# Kodi's Latest Rally Adventure



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Kodi rocked it again at the Monadnock APDT trial in NH. We entered 6 classes, and he Q'd in all 6. He earned his RL2X (level 2 championship) his ARCHX (combined level 1&2 Championship) had two perfect scores (210), including one at level 2, and took a first, a second and two third places.

In the level 2 class on Sat., there was an "Offset Figure 8", which in APDT, is FOUR bowls full of food. Every time the dog sniffs, it's 3 points off. If you can't get the dog to come back to you (which has happened to me twice) you NQ. On this course, you had to pass right by the bowls twice before even entering the figure 8, then later in the course, you had to JUMP right toward them. A LOT of dogs NQ'd. I was SO proud of him for coming right back to me after his one "sniff session"!:whoo:

On the second day, since he had already earned his ARCHX, I moved him up to level 3 for the first time. We were the LAST dog to go in the trial, it was after 6:00, and I was afraid he'd be too tired to work. He Q'd with a second place and a score of 195, doing all the "big boy" exercises, including the recall over the jump and the bonus retrieve.

Here are two videos from a friend. I've got to see if his level 3 run is on my phone... the person taping for me had some trouble, so that will have to come later. The photo is with the judge after winning his ARCHX.


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## Dory (Jan 4, 2012)

Woohoo! Way to go! :whoo:


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## Tuss (Apr 22, 2012)

Wow! Congrats! That's impressive work.


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## HannahBearsMom (Jul 31, 2011)

Kodi is Mr. Awesome!


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## Moe's Gram (Oct 9, 2009)

congratulations to both of you


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## The Laughing Magpie (Aug 20, 2009)

Looking nice! Congrats! The best part is that you both look like you're having fun.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

The Laughing Magpie said:


> Looking nice! Congrats! The best part is that you both look like you're having fun.


That's always my goal, Robbie! If he's not having fun, it's no fun for me!


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

COngratulations!!! you 2 amaze me!


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## davetgabby (Dec 29, 2007)

good stuff Team Kodi..


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## irnfit (Nov 21, 2006)

You two did a great job...bravo! But I have to say that he is beautiful to watch.


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## Tom King (Aug 2, 2006)

More Big Ribbons!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

irnfit said:


> You two did a great job...bravo! But I have to say that he is beautiful to watch.


Thanks! I love all his swishy hair when he moves. I think that's half the reason the crowd falls in love with him. (that and his "flying finishes"!)


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks, everyone!


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## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

wow wow wow Congrats to you both!!! fun to watch


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Congrats Kodi (and Karen)!

I love watching your videos and find them very informative actually seeing how you do your handling. It seems now that I'm working as hard as Timmy on my handling skills as much as he's working on learning and reinforcing commands, I need to learn to relax a little more.

Today is day one for Timmy's second Advanced Obedience class. Last class he had two collies, two labs and a shepherd mix. Timmy was the smallest and youngest in class and the others got such a kick out of him when he pranced around and he also does that little jump thing behind me to get to my side. He walked into a cone last class because he was too busy staring up at me when we were walking. I started out with Puppy K and never thought I'd stick with it this far but I really enjoy it. I'm not even sure where I'm going with Timmy's training but as long as we're both having fun we'll keep doing it. He gets so excited when I bring out his school bag. If I put it next to the door he'll sit next to it until we leave. He certainly is a different dog when we enter the training center, he knows it's time to go to work and loves it. I do have a couple of questions for you though in regards to working with him at home.

1- I am having a hard time working with Timmy outside class. He does much better inside the house then outside but I guess that's totally normal since there are way more distractions outside. I've tried starting out with some fetch games to expend some energy but it's so hard to get him back and focused. If I start out with training he is so distracted and playful we generally end up not doing too much. I'm using the same treats at class but they don't seem so great when we're outside class. Do you have a routine for Kodi when you go out to train at home?

2- I was thinking of buying some cones to work with Timmy outside for leash skills. I'm hoping having cones will help him acknowledge that it's work time and not run around the back yard time. Right now I'm using "stuff" to help me set up a course, nothing official. I'm sure you have a area in your yard that is Kodi's practice area? The cones may allow me to designate an area in my yard that is used strictly for training. I don't do leash skills with Timmy during our walks since I'm generally walking with other dogs and people, but that's important for Timmy to have that exposure too.

3- Does Kodi act like a different dog when your at your training center or at a competition? If so, does he have that same intensity when you do your reinforcement at home? I wish Timmy would have that same intensity he has at class, but maybe he will as he gets more mature? Right now life at home is a game.

4- When I am outside working with Timmy I keep things under 15 minutes a session and try to end on a positive note. Depending on the weather we go outside and do this about twice a day is that too much or too little? When we're inside I'm working on commands pretty consistently, sit, stay, wait etc... Timmy will be one in a couple weeks so I know he's still young and I don't want to over do things.

Thanks for your time Karen, I appreciate you sharing your expertise with the newbies here!


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## motherslittlehelper (Mar 18, 2010)

Love to watch the videos of you two! Congratulations!


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## Momo means Peach (Jun 7, 2011)

Woohoo, go Karen and Kodi! :whoo:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

jabojenny said:


> Congrats Kodi (and Karen)!
> 
> I love watching your videos and find them very informative actually seeing how you do your handling. It seems now that I'm working as hard as Timmy on my handling skills as much as he's working on learning and reinforcing commands, I need to learn to relax a little more.
> 
> ...


Wow! That's a lot of questions! But I love your enthusiasm.

A big part of you "problem" is simply his age. He is still very much a puppy, in terms of brain development, even if he has attained full size. Even if you did NOTHING (which I'm not suggesting) you would see a huge improvement in his attention span over the next year or so. I saw the biggest improvement in Kodi's attention between 18-24 months. (and the biggest BACKSLIDE between 8 and 12 months!:biggrin1 Adolescence is tough with humans and it's tough with dogs.

I think the fact that your school calls what you are doing "Advanced Obedience" is a little misleading, and may be leading YOU to expect too much from Timmy. A dog of his age can't POSSIBLY be an "advanced" obedience dog. It takes, literally, YEARS to get the THe "Utility Dog" level, which is what is TRULY "advanced" obedience. Kodi isn't even CLOSE to being ready for "Open", which is the middle of the obedience levels. He has his CDSP Novice Obedience title, but that is because CDSP does not require long "stays" in a line of dogs. He is SO not ready for that!!! He's ready for us to enter our first two AKC Beginner Novice trials, which require the dog to sit still as the person walks around the room, but there are no other dogs present while they do this.

1. It is typical for it to be easier to work inside the house than outdoors. There are many less distractions, especially all those wonderful smells in the grass!!! I would NOT try to release energy through play and then immediately try to settle him for work. That would be hard for many adult dogs, and is actually used as a technique for people who need to "rev up" their laggy, less enthusiastic dogs. Try to have a strenuous play session or long walk (that worked better with Kodi) earlier in the day, then go inside for a rest/settle down period. When he's RELAXED, take him back out to work.

As far as treats are concerned, you may very well have to up the ante with higher value treats in a very distracting situation... whether that's in the yard, in the woods or at a trial. Real meat of some kind that you DON'T usually use in easier to train settings would be a better choice. Some dogs go nuts over cheese, too, though that is lower value than meat for lots of other dogs. So you have to experiment. It will also change over time. Right now, Kodi's top choice is turkey meatballs (the frozen human variety). For a long time it was duck "Thinker" sticks.

2. Cones are a great training tool for working on heeling patterns like figure eights, serpentines, working on go-outs, teaching directional cues (for agility work) etc. I DON'T think you want to set up a specific "training area", though. The whole point of obedience training is that you want the dog to behave as asked, in ALL settings. I do not have a specific area for obedience training... we have trained EVERYWHERE. We do have a specific agility field, but that's because I don't want to keep moving the equipment all over the property.

If you need to start in a little less challenging setting, try the driveway first, rather than the grass. There are less good smells to distract him there! As he gets better at paying attention, take the show on the road. When Kodi was younger, we spent LOTS of time heeling up and down the aisle in Petsmart and Petco, NOT paying attention to all those yummy bags of food!:biggrin1: Another excellent place for rainy day heeling practice is Lowes or Home Depot.

As far as leash walking skills, you should still be working on them, even when out with other people, but they should be different. Everyone can set their own criteria of acceptable leash behavior, but mine are that when we are walking casually, Kodi can by either side, in front of me or behind me AS LONG AS he maintains not more than LIGHT contact on the leash. I do not ask for heel position except for crossing streets. To make it clear to him what is being required when, he always walks in a harness on casual walks (even in and out of the training facility for potty breaks) and always wears a buckle collar (with or without a leash) for obedience training. For agility he walks to the field (or competition ring) in a slip lead, and runs naked. (as required by NADAC rules) The people I know who do nose work or tracking, have tracking harnesses that go on the dog RIGHT before they start to work. This kind of thing can be an important cue to the dog in terms of what will be expected of him.

3. I am very lucky because Kodi is not like most dogs Most dogs perform WORST under show/trial conditions. Kodi is always at his best at a trial. MOST dogs work better at home than anywhere else, though, so I'm not sure where the disconnect is for you and Timmy there. It may be that at school, your instructors are helping you get the timing of your reinforcement better, so you are keeping his attention better. If you can, it might be well worth the money to have your instructor come out to your house, even if it's just once, to watch what's going on and give you some pointers.

One thing that seems to be different about what you are saying about Timmy, and how I handled Kodi was that while Kodi definitely had play times, they were controlled by me. Obviously, I didn't ask him to attend at time when I knew he'd be particularly revved up, like early evening, but _I_ decided what were going to be play times not him. If Timmy thinks he can play whenever he wants, that may be part of the problem too.

Honestly, I think that outside lessons with your instructor, 15 minutes at a time is probably too long. I have NEVER worked that long with Kodi in one session outside of class, and in class, you're taking turns with other people, so it's really not long for each exercise in class either. At Timmy's age, Kodi and I were working several 5 minute sessions a day, and a lot of them can be worked on indoors, so there is ALWAYS something to do. Now we probably do two 10 minute sessions, with as many 30 second - one minute sessions of dumbell work as I think of! We also usually target just one skill in each of those general sessions, though, if he's having trouble with something, and I can't find a way to make it easier (and him more successful) we might switch to something else entirely.

Hope that helps. You and Timmy will get there! He's still very young. It can be frustrating to see HOW smart they are and how fast they learn before adolescence sets in, and then see their brain power "melt away".:frusty: But the good news is that he will find his brain again, and then you will have a wonderful working partner. These little dogs are dynamite!


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Do you need another retired ex-pen? Great job, both of you! Congratulations again and thanks for sharing the videos. They're fun to watch. I love his little jump and bark.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

sandypaws said:


> Do you need another retired ex-pen? Great job, both of you! Congratulations again and thanks for sharing the videos. They're fun to watch. I love his little jump and bark.


Thanks, Mary... His "flying finishes" are fine, but the bark's not such a good thing... In Rally he can get away with it, in formal Obedience, he'd lose points for it. Fortunately, he doesn't USUALLY bark... he was just a little "over-animated" at the start of the weekend.:biggrin1:

You'd better hold onto that ex-pen... you might need it some day!


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

I sure do hope to need it again someday but you could always just borrow it. Between all Kodi's ribbons and the alphabet soup after his name, he's quite the guy:whoo:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

sandypaws said:


> I sure do hope to need it again someday but you could always just borrow it. Between all Kodi's ribbons and the alphabet soup after his name, he's quite the guy:whoo:


Oh! That reminds me, I've got to update it!!!<g>


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

:clap2: Thank you, that's exactly what I was looking for. Sorry for such a long post! I am going to try some of your suggestions, like working in the driveway, duh why didn't I think of that? I hope others will find your post helpful as well!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Glad to help! I love that you are having so much fun with training. Keep us posted on how it's going!


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## rokipiki (Oct 15, 2010)

I love the way Kodi is watching you during the course. I would say - PURE LOVE!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

rokipiki said:


> I love the way Kodi is watching you during the course. I would say - PURE LOVE!


He certainly is my little love!!!


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## rokipiki (Oct 15, 2010)

And you are his BIG love! It is so visible!


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## Pixiesmom (Jul 31, 2008)

That's it, I'm starting a Kodi fan club.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Aww, gee! Kodi says "Thanks!"


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## Janet (Feb 19, 2007)

I just love watching a video of a joyful Hav! You both make it look easy and I know it is not.

Janet

P.S. Still waiting for the trip report and photos of your visit to Kodi's first home! Hint hint.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks, Janet! It takes a long time to train to this level, but when he's on, doing the course DOES feel easy... it feels like dancing. As long as I remember to tell him what to do next, he does it!:biggrin1:

I resized all the pix last night. I'll try to get them up later today.


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Ditto on Janet's PS, Karen. Pics please!


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## apololaceymom (Aug 27, 2011)

Congratulations Karen and Kodi!!! Great job!!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks, Kathy! It's so much fun to see that we have several performance dogs on the forum now!


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