Abigail nails it!
Last month Abby completed her certification for live airscent and Human Remains Detection for New York State Federation of Search and Rescue. Earlier this month at our annual Combined Federation Training she completed her water HRD certification as well. Congrats to abby for such a wonderful job!
Certified Airscent Live, HRD, and Water K9 Abby!!!!
Playing catch up!
Well it would be impossible to catch up this blog as i have lagged behind to much! My free flow of words just seems to get stopped up, whats that called writers block???
A quick recap finds everyone well. The sar girls are amazing, really working their butts off!! Emeline is doing great, her indication is solid and fast. I will never have to question whether or not she finds a subject. Her multiple refinds provides long hard bark and bounces at me loud enough to wake a deaf person! She actually makes the ground tremble!!!! Her searching was natural, just pure genetics but her brain was assembled differently then her sisters, something her mother threw in to the mix. She is a thinker and will not allow me to pass by the scent cone. I’m amazed at the progress she has made and am thrilled that i gave her the chance to nail everything perfectly like i knew she could do before moving her on. Bravo Emeline Bravo!
Eme-lion the beast!
Raina will be a year old in less then a month! It’s crazy to imagine that she has already been with us for that long. Such a quick learning pup she amazes me every day with her balance, work ethic, and drive to be a prominent friend to her owner. I have held back on her testing because of her age, not lack of ability. She could have certified months ago with flawless searching and indication, and has yet to reach that “hiccup” period in her youth. While everyday i wait for it, every time we train she re confirms to me that she really is just that good. There are good things to come in the future with miss Rainy and i will keep you posted!
Rainy taking a quick break from her search area.
Abby has been doing great and is proving to be a solid worker. Her skill level is above and beyond what i had dreamed and she is fitting into the pack well now that she has learned all the dog play rules. The remainder of this month will be a huge test for Abby and i know she can do it. I’m so proud of her and what she has already achieved!
My amazing "knock you to your butt" indication dog!
Problems, problems
That is of course search problems 
below is a picture of our GPS log. We use the Garmin Astro, this way i can track my path and with a collar on Raina i can track her exact path as well. Then we load them into MapTech software and bingo i know exactly where we have been!! This track i believe is in Harpursville New York and the BLUE track is mine and the RED track is Raina. You can see the huge swing out she took away from me, this was when she had a blast of his scent from his location which is right after the curve. If the wind had been stronger, she would have gotten him before we finished the area around.
Me blue Raina Red
Mom’s home!!!
Everyday i come home, you would swear i’d have been gone for years Makes you feel a little better about yourself doesn’t it??? Below is a short video shot of the pack, you’ll see most of them weave in and out of the kitchen happy to have me back home safe and sound. Take note of Otto the 9 week old GSD pup, hes new to the pack only with us a few days when this was shot. His body language in the beginning playing with the other dogs is great, he learned how to position his ears and what to do with his body to solicit play without coming on to aggressive or scary. This boy is amazing and my pack is incredible at giving dogs what they need.
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
Busy time!
The last week or so has been crazy, and the blog posts just haven’t seemed to roll off the fingers in my free time. This weekend was great and i’m happy to have a few free minutes to update everyone before we go swimming and training all evening!
Saturday started out with a good team training, we were able to run all the dogs even in the hot sun and get a little swimming done in the pond. The girls did great despite the hot weather and 4 hour meeting in the morning that left them sleeping with plenty of pent up energy to spend! Working with the boys was great and they did an amazing job saturday and all weekend long!
We spent the night at ritas so we could get right back to work sunday morning. Once the boat, motor, batteries, lunch, and kids were loaded up we went off to the lake to get in some water training!
Raina playing
All 3 girls loved the boat, and the water!! Emeline is not a strong swimmer but after mom, the boys, and her ball got in neck deep my girl jumped in over and over again swimming like a champ!!!!! A few more times and she’ll be a pro like her sister.
We mostly worked HR from the boat and the shore, both were completely new to Raina and she impressed me. I think we got some on video and hopefully this week i can get it loaded!
Eme heading down to the boat
It was a good weekend filled with dogs, sun, and friends. Gotta love this life!
The art of playing with your dog
The tugging beast
Part of having a good relationship with any dog is play time. At Elite Instinct Canine we pride ourselves on having fun with our pooches! There is of course an “art” of playing with your dog and the girls would love to demonstrate it for you!
Emeline taking the tug
The girls playing in the water after some searching
Look for a post tomorrow with all the details from our fun day!
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!
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
