OBEDIENCE TRAINING EVENING CLASS MAY 28,2012

Well we braved the mosquitoes and brought out the dogs for training. It is amazing to see the change in them already. Everyone has been practising and it shows. Remember be positive and patient ....let you dog think it thru for themselves ....it will happen!

Look at that concentration on Daisy's owner....now that is good

This young golden is a handful but look at that focus ....already improvement

From Golden experience I know how energetic they can be....but I also know how devoted and well mannered they can be with work and patience

                         This Husky wouldn't sit still or look at her owner last week....good work!

The smallest member of the group, but a big heart...this little one is great at the sit, down etc but needs a little socialization....hard being so little around all these big dogs!

                                                
Another golden...makes me remember the young days of my 9 1/2 yr old golden,Tanen, at that age....a real handful but she is a delight now. Confidence, patience....did I say patience again?....this young pup will be a delight to her owner as well.

Another young pup... a Husky/ Lab cross. It is nice to see the families coming out together and working their new dogs. He is sitting on his mat nicely.

Last but not least we have the bernese mountain dog, Sophie. She is loving this....pay a little attention and get great treats...pretty good deal! After being lost overnight awhile ago, she isn't going to far from her people!

As you can see we have some beautiful dogs and some great owners who are taking the time and energy to train their dogs, thus making good pets who will be well mannered and enjoyed by all that come into their lives.

OBEDIENCE TRAINING WEEK TWO - MAY 28,2012

Here are some pics from this morning class...you can see they are already improving....good job to the "parents" for practising on a regular basis. We were lucky to have some distractions today...the workers on the roof, we had a large lawn mower and we were able to walk on some plywood that was a bit wobbly and also a blue tarp on the ground...the dogs did great!! You can see the dogs are relaxed and their attention is on their owners....It was a great class...now if the mosquitoes would leave it would be perfect!

SEARCH AND RESCUE MEMBERS AT WORK MAY 27,2012

Here are some pictures of two of the team members practising with their dogs. The amount of time and energy that goes into each of these dogs to make them ready to be search and rescue dogs is unbelievable ...their dedication is amazing...both the dogs and the handlers!  I will continue to profile some of the different dogs at our training sessions. They are many different breeds...although german shepard is a popular breed.

Jada is a trained search and rescue dog and goes out on searches now. Here in the top pic she is just coming back from a training find...she found the hider, me, without any problems. The second pic shows her starting a search in a warehouse. Notice the handler stays back and allows the dog to work.

 Checking out all the spaces trying to find the hider

Jake finds the hider hidden deep in the bush

This is Jake and his handler. They have trained all day....in the warehouse and in the bush...you can see him finding the "hider" in the bush

You can also see in the picture where he is up on the container and  he is trying to show where the hider is...up high above where he can reach...he is also a current working search and rescue dog

SEARCH AND RESCUE TRAINING MAY 27,2012

Today I woke up at 5 am, after working an evening shift, to head off to Edmonton for Search and Rescue training ...didn't seem like a really good idea at 5 am, but once I was there it was worth every minute of lost sleep.

First Quila and I did some article searches. Articles are any item...wallets, gloves, phones, glasses etc.and she has to find them and "alert" on them. Alert on them, means to lay down and bark until I get to her and she the article. She then gets rewarded for finding the article....then it is back to work to find the next one.

I was getting a little frustrated as I didn't think Quila was working really well at first ,but luckily  Mike was able to  help me to read the wind correctly....as I was having my scent blow to Quila...thus masking any other scents. Once I was in correct postition to the wind Quila found all the articles and alerted correctly....she was awesome!!

 Quila getting her reward for finding and article

You can't see it but there is an article in the hole by her front paws....she did so well today....I am so proud of her....now if we could just train her handler!!

 Quila just found this hider and she being rewarded with a great game of tug

 Here she is just locating the hider

Here she just finished a warehouse search

Quila did a number of outside searches as well as some inside searches of the warehouse. She did her job really well and found all the hiders quickly and alerted with continued barking until I got to her. She is coming along really nicely.
I will post some more pics tomorrow of other members of the team....it is taking my computer to long tonight

SEARCH AND RESCUE TRAINING

 Finding the hider....behind the tractor

 Quila gets her reward after finding the hider...her favorite toy....a rabbit fur toy made by  our friend,Lorrie

I have been fortunate that Quila and I have qualified to train for SARDAA ,in Edmonton ,as a search and rescue team. We had to be tested in order to qualify...they test the dog, the handler and they also look at how we work together as a team. Now we go to edmonton to train on sundays...we try to go at least once a month as a minuim...but the more we go the more support we get in our training. We train at home as much as we can...getting people to hide for us , doing obedience training etc. We soon come up to our six month probation testing. If we pass these test then we off of probation and continue on with our training....I am really hopeful that we can pass these tests. When we train for searches the dogs are air scenting...nose up in the air ( this is different from tracking where the nose is to the ground). We also do article searches....this is looking for items that are on the ground, under leaves etc, and also maybe up higher in a bush etc. These articles can be clues as to whether the person you are trying to find is in the area , or has been in that area. I have to say that both Quila and I are really enjoying the training and  the people that we train with . The other members have been so supportive and helpful...it is a pleasure to work with them.
If you are interested in being a hider for Quila let me know...always need hiders

Tracking at Michelle"s May 18

 Kristine and her dog Tila , tracking without any food bait...did a great job

 Michelle and Ash tracking like a pro

 Lorrie and Shamar...who says a afhgan can't track!!

 Me and Quila working the track...lookin good

Lorrie and her shepard Zeva, running the track

We had a great day...the rain left us alone and we had a nice day for tracking. We were out on Michelle's property and it is so beautiful...thanks Michelle for having us.  All the dogs had their noses down and stayed on course. I was particularly proud of Quila when she found the keys for Kristine...I had pulled her off from going the way she wanted once and then let her the next time and she was right on....lesson to learn is to trust our dogs....they know what they are doing even if we don't.

obedience class may 21

This was the first obedience class...it was in the morning and was a beautiful day. There was also a evening class, but unfortunately I did not get pictures as we were very busy...but will next week.
We had a wide variety of dog breeds and ages....from 4 months to almost two years old. This week we focused on learning some of the basics...settle, down, sit, loose leash, and responding to their name when called.. It was great to see whole families partcipating together. The dogs were in a new environment and also around lots of dogs they did not know. All the dogs did well and you could see them all calming down as they got to work. I teach positive reinforcement training and the dogs responded really well to it. Now they all need to practise , pratise and pratise . I can't wait to see all the dogs and their owners next week to see the progress they have made.

GOLDEN RETRIEVERS IN MOTION

First I want to introduce myself and my two golden retrievers. I live in a rural town in Alberta, where I work as a registered nurse. I have Tanen, who is nine years old and Quila , who is two years old this week. With Tanen I have done agility training, she has titles in obedience, rally obedience, her CGN and TDI. She enjoys visiting in nursing homes and is a delight. Quila is my young dog and I have taken a much different approach to her training and have also wanted to do some different things with her. She has her CGN and TDI titles, and will do rally obedience , obedience and agility but I really wanted to try something I have wanted to do for some time now...search and rescue. We tried out and made it! We are now in training and hope to pass our next set of test which will take us off of propation. We also do tracking and we are aiming for our TD title in Sept. That is my crew and I will be posting some of our adventures ....so stay tuned!

Today has been the beginning of a new adventure for my young golden, Quila , and I . I have started teaching obedience classes. It is something that I have wanted to do for some time but it has just never came together. The class went amazing well. Had some great handouts that my breeder willing gave to me....thanks Shannon. Quila managed to be the star and was a great demonstrator for the other dogs. It is allowing me to look at what I have been doing with my training and where I want to go with it. It is so great to be able to share the knowledge I have gained over the years.