All three visited the vet last week.
Hoppu: Weight 7.5kg. Teeth were cleaned. X-ray was taken prior to operation, and there was a unpleasent surprise. Hoppu's upper jaw bone has a fracture. Also one of the teeth was broken, it was carefully removed. It is likely that he has hit himself against something causing these two injuries. Poor Hoppu, learning to live without seeing. I haven't noticed him showing any signs of pain. Luckily the jaw fracture is such that it should heal by itself. Only advice was to give soft food for 6 weeks. And avoid further accidents... A new X-ray will be taken in 3 months. If everything looks normal, then two additional teeth will be removed. The vet told that this case was a good example how important it is to have X-ray taken before cleaning and removing teeth. The broken jaw could have been seriously damaged if teeth had been removed closeby.
Neeo: Weight 6.9kg. Teeth cleaning. No surprises. One tooth was removed.
Kumma: Weight 20kg. Basic vet check and rabies vaccination.
keskiviikko 8. kesäkuuta 2011
lauantai 28. toukokuuta 2011
1 month of 2x2
I started 2x2 weave training with Kumma 1 month ago. Today he took a jump, I made a rear cross, and he weaved 4 poles in a straight line! Next steps will be adding 3rd pair of poles, and hitting harder entries from full speed using a jump before the poles.
I don't want to hurry by progressing too fast. Kumma is a big boy, and needs time to learn to use his still developing body. He is thinking hard during training sessions, and I need to keep the sessions short. If he gets tired, he starts slowing down.
I don't want to hurry by progressing too fast. Kumma is a big boy, and needs time to learn to use his still developing body. He is thinking hard during training sessions, and I need to keep the sessions short. If he gets tired, he starts slowing down.
sunnuntai 8. toukokuuta 2011
Jumping seminar
I spent a whole day at Vappu's jumping seminar. Familiar dogs and handlers, it was great to see how they had developmed since our Jan seminar. Different breeds, different jumping styles. Again I learnt a lot.
How about Kumma? Plenty of new challenges were introduced for him, and he managed them well. I'm proud of him! He thinks what and how to do. Vappu also commented that he is still unmature, and needs time to develop physically, but for his age and type (big strong bc) he does good work. He focused on his tasks really well even if he was starting to be tired mentally and physically.
New for Kumma:
Uncle One was also at the seminar, he performed incredibly hard exercises with such speed and precision that it was just amazing.
How about Kumma? Plenty of new challenges were introduced for him, and he managed them well. I'm proud of him! He thinks what and how to do. Vappu also commented that he is still unmature, and needs time to develop physically, but for his age and type (big strong bc) he does good work. He focused on his tasks really well even if he was starting to be tired mentally and physically.
New for Kumma:
- Power grid (Nice!)
- Steady 1 stride (1st try was difficult, one knocked pole and no good rhythm. 2nd try was great!)
- Double jump (Over without hesitation!)
Uncle One was also at the seminar, he performed incredibly hard exercises with such speed and precision that it was just amazing.
torstai 5. toukokuuta 2011
Kumma 13 months
Short training update for Kumma who is now 13 months old.
2x2: we started 2x2 weave training 2 weeks ago. We have had max 2 sessions a day, sometimes only 1, and several days of no training. I was planning to have videos of all sessions, but this didn't happen. I need to use short opportunities to go outside to train, and don't usually have time to find a camera, and get it ready to shoot. Kumma started to offer going through one set of poles right away, and I added 2nd set of poles only after a couple of sessions. At the moment I'm using 2 sets of poles, 4ft apart, and their position is 1o'clock - 7 o'clock. I plan to close openings slowly, always ensuring that all entry angles are managed by Kumma. His drive during these training sessions has been excellent! I should also take the poles to other locations, we have been practising only in our garden.
Jumping: jump height has been up to 40cm. For my eyes Kumma is always thinking what to do, and jumping fluently. Basic grid height has been 15cm, and I've started to add handler motion. Both distance and height estimation have been successful. This week during our group agility class Kumma had some difficulties with the basic grid. I was thinking that it was due to distractions (other pups), but only later I realized there were six jumps instead of five I have used. No wonder this was challenging for Kumma! But he managed 4th try :)
2o2o: with this I need to take a step back and build again value for 2o2o position. Then next step is to start building drive for getting into 2o2o position even if I'm behind. When I'm ahead of Kumma, he has good drive and nice 2o2o.
Handling: it is nice to have again a weekly class with an instructor. We have done drills with 3 to 4 obstacles (jumps and tunnels), and it is funny how exiting it feels to start putting puzzle parts together and see how Kumma can manage drills of several obstacles. It also feels great to do some real handling after a long break. Nothing fancy, just very basic FC and RC.
Start line stay: last but not least, I have to say that Kumma's start line stay is just perfect. I have to remind myself to reward that often.
As usual this is not all. Next Sunday we'll go to Vappu's jumping seminar!
2x2: we started 2x2 weave training 2 weeks ago. We have had max 2 sessions a day, sometimes only 1, and several days of no training. I was planning to have videos of all sessions, but this didn't happen. I need to use short opportunities to go outside to train, and don't usually have time to find a camera, and get it ready to shoot. Kumma started to offer going through one set of poles right away, and I added 2nd set of poles only after a couple of sessions. At the moment I'm using 2 sets of poles, 4ft apart, and their position is 1o'clock - 7 o'clock. I plan to close openings slowly, always ensuring that all entry angles are managed by Kumma. His drive during these training sessions has been excellent! I should also take the poles to other locations, we have been practising only in our garden.
Jumping: jump height has been up to 40cm. For my eyes Kumma is always thinking what to do, and jumping fluently. Basic grid height has been 15cm, and I've started to add handler motion. Both distance and height estimation have been successful. This week during our group agility class Kumma had some difficulties with the basic grid. I was thinking that it was due to distractions (other pups), but only later I realized there were six jumps instead of five I have used. No wonder this was challenging for Kumma! But he managed 4th try :)
2o2o: with this I need to take a step back and build again value for 2o2o position. Then next step is to start building drive for getting into 2o2o position even if I'm behind. When I'm ahead of Kumma, he has good drive and nice 2o2o.
Handling: it is nice to have again a weekly class with an instructor. We have done drills with 3 to 4 obstacles (jumps and tunnels), and it is funny how exiting it feels to start putting puzzle parts together and see how Kumma can manage drills of several obstacles. It also feels great to do some real handling after a long break. Nothing fancy, just very basic FC and RC.
Start line stay: last but not least, I have to say that Kumma's start line stay is just perfect. I have to remind myself to reward that often.
As usual this is not all. Next Sunday we'll go to Vappu's jumping seminar!
Vet check
All three doggies visited a vet today.
Neeo: blood test, all results that were checked right away were good. Some values need to be analyzed by a lab. No changes in his heart, a light murmur is still there. Teeth are again in bad condition, and will be cleaned soon. Weight 6.7kg.
Hoppu: fast pulse, but Hoppu was nervous. Also Hoppu's teeth need cleaning. Blood test will be taken on teeth cleaning day. Forgot to take his weight.
Kumma: vaccination was given. Rabies vaccination willl be given at the end of May. General health check was done, and everything was normal. Weight 19.5kg.
Before going to the vet I had all three on leash and we had a nice walk. It is difficult to understand that Hoppu is blind when he is on leash. He is walking so confidently, sniffing around like always. Kumma has been recently a very nice leash walking company, managing to keep loose leash most of the time. I'm really happy that the pack of three gets so well along, even now when Hoppu doesn't see anymore.
Neeo: blood test, all results that were checked right away were good. Some values need to be analyzed by a lab. No changes in his heart, a light murmur is still there. Teeth are again in bad condition, and will be cleaned soon. Weight 6.7kg.
Hoppu: fast pulse, but Hoppu was nervous. Also Hoppu's teeth need cleaning. Blood test will be taken on teeth cleaning day. Forgot to take his weight.
Kumma: vaccination was given. Rabies vaccination willl be given at the end of May. General health check was done, and everything was normal. Weight 19.5kg.
Before going to the vet I had all three on leash and we had a nice walk. It is difficult to understand that Hoppu is blind when he is on leash. He is walking so confidently, sniffing around like always. Kumma has been recently a very nice leash walking company, managing to keep loose leash most of the time. I'm really happy that the pack of three gets so well along, even now when Hoppu doesn't see anymore.
sunnuntai 1. toukokuuta 2011
Hoppu is blind
How ironic that in my last post I wrote about how both old IGs are in good condition. Now Hoppu doesn't see any more. It was only one week ago when I noticed his vision (with one eye, other one has been blind since end of 2008) is not normal anymore. It got worse everyday, and on Thursday both IGs had their eyes checked. Hoppu's diagnosis was exactly what I anticipated, due to vitreous degeneration a retina was detached (like in the other eye earlier).
Now we'll see how the grey hurricane learns to live without seeing the world around him. He moves inside and outside, but less than usual and gets sometimes confused. Today I took all three for a walk on leash, and Hoppu was moving happily and confidently.
It is hard to understand that Hoppu will never again run free and fast.
Good news is that even if Neeo also has vitreous degeneration in his eyes, he has no early signs of retina detachment. This disease is fairly common with IGs (and whippets), but rarely the end result is blindness.
Now we'll see how the grey hurricane learns to live without seeing the world around him. He moves inside and outside, but less than usual and gets sometimes confused. Today I took all three for a walk on leash, and Hoppu was moving happily and confidently.
It is hard to understand that Hoppu will never again run free and fast.
Good news is that even if Neeo also has vitreous degeneration in his eyes, he has no early signs of retina detachment. This disease is fairly common with IGs (and whippets), but rarely the end result is blindness.
keskiviikko 6. huhtikuuta 2011
Kumma 1 year
Long time since last update. Kumma spent his 1st birthday at a dog kennel with IGs while we humans were enjoying sunshine on the other side of the world. He didn't seem to mind, he had a nice young boxer girl to play with.
Kumma weights now 20kg and is starting to eat adult kibbles. Let's see for how long he'll be a puppy in my mind... He is clearly a teenager now. Going after all kinds of smells, having more interest in other dogs, all kinds of behaviours which belong to doggie life. But not too strongly, he is still a nice young chap.
With more light and higher temperature, Hoppu and Neeo are becoming more active. I'm really happy that both of them are still in excellent condition and I can take all three of them for long walks. There was a small incident two days ago. Hoppu got a small scratch between his eyes, apparently from Kumma (by accident?), and replied by attacking Kumma. Kumma reacted by being as small and still as possible on the ground, and situation was over some seconds. Combination of Kumma's thick hair in his neck and Hoppu having not too many teeth left resulted in no injuries. Despite of this, everyday life between the three is working well.
Some training update with Kumma
Say Yes started Recallers2 e-course in which we are participating. This is a good opportunity to go through all games and exercises again, now increasing level of distractions and challenges. Also, course material is so heavy stuff, that I'm sure this second round will deepen my understanding further. It is relatively easy to understand laws of dog training in theory, but when applying them in practice it's all about little details. Criteria, timing, reinforcement. Planning, achieving, challenging. Building value, adding distractions.
We have done jumping exercises regularly, and I've been very pleased with Kumma's progress. Jump bar height has been up to 35cm and I think Kumma is ready to go higher. There is no rush, but having seen him jumping over a garden fence so fluently, I might start increasing the height in a set point exercise. The fence is now higher, so hopefully Kumma will not take that as a jumping challenge.
I have also started to do more handling training with Kumma. Basic exercises for taking a jump: jump ahead, jump and turn tightly, go backside and jump. Serpentine basics, pull in basics, front cross, back cross. All of these have been done with one or two jumps, without speed, and recently with 20cm bars.
2-on-2-off training: I have started to add rear cross and front cross as distraction. Last training session was really great, suddenly there was much more speed and still very good 2o2o performance. I didn't use any toy target in front, and rewarded 2o2o a couple of times separately. Mostly I released to a thrown toy.
I haven't paid too much attention to speed with Kumma. I'm trusting on DASH principle. Speed will come when understanding is there. and I have seen such flashes of Kumma's speed that I know it is built inside :) I'll be happy if he is not one of the fastest BCs, I'm sure there will be enough challenges for me as a handler in any case. Kumma will not be a limiting factor.
But Kumma being a big male BC, I want to focus on building good jumping and turning skills right from the start. This will be important foundation when there will be more speed.
Looking forward to start 2x2 weave training. Just waiting for rest of the snow to melt away.
Kumma weights now 20kg and is starting to eat adult kibbles. Let's see for how long he'll be a puppy in my mind... He is clearly a teenager now. Going after all kinds of smells, having more interest in other dogs, all kinds of behaviours which belong to doggie life. But not too strongly, he is still a nice young chap.
With more light and higher temperature, Hoppu and Neeo are becoming more active. I'm really happy that both of them are still in excellent condition and I can take all three of them for long walks. There was a small incident two days ago. Hoppu got a small scratch between his eyes, apparently from Kumma (by accident?), and replied by attacking Kumma. Kumma reacted by being as small and still as possible on the ground, and situation was over some seconds. Combination of Kumma's thick hair in his neck and Hoppu having not too many teeth left resulted in no injuries. Despite of this, everyday life between the three is working well.
Some training update with Kumma
Say Yes started Recallers2 e-course in which we are participating. This is a good opportunity to go through all games and exercises again, now increasing level of distractions and challenges. Also, course material is so heavy stuff, that I'm sure this second round will deepen my understanding further. It is relatively easy to understand laws of dog training in theory, but when applying them in practice it's all about little details. Criteria, timing, reinforcement. Planning, achieving, challenging. Building value, adding distractions.
We have done jumping exercises regularly, and I've been very pleased with Kumma's progress. Jump bar height has been up to 35cm and I think Kumma is ready to go higher. There is no rush, but having seen him jumping over a garden fence so fluently, I might start increasing the height in a set point exercise. The fence is now higher, so hopefully Kumma will not take that as a jumping challenge.
I have also started to do more handling training with Kumma. Basic exercises for taking a jump: jump ahead, jump and turn tightly, go backside and jump. Serpentine basics, pull in basics, front cross, back cross. All of these have been done with one or two jumps, without speed, and recently with 20cm bars.
2-on-2-off training: I have started to add rear cross and front cross as distraction. Last training session was really great, suddenly there was much more speed and still very good 2o2o performance. I didn't use any toy target in front, and rewarded 2o2o a couple of times separately. Mostly I released to a thrown toy.
I haven't paid too much attention to speed with Kumma. I'm trusting on DASH principle. Speed will come when understanding is there. and I have seen such flashes of Kumma's speed that I know it is built inside :) I'll be happy if he is not one of the fastest BCs, I'm sure there will be enough challenges for me as a handler in any case. Kumma will not be a limiting factor.
But Kumma being a big male BC, I want to focus on building good jumping and turning skills right from the start. This will be important foundation when there will be more speed.
Looking forward to start 2x2 weave training. Just waiting for rest of the snow to melt away.
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