Who knew that becoming a Canine Good Citizen is so much work for the humans?
We
are taking another Canine Good Citizen class to help Kozmo (and us)
prepare for the Canine Good Citizen Exam and so he doesn't forget
everything he has learned before our next agility classes start. In
order to take, and pass, the Canine Good Citizen Exam dogs have to wear a
regular, flat collar. No training collars or harnesses of any kind can
be used for the exam. I wish we could go back in time and start Kozmo's
training again. In our first class we were told to use a training
collar. It worked. We were happy. It seems the training collar is a
crutch. He is really good with the collar and without it he acts just
like he did at his first class when he was 5 months old. He was a lot
easier to control 5 months and 30+ pounds ago. I am determined to get
Koz off the training collar. Not just for the exam, but all the time.
We took Kozmo to class with a regular collar. Since it's a new group
of people and dogs Kozmo was excited and wanted to bark at every thing.
All of the dogs in this class are young and learning. It's a small
class with only 3 other dogs and they are all so cute I want to play
with them. We have a Weimaraner, Newfoundland, a little black cutie, and
Koz. I think Koz is the oldest at 10 months, the other two big dogs are
both 8 months. Due to our complicated and busy lives Kozmo's humans had
to drive separately and the other human was a few minutes late. We
began class with polite walking on a leash. The other human quietly
entered and sat down. It wasn't until we started to work on sit stays
that Kozmo saw his other human. He was so excited. He was jumping and
tugging and just had to go see him. At least he knows us now. I worried
that he had so many different homes as a pup that he might not recognize
us as HIS family.
So we worked on sit and down with stays. In theory Kozmo knows this
stuff. Without the training collar and the new dogs and people he forgot
most of what he knew and was a real handful. At one point he got his
leash in his mouth and tugged so hard he ripped the leash out of my hand
and was off and running directly to the Newfoundland puppy. I got Koz back
with a lot of drool from the Newfie, she is beautiful but slobbery!
Finally we got to the part of class where Koz excels. Our trainer
set up a tunnel. It was the first time through the tunnel for all of the
other dogs so Kozmo and I got to go first to show the other dogs how
much fun the tunnel is. I was so proud of my little dude, he approached
the tunnel, sat, waited, ran through on command and came back to me!! It
was perfect. Tempting fate, our trainer asked us to do the tunnel a
second time. Just to keep me humble, on his second try he exited the
tunnel and ran around the room showing off and showing everyone that
even though he can do a tunnel perfectly he's still a puppy and playing
is more fun than listening to his human.
Kozmo is going to have lots of real world good citizen practice this
weekend. He is spending the long holiday weekend at the lake, where he will
meet lots of new people and dogs, and have a few more swimming lessons.
His brand new doggy life jacket is on a UPS delivery truck as I type.
Clearly Kozmo and his humans need more practice but we are on our way to
being good citizens!
Kozmo Kringle
our first day together - December 2011
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Monday, May 21, 2012
Kozmo's First Swimming Lesson
Kozmo has no choice but to be a water dog. His humans practically live
at the lake for 6 months out of the year. Some of the features that made
us pick him are his webbed feet, white coat, and short fast drying fur.
We've known since we adopted him that he was going to be a water dog.
Kozmo got his first glimpse of being a water dog and had his first
swimming lesson on Sunday.
Let me start by explaining that the lesson would have gone much better if I hadn't left the bag of dog toys and treats on the counter when we left the house. It would also be better if Kozmo's unorganized humans would order him a doggy life vest. We decided to try an area where he could walk out into water that gradually got deeper. We approached the water and Koz walked right in and stood next to me. The other human went where it was deeper, about 15 feet away and started calling Kozmo. After some coaxing Kozmo swam to the other human and back to me and got lots of praise. He didn't want to do it again and we wanted to make this fun for him so the other human was swimming and enjoying the sun while I stayed along shore with Kozmo letting him play. He was interested in sticks and weeds.
Since sweet Kozmo likes to chew leashes we are down to the back up leash, the reason it's a back up leash is because it's only 4 feet and the clasp is junky. With a few spins and head moves Kozmo was free from the leash and running around. He found something gross. It was a skeleton of some sort, I couldn't figure it out and I didn't want to. He was happy, throwing this gross thing up in the air and chasing it. Our trainer told us not to chase him and when he is chewing something he shouldn't have we ask to see what he has and offer a trade. I was able to grab a handful of weeds and make a trade. I left his disgusting skeleton chew toy and put the leash back on and tried again to get him to swim. Koz seemed happiest along the edge of the water. Since I didn't have treats or floating toys I just kept walking along the shore line hoping he'd get used to the water and have fun. He stuck his head in the water to retrieve a pile of weeds floating on top of the water.
Kozmo must have got bored with the shore line walk and did another fast move and broke free of the leash AGAIN. This time he went immediately to the skeleton and was running as fast as he could with this gross thing in his mouth. It was very helpful to have the other human in the water telling me that having the dog escape the leash one time was an accident and the second time was clearly a human error. I had visions of beating the other human with the leash, but I had to focus on getting my dog back. You have to understand how fun this was for Kozmo. He had a really awesome treat that was smelly, gross and crunchy AND a human playing chase with him. He was smiling. Kozmo would run with his treasure and just when he would lay down and start crunching on bones that I was sure he would choke on I would try to calmly walk up to him and ask what he had, every time I got close he would run away again.
I tried to offer a "trade" with a stick. Normally he likes to play fetch, but clearly the stick wasn't as smelly or interesting as the carcass he found. Still leisurely swimming, the other human suggested I try a trade with the gross pile of wet weeds Kozmo found interesting earlier. I really didn't want to touch these wet slimy weeds with my bare hands so I used 2 sticks as tongs and picked up the dripping weeds. Now I am walking around trying to entice my dog to drop his beloved dead toy and trade me for a pile of weeds that I am holding between 2 sticks. For some reason this makes the other human laugh and the scene is a beautiful lake close to sunset with a happy dog running in circles with something dead in his mouth, one human running behind the tog with two sticks and some weeds trying to beg and reason with a 10 month old puppy and another human floating in the water, enjoying the sun and offering a not so helpful running commentary of the entire chain of events.
Finally I convinced the other human to help project "Capture Kozmo". We both called Kozmo and went in different directions. We tried to catch him as he ran by us with this dead thing in his mouth. He is fast and would NOT give up his precious dead crunchy friend. We managed to chase him into some deep weeds. I wouldn't set foot in these weeds where there was a high probability I would encounter a snake. I have no treats to offer Kozmo. I go to the car and try shaking pretzels to fake him out. No luck. The other human decided to go back to the sun and his relaxing swim and told me Kozmo wouldn't come to me until he finished eating his gross find. I found one squeaky toy in the car and tried to lure Kozmo with a toy. While searching for the stupid toy or anything to distract Kozmo I managed to lose track of Kozmo. I start walking back to ask the other human for help and as I turned the corner I see Koz and his human just hanging out like the past 20 minutes didn't happen.
When I finally got to my two favorite boys I put 2 leashes on Kozmo!! We still had a partially chewed leash in the car with his junky back up leash. You can see him in the photo below wearing 2 leashes and 2 collars happy as can be from his little adventure. Just as I was catching my breath the other human threw Kozmo's toy into the water and Kozmo went after it. The good news is Kozmo went right into the water, the not so fun part is that I was attached to the end of 2 leashes and had to run to keep up with Koz. The toy did not float so I had to get it out of the water for Koz. We brought the toy back and just as I was sitting down the other human threw it again. I regretted not beating him with the leash earlier. Koz ran right into the water and actually stuck his head under water to get his toy!!! He is going to be a water dog!
We are calling the first swimming lesson a success and will try again in a few days. The next swimming lesson will involve treats, a doggy life vest and toys that float.
Let me start by explaining that the lesson would have gone much better if I hadn't left the bag of dog toys and treats on the counter when we left the house. It would also be better if Kozmo's unorganized humans would order him a doggy life vest. We decided to try an area where he could walk out into water that gradually got deeper. We approached the water and Koz walked right in and stood next to me. The other human went where it was deeper, about 15 feet away and started calling Kozmo. After some coaxing Kozmo swam to the other human and back to me and got lots of praise. He didn't want to do it again and we wanted to make this fun for him so the other human was swimming and enjoying the sun while I stayed along shore with Kozmo letting him play. He was interested in sticks and weeds.
Since sweet Kozmo likes to chew leashes we are down to the back up leash, the reason it's a back up leash is because it's only 4 feet and the clasp is junky. With a few spins and head moves Kozmo was free from the leash and running around. He found something gross. It was a skeleton of some sort, I couldn't figure it out and I didn't want to. He was happy, throwing this gross thing up in the air and chasing it. Our trainer told us not to chase him and when he is chewing something he shouldn't have we ask to see what he has and offer a trade. I was able to grab a handful of weeds and make a trade. I left his disgusting skeleton chew toy and put the leash back on and tried again to get him to swim. Koz seemed happiest along the edge of the water. Since I didn't have treats or floating toys I just kept walking along the shore line hoping he'd get used to the water and have fun. He stuck his head in the water to retrieve a pile of weeds floating on top of the water.
Kozmo must have got bored with the shore line walk and did another fast move and broke free of the leash AGAIN. This time he went immediately to the skeleton and was running as fast as he could with this gross thing in his mouth. It was very helpful to have the other human in the water telling me that having the dog escape the leash one time was an accident and the second time was clearly a human error. I had visions of beating the other human with the leash, but I had to focus on getting my dog back. You have to understand how fun this was for Kozmo. He had a really awesome treat that was smelly, gross and crunchy AND a human playing chase with him. He was smiling. Kozmo would run with his treasure and just when he would lay down and start crunching on bones that I was sure he would choke on I would try to calmly walk up to him and ask what he had, every time I got close he would run away again.
I tried to offer a "trade" with a stick. Normally he likes to play fetch, but clearly the stick wasn't as smelly or interesting as the carcass he found. Still leisurely swimming, the other human suggested I try a trade with the gross pile of wet weeds Kozmo found interesting earlier. I really didn't want to touch these wet slimy weeds with my bare hands so I used 2 sticks as tongs and picked up the dripping weeds. Now I am walking around trying to entice my dog to drop his beloved dead toy and trade me for a pile of weeds that I am holding between 2 sticks. For some reason this makes the other human laugh and the scene is a beautiful lake close to sunset with a happy dog running in circles with something dead in his mouth, one human running behind the tog with two sticks and some weeds trying to beg and reason with a 10 month old puppy and another human floating in the water, enjoying the sun and offering a not so helpful running commentary of the entire chain of events.
Finally I convinced the other human to help project "Capture Kozmo". We both called Kozmo and went in different directions. We tried to catch him as he ran by us with this dead thing in his mouth. He is fast and would NOT give up his precious dead crunchy friend. We managed to chase him into some deep weeds. I wouldn't set foot in these weeds where there was a high probability I would encounter a snake. I have no treats to offer Kozmo. I go to the car and try shaking pretzels to fake him out. No luck. The other human decided to go back to the sun and his relaxing swim and told me Kozmo wouldn't come to me until he finished eating his gross find. I found one squeaky toy in the car and tried to lure Kozmo with a toy. While searching for the stupid toy or anything to distract Kozmo I managed to lose track of Kozmo. I start walking back to ask the other human for help and as I turned the corner I see Koz and his human just hanging out like the past 20 minutes didn't happen.
When I finally got to my two favorite boys I put 2 leashes on Kozmo!! We still had a partially chewed leash in the car with his junky back up leash. You can see him in the photo below wearing 2 leashes and 2 collars happy as can be from his little adventure. Just as I was catching my breath the other human threw Kozmo's toy into the water and Kozmo went after it. The good news is Kozmo went right into the water, the not so fun part is that I was attached to the end of 2 leashes and had to run to keep up with Koz. The toy did not float so I had to get it out of the water for Koz. We brought the toy back and just as I was sitting down the other human threw it again. I regretted not beating him with the leash earlier. Koz ran right into the water and actually stuck his head under water to get his toy!!! He is going to be a water dog!
We are calling the first swimming lesson a success and will try again in a few days. The next swimming lesson will involve treats, a doggy life vest and toys that float.
Friday, May 4, 2012
Most improved dog
Last night we took Kozmo to agility class. I wasn't sure what to expect
from him. Last week he did all of the obstacles, but also ran around
like a nut. We aren't the best humans ever. Kozmo got lots of love and
his usual walks and even a few hikes this week but we were so busy we
didn't take the time to really focus on his agility training. We have
good intentions, but still haven't built a set of weave poles.
As usual, all of the other humans and dogs were in their seats when we arrived just in the nick of time. This week we were trying a new treat, all beef hot dogs. As a vegetarian, I swore my dog would never have certain things and I certainly would never touch certain things. Never say never, Kozmo has changed my life. I started class by taking a handful of gross hotdogs and shoving them in my pocket. Kozmo has no idea how much I love him.
Kozmo was doing great, he was focused on us and patiently waiting for his turn. The first obstacle was the teeter-totter. The goal was to make sure none of the dogs weren't afraid of the motion or sound of the teeter. Sidney, the Doberman who usually is perfectly behaved would do the teeter but then acted like Kozmo and ran around the room like a crazy dog. It made me feel good that my dog isn't the only one who gets excited in class. Sidney is 3 years old. On the one hand it makes me feel good these things happen to other dogs. On the other hand, I've been thinking that at age 3 Kozmo would instantly calm down and not be such a wild man. I'm starting to realize we have many, many years of an active dog ahead of us. I'm cool with that as soon as he masters consistently coming to me when I call him.
Kozmo had no fear of the teeter. He went across perfectly and waited at the end. His trainer was very impressed. She told me she could see huge improvements in both Kozmo and myself since last week. Kozmo and I returned to our seat with a big smile. Kozmo also got praise from his trainer when it wasn't his turn. She could see a big improvement in him lying down and waiting his turn and not jumping and barking at the other dogs. It's nice to finally see improvement and know we are doing somethings right.
A new obstacle was set up for out next part of class. It is called hoops and is a long series of colored hula hoops in a pvc frame. The hoops are all alternated at angles to make a long tunnel. The opening is a straight shot but looking through it seemed like it might confuse the dogs because it is so open and the hoops are facing different directions. (See image below) Kozmo had no problems with the hoop tunnel. We started with the trainer holding him and me going to the other end to call him through. Kozmo's only difficulty is sitting and waiting until I call him. He wants to run instantly, before the command is given. We did this several times with the trainer first and then the other human holding Kozmo until he relaxed and then I gave the command and was waiting at the other end to reward (and capture). Eventually Kozmo will perfect his sit stay and impulse control and will wait until I give the command to go through any obstacles. Kozmo did so well in the hoop tunnel that our human classmates clapped at the end. Everyone was impressed that he came to me and didn't try to run around the room and act like the class clown.
The next obstacle was what our trainer calls a big jump. It is a jump similar to what he has been doing, only wider. It had two poles. The dogs can't "pop" over this, they have to "sail" over and clear both poles. In agility there are many kinds of jumps and our trainer is trying to get them used to each one. Kozmo lined up, went over the big jump, and came back to me every time! We were very proud and very relieved that he did so well. Kozmo doesn't want to line up straight. When we approach the jumps he sits to the side. We have to work really hard to get him to sit straight and line up properly as we continue agility. The athletic part is a piece of cake for him, he'll jump anything. We just need to work on obedience and technique, for both Koz and his humans.
All of the dogs in our class are really getting the hang of each obstacle. What we will learn in our next class is how to run a course and move through all of the obstacles in a pattern. To end class our trainer wanted each dog to do 3 things in a row. She wanted us to send our dogs through the hoop tunnel, jump through the tire, and end with tunnel. The first dog, Sonny, was amazing. He did so well that he was doing hoop, tire, tunnel, and back through tire and hoop. Sonny is fun to watch. Sidney only wanted to do 2 things and be done. Darcy, this cute little dog who is smaller than my cat is an agility superstar. She did everything perfectly and came back to her human.
Finally, we asked Kozmo to do hoop, tire, tunnel. We trusted him off leash. The other human stood between the tire and the tunnel to help capture Kozmo if he decided to act crazy. Kozmo would go through the hoops and run straight to his dad. We moved the other human and tried again. Our trainer said she thinks asking him to do a sequence might be asking a bit much from 9 month old puppy. I love our trainer, she let Kozmo end the class on a very positive note. We did the hoops and he came back for a treat. Then we did the tire and he came back for a treat. Finally he went right through the tunnel and ended class with a big slimy handful of chopped hotdogs and a big hug!!
We were so happy we didn't have to do the weave poles this week. We have one more week of beginning agility. Intermediate agility doesn't start for 6 weeks. We are going to squeeze in another 5 week Canine Good Citizen before agility starts again. I'm hoping with lots of work Kozmo just might be ready to take the Canine Good Citizen exam on June 12. No matter when he takes or passes the test he has come such a long way in four months and we are very proud of Kozmo. Our trainer declared him the most improved dog of the week!
As usual, all of the other humans and dogs were in their seats when we arrived just in the nick of time. This week we were trying a new treat, all beef hot dogs. As a vegetarian, I swore my dog would never have certain things and I certainly would never touch certain things. Never say never, Kozmo has changed my life. I started class by taking a handful of gross hotdogs and shoving them in my pocket. Kozmo has no idea how much I love him.
Kozmo was doing great, he was focused on us and patiently waiting for his turn. The first obstacle was the teeter-totter. The goal was to make sure none of the dogs weren't afraid of the motion or sound of the teeter. Sidney, the Doberman who usually is perfectly behaved would do the teeter but then acted like Kozmo and ran around the room like a crazy dog. It made me feel good that my dog isn't the only one who gets excited in class. Sidney is 3 years old. On the one hand it makes me feel good these things happen to other dogs. On the other hand, I've been thinking that at age 3 Kozmo would instantly calm down and not be such a wild man. I'm starting to realize we have many, many years of an active dog ahead of us. I'm cool with that as soon as he masters consistently coming to me when I call him.
Kozmo had no fear of the teeter. He went across perfectly and waited at the end. His trainer was very impressed. She told me she could see huge improvements in both Kozmo and myself since last week. Kozmo and I returned to our seat with a big smile. Kozmo also got praise from his trainer when it wasn't his turn. She could see a big improvement in him lying down and waiting his turn and not jumping and barking at the other dogs. It's nice to finally see improvement and know we are doing somethings right.
A new obstacle was set up for out next part of class. It is called hoops and is a long series of colored hula hoops in a pvc frame. The hoops are all alternated at angles to make a long tunnel. The opening is a straight shot but looking through it seemed like it might confuse the dogs because it is so open and the hoops are facing different directions. (See image below) Kozmo had no problems with the hoop tunnel. We started with the trainer holding him and me going to the other end to call him through. Kozmo's only difficulty is sitting and waiting until I call him. He wants to run instantly, before the command is given. We did this several times with the trainer first and then the other human holding Kozmo until he relaxed and then I gave the command and was waiting at the other end to reward (and capture). Eventually Kozmo will perfect his sit stay and impulse control and will wait until I give the command to go through any obstacles. Kozmo did so well in the hoop tunnel that our human classmates clapped at the end. Everyone was impressed that he came to me and didn't try to run around the room and act like the class clown.
The next obstacle was what our trainer calls a big jump. It is a jump similar to what he has been doing, only wider. It had two poles. The dogs can't "pop" over this, they have to "sail" over and clear both poles. In agility there are many kinds of jumps and our trainer is trying to get them used to each one. Kozmo lined up, went over the big jump, and came back to me every time! We were very proud and very relieved that he did so well. Kozmo doesn't want to line up straight. When we approach the jumps he sits to the side. We have to work really hard to get him to sit straight and line up properly as we continue agility. The athletic part is a piece of cake for him, he'll jump anything. We just need to work on obedience and technique, for both Koz and his humans.
All of the dogs in our class are really getting the hang of each obstacle. What we will learn in our next class is how to run a course and move through all of the obstacles in a pattern. To end class our trainer wanted each dog to do 3 things in a row. She wanted us to send our dogs through the hoop tunnel, jump through the tire, and end with tunnel. The first dog, Sonny, was amazing. He did so well that he was doing hoop, tire, tunnel, and back through tire and hoop. Sonny is fun to watch. Sidney only wanted to do 2 things and be done. Darcy, this cute little dog who is smaller than my cat is an agility superstar. She did everything perfectly and came back to her human.
Finally, we asked Kozmo to do hoop, tire, tunnel. We trusted him off leash. The other human stood between the tire and the tunnel to help capture Kozmo if he decided to act crazy. Kozmo would go through the hoops and run straight to his dad. We moved the other human and tried again. Our trainer said she thinks asking him to do a sequence might be asking a bit much from 9 month old puppy. I love our trainer, she let Kozmo end the class on a very positive note. We did the hoops and he came back for a treat. Then we did the tire and he came back for a treat. Finally he went right through the tunnel and ended class with a big slimy handful of chopped hotdogs and a big hug!!
We were so happy we didn't have to do the weave poles this week. We have one more week of beginning agility. Intermediate agility doesn't start for 6 weeks. We are going to squeeze in another 5 week Canine Good Citizen before agility starts again. I'm hoping with lots of work Kozmo just might be ready to take the Canine Good Citizen exam on June 12. No matter when he takes or passes the test he has come such a long way in four months and we are very proud of Kozmo. Our trainer declared him the most improved dog of the week!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)