The show that goes on
I’m a little behind in my blog posts but trying to catch up!!
Last sunday Eagle Valley search dogs had to attend the dog show in Whitney Point NY. I was presented with the AKC CAR award money for the grant i wrote earlier this year. This 2000 dollars will go to supporting our fall Combined Federation search seminar in the end of september. Abby and her real sister Raven both did short demo’s of the recall refind indication sequence and abby was available for people to meet and greet.
social butterfly
Our table attracted a lot of attention and hopefully we were able to scout out some new volunteers to come hide and train with us!!! If you are ever interested and in the Broome County or Delaware County area email me EliteInstinctCanine@gmail.com We are always looking for volunteers to go get lost!!!
<3
The working girls
Last weekend was a rough one, but we still did what we could and the girls had fun. Saturday we trained with Amigo Sar dogs up in New Berlin. We ran everyone on some HR hides as well as live hides. The HR was great, we hid it in a 130 pounds replica guy from the firehouse!!
Our "subject"
Abby decided not only was it an easy find but also an easy indication to mom!
BAM!!!!!
It was hot out and everyone went for a swim after their problem to cool down. Raina had a blast jumping into the fast moving water to grab her ball. She’s getting pretty good at catching it, though mom doesn’t let her do it often she is still to young to beat up her bones like that!
I bounce like Tigger!!!!!!
play time after a job well done
Raina and Abby both sustained some muscle and pad injuries and were put on light duty. This last week they rested up and appear good to go! Down time is always the worst with these girls, they are just not meant to be couch potatoes!!
Search for a new Logo
Well my artistic need is coming through…………a new logo is in the works!!! Thanks to some amazing pictures taken by my friend Amy (who is a professional photographer if you like her work let me know!!!) i am toying around with a few pictures as potentials for my logo. Let me know what you think is the best or what other ideas you have!!!
Abigail
Ms Abigail is the newest member of the canine copilot pack. Abby is a 3 year old GSD who is sister’s with Raina, just from the previous litter. Abby will be certified by the end of the year as both live find and HR. Abby is learning that living with the pack has rules and being the newest member means she has a lot to learn! She loves traveling with mom and the girls on training weekends and is frequently my demo dog during private training classes with clients. This black and tan beauty is all love but don’t let her fool you she packs a mean punch! Abby’s trained indication is a “bump” and she thoroughly enjoys slamming me on the chest as hard as possible with muddy paws.
Abby is a sweetheart and loves everyone she meets. Full of energy and always ready to do what is asked of her Abby is the perfect example of a German Shepherd Dog! Please keep your eye out of the amazing workings of Abby.
Abby's favorite boy
Todays escapades
Today started like any normal day, up early out with the pups for the morning routine. The 4 shepherds ( we can’t leave out the little foster GSD) hit the truck and head to Vestal to get a day of search and rescue training in. We meet up with some Amigo girls and work some outside airscent and cadaver problems. The girls did great and mr Weib got to hang out and meet some cool new people, dogs, and sniff some new smells!
Weib!!!!
After a quick lunch break its on to building work where i was able to fine tune Emeline’s refind sequence. My girl is ready to start on the path to certification!! It was a bumpy ride, and one her sister sailed past her in but it has been worth it, Eme has a wonderful bark, a great indication and refind and is an amazing search dog in the making. Now we must balance her airscent work, with getting her ready to IPWADA HRD test this September and of course not leave out her obedience that will be tested in September as well for her certification! Ohhhh boy gonna be a busy summer at the Canine Copilot homestead!
Eme in her group down stay with distractions!
Our morning routine
I love the “days off” i have because the morning routine is so much more fun! First off we sleep in till 6am (which is PRETTY AMAZING!!) then everyone rushes outside for a morning pee and i sit on the back deck taking in the air, trying to decipher if it will be a good day or a rainy one. We then move on in and i make coffee and get some work done on the computer while the pups lay around and chew or fall back asleep on the couch! A few times an hour a long nose will nudge me and one of the shepherds just reminds me they are still around and breakfast is still a necessity.
Oh Kendal!
Anna performs a round of ear cleaning and you hear content sighs from all around the living room of the dogs relaxing and succumbing to another day in the Canine Copilot pack. It’s mornings like this which i’m amazed. My dogs are the best, and I know everyone says that but they really are. When asked to go out and do a job, and save a life the girls will step up and perform like pro’s but when asked to “turn off” and lay around with a 6 pound chihuahua in their lap and not eat him…….they are much obliged. My group of dogs is a testament to what you CAN own, if you raise them and teach them that this is the way. I do not believe there are any certain “limitations” that must be put on working dogs and if they are raised correctly and trained properly they can coexist in a large group of other canines and be extremely happy!
I swear mom i am just gently "mouthing" his face!
Throwback Thursday
Throwback Thursday is a flashback of old pictures, enjoy!!!
A young titan
Puppy Valentine
Every little thing she does is magik
Have you ever had a dog that you think, really, can read your mind and is inside your head? Raina amazes me everyday with how in tune she is to me and to her work. She is like a machine in the field and when watching her you would think she was a horror to live with. I am much happy to report we have learned to teach each our dogs how to “turn off” and raina of course has mastered this skill as well. She is calm and quite in the house (except for when its time to eat!! But we all have 1 flaw right?????) and is ready to go at a moments notice. I never expected such a perfect pup, from the moment i birthed her and she was yellow girl aka mustang sally i think i knew she would be coming home with me. I can safely say she will be my once in a lifetime perfect search dog, as i dont think any puppy could learn the whole game by 4 months old! Raina will be certified at a year old, in October, and will be saving lives like an old timer!
Raina in motion
The end of the world as we know it
prowl
Honestly i’m to busy in my little doggie filled life to pay attention to what goes on in most the world, but even this news did pop up on my facebook account this morning when i got up. It’s really a shame that people have nothing better to do then make up fictional dates and activities that will never happen. So rather then dwell on any possibility that life as we know it will end i got out and trained some dogs!!!!!!
The main lesson for today was training in the rain is fun!!!! Well it’s wet at least. All 3 girls plus felix got a short search problem in the rain and thunderstorms that ensued this miserable afternoon. Despite the downpour, thunder, and distant lightning (no one was in danger, we made sure the bad portion of the storms was going around us so we were just able to desensitize the dogs to the sounds and environment without actual danger) everyone did AMAZING. Now in most situations we will not search in sever thunderstorms but it doesn’t hurt to know that the dogs can do it without any hesitation. They know there job and they do it well.
I was extremely proud of abby (who’s indication is a bump, meaning she comes up and slams me on my chest as hard as she can then takes me back to the subject) who not only located the subject in her off trail problem but i had already passed him so she had to come up and slam my back which was the first thing presented to her!!!! We had been working the last few months on getting her to slam me anywhere not just my front so i know that she would alert me no matter what part of my body was closest to her. Way to go Abigail!!!
Vacation weekend
This past weekend Kara from Amigo SAR dogs and I attended a Bill Dotson workshop up in Skaneateles New York. It was a pretty dreary wet weekend but we made the most of it. The weekend was a lot of classroom work and it was a wealth of knowledge. Bill is a great guy and one of the guys who started it all with search and rescue in the 1970′s. He absolutely loved the way Raina worked and i was one proud handler.
Feedback time
Every morning and evening we took everyone on long walks around Skaneateles which was great socialization and desensitization for them. I brought Raina to work the seminar and Abby to keep an eye on her recovery so she was able to tag along on all the walks too. Kara brought Felix the GSD Life Long Tails got a few months ago who we wanted to place in a working home. All three did fantastic downtown even during the busy night hours.
Everyone did great in the hotel room and were on their best behavior at the seminar, no barking or complaining even with being in there crates a lot during classtime. I have to say we have the best behaved dogs!
No fear of heights mom
I usually only attend a seminar every year but i always take a lot away from it and this time was no exception! I hope before the summer is up to visit Bill and his training facility in Virginia!
Girls on the Pier
Both girls in front of the lake
And another one bites the dust
Another weekend gone by. I really don’t know how they go this fast anymore. It’s been a stressful weekend with Abby up at Cornell sick with no direct answer yet as to why. I know they are taking good care of her but i’m still a wreck especially because she is puzzling all the doctors there with her abnormal anatomy in her abdomen!
ready for the command
With the nice weather Kara and I have been able to get up to the state land behind my house and work the girls almost everyday. Erik is amazing enough to hide for us all the time and i’m pretty sure Raina has a crush on him!
pullllllll
We have been working on building raina’s nose time in her search problems and placing the subject in heavy brush. Her third test will be a 30 acre heavy brush test which will be one of our hardest! I have been doing blind problems on a regular basis so that i know how to read my dog in all terrain and wind conditions. Raina has taught me so much these last few months!
Eme is also working on some nose time, as well as getting her bark as strong as her sisters. She has always been a thinker and i see it now more then anything. She needs to fully understand what she is doing to get it down, but when she does there is no fault in the process at all. Once her barking starts she delivers the full out bark and bounce just like her daddy Quax!
Alerting to the find
The time is flying by, and i cannot believe its already may. We have a lot to cover before the summer is up and many more tests to tackle so we can get the girls fully operational! This weekend will be a nice break when we attend a Bill Dotson seminar up in the finger lakes area of New York. He is a SAR legend and i’m sure i and the girls will learn a lot from him!
Keep moving
The girls spend most of their time off leash either working or hiking so we must practice self control exercises and focus work while out and in the field. The girls are used to this on our land and while out together or with our other dogs in the pack but they also need to be able to do the same with more distractions and in variable environments.
Stay work
The environment is new, we have never visited this state land and felix is a dog that was turned over to Life Long Tails and is currently in training with his K9 handler Kara for Search and Rescue with Amigo Search Dogs. A simple training command that is obeyed so perfectly at home can be a challenge if to many variables are changed to quick. Both girls did great this time as we have been practicing separate and together in varying environments for the last few months.
Girls
The hard work pays off!
Everyone looking like stars
As always the girls impress me when day after day i ask so much of them! Just a short video clip of last weekends fun time after of course a day of work. More updates to follow!
Not spring thats for sure
Woke up at 6am this morning (got to sleep in whooo hoooo) to a whoping 2 feet of snow. I couldn’t even open the back door, had to slip out and shovel off the back porch so the door could open and dogs could get out. Most didn’t want to go it was over their head but the shepherds couldn’t wait and took off clearing paths for the smaller dogs. Poor Fugly got lost in the snow banks!
With a state of emergeny in Broome County plans of in town training was demolished. Instead we played in the backyard, went on a short but tiring hike and did some small scent problems. The girls were still happy.
All in all not a bad hang around the house snow day. Man and we could see green grass yesterday…………..
Get out and train!!
With spring coming, the snow melting and the days getting longer I cannot help but get excited about getting out there and training even more this year!!! You will find the pack and I all over Binghamton and surrounding counties starting now, every weekend. We will be practicing obedience, Search and Rescue, basic manners, agility, and working on some problem behaviors. If interested in attending any working session to learn the Elite Instinct Canine way please email us EliteInstinctCanine@gmail.com and keep an eye on our website www.EliteInstinctCanine.com Times, locations, and days vary so please keep an eye on our calendar.
