So... the Barn Hunt Trial Went Okay...

Apologies again to any followers I might actually have- my life's super busy with work, music, and dog stuff so I try to post when I can.

Last Saturday Delilah and I drove 3 hours to Raymond, NH for a barn hunt trial.  I honestly had no idea how'd she do.  She has a very high prey drive but she also obsesses over clumps of hair, dust, spots on the ground, and light/shadows.  I wasn't sure if she'd look for the rat or just fixate on those stupid little things and ignore everything else like she does in agility.  We couldn't make it to the practice in NH on Friday night.  I brought her to the pet store on Friday to show her some rats and get her excited but of course that was the day all of the animals were out of stock.  So we just had to wing it.

She was so confused at first- we were sitting at the debriefing before the first trial and she was just staring at me because she didn't know what was going on. She actually did okay with reactivity- unless people came over to talk to me or she heard other dogs barking, she was pretty well behaved. And there were actually a lot of reactive dogs there so at least she wasn't the only one!

The first trial was her instinct test. I was holding her in the starting box and let her go, and I saw she was about to run over to start chasing the clumps of hair on the ground so I yelled, "Delilah, let's go!" and started running towards the rat tubes. She ran after me and sniffed the first tube, ran to the second and got very interested. I called "rat" and we were right! She got the fastest time out of the small dogs, a ribbon, and her RATI title.  I really had no idea how she'd do and was so happy that she found the rat instead of chasing hair/dust/shadows.

Unfortunately, the second trial we did was the Novice trial, and she didn't do as well. I released her from the start box and she went right to the fence and started chasing hair. I did EVERYTHING- I called her, yelled, clapped, ran around, looked like an idiot lol. She completely ignored everything I did- I couldn't touch her or we'd be DQ'd. I had been so hopeful and my dreams died right there. I was really frustrated and embarrassed. I watched her chase dust for two minutes until our time was up.

The last trial, I thought she'd do the same thing again but I figured I already paid for it and drove 3 hours to get there so we might as well try again. Nope, she did the same thing. I was able to call her away once and I got hopeful again because she ran towards me through the tunnel (in novice the dog has to do three things: go under a tunnel, jump on a hay bale, and find the rat). But then she ran right back to the fence and started chasing... things... again.

I think the judge noticed that I was disappointed and told me that once she "gets it" she's going to be amazing. It's the same thing with agility though- she would be wonderful if she didn't fixate on the hair/spots/shadows on the ground and ignore everything else.

Now I've definitely made up my mind to call a vet. behaviorist before continuing with agility or barn hunt though. If my terrier won't even go after a rat because she's fixating on these stupid little things, then there's definitely something wrong with her. I really hope we can figure this out because I got a dog to do things with- and if I can't train her because she fixates and can't take her places because she's reactive- well, I'm not going to get rid of her or anything but I didn't get a dog to leave at home all the time. So I don't know, we have stuff to figure out. It's just hard being online and in real life seeing everyone doing amazing things with their dogs while my dog is broken, after waiting so long to get one of my own.

Otherwise, it actually was a lot of fun and everyone was really nice. I hope we're able to figure out her issues and do this more in the future, maybe even start a VT team or club!

On the bright side, here she is with her ribbon! She's super cute, she's got that going for her.

In Memory of Mia

Mia passed away last Saturday morning unexpectedly from heart failure.  She had just turned 12 years old.

She was the best friend I ever could have asked for.  She was the perfect dog.  Mia was one of those rare dogs that was naturally well behaved, and oh so sweet and gentle.  She helped us raise ducklings and chicks.  She'd watch toads and caterpillars- lying down and occasionally giving them a nudge with her nose.  When she found baby birds on the ground, she'd get so agitated and find a human, leading them to the bird so they could help.  She loved babies.  

Mia loved hiking.  We'd go on adventures all around Vermont.  She never ran off, she always came when called.  She helped me teach younger dogs off leash manners, like Delilah and some dogs I dogsat.  They'd always follow her lead and I was able to get reliable recalls from everyone whenever we went hiking.  Delilah and Mia were kind of jealous of each other so there was definitely some competition/sibling rivalry going on as well.

Mia taught me so much about dog training.  When we got Mia, I had wanted to do agility, but I was too young to take classes.  So I taught her a bunch of tricks and we would do obstacle courses in the backyard.  The last time I stayed at my parents house, I was practicing agility with Delilah.  Mia wanted in on it and started jumping the jump, which was the only obstacle set up that she knew how to do.  She such a smart, eager dog.  She learned everything so quickly and listened so well.  We had a "special trick"; I taught her to heel off leash so I would walk her around my neighborhood off leash.  I could tell her to sit-stay or down-stay and keep walking, and she would stay there.  I would then say, "Okay, heel" and she'd trot to catch up and then go back into a heel.  Lastly, when our house was in sight, I would put her in a stay and get a head start.  Then I would yell, "Okay, go!" and we would race back to the house.  

She never did anything bad.  Even when she was "naughty," it was actually really endearing.  When she was a puppy and we first started leaving her out of the crate, she found the toilet paper hanging in the bathroom, grabbed the end, and ran around the house with it.  When we got home, the entire first floor was TP'd!

I felt really guilty about getting Delilah.  I didn't spend a lot of alone time with Mia this past year.  I just wish I could have done something special with just her before she left.

Mia, I will always love you.  Thanks for the memories. <3

Delilah Has Been Registered!

So I'm taking a break from agility classes for the next 6 weeks while we financially recover from moving.   Delilah's super stoked about the new place.  It's a condo, as opposed to the tiny apartment we've been living in.  She's been sprinting around the condo, up and down the stairs, and just sitting in front of the window for hours on end watching everything going on outside.  She's so happy, and so am I!

While we're "in between" agility classes, I signed us up for a couple different things.  The first is just an hour long agility session where we focus on the teeter totter, because Delilah has only been introduced to that briefly.

The other thing, that I'm really excited about is... (drum roll)... BARN HUNT!  Yesterday I registered Delilah with the Barn Hunt Association.  Her official name is now Lil Miss Jones!  We're planning on going to a competition in New Hampshire on June 11th.  We will be entering an Instinct trial and at least one Novice trial (possibly two, depending on funds and time).  Unfortunately there's not really any opportunity for barn hunt in Vermont right now, but depending on how much we enjoy it, we might try to get a club started.  We'll see how it goes.

Adventures in Jericho

We went to Mills Riverside Park yesterday!

It was a beautiful day.

Delilah listened so well!

My beautiful girl <3

Delilah found a river and lost her shit.

Attacking the river.

Practicing recall.

 Playing with her West Paw Design Jive ball.

Say Cheese!

We Had a Great Day on Saturday!

When I got Delilah almost a year ago, she was a very fearful little dog.  At first she was shut down and quiet and didn't want to leave the house.  Then she became a little more comfortable and found her voice and became reactive to strangers.  A stereotypical yappy little dog.  We've been doing a lot of work on that.  We've taken training classes, worked on counter conditioning, LAT, socialization, conditioned relaxation, and basic obedience and this past weekend was a reflection on the progress she's made!  Last fall I couldn't even walk her without her yapping at everyone who walked past.  We couldn't walk down Church Street at all because it was so overwhelming for her.  We did a lot of work over the winter and it's starting to show now that it's nice out and we can take her places!

This past Saturday Sam had to go to the bank and we decided to all walk there together (TD Bank is dog friendly).  We walked down Church St. (always busy on a Saturday morning), through the Farmer's Market (crowded with people and dogs), and into the bank where she sat next to me and gave me her full attention the entire time.  I had brought her breakfast mixed with some hot dogs and rewarded her for being quiet, looking at strangers, and looking at me.  She was SO good!  She even got a big dog treat from the bank!

Then on the way home we walked around the Farmer's Market.  While Sam was in line to get some local root beer, Delilah and I went to a vendor selling organic dog treats (Vermont Dog Eats).  She was very excited to be able to try a few samples and seemed to really enjoy them- she started scouring the ground licking up crumbs that other dogs must have missed.  Really simple, healthy ingredients and a portion of the profits are donated to local rescues and animal welfare organizations.  We're definitely going to go back and buy some once we've recovered from the move.

We walked up Church St on the way home and she was great despite all of the strange people.  She jumped on a rock and a couple of people came over wanting to visit her.  I told them not to touch her but they could see if she wanted to come to them.  She crept over, sniffing and wagging her little tail.  She was nervous but curious.  Then she started kissing the woman's hand!  She's come such a long way.  She still has issues with strangers and especially in indoor areas but she has gotten so much better over the past 10 months!  I was so proud of her.

Look At That at the Farmer's Market

Hanging out on Church St.

May Update and Food Switch Up

So, again, haven't been on much lately.  I've been trying to get a new job (applied back in December and there are still so many forms I need to fill out and steps I need to complete!) so that's been keeping me busy, and stressed.

Also, just signed a lease for a new apartment too!  It's soooo much nicer than this place we live at in the Old North End (the gross part of Burlington).  It's got two stories, two bedrooms plus a loft, a living room, a kitchen, and two bathrooms.  It has it's own patio, a yard, a garage, and a pool and tennis courts!  And it's in a much nicer location and rent is less expensive than what we're paying now!  I'm especially excited for the yard- I'm going to set up Delilah's agility equipment and practice with her outside!

Some updates about Delilah:

Agility

We're taking our last agility class tomorrow.  Last week we did weave poles and she was having a difficult listening day.  Every time I let her off leash, she'd run away and dash under the shelving in the training facility and start pouncing on dust bunnies and hair clumps.  Everyone thinks it's super cute but she doesn't listen when she goes into "hunting" mode.  And it's only at this facility- I take her off leash hiking a lot and she does really well.  We practice agility outdoors off leash.  I've even brought her to work (at the dog daycare) with me and set up her equipment (weave poles, tunnel, jump) and she did great!  It's a similar environment to the training facility because it's indoors, there are a lot of other dogs in the building, lots of smells, strange people, clumps of fur... and yet, she still listens.  So I don't know how we can practice focus and impulse control if it's just that one place she has a lot of difficulty at.

But anyways, after paying for this new apartment, it's going to be a month or two before we financially recover, so we're going to take a short break from agility classes :(  Which is too bad but we gotta do what we gotta do.

Food

I've been getting free Zignature kibble from work so that's what we've been switching to these past few months.  I started her out on Zig Turkey because she was used to poultry protein and I figured that would be most similar to the duck and chicken based foods she was on.  She did pretty well on it but I don't think she was digesting as much as the Castor and Pollux Duck formula she had been on because her stools were larger and softer.

Since then we've tried another formula, Trout and Salmon Meal and she's doing really well on that!  Her coat is thick, bright, and soft; her stools are firmer; and she's been gaining weight (it's harder for me to see her pelvic bones).  Trout and salmon are rich in omega-3 fatty acids which I think are playing a big role in the condition of her coat.

On Dog Food Advisor, Zignature has a high rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars with each formula ranging from 4-5 stars.  We're going to stick with this brand for now because it's a great food and I can get it for free!  The next formula I picked up was their Kangaroo formula- which I thought sounded very interesting.