O/T Greatest American Dog (spoiler alert)

But the guy from Tulsa won.  He did a great job with his boxer.  I would have been happy with either winner.  I would have been disappointed if JD had won-the dog was great-but I just couldn't warm up to the arrogant owner and his know it all, domineering way.

I do think at certain stages in a dogs training, you do have to demonstrate your dominance-but this was an older dog and at that point it's just browbeating the poor beast.

One of the things I liked that show stressed was pushing your dog's limits, bur also recognizing when the dog had reached that limit.  Some dog events have become the new "little league" and that's a sad thing for those dogs.

Believe it or not, I don't "baby" any of my dogs-the three pound chihuahua goes out and rolls in the mud with the border collie.  But I'm also respectful of their needs and limits-the one with bad hip isn't asked to do a lot of physcial stuff and the deaf one I just keep showing her want I want as many times as it takes.  We are still learning to communicate with each other.

So anyway-YAYYYYY for the Okies!

I loved watching that show.  Travis grew up in Perry, OK and is a "farm boy".  My middle son played legion baseball with Travis and he has a great spirit about him and a wonderful family.  I seemed so kind and considerate of his dog and the things they were asking him to do.  I felt the same way about JD as you.  I loved Laurie and Andrew I guess because I have a little dog (Westheiland Terrier named Cooper who absolutely thinks he's human by the way).  They had an awesome relationship and Andrew would do almost anything for her.  I loved the show and hope it's on again...

Oh, I forgot the most important part of Travis - he is an OSU graduate...GO POKES!!!

Woohooo!!! I was thinking he was from Oklahoma but couldn't remember where... I have to say I was very pleased with this Dog Show, it was good family entertainment and I didn't have to worry about my 3 year old twins watching it.. We really enjoyed it as a family.. We have local TV and I cringe anymore of the things that come on..

Hope we have more shows like this one..

Way to go Travis..

What I loved most was that all the people were just real people with real dogs.  Starr and Wild Bill are pretty well known in Texas Agility circles-but he's just a really nice man, not a celebrity.

Ok, I thought they loaded down the silly girls with their fufu pooches a bit-but it did highlight how well Andrew did and he was just treated like a dog.  Maltese are the most timid of terriers, and for him to do that course last night-yeah, I cried.  Such a brave little guy.

It really helped me as a trainer to see other people's mistakes too.  That border collie could have taken it ALL if the handler had shown more leadership and less frustration-but the best thing about dogs is that she will get in one day, it will all just click, and BAM.

Dog training is a bit of personal self discovery too but the dogs won't give up if you don't.  And it isn't a one time only shot.  My old dog Dottie and I had recently gone back and worked on some behaviors I didn't train properly in the beginning.  When she died, she wasn't the dog she was even a year before, and I wasn't the same person either-they CAN change with you.

I think putting kids and dogs together in a training class should be mandatory-I've taken several classes along side 12 year olds, and THOSE kids get it immediately.  (And yeah, I will blubber when one has a good run with their dog.....)

I think I need to hook up with you and have you work with me and my dog Cooper.  I think we should have named him Garfield because he so has that attitude.  He knows a lot of things and even can spell LOL but he also has some very annoying behaviors and I so want to change that.  Do you give lessons or have classes??

Tell me a little about Cooper-age, breed, where he came from.  Remember, where they come from is only applicable to where they are NOW-it doesn't make for the entire future.  When I got Greta, I really thought I'd have to keep her away from visitors, etc. she was that fear agressive, and she's totally trusthworthy now.

Free tip: The key to the abused dog is getting them to believe in YOU-once she decided I was in charge of the situation she just let it go and trusts me to deal with the scary vet, etc and she just sits there and takes her shot, etc.  (If I'm not in the room, it's sometimes a bit different, but she's learned to trust several of the techs now too).

Right now I'm working my young dogs to be service dog "prototypes".....meaning I'm working out training methods and items to train, but they will never actually BE service dogs because they aren't going anywhere.  If I'm successful with the training, I would then buy a pup to train for the purpose of selling-but I would know up front that it was going.

Several people of have asked me for Oliver the dog (since he was "free") but I'd rather cut off my foot than let him go.  I let the neighbor kids "borrow" him for walks, which he likes very much, but he comes back here at night...LOL.

Well, Cooper will be 6 in October.  We got him when he was about 8 weeks old from a breeder on South Harrah Road and about 89th.  He is a good guy and didn't have a puppy mill.  Cooper is a pure bred Westhiland terrorier.  We've had him all along and was never abused.  One of his worst behaviors is when someone comes to the door or when our company is leaving or even when either myself or my dh leaves he carries on something awful.  He starts that awful barking and going in circles.  you can't carry on a conversation with your guests who are leaving because you can't hear.  He is about the same way with the vacuum cleaner but I've learned to put him in a different room when I sweep.  He bits at the sweeper and barks.  Another bad behavior he has is he won't always come to you when you call him....he's got a mind of his own that way and looks at you like you want me to do what??  He doesn't do it all the time but too much for me sometimes.  He loves going to the groomer and likes the vet and doesn't misbehaive at either place.  We did take him to classes when he was about 6 months old for some training.  Some of it stuck and some didn't.

I love Westies.  I have always heard that you cannot ever let them go off lead because you can't teach the recall, but I've seen a pup do it recently just fine.  Even an older dog can learn the recall-the trick to it is when you are teaching it, never do it off lead until he gets it....then use a long line and work on distance.......then use different places (front yard, back yard, etc) and work on places....finally, if you take him offlead (in a fenced yard) and he refuses the recall, put him in his crate immediately-nicely.  No fussing, just very pleasantly say "ok, game over" and leave him for a bit.  Then take him out and work him on the lead again, then try again with the off lead.  The thing about the recall is I can teach him to come to me, but YOU have to teach him to come to you.

Some of my dogs have good recalls (and all who go out off lead do).  Prissy (my Mom's ex dog) has a terrible recall, so I taught her to go to Mom's front porch, ask to go in and get a treat....LOL.  Yes, it isn't the best of all worlds, but it beats chasing her down the street. (Chasing isn't a good idea, but neither is letting a 3 pound dog wander).   For the most part, she is not allowed off lead, except to train the "go to grandma command".....she has a good recall in the backyard, but that's not good enough for offlead work-so she stays on a lead.

Does he sit?  If so, insist that he sit when people come and go.  It's a bit of a hassle at first, but once he gets it, he'll be fine.  My parents are elderly, and I am teaching  my pack not to rush the gate when anyone goes through it. (First I had to teach my Mom not feed them at the gate, that was very hard to do).    First I made an invisible circle-when I came to the gate they had to back up three feet away from the gate.  Now when someone comes through the gate I stand on the sidewalk and back them up the three feet from the inside while the person comes through the gate.  Granted, it doesn't work unless I am there-but no one should be in my backyard if I'm gone anyway.

Cooper is always on a lead when we go anywhere because he'll dash off so quickly.  He does fairly well around our house unless the neighbor goes in his back hard and then he tries to go over there.  I do offer him treats to "bribe" him to come back when I'm ready to go inside or if he's straying too far and he will come for that.  He will sit but doesn't seem to want to listen to than when the excitement of people coming or going is going on but I'll work on that some more.  I will also try that putting him in a crate when he doesn't work.  He's quite a lover and is a lap dog sometimes...typically Westies aren't lap dogs I've read anyway.