November 13th

I don't know what to say other than that Apache and I worked on leash training today, and he was afraid at first but warmed up a little and could follow heelwork better. We stopped when he was doing his best, so it was probably 20 minutes today.

November 7th

Time trained: 25 minutes active training with 30 minutes DPT training.
Goal of the day: Bowing.
Achieved: Beginning of bowing but long to go.
Notes: Collar on, changed hand signals for back up and figure eight. Started bowing but need to correct him from laying on his side. The true freestyle training has begun. 

Rapid progress!

I will just skip the long explanation and write down what we did today followed by pictures.

Time trained: 30 minutes active training with 45 minutes relaxation training.
Goal of the day: Leash training.
Achieved: Got collar on without trouble, could loop the leash over his head around the neck on/off. 
Notes: Fetched glove which he played with for the first time, worked on balance with my training ball, refreshed freestyle heelwork which he exceeded in, beginning of leash training, and pressure therapy. 

Strange objects

Apache and I worked on medicine bottles today which was the first time we worked on hard plastic and/or smaller objects and even though it was slobbery he did it really well! We are now working on waiting, command and direction. And despite this, I felt today was an "off" day for him where the will to work was not top notch. That's okay though. :) We got good cuddle.

Ixxi got brushed out, Andy got a haircut which he loves, and I took two separate dog walks this morning. A good doggy day!

Smart pet in Petsmart

I am proud to say that Frodo was very good at the petsmart store today! Since we live on a farm we rarely see people or dogs so he needed a refresher socialization. We brought Ixxi as companionship and just stood around and waited for him to get comfortable, feeding him treats like a food dispenser. And from being tense to paying attention to me and sitting on command, and letting a worker there pass him on short range without being alarmed in 20 minutes, he did great! I need to do this more often but I am sure he will become a really all-round amazing dog when this is fixed.

And Apache, wow. I spent time with him in the basement for some cuddles and decided to finish up my dinner, salmon. He was so good at giving me space (I eat with the food in my lap) and not trying to snatch or anything, so I gave him a tiny piece. And what I discovered was that salmon is the key to his inner puppy! He wagged the tail like he was going to take off like a helicopter, he licked me like crazy, crawled up on me higher than ever before and touching my face with his head, rolled over on his back while still ontop of me, and still wagged the tail like crazy. I have had him almost three years and I have never seen him act this puppylike! It is amazing that I still find out more and more things about this wonderful little dog!

And the cutest thing of them all... the noises he made! I have never heard those noises either. I feel like I have finally worked up his "minus" meter of insecurities and up on the plus side where his personality shows through more than ever before! And it feels like this is just the beginning. Very exciting!

Apache's focused training

Tonight it begins, Apache's new focused training!

I lost my way in his training for a while after feeling like we will never compete like I wanted to do with him. But now I found my way again and I will try to track his training as good as I can. I have focused a lot on his fears and I want to put my focus on something else for a while. Imitation training would be fun but I have other things in mind for now.

First I want to write down the things I want to work on.
¤ Leashwalking, walking next to me with sloped leash.
¤ Better retrieval of more and (to him) stranger things. Different shaped toys, plastic bottle, shoe, etc.
¤ Chin on lap.
¤ Stay off the couch unless invited. I tried this before but I gave up too soon.
¤ Focus.
¤ Attention.
¤ Relaxation/doing nothing.
¤ Sit/stay.
¤ Better down/stay.
¤ Making him more solid in staying despite distractions.

These are things I have intended to focus on but always procrastinated. I really need to work on his self control. I love his enthusiasm but I can't get anywhere if I can't tone him down to be more serious when we are working together and somewhere inside I still hope to compete in a few years. So, today's goal. We will start with strange retrieval just because it has been a little while since I worked him and he is usually pretty calm during this. After warming him up with this I will work on his focus and hopefully succeed in massaging him afterwards for the relaxation.

I will update this post after the training and sum up how it went.

* * * * * *

Time trained: 1 hour in which 20 minutes active training and 40 minutes relaxation.
Goal of the day: Fetch things he finds strange, focus, massage to relax.
Achieved: All three.
Notes: Fetched yellow and black rope/ball/football toy and a heavy ball, down/stay with eyecontact and distance, and massage and successful massage despite earlier fear/stress from Andy's noises.

New goals

So what's new?

Digger is doing absolutely great! He is like his normal self.

Ixxi too is her normal self, she plays, she cuddles and is spick and span healthy.

Andy has been diagnosed with dry eye and glaucoma so he is on daily eyedrops for life. He needs to diet since his eyesight got bad.

Apache is doing great too. We didn't get to work this summer due to my health but he doesn't care. What he doesn't know is that I am in the making of giving him a life purpose. I will get back on the train to challange him to get better and have a clear path on what I want to teach him. Sometimes it's the owner who limits a dog's potential and it is very much true with me and him.

Frodo has grown up to be a fantastic two year old! He has mellowed out, he is attentive to me and there are things he does that seems like he is trying to take care of me during bad days.


I always have so many plans and then they fall through due to my health, but my medication is leveling out and I am so goal focused now with Apache that I don't think it will fall through. I have other future plans in which I need to mend the "issues" of Frodo and Apache first. I really don't want my health to stand in the way of this one!