Page's first hunt test (and last for a while)

Ok, I know. Page is 7 months old. She's a baby! But she was doing really, really well with her training so since Devon was entered in Senior tests, I decided (with Mitch's reluctant blessing) to put her in two weekends of hunt tests.

About 10 days before the test, Page showed signs of going through a fear period. She got confused running an in and out of water mark and shied at a decoy which isn't like her at all. Then last week, she got totally confused running very simple water marks with a duck. This was enough for me to pull her from the test Oct. 3-4 since Devon was already pulled from that weekend and the test wasn't closed.

On the Thursday before the test, she ran very nice land marks, but on one land mark she stopped 12 ft. from me and didn't want to bring me back the bird. Page doesn't always want to come into heel, but she'd never just decided to keep the bird! We had a little discussion about it, and she saw it my way and gave me back the duck. Problem solved and it didn't come up again.

On water, she again got out of the water on the opposite bank on her water mark. She needed the gunner to help her back into the water. Things were not looking good for her first test!

On Saturday we were the first dog on the line. I wasn't nervous, which was good. Page went out for her first mark fast and straight as an arrow. Then she pulled up short and investigated every spot the test dog stopped to munch on the birds on the way back. After the judge reminded me to breathe, I just stood there and let her work it out. She finally did, and grabbed the bird and brought it back in.

On the way in, she tripped and dropped the bird. She was so shocked, she just stopped, looked at the bird then looked at me like, "Ooops! I didn't mean to do that!" I told her to fetch it up in a positive voice. She grabbed it and came in, but stopped 12 ft. away and didn't want to come it. The devil! After a few more commands from me, she did bring the duck to me and I caught it. Not pretty, but a pass.

The second land mark was better, but this time Page came to me with the bird then looped away and wanted to keep it. I got the bird much more quickly this time, but it still wasn't pretty. Our judges were a husband and wife team, and she said good job. He said nothing. Ooooh, I bet those scores weren't pretty!

On the way back to the car, several people said nice job and I just smiled. One woman, who I figured out was the judge for the next day, asked if I passed. I said yes but it wasn't pretty. She informed me it didn't have to be pretty. I smiled and said, "For me, it does." I decided to run her on water just to see what I had, but I knew then I was scratching her the next day. I wasn't seeing what I wanted to. My goal is more than a JH, so I want a solid dog that I didn't have.

The water test was very nice. Two splashy singles on a pond in the woods. The gunners were very hidden. I thought the bank wouldn't be appealing to run because it had a lot of brush around it. The first mark was 70ish yards and the second shorter.

Page was the second dog to the line for water, and she was beside herself. Waiting and self control are NOT her specialties. Our friend Jan with the girls' cousin Keeper said, "Oh she's so 7 months old!" At that point everyone in the gallery who was standing around said they couldn't believe she was 7 months old. I said, "yep, and I'm never doing this again!"

Then it was Page's turn. I had many visions of what she could do, but I didn't expect what she did do. When I released her, instead of going directly into the water by the path down the 2 ft. drop, she skirted along the bank a few feet and went right through the heavy cover to fling herself into the middle of an arrowhead plant. Instead of freaking her out, she clawed through this thing holding her back from her bird and once in open water, she swam straight as an arrow to her mark. Wow! The perseverance score must have been a 10!

When she reached the duck, she grabbed it, spun in the water and swam straight back to me. Wow! This was the dog I was used to watching! What a girl! Reaching the bank, she came up, dropped the bird to shake, then picked it back up and looking at me standing 4 ft away from her ... that's when she must have thought, "You know, I was the one who swam all the way out there for this bird. If momma wants one, SHE can swim out there and get one!" She took a right turn and walked 6 ft. away from me with her prize.

Nothing was going to get this puppy and her bird back to me. I knew it. The judge suggested I walk backwards, but all that did was give Page the permission to go farther from me. I apologized to the judges, got my dog and retrieved the wet duck. We were done!

There were a lot of good things about that water retrieve. She showed me what she can do and the drive she has to get the birds. I was very happy to see that water confidence. I was also happy she wasn't worried about any of the vegetation in that pond. It was a dark pond, and I can see how some young dogs wouldn't like it. Page didn't give it a second thought.

But in the end she showed me we have a lot more work to do. In talking with Mitch, we agreed she didn't transition smoothly between bumpers and real ducks. I need to get some real ducks and work back through some basics with her. From there, I plan to continue training and teaching drills.

I also want to focus on getting her steady. Just like her momma Bizzy, Page is going to struggle with self control. I saw too many awesome dogs break the honor in Senior the last two weekends not to realize I will have this problem with Page. It will be a new problem for me to work through, since Devon easily understood she was not to go unless sent.

So that's the story of Page's first and last hunt test for a very long while! Someone asked me if I was disappointed in her -- of course not! I was laughing walking off the line on Saturday. I love this little dog, and her only problem was her mother entering her too early. I'm not too proud to admit that, but I'm also smart enough not to repeat it either! We have a lot more work to do, and I'm willing to do it. She's an amazing little girl, and the next time we step to the line we're going to knock it out of the park with all 10s!

Page finally gets a challenging track

I was going to lay a TDX track today for Page and then give her a VST track tomorrow. However when I got 110 yards into the TDX track I'd planned, I was in water above my ankles. I was already soaked and had a few hours to go that morning, so I abandoned that track and rethought my plan.

We tracked with a friend for the rest of the morning, then I headed back into town. I had decided to do a field drill with Devon at one of the schools, and it would be a great place to lay a VST track for Page and give her some age. Below is her track:

I laid this track at 1 p.m. and ran it at 2 p.m. Page had been in the SUV traveling around and watching other dogs train since 7:30 a.m. It was a muggy day with humidity in the 60% range all day. This morning it rained off and on and there was very little wind. When I ran the track the sun was breaking through and it was in the upper 70s. The track was 387 yards with 119 yards of non-veg, or 31%.

Every time I throw something at Page I think is going to be a tracking challenge, she handles it well. So, I decided today she would get her first lesson in curb work.

The first "leg" of the track curved around the edge of the building. I wanted to start her with some alternating veg and non veg on the sidewalks. I laid hand prints every 3-4 steps on the veg to give her help and continued this throughout the track.

On the second leg we angled across the sidewalk and dropped into the curb. Here I added a piece of kibble to the hand prints about every 10-15 yards. I also put an plastic egg filled with kibble in the curb behind some grass that was growing up in the cracks.

Page got to say hello to a woman and her daughter as she was getting out of the SUV. This really fired her up and she was ready to take on the world! Page came off the start flag dead on the track. I gave her only a softly angled approach to the article, and she was nose down pulling right away. I was very glad to see her start just as strong on short grass as she does in heavy cover.

Page handled the first "leg" very well. She put her nose down and sniffed the non-veg where the hand prints were, taking the sidewalk crossings in stride. She was very confident through this soft curve around the building, pausing only long enough to sniff a drain pipe coming off the building.

She handled the angle from the grass across the sidewalk very well. When she got to the curb, she didn't drop down into it at first. She started to track up on the sidewalk above the track in the curb. I decided to follow her here to see if this is where she stayed. After about 10 yards, she dropped onto the parking lot and explored out away from the curb, sniffing the pavement. After satisfying herself it didn't go across the parking lot, Page came back to the curb and for the first time put her nose in the curb and really sniffed there. I could tell by her body language she got a strong scent and "found" her track. She was rewarded a few steps later with a piece of kibble.

Once in the curb, she tracked well to the plastic egg. I thought she found the egg, but then she seemed to track past it. I held the line and she sat next to the egg. I asked what she found and gave her the kibble from the egg. Was that sit an article indication? I wasn't sure.

This is where Page hit her first difficult spot: how to restart on non veg. She was so focused on the food, she found it hard to get restarted. I had to point to the curb several times and say track, but she just kept coming back and sitting and staring at me. Finally with some water, rescenting and steps forward and repeated pointing to the curb saying "track" she got started again.

She handled the angle back up onto the sidewalk very well. Page did a great job of checked all spots for scent before committing to the grass. Once in the grass, she tracked very strong to the metal article. Here she gave me a paw tap on the article and then sat beside it and looked back at me. Seems like the sit at the egg was an indication.

The restart at this article was much easier. Off she went again, easily tracking over a couple of more sidewalks to the last turn.

I was very interested what she would do on this final leg. Right after I laid this leg of the track, three girls rode up on their bicycles and ate lunch at the picnic tables and played on the equipment. They ran over to pet Devon before her field drill. I figured they wouldn't stay long after their lunch, and I was right. But what would their scent all over the playground do to the freshly laid track and a very green tracking dog, er puppy? And while I laid extra scent with hand prints, I didn't put any kibble down for her through this section.

Page tracked onto the concrete well and into the circle where the picnic tables were. Of course, being Bizzy's daughter, she had to check out all of the picnic tables to see if there was even a crumb left for her! Someone had a picnic and didn't invite Page! What a tragedy!

After scouring the picnic tables, Page got back on her track and tracked it well into the mulch playground. I think she would have tracked easily through the mulch had it not been for the empty McDonald's cup that once held a chocolate shake. That was simply too much for Page, and she stuck her whole head in the cup and started drinking the contents - YUCK! You can guarantee I will never drink a McDonald's shake after this experience!

I grabbed the cup up and told her to get back to work. "Are you kidding me??" was her only answer to that! Holding the cup over my shoulder wasn't fooling her; she was jumping at me in protest that she wanted to finish her find! So I walked back and threw it in the trash can. That was not a popular decision according to Page. She got mildly interested in tracking again, but only to go back to the spot of the cup and start eating pieces of mulch that had leftover shake on them. UGH!

I finally shortened up the line and walked her a couple of steps past this spot. Then I asked her to get back to work and wouldn't allow her to go back where the mess had been. It only took her about 20 seconds to give up and get back to work. At this point she was really hot and getting tired, so I wondered if she would actually be capable of tracking to the glove.

I shouldn't have worried. Not only did she pick up the track in the mulch, but she worked the concrete curb out of the play area and back into the grass. She tracked strong all the way to her glove, where she gave me another sit at the article and then a down when I walked up to get it. What a good girl!

Although this track challenged Page, she never gave up on it. She only had two rough areas, and they were difficult challenges. It's simply amazing to watch this little puppy track like a mature dog. I can't wait to see what I have the next time she runs VST. She learns very quickly, and the time in the crate on the way home, then a nap after a late lunch when she got here should have solidified her lessons into her little brain.

More tracking by Page

On Tuesday I laid a track here at home for Page. The track was 200 yards long. The first two legs were 50 yards to left turns, then the last leg was 100 yards and we crossed my gravel driveway at 70 yards. The track was on short grass and it was aged 1.5 hours when we ran it. It was cloudy and 67 degrees with a light 8 mph wind.

Page started strong, even with the age of the track being twice what she ran the day before. She did a lot of casting on the first and second leg. I think this had more to do with the short grass and the wind than the age. She has been tracking in heavy cover, so the short grass was new to her and I expected to see a difference.

Both of Page's turns were lovely. She also handled the gravel driveway extremely well. She only gave a short pause at the transition and then nose down tracked across the driveway. I was especially pleased with her nose touch and down at the article when it had no kibble in it.

Today we did some field training with Steve, Janet and Sheree. I asked Janet if she would lay Page a track since Page has never tracked anyone but me. Janet was a real trooper and laid a lovely track with 4 turns and approximately 250-300 yards. We went down a hill to set up marks while Janet was laying this track, so it was also a blind track for me.

About 2 hours later, we returned to to run the track. This was the most age Page has done to date, and she's never tracked someone else. Add in that it was a blind track for me, and I didn't know what we'd have. The good news was that the track was in pretty high cover (up to my thighs) and it had rained while the track aged.

I've said that Page doesn't have the best starts, but now I'm rethinking that. Page has good starts; they just aren't what I'm used to. Donna told me when Bizzy is working field, she'll mark and seem to say to Donna, "I got it! Send me!" Now I think I know what that looks like by Page's tracking starts. When I've asked her to sniff the start article or lay down at the start, her attitude is, "No, I got it! Let me go!" and she seems to dismiss me. So I've let her go with that kind of start. And you know what, she does have it!

I brought Page up from the side about 3 feet behind the start flag. I pointed to the start article, a stuffed animal, and she sniffed it. Her body posture was slightly different like, "What the heck? This is odd." She started off and I let the line out, but then she circled to the left almost immediately. I let her go and work it out. She circled all the way back behind me and picked up the track there. She passed me, sniffed the based of the start flag again, and then almost seemed to shrug and say, "Well, this is different from the other times I've tracked so Mom must have lost her mind, but I'll play along" and off she went!

From the start, Page never missed a step in her tracking style. She tracked strong on the first leg. In the tall grass I had a good idea where the track went because I could see it even after 2 hours. However, when her head came up and she went left, I stopped dead. I was a little confused because the track looked like it went on straight; but sure enough I turned to my left and saw a path in the grass. I was standing on the first turn. Page overshot it by 25 ft., but she knew it and was working back to the turn.

Once on the new leg, it was nose down tracking again. She read the second and third turn much more quickly. On the fourth leg we started coming out of the heavy cover, and the fourth turn was in a roadway of grass much shorter than the surrounding cover.

This last leg of the track was very long. Page stopped about halfway up and investigated something in the grass. I called to Janet and asked her if that was the glove. She said no, it was farther on up. I told Page to track, and she did but came back to this spot. Finally I saw her eating something, and I realized she was eating rabbit poop. YUCK!! I told her to leave it and track, and she did. Several more yards and she found the glove. Page sniffed it and her tail went 100 mph and she stood over it, but she didn't do a down on the article.

This was an awesome track for Page. I am so pleased to have her track someone else and not miss a beat. And nearly 2 hours of age and a blind track was an added bonus!

It's fun to be Page

I have received a couple of emails that I haven't been posting any adventures on the dog blog this week. I apologize and promise to do better! ;-) We don't want a fan revolt! We value our readers! 

Page has had a busy week. On Monday after tracking and a 40 minutes woods walk, she got to meet my mom's retired teaching buddies. Page walked into my parents' place and up to each person to say hello. She's so confident! They kept asking how old she was and said repeatedly how good she was - better than most adult dogs they knew! I did remind them that she'd just been on a 40 minute walk!

Soon, we missed her but we didn't have to look long. My dad had come into the kitchen to fill a lunch plate before sneaking off to the den. Little Ms. Page, ever her mother's daughter around food, was sitting prettily next to him hoping for a treat from the counter top! Believe me, she doesn't get fed from the table or in the kitchen!

Page slipped away one more time to go find Reece. She really likes him, and he really likes puppies. They had a tail wagging good time before we had to head back home.

Golden friend Laurie got to see Page on Monday. As Page finished playing with Laurie, she turned and trotted away. Laurie busted out laughing and said, "Where did those LEGS come from!" Yep, Page has started growing, and it's not going to be pretty! On Monday, from the front she looks like a cute puppy; and then she would turn around and you saw a narrow puppy butt and the longest back legs you've ever seen! 

Page and Devon are fast friends. Devon plays "little momma" to her, correcting her when she needs it, watching over her and playing with her. Devon is Page's favorite friend and this week she tried to wrap Devon in her "binky" again. I think Devon got the upper "paw" this time.

Remember that old adage that kids play more with the box then the toy it came in? Well, Page discovered milk jugs this week. I usually set the empty gallon milk containers next to the trash can and wait until I take the bag out to take out the milk jug. Page ran into it on Tuesday evening, which sparked an awesome new game for her. Even Devon got into the act! 

After spending a day under my chair in the living room, the milk jug resurfaced on Thursday and continues to be the favorite play toy this week. Oh, and make sure you check out those back LEGS! How can you miss them???

On Wednesday we ran an "errand" to the Toledo, Ohio, area to pick up some agility equipment from Mark's Agility Equipment. Mark makes awesome agility equipment, and he and Robin are great agility competitors and wonderful people. My dogwalk, A frame and teeter are all from Mark, and I just bought a double jump, triple jump and three sets of 2x2 weave poles. 

Page and Devon came along for the ride. Both girls settled down and rode like the experts they are. They also pottied quickly when we stopped, and Page ate well on the road. It's wonderful to have two seasoned travelers even if one is only 11 weeks old!

On Thursday we headed north to get Devon's CERF. Devon was clear with the only remark being the distichia we already know she has. Dr. Krohne showed me how to pluck the eyelashes, and she said since Devon is so good on the table I could do this myself to give her more comfort.

Page came along for the ride. Both girls got to talk with a girl in a wheelchair in the parking lot. Devon is a fantastic therapy dog, and Page got to say hello, too! Page also got to go inside the vet hospital and say hello to the staff. She even got weighed (she was 17 pounds and most of that was legs).

I'm happy to report that on Friday morning when we woke up, Page's front legs had grown! She's now just as tall in the front as in the back! Of course, she looks like a puppy on stilts, but she'll look worse before she looks better! And those new long legs are a little hard to control on the stairs. This morning her feet got going a little too fast, and she slid down the last few stairs landed like a bean back completely sprawled at the bottom. Good thing I have extra padding over the hardwood at the bottom of the stairs.

Here's the last video clip of the week. I didn't start the camera in time, so I'll try and get a better clip in the future. However, this is Page running in from the back of the yard after hearing her come whistle. She hasn't forgotten what that means!

Let the Crate Games begin!

I'm still working on trying to read Page's play moods in the house. When she's really frantic jumping and biting at the other dogs, it usually means she's tired. However, today she was wild, and she'd just gotten up from a post-woods walk nap. 

Since she was so wild, I put everything aside (who needs to pay bills anyway), and we went to the building to train. Page got a long lesson in Crate Games. I wondered how this session would go. I should have done it a week ago, but because I figured it would take me over an hour I kept putting it off. 

Page's litter has across the board been very vocal. They get it honestly from both Bizzy and Goose. While many of her littermates are driving their owners batty with their noise, my multi-day drive home convinced Page that screaming in her crate wasn't going to accomplish much.In the car, she settles right down without a peep to sleep or play in her crate.

That of course hasn't prevented her from testing things now that we're at home. I've made it a fast rule not to enter a room where she's crated when she's screaming. At night, she settles quickly and rarely protests. I get the most noise as I'm finishing my shower or if I put her in her crate while I'm eating.

For Page's first lesson in crate games, I used small pieces of turkey giblets left over from Thanksgiving to teach her to sit when the crate door latch was rattled. Page loved the treats and quickly learned to sit. However, we had to work through her control when I started the "Are you a gambler?" phase of adding in distractions with the door opening. 

Before I started Crate Games, if Page jumps at or paws the crate door, she's not allowed out. By simply not opening the door and being consistent, I've taught her not to rush the door. However, including a sit and a stay while the door was opening was a challenge for Page. She had several times when the door was closed in her face and she didn't get those yummy treats because she got up from her sit. But each time this happened, I could see the little wheels turning in her head to figure it out. 

Finally, she controlled her impulse to get up when the crate door opened. Bless her, she even started to come up from the sit and immediately planted her butt firmly on the ground again! It was as if she was saying, "HANG ON! I GOT IT!" From this point, she hung onto that sit and flew through the distractions of putting on her leash. And just like the dogs in the DVDs, she didn't want to come out of the crate at first when we moved to that phase. Once she did come out, she explored both sides of the crate, then got right back in to a jackpot! Boy did she like that!

Once I released her, it was back to the house. This time, she played quietly with her toys and bones and then quickly fell asleep for a quick after "workout" nap. When it came time for her dinner, Page sat in her crate for the door to open and her food dish to come in. After dinner, she remembered to sit quietly for me to reach for the door, but she'd pop out of her sit when I opened the door. It's that control issue again! I shut the door and let her figure it out. On the third try, she started to come up and then you could see her think, "DARN IT! I have to SIT!" and she settled back into her sit. 

Page is such a smart girl, and she works really hard to get what I'm asking of her. She's a real joy to train.

Now I know why she was so quiet!

Remember when I posted yesterday and said Page was mellow before her woods walk? I was surprised by this but attributed it to me waking her in the middle of a nap. She was also more subdued on her woods walk than I anticipated. Well, I finally figured out the reason yesterday afternoon. She has a bladder infection.

Deep down I knew it the day before. She was just pottying way too often. But by yesterday she really felt crappy. Devon went through this, too, but it was at a slightly older age; and Ian also went through it at 9 weeks. The next time I get a puppy, I'm just going to get the antibiotics at the first vet check!

Of course, I'm really lucky my uncle is our vet. I called him, and he called in a prescription at my local pharmacy. An hour later I went to pick it up. I gave the pharmacist my name, and she searched all over for it. She asked what it was, and I said pediatric amoxicillin. Then she said, "Oh! For the dog! I had it under Page." Now why didn't I think of that?

Even with just one dose at dinner, I noticed a difference last night. She was just feeling better. And she was also better with the older dogs, even though she tried! Devon gave her two good corrections when Page jumped on Devon's head. And Connor got a bone and laid down to chew it near her. When she got up to check it out, he growled. She sat back and considered. After that, all he had to do was flick his lip at her, and she'd get really respectful. Ian continued to watch from a distance, but he did approach her and sniff her a couple of times.

I also had the house leash on Page attached to me while she played. The little stinker figured out who was controlling her! She walked up close to me, grabbed the end of the leash attached to me and started tugging to get her freedom. What a little stink pot! And of course all the toys and bones in the room were piled within her reach!

The other really funny thing she did last night was air scent my dinner. I was walking with the plate from the kitchen to the dining room and she was standing there kicking up her nose following my plate! I suddenly had a vision of her mother Bizzy standing in my kitchen! I was only around Bizzy for two days, but we all knew how Bizzy loved food!

And speaking of Bizzy, I have to post this "free puppy ad" her mom Donna created when Bizzy was a puppy. Gambler is Donna's older Toller, and he really didn't like Bizzy's abuse. Devon would have told him to correct her, but apparently he was too nice. Donna reports he hasn't been as forgiving with future puppies! Bizzy wore him down!

Bringing home a wild goose, part 1

On Monday I left Columbus, Ohio, headed for New York and Gaylan's Golden Retrievers to "fetch" Ms. Page, soon to be officially known as Gaylan's Wild Goose Chase. Devon, unaware of what was to come, was riding with me. Page was the last puppy to be picked up, due to Devon's library duties last week and hosting the local Golden Retriever club's April meeting at my house on Sunday.

After checking into the hotel, we pulled into Gayle and Andy's driveway, announced by Una, Dreamer, Risk and Corey. Ms. Raspberry (Page) was alone in the puppy pen, sitting on an elevated bed. As Gayle walked out to greet me, Ms. Raspberry started in with lonely barks, ending in a pitiful wail. Gayle chuckled, and I asked if she was the last orphaned puppy that no one wanted (which was the furthest thing from the truth, talk about a drama queen!). Apparently that's what she thought when all the Game Birds flew away, including Lise and Drake (Mr. Red) that morning. Page had been barking and protesting her alone-ness by even putting her teeth on the expen and pulling on it!

We decided to take Page and Devon on a short woods walk to hopefully give me some sleep and stretch Devon's legs. Devon promptly took a time out to take care of some private business, but Page wanted to meet her new friend. The look Devon gave Gayle and I clearly communicated, "Seriously, I'm trying to have a private moment here, can one of you DO something about this?" After that pit stop, Devon promptly ran off ignoring Page completely. Instead, she stuck by Gayle and I as we walked and talked "strategy" for how I was to train this new little one in my life. I'm so lucky for all the wealth of information Gayle has from training with so many of the dogs she's bred. Those insights are invaluable. Of course, I think the email lines to Donna to ask questions about Bizzy will be hot! Everyone says Page is similar to her mother's personality.

Devon did decide to play bow at Page toward the end of the walk, causing Page to drop to the ground and show her belly. Devon tried again with similar results; both girls acting totally appropriately. Then it was off to give Devon dinner and warm Page up inside as Gayle and I did paperwork and chatted.

As we loaded Page and her food into the SUV, the look on Devon's face isn't fit to reproduce in words! Devon was NOT amused that the small fur ball was coming with us. This was NOT in her plans! Gayle could only chuckle as she said goodbye to both her girls and wished Devon good luck.

At the hotel, Page got used to walking on her leash with us and did a great job of pottying outside. I had treats and a clicker with me, so we did a couple of short sessions of clicker work. Boy, this was grand fun for Page! She go a piece of cheese every time she looked at me! She was so impressed by the cheese in just a couple of short sessions, she was sitting and giving me eye contact. What a smart girl! Devon also got cheese for staying on the bed and quietly watching the session.

After some play time, primarily by herself since Devon still wasn't acknowledging her presence, we headed to bed. I put Page's crate on the second bed in the room, facing mine. Since it was still pretty early, I decided to wait Page out for barking in the crate, knowing this would be a problem. Once the lights were out and I was still in bed, she only barked for about 1 minute before giving up and going to sleep. Round 1 to me!

Page slept for about 3.5 hours, then woke up and entertained herself in her crate for another 30 minutes. She started to whine, and since it had been 4.5 hours since her last out, I took her outside where we had success. Now for the dilemma: it was not 1:30 a.m., and I didn't think my neighbors in the hotel would like me letting Page bark. The "earthquake" method of shaking the crate to get her to stop barking was creating a nice game of her being successful with negative reinforcement. What were we going to do?

Then, I had a brainstorm. I turned out the lights and laid down in bed. When she started to bark, I took a bed pillow and softly "thunked" it against the crate (I didn't throw it 90 mph at her). The barking stopped and the pillow fell back at me. She started barking again, "thunk" and a pause in the barking. A third time she started to bark, "thunk" and this time after a pause, she mumbled and laid down in her crate and slept until 6:30 a.m. Yippee!! Round 2 to me!

Here's a video of her first meal of raw food, prepared by me! 

Introducing Page

Introducing the newest member of my family: Page. Page is part of the Gaylan's Game Bird litter. She is sired by Can. Ch. Gaylan's Born to Fly SH MX MXJ CCA WCX OS ADHF VC CGC (Goose) and her dam is Ambertrial's I Am A Wild Party Can. WCX (Bizzy). The Game Bird litter is named for the heritage of the Golden Retriever breed, which is to retrieve game birds. In Page's registered name, which has yet to be finalized, I will give recognition to her dam and sire. Page's call name comes from another icon of the Golden Retriever breed, Rachel Page "Pagey" Elliott. While I never met Pagey Elliott, her devotion to the Golden Retriever breed, her study of canine structure and her love of agility (into her 90s) is an inspiration to me. 

I want to say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!" to Gayle and Lise for trusting me with this special little girl. She really wowed me this last weekend, and it is really an honor for me to bring her home. And she's going to have at least three more "interested aunties" watching over her from afar! Marcy, Pam and Donna will also be watching this little girlie grow up! Thank you already to all five of you for your insights into this little pup and for the support and advice I know you'll continue to give me.

As for Page, Devon and I will head back out to New York to pick her up on Monday evening. I'm planning to take lots of packed Kongs for our trip home. We'll make a stop in Ohio on the way back for an obedience lesson for both girls with Linda MacDonald at HYBAR. Today, I even bought her a bright pink puppy harness for tracking. Can't start them too early! 

Great Gaylan's weekend

What a wonderful time we had visiting Gaylan's Golden Retrievers this weekend! Since I live so far away, I rarely get to head east to visit Devon's cousins and their owners. This trip was worth the 12-hour drive, and we had a jam-packed weekend that I'll remember for years to come.

First, bright and early on Friday morning we started the Game Bird litter's temperament test. These are some amazing puppies, and every single puppy owner is getting a fantastic puppy! Pat McKinney did a fantastic job testing the litter, and I'm glad it's Gayle and Lise's job deciding where these pups will go! I would have taken every one of them home! 

Following the puppy test, we all joined Sandy and Trader's OTCH party. I was thrilled to be able to join in the celebration for this fantastic team! And I think the "OTCH bar" is going to become a hit all over the country!

After a good night's sleep, we headed back to Gayle and Andy's for the Game Bird litter's puppy walk. I think this is a wonderful way to celebrate each litter with a walk in the woods, play time and a pitch in lunch with friends. It was raining a little, but those Game Birds didn't care! They raced through the woods as I carefully picked my way down hills and over trees. 

Our other job is to watch one puppy and note what they do on the puppy walk. Our Game Bird charge loved to carry things in its mouth. The puppy picked up leaves and sticks. It raced through muddy streams and over rocks and fallen trees. The puppy darted around people and trees and looked interestingly at the water before racing back up the hill to the end of the walk.

After the puppy walk and hours of playing with kids, the pups still had energy to play with each other before finally settling in for a nap. I got to see one of Devon's littermate's Spring. This was an added bonus after getting to see her littermate Jerry the day before.

After the Game Birds' nap, we introduced them to birds. I've never seen this done and was interested to see the puppy's reactions. Every one of these pups turned onto the birds and carried one. The adult dogs didn't understand why they had to watch from an upper window!

It was so wonderful to spend time Friday and Saturday with Gayle, Lise and Marcy and hear all about the Game Birds and exchange training tips and plans. I loved talking with Pam Martin and Donna LaHaise in from Canada to see the testing and take Bizzy home. Pam was wonderful to share her field knowledge and encouragement for future plans. Donna was a wealth of information about Bizzy, and I know she was so excited to take her much loved and missed girl home. 

And I bet you're wondering which little Game Bird is coming to Indiana. Well, they still have some more tests to be done before we know the final answer. Check back later in the week to find out more!

We concluded our trip by stopping by the Hudson Valley Golden Retriever Club's All-Breed Agility trial on our way home. We got to see several of the Gaylan's dogs run, including Trader, Tango, Pilot, Juice, Jerry, Brig, Bette, and Kite. If you click on each dog's name, you can see video of their run (unfortunately I couldn't tape Kite's run, because I would have been standing in front of her mom). It was so awesome to watch these dogs run. I saw shades of Juice's mom Abbi in his run. And it was a thrill to watch big, athletic, powerful Goldens handle these agility courses at 24-inches. 

I had a wonderful weekend reconnecting with old friends and spending time making new ones. The Dancing litter has brought so many new and wonderful people into my life, and I'm looking forward to the Game Bird litter doing the same!

Work ethic

Devon and I have done three sessions of field training this week. I decided to reviewing our lining drills to give Devon some variety in her training sessions. I also decided I didn't want to do the same drill 2 days in a row, again for variety. I'm using drills in the Gamekeepers Retrievers Transition Manual, since we train with Mitch White, as well as drills collected in Carol Cassity's Building A Retriever book. Carol's book is extra fun because it has Bizzy's littermate Blitz on the front and photos of him and Bizzy inside.

Tuesday we just beat out the rain and did a wagon wheel. A wagon wheel is a lining drill where you stand in the middle of a circle and there are small piles of bumpers around you at the end of "spokes" on a wheel. You're trying to get the dog to go straight away from you to each pile of bumpers without going to the pile of her choice. This is a drill that helps with going straight for blinds.

We only did "half" a wagon wheel with only five small piles.  They ranged in distance from about 25 yards to 50 yards. We were on a soccer field, so Devon could easily see the bumpers. She struggled a little with this drill since it's probably been last fall when we did it. She got the hang of it and did great after the first 3-4 bumpers. She picked up 20 bumpers in all (four at each station).

This morning, we threw bumpers with Beth and her dogs Reba and Denver. We set up two nice advanced singles for Reba, who has two legs on her JH, and shortened them up for Denver who is still a 1-year-old puppy in training. Both of her dogs returned to heel and held the bumpers like pros!

The singles transitioned nicely into a double for Devon. She wanted to focus in on Beth instead of her memory mark, but she turned and nailed her double and held steady until I sent her. We repeated it and she did even better, jumping some ruts she stepped through earlier. I liked seeing this drive.

Then I remembered I was supposed to do a blind after throwing marks, so I put Devon back into the van and set up a blind. I tried a walk up for the double and Devon did really well. I probably should have warned my gunner what I was going to do, though! The blind didn't go as well. Devon went out well, but curved to the right with the pressure of the hill. Once she winded the bumper she would handle and she forgot her sit. It was ugly but she got them. I think I'm going to do a sight blind next time.

This afternoon, I set up a Three In a Row drill in my side yard.  This is three buckets in a line and I put about 15 yards between them. Then you stand at angles to the buckets and send the dog to each one. This teaches a dog to hold the straight line as the go past "suction" or something that would draw in their attention. When they are sending to the middle or far bucket, they have to go past other buckets with bumpers.

Devon was eager to go outside, but she instantly found something to eat on the ground. I think it was the remains of a bird's nest, and I couldn't call her off of it. She had her collar on and I gave her a correction for not coming which she ignored. I checked the collar and it was indeed on. This was shades of things to come.

Devon worked the drill and was successful given the difficulty. She had some failed attempts, and when she was wrong, I gave her a verbal, "No, no" and called her back to me. She was slow to respond to coming back to me because she was wrong. We moved to the opposite angle, and this side was harder for Devon. She worked through it but was wrong twice in a row. I called her in and she didn't want to come. She finally stopped and stared off into space and just stood there ignoring me and my commands.

Many people would have said I should have made things easier for Devon. Many people would have said Devon was stressed and I was being too hard on her. But even you're clicker training, the best say when they stall out, don't make things easier; make them think. Devon knows to come when called. She knows absolutely to come when called in field where it could save her life. I have never and would never call her to me to punish her. I have also never punished her for making a mistake when she didn't understand. 

When she ignored my repeated commands to come and stared off into space, I gave her a collar correction. It was a fair correction for a known behavior. It was what most field pros would consider too mild of a correction. I don't "fry" my dog; I will correct her for ignoring a known command. The correction I gave Devon today was milder than an Invisible Fence collar correction. The correction worked. Devon not only came back to me, but she stopped fidgeting in heel position; she got down to business and marked her line on the first request; she cantered to and from the piles; and when she made a mistake, she never shut down again.

Mitch calls this reminding them of work ethic. Sometimes you fuss with a dog and work with them and the performance continues to spiral downward. The mild correction I gave Devon at the start of the session was so mild, she ignored it. It actually didn't do any good and allowed her to continue her poor work ethic. But all it took was one real, fair correction, and I got her attention and she realized she needed to step up. 

I compare what happened today with Devon to something that will occasionally happen in the workplace. Sometimes you know you aren't working up to your full potential. If someone nags you, you brush them off and continue on your way. However, one stern remark from the boss, and you kick it into overdrive and you get the job done with style. 

Devon just needed a little reminder today that she needed to get the job done. Once she was reminded, she stepped up and did it in style! Knowing Devon, we won't have this problem again for a long time.

The Game Birds are here!

Gaylan's Game Bird litter arrived on Tuesday. The 11 pups, 6 boys and 5 girls, are healthy and big! Ranging from 14-18 oz., these pups came into the world at a week old! Bizzy is a great mom, and I really thank Lise for taking these photos and sharing them with us! Keep them coming!

One of these doesn't look like the other

I grew up with Sesame Street, and I loved that game, "one of these doesn't look like the other." I was kind of good at it, although I can't sing the song anymore like I can the School House Rock songs (I'm dating myself now, aren't I?). Seriously, School House Rock got me through my 5th grade history test when I had to write out the preamble of the Constitution. And who can forget, "I am a bill. Only a bill, and I'm sittin' here on Capital Hill..."

Anyway back to Sesame Street, Lise took this photo of her and Marcy's Gaylan's and non-Gaylan's dogs. It cracked me up and made me think of that long ago game. Can you tell which dog in this group is the Ambertrail's field dog? Hummmm....maybe the red one in the middle! Yep, that's Bizzy, aka Ambertrail's I Am A Wild Party WCX, the Canadian guest on Long Island. 

Lise, I hope you don't mind that I posted your photo -- I gave you photo credit! ;-)