more nosework!

Indi and I have been practicing nosework off and on this winter and are having lots of fun! It's such a good way to use up doggy energy when the roads are icy or the trails are muddy.
I'm hoping we'll get to enter an Odor Recognition Test in the next few months. It would be the first of its kind in Boise. The ORT is the pre test to show that your dog can find each of the three odors before being allowed to move on to competitions.
Just last night I broke down and ordered this:

I was tired of my little lip balm tins that you can't open and my baby food jars whose lids don't shut. Also, my anise oil smells suspiciously different than my friend and training partner's anise oil...Super excited!
For the ORT Indi will have to identify which of 12 boxes contains the scent of birch oil, clove and anise oil, in three separate tests. We will have 3 minutes. Eek!
Indi does very well finding the scent most of the time. There are a few times that she hasn't found it right away or hasn't found it at all. She definitely doesn't lack enthusiasm for the search but we find that boxes are hard!

Here is the first training session of the day using boxes. She seemed to hit on the incorrect box the first time and I think I should have stopped to open the box and show her it wasn't that one, but I didn't.

This is the next session after moving the boxes around. She got it right away this time.

The scent (clove oil for this one) was on q tips stuffed into a piece of plastic straw about an inch and a half long, then placed in the box. I open the lid to let her smell the scent better so she knows she was right and the scent was in there and then reward her close to the scent with cheese!

And some pictures to finish this post. Here is Indigo doing a vehicle search on our car. She found it!

Through the woods

My sister's dog, Loki has become like our second dog. We take him on hikes with us and he stays at our house once or twice a week. Such a fun dog! He and Indi are around the same age and get along so well. They have similar energy and play styles. He doesn't have that "space bubble" like I've noticed in a lot of border collies, (at least not when it comes to playing with other dogs). He doesn't mind being moosed around by Indigo, who is much larger than him. My sister has problems with him growling when she moves in bed and disturbs him!
Today we took them for a run by the Boise river.

They run and chase and wrestle.

Indi jumped into the river. It didn't seem to phase her (it is VERY cold in January!).

Loki does his border collie thing...

stalking....

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      and then he pounces.

Such good friends!

K9 Nosework!

Indigo and I have recently discovered a very exciting new sport. K9 Nosework! We took a course through our local kennel club and had so much fun I just had to share.
Our teacher provided the first odor, Birch and a small tin with holes in the lid to keep the odor in. After a few weeks I made up my own kit and ordered my own oils on line. If you look around a little you can find the best deals but you can also buy already made kits for nosework online. I thought I could do it myself pretty easily and cheaper too.
To start with you will need your first odor which is Birch, botanical name: Betula Lenta. It is a lovely smelling essential oil that your dog will soon be crazy for!
I took home pill bottles from work to keep each bottle of oil in as you don't want any scent to escape and confuse your dog when you're not working with it.

You will also need a few small glass jars to keep scented q-tips in and separate jars to keep your tins with odor in. I used baby food jars that I had in my cupboard and they work ok to keep the scent in but I will tell you that the lids are a little hard to screw on. I need to get different jars. The size is just right though!

The tins I have are smaller so I had to cut my q-tips slightly smaller than just in half. Fill the jar 3/4 full with the cut up q-tips then add 1 or 2 drops of Birch oil to the lid of the jar, close the jar and shake it up. This will scent the whole jar of q-tips magically!

I had some old tins of Burt's Bees lying around so I cleaned those out thoroughly and drilled holes in the tops of them. These tins will hold your scented q-tips.

You only need a few scented q-tips in the tin. Each week at class our teacher refreshed our q-tips with new, smellier ones from her stash so the odor would be strong. You have to use tweezers to transfer q-tips as you don't want the scent on your hands, obviously.

Ok, now let's teach your dog some nosework!

Take your tin with Birch scented q-tips inside in one hand and some good treats in the other closed hand. Hold your hands out to your dog and wait for them to stop slobbering up the hand with the treats in it and notice your other hand with the TIN. When they sniff the tin, even briefly you will give them a treat from your other hand. The reward must be given directly on top of the scent tin to create association with the odor. Warning: your hands will become very slobbery! Give lots of small treats, one at a time over the top of the tin.

Here is a video!

Do this over and over and over and in different parts of the house, outside, all over! Then, when your dog is really starting to understand you can put the tin on the ground, or hold it up high, play around with it but always reward right on top of the tin and don't try to make it too hard right at first. You don't want to overwhelm your dog.

Have fun and happy sniffing!

Fit dog Friday

I wanted to share a little strengthening exercise I have been trying to do with Indigo about two or three times per week. I use her kibble (Acana Pacifica at the moment) and do it in the mornings before work. I made it up so don't take my word for anything!
To start, kneel down and bend one leg up so your dog can crawl under it. Lure them under with one piece of food and then toss a second piece a bit further so they go all the way through and stand up. Show them another piece and lure them the other direction and repeat! If they don't want to go all the way through at first, just be patient and give lots of rewards for each attempt at going under further and further. Some dogs aren't comfortable with crawling under your leg like that.
I have her do about 10 repetitions back and forth and then walk around a minute and then another 10 or so.
If you have bare floors like we do I think it's nice to use a rug or a dog bed for your dog to crawl on so it's not so hard on their elbows.
I feel it strengthens her hind leg muscles.
A video:

Happy Fit dog Friday!

Last AKC show of the year

Earlier in October we ran in our last AKC trial for the year. I do believe we are improving! We did three days total and came away with one qualifying Open Fast run and one Q in Excellent Standard. That Standard run didn't make it onto the video camera, sadly.

Indigo had a grand time.

 

 

 

She only appeared to be possessed in a few of the photos. See the drool?

 

 

 



Here is a just one "little" (ok, pretty large) thing Standard run that I was happy with other than how aweful she was at the start line, arguing with me about the stay. The error was taking the tunnel after the first few jumps and I am not sure how she saw that as an option!

She kept more bars up than she has in the past. And hopefully I am learning to run her better so she CAN keep the bars up!

 

 

Fat tail.

 

 

 

 

Here is a Novice Jumpers run in which I clearly called "come" in time, don't you think? We've been practicing coming sooner! She does try really hard to go the way I want her to it's just so hard when she just wants to stretch out and go as fast as she can. We almost had this one!

 

 



 

 

We get to do a Nadac trial this weekend. Can't wait to TUNNEL!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 



Frisbee!

Today we competed in a frisbee show. People lined both sides of the throwing area. Teams were given three throws and dogs were judged based on distance and style. We failed! I just couldn't throw straight enough for her to catch it correctly. Three throws, three non catches. It was fun though!

After we competed I threw the frisbee for her off to the side to burn off some more steam and to remind myself that I CAN throw straight when no one is watching.
Our awesome cousins took these pictures for us.

 

 

 



Fun day!

Pictureless Wednesday

Rally-O in May

Yesterday Indi and I competed in our second Rally obedience trial together. It went pretty well! She wasn't 100% focused on me but I'd say she did very well overall. There were two trials in one day and we qualified in both of them earning our Rally Novice title.
The first run she was a little distracted but still payed close enough attention to me to get through. I decided to re do one station since she surged ahead when I stopped and I knew we could do better. We ended up with a score of 83 out of 100 and a second place.
My husband was nice enough to come watch and film us. At the 28 second mark you can see when Indi noticed her Daddy on the sidelines.

The second run seemed a little more together. We scored an 86 out of 100 and another second place. I debated re doing the very last station since she sat crooked in front of me and wasn't paying attention but decided to let that one go. Also, I totally didn't realize until watching these videos that on the figure 8 exercise I crossed the middle line four times instead of three, on both runs!

I have tried hard to only use force free training with her, using a tug toy, ball or food as a reward in training and I think the excitement of training together has transferred well into the ring.  The few times she decides to sniff or do her own thing instead of work with me I either start again or just stop training. I don't know how well it will work when she is off leash for Rally Advanced but we will see!

I was very proud of my dog! I love my Indigo!

V day and Rye's Birthday!

On Friday Rye turned 13 years old! Sadly for him it also happened to be an agility trial for Indi and I so we didn't get to plan anything fun. He did get a special dinner though!
I took these pictures earlier this week.

My sweet sweet boy. All Rye wants is to make us happy. That is all he has ever wanted. And please please don't make too much noise!

and food! Give him lots of yummy food and he is a happy boy. He may bite your fingers when taking an item from your hand but he does not feel guilty about that.

And please remember to share the toy throwing with him! He may decide after you throw whether or not he will go after it but that is ok!

I took Indi to a skate park down town for some interesting backdrops and I really like how these came out! I got these before the teenagers appeared with their skateboards and took over the park.

I feel so lucky to have my Rye dog so healthy and youthful still! What a wonderful dog you are. Love you Rye!!!

practicing agility

Two Saturdays ago we went to a practice, here is a video.

The beginning didn't end up on tape but I wish it had! Indi actually held her start line stay, twice! She appears to have traded her start line stay for her two on two off contacts. I could not get her to stop on a-frame or dogwalk! Other than that, it was a little wild and didn't exactly feel controlled but was fun none the less. Throughout the following week at home we practiced actually stopping at the bottoms of the contacts. Indi stops, I say YES and then my release word and then toss her the ball.
Looking very much forward to a show this coming Friday and Saturday! Hoping that I can run fast enough for my dog and be where I need to be when I need to be there.

Snake River birds of prey area

Yesterday we took the dogs hiking at a beautiful place along the Snake River, about an hour from Boise. The river on one side and these massive cliffs on the other side where falcons nest and ravens soar. See the ravens? You can hear them as you walk along the cliffs.

That blue sky was just so perfect!

The rocks at the base of the cliffs are inhabited by rock chucks, a kind of marmot. They have this piercing whistle that really drives the dogs crazy! They can't get all the way up to where the rock chucks are but they hear them and know it must be some kind of animal.
Both dogs really had a fantastic time climbing rocks and peeking into hiding holes.

 

Neat moss covered rocks.





 



Giant squishy feet!

 

A piece of a tiny jawbone.



Indi stopped to listen when she noticed the pigeons cooing in the cliffs.

 

My funny husband.

 

What an absolutely perfect day!