Marshall sounds the alert

Last night I was awoken by a strange three-toned beeping sound. It wasn't the alarm clock...it wasn't the C02 detector...it wasn't the smoke alarm. At first I thought I was dreaming. As the sound was only periodic. After a few times when the noise would make its presence known, Marshall would do three non-obnoxious barks in response. I lay their listening trying to figure it out. It went again, Marshall barked again. I got up in the dark trying to figure out where it was coming from. I guess I had turned on my cell phone several days ago. The noise was the cell phone giving off a battery spent warning. I got up, put it on a charger and everyone went back to sleep without hesitation. (Except the golden retriever who never woke up in the first place.)

It was interesting to note how Marshall alerted to something very strange going on. But his barks weren't his "pay attention to me" barks, but a calm sound noting that something different was happening that needed attention.

Daddy's Boy

Bear isn't the only one with a big stick. Problem is...I didn't know my yard contained a big stick! Marshall....who's your daddy?!

Marshall and Mower Mania

Marshall has some serious issues with the lawn mower. I wish I could get in his little mind to understand what he thinks it is. I haven't mowed much this year so haven't had a strong chance to get Marshall desensitized, but as a young pup, he could have cared less. So something in his perception changed some where along the way.

The only solution I have found to excessive barking and trying to attack the mower is to put him on a leash and let him walk beside me. It is interesting that he walks calmly at my side back and forth while I mow. But if I have to stop for some reason, when I restart the mower he starts barking and getting all crazy. As soon as I tell him heel and start forward he stops.

Is it the restraint or does he have some other perspective? It is a herding thing? that by walking behind it he feels like he is controlling its direction? I don't have an answer but it is an interesting study in behavior.

Quiet evenings

With the cooler weather upon us, Marshall has had the opportunity for some very long walks. But the daylight is working against us.

This past week and weekend, we've enjoyed walks of one hour or more. It sure does make a difference in his wiggles from being confined during the work day.

He continues to work on his obedience tasks for the show ring coming up this weekend. And, on his halloween "trick".

I have extended him a little more trust in the mornings, allowing him to enjoy being out of the crate while I get ready for work and before going outside one more time. Most of the time he spends this "freedom" beside me.

But he is still young...I bought some new shoes and he discovered the box and shred the tissue paper...So the training continues!

But it brings me joy to see a dog spent at the end of the day. The fresh air makes him happy too.

"Take us Home"

Marshall took his "brother" Bo and I hiking today at the Brick House trail. We hiked about 45 minutes each way. I could have gone further, but we reached a creek and I wasn't willing to get my only pair of tennis shoes wet.

In my poor memory, I do believe this was Marshall's first hiking in the wilderness trip. He was a trooper. I had both dogs on short leashes - much to my shoulder's dismay - but Marshall wasn't the one pulling.

I observed something interesting about Marshall today.

As we reached the creek and I told the boys "This is as far as we go. It's time to head home." I turned to walk back and Marshall's nose hit the ground. I'm not sure when he stopped his tracking. But it did seem to be quite a way. I wonder why if he didn't enjoy the smells of nature on the venture out, did his nose hit the ground when we turned to head back?

I have no doubt he was re-tracing our steps. Quite something to see.

Marshall solves another problem

Yesterday Marshall tried to get me to play by putting his toy in the bathtub. Well, I was busy getting ready for work and I told him he would just have to figure out how to get it himself.

He mustered up the courage and got his toy. Of course he got lots of praise.

Now I can't get him out of the bathtub!

Another fun search thing...Yesterday I was mowing the yard. When I went around front he went in and out the doggie door to watch me out the front window. When I finished and returned to the back yard to sit and rest. You could tell he was looking for his toy for me to play. Again, I told him he would just have to find it. He searched the back yard circling several times. Went inside...back outside to search the yard again. I kept telling him "search".

By now it was getting rather dark.

One more time he went inside, long enough for me to wonder just what he might be up to.

Here he comes out the doggie door with his toy! He found it in the dark and didn't give up until he found it.

His reward? Playtime...and of course some directed jumping and go outs.

Marshall makes friends

I was walking Marshall in the neighborhood last night. We met a dog that usually leads or sometimes follows us. Although he barked, he quickly sat and I do believe he was actually wanting to be friendly!

When we met again on the back side of the walking loop, Marshall just looked at the dog and kept on walking!

:)

Teacher or student?

Oh, Marshall...He makes me laugh. He is so competitive for attention between my other dog.

Tonight I was working with my dog on scent articles (pick the one I touched out of a pile) and Marshall thought it would be a good idea to put his toy in the middle of the pile. He did just like I did...put something in the pile and walk back to where I was standing.

When my dog picked out the proper article and wasn't the least bit distracted by the toy (that used to be his, by the way) and returned it to me Marshall went and got his toy and brought it to me. The problem is, he doesn't let go too easily just yet.

Little does he know that he helped to train my other dog to ignoring distractions and showed me that with focused training, I'll just bet he'll be able to retrieve anything you ask...He can already get his bone from another room if you tell him to "search for his bone."

So much instinct yet to be honed for a purpose. What a joy to watch him develop.

School is in session

Marshall still has school despite the holiday. Here he is learning to jump according to a direction. Although you can't see another jump on the right hand side, Marshall was seated between two jumps and directed to take the jump on the left.

While this is a fun game now, it builds the foundation for searching for a child. If a child gets lost, a parent can direct the dog which direction to search by pointing.

Marshall still needs to learn "go out" which is another element of a search assignment...go out and search for (child).

Lots of small building blocks for a hopefull future.

Lake Learning

Left: Nikki tries to save me from drowning. Okay maybe she just needed a rest from swimming but either way she is a sweetie.











Left: Don't ask. We were in the sun for a while and poor Calhoun had to deal with our shenanigans. Bless his heart.

Left: Calhoun and Nikki in a battle for the coveted stick of the day.

Left: Nikki- the beach bum

Marshall - Man about Town

Marshall had an extended "public" day today. He was stretched and passed several "tests."

We started off the day in downtown Greenville to attend an event behind the Peace Center. We parked up the road on Main Street and passed through the Farmer's Market and past several dogs, to which he gave hardly a glance--his first test of the day.

We mingled among the crowd like a star. We saw our friend Otto, but he didn't see us. He was busy learning his job, too.

After downtown, we went to the Women's show. A very heavy crowd. Marshall held his sits or chose to plotz while I visited with varous vendors at their booths and traversed the crowd with ease. DFA did not have a booth at the show, but lots of people learned about DFA today.

And perhaps he was tired from charming the crowd, but as we left, Marshall walked right over the remnants of a trail of cheerios without breaking his stride.

SWIMMING LESSONS

We took the dogs swimming yesterday afternoon. Unfortunately, after a decent hike, I realized my camera didn't have the memory card in it so there are no pictures to share. However, Nikki is like a fish in the water. She LOVES to swim. Our Lucy- not so much. In fact, I was wondering exactly what it was that she was doing. She looked as if she was killing the water or something. Anyway, the girls ran off leash for about 4 hours chasing, jumping, swimming, digging. Lucy likes to wander a bit more than Nikki so we introduced Nikki to the "Find Lucy" command. Lucy is her charge so it came quite naturally. She really helped us keep tabs on Lucy. Calhoun had to be confined to his VERY long leash though. He really likes to... explore. He was still able to play in the water though. What a great day we had! Everyone including Ashley and me were exhausted. We plan to do it again soon so I will post pictures then!

This week Bear is visiting us, and is teaching Tucker lots of manners that can only be imparted by an older male! Rule #1: All sticks belong to Bear, although he shares if it is big enough for two.

Having one of these shepherds around this week reminds me why these are such perfect dogs for the DFA program. Bear is not just smart, he is intuitive in ways I can only imagine. It's something you can't teach -- it's just there.

I had one very interesting experience with him. I was on the couch trying to nap, Bear was sleeping near me, and Tucker was on place. As I was drifting off, Tucker started chewing on a bone -- and you all know how loud and grating that can be! I think I told him "leave it" a couple times -- I was kind of in and out of sleep -- but anyways, the sound was irritating me. Then I heard Bear get up and watched as he walked over to Tucker, took the bone from him, went back to his spot, dropped the bone on the floor, threw himself back onto his spot, and went back to sleep! So either the bone crunching was bothering Bear (unlikely), or he knew it was bothering me and was just taking care of the problem! Either way, these shepherds are amazing dogs!!!

Tucker is really going to miss Bear when he leaves, and so am I!

Learning to Share My Space

Is Marshall:

1) learning to share?

2) wearing his "roomate" down?

3) taking his guardianship job very seriously?

As a much younger puppy Marshall was intent on "taming" the black furry thing with no legs that moved just to tease him. It could have been a scene from "Untamed and Uncut." Now, I wonder who/what has tamed who?

Baby Steps

As I posted previously, several weeks ago, Marshall started getting "grouchy" with other dogs. He has received some specialized training to address this issue. I have been striving to continue that training with short evening sessions. First in my back yard, then slowly in the neighborhood and into the world.

Marshall has made progress with the neighborhood dogs, so tonight we ventured out into the world. We went to a little music event in downtown Simpsonville. I hoped that we would see some dogs, but not too many. As luck would have it, the event provided lots of bouncing children and only one dog. Although we passed behind the dog on the way in, Marshall didn't see him thannks to all the distractions of the crowd, bmx bikes and skateboard demonstrations.

Marshall worked the crowd as only a proud DFA puppy can do. He plotzed well for about 30 minutes of music, showed no interest in my ice cream, and layed down while I visited with acquaintences.

On the way out, with the crowd thinning, Marshall spotted him....perked up his ears, started to look, moved toward the dog with a perky posture....and....responded to my "let's go" without a hitch. There was one big smile on my face! But you can never stop reinforcing and working through an issue, espcecially one as critical as doggie manners.

Training continues....

This weekend he'll have a chance to mind his manners with more exposure to his cousins ans siblings, as we lend a hand at the PupStart Center.

It will be a tough environment, but a great opportunity to work and proof our most challenging issues.