My wee girl Milla.

[Bodee]

BOyd...please accept a really sincere hug from me..yes ,I do believe we are becoming virtual friends..and I'm really ,really pleased you are getting better results with your stripping and yes you will get there in the end....as you say,it's not a race or a competition and when all is said and done is supposed to be a pleasure to do ,with your dogs best interest in mind.
Sometimes I just post to get the info down but don't always consider the way it comes across...I speak Italian here 90 per cent of my day,despite being English,so if I "boom boom "my directions in English,forgive me if I come across as too harsh.
If you need any help please just ask and I will " be gentle with you" ...lol...not likely,but you know I mean well.
And to cheer you up more EWa dvd..
https://www.amazon.it/Ewa-Chodakowska-R ... B01I9GNPUI" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Julie..it took three weeks for my dk knives to arrive...in the end I telephoned them and the order was sent the next day..they are busy people ,so may need a prod.

Thanks Jo, no worries, I'll keep you posted.

[Bodee]

Hi Guys,

I have been using some software on my iPhone which converts photos to watercolours and although they still require some manipulating and don't always come out the way you hope, I thought these two looked quite effective and worth printing and framing.

The first one is my old buddy now departed - Max (a pepper and salt standard) - this was one of his "behave yourself" looks I miss so much now.



This is Milla done from a photo above.



edit: here is the close up.

[Bodee]

This was a very good day for me and Milla.

Due to the weather ( I don't mind the cold but I have to traverse icy pavements to get to the park and I'm not good on slippy pavements ) we have not been to the park/woods for about a week.

When we did go I always waited until we met someone with a dog that I knew before letting Milla off the lead. This was for two reasons one is she would not likely stray from a playmate and secondly most of my friends are younger and much more able to go after her if she decided to "keep going"

Anyway for no reason other than I thought it was time (she will be 6months to-morrow) to test out her recall I let her off the lead immediately we went through the walkway from the road to the woodland paths. Needless to say she sprinted off but when I thought she was far enough - about 50m I called out and she returned. She continued to return even when we were leaving other dogs she had just played with who were going the other way.

This was the pattern for the whole time we were out until we were about 100m from the pathway to the public road leading home, at which time I called her and offered a treat while I put her lead on again. (she is crafty, if she sees the lead come out she stands off, she doesn't run away but she stands just out of reach but that will improve in time)

So, I am really proud of her although she did blot her copy book twice when she jumped up against two other dog owners (luckily) and dirtied their jeans. I need to do more work on that.

One thing to anyone at or nearing the same point in letting their dog (safely) off the lead - I always continued to walk in the direction "I WAS GOING" i.e. if your dog decides to go her own way you should always avoid following her, she will gradually get the message that she is not leading the walk.

[Schnauzer Sam]

She's a beautiful pup. A real wee head turner!

[mikegoodson1]

Hi Boyd,

I must have missed your post from 7th Jan but those pictures are great - the conversion or filter on those look really good. I don't have an iPhone but an Android device so I found a similar app which is free (not sure if it's the one you use) called 'Portra'. I managed to apply the filter to some of my pics too and they have come out really well, so thanks for the tip.

Regards recall, sounds like all went well - how did you train her recall? Was it taking her out and letting her out on a long lead? Or loads of work at home/in the garden?

When I did this with Oscar, it was more a leap of faith in a quiet field, I'm not sure that will be the best course of action with Sasha (she is more feisty/independent than Oscar at that age), so interested to learn how you achieved those great results

Sorry if it's a bit late but Happy New Year to you and Milla.

Cheers, Mike

[Bodee]

Hi Boyd,

I must have missed your post from 7th Jan but those pictures are great - the conversion or filter on those look really good. I don't have an iPhone but an Android device so I found a similar app which is free (not sure if it's the one you use) called 'Portra'. I managed to apply the filter to some of my pics too and they have come out really well, so thanks for the tip.

Regards recall, sounds like all went well - how did you train her recall? Was it taking her out and letting her out on a long lead? Or loads of work at home/in the garden?

When I did this with Oscar, it was more a leap of faith in a quiet field, I'm not sure that will be the best course of action with Sasha (she is more feisty/independent than Oscar at that age), so interested to learn how you achieved those great results

Sorry if it's a bit late but Happy New Year to you and Milla.

Cheers, Mike

Hi Mike, Happy New Year to you.

Firstly the main app is called "Waterlogue" you can get a free version for Android, the second one is optional and cost a bit of money. It is called AURORA HDR PRO (£89). It really just gives HDR effects.

Recall was based solely on calling in from the garden and rewarding. I did this with Max and incorporated a whistle (just blowing through my lips - not even all that loud) and what I found was that after a while - say 6 months that short whistle could be used in all circumstances i.e. "come" "let's go" and even "recall" without the command. So when I shout her in I do a whistle at the same time, just 2 notes low and high.

That is probably frowned on by some but it worked for me i.e. if Max was lying in his bed I would do the whistle and he immediately got up and followed, if he was at the bottom of the garden, same thing, if I decide to move on after talking to someone and he was sniffing about, same thing. It is no different from a command but because it was a "whistle" he seemed more instantly aware and reacted quicker, also it didn't need done twice.


Anyway, I'm hoping that Milla will soon only need to hear the "whistle" and she will react to it.

Don't get me wrong Mike I don't think that just because it went exceptionally well to-day it will go well to-morrow but at least it was a positive first step.

For example I saw some squirrels in the distance - she didn't, there are also deer and rabbits where we walk (Max once saw a deer when he was about 18months and chased it halfway across the adjacent golf course) and although she has seen and eaten the rabbit poo we have yet to see a rabbit and who knows what the outcome of that will be.
I eventually trained Max to ignore rabbits and squirrels, deer, even crows (but it took 2-3 years) because I didn't want to spoil our walks. Some dog walkers in the distance couldn't believe how close the crows came to Max without him bothering.
Milla chases the pigeons and birds as if her life depended on it but I don't want to ruin her fun just yet.

By the way I showed my breeder a list of what I was buying for Milla and she actually told me to remove the long training lead as she had apparently seen quite a few accidents with people using it. So I did, although I wasn't really convinced.

All the best,
Boyd

Let us see some of the water colours when you are ready Mike.

[carolinh]

Hi,
Just wanted to say those Watercolour photos look amazing.
I'm impressed.
Cheers
Caroline

[mikegoodson1]

Hi Boyd,

Thanks for the app recommendation, I'll download it and give it a go.

Here are the three I created using Portra.

Oscar.


Sasha.




I have already started training with Sasha and use the 'come' command when out in the garden, so I will keep that going

Thanks again
Mike

[Bodee]

These look great Mike, I especially like the 2nd one.

I notice a difference which is obviously a matter of taste - in my ones there a bits o white paper showing, I don't know if these can all be attributed to 'highlights" which as you know some watercolour artist use instead of white.

Suffice to say my neighbour thought they were still to be finished.

[Oscar 12345]

I love all these pictures - I must try this.

[mikegoodson1]

It's really simple to use, well the Portra app was anyway. I just loaded it onto my Android device, allowed the app to reference my pictures, then opened the app and loaded a picture I wanted to apply the filter to. There were a few different colours/filters you could choose, once you are happy with the picture, just select 'save' and it will save the version you liked to your phone.

The app Boyd mentioned (Waterlogue) isn't available yet for Android (it's in development I believe) but you can get a Windows version for a few dollars (I have not tried this one yet) and of course, it's free for iPhone (Apple) users.

Enjoy

[Bodee]

Another great "walk" to-day.

Her recall is staring to impress now but more impressive was when after meeting a friend and her dog who she tore about the field with for about 15 mins we parted and went our different ways.

As an experiment I had asked Nicola to wait till we were about 50 metres apart and shout her name, make a fuss and try to entice her back to where we had stood. I didn't expect much as when she normally sees Nicola and Isla coming towards us she sprints off (at my encouragement ) to meet them.

Well she just turned and looked back then continued to trot along at my side. I was really surprised and made a fuss of her and gave her a treat.

As I said above I don't take any of these little achievements as turning a corner just as building blocks. It was her "half birthday" today but I felt I had got the present.

[Oscar 12345]

Oh Boyd, you do make me feel so inadequate. ;) I bet you go on walks with half a roast chicken stuffed in your coat pocket....

Seriously, you are doing fantastic, I can only dream about this type of response at the moment. Although I would say I am definitely getting more interesting...

[Bodee]

Oh Boyd, you do make me feel so inadequate. ;) I bet you go on walks with half a roast chicken stuffed in your coat pocket....

Seriously, you are doing fantastic, I can only dream about this type of response at the moment. Although I would say I am definitely getting more interesting...

Julie, all dogs (and people) are different as you know. For example, while Max turned into a fantastic obedient companion by the time he was two, Milla as I said, seemed to have this desire to please almost from day one.

I put this down to two things, neither of which I can prove but they make sense to me. Firstly I am and have been with Milla 24/7, there is no one else in the house.
When I first took her home until she was 4 months she spent every night from about 6pm until bedtime in my lap. ( I got this idea from the wonderful book Following Atticus, if you haven't read it, I can recommend it)
She still likes to come and lie in my lap now and again but due to her size she finds it harder to get settled. By the way she sleeps downstairs in her crate in the kitchen not in my bedroom.

I put myself in her position and I see a little black ball of fur who realises she is in the house alone with me and so she tries to get on and she loves being praised and rewarded. I praise her for just about everything she does and reward her constantly. (I still reward her for doing a wee wee or a pooh on command So it just builds from there as she loves being praised and rewarded.

Secondly and this is only my opinion, I wonder if girls are programmed to be more mature and co-operative purely because they come into season at around 6-8 months.

As I said elsewhere, I'm 72 and hardly likely to be interesting, however I do interact with her a lot, not so much play, she seems very self sufficient when it comes to play and I only teach her the basic commands that I found I needed with Max - sit, come, down and stay. Stay is a work in progress I give her a lot of home made toys and she tends to go into her own wee world with them. It's more the grooming, patting, praising and speaking to her a lot.

If you are having a problem with recall and you have a decent sized garden keep sending Oscar out to the garden then in 2/3 mins call him in by rattling his treat packet/jar/box. Give him a treat then send him out again and keep repeating making a big fuss of him every time he comes in.

Don't worry you will be amazed how things just click once they see how happy something makes you - communicate your happiness (and the occasional disappointment Aw Milla No or Aw Milla bad or just Noooo) constantly.


Here is the youtube trailer for the book Following Atticus. I bought this book after Max passed over and I don't mind admitting it had me in tears a few times as I associated the author's experiences with my own with Max - I still think of him and miss him badly every day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA41sUirybU" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Oscar 12345]

What a lovely post Boyd. Mila is a very lucky girl.

By the way, if you are having trouble with stay, try training "leave it" by holding a treat in an enclosed fist until Mila looks away and then open your fist with a "take it". Keep doing this with the food further and further away left on the floor with you releasing her. You can eventually leave her in a room on the command of leave it whilst hiding the treat in another, come back to her to release it with a "go find it". A great great game using the best of schnauzer skills. There you have a stay that remains forever and a leave it that works without fail every time. Great if she picks something up she shouldn't. I also sometimes point to where the treat is if pup is struggling and the pup learns to follow your finger. Great if you want her to move somewhere other than where she is. I played this game with Oscar for years and now little Otto is enjoying it. Great fun. A professional trainer once told me that this was the best command to teach because it is the basis of so many things and works on so many levels. I will look up that book.