Happy Halloween

I didn't buy Jedi a Halloween costume, so I just dug through the cupboard to see what crap I could put on him for a picture -- because you can't have a Halloween cover photo without dressing up, right? Normally this is a night where I hide in the house with the curtains pulled and all of the lights off until it's deemed "safe" from trick-or-treaters. This year was different, though, because I figured it would be a prime socialization opportunity for Jedi. So, after running around for a bit in the yard to take the edge off, I set off around the neighborhood with Jedi and Kizzy. It was interesting to see where the hots spots are (that would be my street) and also how many houses stayed dark -- I always assumed mine was the only one. The dogs did great with all of the (strange-looking) people and kids running around screaming. We didn't see any dogs out until the very end and that got exciting, but by the fourth encounter Jedi barely reacted (Kizzy is a horrible instigator -- great with people on walks, bad with dogs). We did our usual 3-mile loop and it was nice to be out enjoying the night instead of hiding in the house.

We spent the weekend at an outdoor NADAC trial in Zumbro Falls, MN. It was a small trial and I was pretty much working every class that I wasn't running, so Jedi spent a lot of time each day in the van (with the doors closed, because he's picking up Secret's barking). When he got to come out he was high as a kite. I think he sensed immediately that there was a river next to the park and his main objective was to get to the water every single time he left the van. Occasionally he saw agility in the ring and got excited, but he definitely wanted the water more. Before we left on Saturday I took him down to the water and let him swim. It was only 56 degrees outside, but he didn't care. He got to come play tug next to the ring a few times and show off some of his tricks, too. Jedi was fine by the ring and totally focused on his toy. Boy would I have loved to give him a shot on the tunnelers course! It would blow his mind.

Because we got home so early each day from the small trial, I still needed to do something to wear Jedi out. For some silly reason -- perhaps because Daisy Peel just re-posted her videos of Solar's running dog walk training -- I decided to see what would happen if I asked Jedi to run across a flat plank. My dog walk bit the dust this year and officially rotted through. The top plank is to the point where I stopped even letting the little dogs go across, but I've still used the down sides for some target work for Jedi. One of those is rotted on the end, but the other one is in okay/usable shape -- at least for this plank work that I'm doing now -- so that's what I'm using. The rest of it needs to get burned or something.

I have no real plan here. I'm not 100% committed to this (and don't think I can be until I have a new dog walk on which to practice). If plank work goes well and I decide I want to move forward with this, I'll probably enroll in Silvia Trkman's online running contact class. I enjoyed our puppy class, so it would be worth a shot -- but I need a dog walk first. And no snow, of course. At any rate, I think things are going pretty well. The first session on Saturday was mostly about getting Jedi to figure out that staying on the plank was the place to be. I stuck a couple of cones on either side of the end. On Sunday I swapped them out with stick-in weave poles. Since Saturday and Sunday went so well, I decided to video our session today. Things started out rough with several leaps and then he settled back into his pattern. I'm using a clicker to mark hits and vocally marking the super good hits while throwing a big party (which he largely does for himself with his victory laps).

Before we went on our trick-or-treat walk I took Jedi out for one more session. With my confidence boosted by our third good session (but first time removing the guides) I pulled the table platform out and propped the board up on that (just the table top, no legs, so about 4"). Jedi did fine going down the plank from the table, but when I backed him up for a running start at it he often skirted around. One thing I'll give this dog, he has a very clear understanding of reward/non-reward markers. He will stop from a dead run on an "uh-uh" and leave his toy instead of self-rewarding. It's kind of weird really. When that happened we reset and he'd get it the next time. I think he either needs to go back to more flat work or I need to introduce guides with the table setup to complete the picture for him. More than anything I just want him to be successful at this stage of the game. Because -- FUN!