Like all stereotypical males, Mr. Wild Dingo enjoys critiquing my driving skills.  Last month I drove Mr. Wild Dingo to the airport. Loki and Juno came with us and provided an eye-opening, err … ear-opening critique of Mr. Wild Dingo’s driving skills. Internet, feel free to make your own judgements. But I feel the impartial critics have spoken. Two out of two backseat driving critics have agreed. Mr. Wild Dingo’s driving skills are hazardous to their health.

And before anyone points out our car is not pet-safe, save your point. A pet-safe car with crates has been on the top of my list and if we weren’t moving, it would have been done a long time ago. No, pet seat belts don’t work with cracker dogs. It took me a half hour to untangle Loki the last time I tried one. And believe me, I’ve tried every adjustment to keep it from tangling. Sigh. Damn cracker.

“This is a nice pad, but it’s a little cramped for my style. Where will I fit the baby grand piano and the water bed?”

See what I mean about his ears not fitting? Seriously though, airline regulations require a 4″ clearance from the top of the head (not the ears) if the dog is standing normally (not hunched like he his here).  This crate wouldn’t pass airline regulations. Still, we use it to train him and will get him a crate for his size, whether we buy, build or rent one!  At school, Loki stays in a canvas crate while I train Juno so he gets used to being in a closed environment in a public location.  He totally digs that crate.

Here is Loki’s 12 Step Program for overcoming crate fear:

1. Admit that the crate is powerless over me.
2. Believe in a Higher Power, also known as The Salmon Cookie, to get me into the crate.
3. Decide to turn my will over to the Salmon Cookie as I understand it’s deliciousness.
4. Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself. (Surprise! I’m perfect!)
5. Admit to myself and the Salmon Cookie that I am not worthy of the Salmon Cookie when I wrongly don’t get into the crate when Mom says “Crate!”
6. Be ready to have the Salmon cookie remove all defects of the crate.
7. Humbly ask the Salmon Cookie to be delicious.
8. Make a list of all the times I did not get in the crate and be willing to be sorry for those wrongs.
9. Make amends to get into the crate whenever possible, even when not asked, to make up for all the times I did not get into the crate.
10. Continue to take inventory of when I didn’t get into the crate and admit it.
11. Pray to the higher Power–the Salmon Cookie–to improve my focus, and for knowledge of its deliciousness.
12. Having been awakened, carry out the message to all crate-o-phobics and continue to practice these principles in my life.

Enjoy the crate-o-phobia bygones video. At the end, there are a few tricks for added entertainment.

“Hey Big Boy, now that you’re an Iron Dog, let’s see how much Iron you’re really made of.”

“Princess, I’m all Iron. Pop says if you want to do a dog trial like me, you could do the Cream Puff trial.”

“Cream Puff, huh? You wanna find out which is stronger, cream or iron?”

“Boo! What a pansy! Scared of a little cream puff are you?”

“No way sister. You just caught me off guard.”

“Excuses…”

“Who you calling cream puff now, Iron Dog?”

Mr. Wild Dingo has dropped the gauntlet and has declared Juno to be a cream puff. There are rumors at school that another Iron Dog trial could be taking place before we move. If that’s true, Juno is stepping up to the plate (if there’s tri-tip on it of course). We’ll show those boys who the real cream puffs in this family are!

It’s been a mental, physical and emotional roller coaster ride getting here. We’ve had most of the required behaviors for this trial for about a year now, except one–the send the dog to the car. So in April, I signed up for the prep classes to clean up all the behaviors and learn the ”send to the car.” 

We had our ups and downs during training and I remember at one point Loki went through a rough period and I threw a pity party for myself claiming we shouldn’t even try.

“Hey mom, try not to slouch. You’re making me look bad!”

Out of the 11 dogs who took the prep classes, 5 passed the certification, 3 did not and 3 did not attempt it. That in itself is a testament to the difficulty of the trial. On the other hand, just going through the training itself is a testament to how well-trained and excellent all the dogs have proven to be both on and off the field. Loki and I could have just as easily failed as we could have passed. In fact there are a few behaviors where Loki’s success rate is about 60%.

Out of the 4 dogs in this trial, 3 are considered “naughty” (including Loki).  The dog sitting right next to Loki in the above photo is considered not only highly dog-aggressive but people- aggressive to the point that dogs or people cannot get too close. Yet his handler is able to participate in this because this dog’s obedience is so strong. During a prep class, Loki and this dog accidentally came nose-to-nose during a criss cross recall exercise. It took one sniff and Loki knew he did not want a piece of him!

“Yo, mom! What’s the hurry?”

Though the trial and certification doesn’t mean anything in the dog trial world, I found it more fun but just as stressful. Unlike most trials, we were allowed to use rewards at the end of exercises. But on the other hand, unlike most trials, there are at least 4 dogs on the field trialing along with us which makes it difficult. Using rewards for completed and correct exercises relieved the stress I felt about Loki losing focus on me and being too focused on and stressed about dogs working along side him.

“Mom, this isn’t safe for a lady like you! I will rescue you!”

So what are the behaviors for an Iron Dog? Beside all off-leash heeling exercises with turns, sits and downs, the dog is also required to do distance work such as a recall with a down or sit half way to me, one in which there is distraction of other dogs running toward them as well.  Also included are two “down-stay” exercises, one where the dog is required to stay in a down while you are out of his sight for 3 minutes.  Off-leash agility, recall out of “play” and a “send the dog to the car” are also some other required behaviors.  The car exercise and “hand signal/no verbal cues” distance exercises were our biggest challenge.

One day I told Mr. Wild Dingo who was watching us train and fail repeatedly at the car exercise: “See him screw up? We are so not going to pass Iron Dog because of him!”  Ya. I was blaming the dog. And I’m proud of it.

“I’m getting in the car!” 
Just like his mom, Loki’s yapper never stops. Not even when he’s running.

“I sure hope the keys are in it. The beach is only 10 minutes away.”

Below is a video of the distance exercises. The entire trial was about an hour long. That’s an hour of having the dog perform perfectly. The video below is 10 minutes for those who are as weird as I am about watching dogs work. I highlighted only the distance exercise and agility.

Our weakest exercise is now our strongest: send the dog to the car.  We had to not only send the dog to the car from 30 feet away, but call the dog out of the car and send him back in. For some reason, the second part, which is the more impressive of the two parts, wasn’t captured on video, so I filmed it at home. You can see it here.

Update:The commands I give to Loki are in German. I use German because my first language is English, therefor when I give him a command, I only want to give him one word with no modifiers. In English or in your first language, it’s too easy to modify your words, such as “down” to “lay down” or “get down.”   Using a different language makes it easier on the handler and the dog: one word=one meaning. The car command is “gein auto” which translates “get in the car.”

Also you’ll note you don’t hear me call him during his off leash recall to down or sit half way. This is because I have a “soft” recall for him. He’s a super fast dog and if I use his “hard” recall, he’ll go so fast that he won’t shut down. You’ll note that I walk further than most because he can be too fast. In my and Loki’s circumstances, being further away works to our advantage than being closer.

Words can’t express how proud I am of  Loki. He completed a nearly perfect trial.   We screwed up one section and needed a re-do because of my inability to follow instructions. But Loki didn’t screw up once. At the end, he knew he accomplished something. You could see it when he jumped with joy. One trainer recently commented, “He’s a lot of dog.”  He was right. He’s an Iron Dog!

 Loki J. Starling, ABC, FeD
Iron Dog! 

“That’s ridiculous. Clearly she can see there are two dogs on this bed.”

“Princess, did you know about this rule?”

“Huskies don’t do rules Big Boy. This duvet sure brings out the gold in my eyes.”

“Foiled again by my genetics! Pop, can we change that rule so I don’t break it?”

This shot is for Khyra. Have you ever seen paws crossed like this before?

All kidding aside: our policy stands. Both dogs know that bed privleges are invitation and special occasions only. That’s why it’s nice to have rules. So when you break them, it feels extra special.

“Ya, that’s right. I’m the man.”

Hey Juno, you ready to show him who’s really the boss around here?

“Sure. Make me an offer I can’t refuse.”

“Geez, I can’t wait for Pop to get home. Now I have to go take one for the team.”

Internet, for the record, Loki is 4 times stronger than Juno, and though he’s a bit of a bully, he dials it way down for her and always self-handicaps. That’s my boy. He knows what’s good for him!

(Editor’s note: using the word “penis” and the song “Beat it” in the same post was completely unconscious. Or not.)

“Err, Mom? Can you please take me to Dogtor Hilary and have this growth removed?”

For anyone who thinks that all I do is make my dogs work all day, check out the video below of what working dogs do AFTER work! There’s olympic zoomies in the end.

Happy Friday Everyone!

“I have no idea what you are referring to, Mom. I found these shoes like this.”

“Ah Principessa! You’re the “naughty dog” for once! The shoe is on the other foot. Err,  rather its in your bellllaaaay! Tee-hee!”
“Stuff it big boy. Evidence is circumstantial. Nobody saw me do it. That is, if you ever want to see your favorite blankey again, then nobody saw me do it.”

Sigh.For all the shoes that Juno has eaten in our house (honestly, I lost count, but I’m down to 2 pairs of Danskos and I had 5 pairs of them), she really does have some redeeming qualities. And thank DOG for that.

You see, she actually is a rare Siberian. They don’t make Siberians like this one. She actually enjoys training. I swear to Dogs! You’ll have to just see for yourself!

THE FIRST SIBERADOR RETRIEVER

Here she is learning to retrieve! Yes, you read it here first: a Siberian Husky who retrieves! The truth is, Juno actually learned to pick up the dumbbell faster than the dumbbell himself, err, I mean the GS/FMD working dog himself, Loki. She put her mouth around it the first chance she saw it and never stopped learning to take it further. Again, I can’t tell you how hard it is to do a true retrieve with a dog. And to do it with a Siberian, well, it just makes me verklempt!  Here she is first learning to pick up the dumbbell:

Did you see her wagging her tail? She loves this stuff! And unlike Loki when he first learned to bring me an object he’d throw the object at me, Juno instinctively placed it in my hands, gently. One time, she even kissed me before her reward! She must have a bit of Labrador in her. Moosh would have loved her!

And here she is stepping up her game in her retrieve work outside. She starts to pick it up off the ground and bring it to me. Plus, she actually manages to walk away from me to get the item and bring it back to me. A true retrieve!

And finally, here is Juno doing some more off-leash heeling work. You can see the Siberian come out in her here when she decides to offer up other behaviors.  She’s so playful about it, it’s hard not to giggle along and reward her for it!

Hmmm… I wonder if I can get her to retrieve my Danskos? What do you think Internet? Should I be so bold to teach her to put my shoes in her mouth? Or do you think she’s already mastered that part?

The last few weeks I’ve been working Loki and Juno on different behaviors. Here’s Loki below (in the videos, not the photo!) doing some retrieve, directed jumping and heeling work. For the record, I work Loki and Juno at the same time and switch off. But the videos are edited for each dog. You can see the progression of work in both dogs as their behavior tightens and they become better. I’ll start today with Loki’s videos and bring you Juno’s later this week.

Please excuse the poor editing and lack of music. I’m not as proficient as the easy-to-entertain-relentlessly huge when making my videos. Let me assure you, it took me hours to go through several days of video rolls and piece out the progressions.

“What? Movies on working? Oh the horror! Wake me up when it’s over!”

First Loki learns to pick up different objects. Don’t be fooled. I’ve been working the PVC pipe for a year. It’s very hard to get a dog to pick that up. And because the objects are not toys, and don’t feel good in their mouth, getting a dog to retrieve anything other than food or a toy is very hard! I don’t have any video of him learning to put the object in his mouth, but I do have it of Juno and you’ll see how it progresses when you see her video.

Then Loki actually uses his noodle and puts two totally different tasks together. I nearly dropped dead. At the end, there’s some fun play and obedience work.

Finally, Loki tightens up all his behaviors and shows me sometimes he just has it!

(Yes, I know it’s March. I know I know my header is not updated! I’m getting to it.)

People wonder why Loki and Juno have such good down-stays. This is why. I left them in another isle and I walked away from them out of sight.

Louie, the little chi-wow-wow, is Loki’s school girlfriend. She’s also in his search class and kicks butt in search. They have a real cute bond between each other.

Here’s a dobbie who’s “yahooing.” She blew off her handler and is running amok. Notice all the downed dogs are interested but not moving out of their downs. They all have a lot more time invested in training than the dobbie and know better than to get up.  Lots of times the stress is so high for a dog in school they just burst and they go into avoidance through play. 
Of course, this has never happened to Loki or Juno (snicker, snicker, NOT!).

Later everyone recalls their dog one at a time. Little Louie leaves her boy, ‘cuz momma is calling. Notice Loki and Juno haven’t moved though almost all the dogs have recalled. What you can’t see is me holding a skillet making all kinds of threats to them.

“Cupcake, do you think working us like this after hours in a warehouse is conducive with labor laws?”
“Muzzle it Big Boy, I think I smell macaroni and cheese in isle 7.”

In addition to the awesome training we’re doing at K-9 Clinic, I’ve started Loki with a secondary trainer for Schutzhund ring sport. I’ve had four or five trainers tell me he should do the sport as he has the drive for it. There are days I think he does and then there are days I think he doesn’t. I’m actually not sure how well he and I will do in the sport. I think he’d do well if he had an excellent handler, but I’m so new and make so many mistakes. One thing is for certain. He’s an excellent dog to learn how train a dog. He learns fast and is very forgiving of my handling mistakes.

Juno is quite unusual for a Siberian. She practically demands that I train her as well and in the same tasks as Loki. You should see her sulk when I’m working him.  I think it would be funny if I could train a Siberian to do all the same tasks Loki can do in Schutzhund. I think she could probably do most of  tasks, but not all as some obviously require specific natural drives that her breed doesn’t have.

I’ve also been training Loki’s structured retreive, which I may add, is super hard. It’s not like throwing a ball and having the dog get it. It’s about having the dog understand that you want him to get a specific non-toy object, sometimes something they don’t enjoy having in their mouths, and bring it to you. I’ll have a video of it this week. Juno’s picked up the game as well, which completely shocked me.

Below is a video of Loki and Juno being trained on some basic heeling work and target touching. The video below is 10 minutes long. Note, I train two dogs at the same time. One stays in a down-stay, while the other works. Believe me, this wasn’t an intentional trainng method. I had to learn to train this way or my house would be destroyed by a certain Siberian waiting her turn.

Enjoy how funny the “sibe” in Juno comes out in the end! If nothing, she’s certainly an entertainer!