Tricks
2010 Dachshund Races
Ammo in his stuntdog gear with his ribbons
On June 13th I took 1 1/2 year old Ammo the Dachshund to the Keystone Dachshund Races in Lewisberry Pa. We had been last year, but this year was different because not only would Ammo be racing, but he was also asked to perform a variety of his favorite tricks.
I was excited to see if Ammo would behave differently in the races this year, as he was now a full year older and had a lot of training under his belt. Like the Trick Ponies, I like to train Ammo using clicker training – food is a great motivator for all animals, and dogs are no exception.
Immediately when we arrived Ammo was excited to see lots of long and low dogs just like himself. He wanted to meet and play with EVERYONE. This was a change from last year as at 8 months old he was shy and a little nervous – I was excited to see that all my socialization with him had paid off by making him much more confident. Although, I should have guessed that his added confidence only hurt him when it came time to race. See Ammo (being the loveable Dachshund that he is) picked out the lead dog in every race and tried to entice him to play as they raced towards the finish. I admit I would have preferred Ammo to come bounding out of the start box towards me as he lept into my arms, but seeing him excited to play with other dogs his size also put a smile on my face. At the end of race day Ammo came home with 3 second places, a third, and a fourth and the title for fastest dog went to Mr. Monkey the Dachshund.
Ammo returning to his box after each trick, something he learned a week earlier
At around 2:30 it was Ammo’s turn to take center stage. I was pretty nervous as to whether or not he’d actually do ANYTHING I asked of him. See if you know Dachshunds, then you know that they can be VERY stubborn. Classified as one of the hardest breeds to house train, Dachshunds certainly have a mind of their own. And while I knew Ammo wanted very much to please me, I wasn’t sure if the temptation of other smells, other dogs, or other people would sway him from performing his tricks. I was relieved as Ammo performed just about every trick I asked of him, including jumping through his hoop with his stuntdog gear on. Yet despite his willingness to execute the tasks, Ammo’s enthusiasm was lacking a little. I think his all day play session with the other racers had worn him out, not to mention it felt like it was 90 degrees inside the covered arena where we were. Overall I was pleased that he atleast tried for me, and thats all I could have asked. I’m not sure if he will ever have the “presence” that the Trick Ponies command, but I can be sure he’ll atleast be able to perform alongside them in the future.
Auction off one of Ammo's works of art to benefit the Coast to Coast Dachshund Rescue
I look forward to racing again next year with Ammo. Perhaps one of these days we’ll be able to bring home a blue!
To see more photos from Ammo’s Performance be sure to visit his facebook page.
Stuntdog
Ammo the Dachshund has his VERY FIRST performance tomorrow at the Keystone Dachshund Races. I don’t know if he’s nervous, but I’m nervous for him. We’ve been nonstop practicing his tricks all week, and I think he’s pretty prepared. Ammo is a little bit on the shy side (although you would never guess if you follow along in his adventures on Facebook), so it will be a big surprise to everyone what he decides to do as the center of attention in a crowd of Dachshunds.
I’m pretty confidant he will know just what to do! (or at least I hope!) During his performance Ammo will also be creating one of his original scratch art pieces which we will be auctioning off to benefit the Coast-to-Coast Dachshund Rescue.
Oh and not to forget Ammo will also be racing! Last year’s performance was a little bit embarrassing for him, but in his defense he was only about 8 months old, and he had no clue what he was doing. This year he’s a year older, and a year more confident. Not to mention he passed his level one training class and he’s nearing completion of his level two training. I’m so proud of him!
If you are in the area tomorrow be sure to stop by the races (even if you aren’t owned by a Dachshund), its sure to be a good time, and the profits benefit a good cause.
Visit Ammo’s Facebook Page to see more photos of him in his Stuntdog outfit! Isn’t he just the cutest thing?
P.S. if you like Ammo’s outfit check out Kalyxcornucopia! See the neat videos that Baxter made below…
Capturing Lay Down & More Bow Work
Yesterday I again brought Boomerang out to work on his bow work. Day #2 proved to have much progress for him. He is now consistently lifting his leg when I tap and holding it up with not as much guidance from me. He is also offering knee to the ground almost every time. He still has to get the hang of making sure his back legs are far enough back to compensate for the lowering of the front half of his body, but he’ll get there. With a few more sessions he should have this trick mastered, which is when I will put the final verbal cue onto it. The cool part will hopefully be transferring it over to saddle. I never got to do that with Minnow because I had to retire him from ridden work before we mastered this. I could probably still get him to do it, but I feel mean asking since I know how painful putting his weight on just one leg is – add the weight of a rider to that and it would be even worse. Perhaps if he could loose some weight first I’d be able to try – but since he can’t be exercised that proves even harder.
Here’s a clip of Boomer’s bow progress:
During our bow session I noticed Boomer showing signs of wanting to lay down in the soft sand. I let him lay then clicked him and sat with him for 5 minutes just feeding and petting him. Then I asked him stand again and used my target stick to get his nose to the ground. I myself began pawing the ground to entice him to do the same to ready a spot for himself. A few minuted later and he was back on the ground again. I got him to repeat this about 5 times. The best part was he offered all this while my parent’s aussie mix was running around barking like crazy and my dad had started up the 4wheeler so he could water the arena. How’s that for a bombproof pony!
**I added music to this clip because all you can hear in the background is my parent’s dog barking like crazy. 🙂
I’m hoping with a few more sessions we’ll have the bow and lay down mastered so that we can debut them at MGAA Nationals!
Boomerang’s Bow
Last night I spent some time working with Boomerang on the ground. We worked on moving away from pressure, turn on the haunches, turn on the forehand, and sidepasses. I then thought it would be fun to see if I could get him to bow. Boomer really likes the soft screenings in our arena, and almost every time he sees it he tries to lay down in it. I knew working in a soft fluffy part of the arena would entice him to put his limbs on the ground.
I started off by just working on getting him to pick up and hold his leg up. Each time picked up a leg when I tapped it, he got clicked. Eventually I progressed to enticing his head to the ground with a treat, and pretty soon Boomer was putting his knee to the ground. This is the same method I used to teach Minnow to bow back in 2004. Minnow has a pretty nice bow when he wants to, but its tough for him to do now because of his ringbone. I think it hurts a little, so I try not to ask him to do it too often, and I’m quicker to let him offer less of an effort than I would expect from Boomer. I think with a few more sessions Boomer should have a pretty nice bow, perhaps nice enough to showcase at MGAA Nationals in a few weeks. We shall see!
Whiffle Ball Pro
So I promised there would be some more fun tricks as well as amazing tricks this year. I consider everything the ponies learn fun, but learning a new trick that makes people laugh is always the best.
Like I said, Minnow is the master at object manipulation. I can hand him anything and he just does the most amazing things with it! Most of the time I just grab random objects to place in front of him and just wait to see what he will come up with on his own. This was the case on Monday.
I was trying to think of something new to teach Minnow, so we ended up just wandering aimlessly around the arena. I was pulling random things out of our equipment shed, handing them to Minnow, and just waiting to see what he would do. When Minnow gets into “trick mode” he’s hilarious. He almost goes a little crazy trying to come up with something exciting in order to get a treat. He was lifting alternating legs, shaking his head no, and backing up all at the same time. It makes me giggle just thinking about it.
So finally out of the shed popped something Minnow thought he could use, a whiffle ball bat. He immediately took it in his mouth and started swinging it around. The light bulb in my head went off and I grabbed a cone and a ball for him to swing at. A few seconds later and he was tapping the ball off the cone with the end of his bat. The cutest part was that if he missed the ball with the bat, he would then proceed to knock it off the cone with his nose. Gotta love a pony that just has to complete the skill.
