Dragonward’s Ava Von Schnapps
Notes about Ava’s training:

September 26, 2009 – 8 Weeks Old
Picked up Ava from breeder Marilyn Ward, Dragonward Miniature Schnauzers, in southern Indiana. Traveled back to Virignia, MN in crate. Stayed in hotel, in crate, and never had an “accident”. She seems afraid of nothing!

September 27, 2009
Arrived home and met Greta & Liza at Shelby’s house. (Shelby was caring for them while we picked up Ava.) Initial introductions went well. Once we got to our house, Greta & Liza acted like “When is she leaving?” Ava holds her own with both Greta & Liza.

September 28, 2009
Training begins. For all commands I operantly train with clicker. She loves tugging and all toys! When time for feeding, she sits and I am restraining her by her collar and saying “Wait”. Her food is about 3 feet in front of her – then I say “Free” and release her. I am using “Free” as her release word. I want a different one from Greta’s & Liza’s “OK”.

September 30, 2009
Ava has been great! Sleeps 9 hours through night in crate before she cries to “go out”. She eats her 3 meals a day promptly and with her release word each time. She loves Liza! Greta just ignores her as much as possible. She has not had any accidents in the house. I make her sit in the crate and give a treat from above upon entering and exiting crate.

October 1, 2009 – 9 Weeks Old
Travel to LaCrosse, WI for family wedding. Took just Ava. She is great in crate in car. Walks well on leash and flexi. Stayed in hotel with no problems.

October 10, 2009 – 10 Weeks Old
Ava went to Greta’s Gym for first time. Worked on crate manners, wobble board, tugging and running chasing toys. She loved the wobble board – even with ball underneath! She will tug on wobble board too! She loved watching Greta & Liza do agility, too! I started Ava on warm up routine.

October 14, 2009
Ava is really getting her release word with a sit/wait or drop/wait. Better with sit. I need to work the down/drop more. Potty training is really going great! Greta & Liza really help in this department.
Ava has really found her voice! It’s pretty cute! She loves to wrestle with Liza and Greta, too. The other day, all 3 girls were going at it and Ava really holds her own.
Meal time is really coming along nicely. Ava is starting to get that she has to wait until Greta, then Liza eats, before she gets fed.

October 17 – 11 weeks old
Ava went to Greta’s Gym again today. I set up course for Greta & Liza. All 3 girls were running around while I was setting up. I had A-frame, dogwalk & teeter out.
I went into equipment room and came out to Ava running up teeter! I got to her just before pivot point and called her back down the way she came up. I went back to setting course. I looked up and Ava ran up and over the dogwalk! I couldn’t believe it! No fear at all!
I went into equipment room one more time and came out just in time to see Ava going up and down teeter! She is the most fearless dog I have ever had! Worked on wobble board, tugging, down/drop with wait & release. Worked on 2-on-2-off on travel board.

October 21, 2009
Daily Routine:
7:00 am – Ava wakes, all 3 girls go out.
Feed Greta, then Liza; and lastly feed Ava. Ava sits or drops at each feeding and “Waits” until we give release – “Free”. We are making the duration she waits longer and longer.
All 3 dogs are leaving each other alone while they eat – even Ava!
They all go to office with me in A.M. At lunch, we go home and feed Ava and leave Greta and Liza at home. Ava comes back to work with me. She is confined to my office and has a crate, toys and a bed. She does very well.
When she arrives at office, she sits and waits in conference room until released.
Dinner at 5:30 PM. Plays rest of evening with toys, us and Greta & Liza.
Bedtime – Goes in crate at about 10.

October 23, 24 & 25, 2009 – 12 Weeks Old
Ava went to first Agility show in LaCrosse, WI. Stayed in hotel with me, Greta & Liza. Ava had her own crate at show. Did excellent! She even napped in the crate at the show. She also would tug at ringside. When watching dogs run, she got very excited! Couldn’t have gone better.

November 1, 2009 – 14 weeks old
Ava went to Greta’s Gym for more training today. She continues to gain confidence and loves working, warm-up routine, wobble board, travel plank (2 on 2 off position), see wood run, tug and chase. Also worked down/drop. She is starting to get it.

November 3, 2009
Introduced Ava to the bang game using operant conditioning. She took to it immediately so I increased the complexity and she still loved it!

November – December 2009 – 3-4 Months Old
Ava continues to amaze me by her progress! She learns quickly and loves training! She is very responsive to operant conditioning.

In November & December she traveled a great deal to hotels and shows. She attended 4 days at Hounds for the Holidays and did fabulous in crate for all 4 days. She will even tug ringside!

She is doing exceptional on her warmup routine; her tugging; her sit/drop with a wait and the durations are getting longer and longer.

I’ve introduced her to all stages of Susan Garrett’s crate games and she loves it! I can now use the crate for her restrained recalls!

We have been doing shadowing all over gym. Her focus on me is great! So far, I really am the best game in town.

She loves the ladder and has very good rear end awareness already.

See wood run is one of her favorites and her speed is increasing with each session.

Her 2 on 2 off on travel plank has been very good with releases with me in front, in rear and along side of her. I have advanced her to the down plank of the dogwalk. She will now run from the top of the down ramp to end position with or without me! Her position at end is perfectly “straight ahead” no matter where I am! Yeah! When I go zooming past her in position, she stays in place! I have been mixing up where she gets rewarded.

January, 2010 – 5 Months Old
Ava (with Greta & Liza) went to Mel & Deeta’s for the first time when RC and I went to Mexico. She was well behaved and had no accidents! I think that tells me she is 100% house broken. In fact, when we got home, she actually went to the door to ask to be let out!

Ava is now my demo dog at my Agility 101 class and she is handling it beautifully! Well focused, even with all the dogs barking! She will perform all her “skills” with all the people, dogs and distractions. She stays very focused!

February – March, 2010 – 6 – 7 months old
Ava’s training is going great! I can have her off her leash practicing all her skills even with other people and dogs around. I know her love for tugging has really cementer her focus!

With her contact training, I have been increasing the challenges with:
1. Speed
2. Food & Toy distractions at end of contact and she remains in place.

I have started her on 2 pole weave entrances and she loves the game!

RC and I were gone for 2 weeks and Ava, Greta & Liza remained with Deeta and Mel. Ava did well. They still have her in crate at night.

April 2010 – 8 months old
Ava is growing and learning so much she amazes me! I am taking her to an intermediate obedience class at Diane Craig’s Arrowhead Dog Training Academy in Duluth). Ava loves to work and offer behaviors (thanks to clicker training). She is really doing well in this class.

I have now started some small sequencing with her. I had Dr. Kalinowski x-ray her to check growth platelets. They are not closed yet so I’m doing practically no real jumping. But with jumps at the 8 inch height (I figure this is a lot less than all the jumping she does off furniture etc.), I do let her practice following my hand signals over the jump.

The other day she pounced onto A-frame contact. Remained in place until I released her, then over the jump into a tunnel! Coming out of tunnel she pounced onto the contact of the dog walk with me running past to the final jump. I then released her and she finished. Wow, she was amazing!

May 2010 – 9 months old
Ava’s end contact behavior is getting better and better. I can place her at the top of the down plank on a dogwalk and she runs down and gets into her 2 on 2 off! She will do this no matter where anybody is.

She really understands her job!

I have continued working on 2 pole weave entrancess. She has worked up to finding entrance all the way around a semi-circle.

Her see wood run is now raised up by 2 pedestals and she runs fast and confidently across it!

With the teeter in the highest bang position, she will slam into her 2 on 2 off.

Ava’s Shadowing is coming along fabulous! She will follow my handes (both sides) no matter what I throw at her. She is basically “heeling off leash” on both sides and when I throw in a front cross movement, she follows perfectly.

June 2, 2010 – 10 months old
Ava turned 10 months, but today was a red letter day! It was the first time Ava went up and over a contact!

I set the A-frame at a lower height and the very first time she ran up and over and got into 2 on 2 off position! Wow! I love good foundation training! I then proofed her with all distance skills – behind, laterally and running past. She was absolutely solid in her 2 on 2 off!

Today I also started her on the channel weaves at about 3/4 open with guides. She flies through them and loves it!

June 7, 2010
Ava is loving her contacts! Today I had her on a teeter for the first time. She is going up and down and getting into 2 on 2 off. She is a bit “tentative” on the down, but each time is getting more and more confident. The chicken in the 2 on 2 off really helps!

RC helped me work through the chute with Ava. He would hold the fabric chute open as Ava raced through getting chicken and a click upon exit. Little by little he would lower the fabric until she was racing through with the fabric closed.

I also had RC make tippy boards. Ava loves to “slam” them down and get into 2 on 2 off position.

June 15, 2010
Ava is going over full size A-frame with complete success!

June 21, 2010
Ava went to daycare today for socialization!

June 22, 2010
Ava loves the teeter now! She has figured out “where to stop” to ride it down and always gets into 2 on 2 off position, even when teeter bounces back up a bit!

I used Ava as a demo dog for contacts today during classes and I forgot I hadn’t put her over dogwalk before – but no problem for her, she ran up, across and down and into her 2 on 2 off position! Ava, you are amazing!

June 26, 2010
Ava came with to Cudahy, WI for Greta & Liza’s first outdoor show of the year. The weather was hot and very wet! Mud puddles and lots of rain. Great outdoor training experience for Ava. We practiced walking on leash right and left sides with many distractions. I ran Ava through her warmup routine and over the practice jump, too!

Ava will be 11 months old on July 1st!

August 31, 2010
Today is the last day of August and Ava turned 1 on August 1st! Hard to believe! She has learned so much in her first year!

Since my last entry, Ava is running over all contact obstacles including teeter and assuming the 2 on 2 off position. She will do this regardless of my position and with distractions – including food dropped in front of contact! When she turned 1, I started to slowly close channels on weaves. And by this date, channels are just about closed and Ava is truly performing the weave action! With the 2 pole entrace she can find it from just about anywhere! She is also doing floor work over jumps very successfully.

Last weekend was the St. Croix Valley Kennel Club Show at Lake Elmo (Stillwater). Ava attended with Greta, Liza and KC. Ava did warm up jump and warm up routine. Ava loves tugging at ringside and I took her to start line and did focus work. She did all of this like a pro! Walking around show past dogs and people still focused on me!

Won’t be long now little girl and you will be “running with the big dogs”!

September 2010
I have continued to proof contacts with Ava including working on “independent” contacts. No matter where I am, Ava will perform the contact and assume the 2 on 2 off position, remain in place until her release word is given. Channels on weaves are all but closed and she will perform weaves “independently”.

October 1, 2010
Today is Ava’s 14 month birthday and channels are closed and guides removed and Ava is weaving like an old pro! Can’t wait to test her at the novice handling camp at Ann Braue’s Canine Training Center in November. Then we will see how she does in a strange environment!

November 3, 2010
Ava got officially measured by Mark Sjorgen (AKC Agility Representative). She measured 13 1/4. She will need to have 2 more measurements when she turns 2.

November 5-6, 2010
Ava and I attended the 2-day camp for novice handling at ABCTC. Wow, Ava did fabulous! Weaves and contacts were stellar! Everyone agreed Ava is ready to start competing. She is now 15 months, so she is officially old enough!

November 27-28, 2010
Ava tried her competing skills out at a CPE trial, at On the Run in Ham Lake, MN this weekend. This is her first time at a true competition. She came away with 4 qualifying legs, taking 2 1st places, 1 3rd place and a 4th place, too! She really built confidence with each run! She knew by the 2nd run that she would have a chicken party after the run!

Her times for these runs do not really reflect her speed because on each contact bottom I would say “Yes – Good Girl” before releasing her. I will continue this a long, long time to develop solid contact performance. At the show, I would “deliberately” run further past contact bottom to try to encourage her to “come off” before given the release. She never did! Yeah – Good Girl!

Can’t wait to run her at the AKC Trial in December in Milwaukee called “Hounds for the Holidays”!