Kamal Fernandez's Obedience Seminar

Hi everyone! I am Mint!

Last weekend I attended a two-day seminar by one of the world's best dog trainers, Kamal Fernandez!!

Do you know Kamal? He is a professional dog trainer based in England. He had been to New Zealand a few times to do seminars before. But, Mum didn't attend them because she thought that we were not up to that level. However, this time she didn't only sign up for the seminar as soon as it was announced but also she even secured a working spot for me!

Do you want to know how we knew him? Well, we learned how to heel nicely through his online courses at Fenzi Dog Sports Academy (FDSA), and that's where we came to know him.

Of course, we had learned how to heel from several instructors before that, such as several instructors at our dog training club as well as a few other instructors who taught us privately. We also learned it through a couple of other courses at FDSA. But, nothing worked better than methods that Kamal taught us. So, Mum and I really looked forward to the seminar!!

In the seminar we learned a lot of foundation skills rather than specific skills for each obedience exercise including heelwork.

Before our first work session, Mum asked Kamal to ask others to make sure to close their food containers so that I wouldn't go to hunt for other dogs' treats. But, Kamal said that her request was unrealistic and instead he showed Mum how to teach me to ignore others' food. It seems I should expect Mum to do that exercise with me a lot :-P 

However, I think it was an unnecessary concern. As long as the training is fun, I won't go anywhere but near Mum! If fact, I had no trouble staying focused on her during the seminar. Mum just needs to remember to prepare larger pieces of treats so that I can find them more easily!! Look! Kamal was saying the same thing!

During the two days the most difficult exercise we did was "Simon says"!! We dogs had to sit wherever our handlers put their hands on. I had no problem when Mum put her hands on her head, shoulders, or hips. But, I sometimes made a mistake and lied down when she put her hands on her knees. When she put her hands on her toes, it was really confusing!!! 

Anyway it was so much fun overall!! Mum, thank you for attending the seminar with me!!

Yes, I can stay!!!! Even with Mum facing away!!

Hello everyone. Mint here.

On Sunday I went to the North Shore Dog Training Club Obedience Championship and competed in the Novice class for the first time! This time I entered the Novice class because I graduated from the Special Beginners class, the lowest obedience class in NZ, two and a half months ago.

One of the reasons I couldn't graduate from the Special Beginners for several years  until recently was that I couldn't stay sitting or lying in the competition environment where there were other strange dogs around me. I practised stays with Mum and Cinnamon countless times on our daily walks, but I couldn't resist my temptation to stand up and walk to Mum in real competitions.

However, I suddenly felt confident and succeeded in my stays in a competition in late May, where I won the class, and in another competition in early July, where I won the class again, and those two wins graduated me from the class.

It seems that Mum had considered the North Shore show on Sunday as a practice run, because in the Novice class I had to do stays with Mum facing away from me, and Mum didn't think that it was possible for me.

Anyhow this was my on and off lead heelwork, recall, and dumbbell retrieve.

Hee hee I missed a left turn because it was right after I had a yawn :-P  Don't say I shouldn't have yawned! You know you can't stop those natural physical reactions!

After this, we did the stays. Mum looked very worried, but in fact I was very lucky that I was at the far end of the ring from the corridor and I had no other dogs on one side, because I was the last dog in the running order of the class. And, I stayed!!

There was a long wait until the results were announced. And, before the prize giving started, Mum and I were called for a run off. At that time, we didn't know what place the run off was for. It might have been the fifth place, in which case I wouldn't get any placing if I lost.

At the prize giving it turned out that I had won the run off and got a 2nd place!

Mum says that it must have been beginners luck. But, whatever it was, I was very happy because Mum looked very happy!!

Never too old to learn new tricks

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

I just learned a new trick. Although I say "New", it is not actually brand new. This is an advanced version of a trick I learned a long time ago.

More than two years ago, I learned to jump on my mum's feet as I wrote about in my post here. But, at that time, because Mum was so worried about my physical conditions, especially my hip dysplasia, she didn't push me much, and she stopped practising the trick once I had learned to jump on her with my front feet on her shins and my back feet on her feet, as you can see in this video.

But, when we found a low post in a park recently, she asked me to jump on it, and I did it easily.

Also, thanks to physical and balance exercises that I have been doing for the last couple of years, I have had no issues with my hips recently.

So, Mum tried asking me to jump on her with all my feet on her feet. And voila!!

Now it has become one of my favourite tricks!!

I am nine years old and still learning new acrobatic tricks!!

Fenzi TEAM Titles

Hi! It's Cinnamon ;-)

Ooops! We didn't post anything for nearly a half year... Yes, Mum has been busy as you may have guessed, so she couldn't help us write posts for our blog.

Well, since my last post about Rally Freestyle Elements (Rally-FrEe), both of us have gained a Rally-FrEe Intermediate Title and a leg toward a Rally-FrEe Masters title. Also, in Musical Freestyle Mint gained his Musical Freestyle Novice title and I gained my Musical Freestyle Veteran Novice title.

Do you think I am talking about titles too much? I agree. To be honest I don't care about them. It's only humans who care about them. After all they don't bring us anything we can eat unlike local dog sports events where we can sometimes get food as prizes :-)

Having said that, I am going to talk about titles again as the title of this post indicates. The difference is that the titling program that I am going to talk about involves FOOD!!

Do you remember that Mint gained his Trick Dog Champion title last year? When he did that through video submissions, he was able to enjoy food rewards during his exercises. So was I when I did exercises for the title I am going to talk about ;-)

Fenzi TEAM Titles is a new program launched recently by Denise Fenzi, the CEO of Fenzi Dog Sports Academy that offers a wide variety of online courses. Mum is a big fan of Denise because she is always cheerful and supportive. Thanks to Fenzi courses, Mum has learned to make our training lots of fun for us as well as for herself, instead of putting us under pressure and stress.

In the Fenzi TEAM Titles program, as the name TEAM (Training Excellence Assessment Modules) indicates, the progress of your training is assessed and tracked, unlike real obedience competitions where only the accuracy of the finished product is judged and compared.

For example, the Level One assessment comprises the following exercises:

1. Engage the dog for 10 seconds without formal cues and show focus in heel position
2. Find “heel” position from 6 ft (2 m) away (three different angles) AND pivot 180° with foot target
3. Find “front” position from 6 ft (2 m) away (three different angles) with foot target/platform
4. Position changes from 5 ft (1.5 m) away with a foot target/platform
5. Go around an object AND back up
6. Send dog to vertical target placed 5 ft (1.5 m) away
7. High jump or bar jump (height or width must be minimum of ⅓ dog’s height)
8. Touch a retrieve object 
9. Identify correct article (out of 3) by scent
10. “Stay” under distraction with handler close by

Also, this program's stance on dog training is symbolised by the "Not Yet" designation that is given to unsuccessful attempts. In general the results of examinations are either "Pass" or "Fail". But, in this program you never fail. Receiving the "Not Yet" designation is like you are advised that you need to learn a little more to achieve the required level of excellence, and the judges always let you know why you were "Not Yet" and how you could improve.

And, the best part of this program is that in the basic levels you are encouraged to use food as external reinforcements and you can do it at home where there are no other dogs around! Yay!! That perfectly suits me!!

It was so much fun to try it out and here is my successful submission for the Level One, after a "not yet" attempt where Mum made a few mistakes.

It looks like fun, doesn't it? Would you like to try it? For more information about the program, visit the Fenzi TEAM Titles website.

Enjoying Rally-FrEe too!

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

After posting about Agility, we haven't been doing Agility much, because a physio who saw Mint recommended that he had a break from the sport.

Well, when Mint saw the physio, he was not lame or anything. But, Mum was very worried about strange movements of his muscles around his body. It is natural for us dogs to wiggle if the side of the body or the tummy is scratched, isn't it? But, in Mint's case, almost anywhere caused a large section of his body to twitch.

After a thorough examination the physio told Mum that Mint had several sore spots, which in fact explained why he didn't want to walk on his hind legs the day before. Also, he had been dropping rails when doing Agility, which was strange, considering that he can jump really high. So, now he has been having a break from Agility, and instead he has been getting Mum's massage and doing some stretching and muscle strengthening exercises every other day, if not every day.

However, we have still been doing Rally Freestyle Elements (Rally-FrEe).

Well, I just realised that we hadn't posted about Rally-FrEe much! OMG! The only post about Rally-FrEe in the past was two years ago! And it was about my failed attempt at demonstrating Rally-FrEe! At that time we had never done the sport, but a half year later Mint and I started competing in video events, as there aren't enough competitors to hold live events in New Zealand.

So far, we have competed in five Rally-FrEe video events and earned our Rally-FrEe Novice titles. In our last event that took place last month we entered the Intermediate class.

Last year there were times we didn't want to do Rally-FrEe at all, because Mum always got stressy when videoing our rounds. But, it seems she has changed her approach, and she looks more relaxed when she does it. If she feels relaxed, we feel relaxed too and can perform better. And in our last event we got qualified with very good scores.

For those who don't know what Rally-FrEe is, here are our video submissions for our last event.

This is my round, which qualified with a 2nd place on 189/200.

This is Mint's round, which qualified with a 1st place on 191/200 points.

When my round was videoed, no one else but the cameraman, our dad, was around. But, when Mint's was videoed, there were so many people around, because Agility class was brought inside as it was raining heavily outside. I was so impressed with how well Mint performed despite so many distractions!

Last Thursday our ribbons arrived!

Agility is SUPER fun!

Hi! It's Cinnamon ;-)

I am sorry I was absent from this blog for a while. But, it doesn't mean that I was sick or anything. As Mint wanted to write posts, I let him do so.

Time flies! The first month of the year has finished already! This week we had the first training night of the year at our dog training club, Manukau Dog Training Club, where Mint and I practise dancing.

Well today's post is not about dancing. It's about Agility.

As the title indicates, I have been enjoying Agility so much! This year I have been to two Agility competitions and got three 2nd place ribbons ;-)

It's been seven years since I first started learning Agility, but I have never enjoyed the sport as much as I do now. I have always loved running and jumping, but I had often felt stressed at Agility shows, because Mum always got nervous before my runs and there were other dogs near me around the ring. But, I don't get stressed any more as Mum doesn't get nervous any more. Both Mum and I have learned to enjoy the moment ;-)

Previously Mum always tried to keep my attention on her before my runs and she didn't let me put my nose to the ground. But, now she doesn't mind me doing anything as far as I am happy. She doesn't even try to interrupt me if I start barking from excitement before my runs. (Yes, I get aroused when I know that I am running soon.) Because she doesn't interrupt me, I can focus on my upcoming run. And, if I am focused, I don't care about other dogs.

I hope Mint enjoys Agility more than he does now. He is getting better but he is still often unfocused in the ring. I know he can run fast, but he somehow doesn't try his best to run fast in the Agility ring. At least his start on his runs has improved since Mum started guiding him to the start line by doing some dance moves, which prevents him from getting nervous. All he has to learn to do is believe in himself and be confident!!

By the way, at an Agility show in Tokoroa last month, all the five Beagles currently actively competing in Agility in New Zealand got together! It was a very nice reunion!! All the other three Beagles are more advanced than us. I am very proud of them as a fellow Agility Beagle!!

From Left Bella, Barry, Halo, Mint, and Cinnamon

I can't wait for the next Agility show!!

It's likely to become another busy year

Hello! Mint here again!

I had another busy weekend starting on Friday.

On Friday I attended a summer camp of the Camp Quality as an Outreach Therapy Pet and had a lots of fun with many kids and other therapy pets.

I shook hands with many kids.

Saying hello to Mr Donkey as well.

Everyone was having a great time!

On Saturday I attended the Informative Day for Outreach Therapy Pets volunteers interested in joining Foundation Courses for therapy dogs with their own dogs, and I demonstrated some off-leash work that they are going to learn on one of the courses and some tricks that I am going to help teach in a new tricks class for therapy dogs.

Waiting for my turn to do a demo.

On Sunday I went to the Hound Racing with Cinnamon!! We LOVE racing!! It's exciting and lots of fun!

Cinnamon the hunter!

Cinnamon was running ahead of the lure!

Wait! 

I am flying!

Tug of war!

I wonder what I am going to do next weekend!!!!

Our first competitions this year in Mangawhai

Hi! Mint here!

On Saturday I was super busy like a big celebrity!

We went to our first competitions this year and there I participated in three different disciplines, Rally-O, Obedience, and Canine Freestyle.

The competitions were held in Mangawhai, nearly two hours from our house. Usually for competitions in Mangawhai we need to leave home very early before six o'clock, but this time even the first class I entered didn't start till 10am. So, we left home at 8am and arrived at the venue at 10am.

The first competition I entered was Rally-O Excellent, the highest class in Rally-O. Well, more precisely my class is called Excellent A for beginners in the Excellent class. If you qualify in Excellent A three times, you will advance to Excellent B.

As it was my first competition in the Excellent class, Mum was just going to practise new advanced exercises in the competition, rather than pursuing for qualifications or placings.

In fact it turned out that there were many rules Mum didn't know.

After my first round in Excellent, where Mum forgot to make me lie down at the "Halt-Stand-Down" station before the Finish, the judge told Mum that handlers in Excellent were not allowed to tap their laps, which she didn't know.

Also, when Mum was walking the course for my second round in Rally-O Excellent, she got puzzled seeing the sign "Three Steps Back". But, then, an angel appeared from behind, asking her if she knew what to do at the station. She was so lucky! The angel kindly demonstrated what to do for her, which Mum says that she greatly appreciated.

I really enjoyed both of my two rounds in Excellent, so I did everything that Mum told me to do. I even did stays nicely without breaking them! In Rally-O Excellent there is always a stay in the ring while another pair is doing the course in the same ring.

Mum especially praised me for being a good boy when we had to wait for four minutes in the ring without food or toys after our round and before my stay. While waiting for the judge to come back to the ring, I played with Mum in the ring.

This is a video of my second Rally-O Excellent round:

This video shows how I played with Mum while waiting for the start of my stay:

After my two Rally-O rounds, there was a loooong wait.

Next, I did Obedience. When I was doing Rally-O, it was drizzling, but when my class Special Beginners started, it had cleared and started to get very warm.

Near the entrance to the Obedience ring, I found some interesting smell, although I didn't know what it was. When I did the heelwork on and off lead and the recall, I didn't get distracted by the smell much. So, I was able to work nicely in the ring, ignoring the smell. But, when I did the group stay, I couldn't resist the smell any more! So, after staying for forty seconds or so in the one-minute Sit Stay, I got up and went to the spot outside the ring to check the smell again. Mum looked very disappointed, which I do understand, but you know I just couldn't resit it, as it was very warm and I was very tired already.

Here is a video of my heelwork and recall in Special Beginners:

In fact, after the competition, the judge praised me for them a lot ;-)

Then, after a short wait, the prizegiving for Rally-O started. Can you believe it? In the second competition I, Mint, got a 3rd place and a qualifying certificate in Rally-O Excellent A!!

Mum says that that was the last thing she had expected. Humph! Does that mean that she doesn't trust me? But, that's OK. If Mum is happy, I am happy.

My day didn't finish here. There was the Paws 'n' Music (dancing) competition next!! I thought "Are you serious, Mum?" as I was exhausted by then. So, I couldn't perform well at all.

Well, Cinnamon, who didn't enter Rally-O or Obedience, also entered the Paws 'n' Music competition. As she was not so tired, she performed her Heelwork To Music routine well enough to win the Elementary class. Well done, Cinnamon!

It was a very long day but finished with nice ribbons, although I would have liked some special treats much better than ribbon!

Happy New Year 2016!

Happy New Year!

We can't believe that another year has passed! Does that also mean that we got one year older? Oh my DOG!!

Well, what was the last year like for you? For us it was a fruitful year, as we achieved things that we had been working for, including many titles that we acquired last year, such as the AD (Agility Dog), RA (Rally-O Advanced), TDCH (Trick Dog Champion), R-F/N (Rally-FrEe Novice), MF-E (Musical Freestyle Entry), and JD (Jumpers Dog) for Mint and the JD, R-F/N, MF-E, and AD for Cinnamon. Especially it took Mint more than three years to collect 25 clear rounds required to gain the JD title if not having two wins.

However, these titles are simply milestones. What is more important is how we enjoy activities that we do. This year we will continue to enjoy various dog sports. For us winning is not as important as improving. So, we will focus on improving in every aspect of our training, especially reinforcing solid stays for Mint and further improving dog-reactivity for Cinnamon.

Of course, the most important thing for us is the health! So, we hope we stay active and healthy without any injuries or sickness (for both) and hopefully with less epileptic seizures (for Mint).

Finally, we wish everyone all the best for the New Year!!