So as I mentioned… adopting Scamp half way through a school semester wasn’t exactly ‘in the plan’. In my defense...we were able to take some time to build a relationship before adding training pressure. On the other hand, I was sloppy/lazy about a few things…I let him stalk the cat, I let him play more with Neena than with me, and I also gave him too much off leash freedom. Some of this is now biting me in the butt lol.
I’m feeling a bit like a first time dog owner again. It seems SO LONG ago since I adopted Neena; and I was in a different place back then too. While these two dogs are really great compliments to each other, they are very different lol. Training Neena has been focused on building confidence and teaching her how to recover from her fears. So far training Scamp is about redirecting his focus from something small and fuzzy to ME lol. Once we clear that hurdle I think it’s going to be about giving clear direction and maintaining my criteria. Scamp loves to run fast, and I think he has a strong work ethic; he just hasn’t learned how to direct it yet. I think he’s going to LOVE agility. I’m probably going to die trying to stay ahead of him lol. Or I might be totally wrong…we are still in the discovery stage:)…either way I am very excited to keep building a working relationship with him, he’s a really neat dog, and we are going to have a lot of fun together!
Anyways, I wrote training plans for both Neena and Scamp at the beginning of May. Each morning we do a very short (think 10 cookies each) training session where we focus on different skills. Sometimes tricks, Neena’s learning to weave “through” my legs and to be “sad” longer, Scamp’s “Gophur” is pretty solid already, and last week we started “spin right”, “spin left” and “back”. Sometimes we work targeting, which I realize I did a horrible job with Neena on…she thinks “touch” means lick my hand lol. I really need to work on toy drive with both dogs; I’ve slacked off on this since neither of my dogs has a solid “stay” when I’m working the other dog. Another work in progress lol.
The evenings are pretty crazy, Tuesday’s Neena has class, Thursday’s are Scamp’s, and Wednesday’s all three of us go to the agility field and ‘make our own adventure’. I have to say, although it’s hard to leave one dog at home I really enjoy my one-on-one time with the other dog. Over the remainder of the week I try to squeeze in some circle work, do some “hand games”, work on recalls, etc. As I said, at this point high priority is building up food/toy value for Scamp, right now the most exciting thing in his world is watching small little furry things run fast…that needs to change in a hurry.
This weekend Scamp and I focused on the tugging and circle work, and I was thrilled with what we accomplished. In a park (e.g. with a low level of distraction) I was able to get him to full on tug on two different toys with me. Sounds like a small victory I know, but it was actually pretty huge for usJ. He’s pretty freaking cute, and very playful in his own gangly way although unlike Miss Crazy Pants he’s a lot more hesitant to play rough with me. That’s also something that’s going to change;). Finally, we also had some successful circle work; he’s much faster than me and has a habit of spinning around in front of me instead of staying beside me.
I do have to say, Scamp does have some of his own little ‘quirks’...like Neena he is also not bomb proof, but his triggers are fewer, and he is much better at recovering. I was always a little worried that a dog with fears would feed Neena’s, but I haven’t seen that...and my hope is in time their bond will build their confidence. Scamp also has some issues meeting new people especially if they really want to meet him:), however I think most of these things will also fade away as he becomes more comfortable/confident. Oh ya, and he’s shy about doing his ‘business’ on leash lol...
As for Miss Neena...well...she’s been on a bit of an agility roll so far this spring, I’m enjoying playing with her so much. Last week in class Sarah ran her in a gamble; it made me happy in my heart watching her/them have fun. She really is a happy girl, I don’t know how many times this weekend I caught her smiling at me...she’s always ready for a game and she really wants to play with ME. I love that. I’ve worked hard to build that with her, it’s something I don’t want to lose.
So for the most part a big Scampy post...but it was time for a record of where we are at. It’ll be fun to look back on this even the end of summer and see how far we’ve come.
Leave ya with a Scampers photo...we mighta hijacked this Harley lol...
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