Day 8 - Over the River and Through the Woods
Now that we are on to freelance, where the training becomes more tailored to our individual needs, today we had some nice workouts.
As usual, the day started at 5:30 a.m. Angie wakes up quite early and is ready for the day. I am thinking of actually keeping this schedule so that it’ll allow us some time for grooming and a nice walk around the lake before work. I’ll need to figure out how to burn up some of the excess energy she has, which means a good workout for me! By spring, we should be slim and trim!
Our first trip was to a local residential community in Deanmar where we took about a 2.5 mile walk surrounded by stately houses. She did well with keeping a very consistent pace and pull throughout the whole distance. It makes me even more confident that she and I can occasionally walk to work when the weather turns nice which will be about a 2.5 mile walk from my house to NASA. There were quite a bit of icy patches and I chose to have her shoreline the sidewalk rather than do the ice. While I am learning to trust her, I wasn’t as trusting when it came to ice. Her pull is quite strong and I wasn’t sure how to balance myself with her level of pull in the harness. The person partnering with us on the walk said that Angie and I gave him a run for his money since our pace met and exceeded his.
Our second trip was to a rural community where there are very few sidewalks, so it required us to utilize a technique called indexing. As we complete a block, she is trained to enter the next block for a few feet and then we turn right and cross the street. Traditionally, the dogs are trained to work in the middle of the sidewalk as to give equidistance on either side. However, for country work, the dogs are trained to hug the left edge of the street. For the dogs, this can be counter intuitive, but is necessary for our safety.
A funny moment occurred just as we departed for the afternoon trip. I was the last one to get to the van of the four students in my group. So my instructor opens the door and I’m looking at three bright eyed ear perked German Shepherds. Believe me, I entered that van with a great deal of respect. There’s nothing to fear with this group of dogs, but the breed generally commands respect based on their appearance. Two of the shepherds named Taboo and Curt are quite attached to my instructor and cried and vocalized their displeasure when it wasn’t their turn to go on the walk. Shepherds tend to be a one person dog. They are extremely loyal to one person, so the turnover to a new handler can be quite difficult. But once that relationship is set, shepherds tend to be loyal to the very end. I am noticing little things that are good indicators that Angie is starting to turnover to me. She follows me around the room. That little known rule about having a dog and never going to the bathroom on your own is becoming true for me! But she initiates play with me and prefers to snuggle up in my lap when the playtime is over. Her body feels more relaxed and she’s beginning to both test boundaries and also respond quicker to commands. Her pace and pull are becoming consistent again, just as my instructor said it would right after our rough day last week.
Today has been a little hard emotionally. I am extremely hopeful for what’s ahead. However, the desire for a life-partner is strong. While Angie can be a great guide and become attune to my needs, she cannot replace the companionship of a person, particularly a good friend and husband. Most of the time I can keep those emotions at bay, but today it was a bit harder. So while, writing in the blog helps, it doesn’t replace hearing the sound of a good friend’s voice.
So anyone is more than welcomed to call!
This evening we had a lecture on going home. The main point, keep it simple! We are the one constant for them and they just met us two weeks ago. Sometimes the transition home can be tough for the dogs. After that, my trainer who is on-duty tonight, provided some instruction on clicker training with Angie. This is a continuation and application of what was taught last night with Lukas. It was fascinating to see Angie think, lose interest for a while, and then pick up the interest even more for the target just as Lukas said. Part of the instruction tonight was for me as well, because the clicker has to be timed just right in order for you to encourage the specific behavior you want rather than your hand going into the treat bag as the target. Canine psychology is really interesting to me. Maybe that’s why I choose to use one!
There’s a snow storm expected to hit the area, so we’ll try to get as much training time done before snowfall, but there’s a possibility we’ll still go out depending on the conditions.
As usual, the day started at 5:30 a.m. Angie wakes up quite early and is ready for the day. I am thinking of actually keeping this schedule so that it’ll allow us some time for grooming and a nice walk around the lake before work. I’ll need to figure out how to burn up some of the excess energy she has, which means a good workout for me! By spring, we should be slim and trim!
Our first trip was to a local residential community in Deanmar where we took about a 2.5 mile walk surrounded by stately houses. She did well with keeping a very consistent pace and pull throughout the whole distance. It makes me even more confident that she and I can occasionally walk to work when the weather turns nice which will be about a 2.5 mile walk from my house to NASA. There were quite a bit of icy patches and I chose to have her shoreline the sidewalk rather than do the ice. While I am learning to trust her, I wasn’t as trusting when it came to ice. Her pull is quite strong and I wasn’t sure how to balance myself with her level of pull in the harness. The person partnering with us on the walk said that Angie and I gave him a run for his money since our pace met and exceeded his.
Our second trip was to a rural community where there are very few sidewalks, so it required us to utilize a technique called indexing. As we complete a block, she is trained to enter the next block for a few feet and then we turn right and cross the street. Traditionally, the dogs are trained to work in the middle of the sidewalk as to give equidistance on either side. However, for country work, the dogs are trained to hug the left edge of the street. For the dogs, this can be counter intuitive, but is necessary for our safety.
A funny moment occurred just as we departed for the afternoon trip. I was the last one to get to the van of the four students in my group. So my instructor opens the door and I’m looking at three bright eyed ear perked German Shepherds. Believe me, I entered that van with a great deal of respect. There’s nothing to fear with this group of dogs, but the breed generally commands respect based on their appearance. Two of the shepherds named Taboo and Curt are quite attached to my instructor and cried and vocalized their displeasure when it wasn’t their turn to go on the walk. Shepherds tend to be a one person dog. They are extremely loyal to one person, so the turnover to a new handler can be quite difficult. But once that relationship is set, shepherds tend to be loyal to the very end. I am noticing little things that are good indicators that Angie is starting to turnover to me. She follows me around the room. That little known rule about having a dog and never going to the bathroom on your own is becoming true for me! But she initiates play with me and prefers to snuggle up in my lap when the playtime is over. Her body feels more relaxed and she’s beginning to both test boundaries and also respond quicker to commands. Her pace and pull are becoming consistent again, just as my instructor said it would right after our rough day last week.
Today has been a little hard emotionally. I am extremely hopeful for what’s ahead. However, the desire for a life-partner is strong. While Angie can be a great guide and become attune to my needs, she cannot replace the companionship of a person, particularly a good friend and husband. Most of the time I can keep those emotions at bay, but today it was a bit harder. So while, writing in the blog helps, it doesn’t replace hearing the sound of a good friend’s voice.
So anyone is more than welcomed to call!
This evening we had a lecture on going home. The main point, keep it simple! We are the one constant for them and they just met us two weeks ago. Sometimes the transition home can be tough for the dogs. After that, my trainer who is on-duty tonight, provided some instruction on clicker training with Angie. This is a continuation and application of what was taught last night with Lukas. It was fascinating to see Angie think, lose interest for a while, and then pick up the interest even more for the target just as Lukas said. Part of the instruction tonight was for me as well, because the clicker has to be timed just right in order for you to encourage the specific behavior you want rather than your hand going into the treat bag as the target. Canine psychology is really interesting to me. Maybe that’s why I choose to use one!
There’s a snow storm expected to hit the area, so we’ll try to get as much training time done before snowfall, but there’s a possibility we’ll still go out depending on the conditions.
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