Ginko Takes A Snowbath
During the long, cold, snowy winters, it’s hard to find a good time for a real deep-soaking, heavy-sudsing bath. So, we sometimes resort to the famous “snowbath.” Observe. [video]
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Another Study in Canine Body Language & Play
I shot a little video earlier this week of Lilly and Ginko playing chase and jaw wrestling games. For those who know Lilly’s noisy play style and stunted social skills, I’ll ask you to pay attention to how quiet this particular play session is. Ginko does many things to ensure Lilly continues to play, which is very smart and polite of him, I think.
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More Whoa Training
Maery over at Cowgirl by Proxy wants to teach WHOA as part of her prep for skijoring with Java. So, as promised here is more info
and video on how I taught WHOA, the cue that means “stop where you are.” … -
Weekly Training Update (Nov 27) Lilly Shows off WHOA
Over the years, we’ve worked on teaching WHOA (which means “stop where you are”). Some people use WAIT, but I prefer that for when I’m closer to Lilly. WHOA, for us, is more a distance behavior. We
practice this A LOT in our drop-in advanced pet dog training with Gigi. Lilly does great when we use a ledge or other visual marker to trigger a
stop, but on the flat, we’ve always struggled. Until recently. Check it out. … -
Howling on Cue
I actually shot this a while back, but I must have forgotten to upload it here. It shows Lilly
howling on cue. When I played it again before embedding it, she started howling again. Typically, Ginko only does the background yipping (like what coyotes do), but I actually caught him
letting loose with a howl too. Lilly is right next to me, so she is much louder, but you can see (and I hope … -
Nibbling and Bite Inhibition
We talk a lot about Lilly’s stunted or inadequate social skills, likely stemming from poor socialization as a pup (before we adopted her) and from her genetic
predisposition for fear. This video, however, shows Lilly deferring well to Ginko’s play advances. I love when he nibbles on her because he is so gentle and shows such deliberate bite
inhibition. Lilly nibbles on me this same way. It’s super sweet.You’ll see both dogs …
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Top 2 Signs of Border Collie Cabin Fever
As you likely heard on TV and from other Colorado bloggers, it snowed for three solid days last week and resulted in about three feet of snow around here. Unfortunately, the storm coincided with my first real week of work (after nonstop family medical drama) in a while, so Lilly found herself feeling more than cooped up. So, for your amusement, I present to top two signs your border collie has cabin fever. …
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Lilly’s New Trick: Clean Up
Allow me, please, a brag. In just a few clicker sessions, Lilly learned a new trick we call CLEAN UP. We were inspired by this video of a ridgeback putting away his toys. Lilly got the idea in just one session, but she tossed the toys into the basket with such oomph that they bounced out, which was against the rules. She caught on fast, though, and began holding the toys down with one paw, which is just about the cutest thing. …
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Lilly Meets Lulu, Round 2
Sunday, Lilly and I drove up the canyon a few miles to visit our friend Betsy and her Australian Shepherd puppy, Lulu, for the second time. The visit lasted about an hour and resulted in two distinct parts. The first half went great. The second half either went badly or was confusing. …
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A Little Agility Video
When the home agility course got overgrown from all the rain this summer, we missed training. So, we’re working on a few core elements a bit each day, including the weave poles and tight (or bounce) jumping. Since we’ll be spending most of today celebrating Tom’s birthday, here is a quick agility video for your entertainment. Yes, we’re a novice/green team, but still. …