# Kodi's New Training Room



## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

This afternoon, Kodi and I turned one of the "rooms" in our basement (the basement under our addition) into a training room. Now we can practice at home even during the winter!


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## tra_po (Aug 14, 2013)

Looks great!!!


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## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

What a great idea!! Have fun!


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## shimpli (Mar 24, 2010)

Awesome!


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## kicker0927 (Oct 15, 2013)

When I saw this, I just had a visual of Kodi playing those drums while you were hopping over the hurdle.... LOL


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## Tuss (Apr 22, 2012)

Jealous


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

kicker0927 said:


> When I saw this, I just had a visual of Kodi playing those drums while you were hopping over the hurdle.... LOL


Ha!  Well the drums are my son's and he NEVER plays them. I HOPE he gets rid of them. That area is actually a little "L" that isn't really useful for training, so we're keeping it as a storage space. I already moved the rest of the drums completely out of that part of the basement, but this big one is too heavy for me to move alone.

Not sure if I'm going to curtain or gate that area off in some way, or leave it alone. I guess it depends on how distracting he finds it. Yesterday he didn't pay any attention to it, but he was just starting to get used to the whole space. The biggest "training" we did yesterday was to navigate the "scary dark stairs" leading into the basement. He has a definite aversion to dark stairs (he wants us to turn the hall light on for him to go up and down our main set of stairs) AND this is "cat territory", and the cat is kind of mean to him.  Once he was in the training room, though, he seemed perfectly comfortable with the space.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Tuss said:


> Jealous




When we put the addition on the house, we talked about just doing a crawl space under that section to save money. (above it are two offices on the main floor, and a master suite on the second floor) But it turned out that it actually saved very little money, so we went with a full basement. We already had plenty of basement storage before adding this addition, and I saw that stuff was starting to "leak" over onto that side for no reason other than it was easier than throwing the stuff out. So I claimed the space for training.  It's colder down there than in the rest of the house, but I was comfortable working down there yesterday, so I think it will be fine for training. If if gets too cold in the dead of winter, we have a couple of those oil filled space heaters I can use to take the chill off.

The mats were actually not that expensive, and were easy to install. It was just under $300 for the 12'x24' space. I already had the obedience equipment, so all I had to do was move that inside.

Now I want to paint it, to make it look a little more inviting!


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

Sometimes I wish forums had the thumbs up option. Sometimes I want to support a post but don't really have anything pertinent to say!

So, THUMBS UP!!


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## jabojenny (Sep 18, 2011)

Wow nice room, you're lucky to have the space to do that! My basement is so scary, old house, old stone walls and who knows what else. :fear: I'll be envying you when it's cold outside and you can be productive with Kodi.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

misstray said:


> Sometimes I wish forums had the thumbs up option. Sometimes I want to support a post but don't really have anything pertinent to say!
> 
> So, THUMBS UP!!


I agree, Tracy! :thumb:


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## Ruth4Havs (May 13, 2013)

:thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

Wow, that is great, Karen!! Kodi is going to be a champion at every competition with extra pratice!:first:


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Love the new training room, Karen. Kodi looks as though he can't wait to get started. I remember the video Kathy Coder posted of her basement agility practice. Get idea for inclement weather. Bet you'll get lots of use out of it.


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## morriscsps (Aug 17, 2010)

NICE!!!


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## BFrancs (May 17, 2012)

sooo jealous! wish I had the room to do something like that


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

sandypaws said:


> Love the new training room, Karen. Kodi looks as though he can't wait to get started. I remember the video Kathy Coder posted of her basement agility practice. Get idea for inclement weather. Bet you'll get lots of use out of it.


I had toyed with the idea before I saw Kathy's but seeing hers made me SURE I wanted to do it!!! I think her space is bigger than mine, though. I don't think I could do a lot of agility in mine! Maybe introduce a puppy to various equipment, but at this point with Kodi, it's pretty tight even for sequencing, and a course, even a little one, isn't a possibility.

I did order the extra mats to finish off the edges today though. They sent them out today, so I should have them early next week!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Thanks, everyone! I'm pretty excited about it!


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## Suzi (Oct 27, 2010)

That turned out great . Now you and Kodi have your own room.. Maddie got scared walking by my mop today I have no idea why.


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## TilliesMom (Sep 30, 2010)

Jealous!!!!! it's gorgeous!!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Suzi said:


> That turned out great . Now you and Kodi have your own room.. Maddie got scared walking by my mop today I have no idea why.


Ha! The other day I let Kodi out to pee, and heard him barking like MAD. He was barking like crazy at a hanging flower pot that had blown down in the wind, and was sitting on the lawn. Silly puppies!!! Anything out of place&#8230; :laugh:


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

krandall said:


> Ha! The other day I let Kodi out to pee, and heard him barking like MAD. He was barking like crazy at a hanging flower pot that had blown down in the wind, and was sitting on the lawn. Silly puppies!!! Anything out of place&#8230; :laugh:


In the winter here, lots of the work guys leave their boots out in the hallway (in my apartment building). Brody was growling and barking ferociously at the boots this morning!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

TilliesMom said:


> Jealous!!!!! it's gorgeous!!!


Thanks, Tammy! Not "gorgeous" yet, but I think it will look a lot nicer with a coat of paint. I'm trying not to go TOTALLY crazy&#8230; I was thinking how cute it would look if I painted it as a mural, with grass and flowers on the bottom, and sky and clouds above! 

&#8230; Or&#8230; a lot easier, I could paint it just one color, and have a place to hang and show off all of his RIBBONS!!! :thumb:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

misstray said:


> In the winter here, lots of the work guys leave their boots out in the hallway (in my apartment building). Brody was growling and barking ferociously at the boots this morning!


Kodi would do that too.<g> We stayed with a friend for the weekend a week or so ago. She has glass sliding doors between the main part of the house, and a sun room that is not on the main heat system, and has a bass fireplace in it. Because there was no need to use that room for the two of us, the fireplace was off, the slider closed, and the lights off in there. That meant that Kodi could see his reflection in the glass of the slider. He kept going up to it, barking, doing play bows, wagging, and generally doing EVERYTHING he could to get that cute, friendly puppy in the glass to play with him. He would even turn and run a few steps to see if he could get the "other dog" to chase him! He just couldn't understand why his overtures weren't working! Crazy critter! ound:


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

OK, here's the finished product! The flooring complete, and the walls primed and painted. We picked a pale, grayish blue, because I wanted some color to liven things up, but wanted to keep the space as bright as possible too. I'll tell you, painting rough concrete walls is NOT easy! It also cost a fortune, because my son is extremely allergic to latex, so we had to buy the more expensive Benjamin Moore Natura (latex free) paint. But Kodi and I are happy, warm, and out of the...:smow:!!!

Oh, and here's just a cute picture of him holding his dumbbell!


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## Ruth4Havs (May 13, 2013)

Awesome room!!


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## sandypaws (Aug 8, 2012)

Love the finished product. You'll certainly enjoy and get a lot of use out of that room this winter. Enjoy.


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## Pucks104 (Aug 16, 2012)

What a wonderful space for working out of the winter weather!


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## Clara (Dec 14, 2013)

That is so awesome! That must be one happy doggie!


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## misstray (Feb 6, 2011)

:thumb:


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## ox3pxo (Sep 29, 2012)

haha nice!


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## Tuss (Apr 22, 2012)

awesome!


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## BFrancs (May 17, 2012)

that is such a nice room; you should hold a HF-Playdate there; plenty of room for them to run around and play.

Awww- Kodi showing off his strength - he looks so proud with his dumbbell.

Why a dumbbell? Is that part of his training??


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## whimsy (Apr 3, 2010)

It turned out just wonderful Karen! Certainly is nice and bright and the colorful ribbons really add a great touch! You two should have a lot of fun down there!


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## kicker0927 (Oct 15, 2013)

Love it!


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

Amazing, Karen - I've never seen so many rosettes!!! Look forward to a video one day, of Kodi in action!
Cuba is so envious of the room and the career!!
Lalla x


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

BFrancs said:


> that is such a nice room; you should hold a HF-Playdate there; plenty of room for them to run around and play.
> 
> Awww- Kodi showing off his strength - he looks so proud with his dumbbell.
> 
> Why a dumbbell? Is that part of his training??


Yes, for Open level Obedience, the dog needs to retrieve a dumbbell on command, both on the flat and over a high jump. The exercise goes like this:

The dog sits in heel position and waits.
The handler throws the dumbbell on the judge's cue.
The handler sends the dog on the judges cue.
The doge retrieves the dumbbell and brings it back to sit in "front" position. (with his feet almost touching the handler's feet)
The handler takes the dumbbell from the dog's mouth on the judge's cue.
The handler asks the dog to return to heel position on the judge's cue.

The only difference between the retrieve on the flat and the retrieve over the high jump is that for the high jump exercise, the dog has to jump the high jump both heading out and coming back to the handler.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lalla said:


> Amazing, Karen - I've never seen so many rosettes!!! Look forward to a video one day, of Kodi in action!
> Cuba is so envious of the room and the career!!
> Lalla x


Oh, there are LOTS of videos of Kodi working here on the forum. Just go look in the Obedience, Rally and Agility sections&#8230; You'll find him! 

We work hard at it, but I have to say that he has also been a dream dog to work with. He is not only smart, and WANTS to work, but he has been VERY forgiving of my novice handler mistakes!


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## cathryn (Apr 5, 2013)

What a great space! I love seeing all his ribbons!

He looks pretty pleased with it!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

cathryn said:


> What a great space! I love seeing all his ribbons!
> 
> He looks pretty pleased with it!


Thianks! He loves training, so he looks forward to his time down here. The only problem we have is that the cat's litter boxes are RIGHT at the bottom of the basement stairs, and he needs to walk right past them on the way into the training room...

Not a problem as long as I remember to go down FIRST and gate off the boxes. We've had to have a couple of emergency face/mouth washes when I've forgotten, and he's gotten into the "cat crunchies"!uke:


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## Eddie (Feb 11, 2012)

Very nice, love it:thumb:


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## Lalla (Jul 30, 2013)

krandall said:


> Oh, there are LOTS of videos of Kodi working here on the forum. Just go look in the Obedience, Rally and Agility sections&#8230; You'll find him!


Oh, I've seen lots of the other videos of Kodi, Karen; I meant a new one showing off his new room!!!


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Lalla said:


> Oh, I've seen lots of the other videos of Kodi, Karen; I meant a new one showing off his new room!!!


Oh! OK&#8230; good idea! I'll see what we can do!


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