Thursday, September 3, 2009

....BUT NO TRIALING!

Thanks, Ike. Message received loud and clear. :-)

Last night I took Carmie and Ike to see Cheryl for a chiropractic adjustment. Both dogs had recently lost their pelvises and getting back in alignment is a multi-session situation.

Cheryl has taken some Animal Communication classes and has been able to communicate fairly easily with both Carmen and Ike in the past. She has connected strongly with Carmie. One bright day at a trial Cheryl was attempting to connect to Carmen to ask her about whether she could see and wanted to run. Her eyes started watering because Carmie was having trouble with the sun.

I mentioned to Cheryl that Ike really wanted a job and I signed him back up for Rally-O. She immediately said, "He wants to be sure this doesn't mean trialing." Okay. No trialing - I swear!! Then she said he would like to do a trick class and you would have knocked me over with a feather to see Ike's expression. He really did say that - he lit up when Cheryl mentioned it. how weird/amazing is that?

I have never been a big trick trainer. I know both Shaya and Cat love training tricks. It's just not something I ever got into, however it looks like that will be changing. I am now on the look-out for a trick class and I am firmly committed to NOT trialing Ike - ever.

If anyone knows of a trick class south of Boston, please let me know. I know I can train at home (and I surely will), but I get a lot out of having an hour a week committed to one-on-one time with my dog.

8 comments:

Sara said...

I just found a "click & trick" seminar near me, but that would be quite a drive for you. It is a three hour seminar for $35. Oreo already knows most of the tricks, but I was thinking about signing us up for it anyway. You always learn new things at those seminars.

That is cool that you found someone who is an animal communicator. I wonder what Oreo would say to me about trialing.

Liz said...

Teaching tricks can be really fun.
I have a book called The Trick Is In the Training, and it's great because they have photos of teaching each step in the chain which helps a lot.

Holly said...

I am envious of the "gift" animal communicators have. I am glad that you are able to work with one on a regular basis now. I bet Ike will have a blast doing tricks! I can see him very happy to perform all his tricks for you.

Jenn said...

Jules- Emma is doing a shaping class at MP in either october or nov ... it's just a three week thing - but that might be fun. I might do it with Steeler. You might also look for a Freestyle class... that is basically teaching a bunch of tricks.

101mutts said...

Is this what Jenn mentioned at Masterpeace?
Thursday 6:00 PM Shape Your Dog's Behavior 3 weeks Nov 5, Dec 3

Maybe not, since it sounds like shaping not exclusively tricks, but it might be fun.

There are a lot of trick how-tos on youtube. This is my favorite dog of the ones I've seen. (Hope I didn't already link to this)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHV_AVxGgbQ&feature=related

Could I teach Ike a trick? :P

Jenn said...

yeah ... I was thinking of the shaping class at MasterPeace. I didn't actually read the discription (oops) another friend told me about it and I tend to think of "Shaping" as teaching tricks.

Jules said...

I picked a flyer up for the 3 week class when I was at MP Wednesday. I thought it was a possibility.

Shaya, that video is great.

101mutts said...

If Ike likes tricks a shaping class should have some of the same benefits. Creative, lower key because it's not the end of the world if the dog doesn't get it, and fun! I've been doing a lot more shaping with Tom than trick training at the moment.