theadventurek9 - Tumblr blog

[theadventurek9]

Just figured out that I will not be able to get any ring time in like I had hoped before Aayla's trial next weekend. We have a match style ring rental at the trial the day before, so that's nice.

I'm still working on Aayla's go outs (as always) and her confidence in retrieving the correct article and to stop second guessing herself. She has been doing great for two weeks now but the pressure of the trial is always harder.

Four days, and there are enough entries for some points! But not too big that the really fantastic teams probably won't come. (Just the right mixture to give some hope for points and/or the elusive wins needed for OTCh)

[theadventurek9]

Another great hike in the books. Yes it rained, yes it hailed. That meant we had the trails to ourselves.

[theadventurek9]

Ryker has shown some aversion to water, including puddles and creeks and what not. Which doesn't fit our outdoorsy lifestyle.

If he never likes swimming he will never have to do dock diving or swimming for fun, but for the sake of safety and being able to follow us on hikes and backpacking trips he has to be willing to cross creeks and confidently swim if he ever falls into water.

So today we did some fun splashing around and some not so fun creek crossings. Luckily he gained confidence fast and started stepping into the water on his own after a bit.

Only needed one learning moment of 'yes you have to cross the creek' at a creek crossing that had some deeper moving water. Let him take his time thinking about it but encouraged him that he had to eventually choose to join me and Aayla on the other side.

[theadventurek9]

8 months old

My best guess is he is about 21' at the shoulder currently and is 41.7 lbs. I'm worried he might end up being taller than 22 which I was hoping he would stay under so he doesn't end up being a 24" jump height dog with agility.

He is a lot more coordinated now and starting to figure out that he has springs. He now can snatch a toy out of my hand at shoulder height (😮‍💨)

Teenage brain has hit. He is struggling more with seeing other dogs running and playing. He is starting to posture more and gets more hackley when dogs are staring, barking or are close. Yet he is still able to mostly remain in control. I can tell the over arousal is there and it's harder for him. He has grown randomly more sensitive about things, I'm finding myself desensitizing this and that but trying to not turn things into big deals.

He is starting to become more restless, more sniffy and more mouthy. The last one was a bit surprising but it could also be that I've been upping our toy play more and adding a bit of frustration drive building into toys.

Had our first group class and he did very very well. His attention span was surprisingly good and was able to immediately offer a place behavior from the moment I threw his blanket down, but struggled with actually settling. Instead was offering a down and head down with gusto for treats. He also couldn't hold it too long and wanted to pace if I wasn't keeping him entertained.

He is starting to want to pee multiple times instead of just once for potty outings. Holding it for some precursors for marking. And is kind of starting to lift his leg more.

Overall a good teenage boy, but still a teenage boy.

6 Months Old

7 Months Old

Ryker is now 7 months old! He has gained 3lbs and almost an inch in height since he came home around 5.5 months. He is 38lbs and about 19.5" at the shoulder. I think he is a hair shorter than Aayla but they are very close in height now.

The little bit of puppiness in his features is fading away and it seems to be replaced with adult features.

He still seems a bit uncoordinated and figuring out his legs but even that is slowly starting to fade away. He is getting stronger. Still not noticing much teenage behaviors other than some frustration nipping. He has some sensitivity I'm learning to work around with training, he is more sensitive than Aayla in some ways.

His toy drive is building and I am so excited to watch that develop.

He is such a cool little dude and I'm excited to keep watching him grow and learn.

[theadventurek9]

First agility class!

Ryker was so much better than I even expected. Several dogs were pretty barky right off the bat. The ring over had some people running courses (through a see-through mesh). Then fighter jets kept flying over very loudly.

Ryker was the youngest in the class and otye farthest along with training. We came to figure out that everything we did day one he already knew...as a matter of fact he already knows everything the foundation class teaches and after a short discussion the instructor suggested we move up a level.

So we have to wait a few weeks for the class of the next level to start.

But Ryker was able to focus very well on me, he did a few tunnels, balance exercises, hand targeting, start line stays and reward markers fantastic. He did try and jump on the instructor a handful of times but that will be a long time work in progress I think for him.

[theadventurek9]

I remember teaching Aayla as many tricks as I could think of in rapid fire when I first got her as a puppy. She probably knew 30+ cues within the first three months of me owning her.

Tricks Ryker knows : Shake and to bite our fingers on cue.

[theadventurek9]

Behold a story of companionship

Of loss

Of discovery

Of hope

Of betrayal

Of disappointment

Of crime

Of forgiveness and the desire to make things right

The end

[theadventurek9]

here tumblr, have this video I spent too long editing

[theadventurek9]

The dogs on the other hand loved the windy sand outing.

Poor Rebel was thinking that maybe it was okay until Ryker ran over her.

[theadventurek9]

It's wimdy and Rebel said "put me back"

Not happy. This outing gets an F in Rebel's book.

[theadventurek9]

Glad Aayla is back to being solid on her gloves again. No more drifting to glove two on every corner send.

She loves the directed retrieve and I'm happy it's not stressing me out anymore. We will keep working on it and hope that it doesn't regress again

[theadventurek9]

Glad Aayla is back to being solid on her gloves again. No more drifting to glove two on every corner send.

She loves the directed retrieve and I'm happy it's not stressing me out anymore. We will keep working on it and hope that it doesn't regress again

[theadventurek9]

“Cattle dogs are just mals that smoke unfiltered cigarettes and drink cheap whiskey”

Wrong! American bred cattle dogs are outliers and should not be counted. Real Australian cattle dogs drink bundy rum and coke, and smoke whatever they can pinch off a mate at any given point in time.

[theadventurek9]

We are starting to get a bit of the picture I want for heeling. We got a very long way to go and it's not something I'm rushing. Yet I'm very happy to see some pieces pulling together past puppy throwing himself at food in hand.

[theadventurek9]

Two nice reps and one wtf dude moment.

Ryker now seems to be very confident with the idea of the lowered teeter. The sounds and movements no longer are concerning for him. I struggled to keep him off of it long enough to set him up properly.

I think now that we have the confidence and understanding that it moves, I want to return back to just the raised plank and start working on criteria for his contact. That also can start helping his balance and paw placements on the board as well.

[theadventurek9]

Articles!

This exercise is our new issue in utility. She is very regularly finding the correct article, bringing it halfway to me, dropping it and then searching the pile again. Most of the time she returns to the correct article and brings it to me...sometimes she doesn't.

So we are working on replacing the metal ones. (I think they're cold, and hurt when they clank her teeth) and building up a lot more confidence again.

[theadventurek9]

Retrieve over the high jump! I'm quite happy that Aayla has her open exercises down. She has been regularly getting 195+ in this class with no NQs for almost a year now. Gives me a lot more time to focus on her utility exercises.