Foto Friday

Emeline meeting the horses

 

Playing like the big dogs

Busy time!

The last week or so has been crazy, and the blog posts just haven’t seemed to roll off the fingers in my free time. This weekend was great and i’m happy to have a few free minutes to update everyone before we go swimming and training all evening!

Saturday started out with a good team training, we were able to run all the dogs even in the hot sun and get a little swimming done in the pond.  The girls did great despite the hot weather and 4 hour meeting in the morning that left them sleeping with plenty of pent up energy to spend! Working with the boys was great and they did an amazing job saturday and all weekend long!

We spent the night at ritas so we could get right back to work sunday morning. Once the boat, motor, batteries, lunch, and kids were loaded up we went off to the lake to get in some water training!

Raina playing

All 3 girls loved the boat, and the water!! Emeline is not a strong swimmer but after mom, the boys, and her ball got in neck deep my girl jumped in over and over again swimming like a champ!!!!! A few more times and she’ll be a pro like her sister.

We mostly worked HR from the boat and the shore, both were completely new to Raina and she impressed me. I think we got some on video and hopefully this week i can get it loaded!

Eme heading down to the boat

 

It was a good weekend filled with dogs, sun, and friends. Gotta love this life!

Foto Friday

Enjoy!!!

I love you!

 

awwwwww raina and kendal

 

The girls with mom

Every little thing she does is magik

Have you ever had a dog that you think, really, can read your mind and is inside your head? Raina amazes me everyday with how in tune she is to me and to her work. She is like a machine in the field and when watching her you would think she was a horror to live with. I am much happy to report we have learned to teach each our dogs how to “turn off” and raina of course has mastered this skill as well. She is calm and quite in the house (except for when its time to eat!! But we all have 1 flaw right?????) and is ready to go at a moments notice. I never expected such a perfect pup, from the moment i birthed her and she was yellow girl aka mustang sally i think i knew she would be coming home with me. I can safely say she will be my once in a lifetime perfect search dog, as i dont think any puppy could learn the whole game by 4 months old! Raina will be certified at a year old, in October, and will be saving lives like an old timer!

Raina in motion

I do not whisper, I translate

I was at a consult this past week when someone made a reference to me as “the dog whisperer” While i appreciate any comment towards a well known popular dog person (albeit whether i agree with his methods or not) i am not, in anyway, a dog whisperer. The term is just plain, well, dumb.  What does it mean??? How would you ever “whisper” to a dog? Why would a dog care if you even did whisper? Dogs do NOT communicate like humans do, we cannot whisper, yell, cry, scream, yodel, bark, meow, purr, whistle, burp, or even groan for godsakes as dogs do not communicate through vocalization like humans do. To really truly understand dogs one must first observe said dog. I say this because EVERY dog is different, it doesn’t matter the breed, sex, age, or size of the dog they are all genetically different and environmentally influenced to have varying personalities. Once the dog has been observed you can start to draw SOME conclusions about the dog, and what methods of communication will work, and even why he is offering certain behaviors or unpleasant habits. Then once this has been accomplished you can begin to build your relationship with said dog, in hopes of opening the barriers in communication that exist between dog and human.

I do not whisper, I translate.

Translation

Offering some basic classes in good canine communication this summer please check out our website for details!!

http://www.EliteInstinctCanine.com

Foto Friday

Sit stay in front of the lake

annnnnnnnnd ACTION

I was sleeping

Vacation weekend

This past weekend Kara from Amigo SAR dogs and I attended a Bill Dotson workshop up in Skaneateles New York. It was a pretty dreary wet weekend but we made the most of it. The weekend was a lot of classroom work and it was a wealth of knowledge. Bill is a great guy and one of the guys who started it all with search and rescue in the 1970’s. He absolutely loved the way Raina worked and i was one proud handler.

Feedback time

Every morning and evening we took everyone on long walks around Skaneateles which was  great socialization and desensitization for them. I brought Raina to work the seminar and Abby to keep an eye on her recovery so she was able to tag along on all the walks too. Kara brought Felix the GSD Life Long Tails got a few months ago who we wanted to place in a working home. All three did fantastic downtown even during the busy night hours.

Everyone did great in the hotel room and were on their best behavior at the seminar, no barking or complaining even with being in there crates a lot during classtime.  I have to say we have the best behaved dogs!

No fear of heights mom

I usually only attend a seminar every year but i always take a lot away from it and this time was no exception! I hope before the summer is up to visit Bill and his training facility in Virginia!

   

Girls on the Pier

   

Both girls in front of the lake