent my afternoon instead of walking the dog. I think my next goal will be for her to retrieve the hot dog from across the room.

As of this evening, her limp is gone. We still stayed home from agility just to stay safe.

Self directed weaving

So I've been lazy and not taken the 2x2s in from the back yard -- they're still set up out there with a jump.

I let Cohen out for her morning pee and I watched her do her customary run around the back yard barking ritual, and after a loop she ended up sauntering through the weave poles completely on her own. Correct entry, no skipped poles.

It made me laugh. Good dog.

Two weeks in: changing values and priorities

It's interesting: as I work through this course with Cohen I can see two things happening. The first is that Cohen is getting increasingly reliable off-lead and I have a much easier time competing with distractions. The second is that with the off-leash problems starting to improve I find myself focusing more on secondary behaviours that had taken a back seat due to me being so focused on my goals which revolved around casual walks.

I can trust Cohen much more easily around puppies, especially if just passing through (previously she would single them out for bullying). I can also call her off mid-chase if I feel like her play is getting too intense or inappropriate. I have a better handle on managing Cohen around food distractions while out at the park, but I feel like this will be challenged as the summer comes around and fruit falls from bushes and people picnic in the parks. A stranger with dog treats in their pocket is easy to handle (as long as they don't feed my dog without asking... this infuriates me).

So with some of the problems I felt I had going in under better control I find myself focusing on the niggling things that Cohen did but I didn't bother expending much energy on correcting. Things like sitting/downing more slowly than I'd like (Cohen has a messy down-on-recall). Slow responses for a sit/stay at a start line, and the occasional broken start line. I want to start really tackling her excitement for when the back door opens, and her extreme reaction for when the doorbell rings.

These are all pretty much non-issues. I just think it's a good sign that I'm starting to feel like focusing on them -- I feel like it's indicative of feeling less preoccupied with off-leash control.

The biggest downside, thus far, has been that as a result of eating so many awesome, tasty, first-rate treats, Cohen has had HORRIBLE gas. It's just a constant stream coming out of her rear end. I miss my almost-never-gassy dog.

Cohen -- weave and jump practice

Here's a new video of Cohen's weave pole progress. Adrian was awesome and surprised me with a hand made (Adrian made!) jump. So I've set the 2x2s and the jump out in the back yard and have been running drills on them the last few days.

I think you can see some obvious progress in how Cohen is navigating the weaves. Some of those weave entries were pretty tricky and she was navigating them like a champ. She's single-stepping some of the poles, which I'm really happy to see.

The poles are technically arranged straight, but they get knocked around quite a bit as the dog runs through them.

Watching myself in this video is helpful -- I need to direct more with my shoulders, not my hands. I also need to loosen up and get my arm off my hip.

I've been working on Cohen's tugging a lot, so I think I'm about ready to start using a tug as a reward instead of food. I opted not to here because her arousal level gets a bit too high and her barking gets unmanageable. It's a work in progress.

One week in...

Today marks the completion of the first week of the Recall e-course I'm participating in, and already I'm noticing some nice improvements, and general frustration outside has diminished greatly.

Some highlights of general improvement:

• Yesterday in agility class I had Cohen sitting in her crate with the door open while I went across the room to listen to my instructor. Cohen sat there calmly without breaking the barrier while another dog was played with right in front of her and I was over 40 feet away.
• One of the dogs in last night's class was reactive and generally a handful. She was barking, chasing, and got away from her handler once to chase after another dog on the course. All the while Cohen sat quietly in her crate looking to me for reinforcement.
• Cohen recalled away from a half-eaten banana in the park.
• Cohen recalled away from a game of chase after it had died down a bit when I was over 100ft away.
• Cohen stopped her stalking of a nearby squirrel with a "leave it" from me.

On top of all that, there's just a general sense of ease and enthusiasm when we're out together. I've been making more effort to play with her and work the games into our walks. I've been mindful of where Cohen's reinforcement is coming from and I think I'm getting better at managing it.

I walk Cohen off-leash constantly (as long as we're away from roads). I think I'm probably not following the rules in this situation. I think the idea is for her to be leashed so as not to allow for any opportunities to inappropriately reinforce herself while we're out, but at this point I don't think that that's a realistic expectation. Instead I've been working on being more preemptive and rewarding like crazy when Cohen makes a good decision without any cue from me.

I look forward to where we'll be when the course reaches its end.

Agility class round up.

So my agility class finished up last night. To celebrate we were able to run a mock course a few times. Adrian was kind enough to come along and was able to record some of our work. I'm really happy to have a recording of Cohen's and my runs since I lose track of things pretty quickly when I'm out there on the course.

I'm quite happy with the progress that I've been able to make (Cohen's making progress too... but it's my two left feet that are the biggest problem). Of course there are huge opportunities for improvement, so in the spirit of constructive criticism, here I go. If you're reading this, feel free to offer some advice too.

First, holy crap I need to stop using the names of the next obstacle as a release from a contact. What a rookie mistake. I will say break I will say break I will say break...

Lately Cohen has been having trouble with good tunnels if the entry is in the least bit confusing, so I've made a mental note to reward them more thoroughly (which you see a bit here... while I drop a treat and everything). I think tunnels, being so simple, are easy for a handler to overlook for rewards.

Holy moly we're slow! I think I'm going to have to start running flat out to encourage a bit more speed. But I'm also going to have to get in better shape. The excitement paired with the mild exertion have a bigger effect on my body than I care to admit.

I will stand up straighter, I will stand up straighter, I will stand up straighter.

I won't cue a "back up" to re-get a broken contact. I'll focus more on getting a nose touch on the contact -- right now she's 50/50.

I want to see if I can get Cohen's teeter and walk speeds higher. She has a pretty good a-frame performance -- I'm told she just sails over the peak. I think it's a matter of revving her up more and moving faster myself.

With all that said, these are things I like:

I like Cohen's focus forward at the start line. She's doing it when cued. I've not yet gotten into the habit of pairing the verbal with a gesture, but I'll work on that soon.

I'm feeling more confident in my ability to control her on a course. I'm starting to learn more handling techniques through the class. Hopefully I'll be able to increase Cohen's already-pretty-good impulse control via the e-course I'm taking. Previously I'd thought that competition wouldn't be in the cards for another year or so, but I might revise that and say we'll be ready in a few months.

I'm re-taking this course (ahh, the benefits of working at the place you're schooling...) and next time I hope to use more tug rewards to build that drive and energy. Cohen's tugging has come along really nicely recently, so I'm hoping she'll respond to it as a reward in Agility from time to time.

With all that said, I'm really having a blast. It's been a lot of fun for me to learn, and I'm really enjoying the challenge. I just need to work on my flatwork more often at home.

One of the more bizarre habits...

Above: a shoe on my pillow

One of Cohen's more bizarre habits is she loves to move shoes around. More specifically, my shoes. She'll go into the closet, pick up a shoe and carry it up into my bedroom. Sometimes she'll get distracted part way through her project and I'll find shoes strewn along the path she normally takes from point A to point B. Sometimes she'll invest herself in this project rather earnestly and will bring up multiple shoes in quick succession.

A few days ago I came home to my runner sitting on my pillow as if lovingly placed there by some sort of confused secret admirer.

She doesn't chew them, or slobber on them. All she does is move them when she's bored.

It's endearing until I go to put on a shoe and realize that the one that matches the one currently on my foot has been brought upstairs and left in my room. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, she'll bring up pairs of shoes -- for some reason it feels slightly less crazy to go upstairs to retrieve both shoes, instead of a single one.

The photo below is from a few hours worth of work. Note that she has brought up full pairs (circled in corresponding colours), plus one chew-shoe that she got her teeth on as a pup that has been relinquished as a dog toy.

Above: a dog on a mission.

I probably only have myself to blame, as I'm the one to taught her to retrieve, and then began amusing myself by introducing her to various other retrievable items.

Above: it's all my fault.