Janet,
I know Tuck has a lot of finish for performance. This was his first
public appearance and doing these shows is not exactly what I plan for
him in the future. Obedience really hasn't been much in the picture with
him -yet.. although it is on the agenda in the future. So criticism of
Tuck isn't what I'm asking for. I know we have miles to go before Tuck is
a polished showman.

As for Yorik... And Yorik is the one I'm asking about at Yorik's mom's
request. Yorik is her second dog, the first being a German Shepherd-Husky
mix. Yorik just recently entered obedience school last January. All the
rest of Yorik's mom's training has been done at home, through on-line
coaching by me.

When I saw his performance, I thought the tricks a bit simplistic, but I
felt her flow between the tricks was very good, making simple stuff
interesting. I did , upon seeing her, told her to phase away all the food
EVERYTIME Yorik did something, put some distance between herself and the
dog so the public could see HIM. Yorik's mom is quite cute, but people
really came to see the dog. I suggested more subtle cues and hand
signals.

Do you have some other suggestions?

Paul, you saw the show, what would you criticize as a viewing public that
Yorik's mom could do to make this better? I'm asking this in behalf of
Yorik's mom.

I think more advanced tricks would be helpful, and I told her so.

In article ,
diddy wrote:


When I saw his performance, I thought the tricks a bit simplistic, but I
felt her flow between the tricks was very good, making simple stuff
interesting. I did , upon seeing her, told her to phase away all the food
EVERYTIME Yorik did something, put some distance between herself and the
dog so the public could see HIM. Yorik's mom is quite cute, but people
really came to see the dog. I suggested more subtle cues and hand
signals.

I think you're right - her physical positioning of herself could use a
little work, and her dialogue a little polish. I think that comes in
time with practice, but they both obviously enjoy doing the show, so
that's a huge part of it. I think the audience is a factor too. When
dealing with seniors, there is often some gap in conversation, due to
hearing, etc. I think a kid audience and senior audience can each be
tough, but combining them a bit is even more of a challenge!

I'd have to look at thee trick sheet again, but I think there are
probably some things that would be better arranged in a different order
for smoother flow.

I think the explanation of training the exercises was useful for the
audience as well. I think a little more talking about how these aren't
just tricks, but very practical things (which you did hit on) would be
interesting to mention a bit more.

I think Tuck has a lot of sparkle and will be an entertaining tricky dog.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

In article ,
diddy wrote:


If you would allow it, she might like your address so that she could
converse without without going through me on a public forum.

No problem. But I do think TUCK has sparkle as well!

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

In article ,
diddy wrote:



OK then. One more question for RPDB.. Did either dog appear abused to get
this performance out of them? Tuck never even wore a collar for the
exhibition.


Of course not. They both seemed like very happy and well adjusted dogs.

One other thought for you. You once said your experience with Elkhounds
was that they weren't particularly trainable. I hope we changed your mind
and placed the blame where it belongs.. the owners. I find Elkhounds
butter in my hands.

I don't recall ever saying that (and can't imagine that I did)! I have
met very few over time, although I had one as a private client recently
and she was a piece of cake - very cooperative. A very nice dog,
although she was a BIG girl - much larger than Tuck or Yorik. There was
one who lived across the street when I was a teenager. Didn't know much
about him except he was on a trolley all of the time and my dog hated
him (my dog hated any other male dog though, so it wasn't personal!).
I've only known a handful of others, and not all that well.

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"diddy" wrote in message
...

Paul, you saw the show, what would you criticize as a viewing public that
Yorik's mom could do to make this better? I'm asking this in behalf of
Yorik's mom.

I think more advanced tricks would be helpful, and I told her so.

I greatly enjoyed the show, and I wasn't really looking for ways to improve
it. I was a bit nervous being there, after our on-line exchanges, but I
felt a little better when you asked me, by name, to pick a number for one
of the tricks.

It was sometimes hard to distinguish the dogs from each other, and I think
both of them performed admirably, especially considering the issues with
the innoculation and the large audience. I also noticed the overuse of
treats by Yorik's Mom, even before you mentioned it when we met. I doubt
anyone else saw it, unless they were actively involved in dog training and
had been informed about the use of treats. I have never really used treats
in my training of Muttley, but they would probably be helpful.

For this type of audience, I don't think more advanced tricks are
necessary. There is a greater risk of failure, and more stress on the dog
and handler. But an audience that has not paid to see the performance
should not be critical, especially if you would announce beforehand that
this is something new.

I think more audience participation would be great, but it should probably
be arranged at least partly before the show. Maybe give people in the front
row different colored ribbons, or different objects, and have the dogs find
them and "ask" for then by sitting and pointing to the object or offering a
paw. The participation you had, especially with children, was wonderful.

Maybe a demonstration of how a dog may be of service to a disabled person
would be good. Have someone in a wheelchair or walker drop something, and
have the dog fetch it. Maybe a "seeing eye" dog demo, with an actual blind
person or a blidfolded volunteer.

I would encourage both of you to do additional shows, but perhaps at local
venues where the cost of transportation and time would not be so great. I
would not be shy about asking for donations to cover the cost of gas. You
could make it fun by having the dogs fetch dollar bills from the audience.

And also consider getting just a little bit of corporate sponsorship, or
obtaining non-profit status so donations would be tax deductible. It would
be a shame for this to be a one-time show, when it could brighten the lives
of so many people. I sometimes play guitar and sing for a small audience at
Perry Point VA hospital, and it is amazing how positively some of the
patients respond. Fortunately, it is less than an hour drive, and I am
happy to donate my time and the little cost for a rewarding experience.

Thanks again for meeting me and Muttley.

P, M, and L

in thread : Janet
Boss whittled the following words:

s.

I don't recall ever saying that (and can't imagine that I did)!

Perhaps I have a wrong attribution. My apologies.
It happens. More often than I like.


As far as the props in a big duffel bag? Not Yorik's mom! It took a U-
haul!

Her accoutrements in the room were just as bad. I used everything I
brought. I brought all of Tuck's and my needs including food in one
medium sized suitcase. Yorik and Company required trips and trips and
trips and carts. I'm thinking.. this woman packs like a woman who doesn't
travel much. She threw everything in but the kitchen sink, but she DID
bring the stove and piano!

As far as Reka... She appeals to the anarchist in us all. She's VERY
funny. I still wish I'd brought her. Yorik's mom said.. Our dogs will
make enough mistakes. It would not serve us well or reflect on us well to
bring a dog that would do it exactly right ONCE.. and exactly wrong
ONCE.. and then laugh about it and rub it in. She was afraid Reka's sense
of humor would rub off on Yorik, who she wants to do it right every time.

And in answer to pfoley....
I forgot. Tuck does NOT do "shake", Ring the bell for math problems, high
five, or play the piano. Tuck cannot do ALL the tricks Yorik did. Just
most of them.



We had a great time.

"diddy" wrote in message
...
in thread : Janet
Boss whittled the following words:

In article ,
diddy wrote:


If you would allow it, she might like your address so that she could
converse without without going through me on a public forum.

No problem. But I do think TUCK has sparkle as well!


OK then. One more question for RPDB.. Did either dog appear abused to get
this performance out of them? Tuck never even wore a collar for the
exhibition.


Both dogs appeared very happy and eager while performing, and very
naturally relaxed and non-fearful when interacting with the audience or
just lying there. The fact that Tuck was a bit "creative" by sneaking
around from his hiding place, and other minor deviations from strict
compliance, showed me that they can still think for themselves, which I
feel is a good thing. I think it may be possible to overtrain, or force
strict obedience where the dog lives in constant fear, but these dogs
clearly seem to enjoy performing and are deeply loved by their owners.

Paul and Muttley (whose best trick is being a mattress-tester)

"diddy" wrote in message
...
I forgot. Tuck does NOT do "shake", Ring the bell for math problems, high
five, or play the piano. Tuck cannot do ALL the tricks Yorik did. Just
most of them.

We had a great time.

I did "see through" the "math problem". Yorik simply rang the bell in
separate moves, probably on subtle visual cue, until he did it the correct
number of times. He was not allowed to make a mistake, as the bell was
removed once he had rung it three times. But it was a nice trick anyway.

Muttley will "shake hands" and sort of "high five". He would probably play
a piano if I put a sausage on the keys. He does not have enough manual
dexterity to play my guitar, and I don't think he likes to sing. Mostly I'm
just glad that he likes to snooze and let me do what I need to do without
getting in the way.

Paul and Muttley

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:22:33 -0500, diddy
wrote:

Tuck did all his discrimination by scent.

Danny would take a box of colored pencils (BIG BOX.. one of those 100
color things) Everyone would be handed a pencil, and would write down the
color they had on their pencil on a piece of paper, so THEY would
remember it. An attendant would collect all the pencils in a bucket,
shake it up, and dump them in a pile. Danny would then grab a pencil, and
run through the audience and give that person their pencil, until the
pile was all gone, and there were no pencils left. He never missed.

Against my better judgment, I'm forced to call BS on this one.

Diddy, I don't care how many times you claim that Danny could do that,
no *dog* could do what you described above - in my opinion. Surely you
must have left something out?

Who handed out the pencils? The attendant? If there was no scent
involved (you imply that Danny didn't use scent), how would Danny know
who had drawn which pencil (even if he could correctly correlate the
smells of 100 different pencils with the smells/looks of 100 different
people, of which I also claim BS, because the scents were commingled
in the pile, by being shaken up together, etc.) if he didn't hand the
pencils out, and also didn't collect them?

Would you please elaborate on this?

I don't enjoy calling BS, but sometimes I just have no choice.

I want to believe you, Diddy, because I know that dogs can do some
truly amazing things, but I just can't do that yet.

Help me out, eh?

--
Handsome Jack Morrison

Democrats @ 14 percent approval
http://www.dailymail.com/story/Opini...cent-approval/

Question: How stupid can Democrats really get? Answer: Pretty ****ing stupid.
http://washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.../70719001/1001

Go ahead. I dare you not to laugh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3Rw_...elated&search=

Perhaps the greatest living American, totally ignored by the media. spit
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/gregg-...-_b_56665.html

in thread : Handsome Jack
Morrison whittled the following words:

On Sun, 22 Jul 2007 13:22:33 -0500, diddy
wrote:

Tuck did all his discrimination by scent.

Danny would take a box of colored pencils (BIG BOX.. one of those 100
color things) Everyone would be handed a pencil, and would write down
the color they had on their pencil on a piece of paper, so THEY would
remember it. An attendant would collect all the pencils in a bucket,
shake it up, and dump them in a pile. Danny would then grab a pencil,
and run through the audience and give that person their pencil, until
the pile was all gone, and there were no pencils left. He never
missed.

Against my better judgment, I'm forced to call BS on this one.

Diddy, I don't care how many times you claim that Danny could do that,
no *dog* could do what you described above - in my opinion. Surely you
must have left something out?

Who handed out the pencils? The attendant? If there was no scent
involved (you imply that Danny didn't use scent),

Danny DID use scent.
I don't know how you implied he did not.

He matched the scent with the object he had and passed people until he
matched them. Just as a dog can track a person's footsteps through a
crowd, it worked the same with pencils. The people wrote down their
unique pencil color so that "THEY" knew they got back the right pencil,
in case they forgot.

Danny used scent as a signature.

It was a great trick.

Color had nothing to do with it, except as an identifier for the humans

I would hold the box and shake out a pencil for which a person would only
touch and pick out ONE. They were instructed not to touch any other
pencils. Then the pencils were collected after each person had held them
for a duration while they watched some other tricks.

I wanted the scents burned in.

how would Danny know
who had drawn which pencil (even if he could correctly correlate the
smells of 100 different pencils with the smells/looks of 100 different
people, of which I also claim BS, because the scents were commingled
in the pile, by being shaken up together, etc.)

correct, but the person who held the pencil for the longest time created
the stronger scent on the pencil. A dog does not experience nose fatigue
the way we do.

if he didn't hand the
pencils out, and also didn't collect them?

Would you please elaborate on this?

I don't enjoy calling BS, but sometimes I just have no choice.

I want to believe you, Diddy, because I know that dogs can do some
truly amazing things, but I just can't do that yet.

Hopefully... Tuck will get to that level someday. At that time.. I will
personally come to Missouri and show you. OK? Since Missouri is the SHOW-
ME state.

Danny was not doing this at Tuck's age either. He was 7 years old before
he reached that level.



Help me out, eh?


will try.