.
...
...
Cherrie at 2 years old
asking to play fetch with her wooly

...

...

...

CHERRIE'S DAD COPPER
.
...
...
More about Cherrie's dad at this address
http://www.geocities.com/burabacavaliers/MagooCopper/index.htm
And see Cherrie's mum on this website

...

...

Chyna's litter, Cherrie being born

When we woke up on Thursday morning, Chyna's temperature had dropped. Throughout the day Chyna became increasingly restless, pacing around and digging here and there. Then the "huffing and puffing" sessions started, with the time duration of each session increasing and time interval between each session decreasing. At 10.30 p.m., Anne went off to sleep and I took the "dog watch (puppy watch) shift". The first puppy sack appeared at 2.30 am, time to wake up Anne and just in time as the first puppy was born a 2.40 am.

At 3.20 the second puppy sack appeared followed at around 3.40 Chyna started to whimper and push but all we got was the third puppy sack. Chyna became very agitated and stopped pushing. 3.50 both sacks ruptured and Chyna stopped huffing and became very quiet. 4 am I phoned the vet as something was really wrong. Met my vet at the surgery at 4.20 we tried to move the puppies but without any success, we decided at 5.30 to do a caesarean. Her operation went very well. One puppy had come down 1 horn and had tried to go up the other with the 2nd puppy coming down the other horn, a "Classic Log Jam". Both puppies born by the caesarean were in good condition although the little girl showed signs that she was becoming stressed inside mum. Mum and all 3 pups are doing great, all puppies are feeding well and everyone is content.

It just goes to show that breeding is alway with it's risks and really should be taken seriously. There is no reason to breed a bitch just so that she can be a mum, or for the kids to see a birth. Often these people do not know the danger signs or hesitate to long before calling the vets. If I had done either in Chyna's case we would have had 2 dead puppies.

In all Chyna puppies were all Blenheim, 2 boys 1 girl, good weight, colours well broken up and look lovely.

As Chyna is a Blenheim and the Sire is a Ruby, each puppy had a 50%-50% probability of being either a Ruby or Blenheim, but the 50% probabilities turned out in this case to be all Blenheim.

...

...

Puppies at 4 1/2 Weeks Old

The puppies are really great, Cherrie, Timmy and Dozer as we pet named them. Below are some photos Anne took so we thought we would show the world :))

I love it as their personalities emerge and we are already having lot's of fun. But as they are 4 1/2 week old they tire quickly, but then that is great as that means a lovely cuddly sleep, Cherrie loves sleeping on my lap when I'm at the computer. Cherrie has already started to twist me around her little paw, especially when she gives me that unique paw wave of hers. Apparently Cherrie's shows a few characteristics from her Dad. His owner Cheryle says he "uses" his front paws sometimes to do things and to move things around. Also when he's VERY excited he spins in circle, it was a bit of a laugh in the conformation ring. I love character and to have some fun, so ahead are some exciting and memorable times in Obedience and Tracking.

Just over a week ago the puppies were up on their front and back legs, so back then we started toilet timing them as an initial step to toilet training.

This involved noting their sleeping patterns, so as were waking we would be ready to take them onto the grass to do their business. Also straight after meals as well as at regular intervals. Basically the vast majority of their businesses over a 24 hour period have been done outside on the grass. The puppies are already use to the routine of our "puppy runs" outside onto the grass. To protect them (and us) from weather conditions, I set up a trampolined roof with tent stands up against the fence. A plastic garden mess around the edge area kept the pups in the area, Anne or I allways stayed with them but with 4 pups going in every direction at once we needed that mess to make sure that they stayed in the protected area and on the grass. For night time use when we did our puppy runs I even had a light. This protected toileting area was moved periodicly for obvious reasons. As each pup did their buisness they were immediately taken inside by one of us, so the other one stayed with the pups to keep an eye on them.

The puppies have been commenced on recall training, this is coming in handy as their wandering distances are gradually increasing. They are very willing to come when called as they want to get picked up and cuddled as they are still are at that puppy age and we want this behaviour to continue. Also Cherie just loves her ear tickles and she has started this particular cute paw waving when playing with me.

Cherrie practicing recalls with Eddy
.
...
...

.

We are also starting to introduce a collar (modified cat collar), but only during supervised periods.

Inside the whelping box has gone and is now replaced with a large puppy pen with ample room for playing puppies. They are all practicing their pouncing and chewing skills on each other as well as there supply of toys plus room for us. Because it is still quite cold most nights we have a heating pad well secured under one corner of the pen.  Chyna is still feeding the pups but they have also been getting 3 solid feeds a day. However Chyna has been noted to call them little piranha's, as she jumps out of the way.

Cherrie (top left) and Timmy
.
...
...

Cherrie (left) and Dozer
.
...
...

...

...

Puppies at 7 Weeks Old

The last few night their inside pen area has been clean and dry when we wake up in the morning. The toilet training pen outside with the tarpaulin tent covering for weather conditions is now only used for bad weather conditions, the pups now run free in the back yard. We have a large concrete area at our back door, the pups simply just go onto the grass area to do their businesses, no businesses have been done on the concrete. During the day the puppies are now "asking" to go outside to do their buisnesses. Only after toileting outside are the puppies let inside to play freely around the house, here we keep a very close eye on them and play it safe to make sure there are no accidents, so we still take them outside onto the grass at regular intervals.

Here is where I reduce mentioning the puppies and just focus on Cherrie, as she is to be my companion. Dozer is now named "Charlie" as that's what his new owners in 2 weeks time would like to call him. Timmy will be leaving us as well for a new home, but we have not decided yet as to which home. To ease the transition we are commencing that the pups start sleep apart in their own crate, the crates in the same location as where the inside pen area was, as was the whelping box. The crates will be placed close together so they can see, hear and scent each other, this should not be a problem for at times the puppies do move away from "the pack" and sleep on their own especially when they get too warm, or to move from one of the other pups where at times they take it in turns to chew each other. Before they are moved to their crates, extra bedding was used in the pen are so the beding gets well scented with each other so we will have enough for use in each crate.

...

...

Cherrie at 7 Weeks Old

Before immunisations were available, you would not have seen a dog younger than a year old at Training Clubs. This was a preventative measure as the diseases a dog could catch from other dogs are very deadly, at one year old it was regarded that the dog would have obtained natural immunity. Basically the greater the numbers of dogs, the greater was the possibility of contact with a dog who was coming down with the early onset of a disease, this greatly increased the likelyhood of your dog getting the disease. So many trainers tended to say you don't start training till the dog was a year old, this was because of diseases, but many new dog owners just saw the "you don't start training till the dog was one year old", this they just passed on to others who were contemplating training and you will still hear this from some even today. But even way back then, some trainers who knew how to train did so at home with their very young puppies.

With the introduction of the first immunisations, this altered the situation from 1 year old to till 6 months old. Further progress with immunisations altered the situation so now it is 3 to 4 months old if one thinks of dog club based training. However, waiting until a puppy is 6 months old or even 3 months means missing out on weeks or months of learning when the puppy is most receptive to it. Many people get puppies instead of adult dogs so they can trained desired behaviours at a more favourable age and avoid bad behaviours before they appear, it is much more difficulty to "train out"a bad behaviours once they have established. Like young children, puppies are little sponges. They soak up everything around them, so they're actively learning during every second of their existence. You can either use that to your advantage and train in the desired behaviours or let the puppy learn by itself behaviours you'd rather they didn't. The period between 7 and 16 weeks provides a wonderful opportunity for cementing in the puppy's mind that being near you is a great place to be. During this period, puppies tend to follow naturally. Take advantage of this and reinforce it heavily with food, petting, and praise and when the puppy's natural independence kicks in at 5-6 months, you'll have a much easier time of it.   Despite their short attention spans, even 7 to 8 week old puppies are alert and responsive during short training sessions, rather than constantly looking for something more interesting to do. Through positive reinforcement, puppies can learn almost anything an adult dog can.

By assisting the mum with her pups from birth and maintaining this contact, a breeder will be seen like the puppies mum as a bonding process occurs. Very early toilet training also helps with the bonding process and a pup can be toilet timed/trained by 8 weeks of age. As the breeder moves about the very young puppies tend to stay close and follow, just like they do with their mum. This can be taken to advantage as recalls can be trained at very young age. By maintaining recall training with a bit of daily practice the dependability of a recall will remain even as the puppy gets older and gradually ventures further.

Some trainers have said to me that their dogs are so obsessed with food that they cannot think as they sort of loses their minds and start various actions of "offered behaviours" like moving around, climbing, barking, basically anything that comes to the dogs mind in an attempt to grab the food. They say that when their dogs are like this that they find it very difficult to impossible to train. I disagree as this for to us is a very good indicator that you have exactly what the dog really sees as a highly desire food treat. Using highly desired food treats in various training applications is "a skill and like an art form" that one must first have knowledge, then using that knowledge to develop practical skills in actual application involved with training.

I spend ages going through supermarkets looking for various foods that will cause a dog to react with food obsession. The delicatessen department is a favourite stop. When I come home our dogs think I'm some great hunter as they try to sniff at the shopping bags. I try them on a variety of samples whilst looking for what can cause the above so I can use it in training. As I will be using heaps of treats when training, a variety of different treats helps to maintain a healthy balanced daily diet.

It is essential to have a bonded relationship. Parts of this envolves petting, praise, use of voice etc. These when used at the right time in the right way can greatly assist training. More on this later.

Cherrie is now 7 weeks old and a nice time to start her training for precision heeling. Note that our Nelson obtained his Utility Dog (UD) title at the age of 13 Months, Nelson started his training at 6 1/2 weeks old. Cherrie is a bit later in physical development in comparison to Nelson, so starting was delayed a bit till she was physically ready. So we just continue some basic domestic training to stop chewing on furniture, phone chords and anything else she comes in contact with.

Cherrie is fanatical about Chicken Chips, Tuna and Barbequed Sausage, I will start using tiny bits of these, later I will try other things as I like to use as much variety as possible whilst trying to consider a balanced healthy diet. Puppies this young are on 3 or even 4 feeds per day, this can be an advantage when food training by spreading the food through the day in very short multiple training sessions, also having some in your pocket for spontaneous occurances of training that require a food treat. Now remember I'm not just using food but myself with praise, the food and praise amplifies myself and my feelings in what the pup has achieved.

Cherrie's favourite game was mouthing other puppies and me. This becomes a bit difficult as teeth are sharp and my hand very soft, accidents will occur and they already have as the pup learns. So we introduce some alternative where we can still play our game, that is with an old sock. Cherrie can sink her teeth in this and thrash her head and pull as a "tug-o-war" game, this she finds very rewarding. She just loves anything that is a chord, but as electric cords are dangerous I will not allow her to chew or pull on these so chords are out, the material strip will have to be the replacement substitute.

Oh by the way, Anne got her way as now Cherrie's pedigree name is "CHARIOT OFIRE", her mum was a real "chariot of fire". I wanted "MY GIRL CHERRIE", sort of like Nelson's pedigree name was "MY BOY NELSON".

...

...

Cherrie at 8 Weeks Old

Many trainers over the years have asked how I trained, well here I go again with Cherrie's training, through this you might have an idea of what we did, but many things are difficult to write down as I am not a writer but a trainer.

I don't use a leash to train heeling, this I feel just gets in the way as I like to have my hands free and where I'm more free to focus on the pup and the pup focus on me. Having a chronic back problem and a small Cavalier has problems in training, so I just use training techniques that suite my dog plus suite myself, this also means at times I have to devise my own way of training. Here is how I train heeling, and as I'm doing my training in the security of my home there is no need for a leash.

Down on my knees I gently positioned Cherrie into the sit at heel position. Then commence rapid feeding a portion of her meals piece by piece by hand, this in short multiple sessions through the day. Note that an 8 week old Cavalier is on about 3 meals a day so one can use ample quantaties of food in 3 training sessions a day. As soon as the food was eaten I'd say a release word of "OK" and commenced a lengthy play session consisting of a tug-o-war game and mouthing game with a piece of material or sock, this would later lead into initial training for a number of exercises. During each session where I hand fed pieces of food, the time interval between the pieces of food very gradually increased. Now with each food piece I said "OK". If she stood up from the sit position and moved from the heel position (tendency at first to come to the front position or go out wide), I stopped feeding stood up and walked away and ignored her for a while, then started again right from the start about 15 minutes later. She really started to reconise the signs before we were going to have a training session, where on the 3rd day when I kneeled down she came over and just sat herself into the heel position ready for her training/meal/play session. She was also starting to realise the Heel position was a very rewarding position to be in. Gradually the time intervals between each food piece got to the point where I was slowly counting to 10, and where the training session was starting to get too long so I compensated and gave larger pieces of food. Soon the time intervals between each food piece was at 20 seconds, so I randomy varied the time between each piece with the aim that some would be still gradually increased, and where 30 seconds apart was achieved and where she was ready to start the next stage.

I then commenced training the Drops alternating with the Sit, but with her still in the heel position and where I was still on my knees as above. The Drops and Sits were initially trained with luring of food with hand movements, then when the Sits and Drops where achieved I then stopped using luring with food treated hand movements and then fully converted to hand signals without treats and using vocal "OK" and treat. Reflecting back to what I did with my other dog Nelson, when he knew Sits and Drops, I then commenced training for Stands from the Sit and Stands from the Drop, this also meant Sits from the Stand and Drops from the Stand. But with Cherrie I feel I need to by bypass this with her and go to the next stage, the training for the Stand will be introduced to her later. This as I felt she really knew the Heeling position and I must progress onto Heeling on the move rather than in the static position with me on my knees.

Well I was standing upright, still not moving and with Cherrie at the heel position. I just stood on the spot and with her performing Drops and Sits. A few sessions of this and where I saw her remain in the heel position whilst confidently doing Sits and Drops I knew we were ready for the next stage.

It only took only a sweep of a luring hand with her most favourite food treat for her to heel with me, but where I only took ONE small step. She maintain the heel position for that ONE step and sat as I halted, the Sit was actually lured from the hand positioning in that one step which was sweeped down and forward passed her nose, then the hand was raised up above her head as I stood upright at the halt after taking that one step. I food treated after the release "OK", then a play session, I'm not mentioning all the play sessions in this article as it's very repetative reading. Then I repeated that heeling for ONE step a number of times. Then I gradually extending the distance by taking two steps then later 3 steps and so forth. The quantaty of steps taken by me was determined by Cherrie maintaining the heel position, I tried as much as possible to avoid her going out of position. If I noticed her starting to drift even a bit out of position I would halt, then on the next heel I would reduce the number of steps I took. Gradually the number of steps taken at heel increased till we were heeling around the lounge room, dinning room and kitchen. This meant turns of right which at first were wide arcs as much as possible and gradually shapened to 90 degrees, then later left turns done similarly.

After a few heeling sessions I brought back the Drop but now into the moving Heeling. But I didn't do too many as sometimes Cherrie would somehow anticipated a Drop instead of doing a sit, basically offerning behaviours which I did not reward and ignored by just stopping training and just walking away quickly and sat down on the lounge and turned the TV on. When the turns were done very well I then commenced right about turns, and a bit later the left about turns.

Well that is all for now, so will try to write something later as we progress.

...

...

Cherrie at 9 Weeks Old

We are progressing very well, heeling is improving with Cherrie focus on me being the key factors. After a few heels and halts, she started the behaviour of being forward of the heel position, this as she is anticipating previous position where I previously rewarded. So care is being taken to allways Halt and Heel in different places to counteract this, basically the initial start of "the opposite game". Also if she goes too far forward I just stop training and just walk away and ignore her, then after a little while start all over again. All of this is working as those times where she does anticipate and look ahead to previous rewarding positions is diminishing, the forwardness is easing and she is back into the Heel position with focus on me. Due to this I still am not going to start the stand as I want to maintain that focused Heel, for what we are doing it is working very well for Cherrie.

It's time to move from inside the house and into our back yard. Note that Cherrie is heeling off leash all through her training, only when we venture away from home will we us a leash and only for safety reasons. At first we alternateted between inside the house and outside the house. Outside Cherrie tended to prefer to heel on the large concrete slab that we have and the footpath, this I feel was easier for her footing as the ground on the grassed area was a little too "potholed" to her feet and smallness. Heeling was progressing very well. Cherrie occassionally did not sit straight so she needed some more work on this. Rather than repeat the sit or straighten her out I decided to avoid this situation from occuring as much as possible by heeling at a certain point away from the concrete's edge, this had an effect of bringing her in that bit closer when heeling and also straightening her Sit, similarly as heeling close to a wall or fence. I would use this for a while to also avoid any problems that might develope due to the transition to the open expanse of outside in the yard, I wanted heeling in position 100% of the time.

Heeling was now improving to the point where I feel we would benefit by increasing the distance considerably, so I put a leash on for safety reasons and we heeled on the footpath outside our home. Using the edge of the concrete to the grass still to keep her bottom from occassionally going out when she sat at halts. We went up the path about 100 meters and back, I was very impressed with Cherrie. At places she broke her focus from me as her scenting detected strange scents, the clue was her then moving from the heel to sniff at flowers at the front of homes. I just put a yummy food treat near her nose and this suddenly remined her that food treats were better than sniffing at a strange new scented flower. Next time instead of taking her for a heel I will carry her, and stop at the places where she broke her focus and wandered off. I now allowed her to have a good sniff at all those objects, I should have done this on our first outing and I'll remember to do this when we move to another new locality much later.

Cherrie is very intelligent, this I feel is making her a bit too cautious with strange things. So I have commenced a familiarisation program. This also included taking her to the local Training Club. She has only had her first vaccinations, so no contact with dogs or on the ground for her till after her second vaccinations. I just carried her as I slowly walked all over the Training grounds keeping well clear of everyone. Cherrie sniffed the air and saw other dogs and people, at first she seemed a bit restless but this soon passed. Seeing me with a puppy club members knew what I was doing with Cherrie, later as their classes finished they came over one at a time to say hello to Cherrie and this helped socialise and familiarise her to strange people, but not with their dogs as they were kept well away.

Half of Cherrie's training is still being done inside the house, this now only for new exercises and to polish them up before moveing them into the back yard. Cherrie knows a right finish, this from the sit at the front position and moving around and behind me then to sit at the heel position. It's time to start training the left flip from the sit in front position to the sit at heel position. Also it's time to start learning the stand from both the sit and then from the droped position. Time to decide which one first as I only introduced and train one thing at a time. As Cherrie is heeling away from the house in an outside training session, her inside training session for other exercises is well seperated in time, so this tends to reduce any confusion that might possibly exist between exercises. I think on it overnight and decide which exercise to start next inside the house.

...

...

Cherrie at 10 Weeks Old

We started the stand, first from the sit to the stand, then from the drop to the stand, then alternating from the sit and drop to the stand. This was done inside the house with me in the kneeling position and Cherrie at the heel position. My left hand initially gently assisting Cherrie to the stand position, while my right hand held a food treat which lured a bit forward coaxing Cherrie to the stand, this also introduced the hand signal and also the vocal stand. Initially the food treat was given immediately as Cherrie stood and with a vocal OK, then the time interval was gradually extended till the OK and treat given. When the time inverval was at about 20 seconds I then gradually moved my right hand for signalling and holding the treat gradually upwards away from Cherrie, this at a point which avoided her seeing a sit signal and causing her to sit. This distance gradually extended and to the point where I could stand upright without Cherrie sitting. When Cherrie knew the stand from the sit I commenced to stand from the drop position, this going back to step one as above and progressing through. Then alternating doing a stand from the sit and drop. As Cherrie knew at 3 positions I did all 3 positions randomly from either position to another position. Meanwhile this was all done with me stationary and not moving from the spot, Cherrie also learning to compensate and stay in the heel position. When Cherrie confidently knew these 3 positions, I introduced them into the moving heel position, basically combining what she already knew.

Cherrie's heeling had greatly improved so we now did slow, normal and fast pace heeling. The fast pace heeling initially taking a few extra steps to speed up to fast pace, and a few extra steps to come to a halt from the fast pace. Gradually we reduced these extra paces to what is required for Trialing standard. Until we have the fast pace exactly right I won't be doing any drops or stands and only focusing on the quick sit when rapidly halting.

...

...

Cherrie at 11 Weeks Old

Stay training was next where the initial steps towards a stay I used a tug-o-war game. Whilst we were rumbling or tugging away I would say stay, she hesitated for a split second on hearing this and sensing my movements, we looked eye to eye at each other for that split second where I said "OK" and on this we immediately continued the tug-o-war game. We repeated this a number of times. During the tug-o-war game I saw that that determined look of enthusiasm and willingness and not taking her eyes of me while I tugged away, and even this after I said stay as she waited for that split second for that OK so we can resume the tug-o-war game. That split second would be gradually extended on later to be 3 minutes where she would not take her eyes of me as she waited for that OK to resume the tug-o-war game. Then a simple matter of adding in an already learnt sit, drop or stand to later become a sit stay, drop stay and stand stay, but inclusive would be that look of hers and not taking her eyes off me. Well we progressed in the tug-o-war game and it was time to convert to a trialling stay.

Whilst Cherrie was at the heel I gave the stay signals I moved directly in front of her, then returned back to the heel exactly as I had left, saying good girl in a soft voice to reassure her and giving an OK and treat when completed, the treat was a tug-o-war game. This was repeated but each time I was in front of her I gradually increased the distance from her, always facing her by walking backwards when moving away from her. Using her confidence levels to gauge how far I moved away from her. We were inside our house with no distractions so this boosted her confidence. It wasn't very long till I could leave her walking facing away with a quick glance over my shoulder every few steps, mostly to assure myself she hadn't broken the sit stay. As I had reached the other end of the lounge room it was time to start returning to her by going around behind her, this a bit wide and coming in closer every time. The point of where I was directly behind her and her trying to keep her eyes on me causing her to move had been over come as she by now knew to stay and she knew what I was doing and that she was going to get treat. The drop stay was basically a sit stay except in another position, for she knew what stay was of stay still or freeze irrigardless of position. We moved outside to the back yard to increase the distance. But I had that determined look and her not taking her eyes off me, the stay was just part an extension of the tug-o-war game where she stayed waiting eagerly for that OK.

Now it was time to perfect the recall and with finish to the standard required for trialing. This was very easy as Cherrie recalled every time since she was able to walk and was maintained and guaranteed by a food treat and heaps of praise, I even used the tug-o-war game at times. The sit stay assisted with me being able to leave her without her moving. I alternated sit stays with recalls, this to help her differentiate if I was moving away for a recall or for a stay. I always called Cherrie's name first with just enough loudness to get her attention, a slight pause then the excited higher pitched "come" as the recalling signal. My arms moved outwards and up into a welcoming signal which would be my recall signal, then as she came close to me my hands with a food treat were lowered to Cherrie's height so as to introduce the position in front as to where to go to, as she was in the front position by lifting my treat hands slightly and saying sit she sat to get her treats. Cherrie also knew the finish of recall, this was trained earlier as a seperate exercise and now combined with the recall. Practicing in my back yard we quickly progressed to doing the recall to trialing standard, still utilising the food treats and heaps of praise.

We still went for our heeling practice out onto the footpath outside our home. Each time something different occurred like a different sounding car, truck or motorbike, person or someone taking their dog for a walk. Cherrie's confidence levels increasing on each occasion through exposure. I also still went to the local training club, carrying Cherrie so she could see and sniff the scents of all the people and dogs, still not being able to put her down on the grass as she has not yet received her second immunisation injection and many strange dogs visited there through the week and doing their businesses on the grass.

...

...

Cherrie at 12 Weeks Old

Cherrie was now 12 weeks old so she received her second immunisation injection. So 2 days later it was Sunday and I could take her to our local training club and let her mix with the dogs and allow her onto the grassed areas. I did not join the classes but took her into the set up ring for practice trialing. I allowed her to meet all the trialing dogs, they were very well behaved in comparison to the lower classes, this minimised the likelihood of "accidents occurring".

After a while I took Cherrie into the ring where we did trialing standard off leash heeling and recalls, nothing else as she needed more practice with other exercises at home before attempting them at the club. Besides I had started doing training in a quiet park that didn't have too many distractions, then training the exercises where there were more distractions, this now became a stepping stages in gradually introducing distractions on exercises already competently performed. The off leash heeling she did very well which now included slow, normal and fast paces, and in each of those paces executed sits, stands, drops, right and left turns, right and left about turns, but a figure of 8 exercise in normal, all this at a low score but still at passing trialing standard. Recalls were excellent at trialling standard. But what amazed me was Cherrie's focus and happiness at ring work, the familiarisation, socialising and knowing the exercises had all come together. A repeat situation of when Nelson first went to the club as a 3 month old puppy. With Nelson I was tempted to do other exercises and which he did really well at, but the now wiser me decided not to with Cherrie until we could do them 100% all the time away from the club and with full confidence.

It was now time to start the stand for examination. Cherrie knew all the components for this from other exercises but they just had to all be blended together into what I wanted. The stand position now offered a problem, on returning back to her and walking around behind her she would try to keep and eye on me so she shuffled her front left foot and sat as I returned to the standing position as she somehow though of a sit at halt and threw in the behaviour. I just repeated and did not reward her and in 3 attempts she offered not to sit and was quickly rewarded. I did not worry about the shuffling of the left front foot as this would quickly disappear when her confidence grew as she slowly learnt what I was doing. We will repeat this with a few sessions more before we commence the steps for the physical examination part.

Since Sunday (now 4 days ago) I have not done any other exercises so I could focus on the following. I have extended the time of a sit stays to 2 minutes and the drop stay to 3 minutes, this has helped to steady Cherrie for a stand stay for 1 minute and well over the time frame required. Cherrie's confidence is growing and it is time to start the actual examination part of the stand for examination. At first I actually did the examination, basically giving Cherrie just a small gentle quick pat on the back, telling her she was a good girl and giving her a small food treat. Repeating this and gradually extending the time of the patting which then included pating all over the body and down each leg and including the head and chest. After a few sessions of me doing the examination, then my wife did them repeating the steps exactly as I had done. Cherrie now knows the exercise, later when friends visits our home I will ask them to do the examination exactly as I had done and then my wife, then later again at the training club using friends, much later with strangers. Cherrie now knows all the exercises for Novice class trialling. Now all that is needed is to blend all the exercises together, and gradually introduce all the distractions of a trialling situation. I will still be using food treats but only in a "jackpot" way as I must now gradually increase the expectations of what is required.

...

...

Cherrie at 13 Weeks Old

Since Cherrie was able to play with me, I had been on the lookout for what way would suit Cherrie the best so I could use it to train her for a dumbbell retrieve. She indicated to me in several ways what she preferred. She really loved playing a tug-of-war game with various items including that old sock that was was starting to get a bit tattered. I could use this to gradually extend on to train her for a dumbbell retrieve.

Ever since she was able to, she just loved chewing the sock and carrying it around, I just stepped in and started the tug-of-war game. We had been playing this ever since she was able to play. The moment she let go of the sock she would immediately grab it again, this was the "fetch" component that I wanted and could extend upon later. I would also let go of the sock at my end, she wanting to continue playing the game with me would move a bit closer to me with the sock in her mouth, this was the "retrieve" component that I could extend upon later.

When starting training for a dumbbell retrieve all other training stopped. All training for this for several sessions would be with me sitting on the lounge room floor, this so I can be closer to Cherrie's height. On the occasions where she let go, I would immediately throw it away saying "fetch" at first just dropping the sock and then gradually a bit further away, she wanting to continue playing would run out to grab it and bring it back to me. To encourage the stopping of the sock tug-of-war game I introduced food treats. As I grabbed the sock with my left hand I immediately presented my right hand with a food treat, this directly to her mouth as quick as I could. As soon as she realised it was her food treat, she would let go of the sock to eat her food treat, as she let go the sock I just said "give". This continued for several short sessions, but she did not want to stop playing this new variation of the game especially where food treats were involved. Basically I could reward with food treats or the tug-of-war game, for various reasons down the track I gradually switched to completely using food treats.

Cherrie loved chewing on anything. So on Sunday I introduced a piece of wooden dowelling. Going back to step 1 with Cherrie, I played with her while she chewed the dowelling which I held with my left hand. Dropping the dowel and whenever she picked it up I immediately said "give", simultaneously my left hand reached for the dowel and my food treated right hand moved to her mouth. From the earlier similar sock game she just let go the dowel and was immediately rewarded with a treat. It only took a couple of sessions of throwing the dowel gradually further till I was throwing it about 2 meters.

I now decided to sit on a very small seat, this at about the height I would be if I was kneeling. This caused Cherrie to look upwards towards my food treated hands, this helped her to automatically sit in front of me and would assist her in holding the dowel. This is where I started to gradually extended the time of her holding the dowel as I gradually extended the time of when I took the dowel and gave her the food treat. It was now Monday and instead of the wooden dowel I just used a small wooden dumbbell. Cherrie retrieving the dumbbell for a distance of 2 meters, and automatically sitting in front holding the dumbbell for about 5 seconds till I said "give" where I took the dumbbell to give her a food treat.

Tuesday I gradually extend the time of Cherrie holding the dumbbell whilst sitting in front of me. Also I just held her gently whilst I said "wait" as I threw the dumbbell, then tell her to "fetch" and let her go, previosly she just run out as I threw the dumbbell and said "fetch". After about 3 goes at this I just trusted her and she waited till I said "fetch". It was now time for me to not sit on the small seat, and for me to gradually move into an upright standing position. By the end of the day she was retrieving beutifully.

Wednesday we moved outside into the back yard. For the first 3 retrieves in the back yard I sat on my little seat, then after that stood up straight. The dumbbell was then thrown progressivelly further away till well over 6 meters away. This extra distance and the fact that Cherrie ran fast in both directions helped her into stopping to chew the dumbbell as she was now holding it tighter so it doesn't fall out of her mouth whilst running. Now Cherrie does a Trialing standard Dumbbell Retrieve in the back yard.

Last night just as we were getting ready for bed and toileting our dogs. Cherrie was way out in the back yard and in the position of doing a poo. Suddenly a car come around the corner with it's engine running very badly and backfiring. Well Cherrie took off very frightened. Things went on for a while for the worse as it happened that the car pulled up a few houses away from ours. The car engine died and the owner was for a good while trying themselves to fix the problem. The terrible engine sounds and backfiring continued for quite some time. In the quiteness and stillness of the country where we live the noises really carried for some distance quite loudly. Finally the car departed with the engine really reving loudly and things still not right. Poor Cherrie by this time was traumatised real badly by all the noisy incidents. I stayed up for ages till she was finally asleep. This morning she was still showing signs of post trauma. So looks like no training for a while until I know for sure she has recovered completely. Meanwhile I'll just focus on her confidence levels and go back to step one of gradually introducing strange things in particularly strange noises.

On Sunday at the Training Club I am considering the next stage of Cherrie's training for socialising and familiarisation to strangers. Using 2 tables I will position them between the club rooms and where all the members train. On the first table will be a bowl with heaps of small treats. On the second table will be Cherrie with me. An announcement will be made to all the club members as they gather to hear the pre training messages at the club house. Club members will be asked as they proceed to their training area to take a food treat from the first table and give it to Cherrie on the second table, keeping well spaced apart and for them to be in a very happy friendly manor, and the handlers to be between their dog and Cherrie.

...

...

Cherrie - Future Changes

Well who knows what the future holds, my back condition deteriated. I living nearly 3 hours drive away from Melbourne where most trials were held. I found I couldn't handle the 6 hour round trip and then there was the matter of still being capable of competing in a ring. Looks like my trialling days were over, so I just played with my doggies at home and at the local club. Also I diverted my time into other interests in the world of dogs. But there was a Cavalier Restricted Obedience trial coming up later where I made an effort to attend, this I felt might be my last trial that I might be able to compete. So I doped myself up with Panadeine Forte and Celebrex and headed off with my wife and doggies. Well Cherrie got first placing in the ring and her certificate as you see here.

.
...
...

...

...

FUTURE LINKS HERE TO
MORE ON CHERRIE

...

...

. . . . . . . .. . . . . . .