WeezeeJ has moved

I know you showed up here looking for words of wisdom, cute dog pictures, all the usual stuff. But Weezee has moved and morphed so come visit us at louisehinckley.com.
All the stuff you're looking for will be there.

Let me know you visited and how you like the new digs!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wish you all a happy and safe holiday.

Enjoy:

family,

food

and

blessings!

Picture from guy-sports.com

Never too old

I just love this video!!! This gentleman is 97.5 years young!!
You are never to old to learn or compete or keep at something.

George Richards & Hummel at Dachshund Speciality 2009 from John Richards on Vimeo.

Congratulations to George and Hummel.
So glad I have almost 50 years to perfect my dog training. (OK, 45 years.)
Go practice something!!!!

Thank you Veterans

I was brought up short today when I went to read my sister's blog while having lunch.
I know its veteran's day and I am very thankful to all those who have served and are serving in our military. They protect our freedoms so weenies like me can stay home and do whatever I want. I so appreciate that because of them I can feel pretty secure my life will continue just as it is as long as God allows it.
My nieces and both their husbands all served in the military as did my father so today I want to especially thank them for their service and sacrifice.

Do you yourself a favor and go read my sister's blog today. Dlyn She says it better than I can.
And Thank a veteran today.

Working the recall

So how is that recall coming along? Are you ready to take the next step?
By now you should have trained your dog’s recall in several rooms and attached a command to it. Your dog is now coming on command approximately 99% of the time. Congratulations, you’re ready to take your recall on the road!

You need a 15 to 20 foot drag line attached to your dog. If it has a loop on the end just cut that so your dog can’t get caught on anything.

You still want to practice in a somewhat safe and confined area. It’s ideal if you have a fenced yard or access to one. You’ll also need your cheeseburger or whatever yummy treat you’re using to entice your dog.

Start with a couple practice recalls letting your dog wander only a few feet away before you call him and then give a jackpot when he comes. This sets the stage for success for this session. You want your dog to succeed as often as possible so you can reward him. A reward (cheeseburger etc.) is often referred to as reinforcement. Reinforcing something makes it stronger so rewarding your dog coming to you, increases the likelihood your dog will repeat the behavior so he can get rewarded again, reinforcing the behavior so it gets stronger and increasing the likelihood your dog…… well, you get the idea.

After a couple practice recalls, start letting your dog wander further from you and wait longer between recalls. You want to continue jackpotting your dog for 20 -30 seconds when he comes, especially as you increase the distance you let him wander. When your dog gets really good at coming in this location, switch to new place to practice. Dogs do not generalize behavior so you’ll need to continue working in many new places until you teach him he is to come on command regardless of where he is. Keep jackpotting your dog as you work in new places and be sure to keep him safely on the drag line until you think he has got it.

You can start to incorporate this into your walks with your dog. Naturally you want to be sure your dog is safe so be careful where you take your dog. The woods are a great place except during hunting season of course so check your area. There are nice playing fields near where I live and I use those too.

As your dog gets better and better at coming to you on command you can graduate to removing the drag line but I recommend you go back to the fenced area and work for a bit before assuming your dog will come without the line attached to him.

If you have diligently worked at this, rewarding each step along the way you will have taught an effective and trustworthy recall. Well done!

Now before you think you are all done and you can put those treats away forever, let’s talk about maintaining that recall. Come on back in a few days and we’ll discuss how to keep that recall strong and dependable.
In the meantime, let me know how it’s going.

Jackpot!

In my last post To come or not to come that is the question I mentioned using a Jackpot to reward your dog. This is an extremely effective tool.

Merriam Webster dictionary defines a Jackpot as: an impressive, often unexpected success or reward.

Like playing a slot machine in a casino.

People sit and pump coins into a slot machine anticipating they will win the big Jackpot. Why? Well because they have won before or they saw someone else win and hope to hit the big one! And why not, when the machine pays off it's a flood of coins accompanied by flashing lights and blaring horns while the winner cheers. The result, the winner and many people watching will most likely sit down and play again.

This is the same philosophy in jackpotting your dog.
Train a behavior, a sit, shake, rollover, whatever and when you get a really good one, jackpot it!

Pay out a whole bunch of treats one at a time while lavishly praising your dog. Chances are your dog will repeat the behavior just to test if he will get that fantastic jackpot again!

And lucky you, because you jackpotted a really good behavior it will most likely improve your dog's future performance and result in faster responses.
Here is a short video that shows how to pay out an effective jackpot.


Kindle loved helping us make this video. It was indeed difficult to convince her we had a good one and were not going to continue. She kept sitting and then running to me in hopes she would get another of those jackpots!
She is an over achiever.
Give it a try and let me know how it affects your results.

To come or not to come; that is the question.

My sister the famous food blogging photographer Dlyn has been encouraging me to write a bit more about my dog training techniques. I decided this could be a great way to reach a few more people. So let’s start with what I consider to be one of the most important things you will ever teach your dog. That is the recall or rather, to come when he is called.

We all want our dog to respond quickly when we need them to come to us. But it is one of the behaviors most people have trouble teaching their dog and maintaining. I believe it’s all about the association our dogs have about coming to us. Create a strong, pleasant association and your dog will prefer coming to you over everything else.

I am a huge proponent of using really good food to train dogs. Of all our senses smell and taste form the strongest and longest lasting associations.


Just a whiff of warm apple pie and I am transported to my Grandma’s house learning to make pie crust and sharing tasty warm pie just from the oven. A wonderful memory and even now apple pie is one of my favorite desserts.
Likewise just a hint of eau de beef bouillon and I feel terrible. I had the mumps when I was 14 and was terribly ill. Swollen throat, high fever, I couldn’t swallow so my mother made me beef bouillon to keep me hydrated and nourished.
I lived but I HATE beef bouillon. The smell is enough to put me off and I wouldn't ever consider eating it!

Our dogs also form strong associations based on taste and smell and we can use this to create an association that assists us teaching our dogs to come to us whenever we want.
Use good food, create a strong behavior.

Take my advice get your dog a cheeseburger from the local fast food restaurant or some plain donut holes from the donut shop. At the very least use that left over prime rib you had last Friday when you went out to dinner. I know I know, its people food, full of fat and sugar. But people! we are forming an association here! My dogs eat very healthy most of the time so a few training sessions with food not so healthy is fine. Just trust me. Go get the cheeseburger. I’ll wait.
Back already?

OK, cut that cheeseburger into very small pieces. You are ready to start your first session.

Take your dog to a controlled area. I use a small room with a door. Let your dog wander and get distracted.
Then call him using only his name. Hold the food out and lure your dog to you praising as he comes. As soon as your dog gets to you feed the cheeseburger one piece at a time telling your dog continually how brilliant and wonderful he is. This is called a jackpot and it should take 20 to 30 seconds. You can have someone time you to be sure you’re taking enough time to form the association.
Now let your dog wander and get distracted again. Then repeat the process and continue this 3 more times during this session.
You will find it is harder for your dog disengage from you at the end of the session. This is a good thing.

When you begin the next session a few hours later you can go to a bigger room maybe without a door. Let your dog get distracted and then call him using only his name. Hold that lovely cheeseburger out and when he gets to you feed for 20 to 30 seconds and praise him the entire time. Again you will repeat this 3 more times this session.

Students always ask me how many times they will need to practice this and I tell them between 4 and 4000 times depending on your dog. Seriously there is no cut and dried answer.
Just like people dogs learn at different rates. You'll be able to determine your dog’s ability as your training progresses.

When you are 99% sure your dog is going to come to you every time you call him you are ready to attach a command to his recall. I use "come" but you can call it anything you want, just be consistent.
I will caution you that if you are retraining your recall and already call it “come” I recommend renaming it as you’ve already taught your dog he has a choice to come or not as he chooses. A fresh command attached to the behavior will give you a better chance of having a more reliable recall.

OK, keep practicing.
Make sure you are only using your command if you are truly in control of whether your dog will come to you. Don’t take him to the back yard off leash and let him wander 50 yards away then call. You have no way of controlling your dog under these circumstances and you may set back your training. We will work up to that but in the meantime, keep working in small areas and if you choose to go outside please, have your dog on leash and only let him get a few feet away.

In the next couple days check back and we will continue to the next step.
Happy training!

What!

OK, it is fall.
I can't believe it, still wondering where summer went!

It is pretty here.
The dogs love the cooler weather.

But do you see this! Its snow on the my screen porch roof! SNOW! This morning! SNOW!
Oh my, at least it is supposed to warm up again next week.

Hurrah for Lacey!

You all remember my student Patty and her amazing whippet Lacey right?
Well folks they have done it again!!
On top of finishing Lacey's AKC Novice Jumpers with Weaves title on September 19th at the Wachusett Kennel Club show; last week they cleaned up at the Whippet Racing Nationals. What an amazing dog.
I received this email from her humble owner:

I took Lacey to the whippet racing nationals in Indiana and she won 4 trophies: high scoring bitch in her grade, reserve high score Rally titled dog, reserve high score Agility titled dog, and the coveted Loowit Memorial Versatility Award that went to the dog with the highest combined score for the two days that was titled in racing, lure coursing, rally or obedience, and agility. So, the fact that I got her agility titles this year made her eligible for 2 of the trophies that she won. We had a lot of fun.

A lot of fun!? Well YEAH!

Here's a few pictures Patty sent me a while back of Lacey in action.

Woohoo, do you think she has fun?

Beating the competition!

This is my favorite! she needs a cape with a big S on it.

Super dog!

I am pleased as punch for them!

Congratulations Patty and Lacey. Can't wait to see what you do next!

S-whine flu or H1-UH OH

OK, I feel like crap. Let me just say that up front. I caught some horrible cold/sore throat/plague sort of thing.
(Big sigh!) I suppose it could be worse. Oh wait, it is, my truck failed its inspection because it has a broken tie rod end thingy, so its at the repair shop racking up who knows how much of a bill. And tomorrow is our annual Open House at the dog training business, so I am popping Vitamin C and eating aspirin in hopes to be cured by then.

So there has been even less blogging than usual. I have had way too much couch time this week and there truly is nothing on TV!

So that's why you have not heard from me.

I'll be back soon but in the meantime here are a few pictures to keep you all busy.

Kindle and one her best buddies, Sydney.

Christie and her baby dog Winee. I think she needs a bigger toy!

Tyler doing his stalking wolf impression. Very scary!

Tasha being, well Tasha. Gotta love those ears.

See you all soon.

Kindle's Debut

Well Kindle made her debue this last weekend at Wachusett Kennel Club's Annual agility trial. I am so proud of her.
Just watch this!

At just 16 months she did a stellar job and I had a blast running her! The judge was quite charmed by Kindle as she left the table to say hi and kissed her hand.
She qualified and took second place!

What a girl!

She kept me humble though here is her jumpers run on Sunday.

Do you think she had fun?!

Scott and Beta get their 1st Master Standard Q!

Since making it to USDAA (United States Dog Agility Association) Masters level Scott and Beta have done really well so far they have earned their Master Relay title, excelled at Master Snooker but they have struggled with Master Standard.
But 2 weeks ago they had a wonderful run and Qualified taking first place in the 16" division.

Can you tell who was the most excited?

Hip Hip Hooray for Lacey and Patty

You guys know I teach agility dog training classes, right? I teach people to train their dogs to compete and really it is a great job.

I get to spend lots of time with dogs and other nutty people who love dogs and I get paid for this. What a country!

I have students who started their puppies with me when they were only just a few months old and I am able to watch them develop with their owners into a team.

One such team is Patty and Lacey. Lacey is a gorgeous black whippet and it was apparent from the first that she is something special. Her owner is also someone special. Patty works hard and they are both a joy to have in class.

Late last year they competed in their first Agility Trial at the Whippet National Specialty. They did really well qualifying and taking first place in Standard and though they didn't qualify in Jumpers with Weaves had a very respectable run. They still took high in trial and I was so proud of them. Usually a handler will have a picture taken with the judge to commemorate the run but Patty wanted her picture to be with me because she said it was my teaching and coaching that helped them to take the prize! I am very flattered.

So here we are.

A couple weeks ago they went to their second trial. They competed for 3 days and qualified twice in Standard, finishing Lacey's Novice Standard title and qualified twice in Jumpers with Weaves, so they need only one more jumpers Q (qualifiy) to finish her Novice Jumper title. Oh yes and I almost forgot, they also took first place in all four runs! Woohoo!

I am so proud and happy for them.
Here they are with all their ribbons.

The other dogs better watch out! They are an awesome team and I predict they will continue to eat up courses!!! Go Patty & Lacey!

Guest cook

I got a night off and we had a cook come in.
so nice to just relax and let someone else take care of us.

Alright not really, we took my mother-in-law out for her birthday.

Happy Birthday Mad!

Cattle Dog Swim?

They do have a style all their own.

More from Vacation

One of my favorite things we did on vacation was visit Ithaca's Farmer market. We had a ball and so did many, many, many others!!!
Here's a shot of the crowd. Oh the humanity!

There was lots to do, see, eat and buy. I had a fantastic cuban sandwich with a spicy bean salad. Oh and I had to have a Chili Relleno. Yum! I loved this fiddler. What do you think 11 or 12 years old maybe? He was fantastic!!!


I saw this tree practically the first thing and I really wanted it. But at $250- I let it stay in Ithaca.

We stopped at this gorgeous place on the way home, Fall Creek Falls in Ithaca.



Back home at my sister's our parents and Grandma joined us for dinner. We started with hors d'oeuvres on the porch. Mark was in rare form and decide to show off his physique,

was ready for his close-up;

shared noogies with Uncle Scott;
and big hugs too.



Then Mark and Anna had a nice walk with their grandpa, Big Lar around the garden.

A really great day, and I cleaned up at poker that night too.
I want to go back!

The Pub!

It's Friday!
Every Friday Scott and I are in town we have dinner at a little neighborhood Irish pub. We are very fond of it. I truly look forward to it every week.
The food is good and they have really, really good beer.
Now I don't want you all thinking I am a lush or anything. My days of drinking to the point of falling down, walking into walls or ending up waking the next day with a pounding head are long gone. But I do love a good beer.

I do NOT drink light beer. I would prefer water to that. I like stouts, porters, good wheat beers and a Murphy's Irish Amber will make my heart sing. Scott feels much the same though he prefers a nice bitter IPA.

On top of all that, the owners of the "Pub" have become friends, family. The waitstaff know us by name and even fight over who will wait on us. So flattering! We have also made some very good friends with other "regulars". It's like Cheers, we walk in and people yell Scott! Louise!
We love it.


So its Friday and in a few minutes we will head out to relax and watch the Patriots while we enjoy dinner and a good beer, at our home away from home.

Hmmmm should I have the Fire & Ice steak tips or Bangers and Mash.....



Want to visit? Check their website J P O'Hanlon's and come on down. We'll save you a seat!

Photography Lesson

While on vacation my sister Dlyn gave me a few pointers on taking pictures. I have way too much learn. You should probably just go look at her photos, they are wonderful.

Here is just a small sample from my lesson.
I am still working on posts from vacation. come back and check them out.
In the meantime how do you like this pic?

Shoes make the woman

This is Anna. You can learn more about her here. She is my Great niece and is just 2 years old. We found out on vacation, which we shared with our large family, she has a shoe fetish.

Really she likes all shoes, hers, mine, yours, who's ever she can get her feet on.
I lost these the first morning of vacation while having coffee on the porch.
She had a little trouble walking in them but did pretty well. I also lost a pair of flip flops to her but didn't have my camera handy.

Any one's shoes are worth taking a spin in.
She loved her Great Uncle Scott's shoes.

Those were really hard to get the hang of.

If you get a chance to visit, be sure to bring interesting shoes. They entertain her for quite a while.

Really you can understand her sense of style, just look how her parents dress!

The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

My baby is growing up

It has been awhile since I have updated on Kindle's progress.

She is a hellion! And she is wonderful.
A bit of a challenge but a joy to work with and quite the snuggler.


For better or worse I have entered her in her first Agility Trial this coming September. She will have her coming out party at the Wachusett Kennel Club trial on September 19th.
We have a bit of work to do before then (oh my gosh why, why, why did I enter her!!?) but I don't expect her to take first place or anything I just want to see what we've got so far.

She is so different from Jackaroo, the most marked thing is that she runs quietly. You may remember Jackaroo barks the ENTIRE time he runs. Without all that noise I can think while I run Kindle. And though she is fast, she is responsive and works away from me. Jack is what we call in the biz a "Velcro" dog. I can't get him off me!!!!
Kindle is also just a gorgeous jumper. Jackaroo is a bit challenged but after all he is a cinder block with legs. Kindle is lighter boned and elegantly shaped but just as powerful as her muscle bound big brother. Do you think I like her a bit?

I can't wait to start her, but mostly I just love her! And look, this is what I see when I am driving.

What do you think people?! Gorgeous or what?

Vacation

Still not really back yet but had to put up a couple photos. I took 520 so it will take a bit of time to get through them all.
Here is my Grandma we went to the annual family reunion and celebrated her 100th birthday. She is amazing, still sharp as a tack and physically doing fantastic!


I love this photo of Scott with our Great Niece Anna. She is a real cutie and just loves her Uncle Scott.

I love Willow trees and I think this one is especially pretty. It's at the field where we have our reunion. Nice little pond too, and had the day been a bit nicer we might have swam.

Ok. back to vacationing.

The family dogs

My family loves dogs. We all have at least one. Well OK, I far out number everyone else with my five hooligans.

But just look at this array of canine beasties.
Most of you know the famous blogging dog Riley owned by my sister Dlyn.
So handsome!

Then we have my brother Scott's dogs. His new pup Ronnie, a Klein Poodle. What a cutie! She was only one day off the plane from Georgia when I snapped this. She has been a wonderful comfort for him since losing Debra.

Scott also has Lucky.
She was Debra's dog so is very special to him.

Yes she only 3 legs but I understand she is "lucky" just to be alive.

My brother Kurt owns Randi. If I lived closer to Phoenix she would go missing... straight to my house because I just love her! I mean look at that face!!!!! Kurt really lucked out she was a stray in his neighborhood and is just a perfectly behaved little girl.

My brother Jason has 2 dogs. His little girl Corey has Orion, a cute little white poodle pup. Here they are together.

And his wife Robin has Donut, this rambunctious little terrier mix. I think he'd make a great agility dog. Imight steal him too

So you see, its not only me who has gone to the dogs. Its all of us.