Daiquiri Playing Soccer

Three short videos of Daiquiri playing.  I apologize for "ready" over and over...it gets rather annoying so you may want to turn your volume off!  We recently had to change soccer balls so she still struggles to pick the new one up.  

This first one is Daiquiri's version of a full retrieve.  Pretty good but she still veers one way or the other to see if she can get away with chewing on it for a while.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAKG31-s-Lc&feature=player_embedded

I like how this one shows her back up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OvmIgEdS-YU&playnext=1&videos=wESA_6NnGOU&feature=mfu_in_order

This one is the reaction I get before the first ball is kicked.  I love her exuberance!!  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf3mu6cLcx8&playnext=1&videos=E2KdQeAwtEY&feature=mfu_in_order

Making the Right Choices

Daiquiri is getting very good at this.  When she first arrived she always made the choice to ignore me when she went into defend mode.  But now when I call her off she always makes the choice to come to my side.  She used to always make the decision to defend but now she chooses to remain calm majority of the time.  She almost made the right decision to not bark at the neighbor kids today when they were running but as soon as I reminded her she calmed immediately back down.  She does choose to remain calm more times than not now.

When Daiquiri met the first person outside of our family she did much better than I had expected.  It was even a tough situation for her.  I had her put away before the company arrived but little did I know when I went to get her they had followed me and were just on the other side of the door.  So when we opened the door it surprised both of us. She charged and barked but when I called her off she came back to me.  At that point she decided it was safe to just sniff to check him out.  I was really proud of the little girl!!  I did not see fear but her guardian instincts come on strong.  I have a dog that reacts out of fear and Daiquiri's posture has no fear present.  She is still learning control of those instincts but I could not ask for more.   Daiquiri is just an Aussie doing her job a little over the top.  Exactly what I wanted :-)

Daiquiri also came to me with resource and space guarding issues.  We worked really hard to nip the space issues in the bud from day 2 so this has really not been an issue here.  I can see it is still in her thoughts but again she chooses to behave.  Daiquiri does not get nasty when Ariel is getting her loves, mostly just stays back.  However every now and again she will squeeze herself between Ariel and myself.  I give her credit though because she seems to know when I will be OK with it and never gets nasty toward Ariel for staying there.  She is learning that I do have more than one hand to give love with!

At our house all toys are mine and I rule them at all times.  We also have a rule that we buy no single toy, meaning if I buy a Nylabone I buy three never just one, always one for each dog (same goes for tennis balls, stuffed animals, etc.) so that each can have their own at the same time.  Of coarse toys get lost outside and under things so there are times there may only be one laying around.  Rodeo and Ariel both know they are not to take a toy away from another dog.  They know the consequence if they try - they all lose the privilege of playing with or chewing on my toy.  They can sit there and watch the other one but better not take it away.  It only took Rodeo about two weeks to get this when he arrived so I knew it would be much easier with Daiquiri.  To this point we have not really had a chance for learning in this area as it has not come up.  But today with the new Nylabones she was certain she needed Ariel's along with the other two.  Of coarse Ariel let her have it but I intervened, took it away from Daiquiri, gave it back to Ariel and handed Daiquiri a different one.   Still yet Daiquiri did not want hers, she wanted Ariel's but again Daiquiri made the right choice!!!!  She did not chew on hers but chose to lay there and watch Ariel.   She got up a couple times looking intent on getting that bone but each time she made the choice to lay back down by her bone without me having to remind her.  I was VERY proud of her!!!  She gets things so easily!!!  

I know taking the toys away from all of them for one's behavior seems harsh but it has really worked for me.  The ones who already know how the system works only have to suffer thru the new one messing up a couple times before there is an understanding among all of them.  We do not have fights around here over toys, I just won't tolerate it.  Rodeo used to get a toy to take on the couch then sit and growl at Ariel if she came within two feet. It was amazing how quickly he understood that he lost the toy the instant he did that.  No dog likes to lose their entertainment like that!!  I do not mind if they share a toy nicely so long as no one ends up guarding the toy or being a bully over it.  Disclaimer:  I do not push it with high value items like their food or pork raw hides :-)  


Overall I could not be happier with Daiquiri.  She is just so much fun.  She has quickly stolen my heart.  I can see how bonded she is to me now.  She makes me laugh on a daily basis with her silly tactics.  I love to watch her interact with my sons.  She knows to be gentle with them.  Her frisbee training is coming along.  I see improvement each time but we still need to pull some drive out.  It is in there but not quite as intense as I need it to be.  I know it's there because I see glimpses of it.  Once we get that to come out all the time it will be on!!  In the off chance she decides frisbee is not for her no big deal we will just have to find something she loves.  Maybe freestyle dance or herding.  

One fun story...the girl makes me laugh daily.  Daiquiri likes to steal wash clothes out of the bath room to bring in the family room to toss around.  So  here she come with one shaking it back and forth to kill it.  As she did this it flew out of her mouth and hit the couch where a beam of sun light was hitting.  The wash cloth had knocked a single dog hair into the beam of light.  She saw it, gave it the eye then "grrrr....",  snap and caught the darn hair.  Then it was back to silly fun with the wash cloth. I laughed so hard at her :-)

Disc training and other

We decided to get back into some disc training.  We have just been working on full retrieves with the only toy that she would bring all the way back which was a soccer ball.  If Daiquiri would find a Frisbee somewhere she would pick it up and look at me like "please play this with me".  So after a couple days of her wanting it we went back to working on it. 

This time we took two discs out with us in hopes of using one as a lure to get her all the way back to me.  We had tried to use a long line in previous sessions to help with her retrieve but when I would go to pull her back she would drop the disc as if she were in trouble.  I would much prefer her to view all things fun with frisbee.  One disc was a regular hard plastic and the other was a SofFlite (a little softer plastic).  Miss Daiquiri decided right away she did not like the softer disc.  She would play with it but much preferred the regular disc.    So this time we started with short tosses within just a few feet because I knew she could be successful at those and still be in reach to get the disc back.  She was doing rather well with this so we moved to some longer throws.  I am super happy to report that she can consistently catch 20 yard throws with ease.  She is such a natural.  Her return needs lots of work as it is super slow right now.  I know with time we will get there though. 


At this point we were still struggling with the hand off.  She returns all the way but turns to the right just before getting to me.  So after only a small handful of those I decided to bring it back in close for some baby freestyle stuff.  That girl is CRAZY!!!  She LOVES close up work with a passion.  While I was holding the discs up high so she could not grab them she was leaping up to my head then trying reverse chest vaults (more like reverse stomach vaults) off of me.  She was not understanding when I told her she was not old enough for all that jumping so I decided it best to just sit on the ground for her safety.  I did not want to correct her for all that jumping as it would make it much harder to teach when we are ready.  We started baby "overs" with my legs flat on the ground.  It was game on for Daiquiri!!  To this point she has never been so intense on playing frisbee.  She stayed right with me, dropping one disc in preparation for another.  She has the most beautiful tucks when she jumps.  I had gotten to see them when she would jump up on the deck or couch but she even does it when she baby jumps during play.  Once she is old enough she will fly thru the air ever so gracefully!!  


With Daiquiri's disc training I am having to dig deep into my training techniques.  It has been such a long time since I have had to start from scratch.  Ariel was such a complete natural in every area from over the top, intense drive to full retrieves to catches.  With Ariel we just flowed onto each stage of training.  Daiquiri is taking me back almost 7 years ago when I started with my first dog.  I appreciate that as it really signals to me the great control that she will have as a disc dog.  Ariel is so crazy that we struggle because of it.  At four she is just now starting to calm enough that we may actually start being competitive at the level that we have to compete. It will be at least another 18 months before I start competing with Daiquiri in freestyle and boy I can not wait!!!


In other areas we are doing so good I could not be happier.  She does not go into automatic defend mode anymore.  Her focus on what we are doing is starting to override her previous need to see everything that is going on around her.  I think she is gaining so much trust in her family she is not feeling the need to be a protector every minute of the day.  The other day my 4 year old and Daiquiri had stepped outside together.  I was on my way out with them but by the time I got there (no more than 30 second later) they were headed back in.  I asked my 4 year old why and he told me that Daiquiri was barking at the men working next door so he told her to stop and come back inside.  It really cracked me up that she had actually listened to him!!


Ariel and Daiquiri are starting to "dance".  It is the funniest thing to watch.  They both get their hackles up and just jump around each other, never touching in an effort that neither lets the other behind them.  Ariel usually ends it by just walking away, ignoring Daiquiri.  If they do it close to me I stop them and to my surprise Daiquiri already calls off with ease.  Daiquiri likes to give Ariel the stink eye but she is not getting anything out of Ariel with it beside being ignored.  At this point I see Daiquiri being on top of my little pack as she matures with no problems.  Ariel is the alpha bitch here only by default, she really does not have it in her.  I really think they will get along with no problems in the future either.


Daiquiri thinks the sun rises and sets on my oldest son.  She can not wait for him to return from school.  She is not too fond of the rocking recliner yet when he is in it she willingly jumps up to sit with him.  He was sick over the weekend and she became the nurturer.  She gently climbed into the chair with him to give him the sweetest of kisses.  It was as if she knew she had to be gentle.  He told me the next day just how much better she made him feel.  I see an ever lasting bond being created there.  Daiquiri will be the dog that will pierce his heart for the first time.  He loved Tess very much but I can see something even more special between these two.  


Well I do guess I need to post more often in effort to not write a book.  Sorry no pics or video this time.  I am hoping to get some of her playing soccer with me.  She will back halfway across the yard on command.  It is so cute!!  


Oh - she did get the leg weave we were training by the end of the week!!  We have started the base for another trick (secret until we get it and then I will post video).

Some things we have learned.

Still not a whole lot going on.  I can officially say she is happy.  The tension she carried during the transitioning days has completely disappeared. I love every part of her personality. I am learning very much how Daca ticks, why to this point she has seemed to be such a challenge.  I really think she is very good at buffaloing people so that she can have the edge, be the one in charge.  Don't get me wrong, she is a challenge but oh what a joyful one!!  She is learning very quickly that I am the leader of the pack in this house.  She does test her limits now and then but within a few seconds she realizes that I am not giving in and she readily does as I ask.  I can also see that she is comfortable in the fact she has stopped reacting at everyone she sees.  She stops to see if she knows the person before going into automatic defend mode.  Even just this morning a new, strange man was cutting the grass next door and she just observed without going into defend mode.

Within another week or two we will be ready to start meeting people outside of the family.  Mostly observation at first to try to work some of her reaction away.  Help her to understand that things will be on her own time and that she does not need to show everyone just what a bad apple she can be.  She can make the choice not to be friends but she needs to learn that she can be respectful and no harm will come to her.  No one will pressure her to be petted or to go into a space she in not comfortable with.  I have learned a great deal about her just from the process of adjusting to my family.  It appeared to me that Daca related treats coming from someone to automatically mean that was someone she needed to be afraid of.  That goes against every type of shy canine training that I have ever heard of.  Here are my thoughts on that.  I flooded her with treats the day I picked her up.  It took her a few hours to warm up to me.  My husband gets home, he does not like treats so he did not grab any and boom she was his instant friend.  When we decided to start with my sons, my oldest had only given her a treat on the first day and she befriended him after the first game of soccer on day three.  Still at this point I had not thought a thing about the treats.  She was much slower warming up to my 4 year old.  Everyday I would have him feed her a bunch of treats.  She was very leery of him continuing into the 5th day.  Our schedules got busy so for about a day and a half I did not have him feed her any treats.  On the 7th morning after one whole day with no treats he became her new fun friend.  She is great with him now, loves their silly games together.  

I talked with a pro dog trainer friend of mine about this.  She agreed it was odd too.  We talked thru it.  We think that the reward (the food) is not higher than the fear to make her understand the concept.  We think maybe chicken or steak may do the trick a little better.  But I am still torn on how I want to handle new people.  I think leaving the treats out of the picture completely is the best option.  I guess trying will be the only way to find out.  I want the least amount of stress on her around new people and I think asking her to take treats puts too much on her all at once.  Maybe a toss of one here or there.   I will let you all know how that goes once we get to that point.  Just thinking ahead a little there.  I really could care less if she ever befriends anyone else.  I really just want her to be respectful which I know she has in her!!!


The space issues that I posted about in a post early on are almost nonexistent now.  She has not been nasty toward my family (dogs included) for being in my space.  She got that so easily.  I have only seen her react about space once  when she was spending time with my husband and a resource was envolved.  Ariel and I rounded the corner.  Daca thought my husband had a treat for her and turned to guard the entire area from Ariel.  My husband took action to calm her right back down (rather he knew it or not he was giving her the "calming hug" that I learned at a seminar while drawing her attention away from Ariel).  She understood quite well.  I could not ask for her to be doing better in that area.  I know she will test the waters now and then but I am up for it!!  


We started a new trick today.  We are starting the base of teaching her to weave thru my legs.  She got the first part of just walking under me to the right for a treat easily.  She even related the command without having to be lured.  I think next session she will be ready to learn to go to the left.  Heck from what I saw today we will have four consecutive steps by the end of the week!!!


Still no new name.  We have a short list but nothing seems good enough for her!!!


We will end with a picture again.  It only took two sit stays to get this.  I had to laugh at her.  Right after the click of the camera she "woofed" her disgust in a low tone and slowly strolled off.  It was the entire scenario that cracked me up...someone not wanting their picture taken, I was taking her romping time up with a dumb picture...the whole nine yards.  

Juat a couple pics and a video.

Not too much to report on these past few days so I thought I would share a couple pics and a video.

We bought a couple new Nylabones this morning.  My dogs have never been interested in them until Daca came along now all three love them.  

Here is Daca loving hers.....

I thought it too cute when they decided to lay together to enjoy their new chews.....

This is for you Lisa...your video fix :-)  The girls had just played a game of chase so I was standing ready hoping she would get in.  It was not that hot out this morning so this is laid back compared to her splashing when it is extremely hot.  We live in a heavily wooded area in case you are wondering where the grass is at...lol.  Only about 1/3 of of yard gets some sun during the day so in that area is the only grass we have.   Since neither my husband or I have a green thumb we have given up on growing grass :-)  So long as my frisbee fairway stays intact I am good!

Now that we have a dog that likes water we will have to invest in a bigger plastic pool for next summer!

I am sure that you have noticed she is dragging a lead.  That is one of my tools for training so you will most likely see that attached to her for quite sometime.  We have a homemade one that is much longer and lighter than a regular lead but yesterday while I was not looking Daca decided to chew it in half.  That is my fault since I should have made a shorter one for in the house!  Oh well out to the store for more supplies to make two more.

We are ready for a new name for her but just can not all agree on one.  Our goal is to have one firm by the end of the weekend.  Any suggestions are welcome even though I know all of you have come to love her as Daca.