Point of Rocks MD: 3rd place 96/100, second leg Rally Advanced.

CGC/Rally

RALLY UPDATE FOR BRIDGET CGC RN
To date, Bridget has earned the first two legs towards a title in Rally Advanced Obedience, with two qualifying scores. The first was Salisbury MD with a score of 90/100, and then in Point of Rocks MD. At the latter location, we had the best results to date, with a score of 96/100 and third place. The happy happy Bridget with the dancing feet is learning more control all the time towards calm focused efforts in the ring. (all work in advanced is done off leash) Our goal is to find trials for early February in effort to attain Rally Advanced Title, then onwards and upwards. We hope to see you at Rainwood Kennels for the ongoing Thursday evening Rally Novice classes!

All CGC classes are now being held on a continuous basis Thursday evenings 6:30 PM at Rainwood Kennels, Elkton MD. You may join any practice session @ $30/session. Regular testing dates will be scheduled. CGC classes are for puppies (both purebreds and mixed breeds) 6 months and older, that have completed at least one level of basic obedience training. However, no dog is too old to participate in CGC training. It is recommended that dogs passing the test at less than one year of age, be re-tested as adults. Puppies younger than 6 months will be considered if they can demonstrate solid basic behaviors. All dogs participating should be able to work around other dogs with a calm demeanor, and be able to attend to cues for behavior. A background in clicker training will be handy, but not necessary. The class will be taught using positive reinforcement: no choke collars or prong collars will be allowed. Class should always be enjoyable for dog and owner; to that end, skills will also be taught incorporating some relevant games. Classes will be ONE HOUR in length, and will all be held at Rainwood Kennels, Elkton MD. View class scheduling. See registration information on the same page. Call 443-350-6820 with any questions.

Miley is one of the first puppies to graduate as an AKC S.T.A.R Puppy

Find out more about rally

Look What I Can Do! American Lab Bridget CGC, was tested for CGC at 2 years old. It only makes sense that the Instructors dog, and the Instructor, should have gone through the testing process. Bridget makes many visits to a local nursing home and brings smiles to many faces. As well, Leslie Fisher is a qualified CGC Evaluator. All dogs passing the CGC test receive a lovely Certificate from the AKC, once paperwork has been submitted. Bridget’s certificate is on display in the 4,000 sq. foot rubber matted training room at Rainwood Kennels, Elkton, MD.

This 7-weeks program is designed specifically with the goal to ensure that your dog is fully prepared to take the CGC test. As such, testing will be done on the last week of the program. Why take the CGC test? Our dogs are companions to us. A dog with an excellent foundation of polite behaviors is a joy to travel with, and can be relied upon to behave well, when out in public. Dogs with this foundation are wonderful family pets as well. Training of this nature definitely strengthens the dog-owner relationship, with a sense of pride in what you, the dog-owner team have accomplished. For many, achieving CGC status is part of a journey. Bridget and I have gone on with our training to include a series of Rally Preparation Classes, with a goal of competing successfully and eventually teaching Novice Rally.

CLASS DETAILS

This 7-weeks class will be for puppies (both purebreds and mixed breeds) 6 months and older, that have completed at least one level of basic obedience training. However, no dog is too old to participate in CGC training. It is recommended that dogs passing the test at less than one year of age, be re-tested as adults. Puppies younger than 6 months will be considered if they can demonstrate solid basic behaviors. All dogs participating should be able to work around other dogs with a calm demeanor, and be able to attend to cues for behavior. A background in clicker training will be handy, but not necessary. The class will be taught using positive reinforcement: no choke collars or prong collars will be allowed. Class should always be enjoyable for dog and owner; to that end, skills will also be taught incorporating some relevant games. Dogs will also learn to navigate a short Rally course where appropriate skills will be demonstrated. FEE is $130, and all Graduates will receive a CGC collar tag at the time of meeting test criteria. Classes will be ONE HOUR in length, and will all be held at Rainwood Kennels, Elkton MD. To see class scheduling, click on classes from the Home page. See registration information on the same page. Call 443-350-6820 with any questions. Bridget CGC and I look forward to seeing you there!

ALL ABOUT BRIDGET AND ADVENTURES IN RALLY OBEDIENCE

May 17th is fast approaching. This is the date of a first AKC Rally Trial for my American Lab, Bridget CGC. The road has not been an easy one, and if I can keep Bridget healthy and out of trouble long enough to do some showing, I will be grateful. Last fall Bridget was plagued with health issues, and was eventually diagnosed with pancreases. We had a long long stretch with no vomiting at all, but just this past month, there has been reoccurrence of gastritis. Bloodwork, thankfully, is normal, and indicates there is no flare-up of pancreatitis. Meanwhile, Bridget is on medications to help resolve the gastritis.

A contributing factor could certainly be anxiety. This is something we are working with also. I am blessed to have a dog with high drive and wonderful ability to learn new behaviors; at the same time Bridget has issues with Separation Anxiety, and is also one of those dogs that firmly believes the grass is always greener on the other side. Regarding the anxiety, she is fine at home, and in the car for short stops at "normal" stores (in cool weather.) However, being out of her sight at the kennel, in fact anywhere she considers it is her "job" to get out of the car with me, is an entirely different story. We deal with immediate and frantic barking. For this reason, as these behaviors have not resolved, Bridget is on Clomicalm while Behavior Modification is being done with her.

Just as it took me several months to recondition her approach to nails being clipped, when a puppy, this process will be of at least the same duration, if not longer. In the meantime, care must be taken NOT to put her into a situation that causes a stress related outburst. One approach that has helped, has been to shape a down that is now offered before she exits her crate, anytime, anywhere. At the kennel she is learning to lay calmly in a crate with an open door, while I do brief sessions of walking away, with different variables of time and distance. Ocassionally I am walking briefly out of sight as well. As Bridget progress with this, the variables will be increased. Every calm behavior upon my return is clicked/treated. And so it will go. Fortunately I will have family/friends available for at least our first Trial to prevent the necessity of leaving her alone. In the meantime, there will be plenty of practice going on at some local Show and Go events.

As I mentioned, Bridget also thinks the grass is greener....... In my head is a built in 30 second Bridget alarm that goes off automatically. Master Counter Surfer? You betcha. WE are trained to put all edibles immediately away and out of reach. Of course, there is always human error. Bridget never misses an opportunity, and with her predilection to gastric upset, she is probably one of the worlds most closely monitored dogs. In addition, Bridget believes she has full time grazing rights in the fenced garden. Her favorite is snacking on compost that has been tilled in, or just making an effort to get to the compost bin and having a snack there. Naturally none of this is conducive to a healthy stomach. Under the fence, over the fence, smush the fence down and then jump: Bridget uses all these methods and more. For this reason there is now a "Bridget never out of sight " rule. If my husband is working in the garden and cannot monitor, she is to be tethered on a long line, or crated in the house. Fortunately she travels with me much of the time, so this is not a constant issue. Still, it is a day to day management issue.

Lately that management will be extended to not off leash, while at the kennel. She loves to run the fields around the wood edge, and has an excellent recall, but..... she has discovered a tasty treat. The lawn mower at the kennel discharges clumps of grass that then ferment, and apparently are heavenly to scavenging labs. After two days of Bridget making a beeline to a particular area of grass, I found out what the attraction was. Just about enough to make me faint, with her delicate stomach and being so close to a show.

The grass is greener philosophy held by Bridget extends to the world at large as well. Recently, we discovered that our self latching deck gate was no longer latching. It was swinging shut, but not latching. I discovered this one day to when Bridget became Missing In Action, and found her out front, where the cat likes to make his bathroom. The gate had swung shut behind her. I was perplexed. What I observed solved the mystery. Upon being next released from the house, Bridget made a beeline to the gate (left purposely unlatched) , neatly snaked a slender leg around a slat, and pulled the gate ajar, and happily exited the deck stage left. Now we have a new lock, but due to wood being warped, it must be manually locked into place. And Bridget is always on the lookout for human error. Fortunately she has an excellent recall, and on the rare occasion lately when she has eloped, it has only been to the front yard with me and my built in alarm right behind her. A new and improved gate is definitely a priority. Talley, our English Lab, has had ample opportunity to leave, but chooses to remain on her deck. Bridget would rather explore the world.

As you might guess, Bridget`s philosophy extends to the fence around the yard as well. She is the type of dog, that if she has success once at a behavior, she will continue to try and try as it might work again. This proves to be true of constantly searching for ways out of the yard. We are due for a new fence as well; in the meantime we are working with the "Bridget always in sight" rule, and constantly patrolling for new places of Bridget interest along the fenceline. She has gone under in places where a groundhog should not fit. By the same token, these driven behaviors also make her easy to train. If it works once, she will try it again. She has come along very quickly in her Rally training. Now it is up to me to not make handler errors, as we continue to refine her skills. It is an interesting journey, with a challenging dog that is very frustrating at times, but ultimately very much loved. Living with Bridget has, and will continue to, make me a better dog trainer.

Positive Reinforcement: Works In All Venues of Dog Training
Bridget RN RA: Recent AKC Rally Advanced Title 2/20/10, 95/100 and 2nd place.
Training goals with Bridget at this point are a) reduce incidence of overly bouncy happy happy feet b) continue working on attention to prevent excursions away from myself c) tighten up all sits at heel and front positions. Onwards and upwards to Rally Excellent after a few new skills are learned.

View Delaware Canine Good Citizen Classes

TESTIMONIALS

Recently we started having issues with our english bulldog Jayda. She would not listen, wanted to attack my wife and others that would visit our house. After doing a great deal of research, I contacted Leslie. We agreed to bring Jayda in for an evaluation and if then decided the 2 week "boot camp" as I would call it would be the best for Jayda. While I was very hesitant that Leslie would be able to do anything for Jayda clear up to the end of week 1 I had the same concerns as well as my wife had the same. Boy were we both proven wrong. Leslie had performed major changes with Jayda. She would sit,
she would lay down, she would walk normal. After the 2nd week we were hoping for more improvement. We got it, now we tell her to go to bed and she does. She does not bark at things nor does she pull or jump. After a week of being at home we went away, so we decided to go for anthoer 2 days. AND IT GOT BETTER. SHe is a great dog now. Anyone with a bulldog should understand"
From Dirk Elston, Smyrna DE.

Bridget