On Friday my husband and I drove to Florida for the Ann Braue puppy seminar. Thank goodness my husband came with me because I dont think I could have done all that driving by myself. The only negative thing was there really werent any parks that let you walk your dogs in them. Well, I found one but there was no parking so that didnt help. Many of the parks were acres and acres but you had to stay in the "dog park" fenced area with you dog. Thats not really something I do with my dogs. Very disappointing.
We did find this tiny park on the water which allowed dogs but I think it was more for fishing. It was less than a 1/4 of a mile walk, not really what I was looking for. But I did get some nice pictures. And we saw two manatees swimming but I wasnt ready, so my picture is horrible.
There were some cool birds too
I did stop at this park with a small beach but they didnt allow dogs. It was early in the morning and no one was there so I put the dogs on the beach and took a couple of shots.
Then off to the seminar.
The weather was beautiful. Sunny and 74. I learned a lot. Somethings I was already doing with Java like crate games and its your choice. But we played this clicker game. You were paired up with another person. One person was the dog and one was the trainer. Then the trainer picked a "trick" from a hat that you had to clicker train. I was the trainer first. I had to teach the person to put the back of their hand on the top of their head. I couldnt get her to do it. LOL She got her hand on her head part but I couldnt get her to flip her hand over. It was funny to listen to what the "dog" thought the trick was and what it actually was. Sometimes they knew it was "put hand on elbow" but it was suppose to be "put right hand on left elbow". It made you really think if your dog understands the behavior your are teaching. Then we switched roles. The lady I work with was very good and I got it. "take left hand and pinch right ear lobe". Placement of the reward after the click was very helpful and something I havent been doing.
One thing I did learn was I have a lot more playing to do with Java. It was such hard work to get her to play when she really didnt want to. She would rather work for food. Ive never worked so hard or long trying to play with my dog before. Every muscle in my body is sore from just playing with my dog. LOL What an eye opener. But she can do it and I have to be more persistent. I felt like she had pretty good play drive before going to the seminar but I now know I have a lot more work to do. We did lots of restrained recalls with our dog. I have more work to do on that too. Ive been having her drive to me for food but I need her to do it for a toy. One time after driving to me she really didnt want to play. I was trying hard to get her to play and running with a toy. My ankle twisted and I fell hard. I wasnt hurt but it sure was embarrassing. The next day my left arm, that I fell on, was so sore. And still is. LOL
It was funny , there were no border collies and I was the only sheltie. There were poodles, labs, goldens, Doberman, schnauzers, and pappion.
At the end of the first day I was tired and tired of playing with my dog. I never thought I would say that. Im sure she was tired of playing with me too. LOL
The next day we went back to the two parks. Didnt see any manatees. The went to the "no dogs" park. There were cops parked there so I didnt take the dogs out.
I thought this was a manatee. But then I realized , at least I think, its was an alligator. Ugh!
Then there were some dolphins.
Sorry, none of the pictures are great.
I could have stayed for hours taking pictures but time for Day 2 of the seminar. When leaving the park, I was backing up. I have back up cameras and the sensors that were beeping , telling me there was something behind me. I saw the big tree but I didnt see a big rock on the ground. I thought it was beeping because of the tree and of course hit the rock. Ugh. So I messed up my bumper. That was a bummer.
The second day we did a bunch of stations. Some of the things were repeats from the day before and some new things. The stations were different things like fit disc, plank work, cone work, tables ect. Work with food for 3 minutes, then break and play with your dog. Again, lots of work to get my dog to play after working with food. Also there were now lots of treats on the ground as you worked your way around the stations and you had to really work hard to get your dog to forget about all those dropped treats. Another thing for me to work on.
We drove home after the seminar. What a long day. Im very thankful that my very nice husband came with me. What a guy!!
11 comments:
Sounds like a great weekend. Beautiful pictures.
That picture of Java is terrific. And I like the one of the dolphin with the water splash--very cool.
Sounds like an interesting (and exhausting) seminar.
That is one thing that I wish I had done with Lexi--is teach her to work for food and toys simultaneously. I was so excited that she would work for a toy that I never used both together. So now if there is food out, she won't work for a toy and I can't seem to fix that.
Love the photo of Java, where she is reflected in the water.
Sounds like it was worth the trip!
What a bummer that all the parks were so dog unfriendly! But it sounds like a great seminar. I play that training game with all my students. Another good one is virtual agility where one person is the dog and doesn't know the course. The handler can't use any directionals, only the dogs name and the obstacle name and their handling.The "dog" usually winds up getting pretty frustrated with the handler. I've even had some dogs "bite" the handler :-)
What a fun trip. That's cool that there were lots of less traditional breeds there.
Sounds like is was a great seminar! I can't imagine getting Ricky to work for toys or to play when food is around so I understand why you would be tired!
Cool photos!
.,wow seems you had a great weekends., I love dolphins., nice place
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That sounds like such a cool seminar! I really like the clicker game. Like you said, it shows you how specific some behaviors are versus what the dog thinks we want (for example, her knowing her hand on her head but not knowing to turn it over).
When I go to my obedience lessons in MA, I get exhausted like that. Layla will do anything for food but it takes such effort to get her to play on her own. Who knew it's so hard to get your own dog to play with you! Lol.
The picture with the face reflection is my favorite.
That's scary about the dog parks in Florida. I'm hoping to go to Florida with Layla this year but now I'll have to find places to walk her!
This all sounds wonderful! I've been wishing Katie was more toy driven. Who knew I was supposed to play more with her when she was a puppy! Love the dolphin photos, so interesting, and the blue bird is COOL! A REAL "blue heron"
Sounds like you had a fantastic weekend away at the seminar. Hope you get a lot to work on with Java.
I remember my first clicker cclass we had to play the clicker game and I was quite a bit shyer at the time, that was a hard, hard game I wish I could have gone to that seminar, the working with your dog with food for three min then stopping to play sounds hard but great, silvia trkman starts her class with working with food sitting out and clicking dogs for doing anything while ignoring the food,..great foundation that until my last few dogs I never would have thought of but boy it is nice to have..
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