Agility continues

Last night we took Kozmo to agility class. We are determined to quit using his training collar so this was our first class without it. I was a little nervous but our trainer was estatic to see he wasn't wearing his training collar. When we walked into the room an agility course was set up that had a dog walk, pause box, tunnel, 3 jumps and weave poles. Each dog and their handler work on a challenge individually and the other dogs are expected to wait for their turn with their handlers. Remember the other dogs in class are all 3-4 years old. They sit at their owners feet and quietly wait their turn. Waiting our turn is a good opportunity to practice impulse control. The trainer's dog, Bobby, was a gated area next to us. Bobby had a squeaky toy and when Kozmo saw and heard Bobby playing with his squeaky bone I thought Kozmo's head was going to explode. The trainer took the toy from Bobby and tossed it out of the way, under a table.


The first challenge was the dog walk. Below is a photo of some agility equipment to give you a better idea of what Kozmo and I are trying to learn. The dog walk is the bottom middle image. The dog has to walk up a ramp, across a narrow walk, down a ramp, and pause at the end. The first part of this exercise was fairy simple for me, the trainer wanted to work with Kozmo on the dog walk. As usual, Kozmo shows no fear and just walked right up the ramp. He started to get excited and very focused on the treats he was being given. The assistant trainer placed treats every 18" or so and the trainer took Kozmo across the dog walk several times. He did really well and pleased the trainer. Kozmo did so well that the trainer then wanted me to take Kozmo over the dog walk. By this time he was getting excited and he ran across the dog walk, down to the bottom and just kept running. Kozmo ran around the room, to the area that is fenced off, stuck his head through the gate/fence and retrieved the squeaky bone toy Bobby had been playing with and proceeded to run around the room like a lunatic playing with this squeaky toy. This way highly entertaining for every other human in the room but me. Best of all, one of the other dog owners was video taping class. Now Kozmo's stunt is captured on video for ever. Good stuff. Eventually, I got Koz back on his leash and we returned to our seats.

The next exercise was working on 3 jumps in a row and the weave polls. The weave polls are, to me, the most challenging obstacle. To teach your dog to go through the weave polls the human has a million things they have to do perfectly or you send your dog the wrong signal. It's really fun to watch a dog do them well, but it's not like what you see on TV. When you see dogs racing through the weave polls on TV that dog and it's handler have literally spent hundreds of hours working on this one skill. The other 3 dogs in class did well with the jumps and weave. Some of the dogs had trouble doing 3 jumps in a row, but they would all do 2 jumps before they got distracted. Finally it was Kozmo's turn....


Kozmo and I approached the jumps. I sent him over the first jump. He realized he wasn't on a leash and, again, took off racing around the room. This time he went back to the gated area and helped himself to a tug toy. Please keep in mind this is still being recorded. The other human was in the ring to help in the event Komzo had one of his "spells". The other human almost had Koz and then that silly mutt saw the tunnel and decided that he could avoid being caught and having to surrender his new toy if he kept running through the tunnel. Back and forth, back and forth, more laughs, Kozmo is the class clown. Once the beast was back in our control the trainer suggested we do the weave polls to calm Kozmo down. He gets really excited with the jumps and the weave requires more concentration and the dogs tend to calm down. We worked on the weave, and Kozmo has the sloppiest weave in his class, but we did get praise for huge improvement and that Kozmo actually did a good job staying with me. I was glad when our turn was over and I could return to my seat.

The last exercise of class was for each owner and their dog to do the entire course. Start at the dog walk, go to pause table, then tunnel and end with 3 jumps. The pause table is just a square table about a foot off of the ground. You dog just has to stand on the table and pause before going to the next obstacle. In the first image the dog is sitting on a pause table. The other 3 dogs in class did the entire course. A few dogs struggled with the three jumps in a row, but after a few attempts they all did it. Kozmo and I enter the ring, he does the dog walk very well and goes right to the pause box and went through the tunnel. Our trainer only wanted him to do one jump and get a LOT of praise. We did it and Koz came back to me after his one jump, he got a handful of treats and I was ready to go home. The trainer asked us to do it again. I was hoping she meant the jump, of course she meant from the beginning. On our second try we did the dog walk and pause table, on his way to the tunnel Kozmo became distracted and went behind the tunnel. He came out with a bungee cord in his mouth. The bungee cords that are used to keep the tunnel collapsed when its not being used were tucked away in the back of the tunnel. No other dog noticed these, but Koz wanted to play, again. Kozmo was getting tired and getting the bungee from him was fairly easy. We did the course one more time, it wasn't perfect, but we did each obstacle, one jump, he returned to me and we ended with lots of praise.

This week we are going to build weave polls in our back yard and practice, practice, practice. The fun mental image I had of me and my dog running through these obstacles and letting my dog have fun and get tired more work than I ever imagined. Our trainer sees a lot of potential in Koz and we won't give up but, I am tired.

Oh the irony

I have been leaving Kozmo alone for very brief increments and am slowly starting to trust him. This morning he was being good so I took a chance and trusted him to be alone for 3 minutes while I went to the basement to iron my shirt. I came back up to the kitchen and guess what he had in his mouth? A book titled, "Your New Dog for Dummies" with one corner already missing and a mouth full of mushy half chewed paper!! The irony of Kozmo's chosen object of destruction started my day with a good laugh and reminded me that I am the dummy for thinking I could trust a 9 month old puppy!!

Is that my cat?

Poor Kozmo and Sparky. They are such sweet animals and they are stuck with me as their human. I love them more than anything, but face it, I'm not the most responsible human around. Last night I came home from work and found Sparky in his usual window perch. I spent a few minutes loving him before getting Kozmo out of his crate. I took Kozmo outside and then we worked on our obedience commands for about twenty minutes. For the next hour or so Kozmo played with his toys in the office and I was concentrating on some work. As I am  stepping out of the back door to take Kozmo for a walk I see a black cat in my neighbors yard. At first I thought it was a stray and then I asked outloud, "Is that my cat?".

Yes, indeed it was my cat. Poor Sparky, this is only the second time in seven years that he was outside. Some of you may remember Sparky's first back yard experience when Ace "helped" Sparky off of the balcony and into the yard. How on earth could MY cat be in the neighbors yard!?! He is an indoor cat, I saw him when I got home from work. I have no idea how it happened, but somehow Sparky snuck outside while I was had the door open for Kozmo.

As soon as I realized MY cat was in the neighbors yard I started walking very slowly towards Sparky. Sparky can be a bit skiddish in the house, I was terrified he was going to run away from me outside. I was talking to Sparky and he started walking very slowly towards me. I knelt down and called Sparky. I saw a flash of pure love and know that Sparky still loves me despite bringing Kozmo into his life. Sparky ran at full speed right to me and was purring when I picked him up and gave him a great big hug.

Kozmo went for a walk, I voted, and gave Sparky lots of love for the rest of the evening. I'm so glad animals understand unconditional love, otherwise I worry they would hold a grudge at my irresponsibility. From now on we will be closely watching for Sparky trying to sneak outside.

A high strung owner makes a high strung dog

Last night during agility class our trainer told us that Kozmo is going to be awesome, the hard part is training ME! Kozmo knows what to do and has great instincts. I am a disaster. I am high strung by nature and it's obvious in the training ring. I get nervous and my dog responds to that. To further prove this point our trainer took Kozmo through all of the obstacles and he was perfect. She keeps telling us that he is a wonderful dog who is still a puppy and he has all the potential to be an agility super star. I love our trainer, she doesn't mince words. I need to relax, calm down, and trust my dog. If she only knew how I am simply just not hard wired to relax or calm down. I will try for Kozmo's sake.

The funny thing is that before class we took Kozmo to a big field to run and play fetch. We thought if we ran some energy out of him he would do better in class. Turns out I might be the one that needs to get rid of some excess energy before class.

It is so much fun to watch Kozmo go through the agility obstacles with the trainer. Every one in the room agrees that he clearly a happy dog and loves the challenges and being athletic. Last night he tried the A frame for the first time. He has no fear, he just climbed up one side and down the other side. While the trainer was working with me to stand properly, Kozmo just went up an down the A frame on his own. Of course, Kozmo really liked this because he got a big laugh out of the rest of the humans in the room. As much as I hate crowds and performing it is clear that Kozmo is a true people pleaser and will excel at agility.

The weave poles are still a challenge. In Kozmo's defense, it's more my challenge. I don't point my feet the right way, I hold the treats too high, I try to go too fast. We are going to build our own set of weave poles in the back yard and keep practicing.

I got to see Kozmo go through the tire swing. It was so much fun. He also did a variety of jumps. He is clearly getting the hang of agility. His weak spots, other than me, seem to be basic obedience, and the fact that he is 9 months old. The other dogs in his class are 3 and 4 years old. Luckily everyone remembers having puppies. Kozmo has shown great improvement in the two weeks since we started agility.

It's funny, I wanted so badly to do agility with my dog. On TV it looks like so much fun. What I never realized is that it is a tremendous amount of work and is every bit as demanding for the human as the dog. I was so naive to think I just pointed at stuff and it was up to Kozmo. I will keep working as hard as I can to be a good human for Kozmo. Dogs are sure a lot harder than cats. Trying to be a good human for Kozmo is one of the hardest things I've ever done.

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Clean dogs get into trouble

Kozmo has been a very busy dog. I was out of town for four days which left Kozmo alone with his other human. Kozmo and his other human started their long weekend without me by going to agility class together. Apparently Kozmo did well. He started out with two jumps in a row. The tunnel was in the room, but the dogs were supposed to work on the two jumps before adding the tunnel. Kozmo wanted to go through the tunnel and wouldn't stop after the second jump. Finally the trainer allowed him to go through and it sounds like he really had fun doing two jumps and the tunnel in a sequence. The tunnel was stretched out longer with a bend and it didn't phase him. I am so disappointed that I missed Kozmo's first jump through the tire. I can't wait for class this week to see how much he has learned and watch as he tries new obstacles.

Based on my daily updates from the other human it seems that Kozmo did one mischievous thing each of the days I was out of town. One night he backed out of his collar and ran around the neighbors yards for a while until he was corralled back into the house. From what I understand, Kozmo was trying to dig a tunnel to China in our neighbors yard and was distracted enough the larger and stronger other human was able to scoop Kozmo up and carry him back in the house. The next days adventure simply proves that he loves to dig. Kozmo dug all of the dirt out of a pot containing our only houseplant that has survived Sparky.

Finally my trip was coming to an end and as I was driving home I got a photo on my cell phone that showed my sweet Kozmo lying on his bed, ears back, the corner of the love seat, and piles of white stuffing everywhere. Kozmo decided to eat the love seat. The other human was a bit frustrated. I missed Kozmo and he sweet face so much I didn't care. I never really liked that love seat and I stopped watering that stupid plant years ago.

The other human and I only overlapped being at home together for a few hours before he left on a trip. Last night I was in charge of Kozmo. I am happy to report the little angel didn't destroy anything. He was too tired. I took Kozmo on his favorite trail and let him run off leash. A small stream runs along this trail and Kozmo charged right into the water. Kozmo kept running into the water trying to bite at the water. Then he would run into another area and smack his front paws on the water and make a big splash of water and mud. He alternated between playing in the water and running in very fast large circles around me and proudly jumping over logs. Every so often he came charging at me just to wipe a little mud on my legs before continuing on with this very fun, muddy adventure. He had so much fun and we both returned home covered in mud. A tired dog is a good dog.

(The other human will not be pleased to see our white dog turned brown from mud, but I win points for being the fun human with Kozmo!)

Kozmo is a much better citizen

Poor Kozmo, he has to live with humans who are not always on top of things. Kozmo was out of treats and yesterday was his last Canine Good Citizen class. In an effort to be organized and multitask, I stopped to by treats while taking my mom to an appointment. I then left the bag with treats and a brand new collar in my mom's car. Once home, I thought I had enough time to cross off one more thing from my to do list. Suddenly I realize we have ten minutes to be at class and have to stop at the store to buy more treats. We were late to school. I felt bad for Kozmo, it's not his fault that his humans made him late to school. I told him to get used to it, he wasn't lucky enough to go to a highly organized home.

When we walked into class (late) our trainer said she thought Kozmo had grown since last week. After seeing his Easter photos lots of people have commented on his recent growth spurt. He is about 9 months old, if he continues to grow at this rate I might start to think he has some Great Dane in his blood lines!

The focus of our last Good Citizen class was to work on impulse control. Kozmo sat next to me and let the trainer approach him and pet him. He also remained in a sit stay while other humans and dogs walked by him. He has made tremendous progress in this 5 week class. We also worked on recall with distractions. Our trainer gave use several great exercises to keep practicing. Eventually the goal is for Kozmo to come to us when we call him even if he is off leash or found a more interesting toy or object of destruction.

By the end of class Kozmo's other human was walking him on a leash and carrying a nice big bone in his hand. Kozmo wanted the bone, but walked politely and wasn't jumping. It was a great class and we have a lot to do to keep up with everything we learned.

Once we were home and settled in after class and a late dinner, the humans were watching tv and Kozmo was happily laying in his bed working on a new bone. We keep a gate between the tv room and kitchen so that Kozmo doesn't chase the cat and the cat is free to move around his house. We heard the cat crying, but could see Kozmo in his bed being good. I got up and found Sparky on the other side of the gate meowing with some intensity. We had a HUGE breakthrough, Sparky wanted to be with us, even though Kozmo was in the room. I picked Sparky up and carried him to his bed. Sparky has his own bed on one end of the desk, off the floor and away from Kozmo and positioned directly under a window for backyard viewing. (Our pets are not spoiled) Sparky spent a few minutes going between his bed and the laps of both humans. Within a few minutes Sparky settled into his bed, Kozmo stayed in his bed with his bone and our entire family happily existed in one room with no drama. Kozmo might not be ready to pass his Good Citizen test, but he has certainly become a much better citizen in our household.

Happy Easter

Kozmo had a wonderful Easter. He was a busy traveling dog and got to spend time will all three sides of his extended family. Kozmo passed an important test at my Dad's house. He is NOT gun shy. He didn't even flinch when the guns were firing. I tried to make him sit politely when meeting my family. He was just too excited to be perfectly behaved. He met several dogs much smaller than him and played nicely. I am more and more in love with him every day!

First day of agility

I am certain that I was far more excited to attend our first agility class than Kozmo or the other human. Long before I had Kozmo or even owned a dog I dreamed that someday I would have a dog and he would be an agility rock star. I have watched an embarrassing amount of agility on TV and quickly learned the dogs on TV are very well trained and we will have to work really hard for a really long time to ever get to that level.

We walked into the training room and it looked like a doggy playground. I think it's impossible to see agility equipment and not smile. After one class I am fairly certain this is the most fun thing you can ever do with your dog. It is also difficult and challenging, but filled with moments of pure joy.

As with all of our other training the first lesson we learned is that the humans need much more training than the dogs. Dogs by nature are pretty darn smart. They take their cues from humans and when you have a poorly trained human, the smart dog has no choice but to not do what you want. I found it interesting that the primary way I will communicate with Kozmo during agility training is though body language. Me talking to Kozmo (especially in full sentences) really makes no impact.

The first exercise was to have our dogs walk through a ladder. A 10 foot ladder was laying on the ground and we had to walk beside the ladder and ask our dogs to walk through the ladder. This exercise was testing the dogs level of coordination. At first Kozmo wanted to walk outside of the ladder. We soon learned that was because my feet were pointing to the left and not straight forward. I was trying to lure Kozmo along the ladder with a treat and he just wasn't doing so well. My heart started to sink. How could it be that my dog was going to fail the first coordination test? Then the trainer told me to try with no treats. It worked. He walked with his head up and a little spring in his step up and down the ladder.

For the rest of the class Kozmo did exactly what we asked of him. He did every obstacle for me and the other human. He did the teeter totter, tunnel, jumps, went through a barrel and the weave poles. I think the weave poles are going to be really fun. He is also getting the hang of the jump and hand signals. By the end of class I was smiling from ear to ear. I could ask Kozmo to approach a jump, sit and stay. Then with my hand signal I could send him over the jump and he would return to me (with a hand signal).

I got a little brave and tried to send Kozmo through the tunnel without his leash. He went right through the tunnel, like I asked, but then proceeded directly to a big doberman working on the weave poles. The poor dobbie snarled and put Koz in his place. I was able to dive in and grab my dog by his collar and everything was fine. I guess we needed a bit of excitement in class and I needed a reminder to leave Kozmo's leash on for a while.

A one hour class was mentally taxing. I was fried at the end of class but so happy and proud. The trainer had nothing but praise for Kozmo and thinks he has the potential to be an amazing agility dog.

Just to keep me humble and in my place, Kozmo ended class by embarrassing his humans. At the end of class some of the more responsible and prepared dog owners had water for their dogs. Kozmo did have water, but it was in the car. This very generous woman had a huge thermos of nice cold well water. She offered Kozmo a drink. Acting as though we never ever let him drink or give him fresh water, Kozmo started gulping down this nice fresh water. Other humans and dogs tried to walk by as he was gulping in the main walkway to exit the room. Something startled Kozmo and the clumsy goof knocked over the entire container of water!! I wanted to die of embarrassment. Not only did he make a big mess on his first day of school but he also kept the other dogs from enjoying a drink.

We hung our heads and left our first agility class knowing this is going to be a lot of work.

Training Kozmo is a full contact sport

I should have known class was going to be a challenge for both myself and Kozmo since I left town right after class last week and didn't get home until very early Monday morning. Jet lag, and a million other things on the never ending to do list meant that Kozmo got a brief cram session right before class. Yes, I know, I am responsible for giving him more training. My bad.

The focus of class was some of the tests we can expect in the Canine Good Citizen Exam. Despite our lack of practice over the past week, Kozmo was doing well. He will sit politely and let someone approach us. He will also let that person pet him without jumping. He is making progress on walking politely and not pulling on his leash.

The one consistent thing about Kozmo is that he is a puppy and just when I start to get confident he is going to be a brilliant, well mannered dog, he does something to remind me he's just a puppy and we have a lot more work. I can't remember what the trainer was asking us to do, but it was an individual exercise. Kozmo and I were in the middle of the room while our classmates and dogs were sitting at one end watching. Kozmo had one of his moments of insanity and starting tugging his leash, shaking his head and acting like a wild, spastic dog who has never had one single class. Just as I was bending over to grab hold of his collar to correct this awful behavior he swung his head and his skull made full contact with my chin.

Here is where I know I am a real dog mom now....I was stunned, it hurt, but my very first thought was, "oh no, all of these people are going to think badly about Kozmo". I knew I took a hit when I heard the collective "ooohhhh" of the other humans in the room. I was just trying to get the lovable beast under control and the other human starts walking towards us. I handed him the leash and that darn dog almost instantly sat down and got back under control. I stepped out of the room for a few minutes, from the hallway I watched Kozmo do recall perfectly for his other human.

Just like getting back on a horse, I got back in the ring and finished class. I know we shouldn't humanize animals, but I think Kozmo felt a bit guilty because he behaved perfectly for the remaining 15 minutes of class. I knew Kozmo would be a lot of work and that it wouldn't be easy to train him, but I never imagined training Kozmo would become a full contact sport!

It's official, we are going to try agility!

It's official, Kozmo is registered for a beginning agility class that starts later this week!

Kozmo didn't get to share his adventures from class last week because his human left right from class to go to the airport. The most exciting part of last week's class is that his current trainer and upcoming trainer agreed to let him start basic agility before completing the Canine Good Citizen class.

At this point, I'm pretty sure that I am much more excited than Kozmo. I think it's going to be a lot of fun and a lot of work, but a rewarding way to spend time together and use up some of Kozmo's excess energy.

Last week Kozmo's class started like a basic agility class. He had a jump, tunnel, and a second jump. We were asking him to do three things in a row before he got a reward. Kozmo went through the course like he had been waiting his entire life to do agility. He had his leash on and knocked down one of the jumps with his leash. On his second try the trainer asked us to try the course without a leash. Dependable Kozmo demonstrated that we both need a lot more education and practice. He would NOT do the jumps or tunnel without his leash. For some reason, in Kozmo's head he thought no leash meant it was a good time to tug on my pant legs and do everything except what I was asking. Eventually, Kozmo's other human came to help and we got him to do the tunnel.

We did learn that Kozmo's recent behavior is quite normal. Lately no matter what we ask of Kozmo he does "down". I was really worried because he seemed to have forgotten the basics like sit and his cutest trick, high five. The trainer said it's very common for dogs Kozmo's age to either regress and only do the first thing they learned or a new skill that was heavily rewarded. I guess we gave so many treats to teach down that for a while all he would do was down. We are working on reviewing the basics and relieved to know this is a normal phase.

One of the most difficult exercises for Kozmo is impulse control. The trainer put a stuffed toy with a squeaker at the end of the room. Kozmo had to walk politely without pulling on his leash the length of the room and the toy was his reward. It took several tries and eventually Kozmo got to the toy. In one bite he had some of the stuffing!

In another exercise we worked on recall. I had Kozmo on his leash and he started to walk up to the trainer and, in theory, I would call him and he would ignore the trainer and come happily to me. For the other dogs, they worked on this and added toys to the distraction. This proved challenging for both Kozmo and me. Kozmo's other human took a turn. Of course, Kozmo listened much better to him and the other human even got lots of praise from the trainer.

We are making progress slowly but surely. When I get frustrated I think back to the crazy puppy who didn't know anything the day we met. We are going to keep working really hard and are very excited to try agility!