Dusting

In the play class, Denise says to start from a point of strength and go from there. Ricky has always gone nuts at the dusting rag. He jumps at it and wants to bite it the entire time I am dusting. So today I just went with it. When I finished, I started using the rag as a toy - he was trying to grab it and then I would make it disappear behind my back. Again and again - he was loving it and then started tugging with it. Very fun!

Maybe I could go to class and dust? :)

Chris and Ricky

Happy New Year!

To me! Ricky TUGGED with the bunny tonight! I wish I had video but you really don't need to see me running around the living room or hear me chanting encouragement. Just picture Ricky playing where's the bunny and finally grabbing hold and not letting go!

Hope you all have a safe and happy new year! 2014 is gonna be an exciting one!

Chris and Ricky

Toy Play with Bunny Fur

Diana suggested I try a toy with real rabbit fur to see if Ricky would like it more. So I got a couple of rabbit tugs from Clean Run last week when they had a buy one, get one sale.

Ricky is not sure what to make of the bunny. He carefully smelled it and by the second time he saw it, he was getting pretty excited. But he still seems too respectful of the bunny and doesn't bite down hard on the fur. The video is from his third time seeing it - I did edit it down because you don't need to see or hear 3 minutes of me being ridiculous. This video is plenty long. :)


 

He really likes it when the bunny gets away.

I can't believe how out of breath I get playing for 3 minutes!


Chris and Ricky

Last agility class of 2013

We went to our last class of the year yesterday morning. It had unexpectedly snowed the night before and the roads were a mess! No snow removal and tons of traffic. It took twice as long to get there as usual and it was a very stressful drive.

But I am glad we went. For the past few months I have been taking two classes back to back. I run my instructor's Sheltie Salsa in one and Ricky in another. Salsa is a pro - she is 9 years old and MACH 9. She teaches me how to do agility and I give her treats. :)

These days Ricky does the contacts and weaves class. I think this is perfect for him because the drills are shorter and there are not many jumps. Yesterday I really thought about "food play" from my play class and changed the way I reward him more into a game. I think he responded very well! He was definitely engaged for most of the class (except for the times he thought something on the floor was chicken and not fur or fuzz). He DID NOT want to go in his crate when his class was over.

Salsa is a trip! She would do agility all day long if she could and she barks at me when I am slow or she wants her turn or she wants some food or....well you get it. I am learning so much with her because of course my timing stinks. And I have trouble thinking. Haha! One day I hope to run her at a trial but I need much more practice first! Running Salsa is making me love agility again.

Toy play continues - yesterday we only had one session but Ricky got into the game very quickly. I was so excited that I didn't end the game soon enough and he beat me to it. :)

Chris and Ricky

Toy Play Day 3

Here is a video of today's first toy play session. Similar to the first try yesterday.

What did I do to turn him off right at the beginning? - he was obviously interested - and then it took over a minute to get him back. I was breathing hard by the time the 3 minutes was over. The video was only supposed to be 2 minutes in length, but it took so long to get him really engaged. This is still progress in the right direction since playing was entirely my idea!

Chris and Ricky

Toy play update

This morning I took my raccoon, or squirrel as I sometimes call it, and ran around the living room like a crazy person pretending to be loving playing all by myself. Ricky stood there looking at me for a long time and then he finally decided to play too! This is huge because I initiated the play time. He has always tugged and played and enjoyed toys on long lines but ONLY when it was his idea! He chased the toy and tugged with it. I think in past attempts to get him to play, I was not patient enough and gave up too early.

This afternoon we played again on my terms - the same game but he got involved in the action much more quickly.

Please don't feel like you have to read or comment - I like it if you do - but I am just trying to keep a record of our progress in the class and daily accounts are probably boring. :)

Chris and Ricky

Trying new ideas

I am being bombarded with ideas from this play class! It is a little overwhelming - I don't know how the people in the Gold level are doing it all.

This week is toy play and you know how great I am at that with Ricky. Today, just once so far, I got him a little interested in his raccoon toy (you know the kind without the stuffing). I put it on the end of a rope and when he would go for it, I snatched it away. Tried this a few times and he wanted the toy! So we quit and will try again later. I guess the idea is it's the chase they love.

The other thing I am trying is to be much more energetic when using food to do tricks and stuff - all behaviors he already knows. I am stringing more together and moving around more and throwing the food for him to get it. We did this last night and today and so far it is working really well!

The internet is such an amazing tool and resource!

Chris and Ricky