Hey Everyone! XD

Since i spam chat so often with my dog stuff, i figuered i'd just make my own little journal to follow progress. (That way I'm not bothering anybody who doesnt want to be bothered LOL)

Ya'll are always free to comment/post here as well.

**disclaimer. I am NOT a dog trainer. While I'd be more than happy to tell you what I would do in a situation, or share my tips or ways for achieving something... do understand that there are MANY ways to train a dog, and what works for mine may not be the way for you. I'm also not a professional. Training/working with my dogs is a HOBBY for me**

I will PIN updates as i write them. That way you wont have to scroll through endless comments/pages searching. :D

Now that's out of the way.... onto the introductions!

Sig

Sig is an intact dutch shepherd male. He was born 03/18/2019

He is currently in training for Personal Protection, WDA, PSA.

We are hoping to trial later this year, or early next year.

Sig currently holds CGC, NTD, ITD, ETD titles.

Marceline is an intact dutch shepherd bitch. She was born 10/21/2019

Ive currently washed her from bitesports. And may be spaying her here soon. That's up in the air. XD

Marceline excels with scent work and has a wonderful hunt drive.

Marceline currently holds NTD and ITD titles.

Jaded (Jade) is an intact reincarnated devil dutch shepherd bitch. (We also have her littermate sister, Izumi.. but that's my husbands dog so probably wont be mentioned in this thread)

She was born 06/10/2021.

She was purchased to compete in PSA.

So now that THAT is out of the way, everything posted from here on out will be from today forward. Not looking to post too many things from the past, as well... that's the past. XD I may post a few things

So today Miss Jade had her very first meeting with a position box.

A position box is literally just a piece of wood used as a target for the dog to understand where you want them to be.

They are also great for teaching long distance commands, and maintaining a place when changing positions without moving forward.

Her session today was only about 5 minutes.

Her only goal was to get on/in the box.

We marked in freeshaping, than added a word.

Her attention span isn't the greatest, but she's only 12 weeks old. So we'll forgive her. <3

Click for video

Introduced Jade to something new today. She did great with it!

I explain a bit more in the video. <3

Click for video

Well i apologize to myself (and anyone following) as far as updates are concerned! Can't believe it has been a month.

I've been so freaking busy! But with quitting my job in order to pursue dog stuff full time, I will hopefully have a lot more time on my hands.

The soon to be french nugget is doing wonderful! The litter turns 4 weeks old tomorrow. I can't wait to update you guys on that!

Jade is doing wonderful! Please enjoy this video of her doing her second inside bite ever from this sunday:

Jade Video (click)

She turns 4 months old on the 10th. geez, where has time gone?

inside bites are pretty advanced. The dog really needs to want (and be OK with) being upclose and personal with a stranger "fighting" the man. Obviously, as puppies, we make this a very positive experience. You will see lots of petting from the decoy, as well as a neutral slow-ish tail wag from Jade. That tells us she is happy and comfortable, which is what we are looking for! She really seems to be enjoying her job.

We will be competing in the APPDA Iron Will 6-9month puppy division in March. Not only will it be our first competition together, but it is also one of the most extreme. They dont call it "iron will" for nothing! I'm honestly not really sure what to expect as far as the puppy classes go (obviously it will not be anywhere near "extreme" as the adult classes... cause puppy!) but I think we will end up alright!

I would also like to introduce you guys to Judah! He is a german shep. :)

Judah Vid (click)

I'm taking care of him for the week as my trainer and OUR trainer head down to FL with some club members for a PSA trial.

Now usually, when Sunny (my first trainer) travels, his roomate takes care of his dogs. BUT.... his roomate can't take care of Judah. Actually, most people cant. Well, not without getting seriously injured, anyways.

Judah is 6, and is/was a police dog. He was dropped from the Miami PD force when he was 5. Judah turned on his handler after a hard correction, and he also has an "out" problem. (out is releasing his bite). Judah will not choke out until he passes out. (a choke out is when the handler physically removes the dog off the bite via pressure around the neck. It sounds kind of harsh, but this is actually the SAFEST, MOST EFFECTIVE, and HUMANE way to remove the dog without allowing a rebite, or redirection... both of which could cause serious damage). Judah refuses to learn a verbal out. At his age, he is pretty set in his ways.

He has bit multiple civilians without provocation. Judah will actually bite anyone who approaches his handler. :'). But for some reason, Judah has picked me as his only friend.

I am the ONLY other person who can handle Judah at this time. I believe this is because I remind him of his police handler (who was a woman). My husband is no exception. He has never been able to pet or approach Judah in the many months we have known him. (Sunny actually had to hand feed this dog through his crate for 5 days before he could even take him out for the first time. It took me less than 1 hour)

Judah is a liability. But he sure is a cute old man. And with me, incredibly friendly and loving. (his little jump on me in the video is to lick my hand. he always gives me kisses for every greeting).

At this point Sunny has joked that I need to trial the dog myself. Because for some reason, Judah listens to me without physical correction. He also is willing to share "his" toys with me. He will not even share with Sunny. He has very very strong possesive drives.

I would 100% take Judah for myself in a heartbeat if one single mistake in his management didn't mean disaster for my husband. (or anyone else). But for a week? Hell yeah!

Been a few weeks since ive updated. XD Ive been so very busy with training.

Next friday (Nov 5th) Sig and I are going to an Irondog trial in hopes of earning our GDT title.

The GDT is a personal protection handler defense title, and there is a couple phases we must complete in order to achieve it.

The first is an obedience routine, which involves a heeling pattern, sit stays, sitting out of motion, and recall. The dog does not need to focus heel (competition heel) but we will get more points if we do.

If he passes that phase, we will move onto temperment phase. Sig must be stable around people who approach and interact. There will be two assigned people who will approach one at a time, shake my hand, and hold a conversation with me. Sig must remain neutral, and in a position, during this exchange.

If he exhibits shyness, sharpness, or excitement (jumping on the people to greet), we will fail. Sig is a very aloof dog, who is also incredibly stable. I have no qualms about this part.

After this phase is an appraisal bite. The purpose of this is to make sure the dog is ready to move onto the third and final phase. A decoy will have a clatter stick, and Sig will be sent onto a bite. He will recieve two moderate padded stick hits. He may not come off the bite during this phase until he is instructed to do so.

After his appraisal bite, we will have a critique with the judge. She will tell us if she believes Sig can move onto the third phase. There is immense pressure placed on the dog during the third phase, and the judge has every power to stop our run at this time if she believes the dog is not ready.

If we pass the appraisal, we will move onto third phase.

Third phase, the decoy is hidden. Sig and I will approach. The decoy will jump out of hiding, and run to attack me aggressively. He will either be shooting a blank pistol, have a clatter stick, or a jug full of rocks he is shaking. Sig is to attack the decoy and maintain his bite. The decoy will do two moderate stick hits, as well as aggressively drive the dog for 3-5 seconds. The judge will instruct the decoy to freeze up. Then I have 3 chances to "out" Sig. Then either recall or go collect him. If Sig does not re-engage with the decoy between the out and my recall, it has been successful.

Sig has never really been under that amount of pressure. He has been sent on people yelling. He has been driven with a clatter stick. He has had stick hits. He has worked attack on handler scenarios. But he hasn't worked with a gun, or a rock jug. So im honestly not sure how he will do. Our trainer believes he can do it just fine. So im just going to take his word for it and jump feet first. XD

So while he doesnt need a competition heel for this event, I'd like to do one. (cause more points!). The downfall to that, is that I haven't worked on Sigs focus heel in like almost a year. LMAO. So we've been working 2x a day on it this past week, and will continue to do so up until the event.

If you dont know what a competition heel is, it is basically a normal heel. Dog must keep his right shoulder in line with my left hip/knee. But the dog MUST be seeking/maintaining eye contact with me the entire time. He may not look forward / down / left / anywhere. He MUST be looking at my face. He must navigate turns like this. He must do his changes of pace like this. If he is asked to sit, he must do so like this. Obviously, he is a dog and not a robot. So brief looks away are normal and sometimes unavoidable. But we will get deducted points for every time this happens. If he goes past my left knee, we will get points deducted. (this is not as strict during turns... cause turning)

So here is a short snippet of today practicing. He's looking really good. He doesnt need to be looking at me / my face during his sit stay but he does anyways. Love my boy. <3 And please wish us luck! Im already nervous LMAO

Video Clickie!