Author Archives: dazzlesmom

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:

From June 3rd, 2016- Voodoo did great at the mall!  It was the first bit of extended walking on leash that we have done and he stayed right with me!  It was hard to get a photo of him since he was wanting to be right next to me.  I had to toss some food on the ground 🙂

Tried to get him to potty on mulch again, but he wasn’t having it. Also walked around in the parking garage a bit, with cars going by. No problems.

I took Voodoo back to Petsmart to get more food, including Instinct dry to use as treats and he rode in the cart like a champ. While there, (across the parking lot) I tried to get him to potty on mulch, but I gave in before he did. I took him near some ducks/geese and actually had a hard time getting him to focus on them for a photo.  So we got in a lot of ‘eye contact with me around distractions’ training.

He was interested in their poop, but not obsessively so. Reminds me I DO need to work on “leave it” with him!  Haven’t worked on that cue yet.

Today’s training sessions focused on acclimation to noises and movement, but he is already beyond where I started him today thanks to all that his breeder has done with him!  But I like to start where it is fun and easy and work up from there.

I wanted to start with some bubble wrap with nice big bubbles, but quickly found out the darn stuff is not “pop-able”! Should be illegal! Who makes bubble wrap you can’t pop!?  While I couldn’t pop it, Voodoo’s sharp teeth had no problems and he had the whole sheet flat in a matter of seconds. LOL

So I started with the “pillows” you see in the video.  The pops on the ones that actually popped (instead of fizzling) were rather loud, but he didn’t even seem to notice.  I heard they were doing construction near the puppy pens before I got him, so the litter was exposed to hammering, saws, etc. and this training session was super easy for him.  I upped the difficulty by using the board, but even there I started really easy and will increase the force I use to make the noise louder in future sessions. Notice his tail rarely stops moving 🙂

He has been watching Dazzle use the dog door and I could tell he really wanted to figure it out.  So I did a little more work on that today and after a minute or so of yowling outside, he got it, twice! I’m sure he will be racing through it full speed like Dazzle in no time at all!

Also worked on potty on different surfaces today.  So far he had pottied on grass (his strong preference), concrete, gravel, mulch, and not on purpose- carpet. And he lifted his leg really high today when he peed on the fence!  Laura said he hiked his leg when she had him too (8.5 weeks)!  He has amazing balance and strength for his age!

Which is evident in the last part of the video.  I normally wouldn’t have started with something so hard, but I knew it would be a piece of cake for him and I was right.  His balance and strength for a 9.5 week old pup is incredible! And has made a few of the items I bought for the purpose obsolete 🙂

Another big T-storm is rolling through.  Dazzle is medicated, so he’s laying quietly outside the gate to the office and voodoo is busy ripping apart a cardboard box.  He has stopped to listen occasionally to the big booms, but then goes right back to shredding.  🙂  Also peed again in the rain and saw me with a huge umbrella that I opened in front of me with him in my arms without thinking, but thankfully he had zero reaction to it!

This year is just flying by!  Today we did some fun stuff and some training stuff.

For fun, here is video of Voodoo playing in my basement and doing a Master level barn hunt tunnel!  It is pitch black inside, so I think he got a bit lost, but managed to find the end. This was the second time he went through, the first time I didn’t get on video. He’s also playing with the tether tug after seeing Dazzle do it 🙂  And we have a little ditch in the yard from the drain pipe we installed several years ago. And voodoo loves to follow it with his nose. So I included a little clip of that.

We also did some training today.  Worked on the pivot bowl, but still too early for him to realize it’s the movement of his back feet that are getting clicked. Had to include his little improvisation as well. It was really hard not to click for all 4 feet on the little bowl!  Also worked on releasing the tug toy on cue. He’s SOOO much better about this than Dazzle was. 🙂 And then we did a short session of hand zen (don’t mug my hand) and eye contact gets clicked/rewarded.