Practice Makes Perfect

Gaius and I just got back from a trip, which I'll talk about in the next post. Before we left we went down to the doggy dude ranch and participated in a little practice run through for obedience. It was a good way of seeing where we were and what we needed to work on.

I was very pleased with Gaius. He held both his stays and did a beautiful recall. Stand for examination did go well. But I wasn't expecting it to. That's going to take a long time. He's still not comfortable being touched by strangers. He may never be comfortable. I just need to go to more of these to get him practice. Of course his stand for examination with people he knows is lovely. And he knows everyone in our obedience class. What can you do?

Now heeling is a a whole issue in and of itself. It was really better than I thought it was going to be to be honest. Though he still lagged a bit. But that is mostly because I can't seem to STAND UP FREAKIN' STRAIGHT! So his lagging is mostly my fault. but I have a a dilemma when it comes to this.

You see when I stand up straight and walk with Gaius in a heel position.... I can't see him over (...gah this next noun is sort of embarrassing) my boobs. He resides in my blind spot, like I'm an SUV on the highway. Shesh, only with dachshund would someone have this issue. So when I stand up straight I have to just 'trust' that Gaius is where he is suppose to be. Trust is not necessarily something I'm great with. I mean come on, I spend my free time telling another creature what to do. It's a hobby that attracts the control freak. Now on a leash this isn't such a big deal, if he's really not where he's suppose to be I'll feel tension in the leash. But off lead he could be ten yards back, peeing on the judge and I'd never know (Well aside from expletives I'm guessing the judge would make in that situation). Gaius and I need to do trust exercises like in those office retreats. Maybe we could do a zip line or I could fall backwards and he could catch me... or maybe not.

And as if not being able to see him weren't bad enough, having to bend all the way over to fed him when he's doing it right is back breaking. Anyhow, I can't wait to train a big dog to heel. What a breeze in comparision. Think about it. A big dog needs to target your side to stay in heel position. Its head should stay in that position. A dog Gaius' height's visual marker is my ankle. Now think which moves more erratically when you walk. Linda said the best thing would be for me to move out of novice as quickly as possible. There is much less heeling in the upper levels. But we have to get though stand for examination first.

So now to the video tape. It boring (As obedience is pretty boring) so I added Queen. Sean being bored half way through the down stay cracks me up.

Introductions

Before getting a dachshund I was told a lot of things about them. They were nippy, loud, overly attached to their owners, prissy, and impossible to house break. Now that I own one, I have found that some of these things are true some of them aren't. But the one thing I was told above all others was that dachshunds were untrainable...

Wow what a challenge!

My name is Elizabeth and I'm a first time dog owner (sounds like I'm in AA). That's right, I grew up in a house full of cats (the injustice!) and two and a half years ago, after much soul searching, I decided to get my first dog... alright not that much soul searching. I finally moved into an apartment that allowed dogs. I'd been biting at the bit to own since I was about four.

Everyone thought this was a terrible idea. My parents, most of my friends, my ex-roommates. In fact the only person on my side was my boyfriend Sean. But he had one condition. It had to be a dachshund. UGH!

I warned him, citing all the reasons above as to why a dachshund was not the right fit for us. (I wanted a caviler king charles spaniel, well maybe next time) But he was insistent so we got a little long haired dapple dachshund in the summer of 2008. We named him Gaius Baltar after the womanizing, egotistical, scaredy cat character from Battelstar Galactica. Did I mention we were geeks?

But this little pup had a lot to live up to! Remember everyone thought he was a bad idea. So as soon as I was able I enrolled him in obedience classes. And after few classes I realized he was good at this.... I mean really good! Untrainable my butt! I mean he was the star pupil of his petsmart training class! Well, except for the lab that was training to be a service dog but that doesn't count right?

I was hooked, the classes were the highlight of my week. He made it through all three levels at breakneck speed. Except for one small issue (Well not so small but I'll leave that for another post). After graduation (see picture below) I was sad to see the training go. My petsmart instructor had a solution. He pointed me in the direction of a local dog training school were I could start taking other classes.

Its an addiction really, an unstoppable illness that becomes life consuming. Well Gaius is now two years old and currently enrolled in a Competition Obedience Class and a Level Seven Agility Class.

But now down to business. What is the purpose of this blog?

First things First, to keep track of my training and record keep. This will allow me to become a better trainer and see more clearly what I need to work on and where I've made mistakes.

Secondly, it is a place to put all of my trailing information now that Gaius' skills are getting to the point where he can soon enter competitions (Nerve wracking, I know!). He has yet to enter either an obedience or agility competition yet because there are some rough edges that need to be ironed out. (Aka being slow as dirt in agility when its hot outside, and lagging durning his offleash heeling) But the time will swiftly be upon us. He has been to two earth dog trails but they don't really count as all the training they involve is "Look tunnel, go bark at the rat" Your dog is either into rats or isn't. Gaius is into rats... and anything that involves barking. But I'll talk about earth dog here too.

Lastly this blog is a place to discuss dog training/dogs in general. To get advice from those more experienced in the dog training world then I am and to maybe help those with suggestions who might want them. So please feel free to comment!! Everyone is welcome here.

It also may be a place to coo over adorable dachshunds.... :)

It's the money shoot!