Posts Tagged ‘Kyley DiLuigi
Dachshund Training class #1
Last Thursday I started taking the Dachshund to his very first training class at the Dog Training Club of Chester County. Since Ammo will be attending these classes for the next 6 weeks I thought it would be neat for me to post about what he learns each week. Even though this training is for a dog, a lot of the same principles can be applied to the horses or any other animal.
The last time I had been to dog training classes was when I was about 12 years old and a member of the Heel n’ Sit Dog 4-H club. I did monthly classes with my large black lab, Jack, and my brother worked with his golden mix, Sneakers. Sneakers even went on to get her canine good citizen certification. Back then it was about choke chains and tugging on your dog, that’s just how it was taught. I know now this wasn’t the best way to train a dog, but I was a kid….and this is how we were taught to do it.
Having never been to the Dog Training Club of Chester County, I was pleasantly surprised when my welcome e-mail said NO CHOKE CHAINS, bring a a quality dog lift harness. I was half expecting to have to defend myself for wanting to use a harness on my dog. I was even more surprised when we showed up at the first class and the instructor handed out clickers to everyone. She explained that DTCC was a positive reinforcement training club and the classes were more about training us than they were about training our dogs. Score!
Our classmates were a hyperactive rescue dog, a puppy mill pitbull rescue, and a 4 month old Irish Wolfhound – that looked more like a lion to me at 10x’s the Dachshund’s size.
We started the class by introducing our dogs to the clicker and teaching them that click meant food. We then worked on gaining our dog’s attention, something thats very hard for the little doxie. He was much more interested in the new smells and the new dogs. So we worked on clicking our dogs each time they looked at us or responded to their name being called.
Then we worked on helping our dogs to learn the sit and down by luring them into position with food. Finally we worked on pulling on the leash. We learned that if our dog starts to pull us we should stop and anchor ourselves, waiting for the dog to release the tension of the leash themselves. Then rewarding them.
I realized after our first session that the dachshund’s biggest problem is keeping focus. He has a very hard time paying attention to me, even when I have food. At home even carrots warrant undivided attention, but amongst new smells and new dogs, even cheese couldn’t keep my fella’s attention. Our instructor suggested we search for a treat that made the boy go gaga, so I have since tried hot dogs, which seem to work fairly well – but cooked beef might have to be implemented for our next class.
Over the past few days I have been working with the boy throughout the day. He has the sit and the down mastered with hand and verbal signals – although to be fair he already knew these commands, but now atleast he can perform them with a verbal or hand signal. And he isn’t really pulling on the leash on our walks, although he wasn’t a “big” puller to begin with. I’ve also been working on keeping his attention, I think he still has a long way to go, but I have noticed some improvement. I’m anxious to see if he’s any different by our next class.
The Mounted Rear
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, Minnow is one of the smartest ponies I have ever met. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that he’s really cued into my body language – and I’m good at using my body to over-exaggerate what I want.
A few days ago I again was working on Minnow’s rear a little bit and I decided to mount up and see if he might do it for me while I was on his back. I imagined gathering my energy into my lap, I then tapped my toes a few times on his legs and lifted up into the air. After a few initial paws to the ground Minnow hoisted himself up into the air.
**sorry about the cry baby pup in the background – Trooper couldn’t stand to not be involved with this trick, but for safety I made him wait outside the ring.
I captured it with the click and that was that. I now had a pony that will rear from a hand signal on the ground and the verbal cue up and a squeeze and gentle pull motion in the saddle. Pretty cool.
I know a lot of people have negative thoughts about teaching a horse to rear. So I thought I would explain why I decided to teach Minnow to rear. #1 he’s retired, which means no one should ever be riding him again except for the occasional bareback stint I do with him. #2 I’ve been working with him since 20o2 so I know that he knows the difference between trick time and not. #3 I handle him nearly everyday and aside from the small group of people at our farm around him I never let anyone else handle him unless I am there to supervise. #4 He will live with me for the rest of his life, so I know that I have no fear of him going to someone who would find this trick dangerous. So that being said I was confident in teaching Minnow this trick. As you have seen I haven’t at all attempted to teach the younger boys, Boomer and Blitz. Because I know that since they are young they would more likely offer this behavior when I don’t want it, and it could just turn into a dangerous situation. I probably won’t ever teach them to rear unless they are retired like Minnow or I have much more confidence in them, or when I am certain they will be living with me forever.
Pole Bending at Liberty
Many of you have probably already seen this video on Horse Agility.
Well I was trying to help my mom come up with things she could do with the ponies on the ground – since she will be getting her knee surgery in a week after her fall from Blitz. She really won’t be riding for a while, but there are still plenty of things you can do with your horse from the ground.
The horse agility sprang to my mind as something fun that both my mom and Blitz could do together. So yesterday I grabbed Boomerang and started working on some liberty leading to see if I might be able to get him to do something agility wise. He actually picked up what I wanted pretty quickly and within 15 minutes I was leading him around the arena without a rope. The next step was to bring out some of my bending poles to see if I could maybe get him to bend them on his own. Here’s our third try:
Pretty good for only his third try. Boomer already knew how to pole bend (from our gaming work) – so the hardest part was getting him to recognize that I wanted him to do it on his own and then asking to move away and to me in order to weave the poles.
Anyway I think he did pretty well and I’m looking forward to doing more ground work with him in the future. The funny thing I’ve been noticing about Boomer is that ever since he saw me working with Minnow on his Spanish Walk a few months ago he has begun mimicking it whenever he recognizes that its “trick time”. He’s been doing leg lifts randomly in order to try to get me to reward him. All because he watched Minnow do it one time….smart pony I’d say!
Molly Mutt Dog Duvet Covers
As crafty as I am, I am a terrible sewer. I don’t know how to set the machine right, the thread always bunches up, my stitches break, I just really can’t do it. I have grand images of making jackets for the Dachshund, saddle pads, or maybe even horse blankets! But I’ve come to realize this is just never going to be possible.
I can’t sew, but here is someone who can!
Molly Mutt is a fantastic online shop where you can purchase dog bed duvet covers. Simply pick a fabric (and the fabrics are oh so cool!) and it comes ready to be stuffed with an old dog bed, or even blankets and old clothes from around your home. You can even buy a nifty “stuff sack” which will hold all of your “stuffing” neatly together.
Today I purchased the robot duvet cover and a stuff sack for the Dachshund. He has this horrible habit of chewing up his dog beds – and actually sleeping inside of them. But it comes to a point when he has stuffing all over the floor that I decide its time to part ways with the bed. Except this time. I’ve decided to be ECOFRIENDLY by simply stuffing his old bed into a new duvet cover. Plus the cover is just so cute I couldn’t resist!
Ammo inside one of his beds
Own a foal by Misty II’s Henry!
Misty II's Henry
Misty of Chincoteague has a legacy that has far proceeded her life span, and her story also lives on in her offspring.
Misty II’s Henry is a decedent of Misty of Chincoteague, and the very last foal of Misty II. More information on Henry can be found on the website, Misty’s Heaven.
Before Henry was gelded some of his specimen was frozen to be used later for special breeding purposes. Henry’s owner is offering up a once-in-a-lifetime chance to own a 2011 Chincoteague Pony foal by Misty II’s Henry. ONLY ONE FOAL AVAILABLE!
If you are interested in owning a part of the Misty of Chincoteague Legacy you can contact
Kendy Allen
ponycntr@intercom.net
Misty II's Henry
or you can contact me and I can put you in contact with someone.
Kyley DiLuigi
info@paintingpony.com
610-269-2424 (Studio 3 Gallery – ask for Kyley)
Don’t delay if you are interested….again there will be only ONE foal.
Photos curtsy of Misty’s Heaven
