Disappointment, and Reevaluating the Dream
It’s been coming on gradually, but this weekend I finally said it aloud — I’m not sure I’m ever going to title Laev in Schutzhund. This is really rough for me. I bought Laev (the…
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost…. Foundation Behaviors.
So, a few years ago a man hurried through a simple, routine task which no one would ever see, and last week a backhoe came through the living room window. Cause and effect.
Nosework, or, Why Isn’t There More Time In My Week?
A year ago, I heard from Steve White of a new sport which could title dogs for identifying odors in scent boxes — very basic detection work. It sounded too good to be true.
Then this week, Laurie Luck posted about her trip to a seminar on that same sport. Now I am getting seriously jealous.
Back from Clicker Expo!
I’ve just returned from Clicker Expo, and every year it’s the same — I come away feeling excited, energized, and full of the recognition that I’m really a slacker.
Clever Dog?
So tonight I sent Shakespeare to fetch a dinner bucket, as I often do. We feed the dogs in steel pails. Both Shakespeare and Laev will retrieve buckets when necessary; Inky will happily carry her…
Unstoppable – A Good Night of Training
I’ve stayed up waaaaay too late tonight editing video, but I did want to post this…. Because of weather, we trained in the barn again tonight. It’s a big, unheated building, full of stored.. stuff.…
Dog Bite Fatalities 2009
This is so important, it needs its own post. http://btoellner.typepad.com/kcdogblog/2010/01/2009-dog-bite-fatalities-final-report.html This is a review of the fatal dog attacks of 2009 and their data — the breeds involved (16 breeds in 32 incidents), the common…
TAG! I’m it!
It is said, and rightly so, that instructors should continue to learn unfamiliar things so that they stay empathetic with their struggling students. This week, I learned to ski. I had been skiing before. My…
Human Cruelty
I read something today that just absolutely blew me away. “…it’s true that these breeds love fighting so much that we could discuss about whether dogfighting is — in the case of these breeds —…
New Suit and a Trial
Saturday morning I took Laev to training and introduced her to a bitesuit jacket. She didn’t have much hesitation at all in transitioning from a sleeve to a suit; I was almost suprised at how…