Monthly Archives: June 2016

6-8-16 Voodoo had a visit from Earl. Mostly Earl wanted to sniff and mark the yard and Voodoo was happy to follow him around

He did some schmoozing with Dae and Earl got in on it

Voodoo tried to gently wear him down and get him to play

And it worked!

We visited Newport on the Levee in the afternoon. Voodoo was definitely tired after we wandered around at his pace and saw lots of people, some odd squeaking motorized toys, people in “bubbles” playing in the water, a small train taking people on a short trip along the sidewalks, fountains, the river, people setting up tents and rides for a festival taking place this weekend, and more!

He looks so happy sitting at the entrance to the “Purple People Bridge”, but we didn’t walk along that since he was pretty tired just getting from the car, through the crowds and to this point.  I carried him to a shady bench where he rested and watched the action.

I took him in the bathroom to get him a drink and he was surprised to see another puppy in there 🙂 It was hard to play with and after one sniff he was no longer interested.

I tried to get him to pee in the planter since it was the only surface not paved as a sidewalk, but he didn’t want to “go”.

He was kind of fascinated by this fountain. Not the water shooting up, but the drops hitting the surface 🙂 He got wet in the spray and I’m sure it helped him cool off.

He was also distracted by this pidgeon that flew right past his head and landed in the parking lot.  I let him watch it awhile and when he turned to look at me, I clicked and gave him a treat and he was no longer interested in the pidgeon.

6-9-16 DAZZLE PLAYED WITH VOODOO!! This was the first time they played together. We happened to be in Home Depot at the time, waiting for someone to help at the saw and the dogs got bored 🙂

6-10-16 Play date with Desi the Rottie and Reeta the Schipperke (Second time playing with Reeta)

He and Desi had fun playing a gentle game of tug

Love this shot!

Video of the three of them playing:

From June 8th- Had a nice time at the KY Horse Park watching part of the Arabian show. Voodoo was a bit unsure of the horses at first, especially ones that walked right by us, but after he laid in the grass with Dazzle and watched them for awhile from a distance, he was fine with them.

Then we moved to another shady spot with a picnic table to watch the warm up ring and by then the horses we ‘old hat” and he took a bit of a nap.

Then we went to “The Big Barn” (Indoor arena) where we watched an Open Western Pleasure class

We also watched an “Arabian Liberty” class where a horse is turned loose for 2 min. with music and the crowd making as much noise as possible to excite the horse into prancing and galloping around the arena. I moved away from the ring at the start of the class thinking he might get spooked by all the noise, but all the whooping and whistling and banging on things didn’t bother him a bit.

Worked on several things today

I am SO pleased with his retrieve progress!  He has such a lovely and calm hold. And he was able to pick up an item he wanted to shred (paper towel covered PVC).

Also taught him to sit on the disk target. This was the first session on this and eventually it will turn into ‘directional control’, meaning I will be able to send him different directions from a distance, for field work, by teaching him to move from one target to another as they get farther and farther apart.

I added a whistle cue to his sit (haven’t put it on a verbal or hand signal yet), but I want the whistle cue to be strong for field work or an emergency stop at a distance.

And lastly I taught him a hand target today, but I didn’t get the first steps on video.  So all I can show is the results after one short session. I think he likes this one 🙂

I love that he self-entertains at times and likes his crate enough to go in and hang out in there on his own.

I’ve been working on whistle and name recall with Voodoo and he’s doing great!  At this point, I’m using both his name and a whistle, because he has a strong recall on his name and I’m teaching him the whistle. Eventually I’ll only need the whistle, but can still use his name for recall also. Sometimes I wait till he’s distracted by something, other times I drop treats, like in the video, to give myself time to get away from him far enough to call 🙂

From June 7th: Voodoo had a play date with Reeta, an energetic and FAST Schipperke. They started their play in the basement, but Voodoo is now able to jump on/off the bales, so we moved outside so he wouldn’t be jumping. Here’s some video:

From June 7th, 2016 Voodoo had a field day today! Literally 🙂 We went to a mock field trial day (gun dog trial) and he had a blast! And BIG NEWS… He not only swam for the first time since I got him, he retrieved a full size bumper from the water too! And, I got it on video!! Check it out here:

He met and played with several dogs and people, heard LOTS of gun shots that didn’t phase him in the slightest, sniffed and chewed on some dead ducks, watched dogs doing field work, chilled out during a REALLY heavy downpour, rode on an ATV, and I was able to get some (dead) ducks for his future training. I really enjoyed the day and saw lots of people I already knew and made some new friends as well. Excited to get started on his field work training. There’s a Working Certificate titling opportunity that will happen when he’s almost 7 mo. old 🙂

“Waiting in line”. And playing with Hannah

Close to the action. 2 gunner stations visible in this photo (in the distance) with the guy in white waiting for his turn.

By the pond

Nibbling on duck feet

He preferred chomping on the beak!

Riding on the ATV

Taking his prize back to the tent

Chilling out under the pop-up tent during a heavy, windy downpour

Playing with a baby Doxie

In the “exposure to new things” department, I introduced Voodoo to a sheet of aluminum foil and to a balloon.  He wasn’t terribly impressed with either one. The clips in this video show the intro and go to the point where he lost interest.  Both are quick clips. 🙂

I’ve also been working on his retrieve and he’s progressing really well!  I started out with some crumpled foil because it’s lightweight and I can shape it into a size/shape that is easy for him- I made it kind of flat (& it’s good to get him used to metal in his mouth for utility articles) 🙂 Then switched to a craft stick, then used a pencil. He’s doing great at understanding the take and quiet/still hold by the third item.

This is where he chose to wait for me while I was in the bathroom this morning.  In his little crate that is sitting on top of the treadmill 🙂

From June 4, 2016- Voodoo went to the lake and while he didn’t go swimming, he did experience a few new things.

He waded in the water

He met new people

He went out on the floating dock like it was no big deal

He even peed on it!

He posed on a table (LOVE this photo!)

And he sat on the dock (LOVE this one too!)

Also on video is him rolling down the little hill on purpose a few times! And relaxing on the dock while a motor boat’s engine started up just a few feet away!

Voodoo is now big enough to easily get on the couches. He likes to take stuff up on them to chew on. I try my best to be there to lift him down, but haven’t always caught him before he jumps. Makes me cringe!

He’s also doing a good job of sucking up to my husband (when he’s not trying to chew on my husband’s feet). He has climbed up in his lap several times for belly rubs and to wrestle.

Today’s video isn’t much. Just Voodoo shredding my big 2013 desk calendar and a bit of him following Dazzle. I never seem to have my camera ready when Voodoo starts chasing him and by the time I get it ready, Dazzle has out run him or Voodoo gets distracted by something else. 🙂 I may do some training with him later this evening.

Photo from last week compared to photo from this week. Yeah, I think he’s growing like a weed!!

A better comparison: