SPRUNG!

Greyhounds are agile and athletic creatures, but when we first got Barbie she didn't know how to use her legs for anything aside from walking, trotting or sprinting. Anything that involved uneven surfaces was a problem. Stairs, jumping into the car and jumping over logs while hiking were all very difficult for her. It even took her months to figure out how to get onto the couch.

Our regular routine is that I get home from work, get greeted enthusiastically at the door, and struggle my way through the house to let the dogs outside.

I usually do something else for 10 minutes - go and check the letter box, bring the bins in, take off my shoes, that kind of thing. Barbie makes her presence known at the back door when she wants to come in.

This evening I had just walked up the driveway and back, when I spotted this through the kitchen window.

The grass in the yard has just been slashed, so Barbie was on this narrow ledge between the retaining wall and the fence partaking in the only green grass she could find. If she's happy walking along there, the dog walk should be no problem for her, I reckon!

The Dog-Human bond & Nail Cutting!

I've never cut a dog's nails before, but the nails on Barbie's front two feet don't seem to wear down appropriately (her back ones are always the right length). Anyhow, her front end nails are all black and it's impossible to see the quick, so I was very conservative in my snips. She was lying relaxed on the couch, and I just cosied up to her, took her paw and started cutting! It was amazing. She just laid there and gazed sweetly up at me. I did take a little long and she got a bit impatient towards the end. I think I will need to give them another snip soon because I didn't take enough off but I was being careful.

Took both the dogs out with a friend this evening. I asked her which one she wanted to walk, and she chose Barbie. Bender pulled hard because he knew that we were going to the P-A-R-K. The damn dog has an inbuilt GPS and knows where every park is within a 3k radius of home. I deliberately didn't bring a ball, because without it he will socialise with other dogs, and then he might find some ratty old thing lying around in the park.

K had a hard time getting Barbie to listen to her. I gave her treats and encouraged her to use them liberally. I told her she needed to bond with Barbie in order for her to listen. She seemed to get it, when we went to the park and I let them off leash, Bender immediately grabbed another dog's ball. They were playing very close to the gate. It was a hollow rubber 'super bounce' but it must have been brittle because they said 'he broke it as soon as he put it in his mouth, he might as well have it now'. Bender came to me with a tiny bit of ball in his mouth but I didn't realise it was theirs. I kicked it for him a few times, and the woman came over and said 'is that the remains of our ball because I'm trying not to be pissed off but I am'. I was like 'urm, I guess so, do you want it back?' K found the main part of the ball and returned it to them. Their dog was happy to play with it but the woman snivelled about it. Bender found another dead tennis ball somewhere else. I guess we have to bring Bender's own ball and accept that he won't socialise.

Barbie was mostly good. She was running around with the dog whose ball had been stolen though, and it was snapping at her. The owners were telling it off. I told them it was OK, but they didn't want their dog snapping. K tried to call Barbie but it was like she wasn't there. I called Barbie and she finally broke away from the dog, and I shooed her off to another part of the park. She got snapped at by another dog, and got to play with the Border Collie.

I was most happy with Barbie though because while I was looking the other way, someone had left the gate open, and she slipped out of the park. She trotted down the road a little way - to the bowling club. She came back when I called though.

Cheeky puppy.

Walking back we saw a transit guard that I know near the train station. We stopped so that she could meet the dogs. Bender was happy to say hello though Barbie was being a bit aloof. I think she was just stressed about being close to the evil railway crossing that she is scared of. Barbie did allow pats though when I got her attention.

Agility class tomorrow. I will get there a bit earlier and let Barbie have a run. Hopefully then she will stay focussed when she needs to and not have any more zoomies at inappropriate times. Thinking about making her wear her little white cotton t-shirt too, so I can actually see her when it starts getting dark.

Barbie's first agility class

I took Barbie to an oval in Bassendean, very close to the train line, for her first agility class. The rank beginners were taken by an instructor called T. He was a very cool guy. The very first exercise we did was about calling and turning the dog. The first time I called Barbie and went to turn her, she came to me, but then looked up and saw the wide open spaces and took off. She ran into a very dark adjacent park and I could barely see her shadow moving I followed her over there and then called, she came barrelling back, and past me, and then back to me again. After that T didn't want me to let her offleash much. I think she scared the beejesus out of everyone.

She did the straight tunnel for the first time ever, jumped well, and also did the low dogwalk the first time I asked her to. I think she is going to get confident enough with the obstacles, she spent most of the night sitting well and looking at me expectantly. She did good sit/stays as well. I need to work on restrained recalls in order to get her reliability up. We need some discipline in wide open spaces. Crazy dog's eyes lit up when she saw all that space.

I think we are going to have fun with this. Barbie also coped really well with the trains swishing past every 20 minutes or so.

She also jumped into my SUV tonight unassisted for the first time ever!

At the end of the class I let her off to play with T's border collies. Barbie chased them a little, and then ran into the little storeroom where all the agility stuff is kept. I asked T if there was any food in there, and he seemed surprised, 'there is, actually!'

There as a big knob of polony on the sink. T came in and snatched it up. He gave Barbie a bit and then she kept sniffing around the sink. She didn't really want to play with the Borders, which is interesting, so I took them home.

T said he would really love to see Barbie run a course, and so would I. We are going to work with directional stuff and restrained recalls in the park.

Go Barbie!

She has another CGC class tomorrow. I think agility is going to help her with her CGC as well.

It's funny because all the things that are challenges for the other dogs in the class are challenges for Barbie, but for the opposite reason. The dog has to stay calmly in the car, have it's leash clipped on, and wait to be told to jump out, without a lure. I think Barbie is getting there with that.

They need to stand calmly by the handler while we talk to a 'friendly stranger' - most dogs have the problem of being overstimulated and hyper, but Barbie had to build the confidence to let normal people pat her.

I need to train her to not react when someone loudly drops a package on the floor nearby as well.

Agility and Birthdays

I checked Barbie's adoption paperwork yesterday to find out her exact birthday, and it only says October 2007 - so I don't know what actual date of birth is. I was sure I'd seen it written somewhere else :P

Anyway, I have ordered her a halloween-themed martingale for her birthday, I hope it arrives soon! I think maybe we will save the cake and other festivities for her 'gotcha' day, which is 29 November (2009).

Agility classes start up again on the 15 October 2010. I had sent an email to the agility coordinator just flagging the fact that Barbie is a greyhound, and they didn't seem to have any particular breed-prejudice. The reply did state that they had only seen one grey attempt agility - a two-speed hound by the sounds of it. He said that it's 'safety first' so they would insist on us progressing slowly with equipment. I told him that there is NO WAY Barbie would attempt something if she wasn't confident about it.... she has the most refined sense of self preservation when it comes to agility obstacles. As long as she understands the agility field is for agility and not for zoomies I'm sure she will be fine! I guess I will have to keep an eye out for her in terms of attention span - I don't want her wandering off sniffing things when she has had enough.

Anyway the 15th of October is a convenient date because it means that Nic will be in town as well so the puppies can both come to the first class/night. I think to be fair I will alternate dogs so it will go:

Week1 - both
Week2 - Barbie
Week3 - both
Week4 - Bender

I tried to get a friend of mine who is very close to Bender and has a history with Staffies to handle Bender once a fortnight but she said no :( I expect that when both dogs get used to the atmosphere I can bring them both and alternately crate one or the other.

Barbie passing level 1

(Barbie and Mittens chilling)

Barbie passed her level 1 test today. I am so proud of my little greyhound. She still didn't want to go with Desma when she led her away for the recall. I found a bigger tunnel today and Barbie actually put both her front feet into it. It's still not as big as a competition tunnel. The two little dogs went through the tunnel a lot. There is a little mop called Bowie who is still a pup, food motivated, toy motivated and loves the jumps and tunnels. They have joined up with Cloverdale agility club and I am looking forward to seeing him in action. Barbie was even sitting for the other people in the class. She is familiar with them all now and was willing to take direction from them!

Bender, Barbie, Nic and I are going to check out a local club on Friday night. Hopefully the Level 2 course will start soon, and then Desma is planning on holding the first Canine Good Citizen course in Western Australia (and Barbie will be the first WA Greyhound with a CGC). We need to suss out the club first in case they don't want a greyhound in their midst while the stupid laws are still in place. I won't be quoting the Dog Act to them though.

My ankle is healing up OK, and I can walk like a normal person. My finger is pretty gross looking, but I've adapted to typing with 9 digits instead of 10. I am looking forward to checking out the local agility club.

jumping practice

This video came at a cost! I twisted my ankle jumping over that first jump (not on the video)! I also haven't posted because I smashed my finger in the car door on Saturday so I can't really type.

Jumping video!

Bender is actually a top class jumper. I think he will jump full height (I think he's a 60 cm dog) already. He got a bit sloppy after a few goes and knocked the old mop down so we stopped. He was getting a bit manic. I am going to try him out with jumping. It depends how he pulls up after doing a full course. He does have issue with his wrists after an hour of chasing his ball, so I'm not sure if jumps are doable for him or not.

Barbie can jump, she just doesn't when she has to think about it. Before I put the mop up, I saw her jump down from the retaining wall, take two steps and then jump the length of a xxlarge trampoline type dog bed. We'll get there. She approaches it all with a good attitude.

Unhinged?

I have a photo post on it's way, but last night I got distracted.

I opened up Photoshop and started playing with a photo of Barbie. Somehow this photo took on a life of it's own and became a 'design'. I decided to see what it would look like on t-shirts, and jumpers and the like, so I logged into my unused Cafepress account. I placed it onto several pieces of merchandise, but then I realised that the bank balance wouldn't stretch to an order then and there.

Now I'm thinking about it - is wearing a jumper with an image of your own dog printed on it a bit too much? It's not as bad as wearing a jumper with an image of yourself printed on it, I suppose. I wonder if people make items of clothing with their children printed on them? I can't imagine any child being as pretty as Barbie, though. Maybe I'm biased as I tend to enjoy canine & feline company more than the company of humans.

In other news, the coordinator of Greyhounds as Pets here in Western Australia (Kerry) told me that she is going to put a youtube link and the stories I have told her about Barbie on their 'testimonials' page. I will post the link when it's done. She was particularly impressed with how I trained the 'sleep startle' response out of Barbie. The method, for the record, was throwing treats at her while she is fast asleep to make her start, but then realise it's raining food. It worked really well. I can't remember whose blog I borrowed the idea from! Manhandling her while teaching her to roll over has also helped. She doesn't mind if I drape myself over her now. She used to hate it!

I also sent Kerry a link to Jen's blog about her wonderfully versatile dogs. She really got a kick out of it.

While I am a beginner in these things, I have the support of my local dog trainer, Desma, in introducing Barbie to agility obstacles (she bought jumps and a tunnel in to class last weekend). I think teaching her to cope with agility obstacles will make Barbie a more confident hiker, and hopefully teach her how to use those gangly legs and powerful muscles of hers for movements other than running! We don't have a lot of space in our yard, but I am going to build a couple of jumps to practice with at home. I am now more confident in my ability to gain and hold Barbie's attention, while I am still learning her limits, I believe that we are not far off being able to do off leash agility training at one of the local clubs. I think I need to take her to an agility night just to see how she reacts to it all. We are going to start some target training tonight.