BZ Dog Activities

Week #41

2011-10-10T20:58:00.001-07:00

And you thought we weren't working.

The Core Studies are going quite well. Clearly, we need to focus more on extracurricular activities.

As always, click to see larger.

Week #38

2011-09-19T20:12:00.000-07:00

We are working our way through the core studies (sit, down, come,...) evaluation, with Zachary in blue and Henry in red. A green square means they both have passed the item. A yellow square means one or the other has.

I'm really liking this concise format - so much so, that I have added a new chart, this one for basic skills needed for Extracurricular Activities. Sadly, Henry knows few things on this chart, but I'll give them all a try and see what moves him. :)

While I was out today, I stumbled across something that would make a great halloween prop, but it will require a bit of work. We'll see if we are successful or not - but until I give up on it, you'll see it at the very end of the page.

Finally, for the moment, the weekly quiz has been replaced by a weekly warmup. This is mostly because the sort of basic skills I normally quiz on (sit, down, come,...) are what I'm evaluating, and "all work and no play makes the boys go away".

So, for at least the next few weeks, the warmups will be tricks they enjoy, get them moving, and "in the game".

(As always, click to see larger)

Week #37

2011-09-12T19:42:00.000-07:00

At least I think it's #37 - I have admittedly been woefully quiet here. That said, here's the start of the Fall Quarter. After a rather long (vast understatement) absence, I decided to make an easy chart of what I expect from the boys at a Core Studies level, and march my way through it, updating their progress on future sheets.

This isn't any one specific training plan, although it borrows heavily from the steps I progressed through training Sue Ailsby's original Training Levels to Beau and Zachary. For the curious:

Attention = is the dog looking at me (Focus or Watch)
Chill = Go to Mat
With Me = Heel
Zen Hand = don't eat what's in my hand
Zen Floor = don't eat what's on the floor

Some of this should be easy for the boys. Some may be new to Henry. We'll just see how it goes.

My own job for this week is to decide what non-core (family member, citizenship, and extracurricular studies) things I'm going to add for this quarter, and come up with a single sheet of wishful thinking that will take me through the end of November.

To that end, I'm going to take the curriculum jpegs I've uploaded here, and recreate them in manipulatable form (i.e.: word, power point, or excel.)

(Folks might recall that my hard disk crashed over the summer, taking all the originals with it.)

The concept of the Quiz hasn't changed any - I test each dog, once a day, on the skills listed there. These are things they should have no problems with.

Blue Star = Zachary, Red Star = Henry, indicating "passing" that item.

(As always, click to see larger)

Week #30

2011-07-24T22:09:00.001-07:00

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Week 28

2011-07-10T23:34:00.000-07:00

Yeah... been a while. :)

(As always, click to see larger.)

© 2011 BZ Dog Activities - All Rights Reserved

Canine Modeling 101

2011-07-10T23:33:00.000-07:00

Summer School...

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 8

2011-02-23T20:48:00.000-08:00

Seven weeks down, 45 to go.

Yeah, I know. It's been kind of quiet around here. I've been wrapped up the Daily Shoot, and kind of stalling on training, hoping Sue's new book will be out soon.

But I can't wait forever, so here's a rather photography/trick centric worksheet. I may not be making a lot of progress on Levels, but I'm having more fun training the boys than I've ever had before. :)

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 5

2011-01-30T19:52:00.000-08:00

Four weeks down, 48 to go.

Every so often, it seems I hit a bump in the road and progress comes to a grinding halt. Last time that happened, I spent several angst-filled weeks, wailing away on my other blog, going through an elaborate (and ultimately helpful, if tedious and drawn out) problem-solving process to try to figure out (and solve) the problem (ie: my training was boring, and needed some pizzaz.)

This time, I'm just going to cut to the chase: I'm ditching most of New Training Levels from the Weekly Worksheet (for now) as I can't seem to get questions answered in the Yahoo! group, and when I finally have to strike out on my own, I later find out I did it "wrong".

So - for now, until Sue releases her book (and I'm getting the feeling that will be sooner rather than later) I'm going to table New Training Levels in the formal, although I will obviously continue to work informally on the obvious things like sits and downs and stays and such. Once I can get my hands on a copy of the book, New Training Levels will be back on the menu.

Filling the rather substantial void it leaves, will be things related to The Daily Shoot - those things I think will make taking pictures a lot easier.

I will, of course, continue the Trick of the Week, as we are having a great time with that, and if I do something "wrong" we just pick a new trick! :)

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 4

2011-01-25T23:06:00.000-08:00

Three weeks down, 49 to go.

Accomplished this Week:

Good question. It doesn't seem like I accomplished much on my list, although I've been having a blast with The Daily Shoot and Trick training.

Training Levels is going nowhere, as I seem to have different ideas to what the terse descriptions mean vs. what Sue meant them to mean, and so I'm left in limbo-land awaiting her book.

I left the Training Levels items on the page, too lazy to rip them off this week, but don't be surprised to see a shake-up in the program next week. Not sure quite what - perhaps just the skills listed (jump over a bar) instead of the Training Levels tag attached to it.

That way, there is no "wrong way", and yet the basic skills will be covered so that I should be able to make good progress once the book comes out.

Perhaps.

Or I might just devote all our time to photography, tricks, and my own curriculum.

Anyway, here's the list. (As always, click to see larger.)

Week 3

2011-01-16T20:38:00.000-08:00

2 Weeks down, 50 to go.

It was a week of discoveries and disappointments. I discovered The Daily Shoot, and have added my attempts to fulfill the assignment at the end of my last four posts (as of Monday 12:01 am) back on BZTraining.

In addition to being a fun challenge for me to figure out how to meet the assignment requirements with dog(s) as my subject, it is rewarding for the dogs (who love posing for the camera as that means cookies), and a boon for training.

No, really. I can't take a picture of them posing if I can't get them to pose, and that's training!

I also (crossing fingers) managed to squeak my trick in under the wire. My fingers are crossed as I haven't actually made the video yet - the job for Monday. However, last night (Saturday) he was being successful, so things look good. I'll go practice again (once I get off the computer) and I can work Monday on it is as well if need be.

Oh, what is it? You'll have to see Tuesday's post on BZTraining to find out!

The disappointment was that I was stupid and didn't print out my 5x5 Quiz, and therefore I didn't do it. I know, that sounds like a really lame excuse, but there it is. (If I was good at this training stuff I wouldn't have to blog about it to stay motivated!)

My other issue is with New Training Levels, which constitutes portion of what I train. I have several times misinterpreted the terse web descriptions (all we have to go on at the moment) and so I'm now basically idling, awaiting the book, as to do anything else seems of dubious value given that I'm having trouble getting my questions answered reliably on the Training Level's Yahoo! group, no doubt due to Sue working 14 hours a day trying to get the book out, so I'm certainly not complaining.

The upshot is that while I'm working on the obvious stuff, I'm not doing much videoing and not really crossing anything off unless I'm darn sure I've done it right.

Finally, the first Family Dog class for Henry was canceled due to a few specks of mist.

(sigh)

At least the forecast looks good for this week!

Enough talk - see this week's list below, followed by a more generic 5x5 sheet that will hopefully prove more useful, if less explanatory.

(As always, click to see larger.)

Week 2

2011-01-09T19:44:00.000-08:00

1 Week down, 51 to go.

Accomplished Last Week:

I'm slowly coming to the conclusion that my less than stellar attitude about uploading here (of late) has more to do with hating to create this summary than anything else, so let's keep this brief:

Finished Henry - New Training Levels 2 Step 1 (Focus, Crate, and Go to Mat) and Step 2 (Target)
Finished Zachary - New Training Levels 1 Steps 1 and 2

Trick of the Week: Through My Legs

Planned for This Week (Click to see Larger)

5x5 Quiz of the Week:

Trick of the Week

2011-01-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

As mentioned over in BZ Training, I'm trying to teach a Trick of the Week. For completeness, here's the form I will be keeping my records on.

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 1

2011-01-03T00:01:00.000-08:00

Zero down, 52 to go.

Fine, I'll admit it. We did pretty much nothing this past week except eat, drink, and be merry.

But now it's time to get back to work, especially if I have any hope of accomplishing a goodly number of the Goals and Resolutions I posted about just a few days past.

(As always, click to see larger)

January Syllabus

2011-01-01T22:48:00.000-08:00

The first month of the shiny New Year.

As I haven't a clue how long New Training Levels is supposed to take, I've thrown in quite a few Steps just to make sure I'm covered.

Too many? Too few? Haven't a clue. Keep in mind that Henry just turned 5 months old and training a teenager can be a... humbling... experience.

My goal for Zachary is to catch him up to where Henry is. This will be a problem only if I see his weight creeping back up again.

Finally, new for this year, I've added a box for what I should be doing (the "Mom" part.) There isn't anything there that I don't already try to do, but I thought it's good to spell it out (and I was trying to fill
that spot on the page.)

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 51

2010-12-21T21:54:00.000-08:00

Fifty down - just one to go!

I have no idea why I keep running behind uploading this, after being relatively reliable most of the year. Oh well, something to work on for next year.

Accomplished Last Two Weeks:

Worked mainly on Training Levels Two Step One, and created quite a few clips that are awaiting compiling in a video.

Planned for Next (this) Week:

Continue on Training Levels Two Step One, and try harder to get back on schedule! I also want to revisit Goals, Resolutions, and possible the entire Curriculum (but probably make few, if any, changes)

Blog:

Released Video: n/a

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 49

2010-12-08T21:48:00.000-08:00

Forty-eight down (Four to go. I think. Maybe not)

Accomplished Last Week:

With sons able assistance, I was able to video the last clip from Level One Step Four and get the video out the door (see Released Videos). Yeah!

Not sure what to make of Step Five (more, more, more...) and so we are happily moving on to Level Two, keeping in the back of our minds that we need to be doing more Level One things. Perhaps I'll figure out how to video that at some point.

Been working hard on playing "show puppy" and have received at lot of good feedback, which we are working on. Finished our spin trick, puppy class, and the two Level Two Step Two stays (sit/down).

Contemplated what should happen now that puppy class is over (see Adrift below)

I really liked the Wordless Wednesday picture last week - he looks so much a like a model!

Didn't get much done on BZDogs, but I'm still thinking, so all is not lost. Did spent (way too much) time setting up Facebook. I'm not sure I "get it" yet, but I'll keep trying.

Blog:

Released Videos:

Planned for This Week:

It's starting out a wet, drippy week, putting a damper (sorry) on our plans to get Henry out and about more (now that he is officially "done" with his puppy shots.) Let's hope the weekend is prettier!

Other than that, the Weekly Worksheet says it all.

Poor Zachary is now on "Weight Control" dog food, as all prior efforts to get him to shed weight have so far failed.

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 48

2010-11-30T19:29:00.000-08:00

Forty-seven down (Five to go.) (Why is this 47 and the subject says 48? I'm so confused!)

Accomplished Last Week:

Finished Level One Step Four, with the exception of roping my son into videoing "Coming" with me. (No, that's not a duplicate from last week. Last week I was trying to get him to video Step THREE Come!) The video for the entire step is done, with the exception of that lone clip!

We also plowed on ahead to Level Two, working on Focus, Leash, Sit (stay), Down (stay), Go to Mat, and Handling body parts. Whew!

I like the Daily Practice section, and will probably keep it around.

I dusted off my BZDogs Website, adding in some puppy related low-hanging fruit, and then sat there feeling guilty that I had let it go for as long as I did.

(sigh)

Blog:

Released Videos: n/a

Planned for This Week:

This week marks the final puppy class. Our main assignment was to teach a trick, so Henry has been working on "Spin". He's got the basics down, and we're just working on decreasing the cue size.

We'll continue with Level Two items, playing show dog, and doing the Daily Practice.

I also want to tie up the loose ends with "Grading Preschool", upload my final results of "Rules of 12", and decide what to tackle next on the BZDog website.

Whew - I think I'm doing more this week than Henry!

(And Zachary remains on a diet. I will try to get him over the vets for a weigh-in in this week, to see if progress is being name. I sure hope so!)

Happy Birthday, Big Dog - I miss you, so.

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 47

2010-11-21T22:25:00.000-08:00

Forty-six down (six to go. Hmm... now they sum to 52? )

Accomplished Last Week:

Worked on sits and downs and stays, oh my! Finally roped my son into supplying the legs needed to video "Come", and therefore was able to release the Level One Step Three video (see Videos below).

Had an unexpected visitor stop by the house. I probably get just one or two a year... and it showed.

Zachary was horrible, bounding around like a kangaroo. Henry was bouncing, too, and I'm still not sure if it was Henry setting off Zachary, or the other way around. Thankfully, it should (statistically) be at least another six months before any other unexpected visitors set foot in the house, and so I'm not going to worry about it.

On the bright side, people are so distracted by my dogs bad behavior that they don't even notice that the house is a mess! The other bright side was visitor's perplexity at the bouncy behavior, given how well Zachary is when she's seen him "outside".

Finally, I think this week's Wordless Wednesday has some of the best pictures I've ever taken. As most of my pictures are pretty mundane, "best" is obviously relative. (Ok, fine, I'll admit it, I was pretty tickled when I saw how they came out!)

Blog:

Released Videos:

Henry - Training Levels One Step Three

Planned for This Week:

Well, it's Turkey Week in my corner of the world, which means I'll either have lots of time (due to the holiday) or no time (due to the holiday.)

Holiday's are like that around here - Feast or Famine (pardon the pun) when it comes to free time.

Zachary is still on a diet, and thus still out of the training rotation. As he gained 1 (one!) pound in 10 days on the last diet I put him on, I'm not altogether hopeful, but still we must try.

Also - no puppy class this week (because of afore mentioned holiday.)

I have tweaked the sheet a little, still trying to settle on a good format for the puppy. The most notable change is probably the addition of a "Daily Practice" list on the left. This is sort of like the Weekly Quiz, the difference being these are items he is still actively learning and perfecting, not finished things ready for Quizzing. However, he does know them too well to warrant prime real estate on the main body of the sheet.

Because I'm working many different skills, it was getting hard for me to find the Do First items from the Do Last things, and so the former are now in black and the latter in gray. Since new things are still in blue, I made latter new things a pale blue. This is probably more detail than any one cares to read, assuming any one cares to read these ramblings at all!

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 46

2010-11-16T21:19:00.000-08:00

Forty-five down (seven to go – yes, I know it doesn’t equal 52!)

Accomplished Last Week/Planned for Next Week:

Keeping the same sheet as Week 45. It’s not that we aren’t working on anything, as we are! The “problem” is we are working on lots of things, and so reaching completion on very few. However, since he’s sponge right now, I hate to pass up the chance to teach new things, even if the execution is, shall we say, less that stellar.

He really is done with new Training Levels 1 Step 3 – I just need to grab a willing (or at least coercible) biped and video the Come Game.

We are also working on his "show dog" skills (mostly Stand, but some gaiting on lead) and socialization.

Lots of socialization!

And taking pictures. He's getting really good at holding still, and Zachary is a rock, so I have high hopes for the future!

Plus plenty of time to run, play with Uncle Zachary, and just be a puppy.

Big Dog Section: Poor, poor Zachary. All training has pretty much stopped until his weight drops. Later this week is the big weigh in, so we’ll see if progress is being made. If not, then we'll have to consider switching to a lower calorie food.

Released Video:

Henry – Quick Flick: Stand (1 Month)

Blog:

Plus:

Puppy Class!!!

Week 45

2010-11-08T18:05:00.000-08:00

Forty-Four down (just seven more week to go!)

Yes, I missed last week again. I once again made up the sheet but never uploaded it. No, this isn't a intentional trend, just the side effect of having too much to do and not enough time to do it. Given time to train vs. time to computer, I choose the former!

I promise to try to get back into a weekly upload... even it means cutting out the oh-so-wonderful commentary. :)

Accomplished Since Last Time:

We are done with New Levels One Step Three, although I still need to corral my son into videoing the "Come" part with me. I know Henry can do it, and Step 4 as well, and I will probably video them at the same time.

Down is getting better, although still no where near as good as Sit.

His focus is spectacular - the sort you wish you could keep into maturity, but know you really can't. (sigh)

He's fine with cuddling, car rides, is good about the baby gate, his crate, knows how to go to HIS mat, and lets me handle all bits.

We worked a lot on Stand and his focus is very good on that as well.

He's finally got the hang of open handed Zen, once I really focused on it.

Zachary is... well... I hate to say it, but he's fat. After three months of being on a diet he managed to gain four pounds. He's now 77lb and should be 67lb. He'll go back in two weeks and if things aren't going the other direction we'll put him on pudgy dog food, however the real problem is lack of exercise. The puppy doesn't (yet) wear him out and we are too worn out with puppy to give him nice long walks he needs.

Therefore, Zachary has gotten a lot less training time, which is bad. So I decided to run him through the new levels. I figure this way it will seem to him like he's doing something, yet it won't require much work (ie: cookies) to do it.

Videos: Henry - Quick Flick: Stand

Blog Posts:

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 43

2010-10-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

Forty two down (Nine to go. Yikes!)

Sorry about missing last week. I actually did create a worksheet last week, but finding time away from puppy for uploading stuff can be challenging.

Wow - is he changing fast and learning sooooo many things. Too many to keep track of here.

Accomplished Last Week/Planned for Next Week:

Core Studies: Finished Level One Step Two. Finished all Level One Step Three except for Zen (he’s not even close!) and videoing the Come Game (need to corral my son again.) Worked on Heeling, focus, and especially Loose Leash (see Released Videos). He still needs a very exaggerated Down sign, but we’re working on it.

Citizenship: He still meeting tons of people, and we are transitioning from meeting while I hold him to meeting while his paws are on the ground (as he’s getting too heavy for me to hold for very long!) Still trying to expose him to as many kinds of things as possible, and will continue that for at least four more weeks!

Just For Fun: Ok… skipping “shake”. I think it’s screwing with Zen. Let’s try the “Easy” button. He and Zachary play well (for the most part) so now it’s time to make sure I can STOP them from playing. This was really hard with Beau and Zachary, and I think it’s because I didn’t work on it until I needed it, and by then it was too late! I’ve starting working on “Find it!” using a cookie, and he’s quite stoked. You can see him start by using his eyes, then quickly switch to nose when his eyes doing see it. Too cute.

Family Member: The two big things are “riding in the car” and honoring the baby-gate. He’s great in the car when someone is in the back seat with him. Far better than Zachary, in fact (who is very restless!) but when by himself he wants to relocate up front. Not good. The baby-gate is a problem only when someone is on the other side. We are working on self-control, but it’s race to see if we can get there before he’s heavy enough to knock it down. In the past I used a penny-can to teach respect for the gate – the only time I’ve ever used it, three tosses for Beau, two for Zachary – but Henry is so sound insensitive I haven’t even bothered to find it. I know it isn’t going to work.

Extracurricular: His Drop It! is wonderful, and the rest are well in hand (paw?)

Big Dog Section: Poor Zachary. He’s been seriously slighted in the training category, not helped by the fact I’m keeping him on the old levels while Henry goes through the new. There’s a very good chance this will be the last week for Old Levels for Zachary (at least for while) and I’ll just break down and do New Levels to keep him busy and happy and me (relatively) sane.

Released Video:

Blog:

Plus:

Puppy Class!!!

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 41

2010-10-13T22:18:00.000-07:00

Forty down (Eleven to go – yes, I know it doesn’t equal 52!)

Accomplished Last Week:

Core Studies: Worked a ton on Sits, Downs, Comes, Zen, and Target and he can now pass all Level 1 Step 2 items except Zen, just need to video it. Worked some on moving with the leash while at the Sports Center but it’s too distracting a place to really do it well. His focus when I have food, or when he wants me to get him food is amazing. Wish I could bottle it and break it out when puberty hits!

Citizenship: Met lots of new people, both the sort that pass by with a pet and those that lingered. He’s making great progress on his Rules of Twelve, the only place where we are really falling behind is the “Eat out of twelve things” part.

Just For Fun: Worked on everything, and while “Shake” isn’t happening, all the rest is going well. “Find It!” is mostly me setting a cookie on the floor, holding him back, and releasing him with a happy “Find It!” – but it’s a start!

Family Member: Worked on every single thing, and he’s doing wonderfully! In fact, the only think that he’s struggling with at all is Zen.

Extracurricular: His is learning to Drop It! I’m really surprised, given how young he is. The only thing I didn’t work on was the Wobble Board – as I couldn’t find anything good to use.

Big Dog Section: Zachary finished Retrieve(!) and his Finish is looking pretty good as well. It’s not very straight, but I’m not it has to be for Level Four. Need to check. Worked on him picking up dropped things, but he seemed unsure. Need to find better things to drop. He’s still dropping his gaze during the About-Turn of Heel, and I need to find a better way to explain it.

Released Video:

Blog:

Planned for Next Week:

Big Dog Section (Zachary): Dropping Scenting – just don’t have the time to drum up people to scent things. As it’s optional, it’s probably dropped for good. Added in TL5 Retrieve to replace it.

Henry (The Rest): Added in some Level One Step Three things, as he knows most Step Two items and I just need to video them. Dropped “Clip Nails” as the Groomer has been doing it when I take him to visit (yes, that’s probably cheating) but added in Bath as he needs one! Dropped Housetraining (he’s got it) and added Car Rides and Baby-Gate, the latter beginning to be a problem as he’s now heavy enough to push the flimsy wooden one over if he really tries.

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 40

2010-10-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

Oh my, what a little sponge I have. He just seems to soak everything up!

We finished New Training Level's Level One Step One (well, as finished as nine week old puppy was going to get) and worked on many life skills. We met lots of people, saw and heard many new things, and (hopefully) had a wonderful start.

And Zachary? Well, Zachary is learning how to play with his nephew (or that cousin?) and he seems to be doing a pretty good job of it.

As I'm finding it very hard to find computer/internet time, I'll leave have to leave it at that.

(As always, click to see larger)

Week 39

2010-09-27T18:28:00.000-07:00

OK, I’ll admit it: two sheets was a bad idea.

Soooo… we are back down to one sheet, with a special “Big Dog” section for Zachary and the majority devoted to Henry (the puppy formerly known as One-of-Ten). I think that will work because the things Zachary is working on take so much more practice that there are far fewer of them.

Other differences:

dark blue font means “new” for this sheet, as green didn’t show up (gee, what a surprise, given that the page is green!)
cute little pencil “bullet” for Training Level’s things – since I list them under my curriculum headings they are scattered about. Makes it easier to find them this way.
No Quiz for a few weeks until he actually learns things, and Zachary will get quizzed on whatever five things I happen to be thinking about when I decide to give the quiz.

Most of the sheet looks like last weeks (keeping in mind that Henry came home on Saturday, so “last weeks” sheet was really just 2 days worth!)

Blog:

Released Video:

Henry’s First Video

(As always, click to see larger)

Puppy's Rule of Twelve

2010-09-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

Here are a pair of pages I whipped up so I could record One-of-Ten's progress on Margaret Huges' The Puppy's Rule of Twelve.

(As always, click to see larger)