Travel Crates

Since Gunner, Jackie, and I are often traveling together to and from Cowtown Dog Sports for training, and in anticipation of traveling to agility and rally trials, I have upgraded my travel crates to Ruffland Performance Kennels. I love the Ruffland kennels for many reasons, including design elements that improve the dogs' safety, removable doors on both the front and side of the crates which is convenient, improves airflow, and gives additional access in case of emergency, and ease of securing and fitting the crates in my vehicle.

Both dogs' kennels have been outfitted with custom-made purple Primo Pads and a custom printed Ruffland nameplate. I attached D-rings to the built-in tie-down connectors on the crates so I can anchor the crates in my vehicle with the tie-down straps I ordered. 

I'm excited to have these crates! It's a good feeling knowing the pups are safe and secure while we're traveling.

Jackie's crate is large (36") in orange, Gunner's crate is intermediate (30") in white

Gunner's crate is leveled perfectly with a foam platform from K9 Play Products

When both dogs travel together, Gunner's intermediate RLK crate fits on the folded-down back seat

Purple primo pads are made specifically to fit in each crate

All doors are removable and open both left and right

Tiedown D rings bolt directly to the kennel in pre-installed bolt-anchors on the top or bottom of the crates

Secured to the floor of the vehicle with cargo lash straps

Removable doors open both left or right swing; hinges right open here:

Jackie's large RLK crate fits nicely in the cargo area of my car, a small SUV, with room to spare and the backseats up

The custom nameplates turned out brilliantly

Removable doors open both left or right; hinges left open here:

Pearls:

• With the supply chain issue, these crates can be hard to come by; I got lucky and purchased the large orange one from an agility buddy and I found the intermediate white one at a big sporting goods store called Scheels outside of Dallas
• Love the feeling of security these crates provide and love the options for crating out of my car and traveling with both dogs secured
• Wishlist accessories include Ryobi battery/power operated fans to hang on the crates

Some good news

On January 12, 2022 Gunner saw his veterinary cardiologist Dr. Rebecca Fields Bennie, where a blood count showed that Gunner's kidney values were slightly high. Gunner's cardiologist Dr. Bennie wanted us to follow up with a check on Gunner's kidney values in eight weeks with Gunner's primary veterinarian Dr. J. Scott Mellina. Gratefully,  yesterday at that follow-up visit with Dr. Mellina, Gunner's kidney values were within normal limits. 

Gunner's kidney values January 12, 2022:  CREA  2.0mg/dL  (reference interval = 0.5 -1.8)

                                                                     BUN  29 mg/dL    (reference interval = 7 - 27)

Gunner's kidney values March 10, 2022:    CREA 1.4 mg/dL  (reference interval = 0.5 - 1.8)

                                                                     BUN 23 mg/dL     (reference interval = 7 - 27)

All other values from Gunner's blood chemistry yesterday (March 10, 2022) were within normal limits except for his reticulocytes (immature red blood cells) which were low, 8.5K/uL (reference interval = 10.0 - 11.0). Gunner's primary veterinarian Dr. Mellina did not comment to me about Gunner's RETIC. I emailed all findings from our follow-up visit with Dr. Mellina on March 10, 2022 to Gunner's cardiologist Dr. Bennie.

Pearls:

• Gunner's kidney values are within normal limits
• Gunner is doing well at home, and is continuing to enjoy playing Rally-O

Gunner, the keynote and anchor of the family!

Agility 1 Week 13

We're consistently stringing together numbered series of obstacles on the agility field. Today we played jumping both pinwheel circles and slice lines, as well as the A-frame and dog walk contacts. 

Pearls:

•  The handler must keep moving smoothly, and keep your arm up pointing along the line you want your dog to travel
• Turn your feet, body, eyes, and pointing hand smoothly yet obviously to indicate to your dog the line she should run
• In a pinwheel circle, the handler only needs to say "Here!" once to indicate the first turn toward the handler, then the dog should continue on the curved path the handler is pointing out to the dog
• Run! Jackie gets faster the faster I get

Jackie doing a nice job running this mini course:

Agility 1 Week 12

Jackie and I played our first mini-course with numbers today! We succesfully debuted "Round round round!" as a verbal cue (versus "Check check check! which sounds too much like our nickname "Jack Jack!") for collecting and turning tightly around a barrel. 

Pearls:

• Be sure to send Jackie well out and around a barrel; she follows where my feet, body, and hand point
• When sending over a jump it is more obvious to the dog where to go so the handler can allow more distance with a jump than while teaching a barrel
• At the startline, when I say "Break!" I move forward; having confidence in Jackie in turn gives her confidence to know what I want her to do
• Having a coach whose system has each dogs' well being, safety, and enjoyment at the heart of everything is a priceless asset
• Being in the company of peers who are learning to be excellent handlers with their teams is inspiring and motivating

Agility 1 Week 11

We played barrels today, this time we practiced wraps and post turns with the dog starting on the handler's left.  In a post turn, the dog starts on the left and ends up on the left. In a wrap, the dog starts on the handler's left and the handler does a front cross to have the dog end up on the handler's right.

Pearls:

• While reviewing our video, I noted Jackie looking back at me and even pausing or stopping when I gave the barrel cue. "Check check!" and "Jack Jack!" (our nickname for Jackie at home and how we often call her onto the sofa for cuddles) sound very similar. Jackie was probably confused that I was using a recall signal while driving her toward an agility obstacle.  I need to consider omitting this verbal cue, or come up with a new verbal cue for wraps and post turns

• Where your feet are pointing is very important, so be mindful to point your feet, body, eyes, arms and hands clearly and deliberately 

Videorecording training sessions is valuable for many reasons; what I did not notice in real-time turned out to be important after reviewing our video:

Agility 1 Week 10

Barrel, post turn, and wrap were the areas of focus today. 

In a post turn around a barrel, the dog turns around the barrel while staying on the same side of the handler. For example, with the dog on the handler's right, the handler indicates to the dog by taking a lunge step forward with the right foot, pointing with the right arm and hand, and verbal cue "Check check check!" for the dog to run around the barrel and then the dog accepts a cookie reinforcement from the handler's right hand after the handler lunge steps back and pivots toward the dog after the dog has run around the barrel.

In a barrel wrap, the dog turns tightly around the barrel with the handler doing a front cross so the dog ends up on the opposite side of the handler. For example, with the dog on the handler's right, the handler indicates with feet, body direction, pointing arm and verbal cue "Check check check!"  to run around the barrel, the handler front crosses with footwork to have the dog end up taking a cookie from the handler's left hand.

Pearls:

• Generate excitement to increase speed while playing barrels
• Continue to experiment to find a very high value reinforcer that Jackie loves

Rally 1 Week 4

 Gunner and I played the AKC Rally virtual novice course 2 with 12 signs. Highlights included prompt fronts and finishes, as well as enthusiasm on Gunner's part. 

Pearls:

• Homework will include reinforcing four-on-the-floor sit-stays, where Gunner keeps all four feet firmly planted as I walk around him while he is in sit-stay
• I need to continue to reinforce brisk heel position, to ensure that Gunner's shoulder stays parallel to my pant seam while heeling forward at a brisk pace
• In the sign "Call front, finish right, forward" as the dog comes around to finish right be sure to walk forward away from the dog so that he has to catch up with you in heel position, don't wait for the dog to return to heel position, rather go ahead and walk forward and have the dog catch up to you
• When heeling in a circle, be sure to actually describe a circle with your footwork rather than just rotating around an axis, actually describe a small circle

Tricks Class Week 3

 Tonight we practiced playing:

Intermediate tricks:

 Target Mark, where the dog goes to a low target 5 feet from the handler and waits in any position for five seconds until released.

 Side-step perch work, with the front feet on a perch the dog circles the object with his front feet staying in place on the perch and the rear feet pivoting around the perch; the handler stands in front of the dog as the dog moves. The dog should pivot 360 degrees in either direction.

 We briefly played with Hold Object in Mouth, where the dog holds any object in their mouth for 5 seconds.

 We are learning Barrel racing in agility, which is where the dog leaves the handler and goes around a barrel at least two feet away from the handler.

Advanced tricks:

 Head down/Chin rest: the dog places her chin down on the handler's palm and holds the position for at least 5 seconds.

 Tap Light: the dog uses her paw to activate a tap button.

 Wave: the dog raises her front paw in a wave.

Bow "Bravo!": the dog bows with elbows on the ground while the rear end stays in standing position. dog should hold the bow position for 4 seconds.

Pearls:

• Start with the finished trick in mind, and piece together building block behaviors starting with the simplest form of the behavior and reinforcing for all and every correct effort
• Trick training is an activity where using a clicker really shines

Jackie showing 7 Intermediate Tricks:

A Reflection of My Soul

 Jackie loves to run and she is very fast. And yes, Jackie is nothing but a reflection of my soul. I love her fiercely. 

Agility 1 Week 9

Jackie and I were introduced to barrels today.  Foundations for running barrels include using both a body signal (wrapping your curled fist in a circular motion to indicate which way to run around the barrel) and a voice cue (neh neh neh neh neh neh neh neh-- like a motorcycle). Remember to wrap your fist like a gorilla beating its chest, in the same direction you want the dog to wrap the barrel. Have a treat in your other hand, the one not wrapping to indicate direction, and toss the treat on the floor in front of the dog in the direction you want her to keep going past the barrel.

Today we also played another mini-course and played the A frame contact again. Today was the third time Jackie has seen the A frame. 

Pearls:

• Remember to point your feet as well as body in the direction you want the dog to follow
• After a successful stopped contact, you can release the dog with "Break!" or you can release the dog with a cue for the next directional cue "Here!" or obstacle cue "Go!" but be sure you are releasing them from the stopped 2o2o contact

Jackie playing a mini course; this is her third time playing the A frame: