Aron & Madison's Training Blog

BWDC Trial

2008-12-02T13:40:00.003-04:00

Bermuda Working Dog Club
Schutzhund Trial - 21-22 Nov 08
Glenn Stephenson Judge

Dennis, Aron - BH, Sch1 90, 81, 84 - 255 - High Track, High Obed, High Trial
Ann Sousa, Basko - BH, Sch1 84, 70, 87 - 238 - High Prot
Jojo, Nero - BH, High BH

Trial Photos

Long Hiatus

2008-12-02T13:39:00.000-04:00

Been spending all my net time on Facebook.. Training still going along.

Back from Vegas and Good Obedience

2008-01-27T20:26:00.000-04:00

I'm back.. It was a good week in Vegas for the World of Concrete trade show. The seminars were good and the show huge. It took 3 days of walking to just to see it all. Stayed at the Wynn, saw Le Reve and Mystere. Unreal shows...

We had a great obedience session this morning at 4 Hilton Drive. Will Kempe brought his boxer and pit, Scott brought his GSD and Ann worked Basco.

I worked Aron in heeling, and 3" oversized jumps, retrieves with the Sch3 dumbbell and the voraus.

Obedience and Protection

2008-01-08T19:43:00.000-04:00

Great session this Sunday morning, with a pile of new pictures on the flickr account.

Ann worked Basco, Jojo brought Nero & Nitro, Scott brought Max, and Peter brought his puppy.

Sunday Morning Protection

2007-12-24T11:51:00.000-04:00

A good session at 4 Hilton Drive. It was a little tight but we managed to get all 6 blinds up and run.

Ann worked Basco, Jojo worked Gunner and Nero, Jermaine worked Capone.

Aron had a little conceptual difficulty with the blinds at first, its just so easy to skip when the angles are that much tighter and the blinds that much closer together. The drive just got higher and higher as the frustration built and he ended up running really well.

Tracking

2007-11-12T16:59:00.001-04:00

First track in 6 months and Aron nailed it like a superstar. I laid a full length Sch3 track, with 4 articles. He was perfect for the first half and first 2 articles and then my excitement and praise got him a little more excited and he was a little fast for the second half. Although he still hit the articles and cornered like a champ.

Jojo tracked Nero and Gunner and Ann tracked Basco. We tracked at the PHC practice field this morning.

Protection

2007-11-11T21:06:00.001-04:00

The time change necessitated moving the start time back to 3:30 for the rest of winter. It was a good session at Port Royal School although we were dodging raindrops. Ann brought Basco, Jojo had both Nero & Gunner, and Jermiane worked Capone.

Aron ran the blinds very fast today in both sessions. We worked the side and back transports and he was good, borderline wanting to glance at me instead of the helper but he stayed watching Jermaine.

Police K9 Demo

2007-11-03T22:09:00.000-03:00

Had a blast doing the decoy work for the Police Demo on Monday as part of Police Week for hundreds of primary school kids.

Protection - with Chloe supervising

2007-10-13T19:56:00.000-03:00

It was a great session up at Port Royal School. Ann brought Basco, Jojo brought both Nero & Gunner, Jermaine worked Capone, Scott had both Chico and Max, Jeanette & Mark brought Nancy & Cesar, and of course Brian brought the 3 9month old Mals, the momma mal Nalla and Christine with the whole crew.

Aron did a little obedience with the blinds up, some heeling and a couple voraus, while we waited for the rest of the crew to show up. We did 2 sessions of protection until we ran out of daylight. He ran the blinds really well. good hold and barks. Good out from distance and solid side transports.

Protection

2007-10-11T18:53:00.000-03:00

Protection

2007-10-11T18:06:00.000-03:00

Protection

2007-10-06T21:47:00.000-03:00

Really good session Saturday evening. It was a full house with Ann bringing Basco, Jojo had both Gunner & Nero, Jermiane worked Capone and his female, Brian brought the young Mals and Smiler had the Chocolate and the pup. Ingrid worked up a BBQ with the assistance of Antoinette and Wayne.

Aron ran the blinds well. The second trip was faster. Good hold and bark in the blind. clean solid bite. Fast escape bite. Clean out from distance. The side transport was really nice, once in the bite he got caught up in the whiplash and it pulled his dewclaw, recovered well and bit again hard.

Protection

2007-09-09T09:04:00.000-03:00

Its been a while since I've entered but training has been continuing. With some really good sessions.

It was a good time at Port Royal School. Ann brought Basco, Jojo brought Nero and Gunner, Mark & Jeanette brought Cesaer & Nancy, Scott worked Chico and Max and Amanda brought her 15wk GSD Ozzie. Jermaine worked the front half and Jojo did the second round.

Aron ran the blinds well, lifted Jermaine off the ground on the run out bite. He did a good series of open field calloffs and finished with a solid long bite.

Helmut Raiser's Obedience WUSV 2004

2007-08-01T09:07:00.000-03:00

Chloe on the boat

2007-07-23T21:22:00.000-03:00

She is just too cute...

Obedience

2007-07-19T21:10:00.000-03:00

Thursday night was a good session up the house. Jojo brought Nero & Gunner, Ann brought Basco and Margaret brought Riggs.

I worked Aron over the jump and AFrame, some heeling and of course the voraus.

Obedience

2007-07-05T20:41:00.000-03:00

Good session at Hilton Drive tonight. Ann came and Jojo brought both Nero & Gunner.

I brought the AFrame and Jump up from the warehouse during the day and we worked on the equipment as well as heeling and send outs.

Training without sleep

2007-06-28T22:24:00.000-03:00

Theres been lots of training in the last 4 weeks but no writing.... I have been remiss.

The schedule has been tweaked a little with the addition of Tuesday evenings at Port Royal School for Obedience and Protection and Thursdays have effectively moved from the NEC at Vesey St to my new place in Paget.

TOnight was a good turnout with Ann bringing Basco, Brian bringing Nalla, Clifford although the twins and Shannan didnt bite much lol. and Jermaine came.

I worked Aron on heeling some but mostly on the send out.

Chloe Helena Fagundo

2007-05-31T07:52:00.000-03:00

She's here !!!

Chloe Helena Fagundo was born yesterday morning at 10:20, weighing in at 8lbs4, filling up the cot at 19".

Obedience

2007-05-15T21:09:00.000-03:00

We started a new schedule this week with Jojo talking to a number of the members and arranging for the field.

We met up at Port Royal School for a 7:00 start. Ann brought Basco, Jojo brought Gunner and Nero, Margaret brought Riggs, and Cliff brought his new male.

I did a BH type heeling pattern on leash including the group and the in-motions. While Jojo worked Nero Aron did a rock solid long down.

Protection

2007-05-12T21:06:00.000-03:00

Good session at Port Royal School.

Aron ran the 6 blinds first and last. In the middle we did several open field call backs using the method given by Wallace Payne. Thank you Wallace, it lays a good foundation and seems to work well for the first try at it.

Obedience

2007-05-04T15:22:00.000-03:00

Jojo and I met at PHC field this afternoon and had a quick obedience session.

I worked Aron in heeling, transitional speeds, sits, downs, in motions and a couple long recalls.

Tracking

2007-04-29T15:22:00.000-03:00

Southside this Sunday morning, Ann brought Basco and Kay tracked Loki.

Aron ran a good track or 3 legs each approx 150yrds, inorder to make it all fit the corners were a little tighter than 90deg ending up with an almost triangle shaped track.

Madison ran a fairly quick u shaped short track, of course cleaning up the food every 25 paces or so.

Protection

2007-04-28T15:17:00.000-03:00

We had a good session at Port Royal School Saturday.

I have been waiting for Aron to try a shortcut on the blinds after weeks of flawless running and today was the day I was ready for. He was stopped, made to follow the correct pattern and after a couple more trys freed back up and was running smoothly.

Obedience

2007-04-26T22:49:00.000-03:00

It was a quiet night at Vesey St. Ann brought Basco.

I worked Aron in heeling and voraus. He seems to have picked up a hesitation in the Voraus from somewhere. I'm not sure how but just about every other send out he stopped about 50ft out in a dead still stand waiting..... not sure what for. We seem to have gotten over it but it was a bit confusing I must admit. I just pulled him backwards to the starting position for that send out and sat him, fused him and did it again. He eventually ran through wide full open again.

Protection

2007-04-21T22:02:00.000-03:00

Light rain showers came off and on throughout this afternoons training session at Port Royal School. Ann trained Basco, Jermaine worked Capone, William Welton brought both Kiara and Errol, Jeanette brought Nancy and Jojo worked both Nero and Gunner.

Aron did well running 6 blinds very cleanly and quickly twice in each session. In the last run he did a nice hold and bark, not his strongest ever but good, a clean call out back to heel, and a super strong escape bite.

Obedience

2007-04-19T22:10:00.000-03:00

Fairly quick session at Vesey St tonight. Ann worked Basco, Jojo worked both Nero and Gunner.

Aron worked soe heeling and basic in motion stuff. I was tired so I didnt push the complex stuff. Madison did real well with some heeling, recalls and in motion exercises.

Protection

2007-04-07T21:44:00.000-03:00

Well it was a quick session for me on Saturday at Port Royal School field.

I ran Aron 6 blinds and he was fast and clean. He did a good hold and bark in blind 6 and we worked a little on transports.

Wedgewood

2007-04-04T07:23:00.000-03:00

This is the new place. Doesnt that look a lot like a training field with all the banana tree gone...

Tracking

2007-04-01T19:00:00.000-03:00

It was a good morning at Southside. Ann tracked Basco on 3 tracks, Kay tracked Loki.

Aron ran his track well. It was 300yrds, 3 corners, 3 articles, I was between 15-30' back on the leash. The conditions were very difficult for us. It was quite dry and windy so you couldnt see the track from behind. He ended up just off a couple times and I couldnt see it right away.

Protection

2007-03-31T21:45:00.000-03:00

It was a cool afternoon up at Port Royal School. Ann brought Basco, Aaron brought Uzi, Jermaine worked both Capone and the young bitch, Mark & Jeanette brought both Nancy & Cesear.

Aron ran the blinds beautifully, under distraction from the helper, he was clean and fast. We did a couple side transport bites and a couple back up bites ending on an escape. In the second session he again ran the blinds perfectly.

Tracking

2007-03-25T11:05:00.000-03:00

Souhtside this morning, Ann & Basco, Kay & Loki.

Aron ran a 300yrd track, 3 articles, at the end of the 30' line. He did really well. It was good conditions, the dew on the ground meant I could clearly see the track from the end of the line and verbally growl/correct if he was even a couple inches off.

Basco is really getting the hang of things. He is tracking approximately 75% of the track without trying to look up or to the side of the steps. There are still corrections required to empahsise the behaviours required.

Protection

2007-03-24T21:27:00.000-03:00

It was a long session at Port Royal, ok not really but it felt that way to my old out of shape ass. Jermaine and Jojo are both injured so I worked all the dogs in both sessions. Ann brought Basco, Aaron brought Uzi, Mark and Jeanette brought Cesaer and Nancy and Jojo had both Gunner & Nero.

Worked Aron on the blinds, ran 6 blinds several times. It was not the easiest thing to do but it worked with Jojo cracking the whip from blind 6 and then when I sent Aron to blind 5 I had to run to blind 6, put on the sleeve and be ready for him to round the corner.

Tracking

2007-03-24T09:31:00.000-03:00

Tracking at Southside this morning. Ann tracked Basco, Kay tracked Loki.

I ran Aron on a 300yrd 3 leg trackw ith 2 articles. I worked from about 20' back on the line. I had a problem with the first corner when he cut it and I had to quickly get him back and restart. That reaction stressed him and it took him a good 150 paces to settle back into things although he continued to track the concentration wasnt complete.

5 Year Anniversary

2007-03-23T09:30:00.000-03:00

Wow. 5 years already.....

Obedience

2007-03-22T22:26:00.000-03:00

Good practice at Vesey St. Ann brought Basco, and Jojo brought both Gunner & Nero. Ali walked Madison from home so I didnt train her, 4 miles was enough..

I worked Aron on heeling and in motion exercises. Nicks on the electric collar for corrections and he responded well, working off leash for the entire time. finished up with a good recall...

Tracking

2007-03-18T16:27:00.000-03:00

Ran tracks at Southside this morning. Ann tracked Basco, and Kay tracked Loki and Aaron tracked Uzi.

Aron ran a clean 300yd track. I find it a little tricky to correct any mistakes or casting he might do from 16' back but I guess I gotta figure it out so I can move the competition length (33' leash).

Basco has improved tremendously with the 2 lines, Ann holding the long l ine on the fursaver and with me working the short line on the prong collar. He had moments of brilliance and we didnt allow any weaving, casting or avoidance. The only thing to keep aware of is the leaping to the article for safety from 5-6' out. I am hopefull that this will correct itself somewhat as he catches on and becomes less stressed on the track.

Protection

2007-03-17T22:18:00.000-03:00

I got to Port Roayl a little before 4:00 so I didnt get any obedience work in before the protection session. Just as well as both Jojo and Jermaine are injured so I had to work all the dogs in both sessions. Not a big deal normally but I am still fasting (Baha'i fast is 19 days, no food or drink from sunrise to sunset) so I got kinda dry and tired by the end.

Aron did a good job with the blinds and the 2nd session he ran it smooth and clean and I put him up after just one run.

Obedience

2007-03-15T22:15:00.000-03:00

Good Session at Vesey St. Daylight savings has kicked in and its nice to be able to work without the lights. Jojo brought Gunner & Nero, Ann brought Basco, Aaron brought out Uzi (malinois) and Mark and Jeanette brought Nancy and Cesaer.

Worked Aron on a bit of heeling and focus. Mostly worked with the others for the evening.

AGM

2007-03-13T22:14:00.000-03:00

This evening was the BWDC Annual General Meeting. There was a new board voted in, plans for the upcoming year were discussed and off we go....

Obedience & Protection

2007-03-10T22:10:00.000-04:00

It was a good session at Port Royal School. We worked Obedience for the first hour and then Protection.

Aron ran 3 blinds once clean and then we moved to 6 blinds. He wasnt completely clean but he completed the excercise correctly 3 times.

Tracking

2007-03-10T16:12:00.000-04:00

We met at Southside to track this morning.

Aron ran a good clean track at 300yards, 2 corners and 3 articles.

We switched Basco over to 2 lines and really emphasised his precision and had to overcome some attempts at avoidance. He made pretty good progress over the two tracks.

Wallace Payne & Claudia Romard Seminar - Protection

2007-03-09T07:20:00.000-04:00

Wallace ran the protection sessions and boy did we make some good progress.

Ann & Basco tightened up the 6 blinds. By the fourth day he looked awesome.

Aron had a bit of a thicker skull. His blind search improved tremendously but we got to 3 real solid under distraction, probably moving up to 6 over the next several sessions.

Nero and Gunner both worked well for Jojo and made considerable progress. I found Gunner to be particularly good after 6 months off for a broken leg and another 6 months off for heartworm.

Obedience

2007-03-08T20:21:00.000-04:00

Thursday night at Vesey St. Ann brought Basco, Joj brought Gunner & Nero, and Debbie brought out her GSD. I had to run after opening the gate for a business dinner, but I hear they had a good session.

Wallace Payne & Claudia Romard Seminar - Obedience

2007-03-08T12:19:00.000-04:00

Claudia taught the obedience sections of the seminar.

I worked Aron lightly on his heeling, retrieve and send out. Talking through the exercises, breaking them down into steps and touching on how to make them better.

Everyone made progress particularly with some of the basic skills you forget to focus on. Some problems were attacked head on while in other cases a work around was found. The best part were the discussions between all on all the various aspects and approaches available, the positives and negatives of each and why a particular approach was best suited ofr each individual.

Wallace Payne & Claudia Romard Seminar - Tracking

2007-03-08T08:16:00.000-04:00

We alternated locations between Southside & Malabar, I know opposite ends of the island right, but can't be too choosy.

I worked on Aron's tracking. Got out to the end of the line, worked with one piece of food every 25-45 paces, sharp corners, article per leg. After the first three days we let him rest on the fourth morning, recognising that we were doing a lot of training in the other disciplines four days in a row.

Ann worked Basco over some tracks.

Jojo worked both Nero and Gunner (dobes). They both did well and made good progress.

Kay ran a good AKC style track with Loki(GSD) on Sunday.

Mark and Jeanette made lots of progress tracking Nancy and Cesaer(GSD).

Tyson(pit) made Frank proud as he drug him down the track after not tracking for several months.

Margaret tracked Riggs(GSD) for all four days and he made good progress.

Aaron tracked his Mali on Sat and Sunday and she did really well.

Debbie tracked her GSD all four days and he was starting to look pretty good by the end of it.

Hiatus

2007-03-08T08:05:00.000-04:00

Well kids. I'm back. Work has been just crazy lately. Still training, the seminar last weekend was awesome more on that later.

Tracking

2007-01-28T18:45:00.000-04:00

The wind of the last week has died down and we got some good tracks in this morning at Southside. Ann tracked Basco and Kay tracked Loki.

I wanted to work on stretching out Aron's concentration. I laid a long 3 leg track. He worked tight until we got to the 4th article on the last leg. He started to track past the article and I gave him a bit harder of a correction on th prong than I should have. He downed and then went into avoidance when I restarted him. I came up alongside him, got him going, and heaped praise on for the next article. He ended the track very positively so it all ended well.

World of Concrete 2007

2007-01-27T18:37:00.000-04:00

Great show. http://www.worldofconcrete.com/

The bricklayer competition was a bunch of fun, we tried out some good equipment, met up with some companies we either are distributors for or want to become distributors for. Lots of walking, 85,000 attendees.

World of Concrete

2007-01-23T08:36:00.000-04:00

Off to Vegas for the World of Concrete trade show.

Tracking

2007-01-21T18:28:00.000-04:00

Good morning of tracking at Southside. Ann tracked Basco, Kay tracked Loki.

Obedience and Protection

2007-01-20T19:12:00.000-04:00

Good afternoon of training at Port Royal School. Ann orught Basco, Jojo brought Nero and Gunner, Mark & Jeanette brought Cesar & Nancy. Jermaine came to do helper work.

Tracking

2007-01-20T10:09:00.000-04:00

Early morning at Southside. Ann brought Basco, and Kay tracked Loki.

I ran Aron on a long track with 8 corners, an article of each leg.

Madison ran a 2 leg track with 6 articles.

Obedience

2007-01-18T22:07:00.000-04:00

Good quick night of training up at Vesey St. Ann brought Basco.

I forgot to do the entry at the time so I dont remember exactly what we did sorry folks...

Seminar

2007-01-18T11:32:00.000-04:00

There will be a Schutzhund Seminar from 1st to the 4th of March. Mark Calenders now.

Wallace Payne, South Metro Atlanta Schutzhund Club, 3rd at WUSV World Championships 2006, 4th at WUSV World Chapionships 2005. many more accomplishments.

South Metro Atlanta Schutzhund Club
Wallace's 2006 WUSV Protection Routine

Claudia Romard, Van Gogh kennels. Accomplishments will be added as I get a chance to do the research.

Van Gogh Kennels
YouTube Videos of Claudia

This is shaping up to be a great seminar building on the Wallace Payne and Rhonda Southern Seminar of Oct06 and moving us forward.

Tracking

2007-01-14T16:02:00.000-04:00

It was a good Sunday morning at Southside. Ann tracked Basco and Kay tracked Loki.

I worked Aron very similarly as yesterday. A fairly long track, 8 corners, articles on most legs. The wrinkle of today was the car which drove up and parked on top of Kay's track, then out got a couple with 2 pitbull mixes. They began playing ball off leash all over Kay's track. Thankfully they noticed us as we approached the beginning of our track and got the dogs on leash. Of course then Aron had to track with these 2 crazies dragging at the leashes trying to get closer while the woman is asking can my dog come and say hi.... While he was tracking. Afraid the answer was NO. To his credit he responded well to " no such" and he put his head back down and completed the track ignoring the dogs completely.

Obedience & Protection

2007-01-13T20:53:00.000-04:00

It was a good afternoon at Port Royal School. Ann brought Basco, Jojo brought Nero & Gunner, Mark and Jeanette brought Nancy & Cesear and Jermaine came.

We had all 6 blinds set up and of course Aron and Basco had to run them all. I worked a little control in heeling under distraction, then ran the 6 blinds also under distraction. A fiery but clean hold and bark and a good solid bite. We worked a couple good sessions.

Tracking

2007-01-13T11:46:00.000-04:00

We had a quick Sat morning of tracking at Southside before running for the office. Ann brought Basco and Kay tracked Loki.

Taking on board comments received I back off the step offs completely and work again on corners. I laid a track with 8 corners, on most of the legs I put an article around the midpoint. I was putting particular emphasis on his accuracy especially on the corners. The articles allow me to laid a longer track, getting more corners in while staying inside his attention span. It worked out well. I am also working him at 15 and 21 paces between food. The corners were mostly in the middle between food drops.

Tracking

2007-01-12T15:43:00.000-04:00

Thank you to Wallace. Reading over the blog waved a couple red flags and I received an email helping to clarify my understanding of a few things. Hopefully I am on a better track now.

Tracking

2007-01-07T12:42:00.000-04:00

We met again at Southside this morning to track. Ann brought Basco and Kay tracked Loki.

I worked Madison again on articles with 8 on the track. She worked them well after the first 2 corrections.

Aron worked a shortened track with no articles and 4 oddities. He worked the 1st step of corner cleanly over a gap of 18", the second was a step of to the right of 18" he slowed at the step off point and immediately moved to the right and kept going. The third was a corner to the left which he took a little time to find. I think he was getting tired from the focusing and he downed at the step off point, took a couple seconds then started on command and was clean around the corner. The last left corner was clean, with him stopping on the step off sweeping his nose and finding and continuing down the track.

Obedience

2007-01-06T21:37:00.000-04:00

It was good quick evening at Port Royal School. We are on a schedule to make it to Mark Monk's surprise 50th birthday party. Ann brought Basco, Mark and Jeanette brought Cesaer and Nancy, Jojo brought both Gunner and Nero and Jermaine and Kay came.

The first session was interesting as Jojo and Jermaine werent at he field yt so I worked the first half including Aron. Ann held the leash and he was very good for her, ran the 2 blinds clean even under distraction from me in 2. Good hold and bark, good escape bites and 2 good courage test bites. The second session we basically repeated the exercises with Jermaine working him.

Tracking

2007-01-06T12:07:00.000-04:00

We took a big step forward in tracking today. Ann brought Bas and Kay tracked Loki.

I worked Madison on a short track with 6 articles. It has been a long time since I worked articles with her and she was doing her best to pretend she didnt know what to do. A couple quick pops and she remembered, did a couple good downs and then tried again to ignore it.

I moved forward with Aron into the proofing and dealing with oddities phase. I shortened the track up and worked with 4 articles and 2 oddities. The first was a step off corner. I left a 24" gap and a 90deg corner. He got to the end of the scent, I held firmly and he worked it out without moving his feet to far off the step off point. The second was a sideways step off. Again I left a gap about 24" stepped from my right foot, 24" to the left and continued the track in the same direction. He worked it out moving slightly off the step off point and then he found it and continued with focus. In the future I will shorten the gap down to 18" or less, so that he can find the new scent without having to leave the step of point with his feet.

Obedience

2007-01-04T21:47:00.000-04:00

We met at Vesey St under the lights for obedience. Ann brought Basco and Andy brought his 4 month old Dobe Marley.

I worked Aron on focused heeling, sits and downs, all under distraction with Ann heeling closely with Basco. I also worked in the second session on some flat retrieves. It was the first time I really worked the retrieves without vet wrap on the dumbell. Originally I put it on because he was hitting it so hard he would get a little antsy about the hardness.

Tracking - End of the Winter Camp

2006-12-31T16:27:00.000-04:00

We had a great tracking day this morning at Southside. All the dogs did really well. Ann tracked Basco over 1000yds with many articles, Kay ran Loki over 1500yds, and Tyson worked three tracks with corners moving up to food every 3rd step. Frank did an excellent job of focusing him in and the results after 2 days of tracking really were great.

Aron worked his 550yd track well. I used 8 articles again, 2 plastic (he indicated both today), 2 wood, 2 carpet and 2 leather (thanks Kay for the loaners). The wind picked as a rain squall came through while we were halfway down the track. Kay, Ann and Frank managed to hang on and watch the rest of the track and Aron didnt even pick up his head to notice that it was raining.

Madison ran her short track well. I will have to run her next one with many articles to get her back on them. She tried to simply run over it so I will have to work on it for next time.

Check out these shots from this morning: (the first 2 shots are older)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/22448845@N00/sets/72157594341187689/show/

Obedience & Protection

2006-12-30T20:20:00.000-04:00

Port Royal School field at 3:00 Saturday. Ann brought Basco, Jojo brought Nero and Gunner, Frank brought Tyson and Jermaine brought Capone. Ingrid, Ann and Kay came for moral support. lol..

Aron and Madison both worked well in Obedience. I worked on focus and heeling. Madison in particular is getting to point of being exclusively reliant on the food. This is not the end of the world because I don't plan on competing her but it shows up as minor temperamental issues elsewhere so I worked her solely with compulsion. Very little was needed but it was good to get her to once again realize that commands need to be obeyed no matter what.

With Aron I went back to the 4 blinds after yesterdays issues. He ran the four fairly well. and I was able to move onto a couple really good hold and barks with the last ending with a drag bite while Jermaine ran out of the blind.

Check out a couple shots of Jojo working his dobes:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?d=taken-20061229-20061231&w=22448845%40N00&q=jojo&m=tags

Tracking

2006-12-30T12:13:00.000-04:00

Saturday Morning at Southside: Frank joined us with Tyson today, Kay brought Loki, Ann bought Basco.

Aron ran another 500yd track with 8 articles, 2 wood, 2 carpet, 2 plastic and 2 gloves in lieu of leather. He worked it really well, but for some reason completely ignored one of the plastic articles. It was half of a lid, the first half of the same lid he indicated perfectly, but for some reason this one article had absolutely no meaning to him. It was very odd.

Tracking - Obedience & Protection

2006-12-29T16:02:00.000-04:00

Friday morning at Southside: Ann brought Basco, Jojo brought Gunner & Nero.

Aron ran a 500yd track with 8 articles. Short cut grass, quite dry. He did well, the pulling has eased and he has slowed himself so I will do the next coupe tracks with the same prong and perhaps move to either the larger prong or the fur saver soon.

We finished up at Southside around 9:00 and made the drive up to Port Royal School. After a quick stop for a couple bacon, egg, cheese, avocado sandwiches we got up there for 10:15 or so. Jermaine joined us with Capone.

We worked all the dogs in obedience, particularly working on focus, heeling and distractions.

We started protection around 11:20 and ran through all the dogs twice.

Aron fooled me somewhat. I never would have thought he would have had such a hard time running four blinds. We introduced a bunch of distraction from the helper and its the first time in about 3 months we have set up the four blinds. He stayed under control and never got a bite out of turn but it took a couple repetitions to get it really clean.

Tracking

2006-12-26T16:52:00.000-04:00

Boxing Day Tracking at Astwood Cove. Ann brought Basco, Kay brought Loki and Jojo ran 2 tracks with Nero.

Aron ran a 500yd track on the side of a sloping curved hill. 250yds out and back running across the hill with winds of 20kts and changing grass from short crabgrass to short azoyza. @ Articles and 4 corners. I did shorten up the line about 3/4 of the way through the 3rd leg as he started to quarter slightly. He settled back in once over the tractor pathway and finished well.

Tracking

2006-12-24T16:21:00.001-04:00

Tracking at Southside this morning went really well. Ann brought Basco, Kay brought Loki. Jojo tracked Nero at PHC.

Aron ran a 500yd U-shaped track with 3 articles. I laid the track in a different configuration than he has seen before with moving up 5 plateaus on short cut grass.

Protection

2006-12-23T21:14:00.000-04:00

It was a good session up at Port Royal School. Ann brought Basco, Jermaine had Capone, Jojo brought Nero and Kirista brought Koda (I finally remembered the pup's name)

We worked Aron on simple blinds, with a couple open field hold & barks, and some back transports. As we were just starting the back transports we had the helpers walking backwards so they could reward with the reattack when the dog was in correct position.

Tracking

2006-12-23T16:03:00.000-04:00

This morning at Southside we ran some good tracks. Kay ran Loki at an hour with crosses over Basco, Aron and Madisons tracks as well as across the roadway. Ann ran Basco across on a long track.

Aron ran a 400yd track with 3 articles and 2 corners. He stayed pretty close on the track, the worst case he was tracking with his right legs on the left footprints.

Madison ran hers fairly clean.

Obedience

2006-12-21T20:52:00.000-04:00

Ann brought Basco & I had both Aron & Madison out at Vesey St.

We worked a little heeling and then worked retrieves. Aron made a lot of progress and Madison did a couple good runs.

Holiday Training

2006-12-21T15:38:00.000-04:00

My company is closed until the New Year. A bunch of the club members are in similar positions so we are doing a Winter Camp. Also known as train when you can.

Thursday 21Dec06 - Obedience at Vesey St
Saturday 23Dec06 - Tracking @ Southside & Protection @ Port Royal School
Sunday 24Dec06 - Tracking @ Southside
Tuesday 26Dec06 - Tracking @ Astwood Cove
Wednesday 27Dec06 - Tracking @ Southside & Obedience @ Southside
Friday 29Dec06 - Tracking @ Southside & Protection @ Port Royal School
Saturday 30Dec06 - Tracking @ Southside & Protection @ Port Royal School
Sunday 31Dec06 - Tracking @ Southside

Tracking

2006-12-03T13:01:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning up at Southside, Kay brought Loki, Ann had Basco.

I ran Aron on a long 2 legged track with 3 articles, and one corner. The first leg was 200 yards with all three articles, there was a left hand turn and about 50 yards to the finish. He stayed focused and worked the track well. I had to slow him a little just before the corner and he took it really cleanly.

Madison worked her track well, she completely ignored the article until I gave her a correction (on the fur saver collar)

Protection

2006-12-02T19:00:00.000-04:00

Saturday afternoon at Port Royal School. Ann brought Basco, Jojo came with Nero and Jermiane came alone.

We worked Aron in focus heeling, hold and barks, escapes.

Montreal

2006-12-02T09:34:00.000-04:00

Ali and I took a week long trip to Montreal. Its a cool city, never been before. Hockey game, Mozart concert at the Basilica, wandering around Vieux Montreal, good restaurants.... A good time was had.

Obedience

2006-11-23T22:57:00.000-04:00

It was a fast session as both Ann and I had dinners to get to.

I worked both dogs twice, heeling, in motion exercises and recalls. I put the electric collar on Aron, nicks if he lost focus, huge praise for looking back after the correction.

Tracking

2006-11-19T17:26:00.000-04:00

Tracking went really well this morning out at Southside. Ann came with Basco and Jojo managed to bring Nero out. It was really good to see him out. I needed help finishing up Ann's choc chip cookies.

Aron ran a really good 300yrd track. He wroked it with concentration from beginning to end, the food pieces were 11 paces for the most part with some up to 15 and 21 at the end. One corner was a little challenging, unsure why other than a strong wind over a rise, the other 3 corners were good.

Madison ran a really good track at over 1 hour old that Ann laid with almost no food on it.

10th Anniversary Dinner

2006-11-18T23:23:00.000-04:00

Bermuda Working Dog CLub 10th Anniversary
Well the constitution is 10 years old... The club actually started training 12 years ago.

It was a really good dinner at Harbourfront. We had 20 people and a presentation was made to Leo our Founding President.

Obedience & Protection

2006-11-18T18:07:00.000-04:00

Good, fairly quick session at Port Royal School this afternoon. Ann brought Basco, Jojo came with Nero, Jermaine came without dogs and Mark and Jeanette brought Ceasar and Nancy. We managed to finished by 5:30 to give everyone time to get home, cleaned up and to the 10th anniversary dinner at 7:00.

Ran two blinds with Aron. Lots of distraction from the helper outside of blind#2 while he was running to #1. Worked well, focused him on returning to me before being sent on for the runout bite as a reward.

Tracking

2006-11-18T12:54:00.000-04:00

I am trying to get 2 days of tracking back to back on a consistent basis so I met Ann out at Southside this morning to track.

Aron ran his 300+yrd track, 3 corners, piece of food 9 and 11 paces, one article. He did quite well, although it took about 50 paces to really settle in and work tight to the track. I'm not sure if the ground cover was a factor as the first 40-50 paces was very gravelly with sparse grass.

Obedience

2006-11-16T20:22:00.000-04:00

Thursday night at Vesey St was a good session. Ann brought Basco and Paula brought out her 12wk old Dobie for some foundation works.

I worked Aron on attention, heeling, sits and downs in motion and a recall.

New Calender added

2006-11-15T21:30:00.000-04:00

Tracking

2006-11-12T16:57:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning out at Southside was perfect weather for tracking with a little overcast keeping the temp down.

I ran Aron on a 45 min old track, about 300 paces, one left, one right. He did alright but I think I moved to 15 and 21 paces between food a little fast as I started to see some quartering which I then had to correct. I will move back to 11 and 15 next week.

Obedience & Protection

2006-11-11T20:45:00.000-04:00

Saturday afternoon at Port Royal School was a good relaxed session. Ann was of course the first at the field with Basco, Jojo brought Nero out and Jermaine came with Capone. It was good to see Clifford for a short time.

We worked on a blinds under distraction excercise. THe helper stood down in the middle of the field while the hanlder ran 2 blinds and released the dog for a long bite after a correct run. It served to highlight the work needed to proof the excercise against distraction. We adjusted the level of stimulation, ie whip and movement, to strengthen the dog without making it too difficult for the individuals.

Wallace Payne at the 2006 WUSV Worlds

2006-11-08T16:10:00.000-04:00

Wallace Payne
Merlin von Conneforde place 3rd at 2006 WUSV !!
South Metro Atlanta Schutzhund Club

Tracking - 94 pts
Obedience - 90 points
Protection - 98 points (High Protection)

Tracking

2006-11-05T10:14:00.000-04:00

Kay brought Loki, Ann brought Basco and Frank brought Tyson.

I worked to build on the tracking work from the seminar with Aron. I laid a Sch2 length track with 1 right and 1 left corner. He worked through it very well. I made the mistake of leading him by about half a step before the first corner, but Kay called me on it and the second corner he nailed perfectly. THe changes in line handling that Wallace recomemded are working really well to improve to overall picture.

Protection or Obedience

2006-11-04T21:53:00.000-04:00

Well Saturday's protection session became a tag team obedience training session with only Ann and I bringing dogs.

Wallace Payne Seminar

2006-10-30T10:58:00.000-04:00

Well it has been a busy, fun and educational weekend. The level of training was very high and attendence was at an all time high.

Wallace and Rhonda did an amazing job of working through all the dogs and handlers of all levels. The emphasis was firmly placed on first setting the goal towards which you are training, then tailor the methods to best fit these goals, the dog's drives, the handler's ability and experience.

Aron made progress in leaps and bounds. His tracking tightened up as my handling was fixed. The obedience improved as I changed my approach to attention and focus work, and we laid out a way forward to proceed with his protection work.

All told it was a great time and was throughly enjoyed by all attending.

Protection

2006-10-21T20:18:00.000-03:00

It was a good day up at Port Royal School. Ann brought Basco, Jojo had Nero, Jermaine had both Capone and his new female, and Margaret brought out both Jetta and Riggs.

Obedience

2006-10-19T21:09:00.000-03:00

Thursday night obedience was short and sweet this week. Ann brought Basco and we worked the dogs before it got dark.

I focused on attention and focus, as well as quick sits and downs.

Congratulations Wallace Payne - 3rd at Worlds

2006-10-09T07:54:00.000-03:00

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Friedrich Biehler Caro v. Mörfelder Land

Country : Germany 1.
A 95 - B 96 - C 94 - TOT 285

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pierre Wahlström Ängsbacken's Rosso

Country : Sweden 2.
A 90 - B 96 - C 97 - TOT 283

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wallace Payne Merlin v. Conneforde

Country : United States of America 3.
A 94 - B 90 - C 98 - TOT 282

Obedience

2006-10-05T21:51:00.000-03:00

It was a quick and fairly quiet Thursday evening.

Ann brought Basco and I worked both Aron & Madison. Simple heeling, clicker aclimatisation etc...

One of these days some of the other members will start to train again....

Missing Entries

2006-10-01T16:05:00.000-03:00

I missed a couple sessions so here's some catch up.

A couple good Thursday sessions with Ann and I at Vesey St. Simple obed work, rerieve heeling etc etc.

Last Sat we had a short session at Port Royal School as I left for the Construction Assoc of Bermuda Summer BBQ and I had to dig out early yet again this week for the Institude of Bermuda Architects BBQ. Both good events. Its been real good to see Kirista, our youngest member, training consistenly with her dobe pup.

We had some good tracking both last Sunday and this morning. Ann, Kay and I all ran tracks this morning at Southside.

Board meeting coming up this Tuesday, couple items to \put to bed and off we go fo some good training, seminars and progress.

Upcoming Seminar - Wallace Payne

2006-09-21T08:39:00.000-03:00

Wallace will be in Bermuda 25Oct06 - 30Oct06 for a seminar, hosted byt eh Bermuda Working Dog Club

All are invited and encouraged to attend.

South Metro Atlanta Schutzhund Club

Sports Fair 2006

2006-09-17T20:32:00.000-03:00

It was a great time

We were given 4 lots on front st for a total of over 100'x40', we set up our booth with the banners, tv, videos, books, pamphlets and of course all the equipment. The space was huge so we invited the agility people to set up at the far end and share the demo area in the middle.

Ali and I had both Madison and Aron, Ann brought Basco, Jojo brought Nero and Kirista had her dobe pup Star.

The street was busy with over 50 sporting bodies from boxing, to lacrose, to sailing, darts, remote control cars/planes to Powerboat racing.....

I of course forgot to take pictures, but look for them soon on Islandstats.com

Florence

2006-09-12T11:20:00.000-03:00

Hurricane Florence blew through. It was slow, building throughout Sunday and peaking Monday around 11:00am. It was pretty minor, with very little damage I can see so far. The winds were only in the 85mph range maybe gusting higher, the waves off South Shore were up to 20-30 ft. A lot of people lost power but most was restored by last night. The surprise was to not have power at the office this morning. It has since been restored and we are up and running full speed.

Vacation

2006-09-09T23:06:00.000-03:00

A week in Halifax was awesome. Relaxed, showed off my college town to my wife. All in all a great time. Even made the last direct flight back to the rock on Saturday before Florence came to visit.

Sports Fair 2006 - Postponed

2006-09-03T21:31:00.000-03:00

The Sports Fair 2006 has been postponed to the 17th. THe rain was torrential this morning. Last year they made the move from a small event to trying to attract as many groups as possible and the Bermuda Working Dog Club was the only animal sport represented.

We set up a booth, all the equipment was alid out, and we did demos throughout the day. We even got a TV spot on the news with Aron coming over the A-frame. Here are a couple shots from last year thanks to Black and Coke, the Bermuda Party site.

Protection

2006-09-02T21:05:00.000-03:00

The pups managed to convince Ali to join us up at Port Royal this afternoon. It was a fairly quiet day, Ann brought Basco, Jojo brought Nero. Gunner has been diagnosed with early Heartworm... Jermaine, Wayne & Antoinette, Mark & Jeanette all stopped by to spectate.

We worked Aron's hold and bark. In the first round he looked to me on approach, in the second round we tied him off and through making miss he really got focused and ignored all external stimulus.

Madison came out firing on all cylinders. She burns out fast so we gave her a couple line bites, and then ran 2 blinds. She's a funny one, trotted out to the first blind, gradually picking up the run as she rounded the blind and flying into the 2nd blinds a couple good barks and the reward.