And then there’s Lexi — she’s been a little wiggy at articles this year, nothing totally crazy, but some confusion. So I thought I would simplify things by laying an article track in grass. But of course, after the 6th article in the grass, I got bored and put in a fairly sharp turn (no food until after the turn) into the dirt and then a couple more articles and a turn in the dirt. So when I went to run it, she downed on every article very calmly and without any overt signs of stress. Really what I was looking for. Then she just drilled the turn into the dirt, picked up the dirt track and when she got to the next article (now in dirt) she did everything she could to avoid it. Track around it, ignore it, etc. Finally got her to indicate it by just taking her back 5 paces and starting again.. about 5 times! She made the turn and a serpentine through a bunch of plow tracks that went every which way, and then got to the last article. You could see her standing there debating… “do I do this or not…. ooooooh it’s scary….. OK, I’ll indicate it…” which she did, and got paid handsomely for it.

What izzit with these malinois? Articles in grass are OK, articles in dirt are scary…. sheesh.

The OFA offers breed surveys for a number of breed parent clubs. These surveys are offered free of charge. All data is used only in aggregate and is kept confidential. No survey results will be traceable to any individual dog. It is hoped that this information will be valuable to breed clubs as they assess the health issues of their breed.

Take the survey here: http://offa.org/surveys/survey_malinois.html

SchH3, IPO 3

CD, RN, NAC, TN-O

2002-2011

Rest in peace, my friend, I’ll see you on the other side.

Zappa

1. If your malinois is skipping articles on the track, it is not advisable to attempt to increase the value of those articles by placing a small can of cat food underneath one during training. This is akin to pouring a gallon of gasoline on your campfire to try and get it started again. Articles now require nosing, digging and excavation to look for that possible can of cat food. 97V became 94SG.
2. All IPO 3 dogs will eventually decide that sit in motion means stand. I do not understand this, but it is true – watch any national championship, and the most common insufficient exercise is the sit in motion, which is performed as a stand instead of a sit (at club trials, the alternative is a down). Harley exhibited this fact eloquently by confusing the sit for a stand a week before the trial, and continuing to do so all the way up to trial day. Because I had one success the day before by making the sit REALLY LOUD, I attempted it during the trial, producing a rocket fast down. Logically, being a malinois, and suffering from a mentally deficient handler who pattern trains poorly, he followed with a stand during the running down. 94SG became 84G.
3. You probably should try and practice some of the secondary obedience in protection before the trial, although this does require a helper. Entering cold can be very exciting! I’m actually surprised we didn’t have more issues, but Harley wouldn’t stay in the slot during side transports, requiring an extra command in each one, and dropping a V in protection to a 95. Perhaps the ½ can of beaver I gave him for energy 45 minutes before the routine had some side effects. It was probably worth it, though, as Mike said he increased his power and domination of the helper as we moved through the routine – not the situation last year.

Sorry no video. Perhaps a few JPGs after Sam gets her camera downloaded… Happy training, all.

There are a plethora of methods for teaching articles, but I decided to start with them in the front yard off of the track.  I took out a handful of articles and scattered them in the grass.  Next came the dog and a bag of treats.  Of course, the dog looked at me, not the ground, because I have the treats!  So the treats have to go a little out of sight so I can show him the article on the ground.  Once he looks at my hand, I mark it, and treat on top of the article.  Stand back up, chances are pretty good he’ll look at the article just cuz there was food there a second ago, and you can mark and treat again.  Pick up the article and ask him to look for a new one.  Repeat above process for all the articles you’ve dropped in the yard.  Hey, this is EASY.

Next day I repeat as before, but while I’m treating at the article, I also give the hand signal for down (not a stretch, because this produces the same position he gets rewarded in for the down itself).  So while he’s down at the article, I keep bending over and paying him on the article.  For the first week or so, I let him mug my hand while I’m putting out the food.  More on that later.

Big mistake #1:  OK, it’s started, let’s see if it translates to the track.  I can tell you most emphatically, it does not!!! Poor boy was just really confused about why I was stopping him and asking him to down every 15 steps.  Repair:  Go back to articles in the yard for a while until they’re on command and highly reproducible, and he is actively searching for the next article once I pick one up.

Because I want to be able to straddle him while rewarding him at the article (something Ivan Balabanov recommends) I started doing this in the yard.   The first couple of times were OK, then he decided it was too much pressure, and as soon as I stepped over him, he scooted backwards and away.  This is probably a result of what I was trying to do on the track a few days earlier.  So… maybe too much to ask for just yet.

So over the last 5 days, I’ve gone out to the yard with a selection of articles.  For the last 2 days, I got all new ones by cutting up some scrap plywood and a chunk of alder into squares roughly 4″ across (10 cm).  These are easier for the dog to find (faster path to success) and can serve as a plate for him to eat from.

Overall, I think it’s working.  This morning, I know I am getting meaning to the command “find it”, because he puts his nose down and starts looking for it.  When he finds it, he stops and looks at me, and when I say “find it” again, he downs with the article between his front legs.  I even got to where I can straddle him briefly, but I moved from that position after a couple of rewards so as not to belabor it.  Also, I am now asking him to respect my hand a little more.  When he stops punching my hand with his nose, I release the food.  A little confusing at first, but it came along pretty quick.

So I see where we’re going, I think — smaller and new articles, only paying when he downs on the article.  The part I want to get next would be to have him down as soon as he finds it in the direction he’s facing when he finds it, rather than turning to face me.  I”ll try and put a post up when I get to that point.  Might have to refine that on the track.

Happy training!

Many thanks to Katelyn Scott, who handled him for two days, giving me a chance to take pictures. Maybe next year, when he’s more mature, in a better weight for conformation (he’s in working trim, with hip bones and ribs showing!) and with some coat, we’ll send him out on the road with Katelyn.

Zappa du Loups du Soleil, handled by Katelyn Scott

New on the show scene is a gorgeous bitch Bull Mountain’s Ember owned by a junior handler from Gillette. She went Best of Breed all three days, with a Goup 4 the first day and a Group 2 the second. Lisa Swarthout’s breeding strives for the total dog, and Ember’s a good example. She got her CD with high scores and is working in Open. Lisa, you should be proud!

Ember

I also got to spend some time catching up with my old friend Sherrie Scott from Spring Fever Aussies (and Katelyn’s mom). Against my better judgement, I think I put a mental deposit down on a pup next year. Sherrie is breeding Tabu one more time, if she can find the right male, and I want a pup from that litter. The trick is to find the right male — an all-around dog with instinct, ability, physical and mental soundness, not too much size or coat: a working dog with correct conformation. That all elusive “golden middle”.

I look at some of these show dogs and they couldn’t work for more than a few minutes, even if they had the instinct and drive. They are so heavy boned and heavy coated, they’d be useless in heat or burrs. My wish for you conformation judges: please remember what job the dog was bred to do, and make your selections keeping that in mind.

But, in keeping with this little dog’s personality, I am confident that a little positive association conditioning would fix this quick.

Still waiting for her to show up on the malinois rescue site;  will post a link here when she does!

Gonna make a great little pet for someone.